I am farming in the real world

Chapter 38: Local Old Brands

“Chaofan Catering Group?”

Chen Jue took the black business card and glanced at the name on it.

He felt that the company sounded familiar. He flipped it over to look at the back, which was densely engraved with a series of food brand companies under the group.

Tengqiao Smoked Chicken, Salami, Xiangbalao, Chuxu Duck Tongue, Yonggao Fish Cake, etc., were all old brand foods that Wenzhou locals were familiar with and had been eating since they were young, operating for decades, and were practically childhood memories.

In addition to supermarkets and e-commerce platforms where these brands could be bought, there were also dozens, even hundreds, of new and old stores all over the streets, firmly controlling the taste buds of Wenzhou people.

“The behind-the-scenes investor of so many old brands? Isn’t his net worth at least several billion?”

“This person is probably the real catering and food tycoon of Wenzhou!”

Chen Jue’s heart stirred. He thought of the high housing prices near Binjiang Road and the wealthy owners with status living there.

He knew that with the deliciousness of MC Grilled Chicken, it would sooner or later attract interested investors or potential franchisees.

He didn't expect that the first one would be such a person with a great background.

So he politely took the business card and, after explaining a few things to Zhao Xiaoguang, Chen Jue accepted the other party's invitation to sit down at the nearby coffee shop, intending to see what kind of medicine this local catering tycoon was selling in his gourd.

… …

Wenzhou has many mountains and few opportunities. In the past, in order to make a name for themselves, there were overseas Chinese everywhere who went abroad to work hard and earn foreign exchange to send money back home.

It was precisely by relying on the hard work of these overseas Chinese and the primitive accumulation of capital that the Wenzhou boss miracle of the 1980s and 1990s was created.

Of course, the group of overseas businessmen who went to study in Western Europe in the early days not only brought back leather shoes and textile technology, but also brought back the dietary culture of foreigners, such as steak and Western food, and coffee.

However, in recent years, affected by the epidemic and the milk tea shops that have sprung up all over the streets, there are not many traditional old-fashioned coffee shops that have persisted.

Even if there are any that are open, most of them are taken care of by mature businessmen like Lin Youlong, becoming a private place for daily receptions, meetings, and business cooperation.

Lin Youlong was very familiar with this coffee shop. After entering the store, he greeted the owner and led Chen Jue to a corner booth with excellent privacy.

After ordering two cups of coffee and some snacks, Lin Youlong got straight to the point: “The day before yesterday, my father bought two grilled chickens from your Chen Ji’s stall and brought them home. After I tasted them, I felt that the taste was incredibly good! I wanted to chat with the boss who sells grilled chicken about cooperation.”

“I didn’t expect that after squatting at the entrance of my neighborhood for two nights, I didn’t see you setting up a stall. Fortunately, the heavens have rewarded my efforts. I finally found you, Brother Chen, when I came out for a walk today.”

Chen Jue secretly complained in his heart, 'What kind of old-fashioned development is this?', but on the surface, he accompanied the other party with a smile: “Thank you, President Lin, for the praise. Our Chen Ji is just starting out and is still in its initial stage. Recently, in order to promote trial tastings, we have been randomly wandering around several neighborhoods, and the locations for setting up stalls are all randomly selected.”

When Lin Youlong heard this, he nodded in agreement: “The initial promotion of a brand is the most difficult, especially now that there are fast food, takeaways, and internet celebrity shops everywhere. They are all trying to make quick money and earn traffic. They do a wave when they open, and if it works, they continue, and if it doesn’t, they change places and reopen. It’s rare to see someone like your Chen Ji who comes out to take root locally and intends to cultivate the market deeply.”

Then, while Lin Youlong exchanged pleasantries with Chen Jue, he began the big-picture drawing mode.

He began to bring out the chain plans of several mature old brands of their Chaofan Group, and even took Zhengxin Chicken Steak, which came out of Wenzhou, Wen Heyou of Xiangjiang, Juewei Duck Neck, Zhou Hei Ya of Jiangcheng, etc., as examples.

