Chapter 1: Lao Ji Futing

Lao Ji Futing, aiming for a thousand miles.

In his old age, the martyrs are full of ambition.

—— "The Turtle Lives Longevity"

Section 4: Official career in the business world (Part 2)

In the early days of reform and opening up, many people in China have given up their jobs and gone to work. There are not many people who go into business but give up their department-level leadership positions to go into business, especially those like Chen Wei who just want to change their working environment and not go into business.

Chen Wei defined his behavior as "going into the lake" rather than "going into the sea". But whether it was "going to the sea" or "going to the lake", whether passive or active, Chen Wei gave up the career for which he had devoted his best youth without hesitation. After all, Chen Wei was the first person in Jiujiang to voluntarily resign from a department-level leadership position. In order to reduce unnecessary disputes, he chose a roundabout tactic. First, he was seconded to work in Nanchang in the name of the Provincial Tourism Bureau, and then, he escaped from his shell. After only staying in the Provincial Tourism Bureau for more than a month, he went south to Guangzhou and took up his post at the Guangzhou Office of Xinhua News Agency's Hong Kong Branch.

Guangdong has always had the spirit of being the first and pioneering. In the early 1980s, Guangdong, as a pioneer province in reform and opening up, became the forefront of China's reform and opening up. It was also the first place to introduce foreign investment. Opportunities and dreams were nurtured here. At that time, there was a saying in society: "East, West, South, North, Central, get rich in Guangdong." Going south to Guangdong was the first choice for people in inland provinces to seek to change their destiny. In Guangdong, the East and the West, the closed and the open, the city and the countryside, the city dwellers and the workers collided together. At that time, Guangzhou was the first stop for many immigrants. As the southern gate of China, Guangdong, which is more open than other regions, is also attracting more and more foreign businessmen to invest and set up factories. Thousands of migrant workers generally flock to Guangdong to work, especially around the Spring Festival. Guangzhou Railway Station is a scene of huge crowds of people. At that time, most of the foreign companies that came to invest in Guangdong were in labor-intensive industries such as electronics, clothing, footwear, and toys and used assembly line operations. Therefore, there were many companies with thousands or even tens of thousands of workers.

Once, Chen Wei went to work for a foreign company in Shenzhen. He happened to see the shocking scene of workers when they got off work. During the rush hour of the factory with a capacity of 10,000 people, the flow of people at the gate was like a flood of people opening the gate. The sound of footsteps could be clearly heard hundreds of meters away. If you try to walk in the opposite direction and cross the team at this time, it will not only be impossible, but also a stampede accident may occur. At that time, most of the tens of millions of laborers working in Guangzhou and Shenzhen came from the most populous provinces such as Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, and Jiangxi. At the beginning of the reform and opening up, the pioneers in the village led one person and one family. , one family leads one village, one generation after another, bringing a large number of rural labor forces to the economically developed Pearl River Delta. At that time, large numbers of migrant workers and working girls came to Guangdong in order to survive. Because they lacked knowledge and could not do technical work, those working girls could only do the most basic work and the most tiring work. They are like a life-conscious machine on the production assembly line. They work overtime for many years, with almost no rest time and entertainment activities, and exchange their youth and sweat for the most basic remuneration for labor. While Chen Wei was happy for them, he felt even more sad for them. This also planted a seed for Chen Wei’s future education, which will take root and sprout when the time is right.

The east wind brings spring to your eyes. In the spring of 1992, spring seemed to come very early in the vast land of Ganpo. In previous years, after the Spring Festival, the north wind blowing from the Yangtze River would still bring a slight chill, but this year in Jiujiang, the spring breeze was rippling and the water was clear. Sing, the peach blossoms along the coast seem to be about to bloom in the warm wind. It was during the Spring Festival of this year that Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform and opening up, set out from Beijing and headed south, embarking on the historic "Xiaoping Southern Tour" and delivered an important speech. Deng Xiaoping's speech on his southern tour once again activated the enthusiasm for reform and opening up across the country and pushed China's giant ship of reform and opening up to fully set sail. The east wind of reform and opening up in 1992 also activated the upsurge of reform and opening up in Jiujiang. Jiujiang City's policymakers accelerated the pace of reform and opening up. In this year, Jiujiang established the Jiujiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, successfully held the first International Dragon Boat Festival in which dragon boat athletes from more than 10 countries participated in the competition, and comprehensively increased investment promotion. Strengthen investment attraction and actively expand Jiujiang’s influence. Chen Wei, who was back home for the Spring Festival, went to pay New Year greetings at the home of Zhao Rensheng, secretary of the Jiujiang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. Secretary Zhao asked about Chen Wei's work in Guangzhou and hoped that Chen Wei could return to work in Jiujiang. He also gave him a task. It would be best to introduce Chen Wei to Several foreign-invested projects are back. Secretary Zhao was Chen Wei's old leader when he was working in the Hukou County Party Committee, and he had been a supporter of him back then. Since Secretary Zhao made this request in person, it was naturally difficult for Chen Wei to refuse. He had no intention of staying in Guangzhou and would come back sooner or later. Therefore, Chen Wei not only agreed to Secretary Zhao's request on the spot, but also successfully completed the tasks assigned by the secretary.

