On August 29, 1970, Xu Junying was born into an ordinary citizen family in Guangzhou. After graduating from college, Xu Junying started a paint business. A year later, he dug his first pot of gold in life; three years later, his assets had reached more than 500,000 yuan. In 1991, the paint market in Guangzhou became increasingly competitive. Xu Junying quit in time and partnered with others to do a building materials business, which was smooth sailing. In less than two years, his assets increased from hundreds of thousands to more than two million yuan.
In 1997, Xu Junying broke into the construction industry after co-founding Wenxing Construction Company. With his keen market insight, Wenxing Construction's business scale expanded rapidly. After a period of forecasting the market prospects, Xu Junying purchased a large piece of farmland in Haizhu District and built Haidu Mingju. Soon, Haidu Mingju's value doubled.
In 2001, Xu Junying was worth over 10 million yuan and became a popular real estate developer in Guangzhou. He was also very particular about his life, and the BMW 528i and luxury villas over 500 square meters that he specially ordered made him the envy of everyone. There are several servants, cooks and cleaners in his family.
In early 2002, when the Guangdong government introduced new housing regulations, Xu Junying's investment project was hit hard, and the stocks he invested in also fell sharply. Three months later, Xu Junying's investment mistakes left the company with a bigger financial hole. Xu Junying had to borrow money everywhere, but just then, the company partners withdrew all the funds. When the news leaked, several loans that were about to be negotiated fell through.
In early 2003, Guangdong Wenxing Construction Company officially declared bankruptcy, and all the achievements of many years of hard work were wiped out overnight. But the bad luck did not end there. Although the company declared bankruptcy, the hundreds of thousands of yuan in wages owed to workers and other people's material costs had to be repaid. Xu Junying had to sell the house and car to pay off the debt. When the debt was paid off, the rich man was reduced to a poor boy, and Xu Junying had to rent a house with his wife and children.
In order to maintain the basic expenses of the family, 33-year-old Xu Junying sold side dishes in Guangning County and went to various freight yards in downtown Guangzhou to work as a porter. At that time, he met his former friend Yang Jianhua, who was in trouble. After learning of Xu Junying's recent situation, Yang Jianhua called two bankrupt millionaires who had suffered the same as himself, Zou Wei and Zheng Ge, and the four of them had a good drink. After laughing, crying, and getting drunk, the four of them cheered each other up and said: "Farewell to yesterday, we still have tomorrow, come on!"
After careful consideration, Xu Junying went to Beijing with his wife and children and temporarily stayed at his wife's mother's house. During this period, Xu Junying found a lot of jobs and encountered many obstacles.
In September 2004, Xu Junying finally found a job as a personal driver for Cai Jiahua, the owner of Haitian Advertising Agency, with a monthly salary of 1,800 yuan. Whenever he held the steering wheel of the Audi A6, Xu Junying's heart would always feel sour. But all the glitz is over, and for the sake of his family, he must live in the present.
After adjusting his mindset, Xu Junying decided to do this hard-won job seriously. Unknowingly, Xu Junying worked as a driver for Cai Jiahua for three months. During this period, Xu Junying also helped Cai Jiahua solve several small problems in his career.
Gradually, Cai Jiahua took Xu Junying as his personal assistant, and brought Xu Junying to participate in some big social engagements. Every time Xu Junying acted with ease, helping Cai Jiahua solve a lot of troubles at critical moments, and adding a lot of face to Cai Jiahua. Cai Jiahua increasingly trusted and relied on this smart, agile, and unflappable driver.
"High quality of life" has become my specialty.
In January 2005, Xu Junying provided constructive advice to Cai Jiahua on a large investment plan, and Cai Jiahua made a lot of money after adopting it.
On the morning of April 21, 2005, as soon as Cai Jiahua got into the car, he began to complain. It turned out that the night before, his friends had said that next week was his birthday, and everyone wanted to have a party at his house. Cai Jiahua said, "You say, what can I do about this?" Xu Junying said with a smile: "Mr. Cai, I think it's a big deal! Just leave it to me with confidence, and you will be satisfied!"
Three days before Cai Jiahua's birthday, Xu Junying began to get busy at Cai's house. He led the servants to purchase the decoration supplies for the banquet, and then arranged and directed them to decorate the hall. Xu Junying also formulated the banquet recipe, and explained in detail to the chef from the selection of ingredients to the cooking. In addition, Xu Junying also gathered all the servants together and taught them social etiquette, such as how to hold the cup and how to serve the meal.
On Cai Jiahua's birthday, the elegant and chic environment, the warm and romantic lighting, the noble and elegant decoration, the joyous and peaceful atmosphere, the delicious food, and the exquisite and elegant service all made the guests full of praise and happiness.
