Chapter 60 The Underdog: What audacity!

In front of Deputy Secretary Cao, Wang Xiao made a phone call to Ivanov and finalized the deal for one hundred trucks on the spot. He also called the military and called on the retired drivers to join the operation.

Deputy Secretary Cao breathed a sigh of relief and shook her hand with a big smile: "Comrade Wang Xiao, you have really helped us a lot."

Wang Xiao's smile was equally bright: "This is what we should do. Our International Trade City and Wuzhou Company both hope that Jiangdong Province can resume normal production as soon as possible."

The provincial government's car drove away.

Wang Xiao kept waving until the car disappeared from sight, then she lowered her arm and turned to ask her two friends, "What did you see?"

Tang Yicheng looked completely bewildered: What's going on? What's so interesting about that?

Xiang Dong was a bit stronger than him, and hesitantly said, "It seems that Secretary Cao's real intentions this time are not what they seem."

He always felt that her visit was not simply to express her concern for the International Trade City and the airport.

But the leader's words were vague and ambiguous.

As a self-employed individual, he was naturally intimidated by superiors, so he couldn't grasp the key points.

Wang Xiao smiled and gestured to Feng Zhonglin: "President Feng, please mentor us young people."

Feng Zhonglin shook his head with a laugh, and after a long while he sighed: "I'm not sure either. I guess the leaders are afraid that we will also get goods from Jiangbei Province in the future."

They're in charge of the industrial sector, so what do they want from constantly praising their International Trade City for its outstanding contributions to the light industry of Jiangdong Province?

The two young men then realized what was going on.

Tang Yicheng blurted out, "I thought the leader was just being polite."

She showered him with praise, praising him to the skies, until he was completely bewildered.

"Our leaders are really going to great lengths for the industrial development of Jiangdong."

Tang Yicheng thought she was overthinking it. "We had no choice when the floods happened, but now that transportation has been restored, we certainly won't go to the trouble of going far away."

He laughed several times, then suddenly realized that no one seemed to agree with him.

Poor little Tang was incredulous and stammered, "Where did I...where did I say something wrong?"

Xiang Dong sighed, "Do you know which unit suffered the most severe losses in our Jiangdong Province?"

Large and medium-sized cities were saved; it was villages, towns, and county seats that suffered from the floods.

Among the industrial sectors, township and village enterprises suffered the most severe losses.

Unfortunately, township enterprises in Jiangdong Province are quite developed, and about half of the companies that first established cooperative relationships with their International Trade City were township enterprises.

These factories have been submerged in water for a month, and it's not something that can be done in just a few days.

Their recovery will take time, but the International Trade City can't just sit idly by.

Closing for even one day means a loss of several million US dollars and the loss of customers. Who can afford that?

Tang Yicheng reluctantly found a solution that satisfied both sides: "Then we'll take the goods from Jiangbei Province first. Once things return to normal in Jiangdong, we can take the goods from Jiangdong."

Feng Zhonglin was both amused and exasperated: "We were doing a great job cooperating, and now you're just throwing away their goods without saying a word? Are you trying to make an enemy of them?"

And to be honest, the goods from Jiangbei Province are quite good. Some products are very popular, and many styles are ordered in quantities of tens of thousands by Russians.

Tang Yicheng suddenly came to his senses: "That's not right, Jiangbei Province is far away. It takes a lot of time and costs to transfer goods from there to the airport."

However, this height is quite limited.

The two provincial capitals are a little over four hours apart by car.

If the factories there are cooperative and willing to negotiate prices, then their competitiveness is by no means weak.

No wonder Wang Xiao didn't make any guarantees in front of Deputy Secretary Cao.

So she really is tempted, and maybe she's betting on both!

But if I do this, won't I offend my boss?

Hey, Tang Yicheng may be a bit hotheaded, but anyone who's been through the ups and downs of life understands a basic principle: never offend your boss.

Your boss may not be able to help you get things done, but he or she definitely has the ability to ruin things for you.

After thinking it over carefully, Tang Yicheng felt that they were so meticulously veiled that they were full of loopholes.

Especially regarding that color TV issue, we absolutely cannot let the Red Star TV Factory continue to mess things up, otherwise they'll report us without hesitation.

Seeing him pacing around in such a hurry, Feng Zhonglin found it an eyesore.

That's the downside of young people; they can't keep their tempers up over the smallest things.

“We’ve already done enough, donating money and supplies, even using our planes, and now we’ve even found them big trucks. What more do you want from us?”

Comrade Feng waved his hand, "Don't worry, the leader is a respectable person. He comes from an economic background and won't do anything reckless."

Tang Yicheng finally came to his senses: "So that's why you took these people's clothes!"

So this was all done for the boss's benefit!

Wang Xiao shook his head: "Their being caught in the flood was an undeserved disaster."

In a sense, the disaster was transferred from her.

Besides, who knows how much of that two thousand yuan compensation will actually reach the disaster victims?

It wasn't that she was malicious or prejudiced against officials of this era.

Rather, she knew all too well that in the absence of effective oversight, those in power could easily monetize their influence.

