Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 595 Ordering a Car

The next morning, the four of them ate rice noodle rolls, a local specialty of Guangzhou, at the hotel restaurant.

The work-rest schedule of people in Northeast China is different from that of the rest of southern China. While across the Yellow River, the standard work-rest schedule is generally 9 to 5, but this isn't the case in Northeast China. In most parts of the Northeast, the start time for work is 7:30 or 8:00 AM. Therefore, people in Northeast China are generally better at getting up early.

After breakfast, the entire city of Guangzhou was still asleep. Although there were already cars and pedestrians on the streets, the shops were not open. The four of them had no choice but to go back to their room to sit, drink tea, and talk.

At nine o'clock, Xiao Wei dialed the phone number provided by the Beijing Hotel for the Ferrari Hong Kong Island office.

"Hello, this is Isle Ferrari Camponi."

Xiao Wei was dumbfounded: "Huh? I'm looking for Ferrari. Can you speak Chinese? I don't understand."

"Hello, is Watkanai al-Dinner right?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. Can you speak Chinese? Chinese." Xiao Wei scratched his head, while Xiao Hong laughed heartily on the side.

"Hello? Oh, here? Watteyo sae?"

Xiao Hong climbed onto the bed with a laugh, reaching out her hand and saying, "Here, give it to me. Haha."

Xiao Wei handed the phone to Xiao Hong and said, "What a lousy place! They don't even speak Chinese. I'm going to learn English when I get back."

"Hello, Isazette Ferrari?"

"Yes, yes, we are Ferrari, oh my god, that's great! How can I help you?"

"Excuse me, my husband doesn't speak English. May I ask if we purchase cars from your company through you?"

"Yes, we are Ferrari, the world's best racing car company. Would you like to order one? Which model?"

"Uh, the red one, with a convertible top that opens and closes. It's the same one you sold in Beijing a few days ago." Xiao Hong spoke to the other person while thinking. The English environment in China is so poor that it's already quite an achievement to be able to have a conversation like this.

"Beijing? Beijing, China? Wait a minute." The other party seemed to have checked the information: "Is it a Ferrari 348? We've only ever sold this one car in China." Actually, there was more than one Ferrari in China at that time, but none of them were officially sold; they were mostly driven over from Hong Kong Island.

Xiao Hong asked Xiao Wei, "He asked if it was a Ferrari 348, the model number."

Xiao Wei said, "I don't know anything about this. Whatever, as long as it's a red convertible, the latest model is fine."

Xiao Hong asked over the phone, "Is this your latest model?"

"Yes, 348, our latest masterpiece."

Xiao Hong said, "That's the one, a convertible, red one. How much?"

"TS? Forty-five thousand US dollars, are you looking to purchase it?"

Xiao Hong was stunned for a moment, then turned to Xiao Wei and said, "He said it's only $45,000 a car, how can it be so cheap?"

Xiao Wei said, "Is it the price abroad? You said you don't have it in the country?"

Xiao Hong stuck out her tongue and said into the phone, "Excuse me, I'm in China, in Fengtian, Liaodong. Is the price still the same?"

The other party said, "No, no, ma'am, that's impossible. It would cost $137,000 in China, not including shipping and other fees."

Xiao Hong asked, "137,000 US dollars?"

The other person said, "Yes, ma'am, 137,000."

Xiao Hong said to Xiao Wei, "137,000."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, three trucks, ready to go."

Xiao Hong said into the phone, "Do you have any in stock? I want to buy three."

The other person raised their voice: "Three vehicles? You mean three vehicles?"

Xiao Hong said, "Yes, three vehicles. They need to be in stock."

The other party checked the information again and said, "I'm sorry, miss, there's only one TS left, but there are more than three TBs, both silver-gray. Do you still want them?"

Xiao Hong asked, "TB? I don't understand your technical jargon, sorry."

The other person said, "It's a two-door hardtop sports car, believe me, miss, it's quite beautiful."

Xiao Hong said to Xiao Wei, "There's only one convertible left, but they said they also have a hardtop two-door version, silver-gray. Do you want it?"

Xiao Wei said, "Sure, I'll take it. But I can't just buy one, it doesn't seem right. If I do, I'll ask him when it will be delivered to Fengtian."

Xiao Hong said over the phone, "Sure, two TB trucks and one TS truck. How long will it take to transport them to Fengtian, Liaodong?"

The person on the other end was very excited, letting out a shriek, and said, "Yes, really, what a charming and wealthy lady. Liaodong Fengtian? How far is it from the capital?"

Xiao Hong thought for a moment and said, "The straight-line distance is about 600 kilometers."

The person on the other end seemed to be checking a map. After a while, they said, "Ma'am, we will transport the car to Dalian by boat, and then a professional driver will drive it from Dalian to Fengtian. We can reduce the cost of this trip by half. Is that alright with you?"

This time, Xiao Hong didn't ask Xiao Wei. She said, "No, I bought three such expensive cars, and I won't bear any costs beyond the price of the cars, not even a little bit. Besides, you're driving from Dalian to Fengtian, which is almost 400 kilometers. Are the cars I bought still new? How do you calculate that?"

The other party seemed to be a group of people discussing something, but Xiao Hong couldn't understand their mumbling; they weren't speaking English. Xiao Hong whispered to Xiao Wei, "What country is this car factory in?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Italy, I think? Xiao Hui seemed to be talking about Italy."

Xiao Hong pouted: "They're discussing something, but I can't understand what they're saying."

A few minutes later, the other party said, "Are you there, ma'am? Because you've purchased three cars at once, after careful consideration, we've decided to adjust the price to 135,000 yuan. We'll cover the shipping costs, but the cars still need to be driven from Dalian to Fengtian. Is that alright with you?"

Xiao Hong was still not very happy and said to Xiao Wei, "They said the car has to drive from Dalian to Fengtian."

Xiao Wei said, "Just drive it. We'll have to drive it after we buy it. What will we use to transport it if we don't drive it? A trailer? That would be terrible. It's better to drive it." At that time, there weren't any vehicles specifically for transporting cars in China. Car transport in China usually involved hiring people to drive the vehicles. Car transport isn't something you can just do with any trailer. Securely holding the vehicle is a big problem.

Xiao Hong pouted and said into the phone, "Okay, but it's 400 kilometers away, so I'm asking for at least another $3,000 off the price for each car."

After talking for a while, Xiao Hong finally settled on a price of $133,500 with the other party. She gave Xiao Wei a triumphant look and hung up the phone, saying, "They'll come to Guangzhou this afternoon to sign the contract. $133,500. Aren't I amazing?" She saved more than $50,000 in one go.

Xiao Wei nodded and smiled, saying, "Amazing, three cars cost over 50,000 yuan, but we saved money."

Gazi said, "Xiao Hong is really something, she can chatter with foreigners for so long, and I didn't understand a word she said."

Xiao Liu stroked his chin and said, "I can understand a few individual words, but I can't understand them when they're put together."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm going back to find a place to learn English too. It's really frustrating that I can't understand anything."

Xiao Hong said, "Okay, I'll teach you when we get back. They said it will take twelve days for the truck to arrive at our home. That's so slow."

(End of this chapter)