Chapter 95 Chapter 95 1st update (revised)
After David folded the handkerchief, he showed a satisfied expression again, and then he started talking to the translator. The translator's expression was a little surprised at first, and then this surprise quickly turned into surprise, and then his expression froze for a moment, as if he heard something that shocked him very much.
No one else could understand what David said. Liu Yinshuang, who had worked in Shanghai in her previous life, could understand a sentence or two. However, David spoke too fast, and the one or two words she occasionally caught were too incredible. Liu Yinshuang's expression went blank for a few seconds.
Li Xinmei couldn't help but say, "What the hell are you talking about? Should I buy it or not?"
Just at this time, David finished speaking. The translator swallowed his saliva and turned to look at Shen Moer: "This Mr. David wants to buy your handkerchief."
He paused and said, "To be precise, he actually wants to buy two things, a handkerchief and a square scarf. The function of a handkerchief is similar to ours, and as for the square scarf, it is folded like you do and stuffed into the breast pocket of a suit. Wearing a square scarf in the pocket of a suit jacket is a symbol of elegance and gentlemanliness. It is very popular for men in his country to carry a square scarf and a handkerchief with them. Mr. David is going to order one million handkerchiefs and one hundred thousand square scarves. Of course, the premise is that you want to improve the fabric quality of the square scarves."
Not to mention Li Xinmei who blurted out "Duo Shao", even Shen Moer who had always been calm couldn't help but confirm it again: "Are there one million handkerchiefs and one hundred thousand handkerchiefs?"
The translator nodded, then belatedly asked, "By the way, how much do you sell this handkerchief for?"
It was only then that he remembered that Mr. David had not even asked about the price!
He must like it so much that he said he wanted to buy more than one million without even asking the price.
Shen Moer thought for a moment and said, "A handkerchief is four dollars, and a handkerchief made of good silk fabric is twelve dollars."
Shen Moer roughly knew the price of the cloth, as well as the exchange rate of the Chinese currency to the US dollar, which was currently about two yuan and twenty-four cents to one US dollar.
She had considered the price of the handkerchiefs from the beginning, and the price of the square handkerchiefs was just decided.
After all, the other party requires better fabrics, so the cost goes up, and obviously this kind of square scarf that goes with a suit requires high quality. After David buys it and ships it to their own country, he will definitely sell it at a higher price. Shen Moer herself was once a prince and noble, so she naturally knows that no matter which dynasty or country, there will always be people who are not short of money.
She calmly listed the price and even felt that it was quite affordable.
But the translator was stunned. Foreigners don't know the domestic prices, so how could he not know the domestic prices? In China, an ordinary handkerchief is only 30 or 50 cents. Even if it is hand-embroidered, one dollar should be the limit. But the South Province Embroidery Factory is selling it for four dollars. Converted into Chinese currency, this is eight or nine yuan!
Eight or nine yuan, nearly one-third of an ordinary worker's monthly income, to buy such a small handkerchief?
Not to mention a square handkerchief that costs twelve yuan, which is almost equal to an ordinary worker's monthly salary. How can such a thing be so valuable?
The translator couldn't help but say, "Comrade, the price is too high. If the other party feels it's not suitable, the deal may not be done."
He also had good intentions. It was still early and none of the exhibition areas had opened yet. No matter how much, as long as he could sign the first order, it would definitely be a great achievement.
The main purpose of China's holding of import and export trade conferences is to earn foreign exchange. Sometimes, let alone making a profit, even if there is a small loss, as long as the other party gives US dollars, we will do our utmost to promote cooperation.
One million and one hundred thousand orders, even if each one is worth one dollar, that's more than one million dollars, which is really a lot.
Chen Moer knew that the translator had good intentions, so she smiled and said, "Comrade, thank you for reminding me, but this is hand-sewn by senior embroiderers. What we sell is not the fabric, but our craftsmanship that has been passed down for thousands of years. The price is not high. You translate these words to Mr. David and tell him that our embroidery patterns and needlework are not ordinary embroidery. Before the founding of the country, only princes and nobles were qualified to use them. I believe he can understand."
The translator opened his mouth and thought that your embroidery does look more exquisite than others, but you are exaggerating a bit, foreigners are not fools!
However, looking at Shen Moer's calm and composed eyes, the translator turned around and started communicating with David.
Li Xinmei wasn't sure about the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, but even if it was Chinese currency, four yuan for a handkerchief was almost a sky-high price. However, since it was Shen Moer's decision, she wouldn't say anything. She just quietly pulled Liu Yinshuang and muttered, "Isn't four yuan for a handkerchief too high? And what about that square handkerchief? To put it bluntly, isn't it just a handkerchief with better material? It costs twelve yuan?!"
