Volume 6: The Great Change Chapter 0879 Competition is everywhere
The vendor frowned and struggled for a while before he hardened his heart, stomped his feet, and made a "45" gesture with his hand.
"Forget it, I'll give you a price." Nan Yi said, making a "25" gesture with his hand, "If you are willing to give this price, we can make a deal right away. You get 125,000 and I'll take the goods away."
"I can't sell it at this price." The vendor shook his head violently.
"Are you sure?" Nan Yi stared into the vendor's eyes. "Brother, let me tell you, if I walk out of your stall and you pull me back, it won't be 25. I can only give you 24.5. Think about it carefully and see if you really can't do it."
The vendor was confused again, but he still tried to stretch it, so he shook his head and said, "I really can't do it."
"Okay, I'm leaving now." Nan Yi deliberately looked around the stall and said, "Dude, your stall is pretty good. If you want to sell it, come to Lucaoyuan Hutong and find me. The price is negotiable."
After saying that, Nan Yi walked out of the stall, came to Nan Wuwei, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and helped him wipe the sweat off his face. After wiping the sweat, he helped him straighten his T-shirt.
After adjusting the T-shirt, the vendor still didn't take any action, so Nan Yi put his hand on Nan Wuwei's shoulder and walked forward.
One step, two steps, three steps, five steps...
"Boss, boss, come back, come back, let's chat more." Nan Yi walked like Cao Zhi before he heard the heavenly voice of the vendor.
Turning back, Nan Yi looked at the vendor, "24 dollars and 5 cents, are you sure you want to talk?"
The vendor gritted his teeth and said, "Let's chat."
"Let's go to where you put the goods. We'll do the transaction right after inspecting the goods." Nan Yi said simply.
Nan Yi was straightforward, and the vendors started to feel shy.
"Well, well... Actually, I don't have 5,000 pieces, only 3,000."
"What?" Nan Yi yelled, stepped forward, raised his hand and pressed the vendor's shoulder, "Brother, you are so strong, when did Xiushui Street become a tea garden? I am not here to see clothes, but to listen to crosstalk? We are talking about business, why are you coughing to tease me!"
After letting go of the vendor, Nan Yi took two steps outside, then turned back and pointed at the vendor, saying angrily, "You are such a jerk for talking to me about nothing when you don't have any clothes."
"Boss, don't go." The vendor held Nan Yi with a shameless face, "There is only a difference of 2,000 pieces between 3,000 and 5,000. You can buy my goods and then go to other stalls to make up the difference."
"It's easy for you to say. I signed a contract with a foreign customer. If it says 5,000 pieces, it must be 5,000 pieces. If there is one piece less, I will have to pay a large sum of money. Get out of the way and don't waste my time." Nan Yi shook his hand, trying to shake off the vendor's hand.
"No, no, no, don't go. 23, I'll give you 23."
"Don't say 23, even if you..." Nan Yi suddenly stopped, looked at the vendor in disbelief, and confirmed: "You said 23?"
The vendor nodded heavily, "Yes, 23 bucks, 3,000 pieces, you can take them all."
"Let me think about it." Nan Yi thought for a long time before gritting his teeth and said, "Okay, we've made a deal. Let's go and look at the goods."
"Okay, deal. Wait a minute, I'll have someone watch the stall."
The vendor responded and quickly found someone to help watch the stall. He then put the clothes on the rack and a few cardboard boxes on a tricycle and took Nan Yi and his group into the alley beside Xiushui Street.
After turning several corners, we entered a large courtyard and saw cardboard boxes stacked in the corner.
Nan Yi didn't ask the vendors for help. Three of his family members worked together. Nan Wuwei was responsible for unpacking, Yi Jinru was responsible for checking if there were any holes in the clothes, and Nan Yi checked the materials of the clothes himself. It was an assembly line operation, and it was slow at the beginning. It took more than a minute to check one piece of clothing, but it got easier once he got used to it. He could finish checking one piece of clothing in about thirty seconds.
It was impossible to look at every piece, so Nan Yi asked Nan Wuwei to pick randomly, two pieces from the top of this box, two pieces from the bottom, and three or four pieces from the middle of the next box, without any duplicates.