The meaning was very simple: this big shot had taken a fancy to the secret recipe of MC Grilled Chicken and intended to join in during Chen Ji's initial stage of entrepreneurship to accelerate and help Chen Ji's landing and expansion.

“Whether it’s tens of millions or hundreds of millions of cash investment, store support, or central kitchen technical supply, Brother Chen might as well consider our Chaofan Group.”

“We are all fellow villagers of Wenzhou, and I personally very much hope to see a big brand emerge from our local area, taking the taste of Wenzhou out of the local area and making a name for itself nationwide and even worldwide.” Lin Youlong threw out an olive branch.

Before he came, he had investigated Chen Ji and found that there were currently no stores open in the city. And through that immature street stall car, he knew that this brand was still in its initial stage.

Especially for a young boss like Chen Jue, although he didn't know where he got the unique secret recipe from, which allowed him to roast such delicious grilled chicken,

But as long as Lin Youlong personally came out, using the old brands on the business card as bait, basically no young local Wenzhou people could resist this temptation of investment and shareholding.

Unfortunately, Chen Jue was an exception!

The grilled chicken he made was made by the MC system, and it was impossible for him to share the biggest secret on his body with others.

Moreover, Chen Jue also knew that he would definitely not be short of money in the future.

If he wanted to accelerate the incubation of the “Chen Ji” brand, he could take a [Stone Pickaxe] to find a large gold mine that has already been discovered at home and abroad, and randomly dig down around the edge of the gold mine.

With the help of 100 tireless iron golems, even deeply buried and widely dispersed gold mines could not escape the carpet-like excavation of MC's square digging.

As for how to turn the dug-out gold into cash, it was even simpler.

Take it to the Shenzhen Shuibei market, which has the largest gold transaction volume in the country. Regardless of whether there are mining permits or customs clearance qualifications, as long as it is gold, it can be sold cleanly in minutes.

The reason why Chen Jue didn't do it was because he wanted to follow his original planting ideas step by step and develop steadily.

Although gold is easy to turn into cash, in recent years, in order to crack down on money laundering from gray industries such as telecommunications fraud, gold shops have strictly controlled people who buy and sell gold in large quantities, and often report to the public security bureau and police station, which can often be seen in the news.

If he really chose this path, it would be too much of a loss to be targeted by economic detectives for the sake of earning that little bit of quick money and have Chen Jue explain the source of the gold.

As for running abroad to do great things, it was not what Chen Jue wanted.

China is the place where he was born and raised, and he didn't want to learn from those who went abroad to eat unpalatable white people's food and experience zero-dollar shopping and being shot at every turn.

It's better to stay at home and grow vegetables and sell agricultural products steadily. With the cover of the place of origin, at least it won't attract these unnecessary troubles.

So, after figuring this out, Chen Jue casually made up an excuse and politely declined: “Thank you, President Lin, for your kindness. Our Chen Ji doesn’t have any plans to open a chain for the time being. Because only I can make this grilled chicken’s secret recipe, the daily output is really limited. And it can only be made and sold fresh, it won't taste good when it's cold.”

When Lin Youlong heard this, he didn't show any anger or dissatisfaction.

After all, it was the first time he contacted him to discuss cooperation. If the deal was made on the spot, he would be worried that Chen Jue, this young man, was too casual and didn't have his own bottom line.

“If your Chen Ji really opens near here, the Tengqiao Smoked Chicken business of our Chaofan Group will probably be affected.”

“But that’s how business is. In the past, those Wenzhou shoe brands grew together in mutual competition, and eventually went out of Wenzhou to face the whole country. Brother Chen might as well consider my proposal more after you go back.”

“In this fast-paced era, it is very difficult to grow and strengthen by fighting alone.” Lin Youlong squeezed out a smile, sat and continued to chat for a few words, and after adding each other on WeChat, he left on the pretext of having something to do.

“Competition?”

“With the MC system, am I still afraid of competition?”

Chen Jue smiled dismissively in his heart when he saw the other party leave calmly.

After taking two sips of the iced Americano coffee that had been localized, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a brand new idea of making money and turning it into cash came to his mind: “Planting coffee beans and cocoa beans to make money from foreigners seems to be a good way too!”

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