Chapter 323: Su He Is Quite the Talent
Section Chief Jin was both embarrassed and annoyed. “I was just speaking off the cuff, and you guys had to go and blow it out of proportion! Fine, I admit she’s a good person, alright?!”
Tong Zhen stepped in to smooth things over. “Old Jin spoke without thinking. Since you three units don’t have any objections, go wait outside the soft sleeper carriage in the order Su He specified. I’ll head over first to take a look.”
On one hand, he wanted to see for himself how Su He dealt with foreigners; on the other hand, he was acting a bit petty, harboring a slight worry that Su He might give preferential treatment to her own province’s enterprises over theirs.
After Tong Zhen left, the others stopped gossiping about Section Chief Jin, but the conversation remained firmly centered around Su He.
Hearing all this made Section Chief Jin feel incredibly restless!
There was another person who felt just as restless: Section Chief Zhu of the Chucheng Textile Factory.
He had boasted proudly right in front of Deputy Director Tong, claiming that they would definitely overshadow the Anxin County Textile Factory at this session of the Canton Fair.
But now, his confidence was beginning to waver!
Even though the Anxin County Textile Factory hadn’t secured any orders yet, this Su He was simply too capable!
If things kept going like this, securing an order seemed to be only a matter of time for them.
Consequently, he and Section Chief Jin, like two miserable brothers in arms, instantly found common ground. Their core argument was that Su He was merely a blind cat running into a dead mouse—she was just incredibly lucky.
Listening to them, Li Xia thought to herself: Is it really that hard to admit someone else is excellent? Just look at how sour you two are!
Besides, having good luck is a form of strength in itself!
Unfortunately, she had been assigned to the Chucheng Textile Factory. If only she had been assigned to the Anxin County Textile Factory back then!
By this time, the representatives from the Steel Mill had already begun negotiating with the foreign businessman, Brian.
As a wealthy, large-scale enterprise, the Steel Mill had brought its own translators along.
However, Brian didn’t trust the Steel Mill’s translators and insisted that Su He act as his interpreter for the session.
The Northern Liao Province Steel Mill held a leading position within the country. Both its product variety and quality were second to none domestically, so the only point of contention between the two sides was the price.
Brian wanted the Steel Mill to lower their price, but the Steel Mill side firmly maintained that prices were uniform nationwide and could not be reduced.
They were telling the truth. To prevent domestic enterprises from engaging in price wars to snatch foreign trade orders, the Ministry of Foreign Trade regulated a fixed price for steel products.
Thus, the two sides reached a complete standstill.
Brian shook his head. “Since we can’t reach an agreement, let’s stop here for now. I’ll take another look when I get to the Canton Fair.”
Su He recalled the strategy used by the Shanghai No. 1 Textile Factory, so she called the Steel Mill representatives off to the side.
“Does your steel mill have any slow-moving products or leftover inventory? If you do, you can bundle them with Brian’s order. Then, adjust the pricing structure slightly to make him feel like he’s getting a bargain.”
Director Zhao of the Steel Mill didn’t quite catch her drift. “Little Su, what do you mean by that?”
Su He explained, “For example, right now the Steel Mill is negotiating with Brian for Product A, and the item you want to clear out at a low price is Product B. You can quote a slightly higher price for Product B and a lower price for Product A.”
“But there’s a catch: he must buy both.”
“The difficult part of this plan lies in whether your slow-moving or inventoried products can actually appeal to him.”
“I don’t know the Steel Mill’s inventory very well, so I’m not sure if this is feasible.”
When she had helped the No. 1 Textile Factory before, she could still offer advice on fabrics. But the Steel Mill’s products were highly specialized, leaving her a complete amateur in that field.
Nevertheless, Su He’s words provided immense inspiration to Director Zhao and his team.
They were, after all, foreign trade personnel from a major factory. Previously, they had simply been constrained by conventional thinking, believing that only the finest goods could be sold to foreigners, and it had never crossed their minds that leftover stock could be turned into cash.