Most people have inertia when doing things. They will hide inferior goods in a box, most likely at the bottom of the box, and a small number in the middle. Those with more active brains may put them on the surface, while those who are more playful will make a pattern and place them according to the pattern.
No matter which method is used, as long as the random inspection is carried out, it is generally inevitable. Of course, if the number of defective goods is small, it may not be inspected, but since there are not many, it doesn’t matter.
Random inspection, color sorting, inventory, the whole process took two hours.
"The goods are good, a total of 69,000, right?" After taking inventory, Nan Yi came to the side of the stall and said.
"Yes, that's right."
The vendor waited for two hours and finally got to the payment stage, and he spoke very straightforwardly.
"Okay, Mom, write him a check for 69,000 yuan." Nan Yi said to Yi Jinru, then looked at the vendor and said, "Can you use a check?"
"No, you can't give cash?"
"The check can also be used as cash. You can take the check to the National Bank counter to withdraw the money. After you withdraw the money, we will take the goods away. Is that ok?"
"become."
Another hour passed before the transaction was officially concluded. Nan Yi handed the rest of the work over to Yi Jinru. He watched Yi Jinru call for a cargo truck and followed her to escort the truck back to Nan's courtyard. He also watched her bargain with the truck drivers and asked them to help load the goods.
Then Nan Yi took Yi Jinru to find a freight forwarding company. On the way, he told Yi Jinru which checkpoints the goods had to pass when transported to Russia, which ones could be completely handed over to the freight forwarding company, and which ones needed to be monitored personally. He also explained to her the difference between a LCL and a full container.
When they came out of the freight forwarding company, it was already 3:30 in the afternoon. They had only had a short lunch, and the hungry Nan Yi and his group were finally able to sit down and have a good meal.
While eating, Nan Yi continued to cram Yi Jinru with education, telling her all the knowledge involved in running a trading company and the points that needed to be paid attention to.
As a boss, you don’t need to know how to do every job, but you must understand every position and every link in the company, and be able to put all the links together into a closed loop.
The first day was teaching, and the second day was actual practice.
Still on Xiushui Street, Yi Jinru was walking in front, while Nan Yi and Nan Wuwei followed behind, each chewing a watermelon popsicle, which they had frozen with watermelon juice, with no additives, and the taste was slightly worse than that produced by seasoning.
Early this morning, Nan Yi took Nan Wuwei to Dazhongsi. He first learned about the wholesale market of vegetables, and then took him to the vegetable market, bought vegetables and watermelons, and learned about the prices of vegetables.
"Dad, the price of watermelon has gone up."
"Um."
“Beef and mutton prices have also gone up.”
"Hmm."
“The price of soybean sprouts has also increased.”
"Yes, what do you want to say?"
Nan Wuwei stopped and asked, "Dad, has the price of soybeans increased?"
"It has increased a little bit, but if you spread it out to one kilogram, it can be ignored."
"Oh." Nan Wuwei turned his little head, "Dad, the bean sprout business should be very profitable now."
Nan Yi laughed and stroked Nan Wuwei's head, "Don't think too much. The price increase of bean sprouts is not only due to rising prices, but also involves tax issues. For a long time before, bean sprouts were rationed, and only during the Chinese New Year or National Day could you buy one kilogram with a ticket.
The rationing of bean sprouts started around 1964 and lasted until 1986.
My father calculated that although the price was adjusted after entering the 1980s, the production cost increased, and selling bean sprouts at the adjusted price was still a loss. Therefore, the state exempted bean sprouts from business tax and halved the income tax to subsidize bean sprout companies.
In the second half of 1987, the price of bean sprouts was liberalized and the tax incentives were gone. According to the current production costs, if you simply engage in the bean sprout business, the profit is not high. If the purpose is to enrich the product line, then you can do it.
Of course, if you want to earn some class fees for your class, or use it as an extracurricular activity or labor skill to grow bean sprouts, it is still meaningful. You can start this business by buying some soybeans with one or two yuan."
Nan Wuwei thought for a moment and said, "Dad, the school is having an autumn outing. If my classmates and I earn the money for the outing, would that be meaningful?"
Nan Yi was happy, "You won't go far on the autumn outing. The teacher will take you to the park at most. Three to five yuan per person is enough. There are 43 classmates, 215 yuan. We can earn that much just by selling more than 500 kilograms of bean sprouts.
