Qi's Group is not a large company in China. After all, the development focus of businesses is slowly shifting towards China, and there are many enterprises in the country with extremely high market value.
Look at the Forbes rankings—domestic banks have always dominated the top positions.
Apart from these public industries, let's talk about companies like Penguin, Alibaba, Qianda, and the like. Their market values also reach tens of billions of US dollars. The founders who own large shares naturally have an extremely high equity distribution. I don't know how much money they make every year, but their net worth is at least 10 to 8 billion US dollars.
The main business areas of Qi's Group in China are real estate and technology. Real estate was the foundation of Qi Li's father's career. He started as a businessman, eventually making enough money to venture into real estate. His first big development was a community outside the third ring road of the capital city. From being a small contractor, it took him more than a decade to become a local tycoon. He then raised funds, took the company public, and established Qi Group. As for the later technology ventures, they were mainly backed by venture capital and angel funds, yielding good returns.
After decades of development under Qi Li's father, Qi's Group reached a market value of 17.2 billion RMB at the peak of his career. The Qi family holds 47.3% of all shares, so it is fair to say that this is very much a family business.
However, after Qi Li's father passed away, the market value plummeted to 8.1 billion, and more than half of the assets evaporated.
In just over a year, with Qi Li's help, the assets have recovered to 16.2 billion. While it's still a far cry from its peak, such capital is not considered a top-tier group in Bingcheng, let alone in the capital city.
After all, doing business is like sailing against the current—if you don't keep advancing, you'll fall behind.
In reality, Qi Li didn't tell Jiang Hai that the real estate business in China is not easy right now.
The price of houses in urban areas hasn't dropped, so there's no worry about selling, but developing new properties has become exceptionally difficult.
Houses located too far from the city won't make much money even if they are developed, because selling them is challenging.
Thus, Qi Li is forced to transform. In the past year, she has focused more on business and technology investments, which have yielded good returns. Currently, Qi's Group is mainly relying on these to stay afloat.
However, these sectors are somewhat intangible. Technology ventures are like virtual currencies—no matter how high they're hyped, if they crash one day, it's over. Qi Li, having lived in the United States for a while, is well aware of this. These businesses can make money quickly but also go bankrupt even faster.
There's an example of a company in the US that specialized in manufacturing phone screens. After signing a contract with Apple, their stock price skyrocketed from just a few dollars to several dozen, even hundreds of dollars at its peak. The company quickly became the center of attention. But before they could make any significant profit, Apple released new products that didn't use their screens, and the company went bankrupt.
Qi Li is very familiar with these risks. Investments in these ventures offer big returns, but if they fail, they can collapse quickly—something she definitely doesn't want to see. She values real industry much more. After all, there's something tangible there, which gives people peace of mind.
Of all industries, selling clothes is probably the easiest way to make money. However, Qi's family doesn't deal with small brands, and big brands already have their own fashion stores, so they don't need agents.
Clothing is not viable right now, and the housing market is under adjustment. As for acting as agents for car brands, they don't have the necessary capability.
So, the only option left is food. It's said that food is the most essential industry. Before coming to Jiang Hai, Qi Li considered entering the catering industry. Although high-end wines can't be sold easily due to domestic policies, some high-end Western restaurants are still popular, especially as ordinary people are earning more.
A stylish restaurant is indeed a profitable venture. Moreover, the An family is already in the catering business. Qi Li could both make money and get revenge on them for her father's sake—a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.
But running a catering business isn't easy. While official problems are manageable—Qi's family has deep roots in the capital and many properties—there are issues with sourcing high-quality raw materials. It's hard to sell domestic products at high prices now, and foreign products have already been monopolized by major catering groups. Finding new sources is not easy.
Before coming here, Qi Li was thinking about these challenges but hadn't figured out a solution.
She came to Jiang Hai simply to relax, and at the same time, to set three rules with Jiang Hai, clarifying their relationship.
However, she unexpectedly discovered that the cattle in Jiang Hai's area are the best in the world. Initially, she just wanted to help Jiang Hai and get him more profits from Pra-Walton, so she came to learn more about Jiang Hai's cattle.
This could also be seen as a gesture of goodwill. After all, Jiang Hai's cattle are raised on the East Coast, and transporting them back to China would be quite troublesome.
But as she got to know him better, she realized that Jiang Hai's beef is indeed top-notch, and he also raises fish—cod, other fish, even salmon and lobster. If these were shipped to China, she believed her restaurant would be an instant success, which excited her.
However, when considering the price of the beef, she hesitated. It was just too expensive.
Including shipping costs, a pound of steak would cost about 3,000 RMB, and after accounting for water, electricity, taxes, and labor, a half-pound steak would cost over 2,000 RMB if it's not sold for that much.
But a steak that costs 2,000 RMB guarantees top-tier taste. The question is—how many people are willing to spend that much on a meal?
This is her biggest dilemma right now, though she really can't bring herself to give it up.
The most crucial point is that Jiang Hai doesn't slaughter cows. There are about 12,000 bulls, 2,000 of which have already been sold, leaving 10,000. If she doesn't take them now, she's certain that Pra-Walton won't let go of them, and she'll have to wait another year if she wants to buy them.
"It's a bit of a headache," Qi Li muttered, rubbing her temples.
Her assistant, who had been sitting beside her, knew exactly which project her boss was focusing on. In fact, in her opinion, the food here in Jiang Hai is absolutely delicious. She's traveled all over the country with Qi Li, sampling countless delicacies, but upon arriving in Jiang Hai, she suddenly realized that the food she once thought was delicious just didn't compare. Not to mention the steak, which the young master of Walmart particularly enjoys.
The fish, lobster, and abalone alone had an indescribable taste. The sweetness of deep-sea, cold-water creatures was something she'd never experienced before. It was truly overwhelming. If she felt this way, she imagined the food enthusiasts in China would be just as impressed.
She knew that once these products are shipped back to China, selling them at a high price would be no problem.
But she also understood Qi Li's concerns—the freight costs are too high, the distance is too great, and the prices would be unreasonable.
The two women sat on the lawn for an entire afternoon, until the sun set. As Philemon and Bell drove the cattle back, they finally reacted.
"I've decided. I'm going to give it a try." Qi Li spoke softly, as though to herself or her assistant, with a serious yet steady tone.
"But the price…" The assistant voiced her concern.
"No risk, no gain. If we miss this opportunity, we'll have to wait until next year. If Jiang Hai's beef becomes famous at Walmart, even with the bond between him and me, it will be much harder to secure a portion. And by then, there will be others selling the same beef in China." Qi Li stood up, casually brushing off the grass from her clothes. Her eyes gleamed with determination.
"Boss Qi, as long as it's your decision, I'll make sure to carry it out." Seeing that Qi Li had made up her mind, the assistant stood up as well, ready to show her full commitment.
The two of them returned to Jiang Hai's villa, where they found that Pra-Walton and Selena Gomez had already returned. But most importantly, Jiang Hai had prepared dinner.
At Jiang Hai's manor, delicious food is never in short supply. Tonight's dinner was, of course, steak. Along with it, there was a pot of beef stewed with persimmons, seafood including pan-fried cod strips, a large pot of cheddar soup, Arctic sweet shrimp, and braised abalone.
Though there wasn't a big lobster like the previous day—Jiang Hai hadn't had time to catch it—these dishes were still incredibly rich.
Since arriving, Qi Li's assistant hadn't stopped using her phone, likely sharing her experience on social media. But other than her, the atmosphere at the dinner table seemed more than a little strange. (To be continued.)