2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 105 Returning to the Canton Fair

"Holy crap, they actually tied it; damn it, they really have a chance to make it to the finals, this is crazy."

In the early hours of April 27, Zhang Xupeng sat on his bed at the Yangcheng Hotel, staring dumbfounded at the television screen, which was showing the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Chelsea.

Chelsea, playing at home, were held to a 0-0 draw by Liverpool, who were playing away. This gives Liverpool the advantage in the next leg at home, as Anfield won't be so easy to take.

Milan has already qualified, with only one final qualifying match left. If Liverpool actually beat Chelsea at home, wouldn't that mean Xiao Tan correctly predicted the champion and runner-up? Whether Milan or Liverpool wins the title, Xiao Tan has made the right bet!
"How come the world has changed in the blink of an eye?" Zhang Xupeng was completely dumbfounded.

Fortunately, I didn't blurt it out. When Xiao Tan bought Liverpool's title, he originally wanted to say that he would eat shit if Liverpool won the title, but luckily he held back, otherwise there really would have been that possibility.

Hehe, it seems that Xiao Tan's saying, "Think about what you want to say for three seconds before you speak," makes some sense.

Xiao Tan's luck is unbelievable; no, I can't let him sleep so comfortably, I have to call him to get up and pee. I'm not jealous of making money, but I can't stand AC Milan winning the championship!

"You're somewhat ill; I'll take your life when I get back tomorrow after I'm done with my work!"

Tan Jincheng, who was woken up by Zhang Xupeng in the middle of the night, was speechless after learning the reason.

However, it also reminded me that I haven't redeemed the Milan vs. Inter Milan score bet I bought before my last trip to Guangzhou. I can go and redeem the prize today. I remember that I need to pay tax, and it seems that I have to go to the city to do it.
I don't want to think about it anymore, I'm going to sleep. I'll go to the lottery shop tomorrow and ask Zhang Xupeng, that lunatic.

The next day, after getting up, Tan Jincheng went to Zhang Haiping's factory first. Zhang Haiping had faxed over the quotation contract when he got off work yesterday. Today he was going to sign the contract with him. The total price was 305 million yuan, and the supply volume was for May.

"I'll transfer the advance payment to you next Monday, May 2nd," Tan Jincheng said to Zhang Haiping after both parties signed and stamped the documents.

The prepayment will still be 40% of the amount. The situation like during the Chinese New Year is just a special case. As for reducing the prepayment, Tan Jincheng hadn't thought of that. You can't do business like that. When there are many orders, you can negotiate the price, but you can't deduct people's prepayment.

"No problem, no problem. I've been doing business with Mr. Tan for so long, and he's the most straightforward and trustworthy person I've ever met," Zhang Haiping said with a smile.

While this statement may sound a bit like flattery, Zhang Haiping felt that doing business with Tan Jincheng was indeed quite pleasant. Although Tan Jincheng had more rules than some other clients, he strictly adhered to the contract requirements.

He said he'd send you money whenever he wanted, the difference being only one workday or holiday. Like last year when things were tough, if you complained about being poor, he'd understand.

Timely payment of advance payments and final payments is essential for the survival of all factory owners; if the final payment for an order is delayed for several months, frankly speaking, it's equivalent to not making any money.

Many small and medium-sized enterprises even face operational difficulties due to delayed receipt of accounts receivable, which leads to a break in their working capital.

After discussing work, Zhang Haiping asked Tan Jincheng, "Would you like to go sit with Lao Zhang for a while?"

"Not today, I have other things to do later. I came here specifically to sign the contract with you."

"Alright then, when are you going to Guangzhou?"

"There might be new orders tomorrow, keep an eye out." They've been back for a few days now; surely Zhang Xupeng and his two companions couldn't have come away empty-handed. There should be some new orders.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't interfere with your plans."

Zhang Haiping realized that maintaining a good relationship with Tan Jincheng was far more important than developing new clients at this stage. The factory's production capacity should prioritize his orders. Should he urge Lao Zhang again to see if he had inquired about equipment and factory space for Tan Jincheng?
Judging from that night, Boss Tan took this matter quite seriously and inquired very carefully about who else was in this line of work.

"I'm leaving now. Contact me if there are any issues with the orders, and contact the girl I brought over yesterday to familiarize yourself with the site if there are any issues with the production schedule."

"Okay, then go ahead and have a safe trip. Remember to bring back some Guangzhou specialties for your brother."

"I really don't know what special products Guangzhou has. How about I buy you a fake watch? Fake watches should be considered a Guangzhou specialty."

"You're lucky you said that in Beicang. If you said that in Yangcheng, you'd definitely get beaten up."

Tan Jincheng smiled, waved and left. He really didn't know what special products Guangzhou had. He went back and forth between two points every day. It seemed that in this day and age, if he wanted to bring back gifts from Guangdong Province, electronic products would be the most suitable.

