Chapter 153 A Huge Profit! Let's all say thank you to Factory Director Zheng. ...
Qin Xiangxiang led the factory staff to set up the booth, and Li Jianzhi also came to help. Their factory's booth location was much better than the one at last year's Autumn Canton Fair, but not by much. The most prominent locations belonged to several textile factories in Shanghai and other cities.
Li Jianzhi moved the wooden display stand to the booth. "I brought newspapers and photos. Let's paste the newspapers and photos here and make a photo wall."
Qin Xiangxiang's lips twitched: "Forget the newspaper, let's just post the photos."
"No, no! Our factory director Qin's newspaper must be posted: 'Skilled female textile workers protect national treasures—'"
"Paste the newspaper to the large page, put the photos here... We brought too many photos, so we'll nail a few more to the side as well."
Yang Zhixia and his assistant He stood by, feeling troubled and full of doubts, but they didn't dare to speak up. They wondered: Are these things really useful? Are foreigners really interested in Mawangdui?
Master Li, Master Meng, and others gathered around the photos, marveling at them: "These are photos of your factory supporting Mawangdui? Wow, so this is what the archaeological site looks like."
"Is this a photo with the museum curator? And he even entrusted two national treasures to your factory for safekeeping!"
"Let's think about it—Director Qin is truly remarkable."
The photo wall set up by Feiyan Textile Factory attracted a lot of attention. Even staff members of the Canton Fair couldn't help but put down their work and come over to focus on the photos.
"Mawangdui? A female corpse that hasn't decomposed in two thousand years?"
"A national treasure, truly a national treasure."
"Red Flag Unit for Cultural Relics Protection".
...
Chen Shulan, the factory manager of the silk weaving factory, walked over and took a look, then stared in disbelief: "Wait, how many photos did you take over there?"
Director Chen and others also had experience leading teams on business trips. They would usually take a dozen or so photos, at most twenty or thirty as souvenirs. It was impossible to take too many photos, firstly because film was expensive, secondly because cameras were expensive, and thirdly because there weren't many people who were good at taking photos.
Qin Xiangxiang: "We brought our own camera and took more than 300 pictures. We picked out some of the nice ones... This is our worker discussing printing with the old professor, this is cloud embroidery, and this is colorful gauze."
Factory Director Chen nodded blankly, "It seems you've put a lot of effort into Mawangdui."
"That is—" Qin Xiangxiang immediately said to the export salesman at the Canton Fair, "When negotiating prices with foreign merchants for this batch of goods, we must offer the highest possible price. Our poplin is very expensive to produce, and it is made of high-quality cotton. As for this Donghai wave yarn, it is too difficult to make this wave yarn with our machines. We must sell it at a high price."
Several sales representatives and translators nodded.
"When the translator introduces this to the foreign businessmen, he should say that this is a high-count yarn fabric and that it uses natural dyeing methods. These dyes represent the landscapes of China... and this is the embroidery and printing from Mawangdui."
"And this is the East China Sea Waves Silk..."
The sales representative and the translator nodded together and took notes in their notebooks.
Yang Zhixia was filled with anxiety. Sell at a high price? The factory manager was even demanding a high price...
Factory Director Zheng quietly came over and listened for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, thinking to himself that he was still selling at a high price and might end up with unsold stock.
It seems that the cost of this batch of poplin from Feiyan Textile Factory was indeed high, which is why they're resorting to desperate measures.
On the first day of the third phase of the Canton Fair, this year's fair had a wider range of attendees than last year, with buyers from several more countries joining in. Everyone entered the exhibition hall to the strains of rousing revolutionary songs.
The most eye-catching item after the opening was the Mawangdui printed replica silk produced by the Shanghai Silk Printing Factory, which almost completely replicated the printed patterns of the Han Dynasty silk, shocking all the buyers.
"Han Dynasty silk from Mawangdui?"
"The Silk Road?"
"A female corpse that hasn't decomposed in two thousand years... They already had such amazing preservation methods all those years ago?"
"A magical country in the East".
...
The heated discussion among foreign merchants over "Mawangdui printed silk" shocked the export sales staff at the Canton Fair. Isn't Mawangdui just an ancient tomb from the Han Dynasty? And the people buried there weren't even any big shots, like Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, or Emperor Taizu of Song... I've never even heard of their names.
Is that... really that amazing?
Is Mawangdui really that amazing?
“Of course it’s amazing that it’s from two thousand years ago, it’s from the Qin and Han dynasties.”
"Don't other countries have two thousand years ago?"
"I think so? I don't know either."
...
When Yamamoto, a buyer from Liben Trading Company, heard that the Shanghai Silk Printing Factory had replicated the silk patterns from Mawangdui, he was incredibly impressed and immediately placed an order: "We want all of this batch of Mawangdui replicated printed silk patterns!"
Yamamoto was fascinated by Qin and Han culture, and Mawangdui happened to be an ancient tomb from the early Western Han Dynasty. His country's people were fond of the history and culture of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, which was a good opportunity to study the changes in clothing patterns between the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties...
Whether it's the Eastern Han or Western Han Dynasty, this is all part of the Han Dynasty culture. These are silk printing patterns from that era. If these could be brought back to China, they would definitely attract countless people.
