"Brother Bin, Wu Jianshe just called me and said that he had also contacted friends in the north and said that he could also get scrap steel~"
Xu Banxia called to say.
"Oh? Then we won't take them with us, we will do it ourselves."
Gao Bin wanted to laugh when he thought about how Wu Jianshe and the others were deceived when they went to the north to buy steel. They had dominated the business world for so many years, but they were fooled around by little brats.
"Is it possible?"
"What's wrong? What about Qiu Bizheng and Feng Yu?"
"Lao Qiu seems to want to follow Wu Jianshe. Feng Yu hasn't expressed his position yet, and his attitude is a bit ambiguous."
"Oh~ then don't worry about it. It's not that I won't play with them. Don't blame me if they are cheated."
"Being cheated?"
"Not to mention this, how is the construction of the storage yard going?"
"The road has just been leveled, and the next step is to build a house."
"Okay, do it as soon as possible. It's better to do this sooner rather than later."
"I know."
After hanging up the phone, Gao Bin picked up the wine glass and took a sip.
At this time, Gao Xinyi suddenly reached out and snatched away his wine glass:
"Stop drinking, bro~"
"You girl, you have enough control now."
"That is, my mother promised me to come to Binhai to live with you. The condition is to keep an eye on you and not let you drink randomly."
"Look at me, let me ask you, did you skip work again two days ago?"
Gao Xinyi hugged his arm and acted coquettishly:
"Oops~Brother~, why don't you go to my lousy class? It's too boring. After doing a week's work in half a day, the rest of the time is spent bragging and chatting or reading newspapers and drinking tea. It's so boring."
Gao Bin nodded:
"It's quite boring, but it's better than being safe."
"I don't like it, I don't care, brother, you have to help me!"
This girl started acting coquettishly again.
"Stop shaking and vomiting for me again. Then what do you want to do? There must be a goal so that I can help you find a way, right?"
"I just want to do something challenging and something that can be done in a real way."
Gao Bin smacked his lips:
"Okay, I'll think of a way."
"Hey, I knew you were the best, brother."
"Stop flattering me and return the wine glass to me."
"I'll drink with you~"
...
Gao Bin wasn't drinking to drown his sorrows, he was just recalling the development of the domestic steel industry in this era.
Since he has never been in this industry before, he has no concrete concepts.
However, from the beginning of the year to the present, Gao Bin's general impression of the steel industry this year is that operations have been slow, prices have fallen, transaction rates are low, capital turnover has slowed, and corporate economic benefits have declined.
Some documents seen in Gao Yuejin's study show that there are more than 20 key steel companies in the country with losses, an increase of 6 year-on-year, and the cumulative loss exceeds 1.7 billion.
This number is more than 70% higher than the same period last year;
There are 24 medium-sized backbone steel companies with losses, an increase of 4 year-on-year, and the cumulative loss is approaching 800 million yuan.
This situation occurs due to the gradual improvement of the market economic system and the balance between supply and demand, the marketization of the steel price formation mechanism, and the integration of international and domestic steel prices, which have gradually reduced the fluctuation range of steel prices.
In the past, due to the impact of the national planned economy, the steel industry had an advantage in production costs.
One is to rely on the low prices of domestic coal, electricity, oil, mining and transportation, and the other is to rely on the long-term cheap labor provided by steel workers.
In the past, the proportion of labor costs in the cost of steel products was only 7-9%, which is a great advantage compared with 15-25% in foreign countries.
However, with the establishment of the market economic system, the gradual increase in prices of upstream products, and the rapid growth of employee wages and benefits in the steel industry, the cost advantage in the original sense has disappeared.
At the same time, world steel market prices have fallen.
Since the second half of this year, Laomaozi has replaced Neon and become the number one steel importer in China.
At present, ordinary rods and plates that can participate in price competition in the domestic market mainly come from the CIS countries.
However, due to the low price of steel imported from countries such as Polar Bear, the CIF price of some steel is already lower than the production cost of some domestic steel companies.
For example, the sales price of hot-rolled plates imported from the CIS is only about 2,400 yuan. Sales at such a low price in China will inevitably lead to a price decline in the domestic steel market.
Coupled with the increase in prices of upstream raw materials, the profits of the domestic steel industry have declined sharply and the number of loss-making enterprises has increased.
Since 1994, steel market prices have continued to decline and tended to stabilize in 1996.
The steel industry is no longer the high-profit sector it was in the early 1990s.
