Chapter 489: Chapter 222: The First Cigarette

For Li Yang, if he can settle this matter in one go, it will save him a lot of trouble later.

In Wang Cuiping’s view, if Xue Ning doesn’t get married, she will feel very sad when she grows older.

It’s not just about money, it’s more about the spiritual aspect.

Li Yang not only has work, but also a family. They might also put more emotion into Li Yang’s children, or when they grow older, they won’t be able to provide any emotional value to Xue Ning.

Besides, they’re bound to die before Xue Ning, and when they’re gone?

How lonely would Xue Ning be then? Looking around, there’s no one to accompany her for the rest of her life.

As for the kids, by that time they will have their own families, possibly busy with their lives, the care they can provide will be limited.

If she has a daughter, it might be a bit better; a daughter marries into a good family and has spare time to accompany her.

If she has a son, and he has headaches or colds, or gets hospitalized, can she count on the son to serve? The daughter-in-law? Even less hope.

Li Yang said: "Mom, I think Ning is right. Of course, I also agree with your thoughts. But feelings can’t be forced. If Ning wants to find someone, she should go ahead, if she doesn’t want to..."

"Even if she doesn’t want to, she has to find someone..." Wang Cuiping added.

Li Yang asked: "Mom, if she doesn’t want to find someone, why force her into it? If the man really impresses Ning, she wouldn’t need you to say anything, she’d go herself. We can’t just accept anyone for the sake of marriage, right? A forced marriage would definitely be a mess, Ning’s personality wouldn’t let her tell the family her grievances, it’s better for her to stay home with you, at least she won’t be wronged."

"What about later? When we’re old..."

"Then Ning should stay by your side. I have a ton of work and don’t know how many days I can spend at home each year. With Ning taking care of you, I’ll be at ease."

Wang Cuiping: "You’re saying it nicely, but who will take care of her later?"

Li Yang: "I will, when Ning gets older, I’ll be retired as well. Even if I can’t take care of people well, I have sons and daughters, they should take care of her, right? Moreover, can’t I afford a caregiver? When I retire, I’ll move in with Ning, talk to her, find someone to serve her, and ensure she won’t be wronged at any time."

"What if you go bankrupt?"

Li Yang: "..."

Such a mother indeed.

He said helplessly: "Then, while I still have money, I’ll set aside an amount every year for you, with Ning also having a share, ensuring you’ll have enough for the rest of your lives after three to five years, will that work?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"That’s what you said, not me."

Wang Cuiping wouldn’t dare to suggest letting her son support a foster daughter, she already reached her limit by asking him to prepare a dowry.

No matter how rich Li Yang becomes, they can’t use Li Yang’s money on Xue Ning, Li Yang must offer it voluntarily.

"Yes, yes, I said it."

Li Yang just needed this excuse.

At this point, the emotional value Xue Ning provided to his parents was already beyond extraordinary, he was happy to do it.

He and Jiang Banxia were bound not to stay home often, can’t pull Bai Qing back to accompany them now, right? That would be more troublesome.

For Wang Cuiping, this outcome wasn’t unacceptable because her son was willing, she didn’t bear the pressure and could live happily.

"But let me be clear, if Ningning meets someone she likes, she can marry anytime."

"No problem, as long as Ning wants to, I’ll keep my promise until I’m bankrupt."

Wang Cuiping: "Then delay your bankruptcy for a few years..."

Li Yang: "..."

...

In the afternoon, Li Yang had nothing to do, and didn’t have a chance to find Xue Ning, so he simply started contacting headhunting firms directly, Green Water Heaven and Earth needed a professional general manager to help build the entire supermarket system.

He still had to go to Fuguang Group, where he had ordered a batch of products over the past two days, all of which would be trendy items in the future, requiring Fuguang Group to prepare for production.

Of course, a portion would definitely be assigned to Green Water Group, after all, Green Water Group was originally in food processing, able to open several factories in the nearby counties, providing a lot of employment for the locals.

Food is evolving every year, recent years’ trendy food is meat floss buns, but meat floss buns are gradually starting to lose their popularity.

The era of trendy food will commence in the coming years, and once it starts, many food processing plants will become manufacturers for trendy brands.

Are trendy products better? No, they’re more expensive!

For example, a certain brand of snail noodles currently priced at four yuan will gradually increase to seven yuan, ten yuan, twelve yuan, and fifteen yuan in the coming years...

Trendy products lack cost-effectiveness, but due to mass marketing and various behind-the-scenes price cap agreements, causing all market product prices to rise wildly.

Even many major brands have started collaborating with influencers, signing cap price agreements with platform merchants, significantly raising the factory prices.

The reason is the massive profits brought by influencers!

Retailing on the market, selling one million packs of snail noodles a year, with influencer promotion, selling three million packs a year.

