I'm back in 1990

Chapter 281: Opening Time

After attending his second sister Zeng Hong's wedding, the festivities subsided, and Lao Huang, along with his elderly mother Zeng Lijuan and Lao Yu's family, returned to Qingjiang.

After they left, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Xiang returned to their original lives.

Huang Xiaochuan's leisurely lifestyle led him to believe that he had already entered retirement.

He truly lived a life of ease, with his grandmother, aunt, and uncle Yu Xiang around. Huang Xiaochuan didn't have to do anything at home; he spent his days either walking the dog or lounging in the sun on the deck chair by the window. If he kept a few birds, he would be no different from a Manchu nobleman.

Carrying a birdcage in his hand, followed by two big black dogs, and walking with a pigeon-toed gait, he looked every bit the spoiled brat. Just thinking about it made Huang Xiaochuan's lips curl up.

Yu Xiang, who was reading a book, heard Huang Xiaochuan seem to chuckle, so she glanced at him.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just remembered a joke."

Yu Xiang became interested upon hearing this. She had been reading for a while and was getting a little tired, so listening to a joke would be a good way to clear her head.

She sat down next to Huang Xiaochuan and asked, "What joke? Tell me about it!"

Huang Xiaochuan then described the scenario he had just imagined to Yu Xiang.

Yu Xiang, feeling both amused and exasperated, pressed her finger hard against Huang Xiaochuan's forehead.

"You! I think you're just too idle. You cook dinner tonight so Grandma and Auntie can rest."

"No problem," Huang Xiaochuan readily agreed.

After thinking for a moment, Huang Xiaochuan said to Yu Xiang, "I'll cook a few more dishes tonight. Why don't you call Yu Wei and Tang Yuan to come over too? I need to ask Yu Wei about something."

"I'll make the call now." Yu Xiang immediately got up and made a call to Yu Wei.

After dinner, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei went to chat in the yard. Da Gun and Xiao Gun lay down at Huang Xiaochuan's feet and wouldn't go anywhere. Huang Xiaochuan tried to shoo them away, but they wouldn't leave, so he had no choice but to let them be.

"Try to ask how the road repairs at Crescent Moon Gorge are going these next few days. It would be best if they could send some photos over."

Yu Wei patted his chest and agreed, "Leave this to me."

Huang Xiaochuan suddenly remembered something and asked, "You and Tang Yuan are going to do your internships when school starts, right? I forgot to ask you, which customs office you were assigned to?"

Yu Wei squatted down and rubbed the dog's head, then casually replied, "Luhu Island Customs."

"What?"

Upon hearing this place, Huang Xiaochuan immediately thought of something: this place is absolutely unacceptable. The Yuanhua smuggling case happened here, and it happened in the last few years. If these two little Karamis get involved without knowing why, it will be a real problem. Because the possibility of that is extremely high, the other party will try every means to get these two young people who are unaware of the dangers of society into the water, because of Tang Yuan's father.

Seeing Huang Xiaochuan's exaggerated reaction, Yu Wei stood up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh! It's okay. But I think it's too far, and the people there speak like a foreign language that you two wouldn't understand. I suggest you find a place closer for your internship."

"This was arranged by the school, it's not like we can go wherever we want."

"How about Suzhou? I think you two should go there. It's close by, the place is nice, and I've heard the Suzhou customs is very busy. You can also learn something there. If you're willing, I can go find Brother Yuan'an and ask him to help you switch places."

Yu Wei himself felt that Xiamen was too far away, but after hearing what Huang Xiaochuan said, he was a little shaken. Who wouldn't want to be closer to home?

"You don't need to go and say it. I'll talk to Tang Yuan and let him do it! Her brother will definitely agree to help her."

"Say it as soon as possible, don't wait until the school admission list is finalized before informing others, otherwise it will put them in a difficult position."

Yu Wei nodded: "I understand, I'll tell Tang Yuan later."

After the Spring Festival, the preparatory team of Times Supermarket No. 1 Store and newly recruited employees began their intensive work and training.

The rigid eight-hour workday rule made some outsourced supermarket managers feel uncomfortable, because in their previous companies, a ten-hour workday was the norm. But at Huaxia Supermarket, they didn't know about other companies, but Times Supermarket strictly enforced the eight-hour workday.

