Orders for liqueur-filled candies

In October, the daytime temperature in Heilongjiang Province is still around 10 degrees Celsius, but at night it drops to zero degrees Celsius.

The Harbin International Hotel, a popular hotel in Harbin, was designed to accommodate foreign guests, a rare occurrence in those days.

At that time, China had not yet opened up to the outside world, and its economic exchanges with foreign countries were very limited. Foreigners rarely came to China to do business.

This is the only hotel in the entire city of Harbin that can accommodate foreign guests.

At a time when ordinary houses and bungalows still relied on coal stoves and heated walls for warmth, this place was also centrally heated, just like government offices, hospitals, and schools.

Yang Hong from the supply and marketing department was in charge of the reception. He had taken off his heavy coat as soon as he entered the hotel and the staff took it away to store it.

Although the liqueur-filled candies are sold to several Nordic countries, they are not distributed to each country by Harbin Qiujiang Food Factory.

They work with a Swedish company, who then handles the subsequent sales of the liqueur-filled candies after wholesaling them to the Swedish company.

As for Qiujiang Food Factory, it transferred the foreign exchange money to wholesalers.

Andreas, Bjørn, and Hanbos are three people who are frequently sent to China by the Swedish company and are already very familiar with the job.

However, their company's sales of liqueur-filled candies are getting worse and worse, so naturally, they are ordering less and less of them.

Because loyal customers are always few and far between, while customers who are fickle and easily bored are the majority.

Andreas complained in broken Chinese, "Hong, what's the matter that you insist on keeping us here for another night? We've already seen all the sights here."

Biyan and Hanbosi nodded in agreement.

Their lives in Sweden are much better than here. When they first came here on business, they were terrified because of all the dark rumors, but after arriving, they found that the people were very hospitable.

The hospitality was also very attentive.

However, they also face many restrictions here; even in Harbin, they can't go to just any place.

Over the years, I've not only gotten tired of the tourist attractions, but I've also gotten used to the way people look at me like I'm a monster when I go shopping.

Fortunately, the staff here are very considerate and will handle everything as soon as possible so that they can go back to their vacation early.

Byan slumped in his chair. He looked down on this place when he first arrived, and of course, he still doesn't now, but he's too lazy to show his meanness anymore.

I don't want to be a villain in a movie. Maintaining that sharp emotion all the time without a special purpose is actually very tiring.

As if by magic, Yang Hong pulled out a wooden box from somewhere, its surface covered with extremely intricate and exquisite carvings.

Andreas stared wide-eyed, looking left and right, trying to find the mechanism of the magic trick.

The wooden box is a single piece; when you open the lid, the candies inside reflect a warm glow under the light.

They have jasmine mandarin orange liqueur filled with jasmine petals, tea leaves, and mint leaves; clear tea and white peach liqueur filled with jasmine petals; and bloody Mary liqueur filled with jasmine petals, tea leaves, and mint leaves.

Round, orange sunrise-filled liqueur candies.

The Godfather Liqueur is nothing special.

Each one is unique; it's a set of display items that Yang Hong extracted from samples that had already been opened.

He came to introduce the product to foreigners, so naturally he tried every flavor.

Yang Hong, whose sense of taste is not affected, is most likely to accept jasmine mandarin orange and white peach tea. He not only accepts them, but also thinks the taste is very wonderful.

The Sunrise liqueurs, available only in orange and mint flavors, are also quite good.

The aromas of flowers, fruits, tea, mint, and alcohol blend together to create a fresh experience. A successful product is one that is both novel and delicious.

Of the three types of liqueur-filled candies recommended by Wang Shuitao, only the Sunrise candy was understandable to Yang Hong. Faced with the Bloody Mary candy, which combined sweet, sour, bitter and spicy flavors, and the Godfather candy with added cinnamon powder, he could only frown.

However, since Wang Shuitao didn't hold back anything from Qiujiang Food Factory and told them everything, Yang Hong could still understand the meaning behind the story.

With a confident smile, he introduced the first product, Sunrise, saying, "Our factory heard that your company's sales of liqueur-filled candies have declined, and we were very concerned. So we joined forces with our sister companies to create a new type of liqueur-filled candy, specially designed for young people overseas."

The three men all wore strange expressions. They had some understanding of the situation in China, so what was this man, who might only ever see three foreigners like them in his entire life, saying?

Is the product specifically designed for young people abroad?

A statement that is both absurd and amusing.

Yang Hong pretended not to notice their expressions and continued to talk: "Our Sunrise Liqueur incorporates the concept of cocktails from abroad. Cocktails are a symbol of entertainment and innovation, and they are very popular among young people. The appearance of this candy is just like the colorful disco ball in a bar. It is very suitable for sale in bars, targeting young people who do not want to drink too much but still need to be part of a group."

Hanbosi, the junior leader among the three, showed some interest and said, "Oh, Hong, that's a great idea. I'm sure this kind of product will be popular for at least three to six months if we can advertise it."

As if injected with a powerful stimulant, Yang Hong's face flushed. In the past, when they came to buy liqueur candies, they only did so because they were cheap, and they had never shown any interest in the product.

Yang Hong's confidence surged: "Mr. Hanbosi, this is the most palatable cocktail-filled candy. This cocktail-filled candy was developed based on the classic Bloody Mary cocktail. And finally, the most important one—the Godfather cocktail-filled candy."

"Oh! The Godfather! Is this the Godfather I'm thinking of?"

The youngest, Billy, had a sparkle in his eyes. He had seen the movie; Marlon's portrayal of the mafia was every man's dream.

Hanbosi glanced at him and thought this candy had great potential, since one of the three of them was very interested.

"But what does this have to do with the Godfather?" Billian asked with great interest.

Yang Hong recalled for a moment and said, "After the Godfather movie came out, a cocktail named after it also came out, and we just made it based on that flavor."

Andreas asked in confusion, "Oh? Aren't you supposed to be isolated from the outside world? How do you know about this?"

Yang Hong put on a confident smile: "Mr. An, aren't we already in contact?"

Andreas muttered, "Hong, I've told you so many times, my surname isn't Andreas."

Björn, who also had a sales sense, switched to Swedish and said, "Hanbos, The Godfather Part II will be released next year, and the publicity has already started. We can get this candy early to ride the wave of its popularity."

Hanbosi nodded slightly.

Yang Hong ignored this extremely impolite behavior; there was nothing he could do about it anyway.

Hanbosi: "Hong, please continue to introduce the remaining two types of liqueur-filled candies. They have a very, very cute appearance."

Yang Hong: "These two designs are a fusion of East and West, incorporating tea and jasmine elements. I believe there will be people who like them."

After saying that, he pushed the wooden box in front of him, indicating that the three of them should try it.

Hanbos was the first to reach for the Sunrise edition; Bjorn followed closely behind with the Godfather edition; and Andreas chose the Bloody Mary edition.

Yang Hong's eyes darkened. Although the notes had predicted that foreigners would love these cocktail-style liqueur candies, he still felt uneasy seeing the two with oriental elements being ignored.

He maintained a polite smile until he left the hotel, at which point he clenched his fist tightly.

New order, secured!