Even before she transmigrated into the book, when everyone was a self-media outlet and the whole country was watching, weren't the billions of yuan in disaster relief funds for the Henan floods still misappropriated?

She dared not overestimate human nature.

She really doesn't understand why so many people have such a frighteningly thick filter of this era 30 years later, always thinking that today's officials are particularly incorruptible.

Why don't they consider that in an era where every official is loyal to their duties and of high moral character, how could there be a society with notoriously poor public order?

In fact, the official sources themselves have never made such a claim.

The People's Daily's New Year's message on January 1, 1989, clearly stated: "Some negative and corrupt phenomena in Party and government organs and society are also shocking."

In short, Wang Xiao felt that he should do whatever he could.

Fortunately, old clothes and bedding are not valuable and there is not much market for them right now, so they will most likely still be delivered to people.

Tang Yicheng looked left and right, and finally said something from the bottom of his heart: "You guys are really something, you talk like you're playing a riddle, you just won't say it outright."

If he hadn't heard Feng Zhonglin's explanation, he wouldn't have realized at all that the two sides had already had a subtle confrontation.

Feng Zhonglin laughed out loud: "That won't do. If it's brought up in the open, will you agree or not? If you agree, you'll be at a huge disadvantage; if you don't agree, you'll completely offend people. The leader will also be embarrassed."

Respectable people don't do this kind of thing.

Tang Yicheng quickly bowed and took his leave. Indeed, being a respectable person is not something that just anyone can do.

I'm guessing all day long, and I'm running out of brain cells.

People around laughed. The cicadas in the big willow tree by the roadside chirped loudly, as if they wanted to join in the fun.

Someone inside craned their neck and shouted, "Mr. Wang, it's the phone, Mr. Ivanov's phone!"

When Wang Xiao called earlier, he told the provincial officials standing next to him that Ivanov didn't dare to act recklessly.

Now he finally couldn't hold back and called to shower me with compliments, showering me with one compliment after another.

Honestly, his ability to win over the team is largely due to his skill in praising people.

Ivanov emphasized that he could indeed find a boat to transport the trucks, but that would take a long time.

It's never been as convenient as it is now. Not only did it save on shipping costs, but it also allowed us to make a sale and take the opportunity to establish closer ties with the government.

“We can come today,” Ivanov said confidently. “The sooner we get the car to China, the sooner we can expand our business.”

How to get there?

Of course, I flew directly to Moscow.

Wait a minute, didn't the truck come from Suifenhe? Moscow seems to be quite far from there.

Normally, shouldn't you just send people directly to Suifenhe, cross the border from there, and then drive the truck back?

The problem is that sending someone to Suifenhe to take the train takes a lot of time.

It's not easy for more than a hundred people to buy train tickets now.

They have available planes, but the routes are restricted; they can't go wherever they want.

Instead, it's more convenient and faster to follow the established route, first fly to Moscow in eight hours, and then fly from Moscow to the airport in Vladivostok.

Because the Soviet Union had a really large number of aircraft.

Moscow even had an airbus, which used airplanes as public transportation. The tickets were inexpensive and it was quite popular with the citizens.

The Airbus was later suspended due to a number of accidents.

Wang Xiao turned to look at Tang Yicheng: "You lead the team over there."

Later, as the transportation team grew, the company needed to appoint a leader in charge.

Although Tang Yicheng is not very smart, a team doesn't need everyone to be exceptionally shrewd.

He's a veteran and knows the military well. Letting him manage the retired truck drivers is a hassle-free and convenient option.

Tang Yicheng didn't care. He felt that no matter what he did, he just needed to follow orders.

When asked to go to Moscow, he didn't hesitate, only asking Xiang Dong, "Do you want to come along?"

Despite their daily interactions with the Russians, Xiang Dong has never even left the country.

His current status is as an employee of the joint venture, so the procedures for going abroad are very simple.

You can leave whenever you want.

Unfortunately, Xiang Dong could only shake his head; he didn't know when he had also become destined for a life of toil.

"I can't go, I have to go to Guangzhou to pick up goods."

Why is he so miserable?

He really has time to make money but no time to spend it now.

Wang Xiao coldly turned his head away.

As a capitalist who follows the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, she would never feel sorry for the 996 working class.

Moreover, she shamelessly continues down the path of extracting surplus value from workers, reaching out to new college graduates.

"Who among you wants to take the lead in planting watercress?"

The young men and women looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

They came to work at the joint venture and were supposed to deal with foreigners, so how did they suddenly end up in the mud?

In the end, it was Xu Haiyan, the dark-skinned and thin girl, who raised her hand and stammered, "Mr. Wang... Mr. Wang, I'll give it a try."

She came from a rural background; although she was a small-town girl, there wasn't much difference between remote towns and villages.

It was precisely because she did not want to return to her hometown and repeat the life of her ancestors that she gave up her cadre position in her hometown and insisted on staying in the provincial capital.

Compared to her fellow townspeople who joined the company at the same time, her experience and family background limited her vision, network, and work ability.