If you are going to do this, you can’t just sell this much, you have to at least double it. In addition to raising money for the autumn outing, you have to make a little more money and use the money to buy some pens and notebooks and send them to students in poor areas.”
"Oh..." Nan Wuwei looked confused, unable to understand the deeper meaning of Nan Yi's words, but he was going to do it, "Dad, I don't know how to grow bean sprouts."
"It's easy to grow bean sprouts. There are only a few steps and you can learn them once you learn them. But it's hard to grow good bean sprouts. So, when your father flies away, you go find your grandmother Ge. She will arrange for you to work in the bean sprout workshop as a summer worker. You should learn how to use high technology to grow bean sprouts."
"Growing bean sprouts requires high technology?" Nan Wuwei didn't believe it.
"Of course, do you think growing bean sprouts is that easy?" Nan Yi stroked Nan Wuwei's head again, "By the way, I haven't asked you about your final grades yet, did you do well in the exam?"
Nan Wuwei said confidently: "Dad, how could there be any problem with me? I am a three-good student."
"That's right. How could my Wuwei fail in such a small final exam? For a small exam, Daddy won't think of preparing a reward for you."
Nan Wuwei tilted his head, thought for a moment and said, "Dad, but I want a reward."
"So what do you want?"
"The three-edged bayonet you kept in the cupboard."
"No, that's what Dad took off his own pistol. It's very memorable to Dad. In order to keep the bayonet, Dad even gave two packs of cigarettes to others. If you like bayonets, Dad can get you another one. Do you want a 53-type, 56-type, or 63-type? Or a 81-type? A 87-type?"
Nan Wuwei's eyes rolled around, "Dad, I don't like the bayonet, I like the smell of you on the bayonet."
Nan Yi smiled knowingly, "You little bastard, you've learned how to flatter me well, but you just didn't hit the spot that makes me happy. Well, if you really like it, I'll give it to you."
"Hehe, I don't want it. I won't take away my dad's favorite thing." Nan Wuwei smiled slyly, stuffed the popsicle in his hand into his mouth, sucked it, and when he pulled it out, only the stick was left.
Nan Yi was stunned for a moment, then realized that Nan Wuwei didn't really want his bayonet, he was just testing whether he could bear to do it. Nan Yi felt relieved and a little inexplicably emotional that his son was starting to grow up.
After finishing the conversation between father and son, Nan Yi turned his attention back to Yi Jinru. It could be seen that Yi Jinru wanted to replicate his "picking up a bargain" yesterday, and her eyes were always on whether there were cardboard boxes on the stalls.
Unfortunately, her luck was not as good as Nan Yi's. She had almost finished walking through Xiushui Street, but she hadn't found a suitable target.
Today, the group entered from the other end of Xiushui Street. When they were almost done walking the entire street, they passed by the stall from yesterday and met the vendor from yesterday again, the vendor who never asked Nan Yi's name or introduced himself.
At first, Nan Yi thought the vendor was just a novice in wholesale business. When the transaction was over, he was sure that the other party was a novice in business. Faced with a customer who could buy thousands of pieces of clothing, he didn't even know how to take advantage of the opportunity to get close to him.
Now, the vendor and Nan Yi looked at each other. There was no friendliness in his eyes, but rather a hint of hostility. Perhaps he was resentful that Nan Yi had taken advantage of him yesterday. Naturally, he would not come up to say hello, but turned his face to the other direction.
Nan Yi smiled faintly, thinking to himself, "This guy has the protagonist syndrome, but I don't know if he has the life of a protagonist. He treats me as an enemy. It turns out that I completed the deal yesterday by hitting him on the head with a gun. I should have lowered the price yesterday. Alas, business is business, and you can't be too soft-hearted."
After walking through the entire Xiushui Street, Yi Jinru's face was full of disappointment. She didn't see any chance to get a bargain. After a while of feeling disappointed, Yi Jinru said to Nan Yi, "I saw someone selling leather jackets at the fifth stall just now. I'll go over and ask the price."