The sales representative was stunned: "You want them all?"
Aren't you going to pick out a style?
"I'll take them all." Yamamoto offered a very generous price.
Zheng Jianguo from Hongxing Textile Factory watched from the sidelines, thinking to himself, "Is this guy stupid? These are two thousand years old patterns, and I don't see how they're so captivating. Is it crazy to buy so many?"
Even if I like it, I only like the Mawangdui silk that is a direct replica made by the Shanghai Silk Factory. As for the Feiyan Textile Factory... it's laughable. They don't even have silk in their factory, only cotton fabrics.
After Yamamoto finished negotiating the price, he was accompanied by the translator assigned to him by the Canton Fair. At this moment, Zheng Jianguo took the initiative to step forward and point out to Yamamoto the Feiyan Textile Factory counter where Qin Xiangxiang was located.
Zheng Jianguo said with ill intent, "There are also patterns from Mawangdui over there. Director Qin even went to the Mawangdui excavation site in person and participated in the repair of the national treasure."
When Yamamoto sees the pile of cotton fabrics at the Feiyan Textile Factory, he'll probably be very disappointed, haha.
The translator relayed Zheng Jianguo's words to Yamamoto. Yamamoto's eyes frequently lit up when he heard that the director of the textile factory had personally gone to the Mawangdui excavation site and even participated in the repair of the national treasure.
Yamamoto arrived at the Feiyan Textile Factory's booth and was immediately captivated by the photos on the display boards, gesturing excitedly with his hands! This Canton Fair was so worthwhile!
Zheng Jianguo: "???" What's with this guy getting so excited? Aren't archaeological sites all just earthen mounds?
Yamamoto exclaimed in surprise, "Are the two precious pieces of Cloud Embroidery and Colorful Gauze preserved in your factory?"
"Yes, this is a case of industry supporting cultural heritage preservation, and cultural heritage preservation in turn supporting industry."
"The uniforms in our factory all feature patterns from the Mawangdui period..."
Yamamoto carefully put on white gloves, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter after touching the poplin. He took out his magnifying glass and carefully examined the yarn structure, exclaiming in amazement.
"Embroidery and printing...natural dyes...this is true Eastern aesthetics! We want as much of this as you have."
translate:"?????"
The negotiators were also completely bewildered. Feiyan Textile Factory was demanding a high price, so they nervously offered what they considered an exorbitant price of sixty yuan per shirt. They were prepared to negotiate a price that was halfway down, and that getting it down to thirty or forty yuan per shirt would be a great achievement, as it was the price of an international luxury shirt.
After discussing it with Yamamoto, they agreed on a price of fifty yuan per piece, and both parties were very satisfied.
The negotiator was almost unsteady on his feet when the order was signed, wondering if he was dreaming. He had actually negotiated an exorbitant price for a poplin shirt.
In addition to the poplin, Yamamoto also requested Donghai Langyong yarn and Mawangdui printed silk scarves, which he purchased in large quantities.
The person signing the order was numb, and Yamamoto generously agreed to pay a deposit of 500,000 US dollars.
Yamamoto was very satisfied at this time. He was confident that if he brought these things back to Japan and said that they were embroidered shirts and printed silk scarves with Han culture or Three Kingdoms culture, they would easily sell out.
Furthermore, the factory manager personally visited the Mawangdui excavation site and saw the 2,000-year-old Sleeping Beauty of the East with his own eyes. The factory has also received recognition and authorization from the local museum and possesses precious fragments of national treasures such as Chengyun Embroidery and Fucai Yarn.
I heard that when this factory area was supporting the protection of cultural relics, the factory director, Qin Xiangxiang, helped the archaeological team solve the problems related to the Chengyun embroidery technique.
...
Bringing these fascinating stories and these legendary Han Chinese costumes back to China will surely cause a sensation.
When Qin Xiang saw the negotiator and Yamamoto go to discuss the price, she remained very calm because she knew that Liben was willing to pay for Mawangdui.
Moreover, their poplin contains 5% synthetic fibers, and Liao Yumei has improved the weaving process. Liao Yumei taught the female workers the operating instructions, which greatly reduced the error rate. Anyway, after the technical improvements... their poplin production cost is high, but not as high as others imagine.
As long as Li Benren is willing to pay for Mawangdui, their factory will definitely not lose money.
"Factory manager, factory manager, the price is out!"
"Fifty yuan per piece! Sold! I've paid a deposit of 500,000 US dollars!"
Qin Xiangxiang was stunned: "???"
Fifty yuan a piece? That's an unexpected price! What a steal!
Assistant He and Yang Zhixia were also stunned. They would have been happy if they could sell it for 25, since the cost was less than 20.
This is a very generous premium... Is the name of Mawangdui really that useful?
Zheng Jianguo was stunned when he heard the price. "No way, is Li Ben a sucker? A two-thousand-year-old design, are you really going to take it?"
"Putting everything else aside, we should thank Director Zheng for bringing Mr. Yamamoto here." Qin Xiang wanted to finish him off by adding insult to injury: "Let's all say thank you to Director Zheng."
"Thank you, Director Zheng."
"Thank you very much, Director Zheng!"
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