Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

Zhao Gang left with his secretary, looking strange and dejected. Before coming, he had considered countless possibilities and was even prepared to sell out some of Fuwang Grain and Oil's interests and bear the infamy in order to facilitate the cooperation.

But now that the talks are over, none of the worst-case scenarios he had imagined have materialized. In fact, An Xiaohai's cooperation requests seem like he's lost his mind.

This is practically a money-giving gift! Wait, something's clearly wrong!

The stark contrast made Zhao Gang suspicious. He almost risked his life to resist the urge to make a decision on the spot and confirm the cooperation. He made an excuse, saying that he needed to hold a meeting to discuss it with everyone, and then fled with his secretary.

This is too strange; I need to calm down first!

An Xiaohai smiled and saw Zhao Gang and Zhang Cuicui out the door. He could completely understand Zhao Gang's fear. Anyone else would probably think they had been possessed.

As soon as An Xiaohai closed the door and turned around, he was startled by what he saw.

Mai Xiaoyu and Zhou Xun moved the table to the coffee table and were looking at me expectantly with notebooks and pens in hand. Even Dr. Yu, who had been hiding in the room, came out with a stethoscope in his hand.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Well... Mr. Chen, it's almost time. How about I examine you?" Dr. Yu said with a worried expression.

"Dr. Yu, don't make things worse! This guy's perfectly fine, no fever! He's definitely going to trick Zhao Gang again!" Mai Xiaoyu exclaimed excitedly, "Come on, Mr. Chen, tell us in detail how you're going to trick him, we want to learn!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhou Xun nodded vigorously from the side.

"Who said I was going to trick him?!" An Xiaohai said, both amused and exasperated, as he returned to the coffee table and grabbed a few snacks. He'd been drinking tea for a while and was feeling a little dizzy.

"You weren't trying to scam Zhao Gang? Then we're doomed! Dr. Yu, you'd better take a look at him right now!"

"..."

"Alright, ask me anything you want, I'll tell you everything honestly!" An Xiaohai said, half-lying on the sofa.

"I have too many questions to ask; I feel like something's off from beginning to end!"

"Then start asking from the beginning."

"Why did you choose to make water instead of wine? Everyone has water, right? It just flows out when you turn on the tap, how can you sell it?"

"You have two questions."

"Then you'll answer them one by one!" Mai Xiaoyu said fiercely through gritted teeth.

"Okay, Miss Mai!" An Xiaohai put his feet up on the sofa as well: "Because it's more convenient and less risky to make water."

"Just because of that?"

"Yes, that's why," An Xiaohai took a deep breath: "Whether it's making grains and oils or making beverages, it involves very complex production processes."

Each additional production step means incurring additional costs.

For example, with grain and oil, the company has to employ a dedicated team of people to be responsible for the purchase and transportation of grain, and every step of the production process must be strictly controlled.

The final products still need to be stored, transported, distributed, and sold. Moreover, these products all have a shelf life. If they cannot be sold within the shelf life, we must find a way to properly destroy them.

Even more critically, grains, oils, and beverages are, to some extent, non-standard products, and their quality largely depends on the user's personal experience.

This is actually a fatal flaw and makes it easy for competitors to attack.

Water is different; production is almost effortless. I know that small winery in Liangshan, Jingxi, has a small lake within its factory grounds. You can just connect a pipe there and pump as much as you want.

Water is pumped into the factory, filtered to remove impurities, boiled to sterilize, and then bottled and sold. The production costs and logistics costs are virtually zero—how wonderful!

……

"I understand that, but how do I sell the bottled water?"

Mai Xiaoyu's expression became much more serious. She originally thought that An Xiaohai's talk of selling water was just a random idea to lure An Zhehao into a trap, but she didn't expect that An Xiaohai had actually considered the feasibility of this matter.

"How do we sell it..." An Xiaohai took another small sip of tea, swallowing the tea and snacks in his mouth: "Of course, we need to find people who are willing to pay for water."

"Get to the point!" Mai Xiaoyu had already started banging on the table.

Would you like me to explain in detail or briefly?

"Of course, I'll explain in detail!"

An Xiaohai smiled slightly; the little fish he wanted to catch was already swimming into the net on its own.

"We'll break it down into several segments. First, we'll target those with essential needs—that's our core customer base. Think about it: who, in what situations, would need bottled water?"

