Chapter 108 The Booming Wholesale Market: If there are no competitors, then cultivate your own.

Wang Xiao has spared no expense in developing this container wholesale market.

The planes have made more than ten trips just to transport containers, and more will have to be transported later.

As for when it will be shipped? That depends on the sales of the first hundred containers.

Ten days in advance, the market spent a lot of money on advertising on Romanian television and in the newspaper "Viagra".

Three days ago, the show "The Outsider Girl," which finally premiered on Romanian television, featured advertisements about the container market at both the beginning and end of the episodes.

The TV series was able to be released so quickly because of Wang Xiao's urging. They even started airing the first five episodes before the original film was fully dubbed.

In addition, after selecting 300 boxes of goods, she urgently produced a sales catalog advertisement.

She not only mailed these advertisements to the business associates she had worked with at the Intercontinental Hotel in Moldova, but she also contacted train conductors on the Moscow-Budapest international train to distribute the same advertisements.

In short, she is determined to make the container market a resounding success by mobilizing all available resources.

Ruan Xiaomei was so nervous she felt like she was about to explode.

From the moment the container landed, she was on high alert, checking everything at least three times before daring to proceed.

Eventually, even a capitalist like Wang Xiao couldn't help but comfort her: "Don't panic, don't panic, it's okay. In business, ups and downs are normal. Even if your popularity doesn't pick up right away, you can figure things out later. Don't worry, I won't blame you."

Ruan Xiaomei believed her boss's words, and she also believed that her boss was a large and powerful company with the confidence to lose money on this part.

But she lacked confidence. She gave up her thriving business at the stall and ran around doing wholesale market work, all because she wanted to take things to the next level.

If the wholesale market fails, where will she find such an opportunity next time?

Wang Xiao looked around and saw that the early shift cleaners had already cleaned the open space around the container market.

Speaking of this, we must mention the work ethic of Romanians.

Although we all come from socialist countries, it seems that apart from China, whether in Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union, the two-day weekend system that was implemented long ago is a truly strict two-day weekend system.

Furthermore, Eastern Europeans are quite sensitive to working hours.

Even though Romania's economy is currently in a downturn, with many factories shutting down and the unemployment rate rising, this does not affect their insistence on never working overtime.

Want someone to work from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.? Even if you're willing to pay them double, they'll just say no!

When Ruan Xiaomei was looking for local workers, she couldn't understand their mindset at all.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't someone who's broke work three jobs a day? Working from the moment they open their eyes until they close them is the norm.

In China, let alone offering double the salary, you could offer half the salary and plenty of people would be willing to take the job.

Why was she so sure? Because she was also a temporary worker back in China. To get more work and earn more money, she and her coworkers even had to give gifts to their bosses.

In Romania, however, the situation is completely reversed.

She had never realized Romanians were so lazy.

They usually seem quite diligent and keep things tidy.

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "People care about their quality of life, and we should respect that."

Ruan Xiaomei was stunned for a moment; she felt that this didn't sound like something Wang Xiao would say.

Although she didn't know the term "卷王" (juǎn wáng), she understood its general meaning.

Her boss is a typical "shrewd operator," not only profiting herself but also dragging everyone else down with her.

If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have gone from the kiosk to the wholesale market.

Oh, she had been working with her boss in the office during this time and overheard him on the phone. That's when she found out that Tang Yicheng was not only selling cars in Northeast China, but also working on an airport there.

She was tasked with two major missions by herself, which was also because the boss was making all sorts of promises to her, describing a bright future.

Why did the boss suddenly change his attitude when dealing with the cleaning staff in Romania, becoming respectful of their lifestyle and hobbies?

Wang Xiao bluntly asked, "Is it really that hard to hire another cleaner?"

Ruan Xiaomei blurted out, "It's not difficult."

There are quite a few Romanians looking for work.

"That settles it then," Wang Xiao said nonchalantly. "For jobs with low technical requirements that can be easily replaced, there's no need to fight to the death. It's only meaningful to appeal to people's emotions and reason with them when it's difficult to find a replacement."

Ultimately, this boils down to a question of input-output ratio.

She uses dividends, development prospects, and a bright future to paint a rosy picture for her senior and middle-level managers because if she gives them 10%, they can generate at least 50% more for her.

Then of course she would have to exaggerate and embellish her claims.

If you hire a cleaner, their job has a ceiling; even if you pay them twice as much, they'll only do twice as much work and generate twice as much profit.

Since that's the case, why bother? Just hire another person.

For a boss, the task is never to convince others to recognize his (or her) value, but to find ways to make the most money at the lowest cost.

Wang Xiao looked at Ruan Xiaomei encouragingly: "I have high hopes for your future, so don't relax. I will keep pushing you. You are an irreplaceable talent."

Although Ruan Xiaomei was not a naive newcomer to society, she couldn't help but feel excited when her boss affirmed her so highly. She was even more excited than if she had been injected with chicken blood.

During the opening ceremony, she was so busy she was practically an eight-legged octopus.

I can't afford not to be busy.