To succeed, she had to work harder and more diligently than others, seizing every opportunity.

She sees planting artemisia as a good opportunity right now.

At least she had plenty of opportunities to interact with farmers before she went to university. During the busy farming season, she even worked for relatives in the village.

In her opinion, doing something like going to the fields wasn't shameful.

Furthermore, as a newcomer, opportunities to take on significant responsibilities are extremely rare. If you miss this chance, who knows when you'll get another one?

The entire Wuzhou Company and International Trade City have several hundred employees, and everyone is a competitor.

As for how to clean up the mess if things go wrong, Xu Haiyan wasn't really afraid.

She had a vague feeling that the boss didn't expect to make a fortune by growing reeds on 100 acres of land.

These are more like the boss's testing grounds.

Xu Haiyan looked at her boss with trepidation.

Wang Xiao nodded to her and smiled, "Okay, then it's you."

She wasn't surprised at all that it was a girl who stepped forward first.

The sunk costs for women to build their careers are inherently higher than those for men.

Especially in the early 1990s, female college students who had the courage to give up their cadre status and join joint ventures needed even more resilience.

They often work harder than men.

Another girl, Zhao Yuru, also raised her hand: "I'll go with Xu Haiyan, I'll lend her a hand."

Wang Xiao had no objections.

She never believed that two women working together couldn't do a good job.

If two men can do a good job together, why can't women?

It's not like she's asking them to run around doing sales, so she really needs to arrange for a male colleague to accompany them, otherwise they'll be too easy targets for criminals.

Moreover, from a personal perspective, she prefers to cultivate capable female subordinates.

Why?

Of course, it's not simply girls helping girls.

In patriarchal societies, men naturally look down on women and question their work abilities. A female leader must be much stronger than men, even to the point of overwhelming them, in order to gain the trust of her male subordinates.

Women are different.

Unless they are mentally ill men, women generally have a higher level of acceptance of their female bosses.

Because the word "boss" itself implies someone who is more outstanding and capable, someone everyone wants to be.

The remaining college students looked at each other, wondering if they had missed some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

However, it's too late for them to regret it now. It's just planting reeds; it's not like they have to go into the fields to plant them themselves. How could they possibly arrange for so many people?

Xiang Dong watched from the sidelines, thoroughly amused.

He felt that these college students had read too many books and were too hesitant and indecisive about even the smallest things.

To succeed in business, you have to be like them, cautious and hesitant. While others have already made their money and left, they haven't even entered the market yet.

Alas, a scholar's rebellion won't last three years.

Forget it, let Feng Zhonglin have his headache.

He had to hurry to his home in the city to pack his luggage, and then go to Guangzhou to pick up goods.

The Great Heat is just around the corner, followed by the Beginning of Autumn. If you don't prepare your autumn gear now, you'll be in a real mess later.

As a result, the man from Xiangdong had just returned to the city and hadn't even had a chance to take a shower or have a proper beer.

Wang Xiao called his home: "Let's go to the People's Department Store together."

Xiang Dong asked in surprise, "Why are we going to the People's Department Store? Do they have anything we don't have?"

Of course, that's not the reason.

The reason is exactly the opposite: the People's Department Store had clothes that were exactly the same as those in the self-service clothing supermarket.

Moreover, the mall sells them for even less.

The store manager of the women's clothing store discovered this issue after customers complained to them: why are the same clothes priced tens of yuan more expensive in their self-service supermarket than in the People's Department Store?

At first, the store manager didn't take it seriously, explaining that although the clothes looked similar, the materials and designs were actually very different.

But this customer was a very particular person. After buying it at the People's Department Store, he specially brought it to the self-service supermarket and insisted that the store manager explain exactly what was different.

That's when the store manager realized the problem.

They are exactly the same.

The key point is that this outfit was custom-made by their supermarket, and the design was taken from a Hong Kong videotape.

The store manager immediately ran to the People's Department Store to check.

To my surprise, seven or eight styles of clothing they copied from TV shows were openly displayed on the counters of the People's Department Store.

Each item is priced 10 to 20 yuan cheaper than in a self-service clothing supermarket.

The store manager panicked at this point and quickly called Jiangzhimen.

Seeing is believing, so Wang Xiao naturally had to see for himself what the situation was.

Having sold clothes for so many years, Xiang Dong could immediately tell upon handling the garment: "It is indeed the same."

Pattern making is very important for clothing.

Even when using the same design drawing, different pattern makers can produce different results.

These clothes are now practically from the same production line.

It would be strange if there were no ghosts involved.

So where exactly did the problem lie?

Was it the pattern maker they hired who caused the trouble, or was the OEM factory greedy and trying to make a double profit?

Manager Tao, the head of the clothing department at the People's Department Store, walked over with a forced smile and reached out to shake Xiang Dong's hand: "Oh, Mr. Xiang, what a rare guest! What brings you here? Oh, Mr. Wang, you're here too! This is truly a rare treat."

Wang Xiao looked at him wearing the same outfit as Leon Lai and really wanted to suggest that he stop wearing it.

His buyer reviews are so good that merchants would pay him to delete the photos.

