Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 272 Quick Money
Timber market.

With the sales staff already off on their business trips, Yan Hui finally breathed a sigh of relief and could now visit the timber market more often.

During this trip, Yan Hui met a pulp factory owner.

The boss needed a large quantity of poplar timber and was looking for a suitable supplier here. When Yan Hui met him, he was chatting with Geng Zhongxing.

"Mr. Yan, you've come at the right time. This is Mr. Zhu from Zaozhuang Dongsheng Paper Industry. Their previous supplier ran into problems, and now they need a batch of poplar wood. Don't you produce plywood? You should have good channels for poplar wood, right?" Geng Zhongxing introduced Yan Hui immediately upon seeing him.

"Huh?" Yan Hui was taken aback.

Although Geng Zhongxing doesn't mainly deal in poplar wood, he wouldn't turn down business that comes to him. Could it be that this person's price is too low?

"Mr. Geng is a senior figure in the industry, so why is he recommending clients to me?" Yan Hui couldn't help but ask.

“Mr. Zhu’s situation is rather special, and he’s in Zaozhuang, so transportation is a problem.” Mr. Geng shook his head slightly.

"Zaozhuang. Where is it located?" Yan Hui was taken aback. He hadn't really paid much attention to this place; he had heard of it, but didn't know exactly where it was.

"This way," Geng Zhongxing pointed to the map hanging in his shop, "the southernmost part of Shandong Province."

"Oh, here... I wonder how much Mr. Zhu needs? What's the price?" Yan Hui leaned over to look at the map and asked.

Zaozhuang isn't far; a regular truck can make a round trip in a day. Moreover, Zaozhuang is much closer to Siyang, a poplar-producing area, than Quancheng, and the actual cost of poplar wood is lower in Zaozhuang than in Quancheng.

"Well..." General Manager Zhu looked at General Manager Geng, then at Yan Hui, "This must be General Manager Yan. I think it's best not to discuss this publicly. Our company's previous suppliers have a lot of influence in our local area, and they're getting increasingly unreasonable. We can't accept the prices they're offering now, so we had to come to Jinan to see if there are any suitable goods. I don't want to publicize this. If we're going to talk about it, let's do it one by one."

"So, Mr. Zhu can offer a good price? But we, the delivery team, will have to deal with local power structures?" Yan Hui finally understood.

“It’s not that simple,” Geng Zhongxing shook his head. “President Zhu’s idea is to pay in full upfront for more than 2000 cubic meters of poplar timber, have it delivered directly to their construction site one night, and then leave immediately. He will prepare a crane in advance to unload the timber. Their yard is very large. Once they have this batch of poplar timber, they will have leverage to negotiate with the locals. So he is willing to pay a high price for this batch of poplar timber. The problem is that we need enough trucks and a group of daring drivers.”

"I see. So, Mr. Geng wants to find some partners to share the risks and also to have more manpower." Yan Hui looked at Geng Zhongxing.

"Yes, so what Mr. Zhu meant was that each supplier would have a different price, and the more cars and people they produced, the higher the price he would offer," Geng Zhongxing explained.

"All cash?" Yan Hui asked again. "I mean, full payment? It's not that this is impossible, it's mainly a matter of basic trust. Payment after delivery is impossible, and if it's upfront, I wonder what Mr. Zhu's plans are."

“I’ll pay in cash, all in full.” Mr. Zhu looked at Mr. Yan. “That’s why I came all the way to the provincial capital. You guys are all big bosses. I’m not afraid of you paying 10 or 20 yuan to each of you. To be honest, the prices here are too outrageous. I’d rather you make the money than give it to them.”

"Hmm, I need to think about this. Is Mr. Zhu in a hurry?" Yan Hui considered the matter and felt it was worth doing. The risk was a bit high, but the profit was very high.

“I estimate I’ll be here for two days. The timber isn’t urgent; we can ship it in 10 days. But we need to finalize things in these two days. I’ll give you all a 20% deposit first, and I’ll bring the full payment back in 10 days before your trucks depart.” Mr. Zhu had considered everything quite thoroughly.

“Okay, I’ll go ask my friend. Before that, Mr. Zhu, you need to give me a rough price quote,” Yan Hui said.

"Okay." President Zhu whispered a price in Yan Hui's ear.

Yan Hui nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Having learned the price, Yan Hui drove away from the timber market and went to find Factory Manager Xiang to tell him what had happened.

"President Yan, you don't need to get involved in this matter, do you?" Factory Manager Xiang asked, somewhat puzzled. "Also, do you mean to tell President Li about this?"

Mr. Li has always been the supplier to the factory.

Over the past year, Yan Hui has ordered approximately 10 boards, which means that, for plywood alone, General Manager Li has supplied the factory manager with at least 5000 cubic meters of poplar wood, totaling several million yuan.

"Given my reputation and status in the market, Mr. Zhu will definitely feel comfortable paying me upfront. I'll take the payment first. If Mr. Li dares to ship the goods, let him do it; if not, forget it. My point is, you should talk to Mr. Li about this. I guarantee he'll make more than three times the profit. Besides, his source is in Siyang. I looked at the map, and it's less than 100 kilometers from Siyang to Zaozhuang, with Xuzhou in between. That's great—it avoids direct ties with local powers and is really close. Why wouldn't you do business like this? Of course, you should tell Mr. Li all the risks. Whether he does it or not is his own business. I suggest you have him send someone to Zaozhuang to do a simple investigation."

"Hmm," the factory manager thought for a moment, "Okay, I'll talk to him. As far as I know, he's quite powerful in Siyang, and his relatives have a lot of influence, so he might not be afraid of this."

Yan Hui didn't leave; he stayed put and waited to contact the factory manager. Yan Hui and General Manager Li had some past conflicts, but now they were considered a link in the cooperation chain. If General Manager Li had problems, it wouldn't benefit Yan Hui either.

It's okay if we can't be friends, as long as we can make money together. In business, making money is the most important thing.

After the factory manager told General Manager Li about the matter, General Manager Li immediately became interested.

Why would he be afraid of this? He might hesitate about criminal matters, but why would he be afraid of legal things?

Mr. Li was practically ready to agree immediately: "Dongsheng Paper Industry, right? Tell Mr. Yan to wait for my news. I'll find out what happened tonight and give him a definite answer by tomorrow morning! If we want to proceed, I definitely have enough trucks. Transporting 1000 cubic meters at once is no problem, it's just a matter of the cost."

"If you're going to do it, you'll have to pay for it all upfront. Mr. Yan will give you the money. If you can't afford to pay upfront, then do less." Director Xiang was also reminding General Manager Li not to be too reckless.

"Yes, I trust Mr. Yan with the money. Mr. Xiang, let me tell you, the more cars I send, the safer it is. Think about it, is it safer to send ten cars or fifty? If I send fifty cars at once, who dares to stop me? I know this better than you do!" Mr. Li has been in the underworld for a long time, and he understands the ins and outs of this business all too well.

(End of this chapter)