With further price adjustments for raw materials, electricity, transportation, etc., the capital profit and tax rate of the steel industry is facing more severe challenges.
The decline in steel prices and stabilization is already irreversible.
It stands to reason that Zhao Lei, who has been working in foreign companies for many years, cannot not know this information, but in the original drama, why did he cooperate with Xu Banxia?
Gao Bin has not read the book, but if he had read the original work, he would probably find the answer.
In the original work, Xu Banxia’s life was not so glorious.
She and Zhao Lei gradually drifted apart, and there was an estrangement between her and Tong Xiaoqi. Although her business grew bigger and bigger step by step, she eventually became alone.
To a certain extent, Xu Banxia in the original work is more like Gao Bin, with a dark physique.
Xu Banxia was born with a curse.
Her mother died trying to support her, and her father resented her, so he named her after Pinellia ternata.
Because, "Born Pinellia - Poison".
In fact, the father's curse doesn't stop there.
Later, when Xu Banxia met Gao Xinyi, it suddenly occurred to him that his name had a deeper meaning.
When she heard Gao Xinyi's name, she thought:
"The flowers of Xinyi are much more beautiful than those of Pinellia ternata. The flowers of Pinellia ternata are like poisonous snakes spitting messages. I guess when my father named her, he would not have considered this one fiercely."
One name, two curses, it shows that her father hates her terribly.
It can also be seen that poison is the core characteristic of Xu Banxia.
Her poison first manifests itself on the polluted tidal flats.
In the play, it was Xiao Chen who suggested it and Tong Xiaoqi carried it out, without Xu Banxia knowing anything about it.
But in the original work, it was Xu Banxia who suggested it and Tong Xiaoqi carried it out. Xiao Chen didn’t know about it until his death, let alone that he died because of the polluted tidal flat.
Because of the polluted tidal flats, Xu Banxia received a curse of "not being able to die".
But at that time, she was busy surviving and didn't care about the curse.
She thought: "Afterlife? I can't take care of it in this life."
Then, he went about his business in full swing.
In the play, one of Xu Banxia’s highlight moments was when she went to the Northeast to purchase equipment.
Knowing that the demolition of the steel plant involves complex conflicts of interest, she ignored Zhao Lei's dissuasion and helped the laid-off workers of the steel plant fight against local snakes.
After that, she brought the laid-off workers to the south, which on the one hand solved their technical needs and on the other hand, provided them with re-employment opportunities.
Xu Banxia in the original work is not so chivalrous and selfless.
After arriving in the Northeast, she discovered that there were fierce conflicts between steel mill workers and developers, and if she got involved, she might become a target.
Therefore, her first thought was to give up her plan to acquire equipment and rush to distance herself.
But after in-depth exchanges with the steel mill employees, she took a fancy to their skills and wanted to poach them, so she negotiated a deal with the developer in which everyone got what they needed:
The workers resisted tenaciously because they wanted the steel plant to resume operations and because the developer teamed up with the police to arrest their children.
In response to this, Xu Banxia offered suggestions:
She asked the developer to let the children go and break the morale of the employees; she lured them with high-paying positions to let them get off the ground.
In this way, both the developer and her got what they wanted.
Although Xu Banxia's strategy in the play is similar to that in the original work, Xu Banxia's starting point is obviously beautified in the play.
In the original work, Xu Banxia's psychological activities are revealed by Chi Guoguo, and the details of her actions in the Northeast are also more detailed.
For example, when in Northeast China, a lawyer wanted to use Xu Banxia to investigate problems with developers. Xu Banxia knew the dangers and immediately eliminated traces of his dealings with him.
For another example, when she brought workers from the Northeast to the South, she was worried that they would be too attached to their homeland and could not work with peace of mind, so she used the black-and-white power of developers to frighten them so that they would not dare to think of returning to the Northeast.
During the entire trip to the Northeast, although Xu Banxia occasionally had kind thoughts, the premise of those kind actions was that they would not bring danger to themselves or harm their own interests.
Once something conflicts with her own interests, she will stop immediately.
Marx said: "Capital comes into the world, from head to toe, and every pore is dripping with blood and filth."
The same is true for Xu Banxia.
It was an era of barbaric growth, and the country's regulations and supervision were not yet complete, which also gave many Banxia people an opportunity to take advantage of.
The poison of Pinellia ternata is not the poison of Xu Banxia alone, but the poison of an era.