Manager Tao received no response, but that didn't stop him from continuing his monologue: "Did you come here to instruct us on our work? I'm telling you, even you individual business owners should have a conscience. How can you set prices for clothes so arbitrarily? You have absolutely no heart for serving the people."

Wang Xiao was certain that this whole thing was deliberately orchestrated by the People's Department Store.

It is definitely not a coincidence.

She ignored Manager Tao and turned to leave.

The manager of Xiangdong and the clothing self-service supermarket quickly followed.

Manager Tao continued to ramble on: "A self-employed individual is a self-employed individual. Dog meat can't be served at a banquet. No matter how many skins they put on, they're still a self-employed individual, that's their nature! Come on, everyone, take a look. Our clothes here are fashionable and cheap."

Pooh!

They're so weak they're practically weightless; they should take a piss and see what kind of person they are.

They actually dared to go against the People's Department Store and even managed to coax the manufacturers into submission.

If we don't teach these individual business owners a lesson, they'll think they can run a dyeing workshop.

Ha! You can't stand it now?

You're in for a lot of crying later on.

Xiang Dong's face turned ashen.

The store manager was furious, her voice trembling as she said, "How dare he? Who's the shameless one? They're the ones who stole our clothes."

This statement is biased.

After all, the clothes they sell aren't their own designs; they're directly copied from Hong Kong TV dramas.

But the question is, is it easy to replicate a trend? Is copying designs easy? Is finding suitable fabrics and manufacturers simple?

If everyone competes from the same starting point, they won't say a word regardless of who wins or loses.

Such a direct act of raiding someone's base is despicable!

Wang Xiao was also angry.

As a live-streaming influencer with her own online store, this kind of thing is nothing new to her.

Products manufactured by major brands have long been a popular category, including the OEM manufacturers of the sexy lingerie she designs, which also produce and sell similar products.

Thirty years from now, the audience for big-name products and the audience for OEM products will be two different groups.

Furthermore, the sales performance of the same product can vary drastically between online stores with high traffic and those with low traffic.

Therefore, the contradiction between the two is not very significant.

Things are different now.

Nowadays, people mainly look at the fabric and style when buying clothes, and there is not much of a brand premium effect.

Moreover, People's Department Store is a long-established department store, which comes with its own halo effect.

If the same clothes are cheaper at their store than at a self-service clothing supermarket, they are still very attractive to customers.

Moreover, it is located in the city center and is a well-established popular spot for social media check-ins, with a large flow of people and customers.

In short, this move will seriously impact the business of self-service clothing supermarkets.

The store manager was frantic, chasing after Wang Xiao and asking, "Mr. Wang, what do we do now? Should we lower the price too?"

"No price reduction!" Wang Xiao said firmly. "They want to start a price war with us, but we're not playing along!"

"But what if our clothes are too expensive and we can't sell them?"

Sales of these clothes have dropped significantly recently, and some people have even returned them because they felt they had overpaid.

"It's okay, keep it listed. Everyone has their own needs. Some people buy clothes simply for the clothes themselves, while others value service and the overall shopping experience. As for the drop in sales—"

She stopped and turned to look at the store manager, saying, "We'll make up for the losses offline with online sales."

ah?

What does that mean?

Xiang Dong was a little confused and couldn't keep up with her rhythm.

Wang Xiao smiled: "Don't forget we also have mail-order sales."

She reached out to feel the temperature of the approaching Great Heat season, and to be honest, it was really hot.

Even though the sun has long since set and it's pitch black outside, the oppressive heat shows no sign of dissipating.

"In this kind of weather, only a minority of people are willing to travel far. People's Department Store can compete with us in the provincial capital, and outside the provincial capital, we can also sell clothes by mail."

She thought for a moment and added, "Make phone calls. Call every VIP customer in other cities to greet them, ask about their situation and that of their families, and inquire if they need any help."

The store manager looked bewildered: "How can we help them?"

"It's a matter of attitude; sometimes a greeting is a form of help in itself."

Wang Xiao added, "Don't place any more orders for these styles of clothing; let's sell this batch first."

Xiang Dong looked at her in disbelief, "You're not just going to let this go like that, are you?"

This is intolerable!

This is a blatant slap in their face.

If we don't teach People's Department Store a lesson, they'll keep doing this.

If it gets to that point, they'll be entangled with vampires, and it'll never end.

Wang Xiao smiled slightly: "Let them be smug for a couple of days. We'll see who's the real deal when the next batch of clothes arrives."

She then comforted Xiang Dong, "Alright, take a few more people with you when you go to Guangzhou. With the floods, the security situation will only get worse."

There's a reason why people have always feared refugees.

Although Xiang Dong was completely confused and couldn't guess what she was planning to do next, he still nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll leave tomorrow morning. Call me if anything comes up."

He might not say he was curious, but his mind was racing, and he spent the entire train journey wondering how she would turn back.

Based on his understanding of Wang Xiao, that had absolutely nothing to do with the idea that revenge is a dish best served cold.

She only seeks revenge and doesn't let it linger overnight.

