Chapter 324: The Canton Fair Branch Venue
With the Steel Mill getting off to a flying start, the next few enterprises, though failing to reach final agreements, managed to establish initial intentions.
The foreign businessmen simply wanted to wait until they arrived at the Canton Fair to compare prices across three different vendors, which was only human nature.
The Steel Mill had been able to secure their deal so smoothly because the Northern Liao Province Steel Mill was second to none domestically, meaning they faced limited competition.
Next up was the Capital North Province Meat Processing Plant.
The Capital North Province Meat Processing Plant was a veteran of the Canton Fair, having participated since the very first session.
The meat processing plant mainly exported sausage casings and pig bristles.
One shouldn’t look down on these two items; while they seemed unremarkable, they were both “founding veterans” when it came to exporting and earning foreign exchange.
Particularly pig bristles, which had made massive contributions to earning foreign exchange around the time of the nation’s founding.
China raised black-haired pigs, and the black bristles from these pigs were of much higher quality than the white bristles found in the West.
Another reason was that harvesting pig bristles was mostly done by manual plucking. In comparison, labor costs in Western nations were exorbitant, whereas China’s labor costs were extremely low.
Sausage casings and pig bristles were also relatively popular products at every session of the Canton Fair. Consequently, the Capital North Province Meat Processing Plant quickly signed a ten-thousand-dollar advance purchase contract with the foreign buyers.
Section Chief Niu said to Su He with a beaming smile, “Little Su, thank you so much this time! Go ahead and tend to your work, and once you’re done, I’ll come find you.”
Su He offered a few polite remarks in return.
She had consulted a great deal of data on the Canton Fair beforehand and knew that bristles and casings had no trouble finding buyers. If it had been those people from the Chucheng Food Factory instead, they might not have shown any gratitude at all.
From this, it was evident that Section Chief Niu was a reasonable and understanding man.
Next, two enterprises returned in defeat, unable to reach a consensus, leaving only the Chucheng Food Factory at the end.
Section Chief Jin had intentionally refrained from bringing Wu Li along, deeply afraid that Su He would find it distasteful upon seeing him.
Wearing a placating smile, he said, “Little Su, sorry to trouble you!”
Su He replied with a smile, “It’s all for the sake of exporting and earning foreign exchange for the country, so it’s no trouble at all. Let’s begin!”
Section Chief Jin spoke extravagantly, praising their salted wild vegetables as something rarely found in heaven and impossible to seek on earth.
Su He translated his words exactly as they were to the foreign businesswoman, Ms. Kathy.
After listening, Kathy requested to see the samples.
As it turned out, Section Chief Jin hadn’t brought any samples at all because they had all been mailed to Guangzhou in advance.
Kathy shook her head. “Since there are no samples, let’s leave it at that. We can talk after I see the samples at the Canton Fair!”
As salted wild vegetables were a food product, it was entirely justifiable for someone to want to see the samples before negotiating.
However, Section Chief Jin felt that Su He simply hadn’t exerted her full effort. Since the people from the Steel Mill and the Meat Processing Plant hadn’t brought samples either, why had they managed to close their deals?
Therefore, once Kathy stepped back into the soft sleeper carriage, he spoke up somewhat displeasedly, “Little Su, are you harboring a grievance against our Chucheng Food Factory because of the previous misunderstanding? Otherwise, why didn’t you put in a few good words for us just now?”
Before Su He could even speak, Luo Dongchuan flared up in anger!
“How can you speak like that, comrade?”
“If Little Su had a grievance against you, would she have even given you the chance to negotiate with the foreign guests?!”
“Who else can you blame when you didn’t bring samples yourselves?”
“Look at the Anxin County Food Factory. Director Tian is much older than you, so how did he know to carry samples onto the train?”
“Ultimately, it’s because your own preparations were insufficient!”
“Instead of looking for the cause within yourself, you’re blaming Little Su. This kind of behavior is truly contemptible!”
Just as Tong Zhen was about to make a few excuses on Section Chief Jin’s behalf, Ji Tong frowned and said, “As foreign trade personnel, political awareness is of paramount importance!”
