Chapter 120: Insufficient Funds

Noon.

Cloudy, turning overcast.

The overcast skies of old Shanghai possessed a charm of their own. They were not as oppressive as those of later years, but rather resembled a gray cotton-padded jacket from a very long time ago. Ancient brick paving, weathered corridor apartments, broken tiles, cramped furnishings—all of it was compressed beneath the overcast sky, captured in a single close-up. The scent of the cloudy day drifted thickly and faintly through the air, suspended between heaven and earth.

Wang Qiang first returned to the Friendship Guesthouse and opened his suitcase. He found the landlady surnamed Xu’s telephone number and called before noon.

“Hello, Boss Xu. It’s Little Wang.”

“Little Wang, you finally called. When are you coming over? And can you bring another eighty sets of four-piece bedding?”

“Eighty sets? No problem. Should I bring more?”

“Let me think... How about making it a hundred altogether? They seem to sell quite well. Should we discuss the price?”

“Sure. I can give you the cheapest four-piece sets at thirty-five yuan a set. The better ones cost more—fifty, eighty, a hundred, even two or three hundred. Which kind do you want?”

“Fifty sets at thirty-five, and fifty sets at fifty. We’ll talk about the higher grades next time. I’m not trying to rush you, but could you send them over soon?”

“Sure. Would it be all right if I delivered them within the next two or three days?”

“Excellent. The sooner, the better.”

After hanging up, Wang Qiang was especially excited. It seemed the four-piece bedding sets were selling well at Boss Xu’s clothing wholesale shop; otherwise, she would not have taken the initiative to call and ask for more stock.

Previously, he had asked Boss Xu to sell them on commission at the wholesale prices from Shenzhen, so the sets had been somewhat expensive—the cheapest cost fifty yuan each. Presumably, after seeing how well they sold, Boss Xu wanted to sell them herself and had therefore called to negotiate a supply price.

Although she only wanted a hundred sets of the lower-grade bedding, Wang Qiang was already very satisfied. It proved that his idea had been right: goods from the south could be sold in the Shanghai market, and Haitong’s home-textile products could likewise be sent to Shenzhen and still turn a profit.

Today could truly be called a double blessing. First, Cheng Weihong and the others had expressed their willingness to source goods through him; now Boss Xu wanted a hundred bedding sets as well. He was delighted.

...

After finishing the call, Wang Qiang rode his motorcycle back to pick up Old Zhu. The cloudy weather was pleasantly cool, and even the autumn heat had lost its bite.

Before long, he arrived at the Qiujiang Electronics and Digital Building.

“Boss Little Wang is here?”

“Coming to pick up Brother Zhu?”

Zhang Qian and Sister Qian both greeted him of their own accord. Previously, they had called Wang Qiang by his name or simply “Little Wang.” But now that they had decided he was doing big business, they had all changed the way they addressed him, from “Little Wang” to “Boss Little Wang.” Their manner was markedly more courteous. Whether in an office or in business, things were much the same: if you had ability and could accomplish great things, others had no choice but to respect you.

Cheng Weihong personally poured Wang Qiang a cup of tea.

“Have some tea.”

“Thank you, but I’ll pass. Brother Zhu and I still have to go back for lunch.” Wang Qiang did not put on airs.

“Oh, that reminds me, Boss Little Wang,” Zhang Qian said with a smile. “We already told Brother Zhu how much we want. Would you like to take a look?”

Wang Qiang nodded. “All right. Bring me the list.”

“Here it is. Take a look.” Old Zhu grinned. “It’s quite a lot.”

Wang Qiang accepted the list and read it over. There were five hundred low-end portable cassette players, one hundred and fifty cheap CD players, and a particularly large order of ten-yuan electronic watches—fifteen hundred of them.

He did the calculations.

Five hundred low-end portable cassette players came to sixty-two thousand five hundred yuan. The one hundred and fifty CD players cost seventy-five thousand. The electronic watches were cheap: fifteen hundred of them cost only fifteen thousand yuan in total.

The entire order amounted to one hundred and fifty-two thousand five hundred yuan.

Wang Qiang thought for a moment, then asked, “How much of a deposit will you give me first?”

“We usually ask distributors for a twenty-percent deposit,” Cheng Weihong said with a smile. “The total comes to one hundred and fifty-two thousand five hundred yuan, so we’ll give you a deposit of thirty thousand five hundred. Is that all right?”

Wang Qiang nodded. “That’s fine. Let’s have the agreement notarized and sign it through a legal service.”

The order was too large for him to feel comfortable without a notarized contract.

“No problem. But could we wait until tomorrow?” Cheng Weihong explained. “The nineteen thousand yuan we gave you earlier had already been prepared. Coming up with more than thirty thousand all at once will take a little arranging. Besides, two of our people aren’t here yet. Once they return, we’ll pool the money according to how much each of us needs, then sign the agreement with you. Don’t worry. Since we’ve agreed to source through you, we certainly won’t go back on our word.”

Wang Qiang was naturally at ease. His prices were considerably lower than what they had previously discussed, and Cheng Weihong and the others would hardly be willing to give up such a supply channel.

After finishing their discussion, he and Old Zhu went back for lunch.