Despite the rudimentary state of their container market and the fact that the warehouses weren't even finished due to the tight schedule, only temporary canopies for sun and rain protection have been built so far.

But the opening ceremony of this container market was by no means low-profile.

Why do you say that?

Based on their status as guests attending the opening ceremony.

Wang Xiao had sent an invitation to the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest well in advance, sincerely inviting the ambassador and all staff to attend the opening ceremony.

They originally thought that at most, the embassy counselor would come and show his face, which would represent official support for private trade exchanges, and that would be about it.

Unexpectedly, the final list confirmed by the embassy was that the ambassador would attend in person.

When the news reached Romania, the official protocol was upgraded accordingly. In addition to Bucharest's city leaders, the Deputy Prime Minister also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

According to city leaders, the Premier would have attended in person if he hadn't had other work commitments.

The hotel owner's wife, where Wang Xiao was staying, scoffed at this, saying it would be better if the prime minister didn't come.

Who knows how long he'll stay in that position? He might get ousted again, that would be really bad luck.

Since December 1989, Romania's prime ministers have changed so frequently that she couldn't keep track of who was who.

Wang Xiao didn't really care who the Premier was. She only regretted that the Vice Premier didn't sound as prestigious as the Premier, and the press releases he issued weren't as impactful.

But even without fish and shrimp, it's still acceptable. After all, he's the Vice Premier, and it's quite remarkable that he could take time out of his busy schedule to attend the opening ceremony of a simple container market.

Their reception work must be done well.

The container market was bustling with activity by 8:30 a.m.

A series of loud drumbeats drew the attention of passersby, who involuntarily surged toward the direction of the drumming and gonging.

The open space in front of the container market has been transformed into a simple yet bustling stage.

Iron railings blocked out the guests outside. On the stage in the middle, the lion dance team began to vigorously dance with the bright red and golden lions. The lions leaped and rolled, accompanied by the sound of drums, which drew cheers from the audience.

Romanians had seen Chinese lion dances in movies, and now, watching them live, many of them clapped until their hands were red.

What amazed them even more was what followed: a man in a theatrical costume with a painted face, holding a gourd of wine, came on stage, and then, when he opened his mouth, fire came out.

Before the gasps of surprise had even subsided, he wiped his face with his hand, and wow! He had completely transformed into a different person.

Even those who had seen the container market several times before were still incredibly excited to see it again.

Everyone stared intently, trying to discern the mystery within.

Wang Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, feeling satisfied.

It's 1992 now, the spring of 1992 when information transmission was extremely underdeveloped.

Currently, the influence of Sichuan Opera is mainly concentrated in Sichuan, Chongqing and surrounding areas. Most ordinary Chinese people have never seen the Sichuan Opera face-changing performance, let alone Romanians.

Even the Chinese ambassador was astonished by this scene and asked Wang Xiao curiously, "Where did you find so many artistic talents?"

On the streets of Eastern Europe, there are indeed Chinese people showcasing traditional culture. He saw someone demonstrate calligraphy and landscape painting on the spot.

But this was the first time he had ever seen such a theatrical performance.

The Romanian Deputy Prime Minister was astonished: "You've never seen this before either?"

The ambassador smiled and said, "China has a culture spanning five thousand years. Our ancestors left us countless brilliant cultural heritages. I hope that our two countries can strengthen exchanges in the future."

Actually, Wang Xiao's ability to find someone to perform Sichuan opera face-changing was entirely due to luck.

This former leading actor of the Sichuan Opera Troupe came to Bucharest to stay with his relatives.

His theater troupe, like most theater troupes in China, is struggling to survive.

Movies and popular music, along with the rapidly growing number of television sets in every household, dominated Chinese popular culture.

In the past, watching a play was considered a happy way to celebrate the New Year.

However, as people have more choices in their spiritual and cultural lives, watching plays is no longer a rare occurrence. Naturally, the status of theater troupes has declined accordingly.

Unfortunately, at this crucial moment, the higher authorities stopped allocating funds, and the cultural authorities told everyone to find their own way to earn money.

How does a theater troupe make money? By performing in rural areas?

I'm sorry, but not all rural areas can afford to hire a theater troupe to perform.

Moreover, the prevailing trend at the time was to change industries, for example, arsenals would start producing refrigerators.

The theater troupe also bravely changed careers. What did they do? They started a chemical plant.

You say you're a Sichuan opera troupe, which has absolutely nothing to do with a chemical plant, so why don't you start a chemical plant?

But back then, chemical plants were very profitable, and money came in very quickly.

When it comes to making money, it doesn't matter where you come from; if you can make money, just go for it.

Unfortunately, those who don't understand the industry might make money by joining the hype, but once the hype dies down, they'll be the most miserable losers in history.

Unfortunately, the theater troupe was the one who got the short end of the stick.

They haven't even started production yet, and the price of the product has already fallen to below that of the raw materials.

Without a doubt, the troupe lost all its money.

But what does this have to do with the mainstay of the company?

Because he was the one who spearheaded the idea of ​​setting up a chemical plant, and he was the one who ran around doing all the legwork.

