Chapter 145: Discussing Business (6/25)

Leaving Qiujiang Road, Wang Qiang rode his motorcycle back to the company, his mind heavy with worry.

He took the elevator up to the twenty-second floor.

Pushing open the glass door, he found Wang Baoguo and old Zhu eating their meal.

Seeing Wang Qiang return, they quickly set an extra pair of chopsticks and a bowl for him, and Wang Baoguo asked, "Where have you been?"

Picking up his rice bowl, Wang Qiang casually replied, "I went to Qiujiang Road." Feeling genuinely hungry, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and shoveled rice into his mouth, wondering in his heart how to explain the situation to everyone later and pool their wisdom to see if his father, old Yao, or old Zhu had any good countermeasures, because for the moment, he truly could not think of any good ideas.

However, old Yao pressed further, "What did you go to Qiujiang Road for? We've already spread the word, we just need to wait for customers to come to us."

Old Zhu nodded in deep agreement.

Wang Qiang had just picked up a piece of diced chicken with his chopsticks when, hearing the question, he simply stopped eating, placed the chicken back into his rice bowl, put down his chopsticks, and said, "I have something to tell you all."

Everyone looked over.

He recounted the information he had gathered at Qiujiang Road just moments before.

He added none of his own speculations, reporting the facts exactly as they were.

After he finished, old Zhu said irritably, "Why are those distributors pulling a stunt like this?"

"Why? Because we're standing in the way of other people's making a fortune." Old Yao glanced at him, having lost his appetite as well, and looked at Wang Qiang with a slightly worried expression, "What do we do now?"

Wang Baoguo chimed in, "Qiangzi, do you have a countermeasure?"

Seeing everyone looking at him, Wang Qiang felt a bit depressed. He had just been thinking about discussing it with them, so why had it suddenly reversed with everyone asking him if he had a countermeasure?

Actually, Wang Qiang did not understand their state of mind. Wang Baoguo understood almost nothing about the sales channels of the electronics industry, so naturally he could not offer any good suggestions. Meanwhile, old Zhu and old Yao had long since regarded Wang Qiang as the backbone of the company, so their very first reaction was to press Wang Qiang to see if he had any good ideas, especially since the passive publicity campaign from last time had also been an idea he proposed.

Wang Qiang shook his head, thinking to himself that if he had any ideas, he would have told them long ago.

For the time being, he genuinely had no solutions. He certainly couldn't just go out shouting about the prices of the company's products, could he?

He actually wanted to do just that, but the crux of the matter was that the merchants on Qiujiang Road didn't only deal in Walkmans, CD players, and electronic watches; they also traded in other electronic and mechanical products. If possible, Wang Qiang wouldn't mind doing business in those other products along the way, but right now he lacked a general concept for many of them, or rather, he couldn't think of them off the top of his head. If someone approached them and asked for a specific item, perhaps Wang Qiang would recall whether it could be done and then call Shenzhen to inquire about the prices.

Furthermore, exposing their prices right now would mean showing their hand to that group of ruthless major distributors behind the scenes. Unless absolutely necessary, Wang Qiang really did not want to take the initiative to leak their wholesale prices.

Dinner continued.

The group, who had been in high spirits when the company was first opened, all fell silent for a time.

It was evident that the other three were just as troubled as Wang Qiang; everyone had invested a large sum of money, and everyone was hoping to turn a profit. Without sales targets, how could they make any money?

They finished their meal in silence.

Old Zhu packed up the bowls and chopsticks, preparing to take them back to the guesthouse to wash.

Feeling that they could not just sit and wait for death, Wang Qiang wanted to go to Qiujiang Road himself to drum up business. He stood up and said, "Dad, you and I are going out for a bit..."

Before he finished his sentence, a knock sounded at the door.

Then two men and a woman walked in, all around forty years of age.

Old Yao asked, "Who are you looking for?"

The middle-aged thin man in a Zhongshan suit who led the group said, "I heard you can get cheap products here. Is that true?"

"Yes, yes, come in and sit down." Old Zhu was so overjoyed he didn't even pack up the bowls and chopsticks, stepping forward to greet the three of them.

Wang Qiang felt a mix of amusement and frustration, quickly asking his father to converse with the three visitors, since his father was, after all, the company's general manager.

After a brief conversation, they learned that the man in the Zhongshan suit was named Ma Yuanheng, the other rather prosperous-looking man had the surname Fang—a relatively rare surname—and the remaining woman had the surname Zhang. Having heard rumors that Guoxing Trading seemed to possess magical abilities and could acquire any cheap goods, they had come with a mindset of trying their luck to see for themselves.

Because they were in the computer business—usually either recycling second-hand computers or sourcing directly from manufacturers, differing from the others—no one had warned them against coming to Guoxing Trading to source goods.

In truth, Ma Yuanheng also held a tentative attitude. Domestic computer ex-factory prices were simply too exorbitant, and he was hoping Guoxing Trading had connections to smuggle some cheap computers in from overseas. Whether it was actually possible didn't much matter; if he could get them, great, and if not, he would simply go back to sourcing from the manufacturers.

...

The General Manager's Office.

Everyone moved into the office.

"Boss Ma, please have a seat."

"No need to be so polite."

"Brother Zhu, pour a cup of tea for Boss Fang and the others."

"No need to go to such trouble... Thank you."

Wang Qiang warmly invited the three of them to sit on the cotton sofa, and after old Zhu poured the tea, he personally served it to Ma Yuanheng and his companions.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ma Yuanheng took a sip of tea and praised, "Good tea."

Wang Qiang thought to himself that you sure are smooth; tea brewed from leaves costing ten yuan for two catties could still be called good tea. He pulled up a stool to sit opposite the sofa and went straight to the point: "Boss Ma, what kind of goods are you looking for?"

