After listening to Lou Xiao'e's words, Cao Zhiqiang nodded thoughtfully.

"Understood, to put it simply, do you think Zhu Lin is a scheming girl who plans to entangle me, and then you are afraid that I will not be able to resist the temptation, be deceived by her, and then be ruined, and then delay the future cooperation between you and me, is this what you mean?"

"Pretty much." Lou Xiao'e nodded, "However, I really don't want anything to happen to you, regardless of whether we can cooperate further in the future." ”

After smiling slightly, Lou Xiao'e continued: "You are very good, and the previous cooperation with you is also very pleasant, and I hope to continue to cooperate with you in the future, but it does not mean that I have to cooperate with you."

Without you, my business would have continued without any hindrance.

After all, I don't lack money and connections, nor do I lack experience and patience.

But you're different, Zhiqiang.

Don't blame me for holding it up.

I think it's okay, although Zhiqiang, although you are capable, you are still too young after all, and you can't see through some things, or you don't care.

You may think that the relationship between men and women is a small thing, but in fact, at some point, it is a big thing.

Especially a woman like Zhu Lin, once she is contaminated, it is difficult to get rid of it.

As your elder, I didn't want to see you jump into the fire pit, so I came to remind you. ”

After a slight pause, Lou Xiao'e continued: "Don't tell me that you have nothing to do with Zhu Lin. I'm from the past, and I can see through the little things about men and women at a glance.

Although Zhu Lin concealed it well, the way she looked at you, and her attitude when she mentioned you, were obviously different.

In addition, although you also covered it up well, what you did to Zhu Lin was already a little over-the-top, and you were too concerned.

So, there must be something wrong with the two of you! ”

Cao Zhiqiang raised his eyebrows, did not admit or deny it, but asked Lou Xiao'e:

"Aunt Lou, since you are so sober in the world, then I don't understand, why do you still go to my stupid uncle?

Why do you want to reunite with his old dreams?

Why did he not hesitate to rob him when he knew that he already had a wife, and even paid a lot of money to open a restaurant for him?

From the perspective of doing business, this is simply a loss-making business? ”

"Who says it's a loss-making deal?" Lou Xiao'e smiled slightly, "This is a lucrative business for me." ”

"Oh?" Cao Zhiqiang raised his eyebrows again, "I would like to hear about it." ”

Lou Xiao'e picked up the teacup and took a sip, sorting out her thoughts by the way, and then put down the teacup and said:

"First of all, Silly Zhu is a top chef, comparable to the top chefs here.

A top chef here, the monthly income is quite high, but the expenses I pay to the stupid pillar are actually not high, at least much worse than here.

Take down the stupid pillar, I spend very little money, and I have one more top chef, why not? ”

Cao Zhiqiang smiled: "Of course I know this, but the problem is that it is the capital, not Xiangjiang, the situation in the two places is different, you can't compare the price of Xiangjiang to the capital, right?" ”

"Of course I do." Lou Xiao'e said with a smile.

"However, the income of a chef in the capital is not low, and the value of a good chef does not need me to say more, you also understand, especially for a restaurant.

Silly Zhu belongs to the kind of gold that has been buried, and has been working in state-owned enterprises in the past, ignoring its true value.

And if Silly Zhu is willing to come out and support a restaurant with his skills, it will be more than enough.

In fact, I had this idea before I was going to find Silly Zhu, but I didn't expect you to be the first to find his true value, and opened a restaurant before me, so that he could be a chef in it.

But it's okay, you opened the food for the day, but it saved me a lot of hands and feet.

After all, with the mind of a stupid pillar, if I directly paid for him to open a restaurant, with his temper, he might not agree. ”

Cao Zhiqiang nodded: "It makes sense to say this, but what about next?" ”

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Secondly, the relationship between Silly Zhu and the big leader is very good.

Although I also know that the big leader is now retired, you know the situation over there, although he has retired, his connections and prestige are still there.

What's more, I think that the big leader back then saved so many people openly and secretly, including our family, of course.

Nowadays, most of these people are already in high positions, and this network is a huge force in itself.

If you want to develop in the capital, you must have a strong background and connections, otherwise it is really difficult to move an inch.

As a Hong Kong businessman, theoretically, it is not too difficult for me to make some connections on my own.

But the problem is that I don't like those people, because many of those so-called leaders have hurt me and our family back then.

If you don't look for those people, you can only find those people who were saved by the big leader back then, as well as his protégés and former officials.

However, if I go directly to that person, I'm afraid they won't be able to give me face again.

Therefore, finding a stupid pillar is the best way.

Silly Zhu and that person are old friends, even now, the relationship between the two is very good.

Through the stupid pillar, I can reconnect with that person and get his care.

And with that person's care, I will not be afraid of anything when I do business in the mainland in the future.

If there are any more ghosts, snakes, and gods who come to me to trouble, as long as that person says a word, it will be fine.