If he makes money, people will probably praise him, and if he's lucky, he might get a bigger bonus.

But if the company loses money, there's no doubt that someone will have to take the fall.

Because the money lost included not only public funds but also funds raised by the theater troupe's employees.

The person who paid didn't care about anything else and blocked his door, demanding that he return the money.

With nowhere else to turn, the star performer had no choice but to travel to a distant place and seek shelter from a distant relative.

Because his relatives remembered that he had sent them cured meat twice when he was at the height of his fame, they took him in.

Now that things have come to this point, logically speaking, shouldn't Comrade Taizhu just honestly do business in Bucharest and be done with it?

Business is really good here now; no matter what kind of goods come in, they can be sold out completely.

The problem is that business is only relatively easy.

Some people are just born bad at business; even without bad intentions, they can still cause trouble.

With things turned out this way, even the distant relatives were at their wits' end. Their first thought was to send someone to the suburbs to grow vegetables under Brother Ren's tutelage, so that at least they could make a living.

But even the pillar of the group isn't someone who can work on the ground.

The distant relatives couldn't really abandon the situation, so they had no choice but to ask Wang Xiao for help.

You're planning to open a container market, right? At least you'll need to hire someone to perform for the opening.

Perfect timing! My older cousin may not be good at much else, but he used to be a star performer in a proper theater troupe, so putting on a show would be no problem for him.

Wang Xiao felt that the opening ceremony was too bland and lacked any gimmicks, so when he heard about it, he invited someone to perform and immediately decided that it was the right choice.

She smiled and explained to the ambassador, "We've connected him with the Bucharest Palace of Culture. Mr. Tang is currently teaching three classes there every week, each lasting half a day. He teaches two martial arts classes and one opera class. In his spare time, he comes over to perform."

This arrangement was made because Romanians are more interested in the amazing Chinese Kung Fu.

They believe that every Chinese person is like Bruce Lee, with extraordinary skills.

So when Ruan Xiaomei took him to the Cultural Palace for an interview, the person in charge immediately arranged for him to teach martial arts when he heard that he had a background in martial arts.

After all, Romania is currently undergoing economic transformation, and the Palace of Culture must also be self-sufficient.

A popular course can attract more students and generate more tuition fees.

That opera class was purely an add-on, entirely due to the insistence of the leading actor.

The ambassador nodded repeatedly, and exclaimed earnestly, "It's truly remarkable that Comrade Tang Jiangang has persisted in spreading opera culture under such circumstances. It's also commendable that you help your compatriots and spread Chinese culture in this way."

When the time came, everyone stopped chatting and quickly moved on to the crucial part.

First, the leader gave a speech.

The Deputy Prime Minister delivered a speech.

He stated that the opening of the international container market sends a positive signal to investors from all over the world: Romania welcomes companies from all over the world, especially China, to invest in Romania.

The Romanian government will adopt a more open and tolerant attitude and take more effective measures to support and assist foreign investment.

The Ambassador immediately expressed his gratitude on behalf of China to the Vice Premier for his long-term attention and support for Chinese businessmen's investments.

Whether it was the initial kiosks or the current container market, both are the result of active cooperation between China and Romania.

He believes that this container market will play a positive and important role in promoting trade, personnel exchanges, and people-to-people interactions between China and Romania in the future.

This is just the beginning; we are sure we will be able to cooperate more deeply in the future.

As the investor and boss, Wang Xiao naturally had to go on stage to speak.

What she said was much simpler.

The container market not only provides an open international platform for friendly exchanges between people and business people from various countries, but it is also a beautiful symbol of the long-standing great friendship between the people of China and Romania.

May our friendship last forever. Let us join hands to build a better tomorrow for Romania.

She wasn't exaggerating; she said this is an international market, a genuine international market.

As soon as the opening ceremony came to a close, traders from all over the world, mainly Eastern European countries and former Soviet countries, as well as the Middle East, eagerly flooded into the market.

They had already outlined the products they wanted to wholesale when they received the catalog and advertising brochures.

Now that the announcement of the "official opening" has been made, everyone is eagerly carrying bags and packages to enter the venue, moving very quickly.

The Romanians who came to watch the spectacle were all stunned.

They do have local free markets, but these are flea markets where most people bring things they don't need for their own use to trade; there's no wholesale buying in bulk.

Even the Huaxia kiosks on the main street, despite the long queues, are all operating on a retail model, at most buying a few more items for relatives and friends from other places.

That's impossible.

When everyone came out, they were carrying huge snakeskin bags, almost all of which reached their shoulder height.

And this is just a small-scale operation.

Many people push carts laden with large and small bags of goods, then push them to the end of the market, where trucks are already waiting to attract customers.

The citizens stared wide-eyed at the truckloads of goods, feeling as if they had taken away the entire store.

In reality, what they see are mostly small and medium-sized customers, as well as more extravagant resellers who buy thousands of items at a time.

They couldn't carry so many goods by themselves, so they used a freight forwarding route.

The market staff will help pack the items, and then they can be shipped directly by train or plane.