Old Zhu and old Yao both stared intently; with business finally knocking on the door, they naturally cared.

Ma Yuanheng set down his porcelain cup, exchanged a glance with Ms. Zhang sitting next to him, and then looked at Wang Baoguo standing nearby, "Manager Wang, do you have computers for sale here?"

Hearing the word "computers," the hearts of old Zhu and old Yao instantly went cold. Those things were hideously expensive, and furthermore, they had never once heard Wang Qiang mention being able to get computers.

Even more clueless about the situation, Wang Baoguo vaguely said, "Qiangzi, you talk with Boss Ma."

Boss Fang and Ms. Zhang both looked at Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang frowned slightly.

If it were other commodities, he could go down south to see if he could dig up cheap goods, but computers were a completely different story unless he could contact the smuggling magnates in Chaoshan; otherwise, prices across the country didn't vary much.

The problem was that he didn't know any of them.

Even if he did know them, Wang Qiang figured that getting goods through them might not be much cheaper than going through the manufacturers, since those magnates who smuggled computers in from abroad naturally wanted to make a profit themselves.

Yet, customers had finally arrived, presenting a prime opportunity to build a reputation, and Wang Qiang didn't want to miss it.

Hesitating for a moment, he asked, "What kind of computers? 386? 486?"

The 386 and 486 referred to CPU models, which were special products of the Windows 95 and DOS era. Later on, such CPUs could no longer be found in computers. Before his rebirth, Wang Qiang had frequently browsed computer forums to build a computer for his son, so he understood a little bit.

Wang Qiang pondered internally that if worst came to worst, he would grit his teeth and take a loss to source a few computers, using this business transaction as a means to entice the merchants of Qiujiang Road to "take a calculated risk."

Ma Yuanheng smiled slightly, "An expert, I see."

Wang Qiang humbly replied, "I understand a little, just understand a little."

As for Wang Baoguo, old Zhu, and old Yao, they were completely in a fog and could not understand what Wang Qiang and Ma Yuanheng were talking about at all.

"Since you're an expert, I'll be blunt," Boss Fang took over the conversation. "You should be aware that domestic computer prices have remained stubbornly high, right?" Seeing Wang Qiang nod, he continued, "We heard that if we can get computers from abroad, like Acer computers from Taiwan, the price will be a huge chunk cheaper than domestic ones. So Boss Ma, Sister Zhang, and I discussed it and wanted to ask if you can get foreign computers."

Wang Qiang naturally understood they weren't talking about computers coming through regular channels, because foreign computers entering through regular channels were even more expensive than domestic ones.

Earlier he had been thinking that worst-case scenario, he would grit his teeth and take a loss to get a few Great Wall computers domestically, but now hearing them specifically name Acer computers, he found the situation tricky and lowered his head in silence, pondering whether he could procure them.

Some people might not know this, but when Jack Ma had no money in the early days of founding Alibaba, he went to Hong Kong to scout out cheap computers to sell.

Someone might say, since Jack Ma could scout out cheap computers to sell, you Wang Qiang can do it too.

In reality, however, Wang Qiang truly could not.

Because customs regulations stipulated that for technological products like computers, one or two units didn't matter, but bulk quantities would definitely be confiscated.

There were only two ways to bring overseas computers smoothly into the mainland. The first method was known to practically everyone—smuggling.

In fact, Wang Qiang's very first reaction was whether to pull off a smuggling job, but he immediately dismissed it. It was unrealistic. Setting aside whether he even had smuggling channels, even if he did, what if someone reported him later and dug up the past? No matter how much money he made, would he have a good life? Weren't there plenty of tycoons who made their fortunes in the nineties ending up in legal trouble and facing lawsuits reported in the news?

He didn't want to make money only to find he had no life to spend it.

As for the second method, very few people knew about it.

Yet Wang Qiang happened to know it, though implementing it was also quite difficult because it required utilizing foreign-funded enterprises. The domestic policies for foreign-funded enterprises at the time were relatively lenient, with quotas allocated every year allowing a certain amount of goods to pass through customs tax-free, primarily tied to attracting foreign investment.

However, this quota was limited, not limitless.

For computers, for example, foreign-funded enterprises were theoretically permitted a tax-free quota of a certain number of units per year; if that quota was exceeded, tariffs had to be paid.

Domestic computers were expensive precisely because all their various configurations were provided externally and required tariffs. Once Wang Qiang went through normal channels, the computers he brought back would certainly hold no price advantage.

For a moment, he found the matter difficult to handle.

Seeing him stay silent, old Yao urged, "Little Wang?"

A look of disappointment appeared on the faces of Ma Yuanheng and the others. It seemed Guoxing Company wasn't as magical as the rumors claimed; they couldn't acquire cheap computers after all.

"If you can't get them, it's fine. Even if the deal falls through, the goodwill remains; let's consider it making a friend." Ma Yuanheng stood up, extending a hand to shake Wang Qiang's.

Ms. Zhang and Boss Fang also stood up, preparing to leave.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Qiang suddenly smiled, pressing his hands down toward the three of them, "Sit, sit down and let's talk about it slowly."

Old Zhu froze, not understanding what it meant.

Old Yao and Wang Baoguo both wore skeptical expressions.

Even Ma Yuanheng and the other two paused. Seeing Wang Qiang remain silent for so long, they had assumed he had no way out, but now he was asking them to sit back down—what did that mean?

"What do you mean?" Ms. Zhang asked, remaining standing.

Wang Qiang maintained his smile, "I mean let's sit down and discuss this business deal slowly. Tell me in detail how many computers you need and what models, and if there are no unexpected hitlines, I should be able to get them."