Chapter 134 The True Heart of a Scoundrel (Revised)
After the contract was signed, He Changyi and Xie Xun immediately returned to China to organize the supply of goods.
Given that this transaction was worth nearly 30 million US dollars, and was conducted through barter with delivery to be made before the agreed date, the timeframe was short and the task was demanding, making the transaction extremely difficult.
The most crucial and difficult link in the transaction chain is organizing the supply of goods.
This is not simply a matter of gathering goods and loading them onto trucks; it involves a comprehensive process encompassing procurement, logistics, financial planning, and risk control. Unless you're a seasoned businessman like He Changyi or Xie Xun, with years of experience in foreign trade, substantial capital, and a vast network of connections, ordinary foreign trade merchants simply cannot navigate this complex situation. Even if they manage to squeeze onto the table, they'll be choked to death by this enormous, lucrative opportunity.
For He Changyi, this deal with Ackermanstein also requires careful consideration.
This is a completely different business logic from participating in auctions of Oros state-owned enterprises. There's less need to consider external factors, but internal factors can often cause fatal crises unexpectedly. She needs to be more meticulous and consider every aspect thoroughly.
In other words, this time it won't harm your body, but it will harm your brain.
Akmenstan provided 10,000 tons of tungsten concentrate, and He Changyi's side needed to provide an equivalent amount of sugar, flour, cooking oil, and daily necessities such as clothing and shoes. The quantity was enormous and needed to be sourced from multiple factories.
If it weren't for her and Xie Xun's experience in contacting reliable suppliers in the shortest amount of time, finding sources of goods would have been a huge challenge.
Not to mention that since the goods come from multiple factories, the quality often varies greatly. Some factories emphasize quality, some only care about efficiency, and some are cunning. The samples they send are one thing, but the actual delivery is another. When they are exposed, they will still argue that everyone does it this way. At worst, they will give her a one percent discount on her profit.
Even worse, after learning that this batch of goods was to be shipped to Central Asia, they openly and secretly advised He Changyi: "It's such a waste to give good stuff to those black people. If you ask me, they only deserve to use inferior products... Even so, the black people should thank us, otherwise, in that poor place, they wouldn't even be able to use inferior products!"
He Changyi asked the supplier surnamed Zhang with a smile, "According to you, who should get the premium products? Our own people?"
Boss Zhang slapped his thigh: "How can we use it ourselves? Of course we'll sell it to Europe and America! Those foreigners are rich, generous, and willing to spend money. They're all worldly-wise people. It's not a waste to let them use good things!"
He Changyi wasn't angry when she heard this, and smiled as she opened the door to see the guest out.
"You're wasting your talents by coming here. You should go to another place that specializes in doing business with foreigners. All I have here are black people and Russians. I really can't offer any decent yellow or red people."
Mr. Zhang refused to leave, and said with a shameless grin, "I was just venting. To be honest, you have the biggest business here. You buy in large quantities and pay quickly... Just tell me how much you want, whether it's high-quality or low-quality, just tell me, even if I have to make a mold and a sample on the spot, I'll supply you with all the goods!"
He Changyi said with a half-smile, "Don't be like that, I can't afford it. If you don't take Black Hair's goods seriously later, the defect rate will go up and my profit margin will go down."
No matter how eloquently Mr. Zhang spoke, even as if he were swearing on his entire family, He Changyi remained unmoved and had Xie Xuejun forcibly escort him out the door.
What a joke! If this person is added to the supplier list and they actually use substandard products to satisfy her, He Changyi will have nowhere to cry.
Could she possibly say to Mederdinov, "I'm really sorry, the goods are a bit inferior, but what can you do? You're all black people, you're lucky if you have anything usable. Even if I wanted to give you something better, the supplier wouldn't be happy!"
—Then she should prepare to be beaten to a pulp.
Mr. Zhang leaned against the door, shouting regretfully, "I was just joking, really joking! You know me well, I'm all talk, but I'm actually more honest than anyone else! Miss He, please give me another chance, I promise I won't say anything carelessly!"
Xie Xuejun advised, "You should go back. Our boss is a woman of her word. If she says she won't cooperate, then she means it. There's no point in you staying here."
