chsdbacks Chapter 7 The Squeezing of Extreme Value
Chapter 7 The Squeezing of Extreme Value
Zeng Jia was stunned for a moment, her heart softening as if lukewarm water had been poured over it.
"I'd hate to see us break up."
Her voice lowered, with a hint of coquettishness at the end, "But we can't just let it go like this, can we? If some sharp-eyed person catches us red-handed, we'll both be out of work!"
Wang Haowen nonchalantly held the grilled cold noodles to her lips again. "Why think so much? You're just making things harder for yourself! Plans never keep up with changes. Let's just pretend for one day at a time. Filling our stomachs is the priority! Come on, open your mouth!"
Zeng Jia had no choice but to resign herself to opening her mouth wide and taking a big bite. The sweet and spicy sauce smeared on the corners of her mouth, and the aroma spread on her tongue, magically dispelling most of her fatigue.
She suddenly remembered how he looked during the day wearing Burberry, surrounded by everyone in the company laughing and joking, and Dong Miaomiao's words about how Yu Li had taken a liking to him at first sight. The little bubble of jealousy in her heart couldn't help but rise again.
"Find out the white shirt you wore when you confessed your love to me back then. I'm going to sleep with it tonight."
"Oh ho?" Wang Haowen put down the grilled cold noodles, cupped her face in his hands, and deliberately leaned closer to ask, "Tell me honestly, did you fall for me as a person back then, or was it just that white shirt?"
Zeng Jia rolled her eyes, pretended to think for a moment, and then said with a grin, "It must be a white shirt."
Wang Haowen scoffed, a hint of smugness mixed with a touch of helplessness, and turned to pull open the creaking old wardrobe door.
The white shirt, which had been washed countless times, was pulled out, with faint yellow stains on the cuffs that couldn't be washed away. He put it on neatly, deliberately leaving two buttons undone, and rolled up the sleeves to his forearms, revealing the muscle lines that showed signs of working out.
He turned around, and the dim light seemed to add a nostalgic filter to the room. Wang Haowen's clear eyes looked over, as if they were truly filled with half a cup of starlight from back then.
Zeng Jia was momentarily dazed, as if she could see again the naive boy from five years ago, standing under the snow-covered teaching building, stubbornly waiting for her to finish class even as he stomped his feet in the cold.
Zeng Jia snuggled into his arms, clinging to him and acting coquettishly, "I was really shocked by the two of them today. I never expected them to be so incompatible. With Yu Li's eyes, I was so scared that I didn't dare to breathe loudly in front of her."
"Who cares? Didn't we agree on six months? Let's just stick it out for six months!" Wang Haowen hugged her. "If I really can't take it anymore, I'll quit. We can each work a regular job and deliver food. A delivery on JD Supermarket costs seven yuan. So what if we're blue-collar workers? We'll rise up eventually. A living person can't let themselves be held back!"
Zeng Jia leaned against him and nodded sullenly, "Yeah, let's talk about it in six months! Anyway, we can't end up like them; their acting skills are so badly deserving of an Oscar!"
After they finished complaining, the two washed up and went to bed.
Early the day after tomorrow, before dawn, Zeng Jia followed Zhang Zhishan to Gaoyou, Jiangsu, to inspect the source of goose down.
Gaoyou has no airport, and Zhang Zhishan complained that the high-speed rail was "as slow as an old ox pulling a broken cart," so Zeng Jia had to arrange a flight to land in Yangzhou first, and also arranged in advance for a spacious Mercedes-Benz V260L to pick him up and accompany him.
Yangzhou is 70 kilometers from Gaoyou, a journey of about an hour. The local cooperative's contact person, Chen Dewei, was already waiting there. He was under 40, his face tanned like a braised duck, robust, and stern-faced. Even though Zhang Zhishan had spoken to him on the phone several times, he only exchanged a few polite, insincere words upon meeting him.
It wasn't until Zhang Zhishan patted Zeng Jia on the shoulder warmly and said, "President Chen, this is the girl who saved your old lady."
Gao Dewei then revealed a genuine smile, stepped forward to shake hands, and said, "Secretary Zeng is such a kind person. My mother specifically called to ask me to treat you well!"
"It is my honor to visit and learn from you with Mr. Zhang," Zeng Jia replied politely, but she also clearly realized that Zhang Zhishan was not interested in her abilities at all; he was just using the "life-saving grace" as a bargaining chip!
But Chen Dewei was clearly no pushover either. Even though the two sides had almost reached an agreement, his deep-seated wariness of Zhang Zhishan remained undiminished.
The group got into the car, and Zeng Jia, being quite tactful, took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Chen Dewei. Although she was new to the down business, she had worked in HR for three years, and reading people and warming up the atmosphere were her forte.
Looking out the car window at the rows of neat and uniform goose sheds, she exclaimed sincerely, "Mr. Chen, the arrangement of your goose sheds is truly ingenious! The straight line arrangement ensures good ventilation and makes it easy for the geese to go into the water. I also think the spacing design is very clever; did you take into account the convenience of disease prevention and cleaning?"
These words immediately struck a nerve with Chen Dewei's professional pride. His eyes lit up, and he launched into a long explanation: "Secretary Zeng has a sharp eye! Experts were specifically hired to design the factory when it was first built. The spacing and orientation are all based on scientific principles. Otherwise, with so many geese, just cleaning them would be exhausting for three people, and the stench would be enough to kill two!"
"No wonder, the wind is filled with the fresh scent of water plants, there's no other smell at all."
