At the same time.
Inside the director's office of Jiangnan Leather Factory.
Li Peiqiang and Wei Daming were both present, but they were both standing to the side.
There must be someone of even greater importance in the presence of two sales department directors from state-owned factories who can get them to stand up.
"Factory manager, we've already signed the contract, but the price... is quite low," Li Peiqiang reported to Hou Jun, the factory manager of Jiangnan Leather Factory.
Hou Jun looked at the person sitting opposite him, smiled slightly, took the contract from Li Peiqiang's hand, and asked, "Director Chen, what brings you to our Jiangnan Leather Factory today?"
Indeed, sitting opposite him was Chen Jiong, the factory director of Wencheng's No. 1 Leather Shoe Factory.
Chen Jiong smiled and said to Hou Jun, "Director Hou, I've come here for two things. First, I want to apologize to you. Our Sales Department Director, Comrade Wei Daming, had an unpleasant encounter with your Director Li last night when they went to meet a client. So I've come here specifically to apologize."
"So that's how it is. Director Li didn't tell me. I'm afraid it's nothing serious. Why is Director Chen being so polite?" Hou Jun said this with a forced smile, the kind that doesn't reach the eyes.
Although Wencheng No. 1 Leather Shoe Factory is a new factory, it has had quite a few conflicts with Jiangnan Leather Factory. Take the matter of being tricked into buying new equipment, for example; Jiangnan Leather Factory still hasn't recovered and might even go bankrupt.
This is an absolute feud.
However, Chen Jiong didn't think much of Hou Jun's behavior and continued with a smile, "Since Director Hou is so generous, let's not talk about this matter anymore. Let's talk about the order from last night."
Competition among peers is inevitable, especially since Chen Jiong and Hou Jun are practically at each other's throats. Saying a few polite words is already giving face to the factory director.
Hou Jun placed his hand on the contract Li Peiqiang had given him, still feeling somewhat doubtful.
Didn't Li Peiqiang just give this contract to him?
What? Did the First Shoe Factory not get any orders and want to talk to me about a collaboration?
Upon realizing this possibility, he burst into hearty laughter and said, "Director Chen, it's not that you didn't get any orders, so you've come here to cooperate with our Jiangnan Leather Factory, right? Hahaha."
This scene left Chen Jiong and Wei Daming dumbfounded, but then they realized that Li Peiqiang might not have had time to report it yet, so they understood and chuckled along with Hou Jun.
Li Peiqiang, who was standing to the side, was getting a little anxious. His factory manager was really embarrassing and too arrogant.
As the head of the sales department, he couldn't just watch his factory manager continue to embarrass himself, so he immediately stepped forward and said, "Factory manager, you should take a look at the contract first. This is urgent; we still need to prepare the goods."
"Alright, alright." After Li Peiqiang's reminder, Hou Jun said to Chen Jiong with a beaming smile, "Then, Director Chen, I'll finish reading the contract first. Please wait a moment regarding the cooperation."
Chen Jiong almost burst out laughing inside, but he still kept up the act: "Director Hou, please do as you please."
As Hou Jun was reviewing the contract, his brows furrowed more and more. Li Peiqiang noticed that Chen Jiong and Wei Daming were barely suppressing their smiles, and he was inwardly cursing them.
They're starting to wonder how they even signed the contract last night.
Even this morning, Li Peiqiang was still pondering this matter, wondering how he had ended up signing the contract.
Could it be that he drank too much?
When Hou Jun finished reading the contract, he was about to get angry, but when he saw Chen Jiong sitting opposite him, he took two deep breaths before asking Li Peiqiang, "Director Li, what's going on here? Putting aside the lack of prepayment, what's with this price of 10 yuan a pair?"
"Factory manager, I..."
Li Peiqiang had only said a few words when Chen Jiong interrupted him, laughing, "Director Hou, don't look down on Director Li. I already apologized to you for this. Last night, our Director Wei and your Director Li had some disagreements, which is why the price was lowered."
In fact, Chen Jiong had thought about this for a long time before he learned about it.
However, considering that there was still a profit margin at this price, and that it wasn't just him who was paying this price, and that even the Jiangnan Leather Factory, which was facing difficulties, was offering this price, he felt relieved.
Cough cough cough!
Seeing Hou Jun's face change several times, Chen Jiong suppressed a laugh and coughed a few times, saying, "Actually, this matter cannot be blamed on Director Li. It's mainly because the other party offered this price voluntarily. In fact, at 10 yuan a pair, we've already made a profit, and the other party has even offered higher terms."
"Higher conditions?" Hou Jun frowned, puzzled.
The price has already been pushed down so low, it's almost at cost price if you push it any lower, what other terms can you offer?
Chen Jiong became serious at this moment, his earlier joking demeanor gone, and said, "The other company's offer is to raise the profile of our Wencheng leather industry."
"To build brand awareness?" Hou Jun was even more puzzled.
How could a single company accomplish what so many state-owned factories couldn't?
And what's it called... Chengxin Trading Company?
Chen Jiong was clearly much more insightful than Hou Jun. He repeated what Wei Daming had told him when he returned to Hou Jun and had Li Peiqiang act as a witness.
"Director Li, did that Mr. Ye say something like this last night? That we need to raise the profile of Wenzhou's leather industry so we can compete and expand into overseas markets?"
“That’s right.” Li Peiqiang was eager to survive. Since someone of Chen Jiong’s level had come out to act as a lobbyist, how could he not agree? “Moreover, Mr. Ye seems to know a lot about the leather industry in Wencheng. He even knows the total leather shoe production of Wencheng last year, and he knows more about foreign brands than I do.”
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