By the way, who exactly is causing trouble?

Pattern maker or contract manufacturer?

It's truly a case of insatiable greed.

Both of them, regardless of who they are, have made a lot of money from clothing self-service supermarkets.

They betray others for petty gains; they'll surely have their day of reckoning later.

Ugh, who was it that was so blind?

From departure to Guangzhou to return, even a minute to the east feels like an hour, but selecting, negotiating, and loading goods all take time.

So it was a week later when he returned to the provincial capital.

He picked out a lot of clothes this time because he wanted to offset the loss from having his custom-made clothes stolen.

Pooh!

He's definitely going to have a grudge against the People's Department Store.

He will absolutely not let them get away with it.

After getting off the train at Xiangdong Station, although I was in a hurry, I still had to take the clothes back to the self-service clothing supermarket first, and then organize the employees to sort them, put on price tags, and quickly stock the new clothes.

After all that, he was so tired that his eyes were glazed over before he remembered to ask the store manager, "Did our General Manager Wang give the People's Department Store a good look?"

The store manager looked bewildered: "I don't know, Mr. Wang didn't tell me."

If President Xiang hadn't brought it up, she would have almost forgotten about it.

Because she's been very busy this week too.

After making a series of calls to say hello, a lot of people sent money to buy clothes.

Everyone has been working overtime lately and is very busy.

Those clothes have basically all been cleared out.

Mr. Wang is truly impressive.

Oh dear.

This is driving me crazy!

You've been talking for ages and still haven't gotten to the point.

Besides, what's the point of you flattering President Wang in front of me? It's a complete waste of breath.

Xiang Dong couldn't wait to run outside, and just then he ran into Tang Yicheng riding his motorcycle.

The latter stopped and prepared to buy a serving of steamed mung bean jelly from a food stall at the entrance of the supermarket.

This is a snack that Xiang Dong brought back from Guangzhou. He added fermented bean curd, peanuts, coriander, and a bunch of other random things to the cold noodles.

This is the only one in the provincial capital; there are no other branches.

When Tang Yicheng first ate it, he felt it was even more terrifying than eating durian.

As a result, he became addicted after eating it a couple more times, and would come back every few days to pack one to take home as a late-night snack.

Now Xiang Dong is blocking him, demanding that he take him to the People's Department Store in the city center immediately; Tang Yicheng is very unwilling: "Hey, hey, I haven't had dinner yet."

Xiang Dong only went to Guangzhou, but he went to Moscow, then Vladivostok, and then drove back in a truck.

It's the middle of summer!

Because of the heavy rain, the sun had been absent for too long. So after the rain stopped, the sun came out in full force, working overtime to make matters worse, and it was so hot it was almost unbearable.

He had a very tough journey.

But is it over once you get back to the provincial capital? No way.

So much aid supplies need to be distributed to all the disaster-stricken areas in the province.

Seriously, he suffered a lot.

But he was still a little bit happy.

Because he personally experienced what it means to have a close bond between the military and the people.

It's true, when he joined the army, the military had already started doing business. So, in society, some people already viewed them as thugs.

But in this flood, the People's Liberation Army stepped forward and proved to the whole society and all Chinese people that they are still the people's army.

Those who are messing around and causing trouble are corrupt elements, not the real People's Liberation Army.

The people have sharp eyes and highly regard the People's Liberation Army. When they delivered aid supplies, some people even asked them to intervene and deal with local officials who wanted to take more than their share.

Of course, they can't control it; the military and the government are not on the same page.

He pushed him away from the east: "I'll treat you to some barbecue later. I know which restaurant uses authentic lamb, definitely not rat meat."

"Hey, you're kidding me." Tang Yicheng reluctantly started the motorcycle again, muttering, "I'm not stupid. Who's going to be so bored as to catch rats to make kebabs? Rats aren't that easy to catch. With that time and energy, why not get some meat?"

It was much cooler after I started riding the motorcycle.

The two sped to the People's Department Store, parked their car, ran through the entrance, and headed straight for the clothing counter.

On the way here, Xiang Dong had already briefly explained what had happened to Tang Yicheng.

Comrade Xiao Tang was even more indignant than him; he was utterly shameless.

No wonder the People's Department Store is getting worse every day.

If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too.

With a leader like that in charge, things will never get better.

Xiang Dong's eyes swept over the clothing counter, and his eyebrows immediately furrowed tightly.

Having sold clothes for so many years, he's very perceptive about fashion; this is clearly another new wave of products.

This kind of update speed would have been unthinkable in the past for clothing counters.

Ha! There really was a mole.

This one, this one, and this one—these are all orders they placed with the garment factory.

"Hey—" Tang Yicheng reached out and nudged Xiang Dong, lowering his voice, "These clothes look like they're from... export."

He remembered that it seemed to have been custom-made by a Hungarian customer, because the style that foreigners liked was different from that of the Chinese, so he had a deep impression of it.

Xiang Dong recognized him too.

Because he was the one who got the pattern for the clothes made.

The two looked at each other and suddenly felt like laughing.

Haha, serves you right for stealing! You had a great time stealing this time!

