Chapter 45 Did you plan this all along? : Give me another 500,000.
Since the mid-1980s, more and more Chinese people have been going abroad.
You can see "overseas students" in places like North America, Japan, Eastern Europe, and even South Africa and Puerto Rico, which have not yet established diplomatic relations with China.
Regardless of their pretext, their ultimate goal was basically the same: to strike it rich.
Therefore, people in the 1990s all knew a popular term: green card. There was also a special group called: green card slaves.
This is practically one of the ultimate dreams for those seeking their fortune abroad. Only with a green card can one continue to seek their fortune indefinitely.
But don't get me wrong, Wang Xiao doesn't have the ability to help people get green cards.
Otherwise, given her integrity, expecting her not to engage in such a risk-free and highly profitable business would be putting human nature to the test.
Recall the definition of capitalists in our political textbooks: they are a group of magical creatures who, as long as the profit is high enough, will not hesitate to sell the rope that hangs them.
What Wang Xiao can do is get invitation letters from abroad for people—yes, the kind of invitation letters that any foreign organization can send.
Because ordinary Chinese citizens cannot obtain passports to travel abroad nowadays; they need an invitation letter or something similar, whether it's for visiting relatives and friends or studying and working. In any case, you need a reason to successfully obtain a passport and travel overseas.
When Wang Xiao first transmigrated, he also found it unbelievable.
She has legs, so she can go wherever she wants. Can't she even go out for a stroll?
If you're in charge of sensitive units like government agencies, public institutions, or the military, it's one thing to be afraid of leaks and not let people out easily, but what are ordinary people to be wary of?
But rules are rules, and you have to sing the song of the mountain you're on.
So Wang Xiao didn't immediately refuse Ruan Xiaomei, but instead said with some difficulty, "Then I'll try to ask around for you. Actually, the procedures for going abroad for visits handled by our chemical institute are not the same as what everyone usually talks about when they say going abroad. I can only ask around and let you know if I have any news."
That's obviously a lie.
Although Wang Xiao didn't have the ability to send invitations directly, she could indeed obtain them through Soviet trade partners, and it was very easy for her.
Because this is now a mature industry chain, belonging to the cutting edge of international smuggling – human trafficking.
Don't get the wrong idea. This kind of human trafficking isn't human abduction; it's about using illicit means to send people abroad.
Human smugglers can obtain genuine university admission letters and legal invitations for family visits or work in the host country, all stamped with official seals, allowing people to legitimately apply for passports and travel abroad.
However, Wang Xiao had to remind Ruan Xiaomei: "I heard that going abroad costs a lot of money, at least tens of thousands. Are you really planning to go abroad?"
Ruan Xiaomei gritted her teeth: "It's okay, I'll just work abroad and earn the money."
Wang Xiao was completely speechless. Earn money by working?
Sigh, in this day and age, if you don't want to become a middleman, why don't you go and do foreign work?
What are you thinking about!
Wang Xiao bluntly challenged her: "Which country do you want to work in?"
"Japan."
This is not surprising, as Japan was indeed the top choice for those seeking overseas work. Firstly, it was geographically close; secondly, East Asian countries share similar dietary habits; thirdly, the Japanese were indeed wealthy; and fourthly, Japanese dramas were extremely popular in the 1980s. Ordinary people had limited access to information about foreign countries, so naturally, few could discuss it openly.
Unfortunately, Wang Xiao poured cold water on her enthusiasm: "Can you speak Japanese?"
Ruan Xiaomei got stuck, and her face turned bright red.
She had decent grades in school, and her teachers said she would have a good chance of getting into university if she repeated a year. But unlike Chen Yu, she didn't teach herself Japanese. Instead, she almost forgot all her English.
Wang Xiao sighed, not trying to decide someone else's life for them, but instead giving serious and feasible advice: "You could go to Japan to attend a language school and secretly work, but that might not be something that can be solved with just a few tens of thousands of yuan. Language school tuition isn't cheap either. Besides, without a reliable person to introduce you, it won't be easy to find a job. What will you live on if you can't find one?"
Ruan Xiaomei looked bewildered, so bewildered that Wang Xiao felt embarrassed to tease her.
Like most people sent abroad during that era, she was completely clueless and didn't even have the courage to act on her own; she was just acting on a whim.
But who can guarantee that a well-thought-out choice is the right one? Fate is inherently unpredictable. Being dissatisfied with the status quo, wanting to take a chance, and being willing to take the first step already puts you ahead of the vast majority of people.
