Chapter 142 Don't try to guess what the buyer is thinking: As long as it sells.
Back on his own turf, Wang Xiao no longer felt back pain, leg pain, or leg cramps.
She looked at the blue sky and never realized that the sky in Jinning could be so blue.
Looking at the white clouds, she suddenly realized that the sky really was like sweet cotton candy.
Not to mention the afternoon sun and the wind softened by the sun.
The sky was truly high and the clouds were light, and I felt refreshed and invigorated.
The heavy burden that had been weighing on my heart suddenly disappeared.
Suddenly, Wang Xiao felt refreshed and couldn't suppress his attention-grabbing personality, so he burst into song: "The sky in the liberated area is a bright sky, the people in the liberated area are so happy..."
Chen Yanqiu was startled and couldn't understand why the girl had suddenly gone crazy.
Then, the old Russian man selling nuts at the stall next to them started singing: "The democratic government loves the people, the Communist Party's kindness is endless..."
Although the pronunciation had a very strong Russian accent, the singing was actually in tune.
Wang Xiao gave a thumbs up in surprise and praised, "That's great, impressive."
The old Russian chuckled, followed by a slurred speech in Russian.
Wang Xiao couldn't help but exclaim to her mother, "I've never heard this song before, even in Russia!"
Chen Yanqiu was completely speechless: "They learned it here."
As we were talking, a motorcycle drove by on the road ahead, and the song it was playing wasn't Hong Kong or Taiwan pop music, but rather, "Sailors love the sea, cavalrymen love the grasslands, if you ask what pilots love, I love the blue sky of my motherland—"
Seeing her daughter's confused face, Chen Yanqiu shook her head repeatedly: "Oh dear, I think you've been abroad for too long and don't even know which way the winds are blowing back home."
What was most popular in 1992 wasn't the soft, sentimental songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan, but rather revolutionary songs.
Starting from the Spring Festival, "The Red Sun" has been sung all over the country.
That cassette tape sold incredibly well. It was originally priced at 5.5 yuan, but when the price was raised to 10 yuan, people were scrambling to buy it.
Around Labor Day, the steel factory wanted to buy cassette tapes for a choral performance, but Xinhua Bookstore had already sold out.
In the end, it was the factory workers who contributed it themselves.
Wang Xiao found it like a fairy tale; it was too incredible. Wasn't 1992 hailed as the first year of China's market economy? Yet, the streets were filled with patriotic songs.
The old Russian was still singing merrily: "Ya ho hai ho hai, ya ho hai ho hai, ya ho hai ho yi ke ya hai..."
The Chinese people passing by applauded and shouted, "Bravo!"
Wang Xiao looked around and was even more surprised.
She saw many Ukrainian businessmen who were previously quite sensitive to words like "comrades," but now they were actually laughing along.
It has to be said that the environment shapes people; it's truly amazing.
Of course, it's also possible that the initial enthusiasm has waned. Nowadays, whether in Eastern Europe or the CIS countries, ordinary people are generally more concerned with basic necessities like food, drink, and sleep, and no one is bothered to pay much attention to political issues.
"Come on, come on, take a look, it's delicious!" The Russian man, who had attracted a crowd by singing, seized the opportunity to vigorously promote what he was selling, "Authentic."
Russia has many forests, and a lot of nuts. His stall sells pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, and other nuts in about ten bags, including a bunch of dried berries.
The Spring Festival was in January 1993, and now it was almost the Lesser Cold season. The Chinese people had already eaten Laba porridge.
So even in the commercial city that mainly deals in foreign trade, there is a festive atmosphere that the New Year is just around the corner.
These nuts and dried fruits are perfect for entertaining guests during the Lunar New Year, so even though they are expensive, costing several times more than peanuts and melon seeds, many people still buy them to try them out.
Before Wang Xiao transmigrated into the book, these nuts and dried fruits could be ordered and purchased all over the country.
But right now, due to logistical limitations, it's really not easy to buy them.
