Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 167 Jianye's Rise to Fame
In the early 90s, the first group of people in China started making antique collectibles and bracelets. The first wave of the trend started in 2000, but it really took off after 2010.

Rapid economic development has led to a surge in interest in antique and collectible items.

In 1997, not many people liked collecting and playing with beaded bracelets, so Yan Hui wasn't afraid of anyone snatching them up. At that time, even Hainan rosewood had a price.

After riding his motorcycle back to the hotel, Yan Hui took a shower and changed his clothes. Then he used the hotel's landline to call Lao Guo, found out the restaurant's location, and rode his motorcycle straight there.

After passing the bathhouse, walk further ahead, and you'll find a rather upscale restaurant, considered the best place near the train station, a two-story building.

Soon, Yan Hui found Lao Guo and his father, and took his seat.

Among those dining here today were three forest farm managers, several processing plant owners, and some business owners from the same industry. Yan Hui glanced at them and recognized four or five of them.

Guo's father was there to support his son at this meal; it had nothing to do with Yan Hui. He only knew that there were plenty of good dishes tonight, so he just ate as much as he could.

With Lao Guo's matter settled, a week later, on Friday, Yan Hui's four train cars finally arrived in Jianye.

This train did not travel directly from Yichun to Jianye; it made several stops along the way. When it arrived at the Jianye line, there were still about 20 carriages that had not been unloaded.

Every time a new train arrives on this dedicated line, it's the busiest time for the timber market.

This train is going to unload 15 cars on this trip, 4 of which belong to Yan Hui.

Brother Lü had already received the news; all the porters in his group were on duty, ready to transport the goods out.

The Steyr trucks have also arrived.

Mr. Zheng and several other bosses also came with their people, a total of more than a dozen people, and he had to inspect the quality of the timber on site.

Yan Hui's cousin was also there. Although the cargo in those four train cars had nothing to do with him, he still had to show his face, which was also a way to demonstrate his strength.

The kinship among people from southern Fujian is famously close. Simply put, if my cousin ran away tonight with a gambling debt of 10,000 yuan in Jianye, and someone came to Yan Hui to collect it, Yan Hui would give it to them.

So, my cousin will benefit from being here today too. People will think that my cousin is also capable.

Yan Hui's goods have always been without any problems.

The truckload of goods for Boss Teng was being watched by someone arranged by Wang Hongjun; he wouldn't lie about something like this. So there's naturally no problem with it.

Yan Hui meticulously selected every single piece of the cargo that Mr. Zheng and his friend brought, even the broken planks, throughout the entire process. Even in the Jianye Market, it would be considered top-quality goods. For Mr. Zheng, who is in the furniture business, the difference between good and ordinary red pine wood has a significant impact on the price of his furniture.

As for logs
Yan Hui's two train cars of logs have also arrived.

The profit margin in the log business is low, so many people don't do it at all, mainly because once the profits are "skimmed off," there's no profit left at all.

Jianye's timber processing business is not doing well. Users prefer to use boards, and everyone knows that those who can do the log business are all very capable. The profit margin is low, the freight cost per cubic meter is high, and the inventory holding time may be long.

This phenomenon is not yet obvious in the timber industry, but in industries like crude oil, "doing crude oil business" and "doing refined oil business" are completely different concepts.

In short, the arrival of this car had a very obvious advertising effect, and many people in the market recognized Mr. Yan's identity as a "big boss".

From today onwards, when people mention the "big boss" of this market, someone will definitely bring up General Manager Yan.

The market was bustling with activity, with some people happy and others sad.

Huang Tianhong had been trying to find out about Yan Hui recently, but with little success. He still hadn't uncovered Yan Hui's background, nor did he know why President Teng had gone against his wishes and chosen Yan Hui's logs. Huang Tianhong had been in business for many years, and he knew that Yan Hui must have offered a low price, but a low price always meant low quality.

