Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 128: Worth Over a Million
"Er..." Wen Ci drew in a sharp breath. "Marketing... how do I put it? Everyone has their own definition, but in my eyes, marketing is just a tool to support sales."
"You can just think of it as a way to sell things more easily."
The words had barely left her mouth when an idea struck Wen Ci. Her gaze turned earnest as she looked at Xu Jinghe and slowly asked, "Why don’t you sell the clothes from your factory to me? I’ll handle the marketing and sales myself."
"Okay," Xu Jinghe agreed without a second thought.
Wen Ci’s eyes lit up, and a smile bloomed on her face. "How much for the stock in your factory?" she asked gently. "I can give you half as a deposit up front."
"That’s not necessary."
"Yes, it is!"
Seeing that Wen Ci’s expression was serious and she didn’t seem to be joking, Xu Jinghe grew solemn and asked tentatively, "Sister-in-law, are you serious?"
As far as he knew, only Huo Jingyuan’s aunt likely had the financial means to buy up all the inventory piled in his factory. Right now, he had over a million yuan worth of stockpiled goods.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Seeing Wen Ci’s expression, Xu Jinghe chuckled and explained, "Sister-in-law, you probably don’t realize the scale of my clothing factory. I have five hundred employees. In the Southern region, it’s considered one of the biggest.
The cost price for that old stock alone is over a million."
As she listened to the figures Xu Jinghe laid out, Wen Ci was dumbfounded.
A million might not sound like much.
But this was the eighties, an era when the average monthly salary was only thirty or forty yuan. And this wasn’t even Xu Jinghe’s entire fortune—it was just for one season of clothing.
Wen Ci looked at Xu Jinghe with a newfound admiration.
’I was in over my head!’
She never would have guessed Huo Jingyuan’s childhood friend was so well-off.
’Even with the money Huo Jingyuan gave me, I could afford one-tenth of Xu Jinghe’s inventory at most. And once that was spent, I wouldn’t have anything left for shipping costs.’
Wen Ci felt completely deflated.
’Making money isn’t easy. It was just a pipe dream to think I could take such a huge leap without enough capital to back me up.’
Xu Jinghe said, "I actually think your idea could work. You can take the goods from the factory to sell. It’s fine if you pay me after you’ve sold them."
Wen Ci waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, let’s just forget it."
’I’m confident I could sell the clothes, but if I fail, not only would the expensive shipping costs go down the drain, but it might even strain the friendship between Huo Jingyuan and Xu Jinghe.’
After mulling it over, Wen Ci decided to give up on the idea. ’There will be plenty of other opportunities to make money in the future.’
"Just pretend I never said anything. I was just spouting nonsense."
Xu Jinghe, however, took her seriously. Though it was his first time meeting Huo Jingyuan’s wife, he felt they clicked. He sensed that she had unconventional insights but was simply held back by a lack of capital.
Xu Jinghe had seen plenty of brilliant businesswomen—especially Huo Jingyuan’s aunt, who was a legend in the commercial world, with business dealings that reached overseas.
"Sister-in-law, you have to be brave enough to try!"
With that, Xu Jinghe thought of a compromise. "I can give you three-tenths of the factory’s inventory to start. You ship the goods north and give it a try. If it proves viable, we can discuss the next steps then."
"Is that really okay?"
"Of course. I’ll give them to you at my cost—five yuan apiece. You sell them for what you can, and you keep all the profit."
Wen Ci quickly ran the numbers in her head.
’Five yuan isn’t a high price. Even the outdated clothes in Beijing’s department stores are selling for ten yuan a piece. Factoring in shipping, my cost should be around seven yuan.’
Wen Ci asked, "How much does a single piece of clothing weigh?"
[PS: Please leave a recommendation vote!]