Previously, to sell products both offline and online, profits had to be lowered, using low prices to attract people. A factory price of three yuan might get an average selling price of just three and a half.

Yet after influencer promotion, even with a factory price of three yuan, the average price can reach seven or ten yuan.

Even after giving influencers a 20% commission, it’s more profitable than before, since it’s ultimately the consumer’s expense.

Consumers, aren’t they just meant to be taken advantage of?

Li Yang has no particular thoughts on this phenomenon, one is willing to hit, one is willing to get hit.

What he’s more concerned about is what happens after this...

There are more and more influencer products, and for consumers, the desire to purchase becomes stronger.

In the past, many people didn’t even know those snacks existed in the world.

Maybe everyone has had pickled chicken feet, but at that time, spicy boneless chicken feet were relatively niche.

Spicy boneless chicken feet will become a leading influencer product in the future, with a single product achieving annual national sales of 6.5 billion yuan.

With the update in storage methods, more and more small snacks are being turned into influencer products.

Many things that could only be eaten at small stalls can now be stored in the refrigerator at home.

These influencer products are needed by consumers because they better align with their eating habits.

Influencer marketing is really no different from investment.

Some people invest only for the huge short-term profits. They don’t care about how the market will be in the future, as long as they can sell products and make money in the short term.

Price agreements can package an eyebrow pencil worth a few yuan into one costing seventy or eighty yuan, and you can’t find a single price lower than those celebrities on the entire internet.

It’s easier to recognize brand value with cosmetics and skincare products, and Li Yang is not interested, but when it comes to food, brand effects weaken a lot.

In the future, influencers will expand the popularity of those products; he prepares in advance to capture those markets, killing two birds with one stone.

The influencer model will severely undermine the market’s consumer credibility; some without bottom lines will make consumers "once bitten, twice shy".

Li Yang is one of them.

No matter what he buys on Douyin, he always gets the short end of the stick, so he decisively gave up on that stuff later.

Even some well-known big teams sell things with no cost-effectiveness.

They say it’s the lowest price on the internet, and indeed, a search shows it is.

But damn it, before you entered the market, that product cost less than it does now.

Once or twice doesn’t matter, but many times later, you either can’t afford to keep up, or find the prices outrageous, with incredibly poor value for money.

Psychologically, it’s no different from being robbed.

The healthy competition in the market is broken, too much attention is drawn to influencer products, leading to bad money driving out good, hitting consumer confidence after fermenting.

Li Yang went through those dark years when goods in the market wouldn’t sell, and countless companies went bankrupt.

To survive, influencer products had to cut down on quality, and major platforms, for the sake of turnover, would turn a blind eye, with zero regulation.

This fueled the popularity of Pang Donglai, even though its things weren’t cheap either.

It relied on service and quality, forcibly turning its supermarket into a tourist attraction. This shows consumers aren’t fools, they’re willing to pay for service and quality.

This is what’s called: Awakening!

Li Yang definitely wants to capture the traffic of these ’awakened ones’, providing them with better products and more cost-effective services.

Layout influencer products, crafting flavors more suited to Chinese young people.

...

He didn’t get to go to Extreme Shadow Cars, by the time he finished everything else, it was already very late.

After six o’clock, when he came back, he saw his mom preparing a sumptuous dinner.

The morning meal, due to time constraints, was a bit simpler, and many good things didn’t get a chance to be made.

Li Yang leaned over to take a look and complained, "Mom, you don’t make this much at home, I haven’t even tasted some of this seafood."

"We don’t sell those at home, Jiangbei is a big city, and there’s more fresh seafood sold here, all these are what Ningning likes to eat."

"I like to eat them too."

After saying that, Li Yang reached out to taste a piece.

Wang Cuiping didn’t really say anything, after all, her son is loved just the same.

It’s just that...

"At least wash your hands..."

"I’ll wash them after eating, otherwise they’d get dirty again. By the way, where’s dad?"

Li Yang didn’t see Li Likun, he only saw Xue Ning sitting on the sofa watching TV, holding a bowl of some kind of soup in her hand.

"He went downstairs, not sure for what."

Li Yang wiped his hands and opened the door to head down.

He took a glance at the entrance of the apartment building but didn’t see his dad.

Then, he strolled around the surroundings, finally spotting a sneaky figure in a corner.

Seeing Li Yang approaching, Li Likun quickly threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, stomping on it a few times, awkwardly saying, "Why did you come down?"

"I’m calling you back for dinner, Dad... if you want to smoke, you don’t have to come here, just find a bedroom, close the door and open the window, isn’t that how we used to do it at home?"

"Well, it doesn’t work now, pregnant women can’t smell any smoke... I was just holding back too much today, this is still the first one..."