Chapter 154: Who’s Really Getting Arrogant Here?
Section Chief Yu, out of curiosity, glanced inside the room—and what he saw left him stunned.
Normally stern-faced and perpetually looking as if someone owed her money, Sister Zhang was now laughing so hard her whole body shook with joy.
“Oh my, Little Su! You really know how to talk. I’m already 46, how can I be as young as you say?!”
“Sister Zhang, don’t be so modest. When I walked in just now, I honestly thought you were just in your early 30s! Who would believe you’re in your 40s? You must share your beauty secrets with me. I’m definitely going to follow your skincare routine…”
Section Chief Yu: “…”
This Little Su really had a talent for smooth talk and blatant flattery. No wonder she was able to secure such a big foreign trade order for the food factory.
While thinking this, he asked, “Little Su, are you here to see me?”
Su He quickly responded and, after exchanging a few more pleasantries with Sister Zhang, led Principal Chen to Section Chief Yu’s office.
“Section Chief Yu, a foreign client named Lisa is interested in placing an order. Please provide a price quote.”
As she spoke, Su He handed him a sheet listing the types and quantities of fabric Lisa wanted.
The moment Section Chief Yu saw the quantity, his eyes widened in shock.
To be honest, he hadn’t held out much hope for Su He. Foreign orders weren’t that easy to land.
But surprisingly, she had brought in a huge order!
He calmed himself and began quoting, “Fabric No. 125, twill weave: $1.22 per meter. No. 217, twill weave: $1.53 per meter. No. 316, plain weave: $1.71 per meter.”
Su He frowned slightly. “Section Chief Yu, what’s the base price?”
“Little Su, our textile factory has fixed export prices. There’s no room for negotiation—the price I just gave is the base.”
Su He calculated. Daniel had been right: Lisa’s offer was indeed 10% lower than the base price.
She didn’t hide anything and told Section Chief Yu Lisa’s quoted prices.
After hearing it, Section Chief Yu shook his head. “No way. The gap is too large! If it were just a small difference, we could still negotiate. But this Lisa doesn’t seem very sincere.”
Su He’s eyes glinted. “I don’t think it’s a lack of sincerity—just that she’s trying to get a bargain. Oh, by the way, I heard that last year our factory took an order from Country R for printed linen, but there was a printing issue. The patterns overlapped, the colors were all messed up. Is that batch still around?”
Section Chief Yu sighed. “Foreign clients have strict quality requirements. Defective goods like those have no market.
We tried selling them domestically, but no one liked printed linen here. Even when we sent them to consignment in S City, barely a few meters sold in months. So they’ve been sitting in storage. Why do you ask?”
Su He blinked innocently. “Section Chief Yu, can I take a look at that batch? Maybe I can sell it.”
Section Chief Yu thought she was joking but still led her to the warehouse.
He had the warehouse manager bring out some of the returned consignment pieces and said regretfully, “Look at this—what was once a nice pattern turned into this. Who would want it?!”
But Su He’s eyes lit up. It was actually better than she’d expected!
The original prints were floral patterns, but due to the overlaps and color bleeds, the fabric now had a rather unique, artistic look.
Of course, to people of this era, it just looked like a mess.
“Section Chief Yu, could I take a few samples?”
Section Chief Yu thought the girl was just unwilling to accept failure after not sealing the previous deal and now had her sights on this defective batch.
Ah, youth!
If it were that easy to sell, it wouldn’t still be sitting in the warehouse.
But not wanting to kill her enthusiasm, he let the warehouse staff prepare some samples for her.
Principal Chen had silently followed along like a background character.
Suddenly, he recalled the glorious story Su He once told him—how she secured a liaison post at Huaihua Commune using leftover defective fabric from An County’s textile mill.
That time, she had managed to borrow the tractor through clever scheming. Now what was she planning to do with these defective linens?
Back in Section Chief Yu’s office, Su He sipped some tea before asking, “Section Chief Yu, what’s the ideal selling price for this batch of printed linen?”
“We quoted $1.26 per meter to Country R. But since these are defective, if we can sell at $0.8 per meter, we’d be quite satisfied.
Honestly, we were about to dispose of it at $0.6 per meter—half price.”
“How much of this fabric do you have in stock?”
“About 50,000 meters.”
Su He wasn’t surprised. If it hadn’t been such a large batch, they wouldn’t have had to lay off so many workers over it.
She did a quick mental calculation and said, “Section Chief Yu, how about this—I’ll try to get Lisa to buy this batch too. Have her accept $1 per meter for the printed linen, and we’ll give her the other fabrics at her quoted prices. But when signing the contract, we’ll use the standard listed prices. The total price remains unchanged, so it won’t count as price manipulation.”
Section Chief Yu: “…”
You’ll try? Try what?
Unless Lisa’s a fool, how would she possibly accept $1 per meter?
Principal Chen also thought Su He was joking. But the words of objection stayed stuck in his throat.
Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to let this young girl face some setbacks—to keep her grounded.
Young people need to learn to stay humble to achieve big things.
Then again… he recalled the thousands of dollars in sponsorship she brought to the night school, the $100,000 order she landed for the food factory…
Maybe this girl was capable of doing even bigger things?
So… who’s really getting arrogant here?
Just then, he heard Section Chief Yu say, “Little Su, your idea isn’t bad. But don’t blame me for being blunt—Lisa isn’t stupid. Forget $0.8 per meter, she probably wouldn’t even accept $0.6.”
Su He nodded. “You’re right—if these were merely defective products, she wouldn’t want them. But what if these fabrics are exclusive?”
Section Chief Yu was confused. “Exclusive?”
Su He nodded again. “Yes—our mill’s one-of-a-kind exclusive. Just this one batch, never again! And since the dye patterns are all different, each finished garment would be a unique piece too.”
Section Chief Yu was stunned, then shook his head. “That’s a clever pitch, but judging from Lisa’s quoted prices, she’s a savvy businesswoman. She won’t fall for that.”
“You’re right again. Saying that alone won’t work—I need to ‘gild the lily.’ When chatting with Lisa, she mentioned abstract art. It’s all the rage in Country M right now. I think our defective prints look just like abstract dye art—and they’re on linen fabric, which is quite trendy. If we spin it that way, Lisa might be able to make a huge profit from this. Businesspeople chase profit, and I believe I can convince her. But I’ll need your help finding a few books on abstract art. I want to study up first—then I can tie in the theory and really sell it to her.”
