Chapter 86 The Canton Fair: Then you'll have done a great service!
"You mean you're mixing high-quality, medium-quality, and low-quality wool fabrics together? And selling them at the same price?" Li Jianzhi seemed to have heard something out of a fantasy.
He had lived for so long and had never seen anything so bizarre; it was simply illogical.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Because they were acquired from different state-owned factories, each factory has different technical capabilities and workmanship, and the acquisition agents don't know their products."
Li Jianzhi: "What kind of buyer can't recognize quality?"
Qin Xiangxiang looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot: "Where do you think the people who know their stuff have gone? Apart from us textile workers' children, the only ones who know their stuff are the rich kids of big capitalists. Right now, they're all keeping a low profile. Who can afford a few pieces of wool fabric with an ordinary salary? Making a wool coat costs more than a hundred yuan. Even the purchasing agent himself can't afford it. Even the lowest grade is very good for him."
"So in their eyes, high, medium and low grades are all the same, but the foreign buyers know their stuff. They can tell the difference and they know that your products are of varying quality, so they try to drive down the price."
After hearing these words, even Li Jianzhi, who doesn't usually smoke, wanted to light a cigarette to calm down.
"Isn't there anyone who can distinguish between them?"
Qin Xiangxiang whispered, "There's a shortage of people everywhere, and... many capable people have been sent down to lower levels. Those who have studied abroad and can afford these things... most of them have problems."
“When my mom came before, you heard her give a lecture. All kinds of textiles are now simplified and referred to by numerical codes. What we used to call ‘dragon head cloth’ is now called ‘2020 white cloth’ and ‘2321 white cloth’. Ordinary people only know that it’s white cloth, but who knows how to distinguish them in detail?”
"It's all numerical codes, which gives me a huge headache. Moreover, none of the goods from any factory are labeled. It's unclear which factory they came from. They just have a piece of paper with the textile name code, yarn count, and fabric density. Ordinary people can't understand these numbers, and many female workers in the workshop don't even know the specifications of the things they produce."
“There was a new textile factory that produced only substandard fabric, and no one in the entire factory noticed it.”
"Inspecting fabric relies entirely on the experience and eyesight of veteran craftsmen; those who don't know the trade can't tell the difference."
"Where can we find so many experienced masters?"
Li Jianzhi was silent for a moment, thinking that everyone's cultural level was indeed low, and they relied entirely on experience to produce ships. In fact, when he visited the Mingzhou Shipyard last time, many of the master craftsmen relied entirely on experience to build ships. If you asked them about the specific principles and data of the ship, they would know nothing. They would just say that the master craftsmen taught them to build ships this way.
Li Jianzhi: "These textiles must have been sent by a foreign trade company to participate in the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, right?"
The Canton Fair (China Import and Export Fair), which began in 1957, is held twice a year, in spring and autumn. It is currently the only window for foreign trade and import and export of goods. Buyers from many European countries come to the Canton Fair to order textiles.
"Based on the timing, it should be an exhibit at the Canton Fair."
However, due to issues such as color variations and inconsistent quality, these foreign buyers will relentlessly drive down the price, forcing us to sell at rock-bottom prices.
Li Jianzhi: "Selling high-end goods as cheap goods is such a waste of resources."
"Who can argue with that?"
Li Jianzhi: "Wife, then you've done a great service!"
Qin Xiangxiang was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"Your mother said that when it comes to appraisal and identification, she can't compare to you, Master Qin Xiangxiang." The mother-in-law said that her wife was picky and had a particularly discerning eye, but isn't that also a kind of pursuit of perfection?
Qin Xiangxiang has a strong ability to spot flaws and can distinguish good products from bad ones, ensuring that even the most discerning foreign buyers can't find any faults.
My wife is the most experienced master craftswoman right now! This is exactly where my little drama queen shines.
Qin Xiangxiang: "You mean we should go to the textile foreign trade company and help them differentiate?"
"Yes, if we can distinguish between high, medium, and low grades before the Canton Fair, you'll have done a great job! We'll have the confidence to negotiate prices and earn a lot more foreign exchange for the country!"
"You'll be a huge contributor then!"
Qin Xiang thought to herself in silence, wondering if she really had that much ability. And how tiring and arduous it must be to sort so many textiles into categories.
Do you really expect people to trust you if you actively try to deal with foreign trade companies?
Li Jianzhi encouraged him, "Think about it, let's give it a try. I, your mother, and Master Li all believe in your abilities. Let's give it a try, we're not afraid of failure. If we succeed, we can save the country a lot of losses. Can you bear to see good things being sold off cheaply?"
Qin Xiangxiang's vision went black: "You guys are forcing me into this."
"If you do something good, you'll definitely be rewarded with foreign exchange certificates, which you can use to buy imported chocolates and imported watches."
Now he's really living off a woman, fat-loss guy.
Qin Xiangxiang perked up at these words. That's right, buying an imported watch. This awful couple was going to provoke the male lead, huh! Just thinking about how he showed off his watch in front of his deadbeat husband made her furious.
Only her own wretched husband can be scolded and beaten by this little drama queen.
If we can truly achieve great success, we might gain access to the connections and resources of textile trading companies, and even secure some preferential treatment in raw material quotas for the factory, which would solve the previous problems.
Qin Xiangxiang immediately perked up.
"Are we just going straight to the foreign trade company like this?"
Li Jianzhi nodded: "Yes, I'll go with you."
