On February 28, it rained in Hangzhou, where the sky had been clear the day before.
At the gate of Hangzhou Wahaha Xiasha Base, the crowd of people who came to mourn had already lined up. At 10 o'clock in the morning, Zong Qinghou's memorial service was held here.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, the sky was still overcast, and everything was a little gray against the background of the rainy day. The crowd waiting at the gate of the Xiasha base was long and quiet. During this period, there are still flowers and wreaths that are constantly being sent, and among all kinds of bouquets, there are many Wahaha AD calcium milk, and a pair of cloth shoes are placed in the box where the flowers are placed, and they are given to the "richest man in cloth shoes".
Mourners leave messages to express their condolences. Photo by surging news reporter Yang Jiayin.
People who came to pay their condolences came from all over the world, Shanghai, Shandong, Guizhou, Sichuan, Henan, Anhui and other places. Although many were told that they would not be able to enter this morning, many of them chose to come to line up at 7 a.m. in the rain. Someone made a special trip from Suzhou this morning for more than 2 hours to send a wreath to Zong Qinghou. "I just came from the old headquarters of Wahaha and ran away," he told The Paper, "Although I haven't met Mr. Zong, I have seen a lot of his ** recently, and I am very moved, and I feel that I should come to see off this private entrepreneur." ”
I like to hear dealers tell the truth".
At half past seven in the morning, Yang Ze and Zhao Dezhi set off from the hotel and went to the memorial service venue. Although they were told that the chances of entering the venue were slim, they still wanted to go early, give Mr. Zong a ride, and present Mr. Zong with a bouquet of flowers. They were all account managers in Wahaha's Sichuan region, and when they left in 2019, Yang Ze had been working at Wahaha for 15 years, serving as a regional manager in several regions.
I met Yang Ze and Zhao Dezhi at around 6 o'clock in the evening the day before. At that time, it was already dark, and they walked out from the gate of the Wahaha Xiasha base. Because the plane was delayed, they missed the agreed condolence time and couldn't get in.
Although there are also branch venues in Chengdu, we still want to come to the site to give the boss a ride. In the past 15 years, Yang Ze has been to the Xiasha base many times, and he can see Zong Qinghou almost every time.
We used to come here for meetings a lot," Yang Ze said, gesturing to the small white building on his left. "At that time, after the meeting, the boss went to the cafeteria with us to eat. There was deep nostalgia in his voice, with a little smile in his eyes, he told the surging news reporter that Zong Qinghou was simple and approachable, there was no exclusive window in the canteen, and he was queuing up with the staff every time to eat.
What is said in the news is true. "I've been with him for so many years, and I've never seen him wear leather shoes, all of them are cloth shoes." ”
Yang Ze still remembers the scene when he first met Zong Qinghou. In 2004, Zong Qinghou went to Sichuan for a meeting, and in the huge conference room, Yang Ze watched Zong Qinghou speak on the stage from a distance. "In the minds of Wahaha employees, the boss is like a god. When they didn't meet, many of Zong Qinghou's deeds had already been circulated among the employees, "no one said he was bad."
In the team on February 28, there was a ** businessman who came from Henan. He told The Paper reporter that he has been dealing with Mr. Zong for more than 10 years. Mr. Zong said that dealers must not be allowed to make money-losing transactions. He said, "He has a high prestige in our ** business." ”
All the way from the grassroots account manager to the regional manager, Yang Ze saw that Zong Qinghou had more opportunities, but he respected Zong Qinghou more, "Before, the boss of every dealer conference would toast us at a table. ”
He deeply admired Zong Qinghou's personality. "The owner likes to hear the truth the most. He told the surging news reporter that among the many dealers, Zong Qinghou especially likes a dealer because "she loves to tell the truth." At each dealer conference, if the dealer is not arranged, Zong Qinghou will specially ask her opinion and let her ask questions. "You can see from the expression," Yang Ze said, "If you say polite words and tell lies, the boss's face is generally ugly, but if you tell the truth, the boss will listen very carefully, because he wants to know what is wrong with Wahaha, and he wants to solve the problem." ”
Wahaha gives us security when we get old."
At around 9 a.m., vehicles that came to mourn crowded the intersection, lining up in turn, waiting to enter the venue.
The rain still doesn't stop, compared to the warmth of the previous day, Hangzhou today brings a little early spring chill. The long line has been stretching back. Aunt Wang silently held an umbrella and held flowers, and had been standing in the rain for a long time.
Aunt Wang is a veteran employee of Wahaha and is now retired. Since she joined Wahaha in 2002, she has been working in the first-line production line and has been working at Wahaha for 20 years until her retirement. "At the beginning, the work was still very hard, and every plastic bottle had to be made by hand," she sighed, but now, the Wahaha production line has entered the era of automation and intelligence.
So those rumors that Wahaha is not qualified, how is it possible? Speaking of this past, Aunt Wang was a little excited, almost angry: "How can there be a problem with so many quality inspections." ”
But as soon as she talked about "Mr. Zong", her emotions began to calm down. "Mr. Zong is really good to his employees, like family. As a front-line employee, Aunt Wang does not have many opportunities to see Zong Qinghou, but almost every year on the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Zong Qinghou will have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with them. This is almost rare in other companies.