Perhaps out of appreciation for this point, Wang Xiao added a few more words: "Now that they've gone abroad, they're basically divided into two types: resellers and foreign workers."
The middlemen were concentrated in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Finding work there was virtually hopeless because of high unemployment and the fact that they rarely hired Chinese people. The only options were to work as a nanny for Chinese who had already left or in their companies, but these were extremely rare—so rare that it was practically impossible without connections. And I suspect the income wouldn't be very high either.
The vast majority of people used to do small business in the local free market, which meant selling goods they brought from China locally.
People mainly seek work abroad in places like Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Western Europe, where wages are high. However, due to language barriers, finding employment is difficult. Furthermore, it's easy for people abroad to become indentured laborers.
Besides that, there are also traders going to Africa.
Ruan Xiaomei became increasingly confused upon hearing this.
In this era, there's no internet or anything like that. Information is either released through official channels (which is actually very limited, especially in the last two years), or it's just hearsay and word of mouth.
It wasn't that she didn't believe what Wang Xiao said, but she didn't know what to choose.
Wang Xiao wanted to sigh again.
What's there to be conflicted about? Just figure out what you want, what your strengths and advantages are, and then consider how to use those advantages to achieve your life goals.
Some people are born to be entrepreneurs, while others prefer a quiet, stable job. Either path can lead to Rome, and either path can lead to ruin. There's no absolutely right answer. It all comes down to which path suits you best.
"Go back and think about it first, have a good talk with your husband." Wang Xiao picked up the red date tea her mother had brewed, took a sip, and gestured for her to leave. "After all, going away isn't something that can be done in a day or two. Couples living apart for a long time are bound to run into trouble. You should discuss it carefully before making a decision."
Ruan Xiaomei left, looking preoccupied.
Before leaving, she absolutely refused to take the black carp she had brought back with her. Even Dr. Chen did not refuse her, and in the end, he could only force her to take two bags of peanut brittle as a return gift.
Wang Xiao was indifferent to the matter, because in her opinion, getting Ruan Xiaomei out of the country was no big deal. As for whether she could make a name for herself after that, it all depended on her own fate.
The fact that they even thought of venturing out to explore the world already shows that they've greatly benefited from the era's dividends.
After seeing the person out the door, Chen Yanqiu turned back and began to mutter to herself, "Xiaoxiao, you shouldn't get involved in this. Don't cause any trouble."
Wang Xiao was both amused and exasperated: "What did I get involved in? I was just asking a question. Their industry chain is very complete, and each task has a dedicated person in charge. There's no way I could interfere."
Tang Yicheng was about to say goodbye and go home when he secretly glanced at Wang Xiao for a while. Finally, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "You're not planning to become a human trafficker, are you?"
Indeed, if she were to become a human trafficker, she would have a unique advantage, at least within the provincial capital.
Because she knows foreign businessmen, she knows a lot of foreign businessmen.
According to her, foreign businessmen could earn thousands or even tens of thousands of US dollars just by sending an invitation letter from their country or region and sending someone abroad.
Good heavens! Honestly, this is more profitable than being an official, and it's legal, plus you don't have to worry about getting arrested and going to jail. He was tempted just listening to it.
Yeah, something just feels off.
Wang Xiao was even more puzzled: "Why would I want to be a human trafficker?"
Well, actually, if she really needed money, she could earn it.
In her view, obtaining a passport is a basic right of citizens, not a privilege for a select few.
Whether those who obtain passports and go abroad will overstay their visas is the concern of those countries. Why should unrelated people overstep their bounds?
As a former victim of privilege, she deeply resents those who restrict citizens' basic rights, turning them into privileges for a select few, thereby allowing vested interests to blatantly profit.
Therefore, as long as it's not illegal, breaking this privilege and even making money from it would only make her feel very happy.
However, since she now has ways to make money, and she can't split herself into two, she'll put this matter aside for now.
So she didn't hesitate to express her astonishment: "How could you think that?"
Tang Yicheng's face instantly turned red with shame. He realized he had misunderstood the situation by a huge margin. Snakeheads weren't respectable people, and Wang Xiao would never do such a thing.
only--
He stammered, "Um, how do you know so much?"
There are so many that it feels like you're wasting your life if you don't do this job.
Wang Xiao was baffled: "Nonsense, I've already partnered with foreign traders to resolve the steel mill's triangular debts. How could I not know all the details?"