The couple decided to go to the foreign trade company, but they had other things to do beforehand. So they went to the guesthouse first, took out their letter of introduction and marriage certificate, and checked into a room there.
They chose a nice room for 2.5 yuan per night.
The staff carefully checked the couple's marriage certificate and Li Jianzhi's military officer's certificate before processing their paperwork.
"You two are such a good-looking couple!"
Li Jianzhi carefully put away his military officer's ID and marriage certificate, and went upstairs with Qin Xiangxiang to open the room door and put away their luggage. "I can lose my military officer's ID, but we absolutely cannot lose our marriage certificate."
Li Jianzhi felt that this era was really troublesome; even when he and his wife stayed in a guesthouse, they had to carry their marriage certificate with them.
Qin thought for a moment: "None of these things can be lost!"
You're such a drama queen!
Before even going directly to the foreign trade company, the two successfully found out about the brick factory. Sure enough, it was a small collective enterprise factory affiliated with a state-owned company in the city. Qin Xiangxiang was overjoyed and quickly ordered a batch of unplanned bricks and tiles at a reasonable price. She planned to contact Chief Engineer Chen to send someone to bring the building materials back to the island.
In any case, their trip was not in vain.
“I want to build a brick house. How about this design, where two households share a yard and toilet, with a yard in front and a toilet in the back, and each household has electricity and running water.”
Li Jianzhi: "These conditions are acceptable."
Qin Xiangxiang sighed, "A teacher for a day is a father for life. I should still treat Master Li better."
This Mr. Li has wronged her so much, yet she, a lazy bum, still wants to build him a brick house. In the end, she can't bear to let him come and live in a simple rammed earth house.
Qin thought to himself, "If only we could get some foreign exchange to buy a color TV, I would arrange one for the factory and provide it to the workers in the auditorium at night. That way, when Master Li comes over, he will have something to brag about and won't be laughed at."
Many skilled and experienced masters are unwilling to go to the new factory to teach apprentices their skills because the conditions at the new factory are too harsh. It's practically like pioneering a new era. There's nothing but the factory buildings and a few mud houses. Who would want to come and suffer like that?
It was through participating in the construction of the new factory that Qin Xiangxiang learned how much sacrifice Master Li had made to agree to come to the island.
If she came here and was laughed at, Qin Xiangxiang simply couldn't bear to see it. Master Li was the first person to praise her so enthusiastically.
Xianyu thought to herself, tears welling up in her eyes: It would be even better if Master Li didn't praise her.
Li Jianzhi: "Once we get foreign exchange, we'll first install imported air conditioners in the factory, imported color TVs in the auditorium, and imported washing machines and refrigerators for the staff..."
Qin Xiangxiang stared at Li Jianzhi in disbelief. "Li Jianzhi, I thought I had gone too far enough. My name is Qin Xiangxiang, and you... you are even more 'thinking' than me."
"Your name is Li Xiangxiang!"
Li Jianzhi coughed and said, "I was just thinking about it normally."
Qin Xiangxiang asked blankly: "Then who is the abnormal one thinking?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "We're both pretty good at dreaming. Every time I'm dreaming, Li Jianzhi, you never dampen my spirits. You dream even better than me, you go even further than me, you think even more deeply than me. I completely admire you!"
"You navy people are really knowledgeable."
Before heading to the foreign trade company, the two passed by the cultural center again. On the way, they stopped at the cultural center to find a famous art master and ask him to paint a swallow logo.
At that time, the most famous master in the area was Wu Senkang. Many organizations sought his paintings. When Qin Xiangxiang came, he learned that she was from an unknown small factory and looked down on her. He casually painted a swallow, placed it on an ashtray, and pouted, waiting to hear people praise him.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Master, I hope you can make some changes."
"My painting doesn't need to be changed."
Qin Xiangxiang was a little angry. She could clearly feel the perfunctory attitude of the person in front of her. The drawing was neither lifelike nor in spirit. It was either a publicity stunt or a sign of disrespect and contempt for her.
"You're just a temporary factory manager who's barely got anywhere, don't be ungrateful."
Qin Xiangxiang was furious and walked out of the cultural center. Li Jianzhi tugged at her wrist and said, "Let's look for someone else."
Qin Xiangxiang said angrily, "Where are we going to look? We'll look in the cowshed."
The truly talented people are probably not here.
Li Jianzhi: "Go find someone willing to draw comic strips; they have a service-oriented mindset."
Some self-proclaimed artists are aloof, even if they're only half-baked, while others are just trying to make a living—those are the real clients in the future. As long as they get paid, they'll paint as much as asked and revise as many times as requested.
Li Jianzhi felt that there was no need to find a master for such a trademark; he should find someone with a service-oriented mindset who could draw something cute and pleasing.
Qin Xiangxiang and Li Jianzhi went to find a comic book artist. The man's surname was Ma. His family of more than ten people lived in a single-story house and they relied on his paintings to supplement their income.
Li Jianzhi asked someone to draw more than twenty swallow designs in one go, and if the design was chosen, he would give them ten yuan.
"Don't worry, I'll draw it in one night."
"You can change it however you want when the time comes."
As Qin Xiangxiang walked out of Mr. Ma's yard, she hesitated before looking at the man beside her, thinking to herself, "You're the real swindler."
After all that trouble, the two arrived at the textile foreign trade company quite late.
Meanwhile, the foreign trade manager was worried about the Canton Fair.
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