But even just seeing the small and medium-sized customers was enough to amaze the Romanians.

They rushed into the container market to see what was going on and found it was indeed bustling with activity.

Hundreds of shipping containers can be pushed open at once, and once the container doors are opened, stalls can be set up and hung with samples, thus creating a kiosk.

The kiosks here operate on a wholesale basis and do not sell retail at all.

The minimum order quantity for clothing is 50 pieces.

Everyone was astonished, feeling that the scale of the project was enormous.

But those middlemen didn't care at all. They would look at the goods, touch them, and then with a wave of their hands, they would buy hundreds of items in one go.

The Vice Premier looked on with great interest, nodding and praising repeatedly: "Indeed, it's a Chinese product; the quality is excellent, so it's naturally popular."

Did you hear me?

Wang Xiaochong himself contacted the reporter for the interview and winked: "Pay attention, this is official certification from a national-level leader."

Do you have a clear idea of ​​how to arrange the press releases?

The reporter had worked with them before, and immediately gave her an OK sign.

It doesn't matter if he doesn't write well.

Which organization releases press releases hoping that reporters will write them? They all have their own correspondents prepare them in advance and then hand them over to familiar reporters for review.

The greatest significance of the event was taking photos to document it, so that the photos could be used to accompany news reports.

Wang Xiao had already leveraged her copywriting skills as a top internet celebrity to prepare the press release. She'd let the reporter choose; all she needed to do was ensure the key points were covered.

She can't just give away free advertising in Pravda, can she?

Business is good, and everyone is happy.

But the happiest people were Elena and her friends.

These goods were all selected from the markets in China and transported all the way to Bucharest.

At first, when Wang Xiao arranged for them to sell goods in the container market, they were extremely nervous, especially afraid that the goods they picked out would be too niche and unpopular.

They tried to decline, and they racked their brains to find excuses to show that they were willing to select more goods.

As a result, the boss insisted that each of them be responsible for selling the goods they had chosen.

Honestly, they were on the verge of a breakdown; they were terrified that they wouldn't be able to sell their stuff.

In order to sell the goods successfully, everyone really used every trick in the book and racked their brains.

They modeled themselves, prepared various display boards, and even rehearsed song and dance performances to attract customers' attention.

result--

None of these were of any use.

They weren't completely useless; at least they acted as models and wore quite a few outfits.

That's all; nothing was actually used.

Basically, as soon as the goods are displayed, they sell out quickly.

This was the first time in their lives they had ever seen such a scene at the trade city of Huaxia, where they witnessed middlemen and traders sourcing goods.

Unexpectedly, the same thing is happening in Bucharest now.

That's amazing, it's truly incredible.

Elena's parents also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Like other college students' parents, they were also worried about their children taking care of so many containers for a business.

Every household mobilized their entire family, with some even bringing their elderly grandparents from the countryside. They also invited familiar neighbors to help, hoping to have more eyes to watch out for thieves and prevent them from stealing their belongings.

Even though everyone showed their full support, who wouldn't have some doubts?

Wow, so much cargo! Container after container.

It felt heavy, like a mountain pressing down on their hearts.

If they can't be sold, the boss of Huaxia certainly won't let the kids lose money.

But what about the children's reputation in the future?

They were in charge of sourcing the goods, but the items they picked out became a hot potato, causing the boss to lose money. It was a shameful situation.

Now that things are going well, seeing the goods moving so quickly, everyone can finally relax and start looking forward to a bright future.

A one percent commission? I didn't think much of it when I first heard about it.

But now they suddenly realized that this meant they could get five hundred dollars after selling a container of goods.

Good heavens, that's five hundred dollars!

Right now, the combined salaries of everyone in their family don't even amount to five hundred US dollars a month.

Judging by the way they're buying goods today, they might earn those five hundred dollars in less than a day.

That adds up to 15,000 US dollars a month.

You wouldn't earn this much money even if you went to work in Western European countries like France and Italy.

Those who realized this looked at each other, somewhat stunned.

It was only when the Moldovan trader, who had come to buy goods, called out impatiently that they snapped out of their daze and continued to busy themselves with entertaining guests.

Seriously, for the rest of the day, all the college students and their families felt like they were walking on cotton.

Wow, that's how much money you can make!

I never knew you could make money like this.

Wang Xiao couldn't worry about them for the time being; she was with the leaders the whole time.

The Deputy Prime Minister really takes this matter very seriously.

He toured the container market from beginning to end and listened to Wang Xiao talk about the future plans for the construction site next door, which was making a lot of noise.

She has grand ambitions; she wants to build a large commercial center in Bucharest, attracting merchants from neighboring countries and making it a world-renowned trading market.

The Vice Premier immediately chimed in: "You can't just import goods from China; that won't be enough to keep up with demand."

Wang Xiao was waiting for his response, so she quickly replied, "That's why we're building factories. The garment factory has already been established and will be in production soon. We're currently investigating the color TV factory and hope to finalize it as soon as possible. Many of my friends are interested in the Romanian market and intend to come and explore investment opportunities. In addition to selling locally, we also hope that our products can be sold throughout the entire European market."

