78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 171 Guests from the South

Chen An came out from the next room.

"Director Ye, who was that just now?"

Ye Bingwen handed Chen An his business card and contract, saying, "They're from Shenzhen and want to order five thousand carbon fiber fishing rods."

Chen An took the business card, glanced at it, and said, "Pengcheng Industrial?"

"Do you know this company?"

"I haven't heard of it, but there have been a lot of new companies in Shenzhen in the last two years, so it's normal not to have heard of it."

Chen An opened the contract and looked at it. As he looked, his brows slowly furrowed. Ye Bingwen noticed that Chen An's expression was not right.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with this contract?"

"Director Ye, I've identified a few points. First, this contract explicitly stipulates that the raw materials must be T700 grade carbon fiber cloth produced by Toray Industries in Japan. This material is not readily available in China and must be ordered from Hong Kong. Moreover, it costs over 200,000 yuan per ton. Why did he specify the use of this material?"

Ye Bingwen explained, "The contract states that the client requires the use of materials with this number."

Chen An continued, "Secondly, the advance payment is 30% of the total contract amount, which is 102,000 yuan. It sounds like a lot, but this amount of money can only buy half of the raw materials."

"That means we'll have to pay the remaining half of the cost ourselves."

"Yes, the contract clearly states that the raw materials will be purchased by Party A, and Party B, Pengcheng Industrial, will pay 30% of the prepayment to start production, with the remaining 70% to be paid within 30 days after the goods pass inspection."

Upon hearing this, Ye Bingwen stroked his chin and continued, "So, what about the third possibility?"

"The third scenario is the most peculiar."

Chen An pushed the contract in front of Ye Bingwen and pointed to the relevant clauses, saying, "Look here, the delivery location is written as a warehouse in Bao'an District, SZ City. It doesn't specify the exact address, it just says a vague address like 'a warehouse'."

"This is something we'll fill in later."

"It's possible, but according to the standard writing conventions of a formal contract, the specific address should be clearly written. Otherwise, if problems arise during the delivery process, disputes can easily arise, and it will be difficult to clarify the responsibility. Also, in the last clause regarding liability for breach of contract, if we breach the contract, we need to compensate 20% of the amount, but if they breach the contract, they only need to compensate 5%. This provision is obviously unfair."

"That's really unfair."

Ye Bingwen took the contract again and examined it carefully.

He looked at it over and over again, and as he looked, the eager anticipation he had felt for the deal faded, but another voice kept telling him something.

This is a business deal worth 340,000 yuan. If done well, it could earn more than 100,000 yuan. If we miss this opportunity, we don’t know where we’ll find such a good business again. Besides, that Lin Guoqing has a big presence, driving a Santana sedan. Could someone like that be a swindler?

Ye Bingwen's inner demons and angels were arguing, and he really didn't know what to do for the time being.

The office remained quiet for a long time.

Seeing that Ye Bingwen remained silent, Chen An spoke up again, "Director Ye, I think this matter should be put on hold for now."

"Slow down?"

"Yes, we need to thoroughly understand the background of Pengcheng Industry before we talk about anything else. I'll ask my dad to help me find out. He has a few former colleagues from the Harbin Bearing Factory who have now been transferred to factories in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I'll ask them to help me find out about this company."

"If all goes well, it will take as little as three to five days, but could take ten days to half a month."

Ye Bingwen hesitated.

Seeing Ye Bingwen's hesitation, Chen An spoke up again: "Factory Director Ye, you can't rush into business. It's better to miss an opportunity than to rush things."

We mustn't let others take advantage of us.

Ye Bingwen did not give an immediate reply.

Just then, the office door was pushed open, and the factory's newly hired old accountant walked in.

The old accountant's surname is Sun, and his given name is Sun Dehai. He is 58 years old this year. He used to be the head of the finance department of a state-owned factory in Daoli District. He retired last year and was introduced to the company by Chen An's father.

"Director Ye, is there something you need me for?"

"Accountant Sun, please come in."

Ye Bingwen handed the contract he had just received to Accountant Sun.

"Could you take a look at this contract and see what you think?"

Accountant Sun pushed her reading glasses up a bit, took the contract, and sat down next to Chen An.

He read the contract even more carefully than Chen An. He would often stop and think for a while after reading a page, and occasionally point at the contract with his finger.

Accountant Sun examined the contract for over twenty minutes before finally speaking, "Director Ye, regarding this contract..."

"Please go ahead, Accountant Sun."

"There's something wrong with this contract."

Upon hearing this, Ye Bingwen's heart sank again, and he asked in disbelief, "What problem is there?"

"The first problem is that the format of this contract does not meet the standards. A legitimate company's contract will have the company's full name, detailed address, legal representative, and contact number in the header. However, this contract only has Pengcheng Industrial Co., Ltd. in the header, and even the company address is not written."

Chen An listened from the side and nodded in agreement.

"The second problem is that the payment method for the prepayment is not quite right."

"What's wrong?"

"Normally, advance payments are made within three days of signing the contract, but this contract states that payment should be made within fifteen days of signing. This timeframe is far too long."

"Their accounting procedures may take some time."

"Payment terms are a hard and fast rule in business. If he sets his own prepayment but then delays payment for fifteen days, that's suspicious. The third issue is about the designated grade of raw materials."

Accountant Sun turned to the page of the contract that listed the grades of the raw materials.

"The material of Toray's T700 grade is indeed of high quality, but it is not available in China and must be ordered from Hong Kong."

He said it was the client's requirement.

"It's understandable that the client has such a request, but there's a problem here. He wants us to purchase this material ourselves, instead of him providing it."

"What's the problem?"

"Director Ye, please think about this carefully. He's in Shenzhen, which is very close to Hong Kong. Logically speaking, it would be much more convenient for him to handle the ordering himself than for us. Why insist that we handle it?"