That's a must. Knowing more doesn't necessarily prevent you from being scammed. But knowing nothing greatly increases the chances of being scammed. Of course, people should try their best to avoid falling into traps.
Speaking of this, Wang Xiao became unhappy again: "You should know all this. Whether it's doing business with the Soviets or dealing with foreign businessmen at the Jinning Grand Hotel, you're not an outsider."
Tang Yicheng's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom, and he practically fled in panic.
All the underachievers just want to run away when faced with a top student who's turned into a human pencil sharpener.
Honestly, not a single one of their conversations was a simple chat; it was as if every single word could be used to extract useful information.
Wang Xiao found it strange; this was the most basic thing.
That famous former richest man wouldn't have been able to start the myth of trading canned goods for airplanes if he hadn't learned about an airline's shortage of planes while chatting with someone on a train.
Opportunities to make money are never scarce; it's just that those who lack foresight fail to see them.
After closing the door, Chen Yanqiu began to regret not stopping her daughter earlier: "Why did you agree to help Ruan Xiaomei go abroad?"
Don't say you're just asking for help. If you give someone hope but fail to get what they want in the end, you'll inevitably be resented or even hated.
Wang Xiao said dismissively, "It's not a difficult thing. Besides, if she really goes abroad with her husband, the Ruan family will have no one to rely on. They'll have to find their own way to make a living, which will save them some trouble."
She wasn't afraid; she was just too lazy to waste time.
Besides, she was really curious about what kind of success Ruan Xiaomei could achieve abroad.
It's just a side job anyway.
Chen Yanqiu and Wang Tiejun exchanged a glance, feeling that the girl was really out of her mind. Getting someone sent abroad, and then just casually asking to be a helper?
You have to understand how crazy people can be about going abroad these days.
Wang Xiao really didn't take this matter to heart.
As soon as she woke up, she ran to the Jinning Hotel to hand over a group of beautiful young women to Manager Huang and audit their business etiquette training.
Emotional value, ladies! Remember to always keep smiling.
Believe that girls who smile a lot are lucky; it can bring you generous rewards.
However, after counting the heads, Wang Xiao raised an eyebrow: "Where are Wu Xiulian and Zhou Lili? Did they ask for leave?"
These two weren't new hires; they were veteran saleswomen who had previously worked with Xiang Dong at the People's Department Store selling clothes. Wang Xiao included all the veteran saleswomen in this training program, hoping to train the cashiers to have naturally smiling lips as well.
But on the very first day, she was let down.
The remaining elderly saleswomen exchanged glances, and the oldest, Zhao Fang, instinctively filled in the gaps for her colleague: "Wu Xiulian's mother-in-law is sick and has no one to take care of her. Zhou Lili's child has no one to look after him..."
"Did you ask for leave?" Wang Xiao calmly held out her hand. "Where's the leave slip for personal leave? Who approved it? Where's your mother-in-law's sick leave certificate? I didn't hide my pager number from you, did I?"
Zhao Fang's face immediately turned bright red, and she stammered, "They were both a little too busy to finish in a moment."
Wang Xiao glanced at his watch: "If they can't make it within two hours, it'll be considered unexcused absence, and they'll be docked pay. If they don't have a reasonable excuse for not coming today, then forget it, they don't need to come anymore."
Although she was a woman, she never had an overabundance of maternal instincts.
Your status at other times is none of my business; all I need you to do is be a good employee during work hours.
As for being a dutiful daughter-in-law and a mother who takes care of children, sorry, I'm not doing live-streaming e-commerce right now, so how can these two roles help my career?
Why would she pay money to be ripped off?
After all, she wasn't capable of getting someone to have a child. And that child wouldn't be able to take care of her when they grew up.
As for her mother-in-law, that has nothing to do with her. She doesn't sleep with other people's men, so why should she take on the responsibility of fulfilling her filial duties?
She just needs to be a good boss.
While Zhao Fang was still in a daze, Wang Xiao clapped his hands and called to the young women: "Study hard, there will be an assessment at the end. If you don't pass the assessment, I don't need to say anything, right? Everyone, be on your best behavior. Today we are being trained at the Jinning Grand Hotel, according to the standards of their waiters. You all know how rare this opportunity is. The clothing store went to great lengths to secure this, so I hope you all cherish it."
When Wang Xiao saw several girls' eyes suddenly light up and they secretly glanced at the restaurant sign, he pretended not to notice that they were excited and wanted to work at the Jinning Hotel.