She highly praised Romania's balanced industrial development and complete industrial chain.

This isn't all just flattery.

After all, compared to most Eastern European countries, Romania was relatively less controlled by the former Soviet Union.

Coupled with the persistence of their previous head of state, many industries in Romania, regardless of whether they are thriving or not, are generally still in operation.

If you take good care of things, you won't have to start from scratch if you really want to invest.

Everyone loves to hear nice things, even if the previous head of state died a tragic death, or even if he died at the hands of the current government.

However, this does not prevent the current government from acknowledging the achievements of the previous administration.

As everyone knows, social wealth is created by the working people.

No matter how you look at it, this is all thanks to the Romanian people.

The Vice Premier also assigned Wang Xiao a secretary, telling her that she could contact the secretary directly if she encountered any problems during the factory's operation.

In front of the Chinese ambassador, he also emphasized to the Bucharest city leaders that they must fully cooperate with the Chinese business community's investments. This is a continuation of the great friendship between the two peoples and should not be taken lightly.

Ruan Xiaomei even found it a bit eerie.

Isn't it said that capitalism and socialism are different?

Why do leaders speak in such different ways, and it doesn't feel like there's much difference between them?

Sergei and Nikolai faithfully performed their duties as bodyguards and were not at all surprised by the Deputy Prime Minister's words.

Because these countries, including the Russian Federation, are experiencing the worst transition period.

Before you've even learned the good things about others, your own inherent weaknesses are rapidly expanding.

The two men remained Wang Xiao's bodyguards, this time staying in Romania with him.

Besides the two of them, there were two bodyguards standing not far away, who were from China.

It wasn't that Wang Xiao didn't trust them, but even they themselves felt that in Romania, it was easier for Chinese people to get things done than for them, Russians.

One is based on dislike, the other on goodwill; doing the same thing can have completely different results.

Four people are fine; working together can reduce the pressure on everyone.

The Deputy Prime Minister finally finished speaking, and it was getting late; he had other plans.

The ambassador then took his leave.

Wang Xiao quickly saw the leader off, and during the final farewell, she repeatedly thanked the leader for his support.

That's genuine support.

She just stated that she wanted to buy all the vacant land along the river and develop it; they nodded in agreement and even asked the municipal government leaders to go back and take a look, and if there was suitable land, they would approve it for our Chinese friends.

Now she can breathe a sigh of relief; she'll have a place to use the lei she earned in Romania from now on.

Although she wasn't sure if the value of the Ley would depreciate later.

The problem is that if a country's economic situation is unstable, its currency is bound to be unstable.

Instead of living in constant fear that your money will one day turn into nothing, it's better to quickly turn it into tangible assets.

For example, a 99-year land use right sounds pretty appealing.

That sounds much more reliable than money.

After seeing the leader off, the reporter from Pravda asked the boss what he thought: "Mr. Tang, I heard about Mr. Tang's story today. Could I create a character in the script based on him?"

Mr. Tang's life was full of ups and downs, making him a typical dramatic character in himself.

In addition, his background in opera and his ability to instantly change his expression make him particularly adept at reflecting the unpredictable nature of the world.

Seriously, he alone could carry a whole TV series.

Wang Xiao had no objections whatsoever.

She also felt that the movie didn't depict the dramatic ups and downs of Tang Jiangang's life.

As long as Tang Jiangang himself doesn't object, she will definitely say yes.

Her only requirement for this TV series right now is: "Get the script done quickly, at least give me an outline, otherwise we can't set up the production team. You can't start filming and still be working on the script on set."

She simply couldn't imagine how film crews, where the lead actors didn't even know what story they were playing, could possibly act it out.

The reporter quickly assured her, "It will be soon. I have figured out the logic behind this new character, and it can be used directly."

Wang Xiao accompanied her to find Tang Jiangang, who had just finished his performance and was resting downstairs.

After Wang Xiao finished translating the reporter's request, Tang Jiangang only made one request: that he be able to sing in the TV series.

He really had been holding it in for a long time.

Even now, when he teaches opera at the cultural center, there are hardly any students in his class.

Moreover, these students either loved watching him do somersaults or enjoyed watching him change his expressions.

In fact, most of them signed up because the martial arts class was full, and they had to settle for the drama class instead.

Their real purpose was still to learn kung fu from him.

Tang Jiangang held a mouthful of blood in his mouth, but he couldn't spit it out no matter what.

Now that the Romanians say they want to make a TV show about him, he immediately starts thinking about it.

Being on TV is great; you become famous as soon as you're on TV.

Among the various operas in China, the most popular and well-known ones, besides Peking Opera, are Huangmei Opera and Yue Opera.

The reason why these two types of local operas became famous throughout the country is thanks to film and television.

Their singing style was popularized throughout the country, as seen in works like "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Five Daughters Paying Homage to Their Mother".

Their Sichuan opera troupe wasn't so lucky; they could only live in a small corner of the world.

Now that he's gone abroad and has a great opportunity to film television, he should definitely give Sichuan Opera a good performance.

