Chapter 774: Laying the Groundwork at Home!
The next morning!
In his sleep, Li Yi sensed something moving beside him. Being a light sleeper, he opened his eyes immediately.
The first thing he saw was a delicate, rosy-cheeked face—it was his little girl.
Seeing that Li Yi had woken up, the little girl’s eyes lit up instantly.
Her two little hands immediately reached out to grab Li Yi’s face, while she babbled away in her own alien language.
Seeing this, Li Yi sat up on the bed and scooped the little girl into his arms.
He then planted a big kiss on her little face, making her giggle uncontrollably.
Li Yi then turned to look beside him and noticed that his son had also woken up and was playing with Jiang Xue’s hair.
As for Jiang Xue, she was still fast asleep.
But it made sense—after all, they hadn’t gotten back until 10:30 last night, and by the time they’d eaten and gone to bed, it was nearly midnight.
Realizing that Yun Rui and Yun Jin needed their milk as soon as they woke up, Li Yi quickly got dressed and headed to the kitchen with the two children’s bottles.
There was hot water in the thermos, so he didn’t need to boil any.
First, he poured the hot water from the thermos into a ladle to let it cool down a bit. Then Li Yi washed the baby bottle inside and out before he began mixing the formula.
When the milk in the bottle felt cool enough, Li Yi took it into the bedroom.
When the two children saw the bottle in Li Yi’s hands, they were overjoyed and toddled toward him on their little legs.
Watching the two little ones cling to their bottles, drinking the milk with such joy and contentment, put Li Yi in a particularly good mood!
Taking advantage of the lull while the children were drinking their milk without fussing, Li Yi first stuffed some wood into the nearly extinguished stove and added a little coal.
Next, he carried the large iron teapot into the kitchen and filled it with water.
After placing the large iron teapot on the stove to boil, Li Yi began dressing his son and daughter…
By the time Jiang Xue woke up, Li Yi had not only finished his morning routine but had also dressed the children and washed their faces.
He had even prepared breakfast!
After breakfast, Li Yi first drove his mother-in-law back to the Jiang family’s old residence, then took Zhang Ziqiang and Yang Zhiwen to the Jianguo Hotel!
…….
In the hotel conference room, Lan Xinyi, An Hong, and the others were briefing Li Yi on their work, focusing primarily on the negotiations from a few days earlier.
After listening to their report, Li Yi nodded in satisfaction.
It was clear that the Beijing municipal government was very sincere about this partnership and had made concessions in many areas, particularly regarding taxation.
Typically, local governments offer foreign investors a “three-year tax exemption followed by three years of 50% tax reduction” incentive, but they had been granted a “three-year tax exemption followed by five years of 50% tax reduction.”
Furthermore, regarding operational oversight, the Jingcheng municipal government had also shown great sincerity by not imposing overly stringent conditions.
In light of this, Li Yi immediately said, “I’m very satisfied with the outcome of these negotiations. Everyone has worked hard—this month, everyone will receive half a month’s salary as a bonus!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the conference room erupted in enthusiastic applause!
As the applause died down, Li Yi continued, “Now that we’ve reached a cooperation agreement with the Beijing side, have you all figured out how to proceed?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lan Xinyi immediately replied, “I’ve discussed it with Deputy Manager An. We plan to secure an office location first—after all, with so many of us, we can’t keep staying in hotels forever!”
“Also, we’re short-staffed right now. Once we get the approval from the local government, we need to recruit staff as soon as possible. We should get all the company departments up and running before we start operations.”
“That’s right. We should get the company’s internal structure in order before launching operations, so we don’t end up scrambling later!”
Li Yi continued, “As for the office location, my suggestion is that you find a temporary space in the city to make do for now—preferably one that includes dormitory accommodations!”
“Then, you should approach the city government and tell them we want to build our company headquarters—ask them to allocate a plot of land for us in the city!”
Lan Xinyi immediately looked at Li Yi and asked, “Boss, are we going to build a building here?”
“Yes, and it has to be a landmark building!” Li Yi said.
“Yes!”
Just then, An Hong suddenly said, “I heard the Municipal Education Bureau has built a new office building and will be moving soon. Should we ask the city if we can rent the Education Bureau’s old office space?”
Li Yi’s eyes lit up, and he replied immediately, “No need to rent—let’s just buy it!”
He knew full well that the Municipal Education Bureau’s location was right in the heart of the city—buying it now would be a real bargain.
It could serve as a temporary office until the new headquarters was built. And even after that, it would remain a valuable asset for the company.
In short, buying it would definitely be a good deal!
“As far as I know, the Education Bureau is located in what used to be a prince’s mansion. Setting aside whether the authorities would even sell it, even if they did, the price would likely be exorbitant!” said An Hong.
“A prince’s mansion?”
Li Yi continued, “As long as the authorities are willing to sell, money is no object!”
“Sis-in-law, General Manager Lan and the others have just arrived in Beijing and aren’t familiar with the area yet. I’ll leave the task of contacting the government departments to you!”
An Hong replied immediately, “Alright, I’ll contact the municipal government right away to see what they think!”
At that moment, Lan Xinyi pulled out a thick stack of documents and handed them to Li Yi, saying, “Boss, this is a business plan that Manager An and I have drafted. Please take a look!”
Li Yi didn’t hesitate; he took the documents and began reading them right away.
After a long moment, he set the documents down on the conference table and said, “So you plan to start with trade shows and then expand into manufacturing?”
Lan Xinyi nodded and said, “Yes. After studying your trade show model, we believe it’s a business model that integrates promotion and sales, and it’s particularly well-suited for promotion in major cities.”
“So we plan to invest 20 million yuan to establish exhibition centers in 50 cities across the country, and then hold various trade shows on a rotating basis.”
“Once we’ve established brand recognition, we’ll not only be able to control the sales channels for a significant portion of domestic enterprises, but we can also use this as a springboard to enter the manufacturing sector.”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, but as for the specifics—how to proceed and how to allocate the shares—you’ll need to discuss that with Vice President An and my two brothers-in-law!”
“Yes!”
“Also, your idea of entering the manufacturing sector is excellent, but I don’t think we need to spend a fortune building our own factories. It would be best to acquire existing state-owned enterprises.”
Li Yi continued, “I’ll put together a list for you later. Use that list to approach these companies—if you can acquire them outright, do so; if not, take a stake in them!”
“Also, in addition to general manufacturing, we need to invest in some high-tech enterprises…”
Li Yi had a very clear vision for Star Company’s development on the mainland. First, to rescue domestic enterprises and prevent them from becoming cannon fodder under foreign control.
Second, to develop high-tech enterprises, strategically position ourselves in key sectors, and research and develop critical technologies to avoid being held hostage by others down the line.
Relatively speaking, making money was secondary.
After all, with all the memories from his past life, making money would be incredibly easy for Li Yi—there was no need to specifically target the domestic population.
Li Yi spoke at length for nearly half an hour, laying out his thoughts in detail before bringing the meeting to a close.
But no sooner had Li Yi announced the meeting’s adjournment than Li Yunbao approached him, saying he had something to report…
…….