Wang Xiao weighed out one pound of each item and had Chairman Chen take it home.
In addition to dried fruits and nuts, Chen Yanqiu also chose salted fish.
These are fish that Russian farmers pickled and dried themselves. The pickling method is quite unique; they simply put the fish in a salt lake and then air-dry them.
It's eaten raw, straight from the package. It's incredibly salty and the meat is extremely tender, making it a unique kind of sashimi.
How are we going to get all this stuff back?
Sigh, Ms. Chen Yanqiu is already the chairperson of the labor union, why would she worry about not having anyone to help her carry things?
A subordinate immediately took over and helped put it on the factory bus.
As Chairman Chen was leaving, he reminded his daughter again, "Come home for dinner tonight, don't wander around outside."
Wang Xiao waved his hand: "Okay, okay."
She hadn't been home for dinner in a long time and missed the cooking skills of the chefs at the steel factory canteen.
Ovechkin looked around curiously; he had always known that Russian traders made a living abroad.
He even visited the local Russian market in Poland, where they sold all sorts of things.
There were old nuts and bolts, plastic flowers, nail polish, suitcases, military caps, umbrellas, vodka, tape recorders, children's toys, car doors...
There's nothing they won't sell, only things you can't imagine.
But this was the first time he had ever seen his compatriots travel thousands of miles to sell food abroad.
What are they thinking? Selling food is simply not profitable.
"It's just a side business," Wang Xiao explained. "Most of the middlemen who come here carry no money, wasting their baggage allowance. So they sell whatever they have. Now that it's almost Chinese New Year here, there's a market for nuts and dried fruits, so they're selling them."
She pointed ahead and said, "Look over there, they sell pianos, accordions, harmonicas, and even binoculars and stuff."
These are actually the mainstream.
As for selling food, the middlemen and resellers here actually learned it from Xiaozhou.
Seafood and fruit are transported from the Baltic Sea, Romania, and Ukraine, and shrewd local traders have followed suit, bringing their own goods to sell.
Seafood can't get through customs, but dozens of kilograms of fruit is no problem.
If you're lucky, you can even cover the cost of a one-way plane ticket.
Meanwhile, the resellers on the Zhimen side, seeing this, were not to be outdone.
Fruit is ridiculously expensive in Moscow, so they just serve nuts and dried fruit instead, which at least makes sense.
Ivanov, impatient with his endless questions, urged him, "You're here in China too. The resorts here offer long-term room rentals. There's a car rental place over there; as long as you pay, you can have a car and driver and have a whole day to yourself."
To put it another way, he said, "Get lost, stop clinging to them like a leech."
But Ovechkin was unwilling.
Seeing so many compatriots, he felt that anyone could pull out a gun at any moment and shoot him.
So he stubbornly refused to let go, repeatedly assuring Ivanov, "My dear friend, I swear, you can go about your business, you can pretend I don't exist."
He said it all along, but in fact he broke his vow in less than five minutes.
Because Mr. Wang led a team to inspect the work in the commercial city, they encountered a customer who went to the design department and asked to order the clothes he wanted.
This is nothing unusual; the commercial city has been offering this service for a long time.
After the computer-generated design is completed, the trade city will contact the manufacturer and place an order for production.
But what they see today is different.
After the design drafts were printed out and confirmed, they actually started making patterns and samples right away.
That's right. After the design was completed, the original warehouse was cleared out and turned into a small workshop.
Inside, the pattern maker quickly started cutting and making samples.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Ovechkin asked curiously, "Miss Wang, what's going on here?"
Wang Xiao was also dumbfounded. As far as she remembered, she hadn't seen this when she came here last time.
When Xiang Dong reported to her about his work, he only mentioned collecting the leftover stock and doing wholesale of plus-size clothing.
There is absolutely no on-site sampling.
Just then, Chen Yu, the newly appointed person in charge of the commercial city, heard that the boss had arrived and came over to report on his work, wearing low heels.