The reporter readily agreed: "No problem, you'll definitely be performing opera; that's your profession."

He then asked curiously, "How exactly does face-changing work?"

Tang Jiangang said with a serious face, "I can't tell you that. When we become apprentices, we emphasize inheritance and there are specific rules."

Fortunately, the reporter was just curious and didn't intend to expose the truth about what people were doing.

Even if they skip this topic, they can still chat enthusiastically.

Wang Xiao left the translation with them and went back to keep an eye on the market.

Since the store opened at nine o'clock in the morning, the crowds have been increasing, and the flow of people reached its peak at dusk.

The market's loudspeakers had to beep loudly, asking tourists to refrain from entering for the time being and leave the space for the merchants. They had come from out of town and wanted to quickly buy what they needed to get back home.

The market was bustling with people, and Ruan Xiaomei stared without blinking, exclaiming, "I didn't expect there to be so many people!"

She now truly believes what Wang Xiao said before; there really are people who can sell two containers of goods in a single day.

A college student picked out shoes that were so popular that one container of them was sold out and the second one was half sold out.

She sensed that by 7 p.m., when the market closed, the second container would also be cleared out.

Wang Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Now he finally had the confidence to show his boss's unfathomable depth and composure.

"That's normal, it would be strange if they couldn't sell them."

She calmly replied, "Right now, Romania and the surrounding countries and regions are experiencing a situation where demand exceeds supply, and there is a strong market demand."

In addition, the goods sold at our Huaxia Trading Post are all handpicked by us, which we believe Romanians will like.

But only the Romanians themselves truly know what they like.

We're now selling the goods they've selected, so naturally they're more popular with Romanians.

She made the right bet, and it was indeed a great start.

A thought struck Ruan Xiaomei, and she blurted out, "Could the Romanians also rent container spaces?"

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

As the saying goes, wealth can move people's hearts.

Previously, Romanians mostly guessed that Chinese people made a lot of money selling goods here. But they had no idea exactly how much they made.

But these college students came from Huaxia Wholesale Market and knew the purchase price of the goods.

Now that they're selling goods again, they must know the profit margin.

With so much money coming in and out, it's no wonder they're tempted.

Wang Xiao smiled and nodded: "That's exactly the effect I wanted."

She recruited these college students to be buyers and then had them sell the goods.

Firstly, it can boost their confidence and let them see with their own eyes that the products they choose are indeed popular with people in their own country, so they will be more confident in their work in the future.

Secondly, by having them and their families sell goods, Romanian families personally experienced that selling goods in the container market is indeed very profitable.

Only in this way will they take action and want to rent a stall in the container market to continue doing business.

Ruan Xiaomei was taken aback and blurted out, "Then what about us Chinese merchants?"

Since the beginning of spring, more and more Chinese people have been coming to Romania from all directions.

Subconsciously, she believed that this place would become something similar to the Chinatown Commercial Street in Moscow.

Even if they are just renting out stalls, the people doing business here are still Chinese.

Although she had previously told Wang Xiao that the Romanians might try to take their food away from them.

But saying something casually and witnessing it about to become a reality are two completely different concepts.

At this moment, she was truly shocked.

Wang Xiao pointed to the open space in front of him: "There's so much space here, enough to accommodate thousands of containers. If they want to rent, then let them rent. The monthly rent for one container is one thousand US dollars."

That's terrifying! A Romanian's annual salary doesn't even reach that amount now.

However, after the booming opening day, when the market closed at 7 p.m., the college student who had boldly asked to rent a container space was completely unfazed when he heard that it would cost a thousand US dollars.

Even if today is the opening day and business is booming, and the turnover in the following days is only half or even a third of today's, they can still earn several thousand or even tens of thousands of US dollars a month.

A monthly rent of one thousand is really not expensive.

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "Let's finish selling this batch of goods first. Once you have some capital, come back and register for a rental space. Don't worry, we'll reserve one for you. When doing business here, each stall has to pay a deposit of five thousand US dollars. If someone buys counterfeit goods from you, we have to use the deposit to compensate the customer."

The college student's parents quickly pulled their child back, fearing that the child was being too impulsive and would actually try to pay five thousand US dollars.

What does it mean if business is good today? No matter what you do, there's always an initial boom.

Only after this frenzy has passed will we know how much of the booming business was genuine and how much was fake.

Putting aside everything else, just look at these foreign middlemen and traders who come here with orders in hand to buy goods. They can't possibly come here every day, can they?

Once they stop coming, who will buy all this stock?

It has to be said that the old man's claim of having eaten more salt than a child's meal is not an exaggeration.

Three days later, the big-time traders that Wang Xiao had contacted beforehand were nowhere to be seen.

People are carrying large and small packages; it always takes time to ship goods.

However, the market did not become quiet as a result; on the contrary, there were even more customers.

Where did these customers come from? They weren't local Romanian merchants, but from Yugoslavia.

Oh no, to be more specific, it was the former Yugoslavia.

Unlike the collapse of the Soviet Union, which shocked the world, even though the former Yugoslavia was in chaos and everyone was clamoring for independence, probably because of its small size and low international influence, nobody really took it seriously.