For her, being physically in one camp but mentally in another was no big deal. Because people work with their bodies, and what they think in their hearts is none of the police's business.
As for secretly preparing to switch jobs, well, that's none of her business.
She doesn't guarantee there will never be layoffs, so why should employees be expected to be loyal to her?
As a capitalist, she is a person with strong principles.
Manager Huang listened silently to her reprimand, and finally jokingly whispered, "You've got a real boss vibe. What's this, are you taking a leave of absence and really becoming the boss?"
Saying this in public would be somewhat offensive, given the low social status of self-employed individuals these days.
However, the Jinning Grand Hotel is one of the places in China most influenced by capitalism. Some of its employees have already taken unpaid leave to go out and make big money, which is why Manager Huang can speak so casually.
Wang Xiao thought for a moment and said seriously, "No rush, I'll do my job well first."
In the current environment, the advantages of her being under the guise of public authority outweigh the disadvantages.
As for when she'll finally shed this skin, it'll definitely be when it restricts her ability to earn money.
After handing over the duties to the young ladies, Wang Xiao rushed off to inspect the goods.
What goods are you checking? Electronic cash registers.
Although the national leaders proposed "computer education should start from childhood" in the 1980s, the current computer penetration and application rate in China is quite low.
For example, in the provincial capital, major shopping malls still use manual invoicing and bookkeeping. Inventory levels, break-even periods, and market forecasts are also calculated manually.
This makes the statistical data truly valuable.
If you can only get the sales figures for the previous year by the middle of the following year, how can you use that as a basis to formulate a "purchase, sales, and inventory" plan?
Therefore, in this era, all the counters in shopping malls relied on old experience to purchase goods.
This wasn't the most unacceptable thing for Wang Xiao; what she feared most was the pressure of unsold inventory.
As we all know, retailers are afraid of stockpiling goods.
Especially for fashion-related products like clothing, when a product is in high demand, people will rush to buy it even at three to five times the price. But once the trend fades, sorry, you might not even be able to sell it at a loss.
When Wang Xiao was in college, a professor once told her an interesting story from her student days.
Back then, stirrup pants were all the rage, and it was impossible to find them in stores. Luckily, one of their college roommates was from Guangzhou and volunteered to bring some back from her hometown for her friends.
Before summer vacation, everyone was full of anticipation, but after the summer vacation, my roommate brought back the stirrup pants, and the craze had magically disappeared. Nobody cared about stirrup pants anymore.
But no one wanted to let their roommates spend money for nothing, so they had to hold their noses and save up their living allowances, and it took a whole semester to pay off the debt.
Those stirrup pants were kept at the bottom of the trunk and were never worn by them.
Therefore, Wang Xiao must use the computerized POS system to quickly complete inventory checks in order to assess the sales performance of individual items and make timely decisions on whether to offer discounts and by what discount, in order to maximize the sale price.
In addition, the high efficiency of electronic POS, which can reduce the number of sales staff required, reduce labor costs, and increase the speed of business operations, are all reasons why Wang Xiao is willing to spend a lot of money to purchase computer management equipment.
Good steel should be used where it's needed most. No matter how cheap labor is now, she's unwilling to spend money on jobs that can be completely replaced by machines.
Her ambitions have never been limited to this small self-service supermarket.
The talents she cultivated are her first team, and they will all be sent out to take charge in the future.
Oh, and one more thing: computers symbolize high technology and are a synonym for sophistication in this era. Her clothing supermarket targets the middle class in the provincial capital, and only a high-end, classy place can make them willingly open their wallets.
Sigh, so even if it's expensive, I have to buy it.
That's a really high price, 500,000.
Dr. Chen would definitely be shocked to hear the exorbitant price for a heart attack.
But Wang Xiao felt that he had made a profit.
Computers are expensive these days, ridiculously expensive; desktop computers costing tens of thousands are normal.
Moreover, this computer system, which includes a main unit NCR-T, a disk drive, a tape drive, a report printer, three intermediate units, and 30 online electronic cash registers, is a genuine import from the United States.
It was originally brought over by a Taiwanese businessman who was planning to invest in another large shopping mall in the provincial capital.
As a result, the political climate changed two years ago, and Taiwanese businessmen were frightened and dared not take any more risks, so they hurriedly changed their investment locations.
He left in such a hurry, and his equipment was too heavy to take with him, so he entrusted it to his fellow villager, Mr. Fang, to handle.