Seeing the two bosses looking at him curiously, Chen Yu explained, "After making a sample on-site, we show it to the customers. If they are satisfied, they will place an order to have it made at the factory."
Ovechkin had found himself a translator, so he heard everything clearly.
He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Miss Wang, you've actually gotten to this point?"
That's terrifying.
Isn't this a shopping mall?
In Moscow's major department stores, unless it's a counter for a major European or American brand, if the salesperson is willing to help you find clothes in their inventory, they're already doing you a huge favor.
And Huaxia, even though Huaxia didn't have the goods, they made it for you on the spot.
How could you do this?
How are other people supposed to do business and make a living?
Wang Xiao was also dumbfounded. How did things get to this point?
If things continue like this, they'll easily get sacked by their competitors.
Chen Yu smiled slightly: "The competition in foreign trade is fierce these days. If you don't think about your customers, you won't be able to retain employees."
Let alone other places, just look at Jinning City right now—
Since the various shopping malls completed the contracting of counters, the individual vendors who contracted the counters have all been working hard to make foreign trade an important sales growth point and trying every means to attract customers.
If their international trade city doesn't come up with a major strategy to make customers fully realize that shopping here is the most convenient and worry-free option, then even though they are right next to the airport and have the greatest geographical advantage, they may still not be able to get much market share.
Don't believe me?
If you don't believe me, just look at Tianjin.
Although Tianjin Airport currently accounts for the majority of flights from northern China to Moscow.
However, the main base for purchasing goods for the middlemen who frequented Tianjin Airport was concentrated in Beijing.
Whether it's Xiushui Street, Yabao Road, or Ritan Park, it's always bustling with people.
If it weren't for the Tanggu Foreign Goods Market in Tianjin, which attracted many international traders from Russia, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Poland, and Hungary, it would have missed out on this wave of benefits.
However, the clothes sold in the foreign goods market are completely unappealing to those in the International Trade City.
Those weren't handmade; they were secondhand clothes imported from coastal areas, what's known as "foreign garbage," and they were covered in filth and bacteria.
After a simple cleaning, ironing, and repair, they are put on the counter for sale.
From the perspective of the merchants in the commercial city, the buyers were truly hungry.
They don't waste their money on imported waste; the clothes they make themselves are more fashionable and beautiful than imported waste, and they're not expensive either.
Now, they show samples to customers on the spot, ensuring that customers can buy the goods they want as long as they pay.
In the past, traders would sometimes travel to multiple locations to try and broaden their options.
But now, they have gradually become spoiled by the International Trade City and are too lazy to bother anymore.
If there are no goods available here, they simply place an order directly, too lazy to run around anymore.
Chen Yu spoke eloquently and with great enthusiasm.
Everyone who sees this would praise her as a powerful businesswoman.
But who could have imagined that when Xiang Dong decided to focus on running his modeling agency last year, he recommended her to take over the daily management of the International Trade City in Zhimen?
At that time, she was terrified and strongly opposed it, even making several international calls to Wang Xiao.
The key point is that it's not that she's incapable or unwilling.
The reasons are readily available: her two-toned face will scare away customers.
She can better leverage her strengths by working behind the scenes in finance.
As a result, Wang Xiao's flowery promises completely fooled the girl, who felt it was her responsibility and obligation to take the lead after heading east, so she reluctantly agreed to the task.
What Chen Yu didn't know was that even if Xiang Dong didn't actively recommend her, Boss Wang was inclined to push her to the top.
Why? Because among all the executives, she was the only woman.
Unfortunately, those who go out to do this kind of work are still predominantly men.
However, Wang Xiao's focus on cultivating her was not simply because of female mutual assistance, but because she understood one thing.
In a context where men hold sway over the discourse, female leaders must secure stronger support from their bosses to maintain their positions.
To put it simply, if Chen Yu wants to be a good manager of this commercial city, he definitely has to stick close to Wang Xiao.
Therefore, her loyalty is correspondingly higher.
