As Huang He had estimated, Huang He became famous, and the entire Jiangnan Group also became famous. Everyone was shocked by the true identity of the great hero.
Who would have thought that this hero who repeatedly rushed into the fire would also be a billionaire, a rich man.
Since Jiangnan Group was very low-key about this, or rather, wished it didn't exist, they only admitted that Chairman Huang He was indeed in Beijing handling official business when facing the ensuing reporters' interviews. They claimed to know nothing else and then refused any further interviews.
At the same time, all the shops and stalls under Jiangnan adopted a "don't know anything" attitude towards relevant interviews, refusing to comment on any related events. However, Jiangnan Group inevitably became famous.
However, it is worth mentioning that all the reporters who went to interview were given a generous red envelope as travel expenses. Although Huang He personally disliked such things, he gave these red envelopes to prevent his reporters from exaggerating. Each red envelope contained 1,000 yuan, which was a considerable income for these hardworking reporters in 2002.
Despite giving the red envelopes, Jiangnan Group did not impose any conditions on the reporters, only expressing hope that everyone would report on the events truthfully.
Reporters, it is said, are most adept at investigating and finding stories.
They are also good at exaggerating, but since Jiangnan Group was so considerate in giving them travel expenses, they decided to add some sugar and omit the vinegar.
Soon, all of Huang He's familiar teachers, classmates, friends, and colleagues were interviewed by reporters and published in their magazines or news at the fastest possible speed.
Soon, a more complete picture of Huang He and Jiangnan Group was exposed to the public.
And the audience was even more shocked after seeing these reports, because Huang He's story was simply too legendary.
His parents were a pair of ordinary shoemakers, who later left the state-owned enterprise and founded the Jiangnan Leather Factory themselves, which was a typical case of starting from scratch.
Huang He was also very poor in his childhood. According to the reporters' interviews with Huang He's primary school teachers and classmates, Huang He was a very low-key child at that time.
But it wasn't that he pretended to be low-key; he was genuinely low-key. At that time, his family was still poor, and Huang He would wrap the end of his pencil with tape and use it until the pencil was completely finished. His family's circumstances were very poor.
But even in such circumstances, Huang He also did a good deed of returning lost property. He found 10 yuan on the street and handed it to his teacher. This was recalled by Huang He's Chinese teacher, and Huang He himself did not remember these events at all.
Apart from this, Huang He seemed to have done nothing else that his teachers could recall.
Later, in junior high school, Huang He's family began to get richer. Huang He's clothing, food, and daily necessities improved, but he remained very low-key at school. Nothing major happened, except that his academic performance was not very good. Later, his parents sent him to study in Germany without finishing high school, so he had fewer classmates in China.
By the time Huang He returned from Germany, it was during his university years. Reporters interviewed Huang He's university classmates again, and they said that Huang He rarely came to school and almost always worked in his family's factory. Later, while studying, he married a classmate, and they held their wedding shortly after graduation.
But he was very enthusiastic, and Huang He would do his best to help his classmates with anything. He was a very good person.
The above, in fact, was not reported much by the reporters, because it was too bland. Except for getting married early, there was almost no explosive material. This was nothing compared to the storytelling and drama of Huang He's post-graduation life.
For example, in the year 2000, after Huang He's graduation, the three most important people in his life left him one after another. First, it was the car accident of his parents, as Huang He described, and then the death of his wife three months later.
In the accounts and interviews of media reporters, the interviewees stated that the departure of three relatives within a year deeply affected Huang He, leading to errors in company operations, resulting in a large backlog of goods for Jiangnan Leather Factory, products that couldn't be sold, and workers who couldn't be paid.
According to a former factory employee interviewed by reporters, at its worst, Jiangnan Leather Factory couldn't pay wages for nearly six months. Although he left early and his wages were not in arrears, many of his colleagues who remained in the factory couldn't make ends meet due to the prolonged non-payment of wages and had to scavenge for food in garbage dumps.
Moreover, Huang He also owed 350 million yuan in loans that he couldn't repay at that time.
"During the most difficult period for Jiangnan Leather Factory, there were frequent rumors in Wenzhou that Huang He was going to abscond with the money. Some workers even created a jingle to mock Huang He!" the reporter said with heartfelt pain in front of the camera, followed by that familiar...
"Zhejiang Wenzhou, Zhejiang Wenzhou..."
Well, the reporters' investigations were not rigorous enough. They believed that this recording was made by the workers who were owed wages and could not imagine that it would be Huang He's own voice.
