Chapter 467 Will they fight? (Bug fix): Oh my god!
At Dongdaemun Market, Wang Xiao encountered a pleasant surprise: she bumped into Sister Haiyan.
Does this name sound unfamiliar? That's normal.
Because Wang Xiao hadn't really paid attention to this long-time employee's work for a long time.
When Wang Xiao first started his clothing business, he opened a clothing store in the large factory area where the steel mill was located, using the factory buildings of the garment factory's affiliated factory that had closed down at the time.
The first store manager was Xiang Dong. After Xiang Dong started working on the Jiangzhimen wholesale market, Sister Haiyan became the store manager. Even after the team she trained took over Xiang Dong's work, the clothing store was still doing well and they even opened a branch.
But Haiyan was not content to stay in her own little corner of the world. The rise and fall of her former colleagues and even subordinates spurred her ambition. She volunteered to go out and work on a pedestrian street while Wang Xiao still had time to browse the clothing store.
At the time, Wang Xiao's attitude was indifferent. When she had money in her pocket, she was always easy to talk to, and with a wave of her hand, she could send someone away.
If you need resources, find them yourself.
After working for so long and with the group expanding so much, if you don't even know how to deal with different departments and how to contact supply channels, then you might as well go for a walk and come back.
If you need talent, find it yourself; don't just poach people from other departments.
Otherwise, if the heads of other departments get into a fight with you, the boss will absolutely not intervene.
In short, Wang Xiao's attitude was to leave it to her. Let them do whatever they want.
As it turns out, the best kind of boss in the world is the one who pays you money but doesn't care about anything else.
Sister Haiyan single-handedly built 47 or 57 pedestrian streets from scratch? No, it seems there are already over a hundred. 47 or 57, that's the previous number.
I'm sorry, Wang Xiao knows she's guilty because she really can't remember.
She has been busy in the Moscow container market all year and hasn't had time to review the group's entire financial statements yet.
Feeling guilty, the boss took the initiative to warmly embrace Haiyan, saying, "Oh, Haiyan, what brings you to Korea? It's really cold here in winter."
Sister Haiyan was engrossed in selecting clothes when she saw the shop owner, still clutching the clothes in her hands.
Now that the boss was hugging her so enthusiastically, she had no choice but to quickly drop the clothes she was holding, hug the boss back, and speak incoherently: "I'll try getting some goods from here to sell, and it's not bad."
Wang Xiao smiled and lowered his arm, his eyes crinkling as he looked at the person: "Oh, you've changed your supply location? How is it good?"
Haiyan then calmed down and answered the boss's question with a smile: "The quality of the products here is good, and the prices are okay now. Wholesale is quite cost-effective. I came here in December to pick up some goods, and they sold very well."
These days, the most important factor in whether you can succeed in business is the source of your goods.
The reason why delivery orders can be sold at exorbitant prices is because when a product is in high demand, supply cannot meet demand.
If you, as a small business owner, can consistently secure popular items, you'll quickly become a big boss, with no worries about selling your goods.
It can be said that these small business owners are the real buyers, determining their sales scope based on their own insight and ability to secure goods.
One of the main reasons why Sister Haiyan was able to make the pedestrian street so big is that she was able to help the merchants on the pedestrian street find sources of goods.
The Dongdaemun and Namdaemun markets in Seoul became her new sources of goods.
“More and more people are going to Ladies’ Market in Hong Kong to buy things now.” Sister Haiyan said, shaking her head. “If there are too many people, it won’t stand out. Everyone will look the same. The pedestrian street has to be the most fashionable in the area, and you have to find the most fashionable products.”
That's how South Korea came into her view.
She suddenly became aware of South Korea's existence because CCTV aired a drama called "What is Love" this summer.
The show airs in the morning, which is considered an extremely unpopular time slot.
However, the clothing and retail industries have a common characteristic: they are relatively quiet in the morning because most customers are available in the afternoon, evening, and night.