Liu Yinshuang also felt that Shen Moer was very brave: “It’s US dollars, which is eight or nine yuan for a handkerchief and twenty-six or twenty-seven yuan for a square handkerchief when converted into Chinese currency.”
Li Xinmei took a deep breath and said, "How can a foreigner be such a scapegoat?!"
Liu Yinshuang was unsure: "People in their country have money, maybe they are willing to buy it."
Jin Caifei couldn't help but remind Shen Moer, "In previous years, our embroidery factory also sold handkerchiefs, and the highest price was only three dollars a piece. Your price is a bit high. The price we discussed before coming here was around two dollars and a half to two dollars and eighty. You raised it so much in a flash. If the deal fails, the factory will definitely criticize us."
Originally they had discussed a rough price, but that was before Shen Moer arrived in Guangzhou, had never seen a foreigner, and didn't know much about the situation abroad.
But yesterday they went out to see a movie. While others were watching the plot, Shen Moer was pondering the costumes, food, transportation and architecture in the movie. She even roughly guessed the consumption levels of these countries because Arabic numerals appeared in the movie subtitles.
Later, she also talked to comrades at a nearby newsstand and the waiters at the guesthouse, and learned that these foreign businessmen were very generous. A meal in a Western restaurant cost three or five dollars, but they seemed to think it was quite cheap, and sometimes they would give the waiters some kind of "tips".
Shen Moer felt that these people came to China to do business, and businessmen have always been very stingy. The so-called generosity was mostly because they thought the things were really cheap, so cheap that they were too lazy to even care about it.
As for tips, Shen Moer is more familiar with them. When she was a princess, her subordinates worked diligently and she would reward them from time to time. These so-called tips are probably the same as rewards.
Nowadays, Chinese people are generally simple and honest. They think that they should be honest in doing business and they can sell things by adding a little profit on the basis of cost. Moreover, everyone is a "working people" who are used to living a thrifty, hard and simple life. They always think that no one will spend a lot of money to buy something flashy and impractical.
But Shen Moli is different. Even though she has lived in China for more than a year, she is still a princess who is used to a life of luxury.
She knew better than anyone else in China at that time that rich people would not care whether a handkerchief cost twelve dollars or one hundred and twenty dollars. As long as they liked it and felt happy, they would be willing to pay for it.
Of course, Mr. David also understands this.
So after the translator nervously quoted him the price, he just raised his eyebrows slightly and did not dwell on the price. Instead, he asked, "High-level embroiderer, not ordinary embroidery, is it something that only princes and nobles are qualified to use?"
Translation: Eh?!
He had prepared himself mentally. Once David said that the price of the goods was too expensive, he would use the words he had prepared and persuade the other party to continue negotiating with the South Province Embroidery Factory and would never let David leave like that.
As a result, the other party had no intention of leaving and did not even object to the price.
The translator was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded: "Yes, it was hand-sewn by a very skilled embroiderer. It is much more exquisite than other embroidery works, and the patterns are also much more luxurious."
He couldn't tell whether it looked good or not, but it did look luxurious when placed on the black velvet cloth.
David nodded and looked at Shen Moer: "Can you give in a little more on the price, a little less?"
The translator finally heard what he wanted to hear, and immediately turned around and translated the sentence to Shen Moer. What almost made him collapse was that Shen Moer shook her head without even thinking.
Chen Moli took out two boxes from the suitcase under the booth, one was a cardboard box with a landscape painted in ink on the brown cardboard, and the other was a very delicate wicker box with the same landscape painted in ink using some unknown pigment.
She held up two boxes and said, "The price can't be lower. Mr. David is the first one to ask us for the price. We didn't bargain. It's already the lowest. But we will give one of these paper boxes for each one."
She handed the paper box out and said, "Or we can sell Mr. David a batch of rattan boxes carefully woven by old craftsmen at a preferential price of two dollars. This way, the handkerchiefs and squares will be more upscale when paired with them."
translate:"……………………"
When someone bargains with you for the price, not only do you not lower the price, you even sell them another batch of packaging!
Don’t mention that those paper boxes were given as gifts. How much could such a small paper box be worth? The handkerchiefs and handkerchiefs are so expensive, isn’t it reasonable to give a paper box as a gift?
But this rattan box is indeed exquisite, but is it worth two dollars?!
The translator was sweating and thinking about how to explain it to David, but then he saw David take the paper box and rattan box with shining eyes.
The translator gritted his teeth and hurriedly explained to the customer. But the scene he thought of, David getting furious, did not occur. Instead, he held the rattan box and couldn't let it go. He kept praising its beauty, and finally decided to place the order with a wave of his hand!
translate:"???"
I am very confused.
Aren't these foreigners all arrogant and shrewd? Last year, when he was in charge of translating in a machinery exhibition hall, several foreigners looked down on China's machinery products. It was said that the price they finally negotiated did not leave much profit at all.
