"Little Sweetheart, have you thought about how the goods will be sold once the factory is built?"
In Lü Ruya's mind, production wasn't the biggest problem; the real challenge was sales.
Lü Ruya had been racking his brain to boost sales during this period.
In the era of planned economy, as long as production met the quota, there was no issue of unsold goods.
But now, many products needed to be sold independently, and the pressure on Lü Ruya, the deputy factory director in charge of sales, had significantly increased.
Su Xiaotian's desire to start a factory, coupled with Lü Ruya's concern about sales, was not unfounded.
He didn't realize that the immense pressure he felt was because the factory's sales staff had grown accustomed to being spoon-fed for years, never learning to fetch their own meals. With such a mindset, they wouldn't proactively sell, so it was no wonder sales were lagging.
Su Xiaotian was very grateful for Lü Ruya's sincere advice.
"Director Lü, thank you."
Surprised by the unexpected thanks, Lü Ruya quickly waved his hand and said, "It was just a casual remark. Little Sweetheart, sales are truly difficult. Our factory is already facing challenges. What if your new factory produces goods that can't be sold?"
He spoke with evident worry.
Su Xiaotian couldn't help but chuckle.
"Director Lü, for similar products, there are two shops in the northwest, one in the provincial capital and one in the county town. Both have good sales. I believe that once the factory is built, it will be very competitive."
Lü Ruya was about to say that running a shop was different from running a factory when Su Xiaotian spoke again.
"However, we'll need to implement some marketing strategies. As long as the marketing is done well, the sales channels will surely open up."
"Marketing strategies" was a term Su Xiaotian used for the first time, and Lü Ruya heard it for the first time.
When Lü Ruya heard this new term, he found it very interesting.
Marketing strategies?
Even though he didn't quite understand what marketing strategies were, it sounded so sophisticated.
"Marketing strategies?" Lü Ruya murmured.
"Yes, we can't just wait to die. We need to find every possible way to promote and sell our products. If necessary, we can offer small gifts, discounts, and so on, as long as it achieves the goal of promotion."
In a few more years, all sorts of marketing strategies would emerge, but they weren't common yet.
Su Xiaotian felt that the businesses she was involved in might benefit from such methods, but the Qili Silk Factory produced silk. They couldn't exactly give away silk as gifts.
It wasn't that they couldn't, but silk was too expensive, making it a loss-making gift.
She wondered if there would be deeper cooperation with the silk factory in the future, perhaps offering braised eggs with silk purchases.
This thought fleetingly crossed Su Xiaotian's mind.
The factory hadn't even been built yet, and no workers had been hired, so it was too early to discuss such matters.
If that day ever came, it wouldn't be too late to negotiate.
Su Xiaotian never found it strange that she might cooperate with the silk factory.
Su Xiaotian's words, however, plunged Lü Ruya into thought.
Promotions?
Even giving gifts?
It didn't seem impossible, but why did it feel like something was amiss?
As they both stood in thought, Director Liu arrived with his entourage.
The other party was a man in his fifties, looking rather plump, but Su Xiaotian could see the sharpness in his gaze, which conveyed a sense of shrewdness.
"Director Liu, you're here!" Lü Ruya snapped back to attention, quickly put on a smile, and extended his hand with a practiced greeting.
After shaking hands, Director Liu introduced the man beside him.
"This is Director Du. He's the head of the credit department at the fifth branch of our Beijing Bank. If you need a loan, Director Du is the person to see."
"Hello, Director Du. I've heard so much about you!" Lü Ruya said very politely.
Director Du displayed a hint of arrogance at this moment, but not excessive arrogance. It wasn't that he didn't want to be arrogant, but rather that credit work was not highly valued, and he was accustomed to being low-key.
"Hello, Director Lü. I heard you were planning to apply for a loan, and I only came today out of respect for Director Liu!"
Su Xiaotian listened to this with a faint smile.
"Then we must thank Director Liu very much. Director Du, Director Liu and I are also old friends!"
"Old Liu and I have been good brothers for many years!" Director Du showed a slight smile.
"Let's head to the private room. The food at Yiming Pavilion is worth savoring," Lü Ruya invited enthusiastically, as if he were the host.
Director Du smiled and said, "I've heard about Yiming Pavilion for a long time but never had the time to try it. This is indeed a perfect opportunity!"
"There are several signature dishes that are quite good. Please judge them later!"
After they entered, Su Xiaotian signaled a waiter to serve tea inside, and then she also walked into the private room.
Seeing Su Xiaotian enter, Lü Ruya proactively introduced, "Director Du, this is Comrade Su Xiaotian. She is a senior translator at our Qili Silk Factory, and also a co-owner of Yiming Pavilion."
Director Du was quite puzzled as to why Lü Ruya would specifically introduce a young girl. However, he truly didn't pay much attention to Su Xiaotian, a mere young girl, and merely nodded slightly as a form of greeting.
"Director Du, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Su Xiaotian offered a standard smile, neither subservient nor overbearing.
Seeing that Director Du completely overlooked Su Xiaotian, Lü Ruya had to speak up.
"Director Du, we invited you here today to help Comrade Su Xiaotian secure a loan."
Upon hearing that the loan was for the girl he had dismissed, Director Du was utterly shocked.
Was this a joke?
How much could a young girl possibly borrow?
They had quotas. The loan target for the fifth branch this year was 150,000 yuan. It was now July, and he hadn't even completed 20,000 yuan.
When Old Liu approached him this time, saying someone wanted to borrow money to build a factory, he was indeed very interested, even aiming to complete a transaction.
But now, they were telling him that a teenage girl wanted a loan.
It felt like falling from heaven to hell.
A teenage girl, had she even finished primary school? And she was talking about loans?
Even if she did want to borrow money, how much could she get?
The more he thought about it, the worse Director Du's expression became.
Director Du was extremely disappointed, feeling as if a readily available major client had just slipped away.
There was no other way; Su Xiaotian's age was simply too young. Anyone else would not believe that such a young girl genuinely intended to take out a loan, let alone a substantial one.
Su Xiaotian could see his suspicion.