The same is true on the pedestrian street; in the morning, everyone is generally lazy, working and playing at the same time.
In this way, "What is Love?" was magically watched from beginning to end by all the shop owners and employees on the pedestrian street.
After Haiyan had heard about the show countless times, she finally couldn't help but ask around to find out what kind of TV series it was.
Then she found the videotapes—not officially imported and sold, but copied by loyal viewers themselves. Although she had missed the earlier episodes, Sister Haiyan still watched them with great interest after getting her hands on them.
She felt like a new world had been opened up for her; Korean dramas were completely different in style from the Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Singaporean dramas she had watched before.
Although some plot points seemed quite far-fetched to this career woman, she still finished watching it, and the more she watched, the more she liked it.
At this point, Haiyan felt she should make a trip to South Korea.
Because she felt that the clothes and outfits worn by the people in the TV series looked so fashionable.
Then she started asking around about how to get to South Korea to inspect the goods, and what the procedures should be.
Xiang Dong was her former boss. When he received her call asking for advice, he directly recommended her to Tang Yicheng.
Why go around in circles? Your brother Tang is in South Korea researching the market; I doubt anyone knows South Korea better than him right now.
Without saying a word, Sister Haiyan made an international call. Tang Yicheng told her that if you want to go to the market, there's no better place than Dongdaemun or Namdaemun.
These two open-air markets, each stall is supported by countless small factories, which is why the prices are so cheap.
Especially now that the Korean won has depreciated, it's even more cost-effective to buy things now.
Sister Haiyan completed all the formalities in the shortest possible time, and arrived in Seoul with great pride and high spirits.
To be honest, she had a very good impression of Seoul. It was fashionable, beautiful, and stylish, and also very clean, with good public security.
I don't know if she was just lucky, but she never got ripped off by a taxi. Even though she barely speaks Korean, it didn't stop her from dragging her bags of goods back home.
Wow, in this day and age, if your products are good, you don't have to worry about selling them.
Once the goods arrived at the pedestrian street, she didn't resell them to other shop owners; she just put them out to sell herself, and they quickly sold out completely.
Suddenly, the other shop owners were all intrigued. They all started asking her where she got her goods from.
Don't underestimate this issue. In the era before internet platforms, stable and reliable supply channels were extremely important. They were a direct source of revenue.
Seeing this, what else could Haiyan say but, with her bag neatly packed, she immediately came over.
Her intuition told her that Korean products would be a very important trend.
She couldn't explain the specific reason, but it was entirely a keen intuition of someone in the industry.
Wang Xiao was truly convinced; some people are just born to make money.
So what if they don't have a cheat code? They can still spot trends at a glance using their own abilities.
Haiyan sighed, "It's not easy to come to South Korea. If you bring a little too much stuff, transportation is inconvenient."
The Korean won has depreciated significantly, dropping by more than half. Taking a taxi now costs as little as 5 RMB, making it incredibly cheap.
Otherwise, at a different time, she wouldn't have had the courage to buy goods in bulk from South Korea. At most, she would take some samples back and then find a factory to make prototypes.
Tang Yicheng listened and laughed from the side: "Perfect! Sister Haiyan, you have a good eye. You can stay here at the East Gate and South Gate markets. If you find good goods, send them back. Find someone to run errands for you. You don't need to run errands yourself."
Wang Xiao nodded with a smile: "This way is efficient, with division of labor and cooperation."
While busy observing the surroundings, Xiao Gao listened to their conversation in a casual manner and chimed in, "Why don't we just set up a website here too? We can put all the goods here on the website, and if someone on the pedestrian street likes something, they can place an order and we can ship the goods over from here, right?"
A moment of silence fell over the surroundings.
This made Xiao Gao's teeth ache instantly, and he stammered, "I...I just said it randomly. I don't know anything about this."
Although he can now use the internet, type on a computer, and create documents, he doesn't know how to program, let alone how to build a website.