Today, these two train cars of logs arrived at the station, and he specifically sent someone over to check them out, hoping to find fault.

But the people who came circled around the pile of wood being unloaded twice and looked at it carefully, but they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

The visitor even thought this batch of timber was better than the timber from his own home. It's not that every single piece was perfect, but he didn't dare nitpick.

The timber market, in modern terms, is a B2B market; the buyers are companies and wholesalers, not individual customers. Everyone here is knowledgeable and knowledgeable; finding fault with someone else's timber here is a major taboo in the industry, especially when the timber is otherwise flawless.

The person who came took the message back, a message that Huang Tianhong definitely didn't want to hear.

He took out his abacus and did the calculations carefully, concluding that Yan Hui was selling at a loss.

He didn't know what price Yan Hui had quoted to President Teng, but to persuade President Teng, it must have been a huge discount. He was willing to lose money.
They were all experts, and everyone could understand their every move. Huang Tianhong thought about it carefully. Did he also want to start a price war?

Now that General Manager Teng has accepted Yan Hui's order, assuming Yan Hui doesn't make a single penny, Huang Tianhong will have to offer a very favorable price if he wants to win the order again, even if it means losing 5,000 yuan per truckload.

Only a fool would do that!

Yan Hui wasn't even in Jianye, and Yan Hui's cousin had nothing to do with this (he'd already inquired), leaving Huang Tianhong feeling somewhat powerless. Moreover, Yan Hui's cousin had many friends in the market, and he didn't dare to provoke him. A while ago, Yan Hui was eating at a restaurant when Huang Tianhong came knocking on his door; if Yan Hui's cousin had been there, Huang Tianhong wouldn't have dared to do that.

"Mr. Huang, what do we do next?" asked the confidant who had been gathering intelligence for Mr. Huang.

"We'll maintain our relationship with Mr. Teng, and we have plenty of other clients, so there's no rush. This batch of goods from that guy surnamed Yan is definitely going to lose money; let's see how long he can hold out." Huang Tianhong continued fiddling with his abacus.

Of course, he couldn't calculate Yan Hui's cost, because Yan Hui was just one person, so the labor cost was zero! His whole group of people, including food and supplies, were all costs.

He has someone in Northeast China responsible for shipping goods, and this person doesn't just earn "a few hundred yuan a month," but directly participates in the commission. So, from Huang Tianhong's perspective, he's losing money no matter how you look at it.

The legend of General Manager Yan spread throughout the market, and the bosses who bought the goods were all satisfied. Yan Hui received all the payments that same day.

Mr. Teng had already prepared the money, and the two had cooperated before. Mr. Zheng only had 20% of the final payment left, so naturally he wouldn't delay.

In addition to this money, Yan Hui also received deposits for new orders.

Next, Yan Hui transferred most of the funds to Wang Hongjun and began to pick up the goods.

With several trucks continuously transporting goods out, Wang Hongjun felt much more at ease.

There was something he didn't tell Yan Hui: the reason he was holding onto his stock recently was because he had bought a large batch of low-priced logs. The original owner had lost too much money gambling and was in a hurry to get cash, so he sold the goods to Wang Hongjun.

Judging from Wang Hongjun's previous purchase of the motorcycles from the three robbers, he indeed has many connections and channels in this area. In short, he sold this batch of goods to Yan Hui at a very low price.

As for how low it was, he wouldn't tell anyone, and Yan Hui didn't want to ask either.

In less than half a month, Yan Hui single-handedly helped him process eight train cars of goods, totaling more than 500 cubic meters, and the price remained unchanged. How could Wang Hongjun not be happy?

"I need to hurry over to the processing plant and keep an eye on things," Yan Hui said, watching the truck leave and preparing to say goodbye to Wang Hongjun.

"Go ahead, the bus to Jianye doesn't leave until next Tuesday, so don't worry. Don't forget about Sunday."

(End of this chapter)