At noon, the air was hot and humid, and the corridors of the wholesale market were as dim as seven or eight in the evening.
Liu Chen turned on the lights in the shop, illuminating the aisle at the entrance.
"It feels like a heavy rain is coming."
Liu Fang also looked worriedly towards the end of the aisle outside the shop. The sky was dark and overcast, with clouds piling up as if a downpour was imminent.
"You should go to your cram school first. If it starts raining later, you'll get your shoes wet on the way, and it won't be comfortable to wear."
Liu Chen looked at the heavy rain, but thought:
"With such heavy rain, won't those customers not come?"
Liu Fang, however, shook her head without any worry and said:
"You can rest assured, people in the food business, what right do they have to pick the weather? Let alone heavy rain, even heavy snow, they still have to come to stock up and open their shops."
Liu Chen, who only focused on selling products to distributors in her previous life, said she had learned something.
As soon as the mother and daughter finished speaking, a flash of white light illuminated the entire alley, followed by a thunderclap that seemed to explode right beside their ears.
"Rumble…"
A peal of thunder was immediately followed by the pitter-patter of heavy rain on the ground and the roof.
However, such heavy rain was indeed a bit much for Wang Dong. He had just driven a van to deliver fifty boxes of hand-grabbed pancakes from the factory. After unloading the goods and stacking them on a small cart, a thunderclap startled him. Zhang Dong quickly covered the boxes of hand-grabbed pancakes with the plastic sheeting from the car and pushed them into the alley. Then, the rain began to pour down as if a faucet had been turned on.
"Sister Liu!"
Wang Dong pushed the cart to "Sister Liu's Frozen Goods" and greeted Liu Fang, who was sitting in a chair, warmly.
Liu Fang, who was looking at the television, heard the voice and turned to see Wang Dong standing outside the shop with a cart. She quickly got up from her chair.
"Oh my, it's raining so heavily outside, did you get wet?"
Liu Chen's gaze fell on the fifty boxes of styrofoam-packaged hand-grabbed pancakes outside the shop. Each box was pure white with a small sticker on it, labeled "Original Flavor."
They didn't even put Zhang Dong's factory name, Quanmei, on them?
Sister Li also walked out of the shop and pulled the cart in a bit to avoid blocking the way, asking Liu Fang if she wanted to move it inside.
"Sister Li, please help me count, how many boxes are there in total? I need to settle the bill with this handsome young man."
"Okay!"
Because Liu Fang's original seat was a bit cramped, she led Wang Dong to sit behind the desk on the left side of the shop. Liu Chen voluntarily gave up her seat and sat in Liu Fang's original position.
"Regarding the agreed-upon payment method for the goods, if you find it acceptable, write it in the contract, and I'll sign it."
Liu Fang also proposed her requirement directly and frankly: deferred payment.
It was impossible not to have deferred payment. Most of her goods were on deferred payment. If she had to pay Quanmei in cash for all of them, her cash flow would be crippled.
Wang Dong smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, Sister Liu. I'll write the payment method for the goods in the contract. Since I've brought the goods, I naturally agree to your requirements, Sister Liu. Our factory is also very sincere. To support you, for every one hundred pieces, we will give you one piece for free tasting."
Liu Chen glanced at the small cart outside. The goods were neatly stacked, eight pieces per layer, a total of six layers plus two pieces on top, making exactly fifty pieces.
"Mom, there are only fifty pieces on the cart."
"One hundred pieces get one free, so fifty pieces on the cart means you don't get the free piece today, right?" Liu Fang reacted and, holding the pen, looked up at Wang Dong, who was sitting next to her, wearing a shirt and suit pants, and not yet overweight.
"Uh…"
Liu Fang rolled her eyes, speechless, "A bit stingy! Your factory."
"Oh, Sister Li, there's nothing we can do. It's a new factory, a small factory, and we're short on money everywhere. This free piece was a discount I negotiated with the boss!" Wang Dong quickly complained, his eyes fixed on Liu Fang's hand, wishing he could snatch the pen and sign the contract himself.
"Then I'll write that sentence down before signing."
"Okay! I'll write it."
Wang Dong took the pen and wrote a sentence in the contract: one free piece for every hundred pieces. After writing it, he handed it to Liu Fang. Liu Fang reread the contract from beginning to end, then turned to Liu Chen and said:
"Chenchen, come and take a look. I'm old, and I can't see some of the small print clearly."
Liu Chen walked over and glanced at the unit price on the contract. The unit price per box was 95. According to what Wang Dong wrote, one free piece for every hundred pieces, the unit price would be 94.
Based on the lowest price Wang Dong negotiated with her in her previous life, he always liked to keep the lowest price at an integer. So his target price should be 90 per piece.
However, it was their first time buying goods, and they required deferred payment, so she shouldn't set the quote too rigidly.
Taking the pen from Liu Fang, she added a horizontal stroke above and below the number 'one', then put down the pen.
"It's written. Sign it!"
Now it was Wang Dong's turn to be stunned.
One free piece for every hundred pieces, which was actually his lowest acceptable price. To be honest, he didn't have much confidence in this small distributor located in an alley in the wholesale market. However, after giving away so many samples in the entire wholesale market, only her family clearly expressed a desire to purchase goods and wanted exclusive agency.
Wang Dong also told himself that within three months, if she could achieve sales, he could get rid of the fate of doing OEM for manufacturers in other regions and establish a real food factory with his own well-known brand.
Thinking of this, Wang Dong gritted his teeth and nodded, "Done!"
Liu Fang, who was blocked by Liu Chen, did not see the two strokes she had added. When Liu Chen handed her the contract, she saw that her Chenchen had helped her negotiate down two boxes of goods. With a stroke of her pen, she signed her name.
The contract was stamped with the company seal, in duplicate. Wang Dong carefully put his copy into the file bag.
At this moment, the heavy rain outside the alley had also subsided, the dark clouds had dispersed, and the air carried the scent of earth after the rain.
Wang Dong was about to leave when Liu Fang asked him to stay for lunch.
"Let's celebrate our first collaboration!"
Liu Chen looked at Wang Dong, who was in his early thirties and not yet overweight, and couldn't help but sigh. He had been so young and naive. Well, he was very different from the middle-aged man with a beer belly who chatted with distributors over drinks ten years later.
Eating in the shop was simple. They called a nearby restaurant to deliver a few dishes, and the four of them gathered around the office desk to eat.
However, just as the food arrived, and before Liu Chen could remove the plastic wrap from the plates, guests arrived at the door.
The newcomer looked thin, but his exposed arms were muscular. Pushing a small cart, he's eyes lit up when he saw Liu Fang coming out of the cold storage. He quickly said:
"Sister Liu! Come, come, come! Give me two cases of those newly arrived pancakes! One case of fresh meat buns and one case of steamed buns."