Boss Zhang opened his wallet, grabbed a handful of banknotes, and stuffed them into Xie Xuejun's pocket, saying in a low voice, "Brother, we're both from Zhongguo. Help me persuade your boss. I'm not an ingrate; I'll remember your kindness!"
Xie Xuejun nimbly jumped to the side, dodging as he skillfully pushed away, saying, "Please don't do this. I'm just a bodyguard. Our boss makes the decisions. Even if you give me money, I can't help you."
Disappointed, Mr. Zhang stuffed the money back into his wallet, glanced at the closed door, and asked reluctantly, "Then who can help? Xie Xun must have some influence, right? Isn't he the second boss?"
He muttered to himself, "Speaking of which, he's a man, so he should be the one making the decisions..."
Xie Xuejun suppressed a laugh and nodded seriously: "Then you should go find Mr. Xie. I'll see you out now?"
Before leaving, Boss Zhang was still unwilling to give up and pulled out two hundred-yuan bills to try and stuff them into Xie Xuejun's hand.
"Take it, take it. It's not for you, it's for our child."
Xie Xuejun's lips twitched: "...I'm not married yet."
Mr. Zhang paused in his hand as he handed over the money, then smoothly withdrew it, saying with a smile, "Then I'll keep it for you for now, and I'll give you a bigger gift when you get married!"
Xie Xuejun just smiled and didn't say anything. After seeing the person off, he turned around and shrugged.
That paltry sum wasn't even a fraction of his salary; expecting him to betray Miss He was pure fantasy.
Mr. Zhang went to find Xie Xun without stopping. Xie Xun was inspecting the first batch of delivered white sugar. He was extremely careful, taking the trouble to sample from the bottom to check for any issues such as tampering, expiration, dampness, clumping, or impurities.
Upon seeing Boss Zhang, Xie Xun smiled and said, "It's been a while! What brings you here? Where have you been making your fortune lately? Why did you suddenly remember me?"
Boss Zhang rushed over and grabbed Xie Xun's hand, complaining, "Brother, you have to help me out! That Miss He is going to ruin me!"
Xie Xun withdrew his hand without making a sound, the smile on his face fading slightly.
"Miss He? He Changyi? How did she offend you?"
Mr. Zhang said with a long face, "You guys were planning to do big business with Black Hair, so I took some of my goods to show her. Who knew I made a joke and she got upset? She even had her thugs kick me out. I'm so... so humiliated..."
Xie Xun asked with a smile, "Is that so? Then I should go back and talk to her, but you have to tell me first, what kind of joke are you talking about?"
Mr. Zhang said vaguely, "It's nothing... You know, Hei Mao doesn't have money and can't afford good stuff. She always buys the cheapest things. I just said there was no need to send her anything too good, and she got upset."
Xie Xun's tone was flat: "Oh, that's all."
Mr. Zhang complained, "Look at her, we're all Chinese, why doesn't she help her compatriots, but instead helps the black people? What kind of logic is that?"
Xie Xun said knowingly, "That's probably He Changyi's reasoning."
He suddenly stopped laughing and said to Boss Zhang, "You can go back now, I can't help with this."
Mr. Zhang was stunned. How could this guy turn on him so suddenly?
"Brother, we've known each other for so many years. We've known each other since you started working for Xie Shirong. After all these years, don't you know me? When have I ever been petty?"
He leaned closer and lowered his voice to Xie Xun, saying, "If you help me this time, I'll give you this amount..."
Xie Xun's voice was unreadable: "So many..."
Mr. Zhang said in a provocative tone, "No matter what, this is your business. Do you really think you can let a little girl control it? If you ask me, you should just kick her out. Then you can keep all the profits..."
Xie Xun interrupted him directly.
I disagree.
Mr. Zhang said anxiously, "What's there to disagree with? Even if Ms. He has connections in Central Asia, the contract has already been signed, so what use is she now? Being pretty can't put food on the table!"