"Mom, don't ask about the leather jacket. I saw it just now. Judging from the leather, collar and cuffs, it should be made in Vancouver. The material is artificial leather. This kind of leather jacket is bought in Muxiangyuan. We will go there this afternoon. You should practice with something else now. I think the woolen hats at the ninth stall on the left are pretty good. You can go over and ask for the price."
Yi Jinru asked: "How can we tell where it was made by looking at the workmanship?"
"Mom, it's hard to explain it clearly. Let me give you an example. For example, in Vancouver, the reason why they make leather jackets is not because it makes money, but because they have a tradition and there are many people who can do this.
In the Song Dynasty, there were already professional shoemakers in Wen City. In the Ming Dynasty, shoes and boots became tribute. By the Qing Dynasty, Wen City had a very complete shoe and leather industry chain, and they had been dealing with leather for hundreds of years.
Nan Yi pursed his lips and continued, "Besides, Chao Township, which is not far from Wen City, is now almost becoming a leather city. Although they have been dealing with leather for a shorter time, they also have a history of nearly 70 years.
At that time, Chaoxiang produced many big businessmen. One of them was Xu Shenru, the father of Xu Zhimo. He opened a leather factory. The earliest workers were recruited from Shanghai. Some were from Wenzhou, Chengdu, and the Northeast.
I have already mentioned that Wenzhou has been dealing with leather for hundreds of years. There is a starch washing street in Chengdu, and the whole street is dedicated to leather-related businesses. In the northeast, there is a place called Tongerbao, which has long been a distribution center for leather clothing and furs, and naturally there are people who make leather.
Whether in Vancouver or Chaoyang, they all have their own unique skills, whether it is leather making or sewing, they all have their own characteristics, which can only be distinguished if you have a deep understanding of leather.
I said the leather jacket was from Vancouver before I even touched it because the leather looked dull, old and dirty. I know there's a new leather factory in Vancouver that makes artificial leather, which is not of good quality but cheap. I've seen similar leather jackets made in Vancouver in Moscow, and the stitching on the collar and cuffs is exactly the same."
"You stupid kid, you said a lot, but only the last sentence worked. Why didn't you just say you've seen it before?" Yi Jinru complained with a smile.
"hehe."
Nan Yi smiled and didn't explain any further.
Then, Yi Jinru went to look at the woolen hats. Nan Yi did not bring Nan Wuwei with him. The two of them came to an antique stall. The vendor was holding an earthenware jug and trying to fool a foreign man and a woman.
The surface of the earthenware jug was covered with dirt stains, and it looked like it had just been dug out of the ground not long ago. The shape was a bit strange, and Nan Yi couldn't tell which region's popular style it was.
Nan Yi moved closer and a fishy smell entered his nose. Wow, it looked like it had just been dug out of the earth. This vendor was really thoughtful. This earthenware water jar must have been buried in the ground overnight.
The vendor actually buried the things underground. Nan Yi immediately had the idea of picking up a bargain, so he looked at the earthenware water jar carefully. In less than two seconds, he saw a relatively smooth area on the jar with five words engraved on it: "Lixuan Tableware Factory (Lixuan Tableware Factory)".
"Damn it, what a stupid character! They are trying to trick foreigners without investing any money." Nan Yi complained in his heart, moving his eyes away from the earthenware pitcher to other items on the stall.
Since there are simplified Chinese characters on the body of the jar, the history of the earthenware water jar in front of us is no more than 17 years, because the simplified Chinese characters were not promoted until 1975, and their influence among the people was limited. They were only circulated in state-owned enterprises, state-owned stores, tickets and other fields. They were abolished in June 1986, leaving only a few simplified Chinese characters.
When Nan Yi was in junior high school, he happened to catch up with a semester of teaching the replacement of simplified Chinese characters. The teacher was resistant and didn't teach seriously at all. He didn't study seriously either. He had to guess most of the simplified Chinese characters. As for writing, he knew the common characters but not the others.
Nan Yi didn't see anything that caught his eye at the stall, but Nan Wuwei picked up two copper coins. When he bargained with the vendor, the vendor insisted that they were Kangxi and Yongbao treasures. Nan Yi didn't waste any time talking to him, just threw a coin on the stall and left. The vendor didn't try to stop him and simply accepted the transaction as complete.
They went to Muxiang Garden in the afternoon. The next morning, Nan Yi accompanied Yi Jinru and Huo Tian to deal with the share mortgage issue.