Late at night, just as Xu Junying was about to leave, Cai Jiahua stopped him and said, "Junying, you've been working hard at our house these days, and Minyun and I have discussed letting you change careers!" Before Xu Junying could speak, his wife Wu Minyun said, "I agree with Jiahua that you are more suitable as a housekeeper than as a driver! With you in charge, Jiahua and I can rest easy!" "I'll give you double the salary, but when I have entertainment, you have to come out and accompany me!" Cai Jiahua added. Xu Junying readily agreed.
In July 2005, Xu Junying officially became Cai Jiahua's senior housekeeper. Because of the previous contact and cooperation, the servants of the Cai family admire Xu Junying very much, and Xu Junying manages it quite smoothly. Xu Junying has to set the recipe every day and check the quality of the chef's dishes. He requires the chef not only to make the dishes nutritious, but also to taste good and look good. He also directs the nanny and cleaning staff to do a good job of service, and Xu Junying always teaches them hand-in-hand about some things they are new to or do badly. After a day's work, Xu Junying also records the expenses of the day so that the expenses can be calculated at the end of the month.
Xu Junying took care of the Cai family properly.
Four down-and-out millionaires join hands to make a comeback
Soon, Cai Jiahua's family had a smart and capable housekeeper who was well known to everyone. Many friends said to Cai Jiahua with envy, "When will you lend me your housekeeper for two days?" Cai Jiahua always said proudly, "I can't bear it!"
One weekend in May 2006, Xu Junying, Yang Jianhua, Zou Wei, and Zheng Ge got together for dinner and had three rounds of wine. Everyone found that Xu Junying was living the best life now! Yang Jianhua now drives a taxi, while Zou Wei and Zheng Ge rent a small shop in Xidan Square and sell some parallel leather bags. They are very poor because of debt. Xu Junying suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said: "Why don't you be a senior housekeeper like me? I believe you, like me, are quite familiar with high-quality life. To be honest, after a day, I am much easier than your current job!" The three said they would go home and consider it.
Three days later, the three of them agreed to join him in the profession of senior housekeeper. Xu Junying used his spare time to formulate a detailed training plan for the three of them. In less than a week, they were familiar with and mastered the specific work of housekeeper. Xu Junying mentioned to Cai Jiahua at an appropriate time that he had a few friends who could also work as housekeepers, and Cai Jiahua immediately understood Xu Junying's intention. Soon, Yang Jianhua, Zou Wei and Zheng Ge were recommended by Cai Jiahua to three rich families as senior housekeepers.
A month later, they got together to talk about their experiences. Although each encountered different difficulties, overall, they were all handy, and smiles appeared on the faces of the three of them.
In the blink of an eye, they had been housekeepers for half a year, and Xu Junying expressed his idea - to open an intermediary company for senior housekeepers. Unexpectedly, his idea coincided with the other three!
Xu Junying found a suitable opportunity to tell his boss Cai Jiahua about his past. Cai Jiahua was stunned for a while before he reacted and said, "Good boy, I knew you were not an ordinary person! Then Xu Junying explained his idea of starting a business again and tenderly offered to resign. Cai Jiahua pondered for a moment and said, "Good job! If you have any difficulties, come to me directly! But we have agreed that the best housekeeper you have trained must be introduced to me!"
Soon, Xu Junying registered a company belonging to the four of them. Although the money to start the company was invested by Cai Jiahua, the two discussed that once the company made a profit, Xu Junying would immediately return the money to Cai Jiahua. If Cai Jiahua was still interested at that time, he could invest in the shares as a shareholder and pay dividends. The four of them immediately started a series of preparations.
On March 27, 2007, their "Tiexin" housekeeping company officially opened. Xu Junying, as the general manager, coordinated all relevant matters, and Yang Jianhua was responsible for managing the training of senior housekeepers. Zou Wei and Zheng Ge were responsible for contacting the customer and the other was responsible for managing the funds. The four worked very well together. The senior housekeeper trainees they recruited were usually people who had worked in service jobs in high-end hotels or had many years of housekeeping experience. In this way, they quickly mastered the essentials when they studied in the housekeeping company, which greatly reduced the cost of the company. In addition to requiring a wealth of knowledge, housekeepers generally require people in the age group of 30 to 50, who are calm and not prone to impatience.
In July 2007, the first batch of trained housekeepers were successfully introduced to some wealthy families to work. This also means that Xu Junying and the others have succeeded! But they are not complacent. Having suffered their first fiasco in life and experienced a few years of downfall, now they are not only much more mature and stable, but also know how to cherish the present. Their meticulous attitude towards the company's work, coupled with their continuous improvement of thinking and decision-making, has made the company bigger and better.
Today, they can face their failed past with equanimity, but they can't hide their hope and ambition for the future. When I asked Xu Junying what he thought of his ups and downs in life, he only said eight words – never admit defeat, start all over again.