There were many entrepreneurs who developed in that era who carried original sin.
Regrettably, in the play, the scars of the times and personal sins can only be dealt with lightly, and those curses of immortality can only be sublimated into a great reconciliation in the end.
If you look at it this way, the content in the TV series is too idealistic and involves a lot of luck.
But in the original work, Xu Banxia’s mind is basically always turning to make money.
Not to mention anything else, the calculations between Xu Banxia, Guo Qidong, and Wu Jianshe are particularly exciting.
In the play, Xu Banxia and Guo Qidong had a feud because they wanted to borrow money from Qiu Bizheng to import scrap steel.
Her and Tong Xiaoqi's investigation into Guo Qidong was a surrender to Qiu Bizheng.
But in the original work, after discovering that Guo Qidong cheated Qiu Bizheng, Xu Banxia not only sat back and ignored it, but also took advantage of Guo Qidong's greed and used generous kickbacks to let him hand over the transportation tasks of his factory to Tong Xiaoqi's team.
After that, she threatened Guo Qidong's accounting problems and forced Guo Qidong not only to continue to provide business to Tong Xiaoqi, but also to cancel the rebates.
But regarding Xu Banxia’s “robbery”, Guo Qidong dared not speak out in anger.
Xu Banxia finally decided to take action against Guo Qidong because of Feng Yu.
When Xu Banxia encountered a financial crisis due to falling steel prices due to imported polar bear scrap steel, Feng Yu lent Xu Banxia 2 million without saying a word.
In sharp contrast to Feng Yu: Qiu Bi was evasive and unwilling to borrow money; Wu Jianshe was not only unwilling to borrow money, but also insulted Xu Banxia.
Since then, the gap between them has been forged.
By chance, Xu Banxia learned from Zhao Lei that Guo Qidong was encouraging Qiubizheng to transform the production line.
The renovated production line competes with Feng Yu's products.
Thinking of Feng Yu's past kindness, Xu Banxia and Feng Yuyi worked together to send Guo Qidong to prison.
Qiu Bizheng, who lost Guo Qidong, was unable to run the factory by himself.
Although Guo Qidong had second thoughts, he still granted parole for Guo Qidong.
Perhaps Banxia did not let Guo Qidong go.
She and Tong Xiaoqi set up Guo Qidong to solicit prostitution and took the opportunity to call the police, sending Guo Qidong to prison again.
In fact, she originally wanted to take Wu Jianshe into account, but Wu Jianshe escaped because he answered the phone.
There are two details worthy of attention in this incident.
First, when Xu Banxia asked Feng Yu to report Guo Qidong's accounting problems, Zhao Lei had an investment of 2 million in Qiu Bizheng through Guo Qidong's hands.
She knew that doing so would bring trouble to Zhao Lei's funds, but she did not remind Zhao Lei.
Because she was worried that Zhao Lei would leak the news and ruin her plan.
Second, when she set up a trap for Guo Qidong and Piao Nuchang to be arrested, Feng Yu was also one of the participants.
Although she had a good relationship with Feng Yu, she still chose to drag Feng Yu into the trap in order to make the plan go smoothly.
However, in order to make up for it, she immediately released bail for Feng Yu after he was arrested by the police.
From these two points, we can see that Xu Banxia’s methods are fierce and she is absolutely rational and realistic in the business world.
How to choose between the overall situation and details, how to maximize her own interests, she can always operate with a clear head.
It is precisely because of these qualities that she can carve her way out in the fierce business competition.
Her revenge against Guo Qidong and Wu Jianshe did not end here.
Because Guo Qidong was imprisoned and Qiu Bizheng's factory was not managed well, Zhao Lei was left with an investment of 700,000 that could not be recovered.
Afterwards, Qiubizheng contracted the factory to Wu Jianshe, and Zhao Lei's debts were also transferred to Wu Jianshe.
However, at that time, Zhao Lei was fired by a foreign company and lost his former glory. Wu Jianshe not only humiliated him, but also refused to repay the loan.
In order to get back the final payment, Zhao Lei designed Wu Construction to buy a private steel mill with many problems.
Because Wu Jianshe relied on Zhao Lei to mediate during the purchase process, he repaid the money honestly.
However, it was Xu Banxia who initially wanted to buy the steel mill, and Wu Jianshe won, which made her very unwilling.
Naturally, Zhao Lei did not forgive Wu Jianshe's past "crotch humiliation" so easily.