The entire Duanjinlou Catering Development Company was assessed to be worth 17 million. Although Huo Tian's shares were 16.5%, the dividend was distributed at 23%. Nan Yi directly gave him 23%, and Huo Tian's shares were worth 3.91 million. According to the previous agreement, the premium was 20%, and Nan Yi made it an even number for him. Xiaonan's Catering Company lent Huo Tian 4.7 million for two years with no interest.
After signing the loan contract, Nan Yi discussed with Huo Tian and asked him to stay in Duanjin Tower for a while until a replacement was found and the handover was completed before leaving. Huo Tian readily agreed.
At noon, Nan Yi called Niu He, the manager of the Central flagship store who was sitting idle, and invited him to come and serve as the general manager of Duanjinlou. Niu He agreed without hesitation.
The reason why Niu He agreed so readily was, firstly, because he was not very happy working under his new boss, and secondly, because of the previous friendship.
When the sales were slow, Nan did a good job. All employees, whether they stayed with the store or resigned, received good compensation. Especially the senior executives and store managers, not only did Nan Yi meet them, but they also received more compensation. They also got to know Nan Yi's character and knew that there was money to be made working for him.
At night, Nan Yi brought Nan Wuwei to East Fourth Street.
They first took a look at the East Fourth Store of Duanjinlou. It was lunchtime, the seat occupancy rate was 70%, and business was average. Then, the two came to Alan Restaurant. The business here was much better, and Nan Yi only saw two empty seats in the hall, which was just right for Nan Yi and his group to sit down.
After sitting down, he ordered a few signature dishes recommended by the waiter. After the waiter left, Nan Yi began to observe the decoration and the customers in the store.
First of all, let’s talk about the decoration. Nan Yi felt that he had over-imagined when listening to Yi Jinru’s description. The decoration here was not as good as he thought. However, in this era, it was still quite fresh for a northern urbanite to be in an environment full of bamboo.
As for the customers, they are relatively young and judging by their attire, mostly small business owners and fashionable young people. They are probably the diners who made their fortune through the disco. This type of diners has a strong purchasing power, but they become poorer every day and cannot sustain consumption.
However, in reality, not many diners will patronize the same restaurant continuously for years. Even eating dragon meat continuously will make people tired of it. In addition, diners have a herd mentality. The more lively the restaurant, the more likely they are to join in the fun.
Alan Restaurant is gaining momentum, and it is difficult for Duanjinlou East Branch to compete with it, unless they resort to shady tactics, such as finding cockroaches and flies in the food, hygiene issues with kitchen ingredients, or hooligans causing trouble, which can ruin its business in a few ways.
However, this approach is not in line with Nan Yi's style. If he really wanted to do it, he would just slap the person to death - spend a lot of money to invite a dying patient from the hospital, and let the person die on the dining table of Alan Restaurant. The family members will keep pestering and rumors of eating the dead will follow, and the restaurant will definitely go bankrupt.
Nan Yi and Jin Lan have no personal grudges, so it is not justifiable for them to use underhanded tactics. However, since there is commercial competition between Alan Restaurant and Duanjinlou, they still have to fight back with commercial means.
After the dishes were served, Nan Yi tasted each dish and asked Nan Wuwei to taste it as well.
"Give me a score out of 100."
Nan Wuwei thought for a moment and said, "75 points."
"How would you rate my cooking?"
"95 points."
"Where's your mother?"
"Mom..." Nan Wuwei's face was bitter, and he said in a tangled way: "50 points."
Nan Yi smiled and said, "Forget it. Your two answers can't give me any reference. Let me ask it another way. How would you rate the Cantonese cuisine at Wanghailou?"
"82."
Nan Yi asked about several restaurants he had taken Nan Wuwei to, and then asked, "Where is the Duanjinlou flagship store?"
"89."
"What about the Xidan store?"
"81 points."
“So the taste here is just average?”
"Yeah, the chef's skills are just average, the ingredients are not good, the spiciness is just right, but the numbing taste is not good."
"No matter whether it's good or not, let's fill our stomachs first." Nan Yi waved his hand, called the waiter and ordered two bowls of rice. While eating, he was thinking about how to deal with Alan Restaurant.