Even they themselves didn't seem to care much.

The Yugoslavs were renowned for their business acumen in Eastern Europe.

Back when Romanians had to register before talking to foreigners and were subsequently investigated by the Ministry of the Interior, the Yugoslavs were already running free markets within Romania.

Because there were few foreign goods in Romania at that time, Chinese goods were considered a symbol of high quality and so the Yugoslavs claimed that whatever they sold was imported from China.

Now, Yugoslavia has fallen apart, but the nature of its merchants remains unchanged.

Since the Chinese have indeed set up a large wholesale market in Romania, they will definitely have to come here to purchase goods.

Anyway, everyone is huddled together.

A train comes by, and they carry several bags of goods with them. When they arrive at their destination, they sell the goods and make several times the profit.

As more and more Yugoslavs came to the market, new people joined in.

Who is it?

They weren't local Romanian vendors, but Chinese people who had just arrived in Romania.

They can no longer get stalls on the street; the spots have long been taken up by their predecessors.

They didn't have much capital left, so they couldn't possibly go back to China and import goods container by container.

So they sourced materials locally, wholesaled directly from the container market, and then sold them in other provinces of Romania (roughly equivalent to counties in China).

Although making money this way is slower, it's still a source of income, and the earnings are quite substantial.

To ensure smooth business operations and easy communication, most of these Chinese people hired people from their landlords' households, just to have someone to look after them.

Wang Xiao estimated that once the next step was taken, these landlords would start to follow suit and do business in the same way.

Bucharest is, after all, the capital of Romania.

People living in big cities always have more opportunities than others.

Business opportunities can be found everywhere if you are willing to look.

With more and more wholesalers coming to patronize the market, the container market finally ushered in its true moment of glory, when everyone came with money to rent container spaces.

Without a doubt, the most enthusiastic response came from Chinese businesspeople.

Firstly, people who are on the same side understand each other best.

They could roughly understand how much revenue a container ship could generate in a day just by looking at it.

Wholesale containers are a lucrative business with large shipment volumes.

This business is viable.

Secondly, there's the $5,000 deposit and the $1,000 monthly rent—

People who have seen a lot of money don't think it's anything special.

For ordinary Romanian citizens, this is an absolutely astronomical price, a price that would leave them utterly in awe.

Especially today, with the leu depreciating so drastically, only people with deep pockets can afford to spend that much money.

The college students, including Elena, and their families were able to raise this huge sum of money thanks to the commission they earned from selling goods during this period.

Therefore, the only ones left who could afford to come up with this amount of money were the Chinese who ran the trading post in Bucharest.

They have money, and unlike the local elites, they don't consider buying goods in the container market shameful and disdain making that kind of money.

So, with more and more people seeking refuge with their relatives and the trading post unable to accommodate so many, some of the first batch of Chinese merchants decisively changed course.

They come directly to rent container spaces and become large wholesalers.

Ruan Xiaomei felt a pang of worry for them.

She now understands that the reason Mr. Wang went to great lengths to cultivate local Romanian wholesalers was, on the one hand, to strengthen ties with the locals.

In Wang Xiao's words, only when everyone has shared common interests and needs can they truly form a united group.

For example, if the Bucharest government were envious of the thriving wholesale market and wanted to sabotage it, the locals would not care about the market's fate if all the businesses in the market were Chinese.

But if there are Romanians here who are making a good living, and the government suddenly starts causing trouble, they will definitely not be happy.

As citizens of a country where strikes and demonstrations are commonplace these days, their influence on the government far outweighs that of Chinese businessmen.

Because only citizens of this country have the right to vote, and the government needs their votes.

On the other hand, Wang Xiao probably did this to warn Chinese businessmen, or rather, to make them more aware of their situation.

Because money is so easy to make, the Bucharest kiosks are now like banks, with people constantly pouring money into them.

As a businesswoman, Ruan Xiaomei understands herself and her peers.

Human nature is inherently greedy; we always want to give less and receive more.

In Romania right now, Chinese businesses can be said to have no competitors.

No matter what they sell, there are always people willing to pay a high price to buy it.

What will happen if this goes on for a long time? People will get arrogant.

Since I'm not worried about sales, why don't I stock up on cheaper goods? That way I can earn more.

As a result, the quality of Chinese goods in Bucharest will continue to decline until their reputation is completely ruined.

Ruan Xiaomei was truly impressed by the ruthlessness of her boss.

If there are no competitors, then cultivate them—and make them powerful competitors with inherent advantages.

Even if people are unwilling, they are forced to work hard to improve product quality and service attitude, and dare not get complacent.

After thinking for a long time, she could only come up with one term: the catfish effect.

Introducing catfish into a school of sardines can increase the survival rate of the sardines.

It's quite interesting to think about.

That's right, the sardines are going to have to live in fear for quite some time.

Ruan Xiaomei remembered something else and asked the boss, "Are we going to rent out all the spaces? Why don't we keep some for ourselves?"