Mr. Fang, um, that's the Taiwanese computer technician who was bribed by a mainland company to use his identity for a fake joint venture. He's probably sold his identity a bit too much, and he's afraid he won't live to spend the money he's made, so he's in a hurry to get rid of this burden so he can run away at any moment if things go wrong.
He overheard Wang Xiao mention at the restaurant table that he wanted to find a computer-based electronic payment system, so he immediately went to Wang Xiao's place and confidently emphasized that everything was genuine and of good quality, and that he would never have offered such a low price if he hadn't been in such a hurry to leave.
His Taiwanese businessman brother spent the equivalent of a full million RMB to buy it back then. And it was in US dollars. Now, it's not so easy for mainland Chinese to exchange their money for US dollars if they want to buy it.
Wang Xiao guessed he was exaggerating; the purchase price of 1 million was probably not true, but quoting 500,000 was about right.
After all, Mr. Fang was right about one thing: it wouldn't be easy for her to set up such a computer POS system in the provincial capital in a short period of time.
So Wang Xiao didn't haggle. After inspecting the goods, he only made one request: to ask Mr. Fang to help train the cashiers.
Wang Xiao had this idea in mind from the moment she struck up a conversation with this guy. She had inquired at night schools and found that there were currently no similar training courses in the provincial capital.
As a result, the cashier training must be done by someone else, and she herself does not have the energy or patience to do this job.
Now that she's in a position of power as the client, she naturally wants to make the most of it.
Fortunately, Mr. Fang is generally a very easy-going person. Despite his frustration, he rubbed his nose, grumbled a couple of times, and reluctantly took on the job.
Wang Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Alright, the staff is in place, the venue is being renovated, the next step is to wait for the goods to be shipped from Guangzhou, and then we can have a grand opening.
Oh, right, we also need to attract customers.
Although she has designated Dachang as an affluent area of the provincial capital, it doesn't mean she doesn't intend to attract customers from outside the Dachang area.
The provincial capital is only so big, and there are only so many stable consumers, so of course she has to take care of every single one of them.
So she had to go to the city center to solicit customers.
How should we do it? Should we follow the example of Zhengzhou Asia Department Store, which is now famous throughout the country, and bombard it with advertisements on television?
Wang Xiao is willing to spend money on marketing; traffic is the key to monetization.
However, she is not very good at navigating the political climate right now and does not want to become a typical example of the twists and turns of history.
So she decided to target her customers precisely—or rather, to distribute flyers directly at the entrances of major shopping malls in the provincial capital—in order to attract her target customer base.
As for whether it will incur the wrath of the business community? Well, competitors are enemies; those who fight over the same food are natural enemies, even if they aren't.
Dachang is truly a great place. It even has its own affiliated printing plant, and when Dachang was doing well a couple of years ago, it introduced some of the most advanced equipment available at the time.
Simply put, it means that printing plants can directly print computer-generated designs.
This was a pleasant surprise. Wang Xiao had originally thought she could only make simple and crude flyers, but now she had the freedom to make her own.
With Mr. Fang's help, she not only designed the flyer (she was really unfamiliar with computer systems these days), but also customized special paper bags, printing the logo of the self-service clothing supermarket—a silhouette of a fashionable woman in a red dress and high heels. The bags bore the three large characters: Women's Street.
Wang Xiao knew that the name wasn't very good and could easily lead people to mistakenly believe that this was a place that specialized in selling women's products.
But no matter how bad it is, it's still a good fit.
First of all, thanks to the promotion by Hong Kong films and television shows. In the minds of fashionable people in the provincial capital, Ladies' Street in Hong Kong is a fashion paradise.
Secondly, we can also attribute this success to the Guangdong film "Women's Street," which was released in the provincial capital last year and tells the story of individual clothing vendors. It was a blockbuster last year; according to the manager of a large cinema, more than two-thirds of the theater's revenue came from this film.
Of course, at a time when self-employed individuals across the country are keeping a low profile, a film featuring a clothing self-employed individual as the main character has certainly been subject to a lot of criticism from the media.
But no matter how much the media criticizes, the public still enjoys watching.
Even Dr. Chen was impressed by the fashionable outfits of the actresses, saying that the two girls were good in every way and very ambitious, but it was strange that they were fighting over a man she couldn't see what was so good about him.
So after rejecting a bunch of names, Wang Xiao decided to jump on the bandwagon and use "Women's Street" as the name of his clothing supermarket.
