"Thank you for the invitation, Manager Xun. I'll gladly accept. I'm quite hungry right now anyway," Zhao Ye said with a smile and a nod.
"Manager Xun is treating me to dinner, it'll definitely be paid for by the company, and there will definitely be plenty of meat and fish, and delicious food. I haven't had a proper meal in ages," Zhao Ye thought, pursing his lips with longing.
As expected, the two then went to a nearby restaurant, where Manager Xun ordered a lavish lunch and a bottle of Moutai.
After a hearty meal, Zhao Ye began promoting his products.
He casually asked, "Manager Xun, how many personal computers does your branch have in total?"
Xun Wenshan thought for a moment and replied, "About twenty units."
Zhao Ye then asked, "These computers can't process Chinese characters, isn't that inconvenient?"
Xun Wenshan nodded: "It is indeed very inconvenient."
Zhao Ye smiled and calmly said, "If there were a product that would allow you to input Chinese characters on your computer, would your bank be willing to purchase it?"
"Of course we'd like to buy it!"
Xun Wenshan nodded, then asked, "Has your Chinese Academy of Sciences already developed such a product?"
Zhao Ye shook his head and said, "The Chinese Academy of Sciences has not developed such a product, but I have personally developed it. This product is called a Chinese character card, which is an expansion card that integrates Chinese character input methods and their drivers into a read-only memory."
Upon hearing this, Xun Wenshan understood that Zhao Ye wanted to sell the Chinese character card he had developed himself.
This is normal, though. Salaries at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are very low, so young people all want to do extra work to earn some extra money.
Xun Wenshan understood perfectly.
Moreover, in his view, the Chinese character card is a good thing, and banks need it.
"Comrade Zhao, how much do you plan to sell your Chinese character card for?"
"6000 yuan!"
"So expensive?!"
"Manager Xun, actually this price is not expensive. The Chinese character card I designed is unique and has a very high level of technology. If Chinese people want to use Chinese characters on computers, they must install a Chinese character card."
IBM personal computers cost as much as 20,000 to 30,000 yuan each, while my Chinese character card only costs 6,000 yuan.
What's the point of buying a computer if it can't process Chinese characters?
"But your price is too high!" Manager Xun shook his head. The Chinese character card only allows the computer to input Chinese characters, yet it is sold at such a high price. Although the bank has a huge demand for it, it would be best if the price could be reduced.
Zhao Ye feigned hesitation, and after a moment, said in a reluctant tone, "For Manager Xun's sake, how about I lower the price a bit? How about 5,500 yuan per Chinese character card?"
"The price is still too high, three thousand per piece!"
Zhao Ye was dumbfounded.
They're haggling so hard, they're cutting the price in half!
If I sell it at this price, wouldn't my profit be too small?
Although the manufacturing cost of the Chinese character card is less than 2,000 yuan, my technology is valuable!
Thinking of this, Zhao Ye firmly shook his head and refused, saying, "This price is absolutely unacceptable! I'm already losing a lot of money! 5,500 yuan is already the lowest price I can offer, it can't be any lower!"
Xun Wenshan didn't know the exact cost of the Chinese character card, but judging from Zhao Ye's determined expression, it must have been quite expensive.
He thought for a moment and said, "Comrade Zhao, if you won't sell it for 3,000, how about 4,000? You definitely won't lose money. A small Chinese character card only costs a few dollars to produce. If you're willing to sell it to our branch, I can help you get business. You know, our Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is a very large company, with many branches across the country that accept Chinese character cards. If you sell dozens of cards to each branch, imagine how many Chinese character cards you'll sell nationwide! You'll make a fortune!"
Zhao Ye feigned hesitation again, and after a long pause, he said, "Alright, since Manager Xun says so, then it'll be 4,000 yuan per Chinese character card! But I have one condition: payment first, then delivery!"
"No problem!" Manager Xun thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. In this era of scarcity, many manufacturers of best-selling products would require distributors to pay in advance.
"By the way, when can you demonstrate your Chinese character card design to me? If there are no problems, we can sign the contract right away!"
Demonstration?
What can I use to demonstrate this to you?
I can't even afford the components right now.
However, Zhao Ye was not flustered, after all, he had planned this all along.
"No problem, but I didn't bring my Chinese character card this time, so I can't demonstrate it for you. I'll come back to your bank with my Chinese character card next time!" Zhao Ye said calmly without batting an eye.
Xun Wenshan said happily, "Okay, no problem! But it would be best if you could come as soon as possible. I'm very much looking forward to and curious about the Chinese character card you developed!"
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible! Oh, by the way, Manager Xun, there's a problem. My production of Chinese character cards is a bit slow, and my clients aren't just you, there are other organizations as well. To protect your bank's interests, I can sign a letter of intent to purchase with your branch!"
Letter of intent to purchase?
Xun Wenshan hesitated. He hadn't even seen the actual Chinese character card yet, so how could he sign the contract?
Seeing this, Zhao Ye understood Xun Wenshan's doubts perfectly, after all, there were very few people who understood the law in this era, and the legal system was not perfect.
“Manager Xun, a letter of intent to purchase is different from a formal contract. We can stipulate clauses such as ‘this letter of intent is not legally binding’ and ‘the specific rights and obligations of both parties shall be determined by the formal contract.’ The main purpose of signing this letter of intent is to serve as a basis for both parties or multiple parties to conduct further substantive contact and negotiations. It helps relevant companies to make contact, helps to further develop cooperative relationships, and lays the foundation for signing a formal contract!” Zhao Ye explained.
Xun Wenshan still felt that signing a letter of intent was somewhat redundant, and said, "Didn't we just agree on the price? We're just waiting for you to bring the Chinese character card for a demonstration next time, and then we can sign a formal contract..."
Zhao Ye said, "The price has indeed been agreed upon, but we haven't started discussing the delivery date, payment details, after-sales service, and so on."
After listening to Zhao Ye, Xun Wenshan thought about it and felt that what Zhao Ye said made sense.
With the increasing popularity of personal computers, banks will purchase more computers in the future, which will increase the demand for Chinese character cards.
Introducing the Chinese character card could improve the bank's operational efficiency and might even become a key factor in my promotion.
Xun Wenshan had doubts about Zhao Ye's Chinese character card, but Zhao Ye was a genius at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his technology had been affirmed by Zhou Miao. Perhaps he really could develop a Chinese character card.
Just because Zhao Ye was able to invent the Chinese character card, he was worth winning over.
It's just signing a letter of intent to purchase, right? Anyway, neither I nor the bank suffer any loss, so why not do it?
Around 2:30 p.m., Zhao Ye followed Xun Wenshan back to the branch, and the two parties signed a letter of intent to purchase a Chinese character card.
Holding the letter of intent, Zhao Ye walked out of the XC District Industrial and Commercial Bank branch with a radiant smile, thinking excitedly, "With this letter of intent, I'll have a way to get all sorts of parts from various component stores without any investment!"
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