Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 498 Connections Everywhere

Xiao Wei went over and looked at the leather shoes, then said to Chen Hui, "Do you want to buy a pair? These are so cool to wear."

Chen Hui gave Xiao Wei a look that seemed to say he was an idiot, then turned and left.

Everyone walked away laughing and joking, ignoring the boss's disdainful gaze. After walking a short distance, Chen Hui said, "This is just a bluff. These shoes from Nanta cost no more than five hundred, and that's the retail price. Even if you don't know how to bargain, they'd only cost eight hundred. You Beixi people are really damn rich."

In the 90s, Beixi was a city with exceptionally strong purchasing power in the entire Liaodong region, mainly due to the good performance of Beigang Steel during those years. The influence of such a large-scale enterprise on a place is devastating.

As the crowd slowly walked around the mall, there was a dance hall called Fangcaodi on the second floor near the main entrance.

Everyone gathered at the central entrance to talk. There were no stalls there, so the space felt quite open, and there was a sense of tranquility and comfort.

Chen Hui said, "Sure, the business here is booming, and most of the goods come from Fengtian, so it's easy to source them."

Xiao Hong said, "We still have to sell mid-to-low-end products. Look at those expensive ones, there aren't even any customers. We'd lose money, wouldn't we?"

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "We won't lose money. Others can close down after selling just one pair of shoes, making a profit of several thousand yuan."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "That's right. Selling two pairs a month is enough. The rest of the time they can play around with it, whether they open it or not. It's even easier for them than for us."

Geng Hui said, "I think we shouldn't make things that are too high-end. First, the risk is too great, and second, the market is too small. Besides, if you let them do this, it's mainly for training. If no one is training all day, what are they supposed to do? We should sell mid-to-low-end products. The more people, the better. They'll be surrounded by people haggling and arguing all day long."

Xiao Hong said, "Oh right, that's how it is."

Xiao Wei said, "It's quite tiring. You have to be able to speak well, keep a calm demeanor, and prevent things from being lost. Look over there, so many people are trying it at the same time, and the vendors' voices are all hoarse."

Xinghai said, "That's alright. We have three people on each side, and we can just bring one more if there are more people on either side. Three or four people are enough. The only problem is that we might not be able to negotiate a good price. What if we can't win the argument?"

Liu Liu nodded blankly in agreement. This guy hadn't left the village much either, and now he was completely bewildered by the surging crowd, his face pale.

Xiao Wei looked at Xing Hai strangely and said, "You're a seller, what do you know about pricing? You just set a price and won't sell if it's too low, that's all. It's the other person who has to negotiate with you. If your price is over thirty, sell it for two hundred. Keep two price ranges in mind, one hundred and fifty, one hundred and thirty. Usually, if no one buys it for one hundred and fifty, that's fine. But if there aren't many customers, you can lower the price to one hundred and thirty, understand?"

Chen Hui said, "They'll understand these things after selling them for a few days; it takes time. Now you've decided to do it here, right? Did you see any empty spaces earlier?"

The group walked around the entire mall one and a half times. Everywhere they looked, there were surging crowds. They didn't see many empty spaces along the way, but they did see many large stalls with several stalls connected together.

Xinghai and Liuliu both shook their heads. Xiaowei recalled that he seemed to have seen a few small, out-of-the-way stalls for sale, but there was no point in getting such small and remote locations, even though they would definitely be cheaper.

Xinghai was the most proactive; he went to the management office to inquire, but the result was that there was no solution. He was told that if someone wanted a stall, they would have to find a way themselves and negotiate with the existing owners. This was impossible; with such a booming business, who would be foolish enough to give up their stall?

In the early 90s, as long as you were bold enough to do something, any business could be quite profitable. The boom was all-encompassing, and people today simply cannot imagine the commercial prosperity of that era.

Chen Hui said to Xiao Wei, "Then let's find someone. Judging from the situation, it's probably hopeless to rent a stall without asking around. You ask, or I will?"

Chen Hui raised an eyebrow and said, "How about that? It still comes down to me, buddy, right?" He took out his phone to make a call. But there was no signal in the underpass, so the group laughed and walked out, going up the steps from the main entrance to the ground.

The call was answered quickly. Chen Hui said a few words and then hung up, saying, "Wait a moment, I'll be right there."

Several people sat and rested in their car by the roadside. After waiting for more than ten minutes, a Santana drove up and stopped by the roadside at the main entrance of the mall, right in front of the two cars that Xiaowei and his companion were standing in. The two people got out of the car, looked around, and when they saw that the license plate was from Fengtian, they walked over.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui got out of the car to greet him. Chen Hui asked, "Is this Brother Liu?"

The man walking in front was in his thirties, quite tall and strong, with an incongruously protruding beer belly. He chuckled and extended his right hand to Chen Hui, saying, "Chen Hui, right? What made you decide to do business here? Isn't Fengtian better than this little place?"

Chen Hui reached out and shook his hand, saying, "It's really popular here. Look down there, it's packed with people. And the prices are way higher than in Fengtian. I don't know anyone here, so could you ask around for me? If it works out, great; if not, no problem. Don't make things difficult for me."

Brother Liu said, "What's so difficult about that? Let's go take a look together. To be honest, I've hardly ever been down here. Is it really that popular?"

The four of them walked down and entered the shoe and hat hall. Their voices, mixed with the heat, hit them in the face. Brother Liu said, "Damn, this is really popular. I should have set up a stall too. This business is like making money while lying down."

Chen Hui said, "Go check out the clothing stalls over there; there are even more people there than here."

The man following behind Brother Liu said, "Business is definitely booming. We people from Beixi are rich. Yongfeng is the only place in the city that sells things. How could it not be booming? Look at the streets now. Tall clothes have become the city uniform. All the women are wearing cheap shoes. Those cheap things aren't even made of leather, yet they cost several hundred yuan a pair. Where can you complain? You can't refuse to buy them."

Brother Liu turned his head and smiled at him, "You bought one too? My wife bought one too. It seems you also have to buy that Pledge spray to go with it, right? I didn't ask how much it costs." Pledge is available now, but it's not something the average person can access; it's a spray used to clean furniture.

The man took out a cigarette and said, "So what if you don't buy it? Everyone else has it, but we don't? Let's compare. A piece of clothing and a pair of shoes cost over two thousand yuan. How much do we earn to live on that? That's almost as much as gold."

Brother Liu nodded and said, "That's true, money flies by so fast. Xiao Hui, what do you want to sell here?"

Chen Hui said, "Let's sell them all. Let's set up two stalls, one on each side."

Looking up, they arrived at the management office. Brother Liu led the way inside and asked, "Is Old Sun here?" Without stopping, he walked directly to an office inside, pushed open the door, and looked in. "Yes, Director Sun. Are you busy?" He went inside.

Director Sun was skinny, about the same build as Xiao Wei, and wore glasses. He turned around and said, "Can't you knock?"

Brother Liu gestured to the chairs for Xiao Wei and the others to sit on, then took out a cigarette, tossed one to Director Sun, and sat down himself, saying, "This is practically my own home, no need to be so polite. Are you busy?"

(End of this chapter)