Zeng Jia then steered the conversation toward policy support, saying, "I heard Mr. Zhang mention that our local government provides a lot of support to agricultural cooperatives. Have they also made things easier for us in terms of approval processes and subsidy policies?" She cleverly brought Zhang Zhishan into the conversation.
Zhang Zhishan understood immediately and took over the conversation, talking about everything from the base's construction to the various difficulties overcome, spitting as if it were free. Chen Dewei also relaxed and engaged in a lively discussion with him.
Zeng Jia listened casually to the two chatting, but her ears were perked up. She quietly memorized key information such as "logistics subsidies" and "local policies," occasionally chiming in with a few well-timed remarks, her mental notebook scribbling away non-stop.
As the sun began to set, Chen Dewei led the group to an elegant farmhouse courtyard.
The courtyard was spotless and tidy, with a row of pearl plum blossoms blooming delicately and vibrantly along the wall. In the center of the courtyard stood an eight-immortal table, laden with steaming steamed lake fish, stir-fried snails in bright red oil, and three cups of fragrant green tea—clearly a carefully prepared meal.
Zeng Jia immediately recognized the significance of the three cups of tea and quickly whispered in Zhang Zhishan's ear, "Mr. Zhang, there's a saying about this tea: first salty, then sweet, and finally fragrant. The order in which you drink it is important; it's a local custom to serve distinguished guests."
Zhang Zhishan reacted quickly, immediately adapting to local customs. The meal was a pleasant one for both host and guests, with a warm and lively atmosphere.
After a hearty meal, Zhang Zhishan seemed even more excited. He squatted down on the threshold of the farmer's house, lit a locally produced sun-dried tobacco from Gaoyou, and took a deep drag. The tobacco leaves were so pungent they looked like chili powder, making Zeng Jia cough.
Amidst the swirling smoke, Zhang Zhishan began his "bitter memories and sweet sentiments," recounting his impoverished childhood when he would sneak into classes barefoot over mountains, his journey to Beijing as the first college student from his village, his outstanding academic performance that moved his professor to tears, who then funded his studies abroad, and now, having achieved great success, he only wants to "give back to his hometown folks"!
"To be honest, this might not be pleasant to hear."
Zhang Zhishan spoke with great enthusiasm, "Gaoyou's goose down is excellent and large, absolutely world-class. But its current business model is too weak, and it's still a long way from going global. The reason I chose to cooperate with Gaoyou is that I want to sell the good things from our hometown all over the world. As for those Canadian geese, how can they compare to the warmth of our hometown's goose down? They're just a bunch of rip-offs."
He then launched into a long and detailed analysis of the global down market, from Europe to the Americas, captivating the audience of his fellow countrymen. Chen Dewei's expression grew increasingly serious; he was clearly swayed by the rosy picture Zhang Zhishan painted.
Gaoyou actually has quite a few international orders, and its sales volume is not low. But Zhang Zhishan deliberately approached the issue from the perspective of "demographic dividend," and after some meticulous calculations, he portrayed Gaoyou as a sucker who "suffered a huge loss from foreign devils." It was as if as long as you cooperated with him, the banner of "world's number one" could be hung on the cooperative's roof beam tomorrow.
Zeng Jia touched her nose guiltily. Zhang Zhishan was really good at making things up. The information and negotiation plan were the result of her and the operations department working day and night for the past few days. His ability to learn and apply what he learned on the spot was even better than the fake antique sellers at Panjiayuan.
And how did he, a native of Zhejiang, get involved with Jiangsu as his hometown? Is this thing even calculated according to the Yangtze River Delta region?
"I love the taste of home in our village!" Zhang Zhishan acted with genuine emotion, then suddenly slapped his thigh, "I'm not leaving today! Brother, let me stay in this self-built house in the village for one night? Give me a chance to experience the life of our fellow villagers, please don't kick me out!"
Zeng Jia was stunned: What's going on?! The moment was almost here, shouldn't they strike while the iron is hot and sign the contract? Why the sudden change to a story of educated youth going to the countryside to reminisce about the bitter past? What mischief is this old fox up to now?
Chen Dewei was amused by Zhang Zhishan's unconventional "simplicity," saying, "Mr. Zhang, you are really different from other bosses. No wonder my mother praised you to the skies on the phone."
He immediately arranged for the villagers to vacate two of the cleanest rooms and lay out soft, sun-dried quilts that still smelled of sunshine.
After a flurry of activity, it was already late. Chen Dewei arranged to discuss the details of the collaboration the next day and went home first.
No sooner had Chen Dewei left than Zhang Zhishan called Zeng Jia over, lowered his voice, and said in an unquestionable tone, "Zeng, you need to think carefully about how to reduce the loss rate of goose down to 1%. I won't show up tomorrow; you can talk to him about this."
Zeng Jia's mind went blank, as if she had been hit on the head: the 2.5% loss was clearly stated in black and white, which was the lowest in the industry!
1%?
They're just going to steal it!
She suppressed the turmoil in her heart and tried to persuade him: "Mr. Zhang, before we set off, I ran around asking around and found out that a 2.5% loss rate is already extremely low in the industry..."
"I'm giving you the authority!" Zhang Zhishan interrupted her, his tone so harsh it was almost grating. "You can concede 2 percentage points on the platform entry fee and commission. But this 1% loss rate is non-negotiable; you have to bring it down!"
After he finished speaking, he turned and went into the house, leaving Zeng Jia alone in the courtyard, facing the cold moonlight, feeling the mess in the wind, her heart was truly ice-cold.