Chapter 224 Cruel Jungle
On the fourth day, Jin Peng came to see Li Ye.
"Guo Donglun left. He told me that if I went to Yangcheng, he would treat me to a drink."
"Hasn't he said anything to you these days?"
"No, he didn't contact us. He just went to a few of our stores and spent the whole day looking at them.
I thought he might go to see the renovation site of Xiushui Street, but he suddenly left yesterday, leaving a message behind."
Li Ye raised his eyebrows and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Jin Peng said: "He said that our cooperation may be terminated at any time, so you have to speed up and intensify your efforts."
"Does he need to tell me that?" Li Ye smiled and said, "Call Hao Jian and let him know our situation. If we don't perform well at the Canton Fair, we will be out of food."
"It won't be cut off," Jin Peng said with a smile, "Recently, several outsourcing factories in Beijing have told us whether we can increase the intensity of cooperation. They can find ways to produce raw materials themselves, as long as we guarantee sales and pay in cash."
Li Ye asked with a smile: "You didn't agree?"
"Why wouldn't I agree?" Jin Peng said, "Tian Hongshan has contacted shopping malls in counties around Beijing. As long as our sales staff are trained, they can open for business immediately."
"So, I am the idler?"
"How can you be an idle person?" Jin Peng laughed and handed Li Ye a parcel: "It's delivered from Hong Kong Island. There are some jobs that only you can do. Others can't do it."
Li Ye took it and saw that it was sent by Pei Wencong.
When I opened it, I saw that it was a series of novel manuscripts, all in English.
Several of the manuscripts had labels on them that introduced the basic information about the authors, such as what novels they had published in the past, what awards they had won, etc. It was obvious that the authors of these manuscripts were all "well-known writers."
Li Ye thought about it and decided to go to the post office to make an international long-distance call.
After the call was connected, Li Ye said to Pei Wencong: "I received the manuscript you mailed, but I am not going to give any opinions.
Our original plan was to follow market response, so why did you list the manuscripts of several senior authors separately? "
"This is a common practice in the publishing industry. Senior authors always have to be different."
Pei Wencong explained: "These authors have some influence. If they work well, it will increase the popularity of our award-winning submissions.
This is indeed the case now, as many media outlets have commented on the works of several senior authors."
Li Ye thought for a moment and said, "Then we can set up a best review award, let readers provide review letters to the organizers, and then select the best reviews to publish and let readers vote, so that more readers can participate enthusiastically."
“In addition, we need to do it inconspicuously and compare the works of ordinary contributors with those of senior contributors. If the topic is not higher, the bonus can also be appropriately increased.”
"Mr. Li, please speak slowly so I can take notes."
Pei Wencong quickly found paper and pen and carefully wrote down Li Ye's suggestions.
After taking notes, he felt that Li Ye was a senior figure in the publishing industry, and he, a veteran who had been in the industry for ten years, seemed like a newbie.
But Pei Wencong could never have expected that there would be a behavior in later generations called - fighting.
Come on! Stir up trouble, sow discord, and let them fight. The more they fight, the happier the audience will be.
"So Mr. Li, how do we decide the winner in the end? Is it based on popularity, or..."
"Of course it's the sales of books," Li Ye said seriously, "We are a serious publishing house. Our aim is to provide readers with the best works. We will never consider anyone's face. How many people are willing to make reservations now?"
“.”
Pei Wencong was stunned for a moment before he reacted and said, "It has exceeded 10,000 people, and is still increasing. We expect that if there are 100,000 reservations, we will stop soliciting submissions to avoid revealing the plot too early."
"That's it then! Anything else?"
"No, yes, there is one more thing," Pei Wencong lowered his voice and whispered, "Mr. Li, the Hang Seng Index has fallen by 100 points. What do you think..."
Li Ye asked in a somewhat curious tone, "After a drop of 100 points, isn't it still too early to reach 700 points? What did Luo Runbo say? Did he suggest stopping?"
Pei Wencong immediately said: "No, Luo Runbo also suggested to continue doing it."
