In the fascinating drama "Flowers", 40-year-old Tang Yan returned to the peak of acting with the role of Miss Wang. The character's entrepreneurial story is dramatic, but it also reflects the ambition of the young people of that era.
Ms. Wang, a passionate but inexperienced young woman, resigned from her stable job and embarked on an entrepreneurial journey full of unknowns. Her eyes flashed with a vision for the future, but her heart was inevitably worried.
She co-founded a small leather bag company with a like-minded partner, and although it was only a team of two people, they had the dream of setting sail in the business world.
However, the reality is extremely cruel. At the beginning of Ms. Wang's business, there was no capital, no production line, and there were many difficulties and thorns. She traveled everywhere, looking for opportunities and resources, and struggled every step of the way.
Luckily, she received an unexpected piece of support. Ms. Wang's father, a local, generously paid three months' rent in a lump sum. This support from her family not only warmed Ms. Wang, but also gave her the confidence to continue to pursue her dreams.
Starting at zero cost is undoubtedly a rare advantage for a newcomer who has just stepped into the business world.
However, Ms. Wang understands that in the fierce competition of business, enthusiasm and the support of her family are far from enough. She needed more opportunities, resources, and connections. Every night, when she worked late into the night, she would tell herself, "You have to take every opportunity, even if there is only a glimmer of hope."
In this way, Miss Wang began her entrepreneurial journey with dreams and apprehensions. She is not clear about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The cruelty of fate always brings unexpected surprises. When Ms. Wang was anxious about the company's development direction, a huge opportunity fell from the sky. Jinke, who is quite influential in the industry, actually handed over the order for Walmart's jeans to Miss Wang's company.
This decision surprised many people, and also made Miss Wang surprised, delighted, and uneasy.
The order volume of 200,000 yuan is equivalent to the order volume of 2.4 million pairs of jeans, which is enough to make any startup excited. Miss Wang's heart was beating fast, and countless questions appeared in her heart: Can we complete this order? Do we have enough resources? What if it fails? But entrepreneurs always have the gene of not admitting defeat in their blood.
In order to prove her strength, Miss Wang made a surprising decision - accepted the order at a loss. She bit her lip tightly, her eyes full of determination: "Even if we lose money, we must prove our strength!" This decision is obviously irrational to others, but for Miss Wang, it is an opportunity to show herself to everyone.
However, Ms. Wang did not realize that her decision was simply the beginning of a joke in the eyes of industry insiders. A newly established company, with no factory, no production line, and not even enough funds, dares to take such a large order? Not to mention taking orders at a loss.
In the eyes of experienced businessmen, this is tantamount to asking for their own death.
However, Ms. Wang could not take care of other things. Her mind was entirely on how to fulfill the order and how to prove her abilities. She began to run around looking for possible partners and resources.
Every day is a new challenge, and she takes every step very carefully.
Ms. Wang has shown remarkable resilience and determination in the process. She encountered a lot of difficulties, but she never gave up and persevered. She is convinced that if she persists, she will succeed.
This kind of almost stubborn belief is perhaps the most valuable quality of entrepreneurs.
When Ms. Wang received the order from Walmart, she immediately realized that she was facing a huge challenge. She has no factories, no workers, no machines, none of the most basic factors of production.
Fine beads of sweat began to ooze from Miss Wang's forehead, and she began to wonder if she was too impulsive.
But this little setback is nothing to Miss Wang. Determined to go to Shenzhen to find a partner herself, Ms. Wang drove alone and embarked on a journey of thousands of miles. On the way, she went in the wrong direction, which made her both annoyed and helpless, "I can't even find the wrong way, can I really do a good job?" She kept asking herself in her mind.
Fortunately, Mr. Fan's appearance was like a timely rain, and he helped Miss Wang like a child. Ms. Wang's support made Ms. Wang feel very moved, but at the same time, it also made her realize her own shortcomings.
She secretly made up her mind that she must learn to be independent and not always rely on others.
Faced with the dilemma of no factory, no workers, and no machines, Ms. Wang felt unprecedented pressure, so she began to look around for possible partners, trying to find a factory that could undertake this large order.
Sadly, however, many factories declined to cooperate after learning about her company's size and experience.
In the business world, Ms. Wang found that passion and courage could not solve all problems, and she needed more resources, connections and expertise. Every day faces new challenges, and each step needs to be done with care.
At this time, Po's experience made Miss Wang realize her mistake. In order to help her fight for this list, Ah Bao not only received a slap, but also was very tired. Miss Wang was filled with guilt, but at the same time, she was even more determined to succeed.
She secretly swore that she must make this list successful and not live up to Bao's efforts.
As time went on, Ms. Wang felt that she was becoming more and more unable to complete her tasks. Such a large-scale factory is said to be built? Can I buy a plane ticket? These plots, which seem to be easily written in the play, are actually insurmountably difficult.
Ms. Wang began to wonder if she had overestimated her abilities and underestimated the cruelty of the market. However, she knows that it is now impossible to choose to back down, and the only way out is to move forward.
She gritted her teeth and told herself, "No matter what difficulties I encounter, I will persevere to the end".
Ms. Wang is groping her way forward in a difficult situation, challenging her limits every day, and her entrepreneurial journey is like a real version of the "survival game", however, this is only the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey.