As a result, some people even asked Jiang Bixing to increase their working hours.

"Mr. Jiang, if the training period is also conducted according to the eight-hour work system, I'm afraid I won't be able to complete the training on time, which may also affect the opening date."

Jiang Bixing retorted without hesitation: "That's your problem. When the company was developing the training plan, we emphasized that it should be designed according to the eight-hour workday. If you can't complete the training on time, it means there's something wrong with your training plan. This makes me seriously doubt whether you are capable of doing this job."

The visitor was rendered speechless by Jiang Bixing's retort. He knew how good the salary and benefits were for his job, and he was reluctant to lose it. So he left dejectedly and tried to find a way to complete the training program on his own.

Jiang Bixing was so busy he barely had time to breathe. It was his first time doing this himself, and he was learning as he went. There were countless things to do when he opened the business, not just this or that, but he also had to select and purchase goods and travel around to manufacturers to contact suppliers.

The executives recruited from abroad initially found it difficult to adapt to some of the rules and regulations of Times Supermarket.

The company's eight-hour workday was met with opposition. Jiang Bixing reported this to Cao Charlie, whose reply was to strictly follow the company's requirements and that anyone who could not adapt could resign.

This was also something Huang Xiaochuan emphasized to Cao Charlie, and Cao Charlie relayed it to Jiang Bixing without missing a single word.

With this attitude, Jiang Bixing felt more confident. When someone questioned or objected to some of the company's reasonable systems, Jiang Bixing would not give them a friendly look, and if they were not used to it, they would write a resignation letter.

These executives couldn't help but wonder if the company's boss was mentally unstable, or if he was trying to do charity rather than business.

But for the newly recruited employees of Times Supermarket, this was the first time they had encountered a company like this.

Leaving aside the eight-hour workday, they also require eight days off every month? Not to mention the salary and benefits, the wages they received during their training period far exceeded the average social wage in Shanghai.

Before the Spring Festival, the company also distributed generous Spring Festival benefits. In addition to rice, cooking oil, chicken, fish, meat and eggs, each person also received a holiday bonus of 200 yuan, which made the company's new employees so happy that they shed tears.

Not long ago, they were unemployed and had unstable incomes. Now, they are lucky to have joined this company and feel like they have returned to a big family.

Now, some people are even trying to get into this supermarket through connections, but all the staff have already been recruited, so it's no use asking anyone. They can only wait until the second store is preparing to open to see if there will be any opportunities.

Therefore, these new employees cherish this job very much and study hard during the training period, for fear of dragging the company down.

Chang Jing was learning how to use the cash register. This was the first time she had ever seen a desktop cash register. The white body had a small monitor and a row of keyboards, and it looked very high-end.

During the previous training, Chang Jing learned some basic financial knowledge. She took many notes very carefully, fearing that she would not be able to learn it due to her low educational background. She would review the training content again after returning home.

Meanwhile, supermarket stockers are receiving training on product display standards. A special shelf has been set up in the training room for this purpose. These employees have already learned the theoretical knowledge and are now practicing.

Everything is proceeding smoothly. Goods from various regions have been gradually entering the warehouse, and various equipment is arriving and being installed. The opening date has also been set: Times Supermarket No. 1 will open on March 7.

A few days later, the winter break ended, and Huang Xiaochuan's second semester of his junior year began.

Yu Wei and Tang Yuan followed Huang Xiaochuan's advice and had Tang Yuan'an arrange for them to re-interview at the Suzhou Customs, which put Huang Xiaochuan's mind at ease.

Suzhou is very close, so the two of them can go back to Shanghai every Sunday.

On February 16, with the afterglow of Valentine's Day still lingering, the Shanghai Composite Index reached an all-time high of 1544 at the close of trading that day.

On this day, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets were officially connected, and the situation of Shanghai rising and Shenzhen falling, as in 1991, will never happen again.

The stock market was in a frenzy, with most investors blindly believing that it was only a matter of time before the Shanghai Composite Index reached 2000 points, unaware that a bear market was imminent.

The next day, upon seeing such positive news, many investors immediately poured money into the stock market, buying at the peak. These investors either had to cut their losses and leave when the stock market crashed soon after, or they would have to wait until 1999, six years later, to break even.

Ge Changli followed Huang Xiaochuan's advice and sold all his stocks on February 9th. His friends teased him for being timid, saying he did the opposite of what was going on in such a good market.