Generally speaking, unless she suddenly becomes love-struck and bewitched by a man, the probability of her betraying him is relatively low.
Therefore, no matter how much Chen Yu emphasized that her face could easily bring negative impacts if she took charge of the commercial city, Wang Xiao still insisted on letting her try out the job first.
After these past few months, Chen Yu must have realized something: people in positions of power don't care about their appearance at all.
People are even more concerned about whether their appearance can meet his (her) eyes.
She doesn't need to be scrutinized.
Wang Xiao watched as she finished her long and detailed report on the recent work of the commercial city, focusing on recruitment and anti-corruption efforts.
Well, there's no way around it; once any organization reaches a certain size, these two aspects must be prioritized.
This year's recruitment went relatively smoothly.
It must be said that the overall environment of the country has really changed, and young people are more perceptive and radical in this regard.
Furthermore, the local environment in Jiangdong also emphasizes foreign trade. This means that university students in the province, especially those from the provincial capital, are less concerned about government-affiliated positions and more interested in having a platform to fully utilize their expertise.
Wang Xiao nodded and emphasized, "Experienced people should also pay attention, especially in places like those with unpaid leave. It's best if they can get started right away."
After finishing her daily tasks, she wanted to check on the sales of the household robots.
This project has only recently started, so I don't know how it's progressing.
Chen Yu was speaking with great enthusiasm, but her expression immediately turned subtle when the boss asked about household robots.
Wang Xiao asked curiously, "Can't they be sold?"
That doesn't make sense; she's already precisely identified her target sales group.
She thought these guys were pretty flashy, and they were quite willing to spend money on showing off.
"No." Chen Yu's face was full of unspeakable emotions. "We have already sold eight hundred household robots."
Oh my!
So many? That's incredible! This sales figure is truly astonishing.
It's no exaggeration to say that they've already met their annual KPIs.
“But—” Chen Yu had to tell the truth, “They don’t really need household robots, but rather they are buying robots to curry favor with our commercial city.”
Because the commercial city is a private entity, its anti-corruption work is more effective than that of state-owned enterprises that hold meetings every day to emphasize serving the country and the people, and it actually sent employees who accepted bribes to jail.
This has left suppliers who want to use connections unsure which patron to approach.
Suddenly, the commercial city has started selling its own household robots.
The suppliers saw this as a great opportunity to show their loyalty.
So, just like the parents in the parent group trying to curry favor with the school and teachers, they took all sorts of initiative to demonstrate their absolute support for the commercial city.
The most outrageous boss not only bought one for his own family, but also bought one for his parents and one for his father-in-law's family.
Oh no, there are four, because his grandma from his hometown also bought one for him.
In the end, it was actually my grandma's robot from my hometown that really came in handy.
This little guy, who is only half a meter tall, is more beloved by the elderly than cats and dogs.
Because it can talk, its program has simple language functions.
Touch its head, and it will sing; it will randomly play several songs.
Shake its hand again, and it will say hello and ask what you want.
For elderly people who have no worries about food and clothing but no one to accompany them, it is the perfect comforting companion.
Ouch!
Wang Xiao's eyes lit up instantly.
Unexpectedly, a blind student discovered a key point: household robots are primarily designed for companionship.
This track has potential, and the phenomenon of empty nests will become more and more serious in the future.
Before the advent of smartphones, there was a market for these chatbots.
Improving this feature would at least slightly reduce the perceived lack of usefulness of household robots.
After all, even though they're just there for show, they're very good at talking.
Chen Yu was completely bewildered.
Um, wait, boss, is our household robot just for show? Why is its main function being completely ignored?
Shouldn't we increase our sales efforts and find more suitable buyers?
“No need.” Wang Xiao knew his products very well and had a clear understanding of their market positioning. “Its existence is to satisfy the vanity of buyers and to highlight their status. As long as someone buys it, whether they use it or not is their own business.”
This is like a business paying for traffic to advertise. Does that mean that because the fans are just buying products to support their idol, the business will think that they don't need the products and therefore refuse to sell them to them?