Xiang Dong looked around, trying to see what kind of expression Manager Tao had on his face.

Popularity isn't universal.

Also branded as American fashion, ripped jeans sold like hotcakes in Moscow and became popular throughout Eastern Europe.

Ivanov even started arranging to import normal jeans from the east of the river under the guise of raw materials, and then have them processed into ripped jeans in Moscow.

According to current Soviet regulations, joint ventures can import raw materials needed for production without paying taxes.

Cough cough, similarly, the hundred trucks they drove back from the east were tax-free.

Because Wuzhou Company itself is a joint venture engaged in freight transportation.

China also has tax incentives in this regard.

Ah, those aren't the main points.

The key point is that those ripped jeans failed to gain traction in the Jiangdong market.

Many young men and women like posters featuring white models wearing ripped jeans, but they just don't buy the same clothes.

They even sat down for a meeting to analyze this matter.

The conclusion drawn was that the situation in Moscow was different from that in the east of the Yangtze River.

The Soviet Union had largely achieved housing security for its citizens, so young people no longer needed to live in cramped, three-generation households with their parents and grandparents. They also had greater autonomy in matters of clothing and appearance.

But it's different in China. Living under your parents' watchful eyes, you can pursue fashion, but you can't wear tattered clothes.

Your clothes are worse than a beggar's; are you just afraid of losing face for eight generations of your ancestors?

In any case, every country and every nation has its own characteristics, so popular trends cannot spread all over the world.

Now, the clothing originally intended for Hungary is being sold in the provincial capital. How are the sales? They're quite curious.

Oh, where is Manager Tao? How could he not be there for such a historic moment?

Manager Tao's heart was pounding with anxiety.

Actually, when he went to the clothing factory to pick up the goods, he was quite suspicious when he saw the new styles for this season. He felt that something was not quite right.

However, the garment factory was quite certain that this was an order from the self-service supermarket.

They want a lot; they need five thousand pieces of each style.

They were incredibly busy fulfilling orders.

If it weren't for the reputation of the People's Department Store, they wouldn't have accepted the store's order at all.

After all, when the supermarket staff came to place the order last time, they emphasized that the contract clearly stated that if they made the same clothes for other places, they would have to pay compensation.

But as the People's Department Store said, can clothes talk? They're all made of cloth and thread, so what makes you think they were made in our factory?

So, these garment factories are just making money off of each other.

Manager Tao had no choice but to drag the clothes back and reluctantly hang them on the counter.

Honestly, he didn't see what was so good about these clothes. Just because they were flashy, did that make them popular?

Now that the clothes are hanging on the counter, nobody wants to buy them.

When Manager Tao called, the factory manager was very impatient: "That's because the clothing supermarkets haven't started selling yet. Once they start selling, I guarantee there won't be enough stock to go around."

They really have no self-awareness.

Those who follow others around for a living actually want to compete with them.

If your family were that capable, why would you need to steal other people's clothes?

But the garment factory still wanted to make money from the shopping mall, so they had to offer empty promises: "Don't worry, they placed another order early this morning, these clothes are sure to sell well. Hey, do you want to place an additional order? The fabric is very rare, there are no factories in Jiangdong that produce it, it comes from Guangzhou."

"Add more orders, give me another 500 pieces of each style."

Manager Tao spoke hesitantly, but since the clothes had already been brought over, he figured he might as well try selling them first.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he knew in his heart that the clothes at the self-service clothing supermarket were selling really well.

Once those men and women entered the supermarket, they all acted as if money wasn't money at all.

Manager Tao regained his confidence and began to wait.

Tang Yicheng and Xiang Dong couldn't wait any longer.

After they finished watching the show, they secretly laughed and ran out of the People's Department Store to eat roasted lamb skewers.

Although the Great Heat season has passed, the temperature at night shows no sign of cooling down. Even if there is a breeze on the street, it is still hot when it blows on you.

But this didn't dampen the night market's liveliness at all. People, their faces slick with sweat, ate grilled meat skewers, salted peanuts, and cucumber salad while drinking beer. The roadside stalls were so crowded that even those riding tricycles had to call out, "Excuse me, excuse me!"

Tang Yicheng shifted the small stool under his bottom, eating his kebabs while wondering, "Hey, why do I feel like there are even more people in the provincial capital? The streets are packed with people."

It probably doesn't have much to do with the weather. It was quite hot in May, but the night market was definitely not this crowded at night.

Is it because the students are on summer vacation?

Or is it because people from the disaster area have flocked to the provincial capital?

It's probably not the latter. If you're really fleeing a disaster, you'd definitely have to be frugal with your money while you're away from home. How could you be so extravagant?

To be honest, a casual meal of barbecue skewers and a couple of beers is enough for a family of three to eat for a day by themselves.

But look at it now, a street stretching over a hundred meters long is lined with stalls on both sides, and people are lining up in front of the stalls, each one reaching into their wallets.

An acquaintance joked with the stall owner: "You're making a fortune, you son of a bitch, you must have made over a hundred in one night."

