Era: Rise from the Wilderness

Pencils, wholesale for 12 cents, retail for 20 cents; grid notebooks, wholesale for 8 cents, retail for 15 cents; Hero ink, wholesale for 45 cents, retail for 70 cents…

A rough calculation shows that the profit margin is generally between 40% and 60%!

For high-consumption, fast-moving consumer goods like notebooks and pencils, the profit margins may even be higher!

He felt reassured, like a leopard that had spotted its prey. He gently tugged at his father's sleeve and nodded almost imperceptibly in Zeng Honglin's direction.

Then, he pulled his father to the back of a pile of neatly stacked cardboard boxes, where it was relatively quiet and they could hear each other clearly.

"Dad,"

Li Yunjing lowered his voice to a whisper, "I just quickly checked it."

"The price Uncle Zeng offered is more than half the retail price at Old Wang's shop in our town!"

"Items like notebooks and pencils sell quickly; we can make half the profit just by reselling them!"

He paused, looked into his father's eyes, and added, "And I just checked, the quality of the goods here is pretty good, not the cheap, poorly made kind."

"I think this deal is worth doing."

Half the profit!

Li Hongfeng's eyes lit up.

He didn't understand which specific items were highly profitable, but he understood the phrase "making half the profit."

Having worked in a state-owned enterprise for so many years, following the rules and regulations, I've never heard of such a profit margin.

The corner store only makes a few cents or a dime profit from selling a pack of cigarettes!

Li Hongfeng wasn't entirely clear on the specific profits of stationery, but he trusted his son's judgment.

"I'm not familiar with this area, but since there's a 50% profit margin, that's quite a lot."

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "We've gone through all this trouble just to find a reliable source of goods!"

"I think this is something we can do!"

Li Yun nodded in agreement.

He knew very well that in the early 1990s, with limited information and poor logistics, it was already very difficult to find a wholesaler with a full range of products and reasonable prices.

If you spend a lot of time and energy looking for other suppliers just to save a few cents or dimes on each item, the cost-effectiveness is too low.

My father has to go to work and can't keep spending all his time on this.

The most important thing is to seize the opportunity at hand, get the shop up and running as soon as possible, and generate cash flow.

"Okay, Dad, shall we settle on that?"

Li Yunjing finally confirmed, "You took it from his house?"

"Let's decide!"

"Finish it quickly so you can go home quickly."

Li Hongfeng made the decision: "Let's go in and settle this with Zeng Honglin. We'll pick up the goods today!"

The father and son had made their decision and walked back to the center of the warehouse.

As soon as Li Yunjing entered, he keenly noticed the fleeting expression of relief on Zeng Honglin's face.

Clearly, Manager Zeng was also eager to close this deal.

This subtle expression stirred something in Li Yunjing's heart, and a bold idea instantly took shape.

Perhaps, we can still try to gain some more benefits?

"Manager Zeng,"

With an innocent smile on his face, Li Yunjing said, "We are very satisfied with your company's products and prices. We've placed the order!"

"You're preparing the goods now, and we'll pick them up today, is that alright?"

"No problem! Absolutely no problem!"

Upon hearing this, Zeng Honglin's face immediately broke into a warm smile, and he repeatedly said, "Boss Li, young boss, you're so generous!"

He picked up the list he had just calculated and confirmed it again: "These items total nine hundred and seventy-five yuan and eighty-five cents. I'll round it down to nine hundred and seventy-five!"

"Old Liu! Old Yu! Don't just stand there!"

Immediately afterwards, he turned to the warehouse manager, Lao Liu, and his colleague, who were organizing the boxes, and shouted, "Hurry up! According to the quantities on Boss Li's list, count everything, seal the boxes, move them to the door, and load them onto Boss Li's truck!"

"Okay!"

Old Liu responded and his movements noticeably quickened.

Just then, Li Yunjing saw his father take out the bulging handkerchief bag from his inner pocket, ready to count the money and pay the bill. He quickly and subtly tugged at his father's arm and gave him a "don't rush" look.

Li Hongfeng was taken aback at first, then realized what was going on and cursed inwardly, "What kind of trick is this little brat up to now?"

But he was already somewhat convinced by his son's previous "strokes of genius," so he stopped taking out money, crossed his arms, and adopted a "I'm watching your performance" stance, wanting to see what his son was up to.

Over there, warehouse managers Lao Liu, Lao Yu, and Zeng Honglin were already busily counting and sealing the boxes according to the list.

"Uncle Zeng, we live quite far from the city, in Fuzhou Town, Fuxian County, near the No. 25 Middle School."

Li Yunjing moved closer to Zeng Honglin, pretending to casually hand him something, and said in a casual tone, "If we run out of stock in the future, it's too inconvenient to go back and forth. Could your company arrange for home delivery?"

"That's easy!"

"After the goods are loaded, come with me to the front office. I'll write down our company's phone number for you."

Zeng Honglin, who was carrying a box of exercise books, replied with a smile, "In the future, if you need any goods, just call us in advance and tell us the type and quantity. We'll prepare them, and you can just pick them up next time you come. It will save you a lot of trouble."

The solution he proposed was considered a relatively "advanced" service for this era.

After all, the idea that "the customer is always right" doesn't exist these days!

Take it or leave it!

Why don't you come and pick it up yourself, and make us deliver it to you from 60 or 70 kilometers away?

How dare you!

Li Yunjing's suggestion to deliver the goods directly was ignored; he didn't respond at all.

The surrounding areas are simply too far away.

A round trip would take half a day, and for such a small amount of business, it wasn't worth the effort. Zeng Honglin even looked down on this "treasure trove."

Li Yunjing squatted down, helping to choose and match watercolor pens while continuing to chat about everyday things. He pretended to be innocent and naive, and began to seriously "brag":

"Uncle Zeng, you don't know, our No. 25 High School is huge!"

"We just merged with a town's central middle school this year, and now we have nearly four thousand students and teachers!"

Without batting an eye, he more than doubled the actual number of people.

Standing to the side, Li Hongfeng almost burst out laughing as he listened to his son exaggerate without batting an eye.

This kid, he lies without even thinking!

He suppressed a laugh, but a thought suddenly popped into his mind: This kid is so good at fooling outsiders, does he often talk nonsense to his own father as well?