"Then why are you in such a hurry?" Li Ye said, "Professionals should do professional things. Don't interfere too much, otherwise Lao Luo will be very angry."
Luo Runbo is a professional? If he is a professional, would he be so miserable? This is your luck, big man! I just want to get a little bit.
Pei Wencong smiled and said, "No, he thinks he has made more than ten times the profit, so he asked you! Since you said you don't want to clear the warehouse, then let him listen to you!"
"I won't sell it. Just tell him to wait for my news."
Li Ye did not expose Pei Wencong's little lie. He had just talked to Luo Runbo on the phone the day before yesterday. Luo Runbo not only insisted on recommending holding, but also asked Li Ye whether he was willing to increase financial leverage.
So Li Ye understood that Pei Wencong was following the trend, following his own trend.
After Pei Wencong hung up the phone, he called Amin in.
“Sort these out and send them to our overseas partners so they can implement them as soon as possible.”
As soon as Amin saw the suggestions on the paper, he complained, "Boss, you are a top student from HKU, and you don't do this kind of thing. What if I make a mistake when translating?"
"If you make a mistake, I'll replace you," Pei Wencong threatened Amin with a stern face: "Don't you know how many job applications we receive every day? Don't you know how to make progress?"
Amin: “.”
Today, Boss Pei has finally moved to an office area with an unbeatable sea view. The publishing house has become more prosperous and has recruited many new people, all of whom have higher academic qualifications than Amin.
But Amin firmly occupied the position of the second-in-command of the company. Pei Wencong felt that she was a little too proud and he had to teach her a lesson.
“Okay boss!”
Amin left Pei Wencong's office and handed the paper to the new young man.
"Collate and translate these suggestions, send them to our overseas partners, and urge them to implement them as soon as possible. If something goes wrong, you know the consequences."
“.”
. . . . . .
In the spring in Great Britain, it rains a lot, and most of the rain is in the form of showers. After the rapid spring rain, those gloomy old buildings will show some clean colors.
Holding an umbrella, Yang Liqin walked quickly through the streets of Manchester, dodging the water splashed by cars on the street from time to time. She walked into a Chinese archway and finally felt relieved.
Yang Liqin has been in Britain for two years and knows that the security situation in Manchester is not as good as some people say. In particular, some people like these relatively weak female international students.
But as long as she enters this archway, her black hair and yellow skin will win more kindness and warmth, because this is Chinatown.
Manchester Chinatown is the second Chinatown in Britain and was later known as the "British post station for overseas wanderers".
As early as 150 years ago, China had business dealings with Manchester.
Bin Chun, the Qing Dynasty's special envoy at the time, wrote in his overseas travelogue "Notes from a Riding Raft": "This place is the second port of Britain, where flower planting and Indian and American cotton are all gathered."
This is also the earliest record of Chinese people traveling in Manchester. With the rise of the British Industrial Revolution, the cotton textile trade between China and Britain became increasingly close, and Manchester once became a bridgehead for exchanges between the two countries.
Later, Manchester became the area with the highest concentration of Chinese in northern England, forming the largest Chinatown in the UK.
The magnificent Chinese-style archway at the entrance and the traditional dragon and phoenix patterns on it embody the homesickness of overseas flower growers.
"Hello, Mr. Hu, is your business booming today?"
"Xinglong Xinglong, Miss Yang, would you like to come in and have a cup of hot tea?"
"No, no, thank you, Mr. Hu. I was delayed on the road today. If I had been any later, I would have been late."
"Hey, what do you mean by late? Boss Zhao is not such a demanding person. It doesn't matter if he is a few minutes late in this weather."
"It doesn't matter to them, but we can't be ungrateful. Oh, by the way, Mr. Hu, did you see that fellow Dongshan native Xiao Lu pass by today?"
“I didn’t notice!”
"Then I have to leave quickly. Two of us are late, and the boss must be anxious."
"Hey, slow down, the manhole cover in front is missing. I wonder which bastard lost his money again."
