Sail across the sea

Chapter 359 An Opportunity to Do Someone a Favor
"I don't quite understand what Manager Gao means."

Ma Jin looked at Gao Fan, somewhat confused.

Gao Fan looked at Ma Jin's small shop and pointed to the several banners hanging on the wall, saying, "Brother Ma, I see that your shop has a wide business network. So many departments in the county have asked you to do cleaning and have even given you banners."

Ma Jin said awkwardly, "Oh, Manager Gao, you're joking. To be honest, I made all these banners myself. I even had to do a lot of favors to get them to agree to put their company names on them."

"As for the various departments in the county, they have indeed all asked me to clean their offices. Now the departments are competing with each other. Anyway, a cleaning only costs about a hundred yuan. Who doesn't want their office to be cleaner?"

Gao Fan picked up where Ma Jin left off, saying, "You said you'd done a lot of favors to make these fake banners. Now you have a perfect opportunity to do those favors, why don't you seize it?"

"An opportunity to do someone a favor? You mean... urea?" Ma Jin's eyes lit up; wasn't that exactly what it was?
The government officials in the county town certainly don't need to farm themselves, but who doesn't have a few relatives who farm in the countryside?
In those days, urea was a scarce commodity. Most farmers had never used urea, but everyone knew that urea was better than ammonium bicarbonate. To paraphrase an old saying, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've at least seen a pig run. If you put ammonium bicarbonate and urea together and let the farmers choose, every farmer would choose urea.

Everyone wants to buy urea, but very few people have the connections to actually get their hands on it. The county agricultural supplies company gets a limited amount of urea, but only county leaders and heads of relevant departments can receive a portion. The rest must be distributed to the townships; otherwise, it would be considered too greedy.

When urea arrives at the township, the township leaders will first distribute a batch, then symbolically distribute a few bags to each village, and finally, it will fall into the hands of the village cadres.

As a result, not only ordinary farmers had no chance to buy urea, but even cadres in county-level commissions and bureaus unrelated to agriculture couldn't get their hands on it. Relatives in the countryside, thinking these people were government employees, some even unit leaders, would ask them to help buy urea. If the cadres couldn't do it, they would inevitably lose face in front of their relatives, and might even be labeled as "nothing special."

In this situation, if Ma Jin could obtain some urea and sell it to these government officials at retail price, it would be an immense favor. People would also think that Ma Jin, this small business owner, had connections, and naturally, they would patronize him for future cleaning-related business.

Such an opportunity to make money and build connections—how could I not have thought of it? I was only thinking about distributing the urea to my uncles and aunts, and even worried that they couldn't handle so much and that I would have to go to great lengths to find people from other villages to buy it. I must have lost my mind.

"Manager Gao is truly remarkable; he has such a keen eye. No wonder Canghua Science and Trade's business is doing so well. I've wasted my life."

Once Ma Jin understood the reasoning, he couldn't help but sincerely admire Gao Fan's business acumen, and immediately showered him with compliments.

"Don't rush, I have two more requests."

Gao Fan interrupted Ma Jin's flattery and held up two fingers to him:

"First, you should sell urea to as many people as possible, preferably officials with some power in the county, and tell them that it came from Canghai Fertilizer Plant."

Ma Jin nodded in agreement, a thought popping into his mind: Could it be that this young master Gao wanted to expand his business and was asking me to help him promote it? He said he could only get me 50 tons, and maybe he had more on hand, but he didn't want to give me the goods at a lower price.

That's right, that's right. He definitely wants to make some connections in addition to making money, just like he just pointed out to me.

Just as I thought of this, I heard Gao Fan continue, "Second, you can't reveal my information. Just say that you have connections. No matter who asks, you can't reveal my name or Fatty's name."

“This…” Ma Jin was completely stunned.

Hmm, this isn't what I expected.

If Gao Fan had made this request from the beginning, Ma Jin wouldn't have found it strange. After all, dealing in urea is a clandestine business, and it's normal for Gao Fan to want to avoid suspicion.

But if he wanted to avoid suspicion, why would he suggest that he sell urea to county officials? Wouldn't it have been safer to just tell himself to sell urea only to the countryside?

Even if the farmers in the countryside are talkative, their gossip won't get back to the higher-ups, so there's no risk, right?

Ma Jin had indeed guessed correctly. Gao Fan's purpose in dealing in urea was to put pressure on the leaders of Cangyuan County. He had reported this to Xu Ying beforehand, and the 20 yuan profit he added to the ex-factory price would be fully returned to the finance department of Canghai Fertilizer Plant in the future, leaving no room for complaint.

However, this arrangement couldn't be revealed, as it meant that if anyone found out about his urea dealings, it could trigger a public outcry, potentially even affecting Gao Yiping himself. To avoid such a situation, he had no choice but to keep a low profile and use others to carry out his plans.

If you want to commit a conspiracy, you have to bear these troubles; there's no way around it.

"Old Ma, Manager Gao's requirements are very clear. Is there anything you don't understand?" Seeing Ma Jin's bewildered look, Ning Mo couldn't help but scold him.

It's such a simple thing, why do you still look like you can't figure it out? I'm smarter than you, Fatty!
"Yes, yes, that's no problem! I'll do as Manager Gao instructed." Ma Jin could only nod quickly.

Forget it, the ways of the powerful are too complicated for us commoners to understand.

Anyway, Gao Fan's two requests didn't bother him. Gao Fan's reluctance to reveal his name was actually a good thing for Ma Jin, as it meant that only he could do this business in the future, and no one else could interfere.

The only regret is that the newspaper said the Chemical Industry Bureau is about to find a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Yuxi to carry out ammonium-to-urine conversion, and it's possible that they will choose the nitrogen fertilizer plant in Cangyuan.

Once the ammonium-to-urea conversion at Cangyuan Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant is completed, urea will be readily available for purchase, right? Then my unique business will be impossible to continue.

Sigh, let's not think about that for now. Before the county's ammonium phosphate conversion to urea is implemented, I should seize the time to make some quick money and, while I'm at it, get in touch with the heads of various departments in the county. With 50 tons of urea paving the way, I can make connections with so many powerful officials. In the future, I, Brother Ma, will be a respectable figure in Cangyuan County.

"Since it's settled, hurry up and prepare the money and vehicle, then head to Cangtang to pick up the goods. For the specifics, contact Xue Chujiang at Canghua Science and Trade; he'll handle it for you," Gao Fan instructed.

"Oh, you must be Manager Xue, I know him." Ma Jin nodded repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)