After thinking for a while, Nan Yi called the waiter again, took the menu and randomly added a dish, while also carefully memorizing the names of the dishes on the menu.
When paying the bill after the meal, Nan Yi met the proprietress Jin Lan and confirmed that this Jin Lan was the one he knew in his previous life, the future famous proprietress of "Facebook Jiangnan" and her son would also be a celebrity.
After leaving Alan Restaurant, Nan Yi sat in the car and called Yi Jinru.
"Mom, I just had dinner at Alan's Restaurant. The best-selling dish in the restaurant is pickled fish, which is a local dish in the mountain city. It just became popular last year. It's not difficult to make. Let the chefs in each branch learn it.
Grass carp is needed to make pickled fish. The Guandong grass carp in Guangxi Province is good. I will make the contact and have someone deliver the fish to the store later.
We divide sauerkraut fish into two types. One is the ordinary one, which is a special dish in the store. We try to keep the price as low as possible, preferably half of that in Alan Restaurant. Also, as long as the customer spends a certain amount, we can give him a serving of sauerkraut fish for free.
One is the high-end kind, made with Guandong grass carp, which is priced slightly higher than the normal price and is also limited in supply, so it’s not available to everyone who orders it.”
After listening to Nan Yi's words, Yi Jinru said, "Nan Yi, are you saying that you want to squeeze out Alan Restaurant with cheap pickled fish?"
"It's hard to say whether we can squeeze them out, but we can definitely get back some business." Nan Yi switched the microphone and said, "Mom, the competition in the restaurant business will become more and more fierce, and it will become more and more difficult in the future. There will be both open competition and hidden obstacles.
In the past, Huo Tian was there to stand in front of you, so you didn't need to worry about most things. Niu He is from Xianggeng and is not very familiar with the capital. He needs an adaptation process, so you have to take more care of him and get along with him well, so that he can get familiar with the capital as soon as possible and get started as soon as possible."
"Nan Yi, don't worry. I will definitely pay attention to your family's business."
"Well, Mom, that's it. I'm hanging up."
After finishing the conversation with Yi Jinru, Nan Yi called Ge Cuizhu again. He first talked about the Guandong grass carp, then mentioned sending Nan Wuwei over, and finally talked about the business of the Reclamation Group for more than half an hour.
After finishing his phone call with Ge Cuizhu, Nan Yi had just put down the phone when the phone rang.
"Who?"
"I."
Lai Biao's voice came from the microphone, with his voice deliberately lowered.
"Home?"
"Don't talk nonsense, just listen to me..."
"You don't have to tell me. You secretly called me on the balcony without telling Wen Wan. It's a woman's thing, right?"
"You guessed it right. Shut up and listen to me. There is a disco called Changtai in the podium of the Great Wall Hotel. Xiaoxiao had some problems there. Go and help deal with it."
"Xiao Xiao? Who is it?"
"You are pretending..." Lai Biao's voice was high at first, then lowered, "What are you pretending for, my girlfriend in front of me."
"Hey, can we leave out the first two words?"
Nan Yi really didn’t know that Lai Biao’s ex-girlfriend was called Xiao Xiao. Lai Biao once asked him to help teach Xiao Xiao how to do business, but Nan Yi directly gave the matter to Leng Yan and never asked about it later.
"Hurry up and call someone."
"You need me for such a small matter? Don't you have a few bamboo strips to help you?" Nan Yi said while patting the back of the driver's seat, signaling the school beauty to drive.
"You useless hanger-on, I'm a serious person..."
Before Lai Biao finished speaking, Nan Yi heard a gentle voice from the other side: "Who are you calling?"
"Nan Yi, he said he was leaving again, so he called to say goodbye."
Hearing this, Nan Yi hung up the phone and started thinking about who to find to go to Changtai.
What could possibly happen to a woman in a disco? It's nothing more than being harassed by a man. Yet, she can calmly call for help, which means that the other party did not force her at all, but instead took advantage of her small soft spot. It's hard to say what this soft spot is.
In addition, Nan Yi has another guess. It is possible that Xiao Xiao is playing the "wolf cry" trick on Lai Biao to test whether Lai Biao cares about her. She may be dancing there peacefully and nothing happened at all.
