Chapter 685: Initial Talk
Mr. Wang is a woman and Mr. Zhao is a man.
Zhang Bin could tell at a glance that these two people were somewhat extraordinary, not because of their fashionable clothes, but because of their temperament.
This temperament is different from that of ordinary people. Zhang Bin had met a child from a large courtyard when he was doing business in Yangcheng before. The temperaments of these two people are clearly the same as those of the children from the large courtyard he had met before, not to mention that they speak with a Yanjing accent.
"Mud howl, mud howl..."
Zhang Bin greeted the other party in Mandarin with a strong Hong Kong accent. The other party shook hands with him politely and then sat down.
The middleman was a boss in Yangcheng, who was one of Zhang Bin’s clients in the mainland.
It was the first time we met, and everyone was very polite and we talked about ordinary things.
The middleman is very good at creating an atmosphere. Zhang Bin has not only done business but also been in the underworld for so long, so he is naturally familiar with these things.
After three rounds of drinks, they gradually got to the point.
The other party tentatively asked about Zhang Bin's strength in Hong Kong. Zhang Bin naturally boasted as much as he could. Moreover, he was indeed and had a great reputation in this circle, otherwise the middleman would not have helped to make this connection.
"Boss Han's business is quite big." Zhao Minglei couldn't help but say.
"Sprinkle some water." Zhang Bin waved his hand disapprovingly: "These are small businesses, not worth mentioning..."
Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan exchanged glances and felt that they could give it a try.
After coughing, Zhao Minglei asked, "Besides clothing and electrical appliances, what else can Boss Han do?"
Zhang Bin said casually: "It's hard to say. Anyway, we can do anything that can make money. I don't know what Boss Zhao wants."
Zhao Minglei hesitated for a moment, said nothing, and gestured with his hand.
"Boss Han, do you have any channels for this?"
Zhang Bin was immediately delighted. He had been waiting for the other party to ask this question. In fact, the middleman had asked about this when he contacted him before, and Zhang Bin came here prepared.
"No problem. The key is to see what specific goods the two bosses want." Zhang Bin said with a smile: "I do this business in Hong Kong. You can ask Boss Gao about the channels to the mainland. Boss Gao and I have been working together for a long time. He knows best whether it is reliable or not."
"Also, we can get goods from Japan, the United States, or West Germany, but the prices are naturally different for different goods."
"We know this, but we don't know the specific models and prices of the goods that Boss Han can provide. As long as the goods are good, everything else can be discussed."
Zhang Bin pretended to think for a moment and then took out a quotation that he had prepared long ago from his bag and handed it over: "Boss Gao is my brother. Since you two bosses are friends of Boss Gao, we are all family. I have always been fair in doing business, and everyone knows it. How about this, I happen to have a quotation in my hand, you two can take a look at it first. As for the price, because it requires transportation, the transportation cost is not low, so I will add this number to the quotation."
As he spoke, Zhang Bin stretched out his hand and gestured a number, then explained with a smile: "You two also know that there are plenty of goods, as many as you need, but it is much more troublesome to transport them to the mainland, after all... hehe... so please understand. Of course, if you have your own channels and can be responsible for the transportation yourself, it doesn't matter. I can also deliver the goods directly in Hong Kong, and the price will be based on this. I won't charge you a penny more. How do you do it?"
Zhao Minglei looked at Wang Juan, and Wang Juan glanced back at him.
Zhao Minglei nodded and said, "It's too troublesome to go to Xiangjiang to pick up the goods. Let's leave the transportation to Boss Han. We will calculate the transportation fee when we get back. If possible, we will place an order with Boss Han as soon as possible."
"No problem!" Zhang Bin agreed immediately, and then reminded: "Business is business, some things still need to be said in advance."
"Please go ahead."
Zhang Bin said seriously, "I will collect a deposit before delivery. The deposit must be at least 40%. I hope you two can understand this. In addition, if the transportation is done by me, the risk of transportation will be borne by me. The remaining payment will be paid when the goods arrive at the port. As for how to receive the goods ashore and how to sell them in the mainland, I am not responsible for these. You two bosses have to figure it out by yourselves."
Zhao Minglei was stunned, frowned, thought for a moment and said, "The risk we take is not small in this case. What if something goes wrong with the goods we paid the deposit for? If we can't get the goods, won't our deposit be wasted?"
"Boss Zhao, you can't say that. There are always risks in doing business. You can't put all the risks on me as a partner, right? Besides, if I don't take the deposit and something goes wrong, won't I bear all the risks? Besides, this is the industry standard. If you don't believe me, you can ask Boss Gao if it's true."
Zhao Minglei looked at the middleman, who nodded repeatedly and told Zhao Minglei that this was indeed the industry practice, and that the 40% deposit Zhang Bin requested was already a courtesy. Generally speaking, at least half of the deposit would be required.
Zhao Minglei hesitated for a moment. This was not an ordinary product. Its value was much higher than those made by Boss Gao. If there was any problem, the deposit would be gone. He could not afford such a loss.
But what Zhang Bin said is also right. Doing business is risky. If he were Zhang Bin, and he shipped the goods without receiving the deposit, what if something went wrong or he got cheated, wouldn’t he lose all his money?
After all, this is the first time for everyone to cooperate. Although there is an introduction from a middleman, both parties are still feeling out the situation and the level of trust between them is not high, so it is normal to have such concerns.
