The Secret of the Yoga Club: The Women's Identity is Not Simple

Ma Qingqing became familiar with the business even faster than Wang Yue had expected.

He arrives at the office earliest and leaves latest every day, his notebook filled with the names, origins, purchase price ranges, and corresponding customer preferences of various Chinese medicinal herbs.

After Wang Yue took her to visit several clients, she gradually became bolder and was able to independently talk to the head of the purchasing department on the phone. She was no longer as reserved as when she first joined the company.

Everyone in the centralized procurement department has their own division of labor. Wang Yue maintains relationships with several important clients, while the other salespersons each have their own responsibilities.

Ma Qingqing has only assigned two clients so far, both of whom are wealthy local women from Hehai City. One is the wife of the deputy director of the tax bureau, surnamed Zhou; the other is the wife of a section chief in the construction bureau, surnamed Wu.

These two ladies order a batch of high-end Chinese medicinal herbs gift boxes every month. The quantity is not large but very stable. They mainly use them to give as gifts or to make soup and tea for themselves.

When Ma Qingqing first took over, she was a little nervous, so Wang Yue personally took her on several trips and taught her how to deal with these ladies.

Sister Zhou loves drinking tea, and she especially loves hearing people praise her tea-brewing skills. Every time you visit her, she'll brew a pot of Tieguanyin for you to try. You must drink it and praise it, but don't overdo it. Just say that the tea soup is clear and has a good aftertaste—those are the words she loves to hear.

Her husband is a powerful figure in the tax bureau. Several of our company's approvals with the tax authorities were successfully obtained thanks to his help.

So we can't let our connection with Sister Zhou fall behind. We need to contact her at least once a month, and during holidays, we have to send her an extra gift box compared to other customers. A few days ago, I sent her an extra box of customized Tieguanyin tea, and she was so happy that she spent half the day posting on her WeChat Moments to promote us.

Sister Wu is the complete opposite. She doesn't like drinking tea, but prefers making soup, and she has extremely high standards for the appearance of medicinal herbs. If you send her astragalus root, she has to pick out each one that is about the same length and uniform in thickness. If even one is broken or doesn't look good, she won't say anything, but she'll reduce the quantity when she orders next time.

Her husband works at the Construction Bureau, and he handled several approvals for our school district housing project. Although the approval process itself wasn't flawed, having connections is always better than not having them; at least you know in advance which steps require additional documentation.

Ma Qingqing quickly took notes in her notebook, noting down all the details, such as Sister Zhou's preference for Tieguanyin tea and Sister Wu's high standards for the quality of Astragalus membranaceus.

Silently marveling to herself, Wang Yue realized that maintaining customer relationships wasn't just about giving gifts; it also required understanding each person's temperament and preferences and making sure not to make a mistake when giving gifts.

Our centralized procurement department doesn't usually have much contact with the sales department, but many of the stable clients that the sales department has signed are actually connected by us wealthy housewives.

The ladies often get together to drink tea and play mahjong when they have nothing to do, and they often end up discussing business opportunities. Last time Sister Zhou was playing mahjong, she heard that the husband of one of her mahjong friends had started a building materials company. Coincidentally, we had a project here that needed to purchase a batch of steel, so she took the initiative to connect Lu Fei with the company.

After the contract for that batch of steel was signed, Lu Fei specially sent Sister Zhou a box of wild epimedium to express his gratitude.

So you see, when we maintain our clients, we're not just maintaining the clients themselves, but also maintaining the network of people behind them.

These wives wield far more power than you might imagine. Some bureau chiefs, unable to handle matters directly, rely on their wives to relay messages.

Everyone in the centralized procurement department has their own division of labor. Wang Yue maintains relationships with several important clients, while the other salespersons each have their own responsibilities.

"Maintaining customers is only part of the job. The core of our department is the centralized procurement and management of products. In addition to Chinese herbal medicines, we also need to purchase some high-quality local specialties, such as wild honey, camellia oil, and traditional brown sugar. However, you don't need to personally go to places that are too far away in other provinces. Currently, our business is mainly concentrated in Hehai City and my hometown."

Speaking of Wang Yue's hometown, Ma Qingqing suddenly remembered something. She turned to a blank page in her notebook and wrote as she spoke, "Minister Wang, my third uncle's hometown is in Ningxi. The black goji berries grown there are of particularly high quality, large in size, and the water they make when steeped is a deep purple, with a high anthocyanin content. There are also astragalus and angelica growing nearby, all wild, and their quality is no worse than those I've seen before. When I was a child, I would go there to play during summer vacation, and my third uncle would often make me black goji berry water to drink, saying it would brighten my eyes. I've bought some in the market a few times since then, but none of them can compare to the ones he grows."

Wang Yue's eyes lit up, and she sat up straight in her office chair.

Let Ma Qingqing explain in detail the scale of planting, the harvest season, and the surrounding transportation conditions.

Ma Qingqing recounted what she remembered: her third uncle's village had several dozen households, and almost every family grew black goji berries. Some grew several acres, while others grew only one or two acres, and the annual yield was quite substantial.

However, the mountain roads are difficult to travel, and no one goes to collect the medicinal herbs in a unified manner. The dealers who buy the herbs drive down the price heavily, so the farmers don't earn much money even after a year of hard work, just like the situation in Zhai Village before.

"Black goji berries, astragalus, and angelica are all popular items in the high-end gift market. Black goji berries, in particular, have seen a surge in popularity in recent years due to the anthocyanin concept, making them a very prestigious gift. I'll first report to Mr. Lin and see if he'd be willing to conduct an on-site inspection. If he decides to purchase, they'll definitely need a local manager to liaise with farmers and handle logistics. I recommend you for this role; it will be very helpful in terms of salary, commission, and performance. However, before that, you need to go home and contact your third uncle to compile a research report detailing the specific varieties, planting scale, harvest time, and transportation routes. The more detailed the better, and it would be best if you could bring back some photos and videos."

Ma Qingqing nodded vigorously. She never expected that the local specialty she casually mentioned could become a new business direction for the company.

She currently manages orders from two wealthy women. Her daily work is stable but not very challenging. If she could independently take charge of the development of a new production area, it would be a rare opportunity for her.

He secretly planned to go back this weekend and call his third uncle to ask about the situation.

After finishing her work, Wang Yue stood up, stretched, and then took out the two swimming pool membership cards and waved them in front of Ma Qingqing, saying that she didn't have anything to do today and wanted to go swimming to relax.

This time, Ma Qingqing did not refuse again. She had gone with Wang Yue several times already. From being nervous and stiff at the beginning to being able to float a short distance in the shallow water now, her progress was not fast, but at least she was no longer afraid of water.

Moreover, the swimming pool was full of women, and everyone was walking around naked in the changing room. No one was staring at her, which gradually made her lower her guard.

When she arrived at the swimming pool, Ma Qingqing changed into her black one-piece swimsuit. When she walked out of the changing room, her steps were much more natural than last time.