As a result, Tang Yicheng waved his hand and patted him heavily on the shoulder, saying excitedly, "Hey, this can be done, it really can be done."
Don't be fooled by the fact that this is international trade, which may seem very complicated.
But frankly speaking, the relationship between the two parties in the transaction is very simple.
On one side are the stall owners and factories behind the Dongdaemun and Namdaemun, and on the other side are the shop owners on the pedestrian street.
The two countries are essentially two different places.
Doing business between them is no different from online shopping between Jiangzhimen and Xiaozhou International Trade Market and Shanghai Pudong Electronics Market.
If customs clearance and transportation are excluded, this model is even simpler because it is a typical one-way output.
Wang Xiao nodded, agreeing with Tang Yicheng's view.
This is a simplified version of 1688.
The website does not need to sell goods directly to consumers, but rather serves as an online information hub and credit endorsement platform connecting Korean manufacturers/wholesalers with large wholesalers in China.
Having received affirmation from both Brother Tang and the boss, Xiao Gao instantly became more confident and even pulled Sister Haiyan aside to chat, saying, "I think this job is quite simple."
"You should talk to the big wholesalers at Dongdaemun and Namdaemun markets. Take nice pictures of their products. Then, organize all the details about the fabric, sizes, colors, and minimum order quantities for these clothes, and make them into something like what's it called again?"
Sister Haiyan answered for him: "Quotation."
Xiao Gao clapped his hands excitedly: "Yes, yes, that's right, let's call it a price list. With this, the shop owners on the pedestrian street won't need to go to Korea to inspect the goods anymore. They can just look at them online, place their orders, pay you a deposit, and then the goods will be shipped over from Korea. You'll pay them right here in Korea. Isn't that a great way to get things done?"
Then he winked at people, looking very cunning, and said, "The website can integrate customer demand information. If some goods are inconvenient to ship and take a long time, you can make a sample directly and find a factory to make it yourself. There are no factories that can make small batches, but once you place a large order, there will definitely be factories willing to take it."
Xiao Zhao quickly pulled him back, which stopped him from continuing to act recklessly.
Haiyan didn't really care about what he said, because in this day and age, few people would think that such a thing violated business ethics. In this era, you can't survive if your moral standards are too high.
Haiyan blinked repeatedly, then said with difficulty, "Why does it sound like I need to make a website? How am I supposed to know how to make a website?"
“Just outsource it!” Xiao Gao said without hesitation. “You can find the group’s computer company and add the Korean business to it, right? At first, you can charge the Korean suppliers an annual website registration fee and just take the commission. For each successful match on the platform, you can take a commission of about 1% to 3%. We have many photographers here, so we can charge them for taking pictures, translation, logistics consulting, and all other services at a package price.”
He was confident. "I bet there are plenty of people willing to cooperate with you. They're in a financial crisis, and they'd love for someone to help them sell their goods."
Although he knew almost nothing about Koreans, he spent almost every day with his boss, so he understood businessmen.
For a businessman, if you can help me sell my goods, make money, and survive when I can't sell them, you are my ancestor.
Fearing that Sister Haiyan wouldn't believe him, he emphasized, "Don't think the website in South Africa is doing too well now. Business is booming, they can support themselves and even make money."
For any new business, being able to make a living is already a great achievement. As for making a profit, wow, that's an absolute delightful surprise!
Sister Haiyan frowned, then suddenly clapped her hands: "If we don't compare them like that, I should charge more. It's not just a market on my pedestrian street. Doesn't it include the South African market too? I should definitely charge more!"
Tang Yicheng was overjoyed: "No, no, you need to do more calculations. Don't forget the container markets in Moscow and Bucharest. The volume of goods transported there is huge."
That's the advantage of having a large operation. It may be troublesome, but if you integrate the resources, it can be as powerful as a thousand troops outside.
The manager of the Moscow container market turned pale and subconsciously asked Wang Xiao, "Boss, we also need to import goods from South Korea, so how will the other businesses operate?"
