The secretary was still wondering if the venue for Gu An'an's meeting was ready when the phone rang. He was so frightened that he thought something terrible had happened and ran to the next room as fast as he could.
"Xiao Gu, is something wrong? It's okay, just tell me what's wrong, and I'll do my best to help you sort it out."
Sensing the urgency in his tone, Gu An'an couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"It really is a big deal..."
Upon hearing this, the secretary's heart skipped a beat. He had really run into a problem, and he didn't know if he could solve it.
It's not that he lacks confidence in himself; it's just that Guangzhou is far from the central government, and sometimes he really can't handle things.
However, no matter what, he must keep his rear base stable.
"What is it? Tell me."
"We've closed a deal: a bamboo bag worth $50,000."
She wanted to continue, but the secretary interrupted her, "What? A deal? Fifty thousand dollars?"
$50,000 may not seem like a lot at a trade fair, but you have to remember that they're only selling small products that they bring along as an afterthought.
"Yes, but the trade fair hasn't started yet. We only signed a pre-purchase agreement today. The formal agreement will have to be signed tomorrow."
She had seen it when setting up the venue these past few days, and their bag was one of a kind in the entire exhibition. Given Amy's fondness for it, the formal contract would definitely be signed tomorrow.
"Okay, okay, okay."
The secretary was at a loss for words to describe the assassin's excited state of mind.
Gu An'an listed the required models and quantities, "Secretary, please inform the village to prepare according to this for now. If things change tomorrow, I will call you again. If I don't call, it means the order is secure."
Phone calls are still quite expensive these days, so Gu An'an hung up the phone after saying that.
Excited shouts erupted from the office of Hongqi Commune. After the shouts subsided, the Party Secretary said, "Xiao Qin, hurry up and go to Xiaowang Village to tell them this news."
Before Qin Rui could even leave the office, he immediately interrupted, "Never mind, I'll go with you."
The two then each rode a bicycle towards Xiaowang Village, calling out, "Old Wang, Old Wang."
The village chief has been busy lately, dealing with the autumn harvest and various orders and shipments. He's practically splitting himself in two.
When he heard the secretary's voice, he thought he was hallucinating, but when he went outside, he realized it was true.
"Secretary, what brings you here?"
Upon seeing the two, the village chief had an idea pop into his head, but he quickly dismissed it. The meeting hadn't even started yet, so how could there be good news so soon? Maybe Chen Zhiqing and Dashan had some good news to share.
"Great news! Fantastic news! Xiao Gu got an order, a $50,000 order."
The village chief paused for half a second as he walked away, then shouted louder than anyone else, "What? That girl An'an sold $50,000 worth of stuff? What did she sell? How can that girl be so successful?"
Seriously, in just one second, the village chief showed the two of them what it means for a smile to fly to the sky.
"A bamboo woven bag—I just strolled around the Friendship Store and a foreigner immediately took a liking to it. Do you know how much one of those bags costs?"
The village chief shook his head. They hadn't actually discussed the price. He trusted Gu An'an, so he let her decide everything.
"How many?"
"They cost $16 each, which is about 30 yuan in our currency."
The village chief was also surprised. Although bamboo weaving is indeed a craft, few people in the village would want it because it is small and cannot hold much.
Even if they usually only pay a labor fee for the large baskets they use, and they don't have work every day, how come they suddenly sell them for such a high price?
A small bamboo bag is almost worth a month's salary; who wouldn't be envious?
"Don't get too excited yet. Making money is certainly something to be happy about, but we need to think about production now. How many people in our village can do this kind of craft?"
Gu An'an had already warned the village chief about this issue. "There aren't many people whose skills can reach the level of sample production, but others can definitely do some preparatory work. However, I'm worried that if there are more orders later, we won't have enough people. So I'd like to select some people with good character and strong skills from the surrounding villages and brigades to help."
The Party Secretary nodded. “I was thinking about it on the way here. How about your village sets up another bamboo products processing workshop and pays wages monthly? I’ll take care of the paperwork for you.”
Of course, this is a good feeling. Who wouldn't want the village to have more industries so that it can prosper?
"Alright, alright, then I'll trouble you, Secretary."
After the Party Secretary left, the village chief went to the homes of Wang Laonian and Wang Ting to share the good news with them, and of course, to give them time to prepare.
He kept sighing along the way, thankfully the autumn harvest was almost over, otherwise he would have been swamped with work.
Even when he's busy, he does it willingly.
Both families were overjoyed to hear the news, but since they knew the formal agreement hadn't been signed, they didn't reveal it and just quietly continued with their work.
In fact, they had been preparing ever since Gu An'an decided to bring those things to Yangcheng. In their view, nothing Gu An'an did was impossible, and they were prepared in advance so as not to hold her back.
They waited and waited until the next day when no one from the commune came to inform them. Only then did the village chief turn on the loudspeaker to announce the matter and, incidentally, call all those with relevant skills to a meeting at the brigade headquarters.
With no more vacant houses left in the village, the village chief simply paid for a place to be built as a bamboo product processing site. He also assigned tasks to the attendees to ensure that production would proceed smoothly.
When people learned that everyone in the bamboo product processing workshops was paid, especially skilled workers like Grandma Wang and Granny Wang whose wages were quite high, those without the skills were incredibly envious.
But there's no use in being envious; they just can't do it.
Hearing the villagers praising Gu An'an as if they were praising her, Zhou Yue was practically strutting around with pride.
"Brother Zhao, don't you think we should do something for Xiaowang Village?"
She was no good at work, and she couldn't carry heavy loads when hiking. Compared to Gu An'an, she always felt like she was being left behind.
"I'll do whatever you want."
Zhou Yue thought for a moment, "Let's go and do some business too."
She had heard a lot about Gu An'an's sales tactics, and given that Zhao Hu was a long-time shopper in the black market, she felt there shouldn't be any major problems.
If all else fails, she'll go back home to work on her business first, and then expand to other places once she's more familiar with the area.
She hadn't even considered whether the business that came to her had any stock. Not to mention other places, the entire Hongqi Commune had a considerable amount of supplies in reserve.
Especially this year, after hearing that wild vegetables from Xiaowang Village were selling for high prices, people from other villages started frantically stockpiling them, thinking they might be able to sell them someday, or at least eat them themselves.
There are ambitious people, and of course, there are also those who are just insanely jealous.
When the people at the educated youth compound heard that Gu An'an had made a sale, they were not happy at all. Instead, they scoffed and said, "She's just trying to show off."
Li Yumei glanced at Qin Xue and said, "Why don't you go and show off too?"
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