Chapter 707 – Didn’t come in vain
Feng Yu did not mind being taken advantage because Bing City Pharmaceutical Enterprise was now an established brand. This medicine will be popular if sold under the brand name. Also, Bing City Pharmaceutical had lots of researchers and could perfect the formula and conduct the clinical trials faster.
Also, China’s regulations on medications were not as stringent. Feng Yu could get the approvals earlier than Pfizer and start the production. He would be able to apply for patents and delay Pfizer’s drugs from entering the market. Bing City Pharmaceutical will be the first company to develop and produce this drug.
If it were another small pharmaceutical company, it would be difficult to do all these. Also, Feng Yu did not suffer any significant losses. Those research data were only references and contains some technical knowledge of producing this drug.
After the discussion ended, Feng Yu continued to sit on the sofa with his legs crossed.
“Why are you still here? If you want to have lunch at our cafeteria here, it’s fine. But don’t think of ordering any expensive dishes.”
“Eh, eh, eh…… You are the Mayor. Look at your stingy look. You think I cannot afford to pay for myself?” Feng Yu replied arrogantly.
“Then what do you want from me? It’s almost the end of the year, and I am very busy. I still have to attend lots of meetings.” Zhang Ruiqiang frowned. He knew Feng Yu too well and knew that Feng Yu must be up to something.
If it were something good, Feng Yu would have opened his mouth earlier.
“Is the City Government giving out some welfare to your employees during the coming Lunar New Year?”
“What has this got to do with you? Are you asking for your cousin? You are used to flaunting your wealth. Now, your cousin is also following your footsteps. He is only a junior staff member, and he drives to work? He is driving a Songjiang Olympic.”
When mentioned this, Zhang Ruiqiang was furious. At first, he had a good impression of Feng Yu’s older cousin and tried to help him by transferring him to work for his secretary. He was even thinking of promoting him this year.
But this cousin of Feng Yu drove to work and don’t even live in the quarters arranged by the City. He bought a new private apartment next to Bing City River. He heard that the floor area of that apartment was bigger than the quarters for Director level staffs.
That fellow even had a handphone. Many Section Chief in the government were not even assigned a pager.
Feng Yu was also speechless. These were all given to his older cousin by his father. If he did not stop his father, his father would have given his cousin the luxury model of Songjiang Olympic. That’s the model assigned to the Mayor.
That apartment was also bought by Feng Yu’s father. He said that with a big apartment, his cousin would be able to get a girlfriend easier. Now, as a civil servant from a wealthy family and even own a car, it was really easy for him to get a girlfriend. Many leaders in the City Government wanted to introduce their daughters or niece to him.
Feng Yu smiled: “That is his private car. He spends his own money to pump petrol, and it is not against the regulations. Furthermore, it’s my father who bought the car for him. I also cannot stop him. You said the City Government do not have shuttle bus? Bing City Machinery can manufacture buses now. Do you want to order 8 or 10 buses for the City?”
Zhang Ruiqiang: “……” Feng Yu was treating the City Government as his regular customer. He tries to sell his products every time he comes.
“We are not buying it. There is another matter…… but nevermind. What else do you want to tell me?” Zhang Ruiqiang stopped halfway.
Damn. Why can’t you finish what you wanted to say? It’s unbearable when you mentioned something and stopped in the middle.
Feng Yu looked at Zhang Ruiqiang and continued enthusiastically like a salesman: “Buy our Tai Hua shopping cards as the welfare gifts for the City government employees. I will give you a 2% discount.”
Zhang Ruiqiang turned and walked back to his seat behind his desk. “Xiao Liu, send Mr. Feng out.”
“Eh, don’t be like this. We are all chatting happily here. The Government is not giving out Lunar New Year gifts? How about our Tai Hua Supermarket shopping cards? It will be cheaper this way. The items in the supermarket are also cheap, and there is a variety of products for your staffs to pick. It’s so much better than you all giving out meat, rice, etc.”
Zhang Ruiqiang stared at Feng Yu: “The year before last year, you promoted your Tai Hua Premium cooking oil. Last year, it was your Tian Peng Pork. This year, you are trying to help your Tai Hua Supermarket clear those leftover stocks?”
“What are you talking about? Since when my products have leftover stocks? Tai Hua Supermarket’s business is excellent, and the whole city knows it!”
“That’s right. Even our state-owned shopping mall’s supermarket is struggling to survive.” Zhang Ruiqiang replied angrily.
This state-owned shopping mall was located in the best location in the city and tried to copy the Tai Hua Supermarkets, by opening a supermarket. But not long after opening, it was facing difficulties.
Zhang Ruiqiang asked his men to investigate and found out that it was Tai Hua Supermarket that was targeting them. All the items sold at Tai Hua Supermarkets were cheaper than the state-owned supermarket. Tai Hua Supermarket even gave out fliers outside of the state-owned supermarket.
Even if they were competitors, but they should not be so aggressive. Tai Hua Supermarket’s business was very good, and why can’t they let others survive? This year, the City Government will be giving out some welfare gifts for their employees. But all the gifts will be purchased at the state-owned supermarket. They will never go to Tai Hua Supermarket.
“It’s all fair competition. We are the original, and they are the imitators. How can you group us together and you shouldn’t say that we are suppressing them. They are not doing well, might be due to their management issues, or there might be something wrong with their marketing.” Feng Yu replied confidently.
Management issues? The manager of the state-owned supermarket was pouched over to your Tai Hua Supermarket to be the floor manager. You all offered more than double salaries, and several managers from the finance and warehouse departments had gone over to your side. How can we still manage our supermarket well?
The state-owned supermarket’s business went downhill, and the shopping mall was also affected. Zhang Ruiqiang was frustrated. He had high hopes for this mall.
This was not the first time Bing City set up shopping malls. This mall was located in a better location, had nicer renovations and better customer service. However, the business was worse than those older malls.
The biggest probability was because of Tai Hua Supermarket. They had hired all the management staffs from the state-owned supermarket, and Tai Hua Supermarket was located very near to them.
“If it is a fair competition, then stop hiring our people.”
“You all are unable to give them higher salaries, and yet you want to stop them from earning more? They also have families to feed. What’s wrong with them trying to earn more? If that state-owned supermarket can no longer survive, I can offer some advice. Close it and move to another location, like near to the universities. Their business will improve.”
Zhang Ruiqiang looked at Feng Yu suspiciously: “Move them to somewhere near the universities will do?”
“Of course, it’s not any universities. The location near Longjiang University is not bad. There are many schools in that vicinity. Although it is a bit out of the way, there are lots of human traffic. That is a good place to build a shopping mall.”
“Nevermind. We will talk about this another time. What else do you have for me?”
“There is one more thing. I know that the City had relocated the residents of these two places. The land parcel will be auctioned off? How about selling it to Tai Hua Supermarket? We will build our hypermarket malls there, and I guarantee that these two places will be a bustling commercial area.”
Zhang Ruiqiang stared at Feng Yu angrily. Do you think I do not know that these two places are suitable to build shopping malls? Why should we sell the land parcels to you? But Zhang Ruiqiang thought for a while. It seems that state-owned shopping malls were not easy to manage. Even the mall in the best location of the city was struggling. If the City really build and manage their malls in the new areas, they might suffer heavy losses. The City might as well sell off the land and profit. The City will still be able to receive high taxes annually after that.
“We will auction those two plots of land after Lunar New Year. I will inform you all on the exact dates later. If you have nothing else, just leave.”
Feng Yu picked up his cup of tea and finish it in one big gulp. Then he slowly leaves. His trip to the Mayor’s office was not in vain.