However, it couldn't be blamed on them; who would have thought someone would arrange themselves like this? After all, all employees of Jiangnan Group were strictly prohibited from accepting any media interviews, so they could only obtain information through scattered channels, making such a mistake understandable.
"But just when everyone thought Huang He was going to abscond with the money, leaving thousands of workers with depleted resources, Huang He did not run away but chose to stay and fight for a glimmer of hope!" the host continued to explain.
"It is said that heaven does not abandon the kind-hearted. Huang He discovered while buying a lottery ticket that if he put his products into boxes, whether they were cheap wallets or expensive leather jackets, and sold them for only ten yuan, he might gain market appeal."
"So Huang He acted immediately, packing all the products into blind boxes with all the workers, and went from street to street in Wenzhou selling blind boxes with all his workers."
"Unexpectedly, the sales of these blind boxes were exceptionally hot. Within a few months, all accumulated inventory was sold out, the 350 million yuan debt and workers' wages were all paid off, and Jiangnan Leather Factory was reborn from the ashes, becoming the new Jiangnan Group. At the same time, it collaborated with other enterprises in Wenzhou to join the blind box business, jointly writing a new chapter!"
"Bang!" Huang He directly turned off the television set upon seeing this.
"Sister, why did you turn off the TV? I didn't even know our company became so prosperous back then!" Leng Zhimeng said with a smile. "But why doesn't this program introduce our oo? That would also give our company some fame!"
"That's because they are all talking nonsense and fabricating things. It's obvious that they rushed to broadcast after interviewing a few people who only half understood the situation."
"They didn't even think about how these blind boxes could have been sold from street to street in Wenzhou. Could Wenzhou absorb so much stock? And they said it was sold out in three months, but some goods haven't even been sold yet and are still piled up in our warehouse."
"And the lottery? At that time, brother-in-law was so worried that he was sick for a week, constantly running a fever, and was blocked in his office by workers, unable to get out. How could he have had the chance to buy lottery tickets? It's all fabricated!" Leng Zhiruo mumbled to herself.
"That's because brother-in-law suppressed all of us and didn't let us speak. Do you know how many media interviews I refused in one day? Except for CCTV, I think all other media outlets invited me for interviews, and I rejected them all. Do you know how difficult it was for me?" Leng Zhimeng said with a grin.
"If CCTV invites you, you can go. Don't go to any others!" Huang He ambled out, took a bite of pig kidney made by his mother, and said, "I am the eye of the storm right now. Every move I make will cause huge changes in Jiangnan Group. We must remain low-key."
"You haven't seen that I don't even dare to go to the company and have been eating at my mother's house for the past three days?"
"I wish you were interviewed by the media more!" his mother-in-law said with a smile.
"Yes, brother-in-law, you don't know how they are hyping you up now. They are calling you China's Bill Gates, the smartest, most benevolent, and most humane entrepreneur of the younger generation, and they are calling on all entrepreneurs nationwide to learn from you!" Leng Zhimeng said with a playful smile.
"That's what I fear most. If the national media continue to hype me like this, I'll be completely destroyed by praise!" Huang He sighed. "Putting aside other things, those entrepreneurs who are called upon to learn from me are probably wishing they could kick me in the butt right now."
"But brother-in-law, it's not all bad. From the time your identity was revealed until now, in just over ten days, the sales of all our nationwide shops and stalls have equaled the sales of the previous month and a half. Everyone is queuing up, wanting to buy our blind boxes. In many cities, even the most ordinary blind boxes are sold out, with large shortages. I estimate that all the companies in the association will have to work overtime." Leng Zhiruo sighed.
"It's good enough if they can work overtime. What I'm truly worried about is the situation in Wuchang City. I heard their granaries are all empty, and they can't issue a single bag of rice, so our grain and oil blind boxes might also be out of stock."
"So they are asking us if we can allow rice from other cities in the Northeast to join as suppliers, but under the brand name of their Wuchang rice!" Leng Zhiruo asked curiously.
"As long as the quality is guaranteed!" Huang He nodded.
"Never mind the rice. The number of users for our oo has also surged. It seems that other media outlets have discovered that oo belongs to you, and as a result, our active user numbers have surged by 2 million in ten days. Many of them are likely to be active QQ users, which probably makes Brother Ma's face turn green!" Leng Zhimeng said with delight.
At this moment, the entire Jiangnan Group was in a state of fervor, and the name of Jiangnan Group, for the first time, left a deep impression in the hearts of people across the country.