“Deputy Director Tong, after you return, you must strengthen the political education of the Chucheng Food Factory. If they cannot show improvement, I will recommend to the Ministry that their qualification to participate in the next session of the Canton Fair be revoked.”
Section Chief Jin’s legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the floor!
If their qualification was truly revoked, their factory director would absolutely skin him alive!
He wanted to speak, but Tong Zhen glared at him, forcing him to keep his mouth shut.
Wearing an expression of deep shame, Tong Zhen said, “Leader Ji, this matter was an oversight on my part. Lately, I’ve been entirely occupied with the preparations for the Canton Fair and neglected their political education work.”
“Rest assured, immediately upon my return, I will hold a symposium to conduct political education for all members of the delegation.”
“In addition, Comrade Jin Changbo spoke indiscreetly just now purely out of anxiety from failing to secure an order. In reality, he is still immensely grateful to Comrade Su He. Old Jin, why haven’t you quickly apologized to Comrade Su He?!”
Section Chief Jin was utterly terrified!
With a deathly pale face, he apologized to Su He, stopping just short of slapping his own mouth.
A person as “mindful of the bigger picture” as Su He naturally wouldn’t hold a grudge against him, so she offered a few high-sounding, elegant remarks.
Then, she shifted the conversation: “Section Chief Jin, our Anxin County also abounds in wild mountain vegetables. However, we suffer from a lack of equipment and technology to process salted wild vegetables.”
“I wonder if it would be convenient for you to extend a helping hand to us?”
“The lesser option would be to teach our farmers the primary processing techniques for salted wild vegetables, and then your factory can handle the unified purchasing.”
“The superior option would be to help our Anxin County Food Factory establish a salted wild vegetable workshop so we can produce and market them ourselves. Which option do you think is better?”
Section Chief Jin: “…”
What did I say? This Su He never wakes up early without a profit in sight!
Look at that, the fox has finally shown its tail!
But was there any use in him saying this now? Would anyone believe him?
Obviously, no one would!
Everyone would only think that Su He kept her hometown close to her heart, thinking of her local people at every waking moment!
Section Chief Jin was now caught between a rock and a hard place. He believed that if he didn’t agree, Su He would definitely whisper “slanderous words,” and perhaps their Chucheng Food Factory’s qualification for the Canton Fair really would be revoked.
Thus, he could only grit his back teeth and choose the lesser option.
What a joke. If he chose the so-called superior option, their Chucheng Food Factory would likely have no way to survive and would surely be squeezed to bankruptcy by the Anxin County Food Factory!
He had entirely forgotten his previous remarks about the Anxin County Food Factory being a small-scale workshop.
Su He hadn’t actually wanted to add any salted wild vegetable workshop anyway; she didn’t have the energy for it!
She simply wanted the farmers to handle the primary processing and then have the Chucheng Food Factory take care of the unified purchasing. Not only would this increase the farmers’ income, but it was also entirely hassle-free.
Su He expressed a round of gratitude and even showered Section Chief Jin with high praises for aiding his peasant brothers in a fellow province.
Section Chief Jin practically wanted to weep but had no tears!
Dejectedly, he shuffled back to the soft sleeper carriage.
After exchanging a few polite remarks with Ji Tong, Tong Zhen and Luo Dongchuan left as well.
Su He said to Ji Tong, “Leader Ji, I’ll head back first as well. If anything comes up, just have someone call for me.”
Seeing that Su He’s voice had grown somewhat hoarse, Ji Tong nodded repeatedly. This Comrade Su He could truly be called a model citizen!
At the very least, she was worthy of being elected a model worker of Northern Liao Province!
He offered a few words of encouragement before letting Su He leave.
After Su He left, Ji Tong noticed the train conductor, Wang Qiang, standing there stiff as a wooden post, so he patted his shoulder. “Conductor Wang? Stunned out of your mind?”
Only then did Wang Qiang snap back to reality. His mind was entirely consumed by a single thought: On my train, nearly a million US dollars in orders were just concluded?!
Is this even a train?
No!
This is a branch venue for the Canton Fair!