Following Mr. Hu's instructions, Yang Liqin walked around the corner and entered the Dongshan Restaurant where she worked.
As expected, the boss didn't say anything weird. He just smiled and waved his hand, asking her to dry her hair and quickly prepare to serve the meal.
This is Chinatown in 1983. Although some people would steal things, there were also people who never forgot their hometown and had a deep affection for it. This allowed international students to feel the overseas wanderers’ attachment to their motherland in an inadvertent moment.
Yang Liqin changed her clothes and walked into the kitchen, only to find that the new foreign student she had introduced had already arrived and had finished his part of the work.
"Jingyao, why are you here so early? Are you skipping class?"
Lu Jingyao and Yang Liqin are both international students at the University of Salford, but Lu Jingyao has just arrived in Britain and has no savings. She has always been reluctant to take the bus. How could she walk faster than Yang Liqin?
"No," Lu Jingyao said while busying herself, "I borrowed a classmate's bicycle and rode here via a shortcut."
"Take a shortcut? You are really bold."
Yang Liqin said angrily: "Didn't I tell you that you are not allowed to take the side road? What if something happens?"
"I won't do it next time," Lu Jingyao said with a wry smile, "I thought it was raining today and no one would notice my skin color."
"Oh, don't take it lightly, never rely on luck, okay, get to work!"
Yang Liqin planned to finish her work first and then give Lu Jingyao a proper lesson later.
This Dongshan native is hardworking and skillful, but some of his ideas are too naive.
The two of them were busy until nine o'clock in the evening, when they finally had some time to rest.
Even though Lu Jingyao was used to doing farm work at home, she sat in the chair tiredly and didn't want to move at all.
But other people in the restaurant seemed to have gotten used to this intensity of work. Some were reading the news in newspapers, while others were chatting with each other.
In the shops in Chinatown, you can find newspapers published in Hong Kong Island and airlifted to Manchester for sale. Therefore, some people who come here through special channels really need this kind of newspaper because their English foundation is very poor.
Yang Liqin called Lu Jingyao aside and said coldly, "Lu Jingyao, I must tell you seriously that if you don't pay attention to safety like you did today, I will recommend to your boss that you lose your job."
Lu Jingyao looked at Yang Liqin in surprise, not understanding why this fellow villager who had always taken such good care of her could be so strict?
Seeing that Lu Jingyao didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the situation, Yang Liqin said directly, "I introduced you here. If anything happens to you and the school finds out, it will implicate me.
Remember, in a place like Britain, our fellow countrymen help you out of kindness, but they never want to get themselves into trouble."
"I understand, Sister Liqin. I will never do it again. I just..."
"You're just what?"
Lu Jingyao smiled awkwardly and said, "During my time at school and in Chinatown, I felt that everyone was very nice, very polite, and very gentlemanly, so I felt..."
"You'd better not have such thoughts."
Yang Liqin said sternly: "Remember, here, never take 'courtesy respect' too seriously. Others may respect you on the surface, but not in their hearts."
"Fathers here call their daughters "my little princess" from a young age. But if someone tells you that you are his little princess and compliments you on how beautiful you are, don't really think that you are a princess."
"So-called gentlemen only exist when you are of equal status. You must always be alert to everyone around you, even me."
“.”
Lu Jingyao was stunned.
She had only been in Britain for two months when she met a fellow student from the same school. She successfully found a job and received her first salary last month, a full 100 pounds.
She felt that it was a great place here. Teachers, classmates, colleagues, boss, everyone was very nice to her. But how come, according to Yang Liqin, it seemed that she had not come to a civilized society, but a cruel jungle where the strong preyed on the weak?
"What are you two arguing about?"
The restaurant owner walked over with a smile and handed a newspaper in his hand to Lu Jingyao.
"I remember that you were in the English department, right? Look at this, maybe you can become rich overnight!"
I feel like the weekend is a day off, so I might as well not have a day off! I'm so busy with so many things that I can't even calm down to write.
(End of this chapter)
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