Well, once we've built up our reputation, we can also launch women's shoes.
She realized that people in the early 1990s were quite willing to spend a lot of money to follow trends.
High heels that cost several hundred yuan a pair will not be considered cheap even 30 years from now, yet fashionable women will still readily open their wallets, their enthusiasm no less than that of VIP customers in luxury stores 30 years from now.
What? You're saying the financial crisis is severe right now, with a bunch of businesses going bankrupt and ceasing production, and a serious downgrade in social consumption?
Sigh, there will always be rich people.
The more severe the economic downturn, the better luxury goods sell.
Before she transmigrated, it was known as the year with the most difficult job market in history, with many factories shutting down and many businesses closing down, but that didn't stop the sales of luxury goods from reaching new highs.
It's true, there are always more wealthy people and people willing to spend money in this world than we think.
After placing the order at the printing factory with great satisfaction, Wang Xiao went to the factory to supervise the work. Then, he rushed to the Jinning Hotel to check on the training of the employees and to keep an eye on the sales of the goods that had been transferred from the Soviets.
After all, the clothing store wouldn't open for at least another month, and during that time, it was all about burning money. Her only source of income was working as a middleman with the Soviets.
Oh, it seems she also gets commissions from the soap factory, toothpaste and toothbrush factory, and food factory (well, there will be goods available for sale in hotels after the New Year)?
Yes, that's right, there really is.
But even all that money added up was only a few thousand, which was just pocket money to her. She didn't carry it with her when she was seriously calculating her finances.
If Tang Yicheng heard this, well, he wouldn't react at all.
It wasn't that he had already spent 20,000 yuan to buy an apartment in the provincial capital, so he looked down on apartments costing 10,000 or 20,000 yuan; rather, he was panicking, really, he was extremely panicked.
Although he had experienced the glory of frantically shipping goods around the Spring Festival, the fact that a single order now carries hundreds or thousands of dollars still makes him feel uneasy and his hands tremble.
There are too many; there are many people coming, and they want a lot of goods.
He didn't consider himself a cowardly person, but these bank passbooks were becoming a hot potato for him.
He's now particularly afraid that the Jinning Hotel, or rather, the sales point, has caught the eye of the police, who arrested them as speculators.
He's a veteran with comrades who are professional police officers. If his comrades arrest him, he'll be too ashamed to face anyone.
And then there's Wang Xiao, a promising college student, an engineer at the Chemical Engineering Institute, and an advanced worker. If she were to go to jail, wouldn't she be finished?
Seeing his worried expression, Wang Xiao was both amused and annoyed, and had to comfort him: "Don't panic, don't panic. Once the self-service supermarket opens, we'll move our headquarters there."
However, Tang Yicheng worried, "Retail can't compare to wholesale. If we rely on counter sales, how long will it take?"
Trade between the two sides is gradually getting back on track. He is waiting for the lighter factory and the garment factory to prepare the goods. He will have to make another trip to Beijing this week to pick up and ship the goods.
Without such an important base as the Jinning Grand Hotel, with this level of transaction frequency, even if they were gods, they wouldn't be able to sell all their goods through the counter.
Wang Xiao was both amused and exasperated: "Who said the counters are all for retail? The counters can be used as display cases, directly targeting wholesale customers. Just like in a restaurant."
"Wouldn't they be arrested for speculation and profiteering?" Tang Yicheng blurted out, then suddenly realized that the self-service supermarket had contracted the steel mill's factory buildings, meaning it had its own protective umbrella—the steel mill.
Tang Yicheng's eyes widened suddenly.
Did she plan this all along?
Selling clothes was just a front; what she really wanted to do was wholesale Soviet goods!
Wang Xiao stated matter-of-factly, "The steel mill allowed us to contract out the shops precisely to resolve the issue of triangular debt. These Soviet goods were originally intended to pay off the debts."
These days, can business owners act recklessly without having a protective shield? Money is a powerful motivator; one wrong move and she'd be swept away.
Tang Yicheng opened his mouth several times, but in the end, he wisely gave up discussing whether it was "the same thing" and instead considered the practical question: "Would anyone go to the supermarket to buy wholesale?"
Now they're relying on the Jinning Grand Hotel platform.
Wang Xiao wanted to rub his temples again, his explanation sounding weak and feeble: "Jinning Hotel is not a wholesale market. This business is only done by us, and those who come to buy goods are not here because of the hotel's reputation."