From this point of view, the role of the silly pillar is huge, right? ”

Cao Zhiqiang smiled and nodded: "It makes sense to say that, and then what?" ”

"And then?" Lou Xiao'e frowned, "Isn't this enough?" ”

"Not enough, far from enough." Cao Zhiqiang shook his head, "At least it's not sincere enough." ”

Immediately afterwards, Cao Zhiqiang smiled and said: "Aunt Lou, although the two points you said seem to be very reasonable, but in fact, they don't have much effect on you."

First of all, you are mainly engaged in import and export trade, not mainly restaurants, so the quality of the cook does not play a big role for you.

On the contrary, if you build a hotel in the capital, it will also drag down your energy, and from a certain point of view, you are not doing your job.

I'm not saying that you can't run a hotel if you do trade, but for you now, expanding your trading company and expanding your trade volume is the most correct way, rather than expanding other industries now.

Expanding into other industries is often a large company whose main business has come to an end, and it has to do things when the main business does not have greater profit margin, but you are different.

Now that the country has just reopened, there are opportunities everywhere, especially for small and medium-sized companies like you who do import and export trade, which is simply the best time to make money.

Now all you have to do is to do your best to grow your trading company, ship more goods, and make more money, instead of wasting precious cash to invest in some restaurant.

Although the hotel also makes money, in terms of the speed of capital circulation, it is actually far inferior to people like you who do entrepot trade.

The reason is very simple, the same amount of money, you spend on the restaurant, it will take three months to return the cost at the earliest, and this is still the case that my restaurant has become famous.

But if you use this money to do entrepot trade, and don't go far away, you can do business between the relatively nearby mainland and Xiangjiang, and then even if you only do grain business, in three months, you can at least double your earnings!

In three months, I went back and forth, importing grain from the mainland to Xiangjiang and exporting electronic products from Xiangjiang to the mainland, and the profits were two or three times less.

You haven't done this business once or twice, and you didn't have the care of the big leaders before, and you did the same thing.

So, theoretically, you don't need to go to that person anymore, after all, asking that person for help is just the icing on the cake, an extra insurance.

Therefore, I can say with certainty that there is no stupid uncle, your business is just as prosperous and will not be affected in any way.

On the contrary, if you find a stupid uncle, it will take up some of your precious funds.

Although those funds are not too much for you now, if you want to maximize profits, you are the most short of funds right now.

With one more fund, you will be able to take one more batch of goods, and you must be very clear about this truth.

Therefore, Uncle Silly's role is not small, whether it is as a top chef or the background behind him, but not now.

At least in a year or two, when there are more people coming here to do entrepot trade, there is more competition, and the profits are not so big, you can take out some of the funds and try to do the hotel business, which is the most suitable.

Aunt Lou, everyone is a smart person, what you said I said, right? ”

Sure enough, after Cao Zhiqiang said this, Lou Xiao'e was silent.

In fact, it's right not to say anything, because what Cao Zhiqiang said is true.

Historically, although the mainland was full of business opportunities after the reopening, in fact, the most profitable time was in the first few years of opening up, strictly speaking, before 1985.

Because before this, the country had just begun to open up, many laws and regulations were not mature, local power was great, and the people's savings were also very large, and the demand for import and export in the whole country was particularly strong.

To put it simply, before 1985, the country was truly barbaric, and there was a blue ocean everywhere.

Interestingly, it was during this period that the restrictions on the domestic population were actually very strict.

For example, normally speaking, before 1984, there were no private companies in China, and at most they could only be self-employed.

There are also some large-scale goods transactions, which are not allowed to be done by private individuals normally, but the circulation of materials, especially the demand for foreign exchange, is very urgent.

However, in order to attract foreign investment, there are few restrictions on foreign businessmen in China.

For example, there are many restricted bulk goods transactions, such as grain, cloth and minerals, which foreign companies can do.

Many of the Hong Kong merchants who entered the inland during this period were mostly engaged in the trade of grain, cloth and minerals, and only a very few were invested in industry.

Of course, theoretically, this kind of behavior is not allowed, but it can't stand the power of the local government, and the local government will open the back door.

Normally speaking, during this period, whether it is a private or a state-owned enterprise, can not directly do import and export business, if foreign businessmen want to come to China to do grain trade, they must go through layers of approval, generally through the local foreign trade bureau to operate.

For example, during this period, if someone wants to import domestic raw silk, they can go directly to the raw silk production area and negotiate with the relevant local departments.

As long as the foreign businessman explains the quantity and quality of the raw silk he wants to import, and negotiates the price and payment method, the Foreign Trade Bureau will organize the supply and transportation of the rest.

During this period, you must also comply with relevant regulations and policies, such as import quantity restrictions, tax payment ratios, etc.

Of course, it is also possible to do private transactions between private individuals without going through the Foreign Trade Bureau, so that you can save a lot of cumbersome procedures and make more money, but in this case, it belongs to parallel goods.

The problem is that during this period, many local departments turned a blind eye to parallel imports, because this could avoid many policy issues and really get more benefits.

It is precisely because of this that Guangdong, which is close to the port of Xiangjiang, has become a well-known entrepot base in China.