Aunt Wang also told the surging news reporter that although she is now retired, the company still gives her year-end bonuses and holiday benefits every year. "For us, Wahaha gives us security when we get old. Speaking of this, Aunt Wang's eyes were red for a while, and her voice was choked.
The people queuing up around listened silently, many of them had never seen the entrepreneur, but they came to the scene spontaneously because of the memorial articles on the Internet and the ** swiped on Douyin. Some people come from Yunnan, and some come from Guizhou. They didn't meet Zong Qinghou, and they only met him through Douyin**. He opened Douyin and showed the ** he liked recently, many of which were about Zong Qinghou.
Maybe it's because of the influence of Zongzong, I can't be idle now. Although she is retired, Aunt Wang has found another job. "In Wahaha for more than 20 years, I have hardly taken any leave. She originally planned to take a walk around the neighborhood after work and chat for comfort, but finally decided to take a day off and say goodbye in person. "Actually, I was here last night, but I feel sad when I walk around here," she said, and her voice was low, "I still want to deliver it myself." ”
A Wahaha employee at the scene told The Paper reporter that there are many Wahaha employees who have come to mourn in the past few days, and most of them came two days ago. Many of them have already left their jobs. She said: "Mr. Zong is really good to the staff, otherwise there would not be so many people coming. ”
Be upright and upright."
At about 10 o'clock in the morning, Yang Ze sent a WeChat message, and they finally failed to enter the venue, and planned to go to Qingtai Street again.
In fact, the day before, they got off the plane and went to No. 160 Qingtai Street, Hangzhou, the old headquarters of Wahaha Group. In this small gray building with 6 floors, Zong Qinghou started from scratch little by little and built Wahaha into a beverage empire. In 2019, when he chose to leave Wahaha, Yang Ze deliberately flew from Sichuan to Hangzhou, came to this small building, and met the boss, which was also the last time they met.
At that time, the boss said that he had to work hard, be upright and upright, and then said that he would dare to fight and fight. Yang Ze recalled, "At that time, he may also want to stay, but he will not say directly, he always encourages us to challenge and try." ”
In the past few days, many Hangzhou citizens and Wahaha's old employees have spontaneously come to send flowers to mourn. Outside the locked iron gate, flowers and all kinds of Wahaha drinks almost overflowed the street. At the gate of Wahaha's old headquarters, Yang Ze and Zhao Dezhi put down the flowers prepared in advance, and specially printed a blank piece of paper, which read, "Dear Zongzong, go all the way", and the final signature was "Your Disciples".
In their opinion, everyone who has worked in Wahaha is a soldier of Zong Qinghou. They described their days in Wahaha as follows: "It's like writing on a blank piece of paper, and if you look closely, every word and every stroke is correct." ”
Even after resigning from Wahaha, there is a habit that has been retained, that is, everywhere I go, I have to go to the supermarket to see if Wahaha is selling well.
My employee is sick, why should someone else donate".
At 12 o'clock at noon, the queue at the gate of the Xiasha base seemed to be shorter, and Aunt Wang finally lined up from the middle of the line to the gate, but like many citizens around her who came to line up together, she still didn't know when she would be able to enter. She's still waiting.
Zhao Dezhi is still waiting for the opportunity to enter the venue to offer condolences. Unlike Yang Ze, for Zhao Dezhi, Zong Qinghou is his "life-saving benefactor". Therefore, although he only entered Wahaha in 2014 and did not stay as long as Yang Zelong, he must also come to Hangzhou in person to say goodbye to his boss, just like the year he resigned, he also came to Hangzhou to say goodbye in person.
In 2014, Zhao Dezhi entered Wahaha after graduating from university, and he can be regarded as the first batch of management trainees in Wahaha. In the summer of 2015, Zhao Dezhi suddenly had a high fever, once burning to 42 degrees. What's more, after being sent to the hospital, the doctor was unable to find out the cause. Yang Ze still remembers Zhao Dezhi's appearance at that time, "his whole body was full of ice packs", but he never could lower the temperature. At a loss, the news was sent to Zong Qinghou layer by layer, and Zhao Dezhi was transferred to West China Hospital after a lot of connections.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at West China Hospital, Zhao Dezhi was transferred to the ICU and his condition was critical. Considering that the medical expenses are not low, colleagues decided to raise donations for Zhao Dezhi to raise medical expenses. Unexpectedly, after Zong Qinghou learned about it, he said directly: "He is my employee, our own employee is sick, why should he donate." Immediately, 200,000 yuan was allocated from the company's account to Zhao Dezhi for treatment.
Zhao Dezhi actually has no memory of what happened at that time, but he always remembers this kindness. "Our only wish is to be able to deliver the boss at the end. He said.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the rain gradually subsided, and the whole of Hangzhou was covered in a faint mist. Yang Ze and Zhao Dezhi were finally able to enter the venue. "Our wish is gone. He told The Paper on WeChat that they would fly back to Chengdu this afternoon.
At this moment, the queue at the gate of the Xiasha base seems to be a little shorter. On the side of the road, private cars continued to stop, and people dressed in black got out of the cars, took flowers, and walked to the back of the line.
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