What's wrong with you? Sales figures are the key.
Whether you can use it or not is none of the merchant's business.
Whether you have the money to buy it is what the salesperson cares about.
Besides, even if a hundred people buy it, and only ten people actually use it, they have still achieved their goal.
"Keep pushing." Once Wang Xiao was determined to make this money, he showed no mercy. "Let them buy as much as they want."
Okay, okay.
Although Chen Yu didn't quite understand, she still obediently accepted her boss's arrangement.
Accompanied by her, Wang Xiao wandered around the trade city and found that there were now many more Arab merchants, and even some black people, all carrying large and small bags of goods.
That's really strange.
I've never seen them before.
Chen Yu simply chuckled and said, "They are international students."
Currently, many of those studying in China are from the Third World; I haven't seen any female students yet.
The preferential treatment given to international students actually began in the 1950s and 60s, when their subsidies were equivalent to the income of county-level or regimental-level cadres.
Now they earn several hundred yuan a month, which is several times the salary of a university professor.
Some of these international students went to work in the International Trade City. After returning to school, they talked about reselling goods, and the quick-thinking international students discovered the business opportunities.
If Chinese goods are sold in their hometowns, they can fetch many times the price.
They just happened to have money on hand.
University expenses are low, and as long as you're not the type to live a life of extravagance, it's not a problem for international students to save a thousand or so dollars a semester.
Their travel expenses back to China were reimbursed by the company, so they could use all of that thousand or so yuan to buy goods.
Once you return to China and sell it, if you're lucky, you can turn a bicycle into a motorcycle, turning a few thousand yuan into tens of thousands of yuan—that's not a problem at all.
The Chinese university students were so angry they screamed.
That's so unfair! They're making all the money.
Wang Xiao and Ivanov were dumbfounded, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Indeed, they have always wanted to open up the African market, especially the market for Black people.
For this very purpose, they even tried to persuade arms dealers to switch to opening small commodity markets in Africa to sell Chinese goods.
As a result, the arms dealers ignored them, so they had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being.
But who could have imagined that things would turn around, and this project would actually offer a glimmer of hope to Black international students?
Wang Xiao immediately instructed Chen Yu: "We must support this work. We can't ignore their importance just because they have few people and are buying little at the moment. This is an opportunity for us to open up the African sales market."
I'm afraid Chen Yu won't understand, after all, Black international students don't have a very good reputation in China these days.
In the 1980s, there were several conflicts involving international students.
A significant number of university students find Black international students quite annoying.
Wang Xiao didn't care about so many things; she only cared about matters that concerned her own interests.
“These Black international students are mostly children of the privileged class in their local communities.”
This is only natural.
In any case, when it comes to good things in the world, those who have already benefited will definitely prioritize their own social class.
This gave the International Trade City an opportunity.
"People naturally admire the powerful. Goods brought back from abroad by the sons of the wealthy and powerful are naturally considered superior. Thus, in the eyes of the locals, Chinese goods are synonymous with high-end goods."
Wang Xiao emphasized, "Through their live-streaming sales, we can build a good reputation locally. Then, when we expand on a large scale later, we will have a favorable sales environment."
As for the local Black people being poor and having no market for their goods, etc.
Sigh, which poor place doesn't have rich people? The poorer the place, the more willing the rich are to spend money.
As long as you find the right sales positioning, you won't have to worry about not being able to sell your products.
Wang Xiao smiled broadly, looking at these African brothers, he felt that most of them had handsome features.
Indeed, money is always the best cosmetic surgery.
————————
Ah, the Chinese New Year is almost here! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-02-07 02:42:21 and 2024-02-08 06:59:24!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Calculus Doesn't Fail, Gentleman's Ink 10 bottles; Affirmation 5 bottles; White Clouds in the Sky, My Dear Ghostly Drawings 2 bottles; Autumn Water Is Not Water, aurora, Quietly Is the Heart's Xiao Xiao, 20655808, Little P 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