Seeing Zhao Minglei's hesitation, Zhang Bin rolled his eyes and laughed, "Don't worry, don't worry. Can we talk about business slowly? The two bosses are meeting for the first time today, so it's normal for them to not trust each other. I'm a loyal person and I know the rules. You can go and ask around, but rules are rules, and some rules can't be changed."
"Even if the deal doesn't work out, we still have friendship. Let's just treat it as making friends today. More friends mean more paths. Maybe we can have other opportunities for cooperation in the future, right?"
"Yes, yes, Boss Han is right." The middleman agreed with a smile. Zhao Minglei thought about it and nodded and smiled: "Boss Han, what you said is true. How about this, let us consider the details of this specific cooperation and give you an answer, okay?"
"No problem! Of course!" Zhang Bin agreed without thinking, then raised the glass in his hand and said: "Come on, come on, I'm glad you all met me today. We're all friends, so let's put business aside for now and drink!"
The dinner was very enjoyable. Zhang Bin talked about many interesting things about Hong Kong, especially some inside stories of Hong Kong societies. He described many things that outsiders did not know in great detail, which aroused great interest of Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan. It also indirectly proved that Zhang Bin's ways in Hong Kong were very wild.
There is not much entertainment in the mainland now, and nightlife is basically non-existent.
Originally, Zhang Bin suggested that they go to a nightclub to have some fun after drinking, and he specifically asked the middleman, Boss Gao, for any good places to recommend.
Who would have thought that Boss Gao told Zhang Bin somewhat embarrassedly that there were no places like nightclubs in Yangcheng, and even bars were very rare. Except for Yangcheng Hotel and two other foreign-related hotels, there were no bars open to the public in other places.
When he inquired about the bar and learned that it was just a formal bar, Zhang Bin seemed very disappointed. Then he touched his head and laughed again, saying to Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan apologetically that the mainland was too backward, and when there was a chance for them to go to Hong Kong, he would be the local host and treat them well, so that they could deeply experience what capitalist corruption was.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere suddenly became much more harmonious.
After they had almost finished drinking, the party ended. Zhang Bin, staggered downstairs to his room to rest with the help of his two younger brothers. As for Zhao Minglei and Wang Juan, after leaving the hotel, they said goodbye to the middleman, Boss Gao, and drove directly to the city guesthouse where they were staying.
Back at the guesthouse, Wang Juan gestured to Zhao Minglei to go to her room to chat.
After the two entered the room and closed the door, Wang Juan sat down and asked Zhao Minglei how he felt today and whether he thought that Boss Han from Hong Kong was reliable.
"I think Boss Han is relatively reliable. I have asked Boss Gao about this. Boss Han has many channels for dealing in parallel imports. Currently, almost half of the parallel imports in the south are his business."
Wang Juan nodded. She didn't say much during the meal. On the surface, she was just a vase, but in fact, she was observing secretly. The communication between the two sides was mainly based on Zhao Minglei, which was what they had discussed before.
They had already known the background of the middleman
Wang Juan didn't see any flaws, and with the middleman, she also felt that Zhang Bin was more reliable. But the problem now was the deposit. A 40% deposit was not a small amount. If something went wrong, the money would be wasted.
"I think the deposit should be negotiable. I'm afraid it's impossible to cancel it, but there may be a chance to lower it. In addition, Juanzi, we can also collect a deposit from the buyer. Wouldn't it avoid the risk by taking other people's money?"
"What are you thinking? How is this possible!" Wang Juan rolled her eyes at him and said, "How can this be the same? You're charging money before the goods have even arrived. Do you think they're stupid?"
Zhao Minglei laughed embarrassedly while touching his head after hearing what Wang Juan said. Wang Juan was right. Their sales were different from Zhang Bin's. It was impossible to operate like this. However, the risk of the deposit was indeed not small. But when he looked at the quotation provided by Zhang Bin, he felt itchy again.
To put it bluntly, they came here to explore the market and test the waters, but they did not expect the profits from this business to be so huge, which was beyond their previous imagination.
Since the last time Wang Juan came to Zhao Minglei, Zhao Minglei has once again cooperated with Wang Juan. Relying on their connections and Zhang Liming's background and care, the business has been doing very well.
Relying on the convenience of reselling approval documents and the dual-track pricing system, they made a lot of money in a few months. But after all, this business was mainly about taking advantage of loopholes. Zhang Liming told them that they couldn't do it this way for long and asked them to think about other businesses. After a while, they figured out the plan to get into this business.
"It's too late today. I'll call Brother Liming tomorrow and ask him what he thinks." Wang Juan said after thinking for a while.
"Yes, yes, ask Brother Liming." Zhao Minglei nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice. If Zhang Liming said it was okay, then he would try the deal despite the risk. If Zhang Liming objected, then forget it.
"Why are you still standing there? Go to sleep!" Seeing that Zhao Minglei was still sitting there motionless after he finished speaking, Wang Juan rolled her eyes at him and urged him.
"This Juanzi...this is a guesthouse..." Zhao Minglei said hesitantly.
"What's wrong with a guesthouse? It's like you've slept there before. Do you want to sleep there or not? If not, don't touch me anymore!" Wang Juan pouted nonchalantly.
Zhao Minglei looked at Wang Juan's lazy look under the light, and his stomach suddenly became angry. Without saying a word, he took off his coat, turned off the light and rushed over. Wang Juan first exclaimed, and then giggled...
