Chapter 301: Being Too Enthusiastic Isn’t Always a Good Thing
Su He, however, maintained a completely calm and unruffled air. “This matter isn’t worth County Chief Lu going over to slam tables just yet. Let’s keep a tally for them first.
“Do you see the usefulness of me having you gather information now?
“If we hadn’t mastered the handbook’s distribution schedule ahead of time, we’d probably still be kept completely in the dark…”
Director Tian and the other three: “…”
You have foresight, you plan for a rainy day! You’re the formidable one!
Please say no more, we all understand perfectly!
Finally, Su He shifted the topic. “Let’s set that matter aside for a moment and look at this booth map.
“We’ve been assigned to the food section, and to make matters worse, we’re located at the absolute far corner of it.
“The food section is already a relatively unpopular area at the Canton Fair, and with such a marginalized location on top of that, many foreign merchants won’t even walk anywhere near our booth…”
While they were over at Lu Qifeng’s office, Director Hu and the others hadn’t had the spare time to look at the handbook properly. Now, hearing Su He lay it out, their hearts instantly sank by half!
This was particularly true for Director Hu and Director Feng.
One managed agricultural machinery and the other dealt in accessories, yet they were both shoved into the food exhibition area. How on earth were they going to attract their target clients?!
It would be one thing if the food exhibition area had a better location; perhaps some foreign merchants would browse around in passing and reach a letter of intent.
But with a location this marginalized, who would even come?!
Lu Qifeng had likely omitted this point on purpose, presumably terrified of dampening their enthusiasm.
Right then, Su He said, “Every coin has two sides. We can think of a way to turn this disadvantage to our advantage, so don’t lose heart just yet.
“This matter requires long-term planning, so let’s set it aside for now.
“I’ve sorted through the data you gathered. The organizers of the Canton Fair have reserved a three-day booth setup period for us.
“Therefore, we must mail our samples and necessary items to Guangzhou ahead of time.
“This requires us to dispatch personnel to Guangzhou early to establish a presence. On one hand, they’ll gather information, and on the other, they’ll receive our shipments.
“The few of us can’t break away from our duties, so we need to send separate personnel over.
“They won’t take up the slots for the accompanying personnel and will be responsible for off-site tasks. Do you have any suitable candidates in mind?”
Director Tian rolled his eyes. “Little Su, what do you think of Comrade Su Yongshi?
“Although he hasn’t been at the food factory for very long, he participated throughout the entire setup and commissioning of the instant noodle production line. He’s thoroughly familiar with the technological workflow of instant noodles.
“Furthermore, Comrade Su Yongshi is highly reliable in his speech and actions. He is fully capable of taking on this task.”
Su He: “…”
While I know you mean well, it’s completely unnecessary!
Su Yongshi hadn’t even set foot outside An County before. Plunging him abruptly into Guangzhou would be bound to leave his head spinning in total confusion!
“Director, I still feel Yu Guodong from the logistics office is more suitable.”
Director Tian said with a beaming smile, “Alright then, I’ll respect your opinion. Let’s have Guodong go!”
Su He: “…”
I have absolute reason to believe that your very first choice was Yu Guodong, and bringing up Su Yongshi was merely to curry favor with me!
Director Hu, meanwhile, nominated Qian Huifang’s spouse, Qi Weimin.
Although Su He’s name was listed as the number one researcher for the simple seed drills, in reality, Qi Weimin was the primary developer.
Furthermore, Director Hu knew about the relationship between Qian Huifang’s couple and Su He, which was precisely why he voiced this suggestion.
Su He also felt Qi Weimin was highly suitable, so she nodded and looked toward Director Feng. “Director Feng, who do you feel is suitable to go from the textile factory’s end?”
Director Feng answered with a question of his own: “Who do you think is suitable?”
Whoever you say to dispatch, I absolutely won’t dispatch them!
“Let’s have my Second Aunt, Comrade Cao Hongmei, go! She has quite a knack for hair accessory design; perhaps she can design new styles of accessories once she arrives in Guangzhou.”
