"Brother, we've already occupied nineteen warehouses," Li Qiang said to his older brother, Zhao Xiaohai, who was standing beside him with an umbrella, holding a red hardcover account book outside the company's borrowed warehouse at the military supply depot. "But these days, more and more distributors have been coming from Siberia and the Caucasus, and further negotiations are being prepared. If we can win them over, I believe we won't have such a backlog of inventory in the future."
Zhao Xiaohai looked at the rows of sealed military warehouses. Now those warehouses were filled with the company's goods, and the military vehicles, tanks, armored vehicles and other things that were originally stored in the warehouses were now lying in the open air in a very miserable state, enduring the wind and rain.
"How about it? Those old Russian businessmen are no longer as arrogant as they used to be, right?" Zhao Xiaohai leaned the umbrella in his hand towards his brother, glanced at the account book, and smiled.
"Arrogant? They don't have the capital to be arrogant anymore," Li Qiang said with a dismissive curl of his lips. Recalling the days when he first came to the Russians to do business, Li Qiang felt like life was a dream. Back then, whether it was the Russian authorities or the co-authorities, or even the businessmen who were doing the same business, everyone seemed high and mighty, arrogant and utterly arrogant. Now, he frequently interacted with the authorities and co-authorities, and the heads of these departments were all flattering smiles when they saw him. As for the distributors who had come from so far away, well, they were even less arrogant.
According to Zhao Xiaohai's instructions, if you want to purchase goods from Zhao's Import and Export Trading Company, you must follow the rules set by the company: all goods must be traded in cash, and payment must be made on the spot; the purchase price must be set by the company, and distributors have no room for bargaining; the company is not responsible for the transportation of all goods, and the distributors must organize the transportation themselves.
Obviously, such conditions are quite harsh in commercial trade. For any company, imposing such harsh conditions on distributors is tantamount to seeking death. However, Zhao Xiaohai didn't care. He knew that the current lucrative export trade with the Soviet Union would only last for a few months, at most until October. After October, with the relaxation of various Soviet policies and changes in the government leadership, the Soviet import and export market would be fully liberalized. By then, pure export trade with the Soviet Union would no longer generate excess profits. Therefore, Zhao Xiaohai had no interest in continuing this business long-term. His company was like a swarm of locusts, grazing wherever there was lush vegetation, taking a bite and then leaving. Imagine, in this situation, how could he consider the emotional concerns of his distributors?
"Well, that's good," Zhao Xiaohai nodded, then took Li Qiang's arm and turned back. "Qiangzi, there's one thing you have to remember. When dealing with the Russians, you have to know when to make concessions and when to be tough, and who to make concessions to and who to be tough with. For those distributors coming from all over, our conditions are fixed and there is no room for negotiation. However, for the military district and local governments, their interests must be taken into consideration. In the past two weeks, our goods have been shipped from North Korea, passing through the garrison areas of four troops. Although they haven't asked for any benefits yet, we have to express our gratitude in advance."
Li Qiang obviously agreed with his brother's words. He asked, "Brother, what are your thoughts?"
"The situation on the Russian side is complicated right now," Zhao Xiaohai said. "Now that these teams have separated, the next step should be a real showdown. Politics is full of unstable factors. Before the final result is known, no one knows who will be able to live on the next moment. And people like us absolutely cannot stand on the losing side, so I'm thinking that we need to prepare a few more options for ourselves and must not just cling to Zyuganov's side."
"Then brother, don't you mean that we should have the best of both worlds?" Li Qiang said with a smile.
"You little brat, what do you mean by straddling two boats? That's so harsh." Zhao Xiaohai, imitating Sofia's behavior, slapped his brother on the back of the head and scolded him with a smile, "We have to straddle as many boats as we can. In short, no matter which boat capsizes, we have to have a place to stay."
"Then aren't you afraid that one day you will arouse the jealousy of others and be thrown into the water before the boat even capsizes?" Li Qiang laughed.
"Hey, you're really good, it seems like all this time dealing with the Russians was not in vain. You actually know how to consider the problem from a different angle." Zhao Xiaohai said with some surprise.
"Is this a compliment?" Li Qiang shook his head and said in a nonchalant manner.
"Of course it's a compliment," Zhao Xiaohai said sincerely. It was clear that Li Qiang had matured significantly during this period, and his personality had also gradually become more cheerful. In fact, upon closer examination, this was partly due to the smooth trade, which had given Li Qiang confidence, and partly due to his independent role, which had gradually freed him from the pressure brought on by Zhao Xiaohai's outstanding performance.
"Looks like I need to give Li Qiang more opportunities to make decisions independently," Zhao Xiaohai pondered, watching the glow on his brother's face. He, Zhao Xiaohai, never believed in the concept of genius. In his view, success in any field stems first from interest, then from the environment, and finally from opportunity. As for Li Qiang, he's a businessman himself, so his interest in business is natural. Now, if he wants to become a truly successful businessman, he must be given ample opportunities to network and lead his own business. As the company grows and its business scope expands, Zhao Xiaohai foresees the need for more and more assistants, and his brother, the person he trusts most, naturally needs to be involved.
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