Now that their minds were opened, they quickly formulated a concrete proposal.
After a round of bargaining, both sides finally reached a consensus.
In this era, steel was still exceptionally expensive compared to other products, fluctuating around seven hundred US dollars per ton, and the minimum order quantity for foreign trade was generally over a hundred tons.
Brian ordered six different types of products in various amounts, totaling one thousand tons. The final sum reached nearly eighty thousand US dollars, which was equivalent to 1.6 million RMB.
Su He thought to herself: No wonder the Steel Mill is a pillar industry of Northern Liao Province. A casual deal brings in over a million!
How many hair accessories and instant noodles would someone have to sell to match that!
Little did she know, the representatives from the Steel Mill felt like they were dreaming!
During the spring session of the Canton Fair earlier this year, their steel mill had secured a total of 3.4 million US dollars in orders. Yet today, right here on a train, they had… they had actually secured an eighty thousand dollar order?
The Canton Fair hadn’t even started, and they had already completed nearly a quarter of their target?
The crucial point was that half of the order consisted of slow-moving inventory stock. Not only had their dead weight been turned into money, but it had also been converted into US dollars!
No matter how they looked at it, it felt completely surreal!
They didn’t even know how they made their way back to the soft sleeper carriage; every single one of them was floating on air.
Director Zhao suddenly pinched his own arm. It didn’t hurt.
Oh no, I really am dreaming!
The next second, Zhao Dabang, who was standing beside him, grimaced and asked, “Director, why did you pinch me?”
Only then did Director Zhao believe he wasn’t dreaming.
All of this was actually real!
Previously, although he felt Su He was capable, to be perfectly honest, he hadn’t taken her too seriously.
After all, the Steel Mill possessed massive assets, and orders worth tens of thousands of dollars wouldn’t even catch their eye.
Yet, Su He had just handed them a magnificent gift!
There was no reason to let someone work for them for free. Once the factory leadership arrived, they would have to look seriously into what kind of reward to give her.
Meanwhile, at the vestibule connecting the soft sleeper carriages, everyone except Su He looked entirely dazed.
As the leader from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Ji Tong was highly experienced and had facilitated many foreign trade orders. However, every single one of them usually required multiple rounds of negotiation and an exhausting amount of persuasion.
Yet, the Northern Liao Steel Mill had just secured a massive eighty thousand dollar order on a train in a mere half-hour?
If word of this got out, who would ever believe it?!
While this order was successfully secured because the Northern Liao Steel Mill’s products were excellent and their foreign trade personnel had solid foundational skills, the most critical factor was Su He!
If she hadn’t secured the opportunity for both sides to negotiate, and if she hadn’t devised the strategy for the Steel Mill, this order would never have happened!
Su He, this young woman is truly extraordinary!
Compared to Ji Tong, Luo Dongchuan’s heart was practically bursting with wild excitement and uncontainable joy!
This was his first time serving as a deputy delegation leader. He never expected that before the Canton Fair had even begun, the Steel Mill and the Anxin County Food Factory would bring in eighty thousand dollars in orders!
Looking across the entire country, which delegation could pull off something like this?
This was a uniquely outstanding achievement!
His promotion to Deputy Director was now practically set in stone!
Little Su was truly his lucky star!
Tsk tsk, and to think Shen Jiawang actually wanted to dig a pit for her!
In the end, before she had even set foot at the Canton Fair, she had already made a stunning, explosive debut!
Even if gold fell into the dust, it would sooner or later radiate a brilliant luster!
Any attempt to cover it up would be utterly futile!
While he was thoroughly delighted, Tong Zhen was practically green with envy!
They were both delegations, so why didn’t their Capital North delegation have a talent like Su He?!
No matter how much he disliked Su He, at this moment, he had no choice but to admit that Su He was a talent—and a remarkably rare one at that!
When a person becomes sufficiently outstanding, even your enemies have no choice but to acknowledge you.