"During field training!"

I remember during field training exercises, if we wanted to get water, we had to carry a huge water bottle on our backs, and after we finished, we had to carry it back. The empty bottle dangled around us, it was so uncomfortable! We were all exhausted and wanted to throw the bottle away.

Zhou Xun's eyes lit up as she spoke.

"Yes, it's a necessity when you're out and about."

"Then I can buy a drink," Mai Xiaoyu said, frowning.

"First, there is a difference between beverages and water."

Water is the best thirst quencher. I remember once I was thirsty at the gate of the First Prison, so I bought a bottle of soda to drink. But after drinking it, my mouth felt sticky and uncomfortable.

Secondly, beverages are more expensive than our water, which is the most important point. If it's just for quenching thirst, people tend to choose the cheaper option.

Third, we can tell everyone that drinking beverages is not as healthy as drinking water, especially for girls. We can tell them that drinking too many beverages will lead to weight gain, while water will not.

"...I think you're absolutely wicked..."

"How can you do business if you're not bad?" An Xiaohai rolled his eyes at Mai Xiaoyu. "One is willing to give, and the other is willing to receive. I'm not lying!"

"Okay, fine! What you're saying applies to rigid... right, rigid demand scenarios. What about non-rigid demand scenarios?"

"Why are you in such a hurry? There are many more scenarios with rigid demand than just those I just mentioned."

"What else?"

There are tons!

First, should I drink water in the car? Second, should I drink water on the plane? And what about on a ship?

Secondly, hotels, conference rooms, and other enclosed spaces are also suitable venues for such events.

Application scenarios for bottled water.

I can even tell you about a bizarre application scenario: those drug addicts, while consuming drugs, also need to drink a lot of water, and that consumption alone is not a small amount.

"Did your good brother tell you this?" Mai Xiaoyu's eyes turned dangerous.

"No, why would he need to say that? When I was in prison, countless people said the same thing to me!"

"..."

"Alright, let's not get off topic!"

In reality, bottled water has a wide range of applications and a huge market. The reason you think there is no market is simply because people haven't yet developed the habit of drinking bottled water.

Once you develop this habit, you won't have similar problems anymore.

An Xiaohai paused here, and Mai Xiaoyu thought for a while before speaking again: "What about non-essential needs?"

"There are even more non-essential needs! Let me tell you a golden rule of sales:"

Sales, simply put, is about selling things to others. We need to sell health to the elderly, virility to men, youth and beauty to women, and novelty and trends to children.

If you follow this rule, you will be invincible in the sales world.

"I don't quite understand."

"Let's take bottled water as an example. For instance, if you want to sell water to the elderly, you can say that our water is natural, pollution-free mineral water from deep in the mountains, and is rich in a variety of minerals and trace elements needed by the human body."

Elderly people who drink it regularly are in excellent health and live exceptionally long lives!

Meanwhile, you can send the savages to their mountain village and find a few elderly people who look three or four hundred years old but are in good spirits. Have them drink our water with smiles on their faces, and then have a new reporter take a news report and report it. Then the other elderly people will have no choice but to believe it.

For women, you can tell them that our water is natural small molecule cluster water. Its biggest feature is that it can easily penetrate the epidermis, which large molecule water cannot penetrate, and quickly enter the dermis. Moreover, it is absorbed very thoroughly. Drinking it regularly can keep your skin moisturized and smooth, and make you look younger!

When the time comes, we'll launch cosmetics based on this concept, focusing on moisturizing and hydrating. I don't believe they won't sell!

As for men, forget about them. Men are not easy to fool. A little hint is enough. The main thing is that men are under a lot of pressure these days and don't have much spending power, so we can put it aside for now.

However, the men can't escape either; ultimately, the majority of the money for the elderly, women, and children's drinking water still has to be paid by the men!

As for the children, there's no need to worry about them for now; the adults will naturally give them what they consider to be good things.

In conclusion, for those with non-essential needs, if we can tap into the market for women and the elderly, we've essentially succeeded...

"...What's wrong? Why are you all staring at me like that? Didn't I explain myself clearly enough?"

"I understand, I understand completely, thank you so much!" Mai Xiaoyu nodded slightly, her face blank. "I've realized you're really wicked to the core!..."