...

The Friendship Guesthouse.

When Wang Qiang entered the small room behind the front desk, the landlady was sitting on a low stool, panting as she washed dirty bowls and plates in a large red plastic basin. They were probably left over from the guests’ meal, and there were a great many of them.

Wang Qiang glanced at the dishes, then looked away. Ignoring his hunger, he hurriedly asked, “Brother Zhu, how much money can you raise at most?”

Old Zhu was in an excellent mood after concluding the deal. He had just lit a cigarette when he heard Wang Qiang’s question. Smacking his lips, he asked his wife, “How much can we raise?”

The landlady turned her head from the dishes. “Twenty thousand. There’s also the money we put into a fixed-term deposit. Why are you asking?”

“Exactly, Little Wang. Why are you asking?” Old Zhu said curiously.

Wang Qiang gave a helpless laugh. “I did the calculations. The goods Boss Cheng and the others ordered will cost me more than ninety thousand yuan to purchase.”

After returning from Shenzhen the previous time, he had still had four thousand two hundred yuan in his pocket.

The purchase of the cassette players, including the one thousand yuan he had given Su Weiming, had cost eleven thousand in total. Old Zhu had contributed thirty percent, which in practice amounted to four thousand yuan, so Wang Qiang still owed him seven hundred. That left only three thousand five hundred as Wang Qiang’s own money.

After they returned, Old Yao had paid off the remaining eleven thousand three hundred. Wang Qiang therefore had sixteen thousand five hundred at his disposal. The nineteen thousand paid by Cheng Weihong and the others had to be divided with Old Zhu, leaving Wang Qiang thirteen thousand three hundred.

In other words, he currently had just under thirty thousand yuan in total.

Tomorrow, Cheng Weihong and the others would bring a deposit of thirty thousand. Even if Old Zhu could contribute another twenty thousand, they still seemed to be short of the money needed to purchase the goods.

Moreover, Wang Qiang could not invest every penny in this order. He also had to prepare a hundred sets of four-piece bedding for Boss Xu, which would require several thousand yuan.

The shortfall was considerable.

“More than ninety thousand?” Old Zhu exclaimed.

The landlady paused in her washing and glanced over.

While dividing the money with Old Zhu, Wang Qiang carefully explained the entire situation. In the end, he said, “We’re still short of a little over twenty thousand yuan for the purchase.”

Old Zhu smoked in silence. After a long while, with the cigarette nearly burned down to the filter, he said to his wife, “Withdraw the fixed-term deposit.”

The landlady frowned slightly, clearly reluctant. “That’s our retirement money...” She sighed. “All right. I’ll withdraw it this afternoon.”

Wang Qiang stopped her. “There’s no need. We’ll think of another way.”

He and Old Zhu had originally agreed to divide the profits thirty-seventy, on the condition that Wang Qiang provided seventy percent of the purchase funds. Wang Qiang supplied the merchandise, while the business with Cheng Weihong and the others had been brought in by Old Zhu. Their responsibilities were clearly divided; neither side owed the other anything.

But if Old Zhu contributed more money this time, could they still divide the profits thirty-seventy as before?

Obviously not.

In fact, that was not the crucial issue. The real question was: if he gave Old Zhu a larger share this time, what about the next time?

Even brothers by blood could fall out over money, let alone Wang Qiang and Old Zhu, who were not close enough to be brothers.

If Wang Qiang wanted to remain the majority shareholder without damaging his relationship with Old Zhu, the best solution was to obtain the money from a third party—someone like Old Yao.

Hadn’t Old Yao previously said that he was willing to put in more money and join the venture?

That would work. Wang Qiang could provide the merchandise, Old Zhu could handle sales, and Old Yao could simply become a shareholder.

Of course, Wang Qiang might have to give up some of his stake. But with more capital, the business could grow larger, and the profits would ultimately be greater than they were now.

To preserve his relationship with Old Zhu while raising enough money to purchase the goods, bringing Old Yao into the venture seemed like the best option. Wang Qiang simply could not decide yet. He still needed to test whether Old Yao was genuinely useful. He was not particularly willing to let someone contribute nothing but money and take a share of the profits. Besides, Old Yao was somewhat opportunistic. If he were brought in, Wang Qiang would have to guard against him. That was another reason for his hesitation.

When Old Zhu heard this, his eyes brightened. That was right—he had nearly forgotten that Wang Qiang wore a watch worth twenty or thirty thousand yuan. The purchase funds should not have been beyond his means. He asked, “What’s the solution?”

The landlady also breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that they would not touch their retirement money. She looked at Wang Qiang. “Just say it, Little Wang.”

Seeing the couple looking at him, Wang Qiang cleared his throat. “Let’s ask Brother Yao whether he’s willing to work with us. What do you think?”

The landlady offered no opinion.

Old Zhu, however, gave the same answer as always. “Whatever you say goes.”

Wang Qiang nodded. “Then let’s ask him to come over and talk. But don’t mention bringing him into the venture yet. I still need to ask him a few things.”

Before joining the venture, he would have to see whether Old Yao actually had what it took.

If he did not, then he could hardly blame Wang Qiang for refusing to give him the opportunity.