Wang Xiao said casually, "What can't a store sell? If it sells well, anything can sell."
Suppliers have it too easy. I feel like I don't have to worry about anything. I can just focus on supplying goods. Anyway, with such a large sales channel, I'm not afraid of not being able to sell the products.
Over time, it will become like the state-run stores that Moscow once had.
Once other stores recovered, the business of state-owned stores immediately plummeted.
Catfish must be thrown into a school of sardines to keep them swimming forward in fear and uncertainty, thus maintaining their vitality.
If there are no enemies for the time being, then the boss will create enemies for you.
Anyway, bosses are bound to do some unethical things, so they might as well do one more.
After visiting two large wholesale markets, the person in charge of the Moscow container market looked green with worry, his eyes were glazed over, and he couldn't eat.
Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao exchanged glances secretly, both deeply impressed by Brother Tang.
Haha, even if they're slow-witted, they can tell that it's definitely not a coincidence that the boss ran into Sister Haiyan today.
There aren't that many coincidences in the world. Even if it were a coincidence, everyone wanted to go to the market today. Dongdaemun Market alone is ten blocks in size. How could it be such a coincidence that everyone would run into each other?
Without a doubt, it was all arranged by Brother Tang.
On the one hand, it can give Haiyan a chance to shine in front of the boss, create opportunities for her, and do her a favor.
On the other hand, my cousin, being such a perceptive person, must have realized that the boss wanted to take the opportunity to put pressure on the person in charge of the Moscow container market.
It just so happens that praising one person means criticizing another; it's all just a side effect.
It has to be their Brother Tang; he knows how to handle things.
Wang Xiao didn't care at all about Tang Yicheng's underhanded tactics. A boss can use subordinates to achieve their goals, and a subordinate can also use their boss to achieve their goals.
This has always been the case between people.
She had been running around all day and was exhausted, but she was happily eating, focusing on the cheapest Korean bibimbap they ordered.
Tang Yicheng emphasized that, based on his extensive experience in South Korea, the cheapest Korean bibimbap was actually the most to his liking. He felt that other so-called Korean food was just so-so and ridiculously expensive, making him feel like he was being ripped off.
Why not eat some cheap and tasty Korean bibimbap?
Ivanov was also eating bibimbap, explaining that he wanted to immerse himself in local customs and experience Korean life firsthand.
The vice-official who was originally in charge of entertaining him suggested that he try seaweed rice rolls, but he had no interest in cold seaweed rice rolls.
It's strange, since they're all East Asians, how can Koreans and Japanese endure eating cold food in the dead of winter?
Russians and Chinese people have the best palates; they crave hot food in winter.
After dinner, they talked for nearly two hours, exchanging opinions extensively but failing to reach any consensus, and then went back to sleep.
He called Wang Xiao, but didn't complain about it.
Having served as Russia's Deputy Prime Minister for a long time, Ivanov has become accustomed to not easily complaining about work to anyone.
Otherwise, he would have long since become a massive mass of resentment, leaving nothing but barren land within a hundred paces, all killed by his resentment.
Facing Wang, he said cheerfully, "Someone complimented me today that I look like Leonardo DiCaprio."
He didn't know who Leonardo DiCaprio was at first; Titanic was only released in the United States on December 19, 1997.
From November 4th, when he personally announced the devaluation of the ruble to the entire nation, he had been watching the Russian financial market every day, under immense mental pressure. He had no energy left to care about Hollywood blockbusters.
Now, the Korean guy said that he glanced at Leonardo DiCaprio's poster and thought he was indeed quite handsome, so he accepted the compliment.
As soon as he brought it up, Wang Xiao denied it without hesitation: "Nonsense, who said you look like Leonardo DiCaprio?"
With a "crack," Ivanov's heart shattered into eight pieces.
That's it. He said he must have been too tired, which made him look old. His once-proud good looks were fading away quickly, just like time, never to return.