Director Feng: “…Little Su, although your words carry a bit of sense, Comrade Cao Hongmei lacks business travel experience after all. I estimate she’ll find it highly unaccustomed once she arrives in Guangzhou.”
Su He nodded. “That’s true. Speaking of business travel experience, Director Gao from the sales department is naturally the most qualified. Let’s have him go then!”
Director Feng: “…”
You dug a pit for me again!
However, he had no choice but to admit that Director Gao was indeed the most suitable candidate.
Not only was he articulate and persuasive, but he had also studied foreign trade knowledge at the Shanghai Textile Factory, meaning he could step into the role as quickly as possible upon arriving in Guangzhou.
Therefore, he could only pinch his nose and agree.
Su He continued, “Since the candidates are settled, the sooner the better. Once the training session ends next week, have them depart for Guangzhou immediately.
“I will next lay out a few points. First, the quality control of the samples must be strictly overseen. In terms of quantity, I’d rather have a surplus than a tight margin.
“Second, for the booth setup materials, purchase items that are easy to buy directly in Guangzhou, and choose freight transport only for those that aren’t convenient…
“Third, we also need to print business cards and corporate product handbooks.
“Based on the information gathered, these two points are very easily overlooked because domestic practices don’t pay much attention to them.
“But foreign merchants care a great deal about these, so we must invest some effort into this area.
“Director Feng, you possess wide connections. Borrow a color camera as quickly as possible; I need to take some color photographs to produce the product handbooks.”
Director Feng: “…Is it really necessary to go to such grand lengths? Color printing is exceptionally expensive, and we further have to schedule a slot at the printing factory. I’m afraid there won’t be enough time.”
Su He said with a solemn expression, “Director Feng, if you don’t bait the hook, you won’t catch the fish. To stand out among a crowd of exhibitors, you must be willing to invest money.
“In reality, whether the instant noodles and simple seed drills are in color doesn’t matter much. But for the hair accessories, we must have color promotional pages to highlight the features of the products.
“Furthermore, the product handbooks are primarily for foreign merchants to browse through at our booth; they will only be gifted to foreign merchants who display a genuine intent to cooperate. Calculating it this way, we actually don’t need to print many copies, and it won’t cost much money.
“As for the printing factory schedule, that depends entirely on the strength of your efforts!”
Before Director Feng could speak, Director Tian said impatiently, “Old Feng, just do whatever Little Su tells you to do. Stop always making excuses and pushing back! Little Su is the deputy team leader personally designated by County Chief Lu. Do you harbor some grievance against County Chief Lu?”
Director Feng: “…”
His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he fell completely silent.
An ominous premonition welled up in his heart—on this trip to the Canton Fair, he was bound to suffer a massive wave of stifling frustration!
Su He continued to chatter away: “The expenses during the exhibition period will be managed uniformly by Principal Chen. Once the Canton Fair concludes, we will partition them accordingly.”
Director Tian felt a bit sour in his heart. Little Su had actually given the financial control to Baldy Chen; she truly treated him quite out of the ordinary!
But on second thought, this financial control was merely equivalent to being a cashier, which was a far cry from a grand factory director like him!
Little Su still treats me the best!
Su He arranged a few more tasks, then said with a solemn expression, “The contents of our meeting must not be leaked outside. It’s inevitable that some bad elements are lurking in the shadows. In the event they conduct sabotage, all our previous efforts will go down the drain.”
Regarding this point, Director Hu and the other three agreed completely, voicing one after another that their lips were sealed.
Once the meeting concluded, Su He’s gaze landed upon the handbook’s appendix.
Written upon it was the roster for the provincial foreign trade department’s guidance group, and the name of the deputy group leader looked extremely familiar.
Luo Dongchuan.
Su He raised her eyebrows. Since Cousin Xiaoling had begged so desperately, she would have a proper heart-to-heart talk with Uncle Luo during her trip to the provincial capital for training next week!
Sigh, being too enthusiastic isn’t always a good thing either; I just don’t know how to refuse other people’s requests.