In short, her fans are die-hard fans, not platform fans. She switched platforms, and the original platform no longer offered her meal replacements, so her fans left with her.
Tang Yicheng said with some regret, "The Jinning Hotel is also selling very well."
It would be such a pity to give up.
Wang Xiao shook his head: "Who said we should give up?"
Not only will she not give up, she will also offer even more favorable prices to the customers here.
Why? Because doing business at the Jinning Grand Hotel is a status symbol, a subtle manifestation of privilege. It's only natural that those inside enjoy preferential prices, while those outside can calmly accept paying a premium for the same service.
Tang Yicheng felt like he understood it, but it didn't seem to matter whether he understood it or not.
Anyway, as long as he does his job, that's fine.
So, with a great sense of self-preservation, he changed the subject: "When is Xiang Dong coming back? Clothes still need price tags, right?"
Wang Xiao's pager just went off.
"I'll call him and ask him."
It turned out that the person who paged her was Xiang Dong.
When the call came through, Xiang Dong's voice was extremely anxious: "Wang Xiao, wire the money over immediately. I withdrew 500,000 yuan, and someone robbed me."
When it comes to Xiang Dong being robbed, you really can't blame him.
In the early 1990s, public security was already poor. As the forefront of reform and opening up, Guangzhou had a large and diverse population, and robberies were frequent.
Especially at the infamous Guangzhou Railway Station, crimes such as robbery, abduction, and even kidnapping are commonplace.
And nobody seems to care.
Xiang Dong was already very careful. He didn't even take cash directly to Guangzhou by train to buy goods as before. Instead, he took the passbook that Wang Xiao gave him, endured the high 1% handling fee, and only withdrew the money to make the transaction after selecting the clothes in Guangzhou.
As soon as he stepped out of the post office, his travel bag containing money was snatched away by a motorcyclist. He stumbled and fell face-first into the road. Luckily, a passing car braked in time, otherwise he would be a pile of minced meat.
What? You're saying he didn't just be more careful and directly transfer money to the seller through a bank?
Sigh, you don't understand the clothing wholesale business in the early 1990s.
Xiang Dong, or rather all individual clothing vendors like Xiang Dong, cannot obtain their goods from a single supplier.
Suppliers also have their own flagship products; my jeans are good, your shirts are okay, and his leather jackets are stylish. And almost every large-scale supplier has partner manufacturers behind them. When buyers need large quantities, they go directly to the factory to pick up the goods.
What does this mean?
This means that the 500,000 yuan in Xiang Dong's hands will flow to a dozen or even dozens of recipients.
Do you really expect so many people to follow you to the bank to transfer money? They don't have that much free time, and they're not just doing business with you.
If you placed an order for 500,000, that would be more like it.
As for why Xiangdong couldn't be more cautious and take less money each time, taking cash only after each transaction?
This is related to the current bank branch network.
The post office is already the bank with the widest reach right now, but it is still far from being able to spread everywhere in a few decades.
Withdrawing money and then running to get clothes takes at least an hour or two.
If he keeps running back and forth like this, who knows how long it will take?
Therefore, it's not just about people moving eastward, or even just about individual business owners on the mainland; even foreign businessmen who are already accustomed to using credit cards in mainland China are now adapting to local customs and making cash transactions the mainstream.
What if you get robbed while carrying a large amount of cash? Well, you'll just have to deal with it.
The saying "fortune favors the bold" isn't just a saying.
Xiang Dong was extremely annoyed.
He originally didn't plan to tell Wang Xiao about this; he was prepared to cover the 500,000 yuan loss himself, as he wasn't unable to afford it.
The problem is that he's a bachelor, and all his assets, including his bank accounts, are hidden in his home in the provincial capital. Since he's in the capital right now, there's no way he can get his hands on them.
Why didn't he ask his third cousin for help? The two brothers hadn't made up since their last argument. Xiang Dong didn't want to listen to his cousin's nagging either.
Why didn't he borrow money from his friends in Guangzhou to tide him over? 500,000 yuan is not a small amount. Unless he is desperate, asking friends for money casually would only make enemies.
So in desperation, he had no choice but to ask Wang Xiao for money.
Because he only selects popular items, a lot of people are eyeing them. The wholesalers he often works with also say that they can only reserve them for him for two days at most, and they won't wait until after that.
After all, clothes prices change every day, and people can't afford to lose money.
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