As if remembering something, he suddenly realized and earnestly advised, "Brother, as long as you have money, you can have as many beautiful women as you want. Why hang yourself on one tree? Let me give you another piece of advice: you can't let a woman have money. If a woman has money, she'll be frivolous and want to fly away. Only when she has no money will she stay with you obediently. Even if you like Miss He a lot, you can't hand over your money-making business to her!"
Xie Xun listened patiently to the end, then asked him, "Are you finished?"
He laughed again, but this time it was a forced smile.
“Mr. Zhang, for the sake of our past relationship, I’ll let you walk out standing up. But if you dare to talk about He Changyi again, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Mr. Zhang was both shocked and furious: "Xie Xun, you!"
Xie Xun had already called his bodyguards: "Strip him of his clothes and shoes, drive the car and dump him in the wilderness."
The bodyguard acted without a word, and Mr. Zhang shouted in fear, "You dare! I'm calling the police to arrest you!"
Xie Xun then added, "Throw it far away, and don't forget to take his wallet and cell phone too."
He turned to Boss Zhang and smiled, "Don't worry, I don't care about your stuff. I'll have someone send it to your wife and mistress's house later. I also want to know, with your rich experience in relationships, who will come to your rescue in the end?"
Now, a more genuine look of regret and panic appeared on Boss Zhang's face.
After dealing with Mr. Zhang's matter, Xie Xun took the quality inspection results of the first batch of white sugar to He Changyi.
Did the man surnamed Zhang come to you to plead for him?
When asked about He Changyi's question, Xie Xun replied nonchalantly, "I didn't see him. Maybe he felt guilty."
He then shifted the topic to the sugar: "The quality of this batch is quite good. I've checked it all; it's not damp and there's no sand mixed in. It seems they still want to do business properly."
When it came to serious matters, He Changyi completely forgot about the little incident involving Boss Zhang.
"The first batch is usually the best quality; we'll have to see if the quality of subsequent batches can maintain that level..."
The tasks were numerous and complicated. Each of them was responsible for a part of the work and was extremely busy. Every time they met, they had endless work to talk about and a constant stream of questions. They always felt that there was not enough time.
The source of goods is a problem, warehousing is a problem, and the initial capital tied up is also a problem.
Even if only a 30% deposit is paid to the seller, it adds up to a considerable sum. Even though He Changyi has already found a buyer for the tungsten concentrate, it's not a quick fix; the immediate crisis must be addressed first.
When He Changyi brought up the issue of price fluctuations, Xie Xun suddenly raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair that was hanging in front of her eyes behind her ear.
He Changyi, used to this, didn't hesitate at all and continued, "If we lock in the price directly, the risk is still quite high."
Xie Xun casually withdrew his hand and continued her words: "Indeed, although the price increase is beneficial to us, if the other party breaches the contract, it will affect Central Asia."
He looked extremely serious, without a trace of worldly slickness, and even had a strangely charming quality when he frowned.
The two talked until late into the night before finally discussing solutions to the problems they were facing at this stage.
He Changyi stretched and lay lazily on the table, saying, "The price was too low. I should have asked Megerdinov for more ore. A mere 10,000 tons is hardly worth all our hard work."
Xie Xun said with a smile, "Of course. Who else would consider the cost-effectiveness of goods besides you? It has to be cheap, plentiful, and of guaranteed quality. Even if the Prime Minister himself came to purchase, he wouldn't find a better source of goods."
He Changyi thought of Boss Zhang and casually said, "If it were someone surnamed Zhang, he could have made 29 million back from the 30 million dollar goods. He didn't spend the remaining 1 million dollar on the goods, but instead used it to bribe Mederdinov."
She became curious again and asked, "Didn't he really come to you? This guy even tried to bribe Xuejun, he doesn't seem like he'd give up so easily."
Xie Xun patiently said, "No, he probably went out to inquire. After all, it's up to you to decide between us."
He Changyi proudly raised her eyebrows: "Of course, who here or not is more of a nouveau riche, more wealthy and powerful than me?"
Before she could finish speaking, she laughed at herself: "Alright, alright, enough joking around. Let's go get some late-night snacks, it's on me!"
Xie Xun stood up with a smile and followed He Changyi outside.
He would never let her see his despicable side again.
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