"Yes, does Boss Zhang have any thoughts on the quote?"
"If possible, why doesn't Boss Zhang make the prices clear?"
"I've brought our factory's quote list. Boss Zhang, would you like to take a look now? If there's anything unsuitable, we can discuss and revise it now."
"I've brought mine too."
"..."
In the blink of an eye, a pile of factory quote lists was placed in front of Zhang Liunian. However, some factory owners hadn't presented theirs yet, such as the Gu family and the Sun family. The middle-aged man who spoke earlier was actually the last one to present his quote.
Kang Dafu looked at the stacks of quotes and nudged Zhang Liunian, "Hurry up and look!"
This is such a good opportunity, why aren't you picking out the cooperative businesses you need?
Zhang Liunian turned and understood Kang Dafu's meaning, smiling and nodding, "Then I'll take a look. Everyone, please continue eating."
After saying that, he picked up the quotes on the table and went through them one by one, finally selecting forty factories whose prices were satisfactory.
The rest either had the same product type or their prices were just a little higher.
Zhang Liunian looked at the quotes placed on his left and right sides, about to speak, when he saw that all the attending merchants were waiting for his reply. Only the Gu family and the Sun family were still eating calmly.
Zhang Liunian didn't care about their actions. He was looking for business partners, and there was no rule that they had to be large factories. Small factories were fine too. As long as they could deliver on time and guarantee quality, anyone was welcome.
"I've taken a look, and purely in terms of price, the ones on the right meet my internal pricing, while the ones on the left do not.
As long as the factories on the right can guarantee quality and adhere to the delivery time, I can sign supply cooperation agreements with them and pay deposits after the meal."
This last sentence was the real shot in the arm. Everything else was superficial. Only when they saw money would they decide whether to continue cooperating, and they would certainly not be swindlers.
"We don't know who Boss Zhang has selected. Can you tell us now?"
"Yes, we're all dying of curiosity and really want to know the results now."
"Without results, we're anxious!"
"..."
Seeing everyone's eagerness, Kang Dafu looked at Zhang Liunian, "Why don't you just announce it?"
Zhang Liunian, however, shook his head, "Let's finish eating first!"
He was afraid that if he announced it, many people might not be able to eat.
Everyone also saw his consideration and stopped talking. They were just genuinely anticipating and worried. Now that they had calmed down, they also knew they had been too eager.
Just then, the middle-aged man who had asked about the quotes jumped out again, "Boss Zhang, there's something I still want to say to you. You called all of us here, but half of us have the same product type, and you can only choose one out of two. Haven't you thought about how disappointed those who are not chosen will feel later?
Or did you do this intentionally, just to make us watch the success of our competitors?"
This was somewhat unreasonable. In business cooperation, whether to obtain cooperation or to achieve it, one must be prepared for the possibility of failure.
If everyone refused to accept rejection when seeking business cooperation, wouldn't it be chaos?
"Lao Mu, your words are completely unreasonable. Do you mean that wherever you go to seek cooperation, if they don't agree, they must cooperate with you?
You're forcing a sale and a purchase; that's not how it works." Kang Dafu was shocked by Lao Mu's shamelessness, never expecting that someone he had dealt with before would be like this.
From now on, he would not dare to cooperate with him. It was better not to achieve cooperation and instead be resented by him.
"It is indeed a bit excessive. In the years we've been running factories, haven't we experienced rejection many times?"
"Exactly. This kind of thing is normal. How can you make unreasonable demands on the host?
"There's no such logic."
"..."
Hearing this, Lao Mu's face turned unpleasant. "I'm just thinking for everyone. If you don't accept it, forget it. Consider me as having said nothing."
Father Gu, amidst the crowd, saw that Lao Mu couldn't stir up trouble and sighed inwardly at his incompetence. However, his mind was already pondering how to sabotage Zhang Liunian's cooperation. After a moment, he thought of something and suddenly spoke, "Does everyone remember last year's Hong Kong businessman incident?"
Everyone fell silent, not knowing what Father Gu meant.
The Hong Kong businessman incident was a well-known scam in Shenzhen. It happened last year when many Hong Kong businessmen came to the mainland for development. Among them was a group that, under the guise of development and investment, usurped the original owners, turning the original owners into wage earners and money-making machines for the Hong Kong businessmen.
This was considered the better outcome. Even worse was not only losing the factory but also owing a huge amount of debt that would take several generations to repay, essentially becoming slaves to the Hong Kong businessmen.
When this incident broke out, it caused a great sensation. It was also from that time that domestic businessmen developed a psychological dislike for Hong Kong businessmen and also divided into factions.
The two types of businessmen did not interact or cooperate. Anyone who dared to cooperate with Hong Kong businessmen would be kicked out of the business circle and face universal condemnation.
Hearing this, Lao Mu immediately understood Father Gu's intention and chimed in, "Speaking of which, I do remember something."
"What is it?" someone asked curiously.
Lao Mu curved his lips, his gaze meaningly fixed on Zhang Liunian, "I remember that someone among the Hong Kong businessmen back then looked very much like Comrade Zhang Liunian. I wonder if Comrade Zhang Liunian can explain why you were in that group?"
"I saw it too. That's what I wanted to say," Father Gu glanced at Lao Mu with the look of a promising student and immediately followed up to confirm his words.
Well, now everyone understood. This Lao Mu was part of Boss Gu's faction.
However, was Zhang Liunian really involved in the Hong Kong businessman incident?
If so, they truly wouldn't cooperate with him, no matter how many department stores he owned.
Zhang Liunian saw the change in everyone's expressions and gave a wry smile. He had heard of the Hong Kong businessman incident in his previous life. It was a vicious incident caused by the country's open policy to attract investment, where a group, under the guise of businessmen, acted as a front to swindle domestic businessmen, leaving them unable to recover.
The number of victimized merchants reached four to five hundred. Later, domestic businessmen and Hong Kong businessmen drew a very clear line. Domestic businessmen would absolutely not associate or cooperate with Hong Kong businessmen; they would only cooperate with their own people.
And Kang Dafu and the others were clearly domestic businessmen, so they naturally hated people associated with Hong Kong businessmen and their lackeys.
If this stigma were attached, Zhang Liunian would have no chance of achieving this cooperation.
"You saw me? That's quite a joke. I hadn't even come to Shenzhen until yesterday. Where could you have seen me?"
Zhang Liunian knew they were deliberately smearing him, but he had to explain.