“Old Ma, now that we have the license, our start-up capital will be the one million that grandson gave us. Let’s find a courtyard, gather a few people, and start writing!” the writer said.
"What are we making up? This isn't about making up jokes. We need a direction. They want big scenes and big effects. Let's use our imagination. We can use special effects where the big shots aren't enough," Bucktooth Gang said.
Then Ma Zhangyan nodded in agreement, and the writer added, "I feel like special effects are a trap. I have a few friends in the US, and I asked them to find out the prices for special effects. Hey! You'll be shocked when I hear it. They charge by the second, and it's around several hundred thousand to several million US dollars per second."
The writer had barely finished speaking when he suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Oh dear, our registered capital isn't even enough for one second of their special effects!"
Horse Eyes and Buck Teeth exchanged a glance, then shook their heads helplessly at each other, and left without saying a word.
"Hey, I haven't finished speaking yet! Where are you going? Hey, where are you going?"
“Didn’t you say you were going to rent a yard and find someone to start compiling our books? Now that we have the company and the money, let’s get to work.” Ma Zhangyan waved the business license in his hand.
The three of them liked the traditional courtyard house style, feeling very relaxed in the courtyard.
On the contrary, office buildings and the like feel oppressive.
Courtyard houses are easy to rent; one was rented that very afternoon, with a one-year contract signed. That evening, they invited a few friends from their circle over for a warm-up dinner.
Ostensibly a media company, they all knew that the three of them had actually started a film company, and were preparing to expand into the big screen.
They are all familiar friends, and all three of them have borrowed money from them for verification purposes. But today is not the time to repay the money. It will take about seven to ten days before the money can be transferred back to their accounts.
We agreed on a date, and I'll come to collect the money then.
"Old Ma, I heard your company has a big boss backing it up. What does he do? Introduce us to him, and if he knows any good projects, bring us along!"
"yes!"
"yes!"
Several of the brothers chimed in, saying they also wanted to get to know that big boss and were trying to squeeze out some money.
Those who came were all the closest of friends; some were childhood friends, and some were second-generation relatives with very strong ties.
In previous years, these people either used connections to obtain permits or introduced local officials to people for personal gain.
To put it bluntly, they're all just a bunch of middlemen.
"I'll invite him over when we open, so everyone can get to know him," Old Ma agreed.
One of them was as thin as a monkey, with very small eyes. Everyone called him Liangzi. He was also on good terms with Ma Zhangyan, and they often hung out together in the last two years.
His family is quite well-off; they are a family of highly educated individuals. However, he is the youngest among the children, has a low level of education, and doesn't have a proper job. He occasionally gets a role in a friend's movie.
I recently used connections to get a job at the Capital Film Studio, and my work situation has finally become a little more stable.
Having only recently gotten married, I was already aware of the pressures of life, and with so many friends and high expenses, I started doing some side hustles with them to earn extra money.
While everyone was drinking and chatting, Liangzi leaned close to Ma Zhangyan and whispered, "Brother Ma, I've been dealing in some goods lately, and the quantities are quite large. If you have some spare funds, I'll consider you a shareholder."
"What is this? How much do you need?"
"Large appliances, TVs, washing machines, and refrigerators. This time we went directly to our strong connections and got the goods from several distributors, but they only ship in cash," Liangzi said.
"Do you transfer the payment first and then they ship the goods, or is it cash on delivery?" Ma Zhangyan asked.
"At first, they made us transfer the money first before they would ship the goods. It's not like the manufacturer is shipping the goods, are we stupid? In the end, we agreed to pay upon delivery and settle the payment in full," Liangzi said.
After thinking for a moment, Ma Zhangyan said, "I have a childhood friend in the compound who, after retiring, went into business in the Nanjing and Shenzhen areas, dealing in all sorts of things. The last time, he was swindled out of his entire fortune. It was also a cash-on-delivery transaction. His supplier gave him 50 Panasonic color TVs, 21 inches, for 3,300 yuan each."
How would I know about this? He borrowed 10,000 yuan from me. Apparently, he saw those piles of televisions in the warehouse and paid for them on the spot. After the supplier took the money and left, he noticed that 45 boxes were very light while moving the televisions. Only five actually contained televisions. They were still sitting on top.
Ma Zhangyan tells this real case to tell Liangzi that even if you see a large quantity of goods in person, they may not all be genuine. For your first cooperation, you need to check carefully.
Liangzi also knew about what Lao Ma was talking about; it was a well-known case of lesson learned in their circle.
“I know about Pengfei’s situation; he almost jumped into the river. My situation is different from his. Do you know about DaMi Appliances? There are very few of them on the market now; most of them are being shipped overseas. This batch of ours was gathered from several distributors.”
Horseman stared at Liangzi, his eyes wide with surprise, and asked, "Rice?"
Liangzi nodded. He was afraid that Ma Zhangyan would turn up the volume and attract the attention of others, since the fewer people involved in this matter, the better.
Ma Zhangyan's mind was in turmoil. The distributors didn't even have enough stock to sell, so why should he free up some stock for them?
Furthermore, rice is only supplied domestically in small quantities, and most people rush to buy rice and appliances, even at inflated prices.
Agents aren't stupid; even if they have overseas quotas, they can just have someone close to them handle it.
There's a problem with this batch of goods.
Ma Zhangyan asked, "How much stock are you getting?"
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