Even though they had bought a house, they still had to attend tutoring classes. Liu Fang insisted on treating Ren Yuanying and that Manager Luo to a meal. Liu Chen, rushing to her tutoring class, took a taxi and left first.
On the way, she sent a QQ message to Ren Mo, asking him to bring her a hamburger, so she could eat it when she got to class and start studying right away.
Perhaps because of buying the house, Liu Chen was in exceptionally good spirits today, and her learning efficiency was also remarkably high.
It wasn't until the last class ended and school was dismissed that she felt a slight fatigue.
Perhaps it was the stimulating effect of buying a house; both mother and daughter stayed up late that night.
—
A few days passed, and Wang Dong had already spent almost a thousand yuan on long-distance calls, but still, no manufacturer was willing to take the remaining nine thousand pieces of scallion pancakes. Moreover, because the warehouse was occupied by the scallion pancakes, he couldn't even store other frozen goods, and the factory had come to a standstill.
On this day, before dawn, Wang Dong drove his minivan from the county town and arrived at the wholesale market in City C just after six in the morning.
Upon arrival, he found a wave of customers waiting outside "Sister Liu's Frozen Goods." He put on his apron and started helping to move goods.
He worked until past ten in the morning.
—
Seeing Wang Dong's bloodshot eyes, Liu Chen felt that they had endured enough. When they finally had a moment of leisure, Liu Chen pulled her mother to sit beside her and then gestured towards Wang Dong, who was still moving goods.
"Brother Wang seems to have something to discuss with you."
Liu Fang whispered, "I know he has something to discuss with me, but I just don't know how big of a deal it is... He's been helping non-stop since he arrived, all morning. How important can it be!"
Hearing her mother's words, Liu Chen couldn't help but chuckle and quickly gave her a heads-up.
"He probably wants us to take over a batch of scallion pancake inventory. He asked before if our new warehouse could fit ten thousand pieces of scallion pancakes."
"Ten thousand pieces!" Liu Fang was so startled that she almost jumped off the stool. Liu Chen quickly pulled her back down.
"That won't do! I was also planning to get a thousand pieces of tangyuan and dumplings. I asked, and if we take them in batches of one thousand, the manufacturer can give us an additional two yuan discount, which means we can earn an extra 80 yuan a day."
Liu Chen understood her mother's current mindset. After all, with a mortgage to pay off, she wanted to earn money steadily. It was a natural desire. However, Liu Chen wanted more than just paying off the mortgage; she wanted to make a big profit and then, taking advantage of the current favorable policies, buy several more houses so she could live a life of leisure in the future!
"Mom, think about it. We make seventeen yuan profit per piece of scallion pancake now. The daily sales of scallion pancakes are about 150 pieces these past two days. Ten thousand pieces will be sold in about two months.
The cold storage fee for two months is 16,000 yuan. Averaged out, the cost per piece increases by 1.6 yuan. As long as you can push the price down to 1.6 yuan or more, the excess price will be our additional net profit. This is much more worthwhile than your daily 80 yuan."
Liu Fang's expression shifted from initial panic to contemplation, and finally to sudden realization. Seeing that her mother had understood her meaning, Liu Chen finally released her hand from her mother's shoulder.
"Go for it, Mom! How much our family's profit can increase in the next two months depends on you!"
"Don't worry, your mom hasn't been doing business for over a year for nothing!"
Liu Chen watched as her mother stood up, took out a bottle of iced Hong Cha, handed it to Wang Dong, who was still moving goods, and then praised him profusely, thanking him for his help. Their store only had three women, and they had indeed been exhausted these past few days.
Liu Chen secretly smiled as she watched Wang Dong open and close his mouth several times while holding the drink.
After praising him, Liu Fang didn't stop. She started inquiring about Wang Dong's personal matters: how old he was, where he was from, and if he was married.
"Oh, you're thirty-three and still don't have a partner. Don't your family urge you? Oh, right, you own a factory now, so your standards must be high..." After interacting more, Liu Fang now knew that Wang Dong owned this factory himself.
"Sister Liu, you can't falsely accuse me! My standards aren't high. Look at my factory, it's small, and I'm always driving a minivan everywhere. Which young woman would fancy me? Besides, my factory is about to go out of business..."
Liu Fang blinked in surprise, "How could that be? Aren't our scallion pancakes selling well?"
"Sister Liu, let me tell you the truth. My scallion pancakes have always been contract manufactured for large coastal factories. Someone previously ordered ten thousand pieces, and I managed to produce them, but then they refused to take them. Only a thousand pieces were sold here, leaving nine thousand pieces in the warehouse.
The costs are accumulating, and the warehouse space is occupied. The factory hasn't been able to start production on anything else these past few days. I came here today hoping to shamelessly ask you, Sister, if you could help sell these nine thousand pieces..."
Liu Fang pursed her lips and remained silent. Liu Chen, who had stood behind her at some point, spoke up.
"Nine thousand pieces... but our family can't afford that much money either?"
Wang Dong quickly said, "It's not necessary. You only need to settle the payment once a week! As long as I can turn over the raw materials, it'll be fine!"
"But, if these nine thousand pieces are placed in our warehouse, we won't have space for other goods. And although our scallion pancakes are selling okay, it will take until winter to sell nine thousand pieces. The monthly warehouse fees will all be spent on scallion pancakes."
Wang Dong saw that Liu Fang hadn't said yes, but she hadn't refused either. She seemed to be hesitating. He was so eager to resolve all the problems that Liu Chen had raised that he didn't hesitate to assure her.
"As long as Sister Liu is willing to let me bring the goods over, I can sell them to you at cost price, just eighty!"
Eighty! This was thirteen yuan cheaper than their own purchase price! Liu Fang's back straightened slightly as she sat on the plastic stool, wanting to say yes, but she felt her back being lightly pressed by her daughter Chen Chen's finger.
"Brother Wang, ten thousand pieces of scallion pancakes, and you made them without any deposit? How miserable..."
"Ahem, of course, I received a portion of the deposit. Ah, forget it, Sister Liu, I won't drag this out. My cost price is eighty, and I'll give it to you directly. I'll just make up for the deposit they forfeited."
Liu Fang dared not speak further and waited for her daughter Chen Chen's instructions. For some reason, Liu Fang found that Chen Chen's decisions were always right. After several times, Liu Fang had unconsciously begun to implicitly follow Chen Chen's ideas.
Liu Chen, on the other hand, was calculating Wang Dong's profit. This guy was very cunning. It was absolutely impossible that he was giving them the goods at cost. He was definitely making a profit, just a smaller one.
"Mom, what do you think?"