The stall owner, busy roasting chicken heads, laughed: "You guys make more money, that's why I make money!"

Looks like everyone here has money.

Xiang Dong rolled his eyes at Tang Yicheng: "Aren't you going to talk nonsense? How much inventory did we clear out from the factories in the provincial capital? Did we clear it out for nothing?"

Those planes carried goods away, but brought back huge sums of money and valuable foreign exchange!

Tang Yicheng was stunned, forgetting to drink the beer that was brought to his lips, as if he couldn't believe it: "We did this?"

Good heavens! They made such a big commotion?

Yes, the provincial capital couldn't supply enough goods before, so they had to get supplies from Jiangbei Province.

Yesterday, a hundred trucks returned from the disaster area, but they weren't empty; they all went to various cities to transport goods back to the provincial capital.

It is clear that the supply of goods in the provincial capital is still insufficient; otherwise, from the perspective of transportation costs, Wang Xiao would not have gone to such lengths to seek supplies from afar.

Really—

That's incredibly awesome!

Two young workers nearby were sucking on the heads of roasted chickens while asking each other, "Hey, has your factory paid out the heatstroke prevention allowance and quarterly bonus yet?"

"We've struck gold! I thought we were going to have to shut down this year, but our factory manager actually got another order. Good heavens, he emptied our warehouse in just three days. We're now working three shifts, the machines never stop running. If I didn't look at the calendar, I would have thought it was 1988!"

The people around laughed.

Some people looked around curiously, asking for an explanation: "Hey, what's going on? Our factory is the same. Why is foreign trade suddenly so good again? My mom's factory also gets foreign trade orders."

Some laughed, others shook their heads. Nobody could figure it out, and it wasn't something ordinary people like them could concern themselves with.

They should just go to work honestly and collect their wages and bonuses on time.

Some people confidently pointed out: "Our products are still the best. Don't be fooled by those foreigners who look down on everything. When it comes to good quality and low prices, we're the best."

Yes, that makes sense.

Those foreign devils are dead, otherwise, why would they be called devils? If they thought it wasn't worth it, they would never buy Chinese goods even if you beat them to death.

Tang Yicheng, who was eavesdropping on the side, wished he had grown a pair of rabbit ears that could stand up. He listened and laughed, feeling extremely proud.

Hmph ╯^╰, none of you think about it. China is so big, with factories everywhere. Why would anyone want to get their goods from us?

It's all thanks to their International Trade City and Wuzhou Company.

She, Wang Xiao, is the Goddess of Wealth of Jiangdong, or rather, the Goddess of Wealth!

He nudged Xiang Dong's arm and winked at him regretfully, "It's a pity Wang Xiao didn't come."

This was a celebration banquet held for her by the people of the provincial capital, a far more meaningful celebration banquet than the kind where she wears a big red flower on her chest, receives a certificate of commendation from leaders, and shakes hands and speaks.

A golden cup or a silver cup is not as good as the people's word of mouth!

Xiang Dong chuckled and teased him, "What do you think Wang Xiao's reaction will be?"

Tang Yicheng thought for a moment, then said in unison, "This is just the beginning, it's only the first step!"

She's never satisfied.

Once you earn a million, you want ten million; once you earn ten million, you want a hundred million.

Just like the girl with the best grades in her class when she was in school, she was already number one, but she was still not satisfied with not getting perfect scores in every subject.

The two burst into laughter, each ordered another bottle of beer, and packed up some grilled skewers and salted edamame, then went to Xiang Dong's house nearby to continue drinking.

"Give Lao Feng a call, he'll definitely be happy too."

Today, my buddies and I are truly happy. Let's raise a toast and enjoy this summer night to the fullest.

Unfortunately, human joys and sorrows are never shared; while some of them are happy, others cannot.

Manager Tao of the People's Department Store waited and waited, until the clothing self-service supermarket received a new batch of goods, and business boomed again.

We waited and waited, and the Beginning of Autumn passed in the blink of an eye.

A strong wind picked up that night, and suddenly the provincial capital seemed to be in the autumn air. Clothing stores hurriedly put on their autumn clothes.

The temperature showed no signs of rising until the Qixi Festival.

The newspapers say there will be an Indian summer, but I don't know if the tiger will break its promise.

Manager Tao finally lost his temper and called the garment factory again: "What exactly happened? The supermarket has never received that batch of clothes!"

Their shopping mall hires people to stroll around the supermarket every day, and they're quite certain that from beginning to end, those flashy dresses and the like have never been put on the shelves.

The garment factory worker replied impatiently, "How would we know? We're only responsible for making the clothes. Once those clothes are finished, the supermarket takes them. How we can control how they sell them."

"No way!" Manager Tao was never one to back down, and immediately demanded, "We're not selling this dress anymore; we want it back!"

The garment factory would never agree.

Are you kidding me?

The clothes were custom-made by your shopping mall, not consigned to the mall by our clothing factory.

Whether you can sell it or not is none of our factory's business.

The two sides argued fiercely, eventually slamming their fists on the table and smashing their telephones.