To be honest, the container wholesale shipments are so fast that she's envious.

If they did it themselves, they could make a lot of money.

"Five container slots should be enough," Wang Xiao said with a smile. "We can use those to run our own stores."

ah?

Ruan Xiaomei was stunned for a moment. What did "self-operated" mean? She couldn't quite grasp what it meant.

"It means selling our own products." She counted on her fingers, "For example, the clothes we have outsourced to factories, or the color TVs we want to jointly produce, we can bring them over to sell."

Well, another formidable competitor.

Ruan Xiaomei could only look sympathetically at the Chinese businessmen waving banknotes as they came to sign contracts.

Comrades, let's work hard; there's no time to relax.

Without saying a word, Wang Xiao readily accepted the money and promptly led the group to a lawyer to help draft the contract, which they then signed and stamped one by one.

The minimum lease term is three months, followed by a one-year lease. Rent is settled in US dollars.

Everyone said they could understand.

Given the exchange rate in Ley, how can you expect people to set a year's rent? That would be deliberately making things difficult for them.

Wang Xiao's containers of goods were sold and delivered to Lei, and she immediately went to the city government to buy land.

She said she was afraid of missing out on a great investment opportunity in Romania.

But the truth is, she was simply afraid that the Ley would depreciate in value.

That evening, when she called Ivanov and Tang Yicheng to check on the work progress, Ivanov expressed his deep understanding towards her.

What can we do? With the currency so weak, there's nothing anyone can do but try to convert money into physical goods.

But when it came to Tang Yicheng—

Ahem, it's not that the boss is unethical, ignoring the six-hour time difference and disturbing people's sleep late at night; it's just that Suifenhe's geographical location means it gets light very early.

Tang Yicheng, who is used to waking up early, has already adjusted his biological clock after arriving there. He now goes to bed at nine o'clock at night and gets up at four or five in the morning, which is just in time to answer this call.

Hearing Wang Xiao's sigh, Tang Yicheng was extremely proud: "I don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't even have enough rubles to spend right now."

What happened?

Because their flight route to Vladivostok has already been opened, and Russia is in a trade surplus situation.

Wait, something's not right.

Aside from barter trade, trade between China and Russia was essentially a one-way export.

When did Russia ever have a trade surplus?

Tang Yicheng couldn't hide his pride: "I replaced it with a giant crab and brought it back."

The so-called "King Crab" is actually the king crab.

Vladivostok is famous for its seafood.

In an era of limited transportation, Vladivostok's seafood was cheap, just like in all coastal areas. Even king crabs didn't fetch high prices.

Logically speaking, although Suifenhe is not by the sea, it is still a city with sea breezes, so seafood shouldn't be too rare for it.

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that back then, people in coastal areas ate seafood as their main meal because they couldn't get enough to eat, and they ate it until they felt like vomiting.

The situation in Suifenhe is probably not much better.

But the problem is that the current situation is special. Since Suifenhe was further opened up on March 9th, this small city has completely exploded.

People from all over the country and from all corners of the country flocked to Suifenhe.

In the last two years, eating seafood has become fashionable (supposedly a trend started by Japanese businesses investing in China), so king crabs have become an instant hit in Suifenhe.

Currently, three helicopters are making frequent trips to transport goods every day. After deducting all costs, the profit is approximately 200,000 Chinese Yuan.

"Really?!" Wang Xiao couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "So many!"

Because helicopters have a small carrying capacity, even if the price of fresh fruits and vegetables increases seven or eight times, it still won't be as profitable as the same weight of clothing.

So neither she nor Ivanov really expected to make much money from this line of selling fresh produce.

Their goal is to first establish the air route and secure the position before planning further development.

Who would have thought that Tang Yicheng would give them such a big surprise?

Sure enough, Vladivostok is his lucky place. He gets along well with the local atmosphere, and everything he does there goes smoothly.

Tang Yicheng was immediately fired up by her effusive flattery and wrote a guarantee to his boss on the spot: "You wait, I think this market can be further explored."

Wang Xiao readily offered him a promise: "Just tell us what kind of support you need. We'll definitely find a way to help you."

Wow! This route is amazing, it's a treasure trove!

Yes, for its sake, we really need to make proper arrangements for aircraft for the Air Force.

Wang Xiao hung up the phone, glanced at the time, and then called Tokyo again.

She's in a great mood right now, and she's happy to hear sweet words!

————————

Regarding the Yugoslav markets in Romania: Before the 1989 coup, private business dealings were considered disreputable in Romania. Yugoslav tourists would often bring cigarettes, chewing gum, electronic watches, and jeans to Romania and sell them at designated markets, known as "Yugoslav markets." Romanians said these Yugoslavs were very cunning.

All they cared about was making money. After the Romanian government announced regulations in 1989 prohibiting foreign tourists from taking goods worth more than 500 lei out of the country, these "Yugoslavian markets" basically all closed down.

The Yugoslavs were divided into Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, and Bosniaks. After 1991, they gradually fragmented, engaging in numerous wars. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-01-05 19:41:54 and 2024-01-06 21:09:56!

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