Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 273 Making a Plan
Mr. Li had seen similar things before. Some people have some influence in the local area, and even if they get into trouble, it might be useless to go to the police station.

It's a minor matter; they can handle it. But if several cars were to cross, it could be a real problem. However, when there are many people, it's like a dragon crossing a river, making it extremely safe. The government would absolutely not allow anything to happen.

I imagine that President Zhu has also considered this matter.

When Yan Hui returned to his lodgings that evening, he received a call from Factory Manager Xiang. Manager Li had already investigated and confirmed that Manager Zhu's paper mill was indeed in trouble. There was no problem with the matter; he was willing to supply 1000 cubic meters of poplar wood, to be delivered in one go, with all the payment to be covered by Manager Li.

However, Mr. Li was still under some pressure, after all, it was a lot of money, and he was afraid that Yan Hui would run away.

"President Yan, President Li agreed readily at the time, but he still felt a lot of pressure. He wanted me to act as a guarantor. Of course, I'm willing to guarantee it, but the amount of money is really too much, and I'm afraid." Director Xiang didn't want to offend Yan Hui, nor did he want to take on such a big responsibility. After thinking for a while, he said helplessly, "President Yan, do you think you can give me a good solution to this matter?"

“Mr. Xiang, with such a large factory, you must be under a lot of pressure. Here’s the arrangement: the money will be in my account before the goods are shipped. As soon as it’s in my account, I’ll immediately transfer half of the payment to you at the bank. Once you receive half of the payment, don’t rush to give it to Mr. Li, but that will give you the confidence to act as a guarantor, right?” Yan Hui’s consideration was quite thorough.

In business, there's always a priority order. Yan Hui had learned his lesson from this kind of big, single deal, so he was determined to get all the money first.

However, he understood the immense pressure on the factory manager and General Manager Li, and knew that this was the safest course of action. The factory manager was the most suitable intermediary.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, Mr. Yan, if you say that, I feel really bad. Oh, Mr. Yan, please don't blame me. I just expanded the factory and still have some loans to pay off. This is really putting a lot of pressure on me!" Factory Manager Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.

Providing a guarantee is no easy task! Countless big shots have fallen victim to guarantees. Although President Xiang trusts Yan Hui implicitly, that trust isn't worth a million. If it were 100,000 or 200,000, he would have agreed without hesitation.

"Don't worry, once this is done, let's get together. Invite Mr. Li, and I'll make the arrangements."

"That's easy to agree to! Easy to agree to!"

"Okay." Yan Hui hung up the phone.

If everything goes smoothly, Yan Hui won't have to do anything; he'll net at least 20 yuan, and Mr. Li will earn around 15 yuan.

With such huge profits, the fact that Mr. Zhu still had to go out and find people, even traveling to the provincial capital, shows the immense pressure he was under, indirectly proving how capable these locals were. But doing business inevitably involves encountering all sorts of things, which is perfectly normal.

Yan Hui and the others must have taken a risk as well. He agreed to pay half of the payment before the truck departed, and that's when he started taking the risk.

Now it all depends on whether Mr. Zhu dares to give him the million-dollar payment directly.

The next morning, Yan Hui went to see General Manager Geng again, saying that he could supply 1000 cubic meters of poplar wood at once, which surprised General Manager Geng.

"Isn't this a bit too risky?" Mr. Geng became somewhat hesitant.

"Mr. Geng, my supplier said that the more vehicles there are, the safer it is. If only three or five vehicles are traveling alone, it might actually cause problems." Yan Hui and Geng Zhongxing have known each other for a long time, and he was just reminding him of this.

"Well, if you do it this way, you'll need at least 50 vehicles, right?" Geng Zhongxing immediately grasped the crux of the problem.

"I counted last night, about 65 cars. Our cars don't go from Jinan, they come from Jiangsu Province, less than 100 kilometers, very close. There are plenty of cars there, these kinds of odd jobs are easy to find." "65 cars!" Geng Zhongxing imagined the scene, "President Yan is really generous!"

"The key question now is whether General Manager Zhu dares to give me this much money at once. He can go to Jiangsu Province to see the goods before paying. I can also go to Jiangsu Province to receive the money, preferably by bank transfer. But I must see the money first."

Yan Hui would never accept cash. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to get back the millions of yuan in cash he'd been offered in Jiangsu Province.

"Seeing so many trucks fully loaded, he'll definitely be willing to pay. As for the 20% deposit, Mr. Zhu won't be stingy; everyone in the market recognizes your status," Geng Zhongxing subtly flattered Yan Hui.

"Mr. Geng, it would be best if your truck came with ours. Don't let your goods enter the city yet; let's contact each other and go together." Yan Hui was doing Geng Zhongxing a favor.

"That's great! I was thinking of bringing this up, but I was worried it might be inconvenient for you." Geng Zhongxing's eyes lit up. This way, his safety level was immediately maximized.

"Give Mr. Zhu a call, let's have lunch together." Yan Hui nodded. "This is probably something we can only do once, so we need to clarify the plan further. It's a deal worth millions, we can't be so casual about it."

"Mr. Yan is right." Geng Zhongxing also became serious.

After the two finished talking, Geng Zhongxing contacted General Manager Zhu, explained Yan Hui's situation, and they arranged to have lunch together.

When General Manager Zhu heard that Yan Hui could supply 1000 cubic meters of timber at a time, he was greatly surprised.

He spent half a day running around the market before finally securing 400 square meters! The profit margin was huge, but very few people dared to take the job!
"You've probably heard about Mr. Yan's identity these past few days," Geng Zhongxing said when the three met at noon. He was unwilling to provide a guarantee for Yan Hui, but he still spoke in Yan Hui's favor. "Mr. Yan's delivery location is in Siyang. You can pay after you see the truck depart."

"No problem, no problem, it's convenient for me to go anywhere, and this way I can see the goods in advance, which is good, good!" Boss Zhu finally agreed to the matter.

Then, the three of them continued to discuss the detailed plan.

Those who lived through that era should know some of the realities of that time; I won't go into too much detail about the local situation.

After the conversation, Mr. Zhu said that he could make the deposit the next day, which surprised Yan Hui.

"Mr. Zhu is really bold. I didn't expect you to trust me so much." Yan Hui doesn't even have a shop here, so it's impressive that Mr. Zhu dared to give me the money first.

"The main reason I came to Jinan is to supply our goods here. We have many major clients in Jinan. I've asked around, so Mr. Yan, you don't need to be so modest." Mr. Zhu is no ordinary person either; the papermaking industry is not as simple as it seems.

“Okay, then I won’t bother explaining. To be honest, without trust, explanations are useless in this kind of situation.” Yan Hui nodded. “I hope our cooperation goes smoothly.”

"That will definitely go smoothly." President Zhu felt more confident.

He came out here just to settle this score. If he could bring back such a large quantity of poplar wood from outside, the local suppliers would be in trouble!

It's important to understand that supply chains are interconnected; once a link is broken, it's broken forever, and it's extremely difficult to reconnect. Yan Hui has learned this the hard way.
(End of this chapter)