I went to a lottery shop in Xiapu town and asked around. It turned out I really had to go to the city to claim the prize. Since I didn't have anything particularly important to do today, I decided to take a stroll around the city.

However, before going, I need to go to the construction site to tell my uncle that I'm going to Guangzhou tomorrow.

To be honest, Tan Jincheng isn't really comfortable interacting with older relatives these days. In the few days since he came back, aside from having dinner with his uncle on the first night and spending the morning at the construction site to pick up his car, he hasn't seen them again. His mental age is about the same as theirs, and it's fine to occasionally act younger or more innocent, but doing it for a long time is really getting to him.

Although I've been busy these past few days, it's not like we haven't had time to meet. It's just that I have this vague desire to avoid each other. If it weren't for wanting to avoid the accident that happened to Zhang Qingliang in his previous life, I wouldn't have done so much.

In the eyes of parents, no matter how old you are, you are still their son. Tan Jincheng can be unreserved. The next generation will also have heartfelt respect because of age. Not to mention peers, he is the oldest among his cousins.

These people don't require you to deliberately pretend or change your way of interacting, so it's quite comfortable to be around them.

"No wonder there are so many members at Qidian Orphanage, this is probably one of the reasons?"

Beicang isn't very big, and today was a workday; in less than half an hour, Tan Jincheng arrived at the construction site downstairs, carried a few bottles of water up, and saw that the workers were assembling cubicles. Since Dabai hadn't been turned on, they could only do this kind of work for now.

Zhang Qingliang, wearing a hat made of folded newspapers, was sitting on a bouncy chair patching up the office ceiling with white paint. Seeing Tan Jincheng, he didn't get down and casually asked, "What brings you here today?"

"I was just passing by and brought you some water. Come and rest for a while."

Tan Jincheng handed out water and cigarettes to each of the workers. These workers were all fellow villagers whom Zhang Qingliang had contacted through his connections. You have to be polite to them, otherwise if you don't take their feelings into consideration, they will ruin your reputation when they go back.

After all, Tan Jincheng's safety requirements were a bit outrageous. The workers liked to have a bottle of ice-cold beer at noon while they were working, which was their habit. Now that they couldn't drink it, it seemed a bit incomprehensible to them.

"Why are you wearing a newspaper hat? Didn't we already buy a safety helmet?"

“That’s uncomfortable on my head; don’t worry, I’ll just add some whitewash, I don’t usually need to do any work.” Zhang Qingliang said as he took the cigarette.

"Well, safety first."

Zhang Qingliang rolled his eyes at Tan Jincheng, and the other workers laughed at the sight. This young man was quite interesting; he was good in every other way, except that he was afraid of dying.

"I'm going to Guangzhou tomorrow. Is there anything you need to buy? If so, I can bring it over for you today."

Zhang Qingliang waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No need, no need. That's a new truck. I'd be heartbroken if you didn't care about using it to haul building materials."

"Then I'll be going." Seeing that there was nothing important here, Tan Jincheng didn't plan to stay any longer.

"Yeah, be careful on the road. Being a boss isn't easy for you. Besides running around to processing plants, you also have to travel for work."

"That's how it is when you make money."
-
Thursday, March 4th.

Upon landing at Baiyun International Airport once again, Tan Jincheng was calm and composed, unlike his previous two nervous moments. He had no worries about the order volume for the whole year. With the participation of some small clothing exhibitions and the traffic from the international platform, he could basically guarantee that Jinpeng Trading's annual performance would exceed expectations.

Some operations and clients can gradually be handed over to Zhang Xupeng. After the orders for May are sent out, the main focus will be on Jinyi Industry.

We must strive to complete the production line for two-wheeled electric vehicles by the end of this year, otherwise, our well-known competitors will enter the market.

Perhaps they have already entered the game, but their fame is not yet apparent.

To achieve national recognition in a traditional industry, one's rise to prominence cannot be as rapid as that of an internet entrepreneur; it requires years of accumulation. For example, the founder of Chiprise also started far from his hometown, building his first fortune by doing small business.

Even among internet companies, those that consistently appear in the news media have all undergone long-term development. Taobao, which has developed well in the last two years, has also been established for quite some time, and its founders started their business in the late 90s.

This guy liked to brag in the media. The most memorable thing about him, besides the fact that his bragging backfired, was his statement that "there are only five months left before the company goes bankrupt."

It is clear that doing business is not so simple. Even if your business model and investment model are correct, there may be great changes in the actual execution process.

By the way, when I checked the news online before, why didn't I see any news about Pony Ma selling QQ? Did I just not notice or was the timing wrong? I had the impression that it could be bought for a few million.

I could come up with a few million, but it wouldn't seem to make a difference if I bought it. I don't know how to manage it, and besides, not everyone can afford to buy it. What people lack isn't a few million, but resources and ideas.

A few million can open a factory and support hundreds of families, but the internet burns through money, and it might be gone in less than a month.

(End of this chapter)