However, Ge Changli kept replaying Huang Xiaochuan's words in his mind.

"The current market situation is clearly abnormal. How many stocks are there in the stock market? What is the daily trading volume? How can such a large volume continue to support the market? So this is just an illusion. It's only a matter of time before it falls. However, the decision is in your own hands. Whether to take profits or continue to hold is up to you, but don't increase your holdings."

After careful consideration, Ge Changli decided to sell all his stocks, because he had analyzed Huang Xiaochuan's problems and found that the risk factor was indeed very high.

After careful consideration, Ge Changli decided to sell all his stocks, because he had analyzed Huang Xiaochuan's problems and found that the risk factor was indeed very high.

After Ge Changli sold all his stocks, the market continued to rise, which led Tan Yu and the others to tease Ge Changli.

"Old Ge, are you regretting it now? Look at the market now. I advise you to buy it back tomorrow, maybe you can still make a little more money."

Ge Changli smiled and waved his hand: "How much money can you make at most? I've made quite a bit, so I should leave some for others, right?"

Tan Yu and his group didn't take Ge Changli's words to heart. Instead, they called Ge Changli a "fool" behind his back.

After February 17th, the market immediately declined, which many people mistakenly thought was a period of consolidation and adjustment.

As a result, the central bank subsequently announced an interest rate hike and, due to the overheated economy and severe currency devaluation, significantly tightened monetary policy.

These negative news items, once transmitted to the stock market, caused the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index to plummet, falling from a high of 1558 points at the beginning of the year to 883 points, a drop of nearly half.

The large screen started out completely red, then gradually began to be mixed with green, until it was completely green.

To paraphrase a later Shanghai-style stand-up comedian: "When sparrows saw the lush green stock exchange screen, they thought they had arrived at Gongqing Forest Park, and they all rushed towards the screen."

Actually, this sentence uses sparrows as a metaphor for stock investors, who have plunged into the stock market and gotten trapped.

At the end of February, Ding Yi rented an office in the Shanghai Building, arranged for three people to work there, and set up facilities such as a television and international long-distance telephone, thus beginning his career in trading Hong Kong stocks.

At first, he only chose two or three Hong Kong stocks to test the waters, investing very little, just to familiarize himself with the trading model of Hong Kong stocks.

"Old Chen, lend me your finance notes to copy."

Chen Zhe took a notebook out of his bag and handed it to Ding Yi.

"Old Ding, what have you been up to lately? You're always glued to your pager, checking it during and after class."

"I'm busy making money for you lot of landlords."

"Please help me out, okay? They're begging me to help them trade stocks, and I didn't even agree to give them a 50 yuan commission. You should be happy with your 15 yuan!"

Ding Yi acts all high and mighty, but he is telling the truth. Many people want him to help manage their funds and invest in stocks for them, but Ding Yi is stubborn and won't listen to anyone, not even his uncle's friends.

Now, neither Huang Xiaochuan nor Chen Zhe cares much about stocks anymore. One is busy studying, and the other is living a carefree life. The responsibility of making money has fallen on Ding Yi's shoulders.

The three of them went to the cafeteria together to have lunch. Chen Zhe mentioned Wu Duo and Zhang Gaolei.

"Old Wu told me that he and Old Zhang are coming back next month."

"What the hell are those two idiots doing? They only have a seven-day spring break and they still have to come back. Are they sick in the head? Didn't they say they'd be on summer vacation in May? Why don't they just come back then?" Ding Yi complained.

"These two guys were tormented by the food in America, so they took advantage of the holiday to come back and nourish their stomachs. He called me and said that he and Lao Zhang had agreed that they would do nothing but eat for the next few days, and go back after they were full."

"This is just asking for trouble."

"Alright, that's enough! There's nothing wrong with them wanting to go out and see the world. You have your ideas, and they have their own paths to follow."

"Fine, I won't say anything then. What are you treating me to for lunch today?"

"Let's go to the small restaurant on the second floor and have some dishes cooked."

"Let's stir-fry some pork kidneys!"

Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but glance at Ding Yi.

"What's wrong?" Ding Yi thought there was something on his face and subconsciously touched it.

"No problem! Kidney slices, right? No problem, I'll order you a double portion, so you can eat your fill!"