He was instantly overwhelmed with sadness and almost burst into tears on the spot.
Just as he was about to sob, Wang Xiao's voice came through the microphone again: "Which guy has such bad taste? Leonardo DiCaprio isn't even half as handsome as you?"
Oh my, it's dawn! The whole world is bright now.
Ivanov jumped out of bed excitedly, grabbed the phone, ran to the mirror, and looked at himself with satisfaction: "I think so too!"
He must have consumed too many carbohydrates during his meal and suffered from carb intolerance, otherwise why would he have blurred vision and thought he looked like Leonardo DiCaprio?
They're clearly not in the same league when it comes to being handsome.
"That's right!" Wang Xiao affirmed once again, "You're the most handsome, you're the only handsome one!"
Oh no! Ivanov can't be like Leonardo DiCaprio.
Now, when she thinks of Leonardo DiCaprio, the image that comes to mind is him with his big belly, playing with a water gun.
That's absolutely horrible.
If Ivan were to become like that, well, sorry, even a realistic woman like her isn't always loyal.
To encourage herself, she added, "You've always been handsome, and you'll always be handsome."
After hanging up the phone, she hypnotized herself again before closing her eyes and going to sleep.
It was late at night, in a foreign land, and she didn't want to have nightmares.
The next morning, we all ate Korean soup dumplings together.
Although Korea is famous for its kimchi and bibimbap, soup dumplings seem to be rarely mentioned. However, everyone at the table agrees that these soup dumplings, filled with meat, vegetables, and mushrooms in a flour wrapper, are even tastier than bibimbap and kimchi.
Five pieces per bowl, large in size, with plenty of filling, and the soup is delicious; it's really quite good.
Even Ishizawa, the technical director of the LCD screen factory, and Mejerov, the chief engineer of the chip factory, agreed that this was the best food they had eaten since arriving in South Korea.
Seriously, after living in China for a long time, especially in provinces like Liangjiang where foodies are everywhere and people are meticulous about the finest and most elaborate dishes, one's palate can easily become discerning.
If we send them to other countries, there aren't many places that can satisfy their palates.
These two individuals took time out of their busy schedules to come as technical experts, providing technical guidance for the acquisition plan.
After the meal, everyone was full and in high spirits as they set off for Modern Electronics.
This semiconductor company, if we look back 20 or 30 years, will have a famous name: SK Hynix. In the semiconductor industry, the latter will definitely be a superstar.
However, in 1998, it was a semiconductor company under the Hyundai Group of South Korea.
In 1982, Hyundai Group, which started by making cars, invested $400 million to launch a semiconductor project.
Without a doubt, it was a loss from the very beginning, a loss so severe it was like selling your pants.
Because of their lack of experience and outdated technology, the yield rate of the chips they produced was very low, making it impossible for them to survive in the market. They were forced to become memory chip foundries.
It was also lucky that it happened to coincide with the heyday of Japanese memory manufacturers, which made American manufacturers breathless, and even established giants like Texas Instruments could not withstand it.
To reduce production costs, Texas Instruments sought out a contract manufacturer in South Korea and signed a manufacturing agreement with Hyundai Electronics, providing them with 64K memory technology and helping Hyundai Electronics improve product yield.
With the technical support of such a benefactor, in 1986, Hyundai Electronics finally became the second manufacturer in South Korea capable of mass-producing 64K memory.
Oh, the first one is Samsung Electronics.
Even at this point, modern electronics still had a tough time. Its market share was too low, it couldn't make ends meet, and it kept losing money.
Fortunately, it has a major backer. Hyundai's cars are very profitable, and the group's leader believes that it can support the electronics division, so he continues to provide it with financial support.
Stumbling along like this, we reached the 1990s when the United States filed an anti-dumping complaint against Japanese memory, causing global memory prices to skyrocket, finally giving modern electronics a chance to breathe.
Its technology caught up, market demand increased, and it no longer had to sell at a loss, so it made back the initial $400 million.