Just as Miss Wang was taking great pains to complete the order, an unexpected turn suddenly appeared. In 1994, China introduced foreign exchange reforms, and the official exchange rate of the renminbi was adjusted from 5.7:1 to 8.7:1.
This news was like a bolt of lightning, dispelling Miss Wang's confusion, and her eyes instantly brightened.
Ms. Wang is keenly aware that this may be the key to her turning the situation around. She quickly adjusted her strategy and made a profit by taking the account on the 27th. The decision was adventurous, but in the eyes of Miss Wang at the time, it was the only way out.
However, the reality is not as good as imagined, although the foreign exchange reform has brought opportunities to Ms. Wang, she has not been able to make money as expected. After some tossing, her company only got a profit of 80,000 yuan in the end, and after deducting various personal expenses, only 10,000 yuan of profit was left in the end.
This result made Miss Wang cry and laugh. She stood in the office, looking at the bill with "10,000 yuan" written on it, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. A pair of jeans only earns four cents, which is really hard to call a "legend in the industry".
However, despite the meager profits earned by Miss Wang, she still felt a little relieved that she had succeeded in this seemingly impossible task. She has successfully proven that she is capable of taking on large orders and barely delivering on time under pressure.
This experience made Ms. Wang deeply realize that in the business world, opportunities and risks coexist. Although the foreign exchange reform brought her a turnaround, she did not take full advantage of this opportunity due to her lack of experience.
Through this lesson, she understands that to gain a foothold in the business world, it requires not only courage and determination, but also professional knowledge and keen market insight.
Although this "success" is not brilliant, it is undoubtedly an important milestone on the road of Ms. Wang's entrepreneurship. She began to reflect on her decision-making process and think about how she could do better in her future business activities.
This experience has become the driving force for her to continue to learn and improve.
Although Ms. Wang's entrepreneurial legend spread quickly in the industry, the social response was unexpected. Rather than seeing it as a laudable success story, many people see it as a joke.
"Making only four cents per pair of jeans? Where is this business, it is simply doing charity! An industry veteran couldn't help but scoff. Indeed, with such a small profit, it is difficult to understand why Ms. Wang would take such a big risk.
More doubts followed. It has been pointed out that there are significant problems with Ms. Wang's business decisions, particularly in the area of risk management. "If the foreign exchange reform hadn't happened, or if it had been a little late, she might have gone bankrupt," another analyst noted solemnly.
Industry insiders questioned the process by which Ms. Wang successfully won a large order from Walmart. A newly established two-person leather bag company has neither a production line nor a source of funds, how can Jinke dare to hand over Wal-Mart's big order to her? This is simply unbelievable in the eyes of many.
Some people question the implicit irony of this plot, because why did Jinke's character creation collapse so badly? Ms. Wang negotiated at a loss, which she said was to save face, but in fact it was to disrupt the market.
In the eyes of industry insiders, this approach is simply self-defeating.
What is puzzling is that Miss Wang is immature in handling the relationship with Mr. Bao. Mr. Bao received a slap in the face for her, instead of giving Mr. Bao an explanation, she claimed to seek back the punishment for him, but in fact, she took the opportunity to rob Mr. Bao's business, causing serious economic losses to Mr. Bao.
This behavior not only exposes her shortcomings in handling business relationships, but also makes people question whether she truly understands the essence of business.
These comments poured cold water on Miss Wang's head, and she began to realize that her "success" may not be as glorious as she imagined. In the eyes of industry insiders, her entrepreneurial story is not a legend, but a case full of risks and unprofessional decisions.
Despite the controversy, it is undeniable that Miss Wang eventually succeeded in becoming the "dignified President Wang". Her entrepreneurial journey was full of thorns, but in the end, it also reaped unexpected success.
Miss Wang, shown in the play, went from taking risks at the beginning, to betting on the exchange rate, and finally became a successful businessman.
However, after the audience calmed down, they began to reflect on the real reason for Miss Wang's success. We have to admit that luck and background play a big role in this. Without Jinke's trust, without Mr. Fan's help, and without timely foreign exchange reform, her entrepreneurial path may be a different scene.
This makes people wonder, in the business world, which is more important, strength or opportunity?
This experience brought the 40-year-old Tang Yan back to the top of her acting career. Her role interpretation shows the growth trajectory of the character from the audience's disgust with Miss Wang at the beginning to the later appreciation.
In particular, the scene where Miss Wang eats popsicles on the roof under the sunset moved many viewers to tears, and deeply felt the hardships and growth of entrepreneurs.
Ms. Wang's story is like a mirror, reflecting the true portrayal of many entrepreneurs in that era. It tells us that the road to entrepreneurship is not all smooth sailing, and there are often many unknown hardships and accidents hidden behind success.
Finally, Ms. Wang's experience also left us with deep thoughts: in the business world, courage and enthusiasm are not enough, but also careful decision-making and professional knowledge.
And for each of us, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, maintaining a learning and reflective attitude may be the real way to success.
Although the plot of the business war involved in "Flowers" is controversial, director Wong Kar-wai's use of narrative and inner portrayal of the characters makes it a work with deep thought.
Just as the blooming of flowers eventually leaves only traces of passers-by, everyone is looking for their place in the torrent of the times.