In the summer of this year, Chen Wei brought back five foreign-invested projects, ending his nearly three-year trip to Guangzhou. Among the several projects introduced to Jiujiang, Lu Cang is a real estate investor in Hong Kong and the one with a better personal relationship with Chen Wei.

Lu Cang invested one million US dollars with Jiujiang Real Estate Company to establish Jiujiang's first Sino-foreign real estate joint venture - Jincheng Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. As a foreign manager, Chen Wei is responsible for an old city renovation project in Jiujiang. Not long after the project was launched, due to the impact of the financial giant Soros's successful short-selling of the pound in 1992, Lu Cang's investments in the UK were not spared when a serious financial crisis occurred in the UK and other European countries, causing a disruption in his capital chain. Broken, I had no choice but to submit funding to Jiujiang Real Estate Company and no longer participate in the development of Jiujiang real estate projects. Lu Cang's sudden withdrawal of capital put Jincheng Real Estate Company into a dilemma. At that time, Jiujiang Real Estate Company had no funds, and it was difficult to find a company to invest temporarily. The most important thing was that the project had already started operation and the old house had been demolished. The foundations of the new buildings have been prepared. If the project is shelved, the lives of the citizens whose houses have been demolished will be greatly affected. If the problem is not solved well, mass incidents will occur. Chen Wei has represented foreign investors and negotiated solutions with the Chinese investor Jiujiang Real Estate Company many times, but to no avail. Lu Cang, who was eager to divest his capital, suggested that Chen Wei take over the company. In fact, Chen Wei had also considered this idea because he did not want to see the foreign companies he introduced and the projects he was responsible for end in this way, but he was a public official. , I cannot run a company by myself. When the decision has been delayed for a long time, the government can't care so much. It just wants to complete the old city reconstruction project as soon as possible. As for whoever invests in it, whoever can do it, including Chen Wei, can do it.

Chen Wei has always been responsible for running this project as a foreign investor. If he develops this project as an investor, the results will be the same. Besides, let Chen Wei stay at the agency to work. Far less than his contribution to completing this project. In this way, Chen Wei changed from the foreign agent of Jincheng Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. to the owner of the company. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Chen Wei asked his wife Fang Jurong to be a legal practitioner and registered the first private real estate company in Jiujiang. He was confident that he would After completing this renovation project, we are confident that we can do a good job as a real estate company. It's just that Chen Wei's business method is different from others. After he has delivered all the resettlement houses, he goes back to develop commercial housing. This not only increases the company's financial pressure, but also misses market opportunities and reduces the company's profits. This is related to Chen Wei's belief when he took over the company. He believed that running a business must first have a sense of social responsibility, and making money is not the most important thing. He did this because he hoped that this old city renovation project would bring inspiration to government departments and other real estate companies. Chen Wei, who did not aim to make money, was still very successful in the few years he ran a real estate company. Although he did not earn much cash, when he decided to invest in running a school, his company had tens of millions of assets. In fact, after retiring from a traditional job, you can live in two ways. One is to spend your old age slowly, and the other is to work and live like a young man. Chen Wei is obviously not willing to let the end happen. For me, the exciting movement of life has just begun. Because Chen Wei is not a person who follows the rules by nature, and he does not want to live like others.

Chen Weiyi devoted himself to the education industry without looking back, but he also had a little worry. This time running a school can be said to be the most important choice in his life. His goal is not very clear. He wants to complete the school in the future. He couldn't tell what it would be like, whether he would persevere as persistently as he did now. Although he chose to run a school with a philanthropic mentality, this choice comes more from his ideals and passion. Perhaps, the result he will face in the future is success or failure. After all, whether it is for people or for others, Things, the future cannot always be easily grasped.