If the story continues in this way, it will become another legend of the golden baby.
Unfortunately, the financial crisis hit, leaving the Hyundai Group heavily indebted. Even its most profitable car business was no longer profitable, let alone the cash-burning Hyundai Electronics.
We're currently in the decline phase of the semiconductor industry; the cyclical nature of the market dictates that it simply can't make money.
The group is already insolvent and can no longer provide financial support to Hyundai Electronics, let alone wait for it to return to a profitable stage.
Because of this, in order to survive, Hyundai Group had no choice but to bite the bullet and cut its losses.
To preserve its core business, it must cut its electronics company.
Tang Yicheng earnestly offered his optimism: "It's no big deal. Just get through it, and in ten years, you'll still be a hero."
Wang Xiao rubbed his forehead and thought about it, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.
To be honest, China's semiconductor industry started much later, many years later. But later, both chips and LCD screens took off.
In life, the best time to do anything is always 10 years ago and now.
But if we could have done it 10 years ago, why not?
The car arrived at Hyundai Electronics Company. The business manager who greeted them at the entrance had sunken cheeks, graying temples, and an aura of anxiety emanating from him.
Yes, although he dressed himself very smartly, although he was wearing a sharp suit, and although his leather shoes were polished to a shine.
But a person's true nature can never be hidden. He was filled with fear and unease, unsure of what fate awaited him and the electronics department behind him.
Tang Yicheng shook hands with the man and introduced him in English with a smile: "This is our big boss, the person who signed for the payment to you."
He deals with people in South Korea, but his identity as a Hong Kong businessman makes things easier for him.
Wang Xiao smiled and shook hands with Mr. Cui, the person in charge, then sincerely remarked, "When I came here just now, I saw countless people on the street donating gold to the country. I believe that with such a spirit of unity, South Korea will soon overcome its current difficulties. Unity is strength, and the power of the people will ultimately be able to overcome all difficulties."
Her gaze was so sincere that Mr. Choi, who had been tense all over, couldn't help but relax a little and smiled slightly: "We Koreans have never been afraid of difficulties. We have the best, most diligent and hardworking employees, which is why we have world-class technology and production capacity."
This is just a sales pitch; otherwise, they wouldn't be praising their products.
Wang Xiao smiled broadly: "Mr. Cui, I believe you, so we plan to retain all our employees and continue production."
Before the group even reached the office building, a sudden, booming drumbeat rang out.
Wang Xiao was startled. What's going on? Is it a celebration?
Those Koreans have a really good mentality. The group is already going to sell Hyundai Electronics, but the employees are still so cheerful and not worried about losing their jobs at all.
That must require an incredibly strong heart!
Just as she was about to ask Mr. Choi if it was a traditional Korean holiday today, his expression changed drastically.
Before she could even process what was happening, she saw a group of people in matching uniforms approaching, banging on large drums.
They were also holding up Korean banners with the words "" and "".
Unfortunately, Wang Xiao doesn't understand Korean and doesn't recognize any of the circles or blocks.
She turned to ask the Korean translator—although she and Mr. Choi had spoken in English, they had still had a professional Korean translator present.
Before the translator could answer her question, the group of people suddenly sat down in front of them, glaring at them with bloodshot eyes, and the leader was still shouting something in gibberish.
Even if Wang Xiao was slow to realize, he could tell at this point that something was wrong. A sit-in is always a form of protest and threat, no matter which country it is in.
Just as Mr. Cui was about to speak, the leader suddenly rushed up and vigorously waved his drumsticks.
Wang Xiao was so frightened that she quickly hid behind Liu Ba.
Heavens! They won't hit them, will they?
There must be at least a thousand people here, right? If a fight really breaks out, her bodyguards might not be able to protect her!
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[Let me see] Every capitalist should be prepared to get beaten up. While correcting typos, I discovered a missing plot point; it wasn't a coincidence that Haiyan happened to be there, it was arranged. So I added it.
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