Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 189 Don't Drift

The next day, the market remained lukewarm. Such a large market wouldn't become busier just because Yan Hui had a few train cars. On the train that arrived at the station, there were only fourteen or fifteen train cars, nine of which Yan Hui himself occupied.

7 railcars of logs, 2 railcars of planks.

Despite the rain, all the bosses who had placed orders for timber sent their trucks over. Timber prices change every day, and nobody wants to wait until tomorrow.

"Mr. Yan, I just saw in the shipment report that your logs were loaded into seven train cars! That's 420 cubic meters of logs, right? Why did you only sell 300 cubic meters?" Someone who didn't manage to buy any logs came over to chat with Yan Hui.

Yan Hui set up a large sunshade umbrella next to the railway, placed a table, and was keeping accounts with a pen. He was very conspicuous in the market, and it was very easy for others to find him.

"We originally planned to sell only 150 square meters, but Mr. Teng thought the price was too high and didn't take the order. Many of his construction sites have stopped work, so the demand isn't high," Yan Hui replied casually without looking up.

There's no need to go into detail about who he sold the timber to. We've already reached this point in the conversation, which is already quite polite.

"Who is that?" the person who asked muttered, somewhat helplessly. He wanted to buy it, but couldn't. He was afraid of losing money if he bought expensive timber, since the price was already quite high.

Yan Hui was keeping accounts when the phone rang. When he answered, he found it was a government leader.

"I contacted you this morning. Our car has arrived. Should we go straight to the market?"

"Okay, come in, I'm here." Yan Hui glanced at the third brother. "Go out and greet him."

"Okay!" The third brother grabbed an umbrella and ran outside.

A dozen minutes later, three Jiefang trucks and a group of more than a dozen people braved the rain and entered the market, followed by a camera.

Yan Hui was a little puzzled, but he still warmly went up to shake hands and accepted the interview.

To be honest, Yan Hui didn't particularly like these formalities, but the procedures had to be followed. After answering a few questions simply, he started calling for the trucks and cranes to load the wood.

Yan Hui had just finished completing the formalities when a group of people surrounded him. Brother Lü couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Yan, who owns those three trucks over there? With so many people, why is someone carrying a video camera?"

"President Yan donated two truckloads of logs for flood relief," the third brother immediately said.

He had been waiting for ages, and finally someone took the initiative to ask.

"President Yan donated timber for flood relief?" Only then did everyone realize what had happened.

"I'll do my best," Yan Hui said without elaborating. Donating money and goods is actually quite common in Fujian Province.

Coastal hazards along the southeast coast have always been severe. Historically, whenever local gentry donated money for disaster relief, it was common practice to erect a monument to mark the occasion.

The more this behavior is promoted, the more people will be willing to donate generously in the future, creating a virtuous cycle.

Once Brother Lü found out about this, it meant everyone in the market knew. The crane operators working here were all locals from Jianye. As soon as they heard that these truckloads were disaster relief donations, they immediately came to Yan Hui and said that these truckloads should not be charged for lifting.

"It's alright, brothers, no need to be so polite. I can afford the hoisting fee," Yan Hui declined.

"Mr. Yan, what you're saying is like you're not treating us brothers! We crane operators don't earn bad money. Don't even mention today's shipment, Mr. Yan, no questions asked! From now on, I guarantee I'll be the first to take your orders!" The others echoed the crane operator's words. In those days, crane operators were a very special group; even the lowest-paid among them earned at least 1000 yuan a month, and some who owned their own cranes earned even more.

In the timber market, 90% of the porters are from Anhui Province, while 100% of the crane operators are locals from Jianye.

These locals certainly love their hometown more. They couldn't possibly not show their appreciation after hearing that Yan Hui donated over 100,000 yuan worth of goods for flood relief.

"Thank you all, I'm very touched by what you've said. Wait, the reporters haven't left yet, I need to go over and tell them about this!" Yan Hui returned the favor.

If Yan Hui were to say just one more word to a reporter, the newspaper would definitely include a mention of these local crane drivers.

The drivers will definitely buy a newspaper to brag about to their wives and kids when they get home.

"Mr. Yan, you don't need to do such a small thing, Mr. Yan. Hey, Mr. Yan, please walk slowly."

In short, this incident caused a huge stir in the timber market, and everyone heard about it, especially some small business owners.

In the past, some people would place orders with Yan Hui, but because a deposit was required upfront, many still lacked trust in him. Regardless, giving money upfront takes courage; tens of thousands of yuan represents many people's entire life savings.

Previously, Brother Lü said he would dare to lend Yan Hui 1 yuan, which actually means Brother Lü is already quite familiar with Yan Hui. Many people only know Yan Hui from having met him once or twice.

When Yan Hui's family came last time, many people did see his strength, but many more couldn't understand or quantify it.

But this time is different. They actually donated over 100,000 yuan worth of supplies. Do you think a boss like that would lie? Would a boss like that be worried about a 10,000 yuan deposit?

In no time, Yan Hui's orders surged, and people lined up in the office to sign contracts with Lao San.

The third brother was overjoyed, thinking that Yan Hui was really smart, thinking ten steps ahead for every one step he took!

With too many orders, Yan Hui's funds were simply insufficient, and with the current tight shipping capacity, he couldn't fully guarantee delivery. As a result, Yan Hui had to temporarily cancel some orders.

The third brother was somewhat unconvinced: "With your current reputation, you could easily collect deposits directly without any problem. If we complete all these orders together, you'll easily earn back the money you donated!"

"With this torrential rain, orders are already scarce. Are you trying to take all the orders in the market? How are we supposed to survive? I read in a book last time about a company that went bankrupt because it had too many orders and took out loans to fill them! If we accept every order now, what will our competitors think? Will they keep sending us orders? And what will happen then?" Yan Hui shook his head. "Do you think expanding the market is that simple?"

"Huh? So you started from the beginning." The third brother was a little confused.

He always felt this was a great opportunity, a once-in-a-century chance, but Yan Hui poured cold water on his hopes.

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​Yan Hui felt he was getting too cocky, but he didn't expect the third brother to be even more cocky than him!
"I'll listen to you, you're the boss," the third brother nodded. "What about these orders?"

“The reason I turned down some orders is because many people came to us because they felt I had a good reputation now. We can’t satisfy so many new clients right now; we must maintain good relationships with our existing ones. We should try to turn down orders from new clients as much as possible. As long as we can withstand the test, they will come back to us later. Existing clients are the safest and the ones we need to maintain the most. We absolutely cannot lose an existing client.” Yan Hui patted Lao San on the shoulder. “You need to keep a close eye on so many things at Jianye in the future.”

(I'm so sorry. Thanks to the alcohol ban, I haven't had a drink this afternoon, but I finally made up for it~)

(End of this chapter)