Why is this David so different?
The translator was in a trance for a while, but after all, he was a skilled worker who had served in several Canton Fairs. He quickly calmed down and led Shen Moer and David to the negotiation room specially prepared in the venue.
There are more professional salesmen there who will help Shen Moli and others negotiate the specific contract details and handle related matters such as signing the contract and paying the transaction deposit.
During this period, as the team leader of the South Province Embroidery Factory, Zeng Huiru was called into the negotiation room to sign. When she saw the transaction amount on the contract, Zeng Huiru, who usually kept her emotions to herself, couldn't help but twitched her lips. However, she did not show anything, calmly signed and stamped the contract, and then shook hands cordially with David, her international friend.
The Nan Province Embroidery Factory is indeed quite famous and has achieved good results at the Canton Fair in previous years, but this is the first time that the Nan Province Embroidery Factory has achieved a good start at the Canton Fair.
The time is too short and no one has opened yet. They are the first one.
In fact, this is not surprising. The foreign businessmen who come to participate in the Canton Fair are all very experienced. Generally, few people sign orders in the morning of the first day. After all, they always have to compare prices before making a decision.
Before Zeng Huiru came, she never thought that the first shot would be fired by their Nan Province Embroidery Factory.
The key point is that it is not a small order of ten or twenty thousand dollars, but a large order totaling more than five million US dollars!
In fact, with this order alone, the South Province Embroidery Factory has almost completed its trade mission at the Canton Fair.
The contract they signed last year was for $4.2 million, and this year the province has set them a maximum target of $6 million. The so-called maximum target, of course, is that the province feels that they cannot possibly achieve it, so there is also a bottom-line target of $5 million.
If calculated based on the bottom-line target, they have even exceeded it.
Zeng Huiru had a very complicated expression on her face. Who could have thought, who could have thought, that selling a handkerchief or silk scarf could make so much money?
Tsk, the main reason is that no one dared to set such a high price in previous years.
"By the way, what about the 50,000 wicker boxes in the contract?" Zeng Huiru asked.
Their embroidery factory does not produce rattan woven boxes.
Shen Moer explained: "That is a box for handkerchiefs or square towels. This will make our handkerchiefs and square towels look more upscale. We can entrust the production of this rattan box to various communes in Jiangbei County."
Zeng Huiru glanced at her, nodded silently, and asked another question: "There are only a few dozen workers in the ninth workshop now, can they handle such a large order?"
Shen Moer said calmly: "The contract stipulates that the goods will be delivered in batches, and the delivery time is quite long. Moreover, we will contact the government as soon as possible after we return to expand the scale of the factory and recruit more workers."
She glanced at Zeng Huiru and said, "Of course, I believe the factory will definitely support us. The production capacity of the headquarters is very strong. While dealing with other orders, they should be able to help share some production tasks, right?"
Zeng Huiru: “…”
The Embroidery Factory's headquarters does have a problem of overcapacity. However, as a subordinate workshop, you are so blatantly targeting the headquarters. Aren't you a little too bold?
What if the headquarters doesn’t agree to take on this task?
Zeng Huiru thought about it and couldn't help but sneer at herself. She had not been in the embroidery factory for long, but she could see that the factory was not having an easy time. Although it was famous, the product styles were outdated and the factory had serious internal friction. The business volume was actually shrinking year by year.
Otherwise, he would not have tried another way and wanted to find a breakthrough from Shen Moli.
Zeng Huiru even had a hunch that the order volume from the Embroidery Factory headquarters at this Canton Fair would most likely be less than that from the Ninth Workshop. So what was so strange about the headquarters helping the Ninth Workshop share the production tasks?
When the two were halfway there, an official from the Southern Province Trading Group came and called Zeng Huiru away.
The leaders of the Southern Province trade delegation had never expected that the mediocre Embroidery Factory would quietly launch a satellite. The arrival of the first order in the country really surprised and delighted them. Moreover, when they heard that the order was more than 5 million, the leaders hurried to find the Embroidery Factory to find out the situation.
Anyway, Zeng Huiru was there to deal with the trading group, so Shen Moer didn't care and went back to her own booth briskly. As a result, she saw David standing in front of the embroidery factory's booth from a distance.
Shen Moer's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this foreigner regretted his decision?
They have already signed the contract, and she will not return the money even if she regrets it.
When I got closer to Shen Moer, I found that David was talking to someone from the embroidery factory headquarters.
Shen Moer asked Li Xinmei who came over: "What's going on?"
Li Xinmei whispered, "They saw that we signed the order, so they also wanted to trick David into buying some from them. How can they keep plucking the wool from the same sheep?"
Shen Moer: “…”
You know what, it's true but the words are true.
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