With Li Yi’s plan and An Hong, the hardworking go-getter, the framework of their startup team was quickly established.
As for the connections that the Jiang and Ye families had in Beijing, they were second to none. In just three days, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua had found seven or eight large venues and sent the options over for Li Yi to choose from.
All of these venues meet the requirements Li Yi outlined—such as ample space and convenient transportation—but most of them are only available for temporary use, while only a few can be leased on a long-term basis.
After all, this is Beijing—there are very few venues that are both large enough and have been sitting idle for a long time!
After conducting on-site inspections, Li Yi ultimately chose a massive warehouse located at a former glass factory in the eastern part of the city.
This massive warehouse covers over 3,000 square meters, and when combined with the abandoned factory buildings in front, the total area exceeds 5,000 square meters.
As a venue for the trade fair, the space was more than sufficient.
While the size was one thing, what mattered even more was that, due to the glass factory’s poor performance, operations had been suspended for over a year.
Therefore, it was the only location among the candidates that could be leased on a long-term basis.
For Li Yi, choosing a venue required considering not only size and accessibility but also future investment.
After all, he was planning a high-end exhibition, so the venue couldn’t be just any old place that kept the rain out, like other trade shows.
According to Li Yi’s plan, the exhibition venue would undergo a complete renovation to ensure that visitors would feel, at first glance, that it was high-end, grand, and upscale!
At first, both Jiang Longcheng and An Hong thought Li Yi’s idea was unnecessary. After all, they’d been to plenty of trade shows and had never heard of one requiring such extensive renovations.
After all, a typical exhibition hall is at least several hundred square meters, and larger ones can span thousands or even tens of thousands of square meters. Renovating the entire space would be incredibly costly.
But Li Yi insisted on doing it. He was very clear about the positioning of this exhibition: it had to be high-end and feature only the finest products.
And high-end, premium quality must be reflected not only in the quality of the products but in every aspect of the trade show—especially the venue’s decoration and layout. After all, that’s the first impression.
It’s like when you go to a luxury store to shop. Regardless of whether the items match your taste or are worth the jaw-dropping price tag,
At the very least, the store’s decor will catch your eye and even leave you secretly impressed.
Of course, there’s a reason these stores are decorated so lavishly—after all, only a sufficiently opulent space can match the positioning and price of these luxury goods.
Conversely, if you were to place Hermès or Louis Vuitton bags and belts in an ordinary little shop, what would be your first reaction? You’d definitely think they’re knockoffs or counterfeits!
But to properly decorate such a large venue requires far more than a few thousand dollars. If it can only be used once, it would be nearly impossible to turn a profit—even if you were to squeeze every last penny out of the participating exhibitors.
Therefore, in Li Yi’s plan, the exhibition venue is a one-time fixed investment—it’s worth spending a bit more to ensure it can be used long-term.
As things stand, only this warehouse at the glass factory best meets their requirements.
Subsequently, under Li Yi’s instructions, An Hong leased the large warehouse along with a portion of the factory buildings behind it for 10,000 yuan per year, with a lease term of five years.
After signing the contract, Li Yi immediately had An Hong find a construction team to repair and renovate the exterior of the large warehouse while Beijing hadn’t yet frozen over.
At the same time, a large number of construction workers moved in to renovate the interior of the facility according to Li Yi’s design plans.
While the renovation and remodeling work was in full swing here, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua also sprang into action. They first spread the word that they intended to hold a light industrial products exhibition in Beijing.
As soon as the news spread, many people’s minds began to race.
For a significant number of people, the actual outcome of the fair didn’t matter; what was important was that it was being organized by “Third Young Master Jiang” and “Sixth Young Master Ye.” If they participated, they might just be able to forge connections with the Jiang and Ye families.
Consequently, many factories proactively signed up to participate in the fair!
But they soon discovered that things were not quite as they had imagined. Instead of receiving confirmation of their registration or a notice regarding when they could exhibit, they were informed that a dedicated team would contact their factories later.
They were also told that their products would undergo inspection, and only those meeting certain standards would be eligible to participate in the fair!
At the same time, several newspapers began covering this Light Industry Premium Products Exhibition.
For a time, news of the fair appeared constantly in the papers, attracting the attention of many people…
…….
While Li Yi and his team were busy preparing for the fair, the two branches of the Grassland Beef and Lamb Grill & Hot Pot Restaurant were also ready to open.
On October 14, after nearly two months of preparation, the first branch, located next to Dong’an Market, officially opened.
On opening day, Li Yi personally attended the opening ceremony!
At the same time, representatives from the Second State Cotton Mill, the Municipal Candy Factory, and the Yanjing Television Factory all attended the ceremony, presenting various plaques and congratulatory gifts, making the event exceptionally grand!
Even more encouraging was that business at the branch was excellent right from the opening day.
Moreover, due to its proximity to Dong’an Market—which attracts far more foot traffic than Beiguancun—and the promotional activities held on opening day, the store was absolutely packed at both lunch and dinner!
Seeing this success, the second branch in Xizhimen also opened its doors at the same time.
By this point, Li Yi’s barbecue and hot pot restaurant had three locations in Beijing.
Just as Li Yi was busy with all this, Xu Xinmao reached out to him again.
This time, he brought news that the $200 million worth of gold was ready and could be shipped to Hong Kong at any moment, asking Li Yi what the next steps should be.
Li Yi didn’t hesitate; he replied immediately that he would go in person to handle the matter.
As for the timing, they would set it for the coming days, depending on when a suitable flight was available.
Subsequently, Xu Xinmao mentioned that the higher-ups intended to have Zhou Rui accompany him to Guangzhou.
On one hand, Zhou Rui would help him communicate with the comrades in Guangzhou; on the other, he would be responsible for receiving the foreign currency.
Li Yi had no objections to this; after all, transporting such a large amount of gold overseas would be no easy task without an official representative to handle the negotiations.
Furthermore, the higher-ups had instructed him to repatriate two hundred million US dollars from Hong Kong. Entrusting such a massive sum to just anyone would be unwise, so it made perfect sense for them to have Zhou Rui, the Director of State Security, handle it.
More importantly, with Zhou Rui handling things, he wouldn’t have to worry about many of the details of this trip south—such as booking flights or arranging transportation!
Great, that’s a relief!
Soon, Zhou Rui called to say that the flight tickets and everything else had been booked, with departure scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on the 18th.
He would arrive at the courtyard house ahead of time to meet up with Li Yi!
After receiving Zhou Rui’s call, Li Yi immediately delegated his current tasks to An Hong, Long Zhanjun, and the others, then prepared to head south!
What he didn’t know, however, was that the situation in Hong Kong had already become highly volatile, with tensions running extremely high…
………..