As a result, Xu Banxia and Zhao Lei induced Wu Jianshe to raise environmental issues, and then joined forces with Provincial Steel to expose the environmental scandal.
Under the infamy, Wu Jianshe was like a rat crossing the street, and everyone shouted to beat him.
Xu Banxia became the final winner, uniting with Provincial Steel and taking over the steel plant built by Wu Jianshe.
In the original work, Xu Banxia has endless tricks, endless thoughts, and 800 tricks all over her body.
She is shrewd and sophisticated, and she can always quickly win over people who are useful to her.
And she can also find ways to deal with people who are unfavorable to her.
However, she is not a treacherous person. Apart from polluting the tidal flats, her actions have always been within the red lines of the law
In "The Wind Blowing Pinellia", there is also the love between Xu Banxia and Zhao Lei, which is mature and independent, but also full of warmth.
Before marrying Zhao Lei, Xu Banxia asked for pre-marital property justice because she was worried that her ambition would bring trouble to Zhao Lei.
The phrase "The money is mine and the debt is mine" in the play can be described as the ceiling for independent women to fall in love.
Zhao Lei also gave up his job in another place, became the compromising party in love, and returned to Banxia.
But in the original work, their relationship has many imperfections.
Xu Banxia fell in love with Zhao Lei at first sight.
When we first met, Zhao Lei was a senior executive of a foreign company. He was wearing a suit and leather shoes and had a high-spirited look. He immediately struck Xu Banxia’s heart.
But for Xu Banxia, who was obese and charged among men, Zhao Lei did not regard her as a woman.
When Xu Banxia and Zhao Lei first met, they both wanted to take advantage of each other.
Xu Banxia wanted to take advantage of Zhao Lei's status as a foreign company executive to enjoy the shade against a big tree.
Zhao Lei feels that Xu Banxia has a good mind but is weak and easy to manipulate, and wants to develop her into a long-term partner.
The first time Zhao Lei felt compassion for Xu Banxia was when Xu Banxia told Zhao Lei and another potential partner, Lao Song, about his life experience on his birthday, that is, "Born Pinellia Poison".
She won the sympathy of Zhao Lei and Lao Song with her miserable life experience, and got their help in importing scrap steel.
And this is exactly the purpose of Xu Banxia’s misfortune.
Imported scrap steel caused an economic crisis for Xu Banxia's company, so Zhao Lei took out a 500,000 loan to support her.
When Xu Banxia's crisis passed, Zhao Lei did not immediately withdraw the loan, but decided to add another 2 million to this as an investment for Xu Banxia to operate.
The reason why he did this was because he took a fancy to Xu Banxia's lucrative business.
The reason why Xu Banxia accepted it readily was because she knew that the strongest relationship is the one where interests are bound.
But after Zhao Lei was fired from a foreign company, Xu Banxia's attitude changed.
She suggested that Zhao Lei take back the money. Apparently it was for Zhao Lei's benefit, but in fact it was because Zhao Lei did not want to lose power and continue to benefit from her.
Zhao Lei was also worried that the money was not safe with Xu Banxia, so he took the opportunity to recover the money.
However, calculations are calculations, and it does not affect Xu Banxia's obsession with Zhao Lei.
The great change in the relationship between Xu Banxia and Zhao Lei occurred after Zhao Lei was fired.
Zhao Lei graduated from a prestigious school, was a proud young man, and had a smooth journey.
After leaving the foreign company, the blow of unemployment and the humiliation of Wu Jianshe made him suffer humiliation.
When he was most frustrated, the only person who could comfort him was Xu Banxia.
Now, he finally understood.
In the past, those girlfriends who were weak and lovable were like vases, worthless and useless.
The most important person at the critical moment is Xu Banxia.
He knew that Xu Banxia was interested in him, so he took the initiative to send out signals and confess his feelings, and the two came together.
They had a period of passionate love.
When they have time, they seize the opportunity to meet each other and have a romantic relationship. When they can't meet each other, they talk on the phone every day to relieve their lovesickness.
But even so, love never went to their heads.
Zhao Lei accepted a new job in another city and was busy all day long.
Xu Banxia is a trapeze artist and travels frequently.
Xu Banxia regrets that Zhao Lei cannot be with her, but she is not reluctant.
Because what she loves is the extraordinary and energetic Zhao Lei.
If you force him to stay with you, then he may not be the person you love.