In many cases, it is the rest of the country that transports goods, such as grain, from the north to a certain place in Guangdong in the south in the form of domestic trade, and then exports them to Xiangjiang or other countries in some illegal way in this place.

It may be said that this kind of illegal trading is wrong, but if everyone violates it, it is not a problem.

Therefore, from this point of view, at this time, it is the best era for foreign businessmen to do import and export trade, because the profits are the largest, and the biggest risks are basically borne by the relevant departments in various places.

Why, because even transportation is done by relevant departments in various places.

Taking Lou Xiao'e as an example, if she wants to import a batch of grain in China at this time, she doesn't need to run around at all, she just needs to find someone in Guangzhou, saying that she wants to import a batch of grain, negotiate the price, and pay in Hong Kong dollars or US dollars, then she doesn't need to work hard at all, naturally someone will do everything.

At that time, Lou Xiao'e only needs to pick up the goods at the Xiangjiang Wharf, and she doesn't even need to think about the problem of transporting ships.

This kind of trade has now become a mature trade chain.

The so-called Qiongdao car incident is only the tip of the iceberg of this trade chain.

In fact, there are quite a lot of parallel imports in China now, after all, the demand is huge.

If nothing else, just talk about the capital, if you wander around, you can meet small vendors selling imported tape recorders and imported clothes on the side of the road.

However, normally speaking, the only places where you can buy imported goods today are special places such as friendship shops and foreign-related hotels, and if you want to buy imported goods in these places, you must also use special foreign exchange vouchers to buy.

For example, Cao Zhiqiang, the reason why he can enter and exit foreign-related hotels at will, and stay in foreign-related hotels for a long time, is because he spends foreign exchange papers.

It's just that Cao Zhiqiang's foreign exchange coupons are exchanged in RMB, and they are directly exchanged by foreign-related hotels.

Of course, this kind of RMB exchange for foreign exchange is illegal in theory, but in fact, it has always existed.

As long as you give enough money and are willing to spend money, it is simply easy to exchange foreign exchange vouchers.

Especially for foreign-related hotels like Jianguo Hotel, if you really have a demand, people can also privately provide foreign exchange business, but they can't make a noise, and they are only responsible for introducing scalpers who reverse foreign exchange.

This is similar to some bathing centers in later generations, which are pure green, but if the guests have special needs, they can also provide calling services, which is equivalent to only providing bathing and accommodation, and other businesses have nothing to do with the bathing center.

In the same way, the same is true for foreign-related hotels at this time.

If foreign-related hotels do not provide foreign exchange reversing services, how can foreigners play in China?

After all, normally speaking, at this time, foreigners and overseas Chinese who come to China to visit relatives or do business can only exchange foreign exchange coupons and go to designated places to consume, if they want to experience local characteristics, such as going to some places that only consume RMB to eat, drink and have fun, they must exchange foreign currency.

Foreigners don't know scalpers, so they can only find hotels, so over time, these foreign-related hotels provide this service, but they can't say it explicitly.

Domestic people can also exchange currency through hotels, but the starting point is very high, if it is less than a few hundred yuan, it is impossible at all.

Only thousands of people will be willing to talk to you.

Having said that, the imported goods that can be bought in street vendors or small shops around the country for RMB are 100% parallel imports.

It's just that the relevant state departments, such as the public security, don't care much about this kind of thing.

Obviously, Lou Xiao'e's current trade is similar to this situation, which is also a common situation at this time.

Think about it, you only need to pay money, and then wait to receive the goods in Xiangjiang, and make two or three times the net profit back and forth, such a good thing, who is not happy?

But this kind of thing can't last long.

When you come back to your senses, you will have to rectify it sooner or later.

At that time, Lou Xiao'e will not be able to make this kind of easy money.

It was only at that time that Lou Xiao'e could consider starting other businesses, such as trying to invest in industries such as restaurants, and make money in this way.

Therefore, from this point of view, Lou Xiao'e is definitely not considering from a commercial point of view when looking for a stupid pillar and investing in a stupid pillar at this time, at least most of them are not.

And judging from the plot in the TV series, this is indeed the case.

Cao Zhiqiang remembered that Lou Xiao'e took her children to find Silly Zhu for the first time, although she did mention that she wanted to invest in restaurants, but the purpose was very clear, that is, to divorce Silly Zhu and live with her.

When rejected by Silly Zhu, Lou Xiao'e left decisively.

It wasn't until two or three years later, around 1986, that Lou Xiao'e came back, started looking for Silly Zhu again, and invested in him to open a restaurant.

When I watched the TV series before, Cao Zhiqiang didn't quite understand it.

It wasn't until he came to this world and understood some of the specific conditions of this world that he suddenly realized.

To put it bluntly, Lou Xiao'e didn't really want to invest in restaurants at this time, after all, it was more profitable to do trade than to invest in restaurants.

Therefore, at this time, Lou Xiao'e invested in Silly Zhu to open a restaurant, and the only explanation was that she wanted to pry the corner of the wall! (End of chapter)