After the factory manager finished scolding the people, he suddenly remembered and turned to ask his secretary, "Have the new supermarket orders arrived yet?"

It's getting colder now, time to switch to autumn clothes.

The secretary paused for a moment, then shook her head: "No. By the way, factory manager, when is the department store coming to pick up the extra clothes from the last batch? The fabric supplier needs to settle accounts."

"No orders?" The factory manager stood up abruptly, suddenly sensing that something was amiss.

He rubbed his face, forced a smile, and tested his voice before dialing the number. His voice was as sweet as honey: "Hey, Boss Xiang, long time no see! Hope you're doing well. Our factory wanted to ask when your order will arrive so we can make the necessary arrangements. We don't want to delay your business."

On the other end of the phone, Xiang Dong didn't even bother to change his expression, his voice indifferent: "We don't need the clothes for now. Luckily, there's a clothing factory in Guangzhou that supplies directly, so we won't bother you anymore."

With that, he hung up the phone.

The factory manager said into the microphone, "Hello, hello—" and then the head of the purchasing department ran over and asked, "Factory manager, when are we going to settle the bill for the fabric? They're pressing us hard."

"What's the rush!"

The factory manager cursed angrily and started dialing the phone again.

This time, he dared not have any extravagant hopes, but instead carefully tried to promote the additional orders that the People's Department Store had previously placed.

Given the attitude of the People's Department Store, he didn't expect them to settle the bill for the remaining clothes.

Good heavens, that's several thousand pieces of clothing, and the materials were all extremely expensive and time-consuming.

This single transaction amounted to several hundred thousand.

Unfortunately, no matter how humble his attitude was, Xiang Dong simply said, "No."

Then he retorted, "We've already received all the orders we placed, so what's with the extra clothes on your end?"

How could the factory manager possibly admit to betraying the clothing supermarket? He lied without even thinking: "Oh dear, we made a mistake and made too much. Boss Xiang, your company is so big, we can't compare. Please, have mercy and accept this batch of clothes."

Xiang Dong was too lazy to keep up the pretense: "Oh, your management is pretty chaotic. You'll have to strengthen it in the future."

He hung up the phone, and Tang Yicheng laughed out loud.

They certainly wanted those clothes that were specifically exported to Hungary.

But not now. We'll wait until the People's Department Store and the garment factory can't keep up with the demand and have to sell at a low price before we make our move.

Ha, they think their clothing supermarket is a sucker, try sucking their blood.

If we don't make these guys pay back some money, they won't know that Lord Ma has three eyes.

Want to keep getting orders? What a pipe dream.

When they placed that order for Hungarian clothing, they had already found a clothing factory in Jiangbei Province to place an order with a self-service supermarket.

In Wang Xiao's words, even if the factory over there were to cause trouble, since they were selling their products nearby in Jiangbei, it wouldn't have much of an impact on the clothing self-service supermarkets in Jiangdong.

From now on, all clothing orders for the supermarket will be placed in Jiangbei.

Footsteps and voices could be heard outside. Tang Yicheng rushed out, eager to share this joyous news with Wang Xiao as soon as possible.

When Wang Xiao got closer, he realized that she wasn't alone.

Standing next to her was a middle-aged man of medium height with a slightly balding head, who looked like a government official.

Don't ask Tang Yi how he knows; he's dealt with officials so many times that he can naturally recognize them.

The official uncle was all smiles as he persuaded Wang Xiao: "Mr. Wang, please consider it. Xiaozhou City is very sincere. We've already made plans, and we can approve the 150 acres of land next to the airport for you. How about we build an international trade city in Jiangbei as well? We can offer you all the preferential policies."

Tang Yicheng was stunned. Xiaozhou City, isn't that the capital of Jiangbei Province?

They've already come to poach Jiangdong's talent so quickly!

What audacity!

This is Jiangdong Province, and he's not afraid of being sacked and hit with bricks while walking down the street.

————————

On a side note, the development of China's private sector can be considered to have reached a turning point around 1992. From the beginning of the reform and opening up until 1992, the vast majority of those working in the private sector were marginalized members of society. Or, to be more specific, they were people who couldn't find formal employment. They generally had low levels of education, and the mainstream society viewed them with disdain. Individual business owners in this era were mostly daring; those who were bold and lucky enough not to get caught made money. This was because the supply of goods in the market was generally insufficient at the time. They didn't need to be particularly skilled in business; simply getting hold of sought-after goods was enough to make a fortune. They themselves didn't even understand why they were so successful.

Of course, they are actually people who make small amounts of money.

Those who made the real money at the time were people who obtained permits, import and export licenses, controlled scarce commodities, monopolized sales channels, used special relationships in the military and political circles to engage in smuggling, and even sold national economic intelligence.

In the late 1980s, the most hated problems in society were official profiteering and corruption.

The situation changed in 1992 when a large number of officials and intellectuals left their posts to start businesses. The former had connections and networks, while the latter possessed technical skills, and their overall quality was generally higher. Early private business owners, operating with a more extensive and inefficient approach, found it difficult to compete and quickly failed. Only a small number, learning on the job, rose to become leaders.

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