GBP Chapter 519 If you don't cause trouble, things will always get done.
Chapter 519 If you don't cause trouble, things will always get done.
Just as Li Xiangyang said, after Fatty Ma stopped accepting goods, all the goods that used to go to Fatty Ma are now flowing here.
"Mr. Li, I have thirty catties of Codonopsis pilosula here. What do you think of its quality?"
"I also have some wild mushrooms here, freshly picked yesterday!"
"Mr. Li, please take my astragalus root for now; the price is negotiable!"
For a time, the pre-acquisition battle was raging.
Li Xiangyang stood to the side, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Logically speaking, a thriving business should be a good thing, but he knew very well that if things continued like this, a big problem would arise soon.
In order to grab business, Fatty Ma raised the purchase price to an extremely high level.
Now that he's closed down, the villagers are all hoping that Li Xiangyang can maintain the price.
The problem is that Li Xiangyang only has a few sales channels, which are simply not enough to handle such a large volume of goods.
If we lower the purchase price, we'll offend the villagers in the surrounding area.
If the purchase price remains high, these goods will be stuck in our hands and we won't be able to sell them. Before long, we'll lose everything.
"Xiangyang, what's wrong? You look terrible." Wang Ergou leaned over and asked in a low voice during a break from receiving the goods.
Li Xiangyang waved his hand, signaling him not to speak yet.
After the last villager left, Wang Ergou wiped his sweat and came over: "We collected nearly two thousand yuan worth of goods today, which used to be a week's worth!"
"Ergou, do you think this is a good thing?" Li Xiangyang asked, looking at the warehouse that was piled up to the brim.
Wang Ergou was stunned for a moment: "How can it not be good news? Business is so booming..."
"Booming my foot!" Li Xiangyang slammed his fist on the table. "You do the math, at the current sales rate, how long will it take to sell all this stock?"
Wang Ergou counted on his fingers, his face gradually turning pale: "This...this will take more than two months!"
"Two months is still an understatement," Li Xiangyang sighed. "The key issue is that the quality of these medicinal herbs will decline if they're stored for too long, and then customers will pressure us to lower the price, putting us in an even more difficult position."
Wang Ergou then realized the seriousness of the problem: "What do we do then?"
"Fatty Ma lost, but he also left us with a huge pitfall," Li Xiangyang paced around the room. "Right now, all the pressure is on us. Er Gou, starting tomorrow, you'll be fully in charge of the purchasing station."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
“We need to find new sales channels.” Li Xiangyang picked up his coat. “If we don’t explore new markets, we’ll be crushed by this inventory sooner or later.”
Wang Ergou asked with some concern, "Where are you going to look for it?"
“The provincial capital.” Li Xiangyang thought for a moment, then added, “We might have to go even further. It seems that relying solely on our few local clients isn’t enough.”
"What about the purchasing station..."
"Continue to collect what needs to be collected, but control the pace," Li Xiangyang instructed. "Don't lower the price for now, but show people the warehouse is full of goods, and have a proper discussion with them."
Wang Ergou nodded: "Okay, I'll buy you some time."
"You've worked hard, brother." Li Xiangyang patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder.
"You're being too polite," Wang Ergou grinned. "We're in the same boat; your business is my business."
The next morning, Li Xiangyang carried a large bag containing samples of various medicinal herbs and boarded a bus to the provincial capital.
Despite the bumpy ride, he remained surprisingly calm.
It's only a matter of time before a business reaches this scale.
The competition from Fatty Ma actually helped him see the problem more clearly in advance.
If you stick to your small plot of land, you'll never grow big.
Looking out the car window at the fields rushing by, Li Xiangyang made a silent vow: this trip, no matter what, must open up a new chapter.
The sky over the provincial capital was gloomy, just like Li Xiangyang's mood at that moment.
He had been running around for three days, visiting more than a dozen herbal medicine shops and traditional Chinese medicine stores, but the responses he received were surprisingly consistent—either they refused outright, or they tried to drive down the price to an appalling level.
“Young man, there are plenty of medicinal herbs on the market now, your price really doesn’t have any advantage.” The owner of a long-established medicinal herb shop shook his head, his tone tinged with sympathy.
"Shopkeeper, could you please reconsider?" Li Xiangyang suppressed his anger. "These are all top-quality products; the quality is absolutely guaranteed."
"The quality is indeed good, but we're not out of stock right now," the shopkeeper said, pointing to the tall stacks of medicinal herbs in the shop. "Look, my inventory is almost full."
Stepping out of the herbal medicine shop, Li Xiangyang took a deep breath and decided to give it another try.
Just as he was about to try his luck at the next herbal medicine shop, a familiar figure appeared in his sight.
Fatty Ma!
He emerged from a herbal medicine shop across the street, his expression equally grim. Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
Fatty Ma opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something sarcastic, but swallowed the words back. He glanced at the sample bag Li Xiangyang was carrying, then at what he was holding, and gave a wry smile.
"Li Xiangyang." Fatty Ma walked over on his own initiative.
“Mr. Ma.” Li Xiangyang nodded, his tone flat.
"Looks like you're not having an easy time either." Fatty Ma glanced around at the surrounding herbal medicine shops. "I just got a lecture inside, like they were treating me like a grandson. They even said something like, 'These days, who cares about small-time vendors like you?'"
Li Xiangyang didn't speak, but his expression said it all.
Fatty Ma gave another bitter laugh: "I told you, don't bother. When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. Even if we two fight it out, the supplier isn't stupid. Before, only I couldn't handle it and came looking for channels, but now that we're both here, it wouldn't be surprising if they slashed the price in half."
At this point, Fatty Ma looked at Li Xiangyang and asked, "Do you regret it?"
Li Xiangyang thought for a moment: "What's there to regret? What's done is done."
These words were spoken casually, yet a hint of surprise flashed in Fatty Ma's eyes.
"Great, that's generous of you." Fatty Ma gave a thumbs up. "Come on, let's find a place for a drink? My treat."
Li Xiangyang was somewhat surprised, but he still nodded.
The two found a restaurant that looked fairly clean, ordered a few dishes, and Fatty Ma offered to open a bottle of wine.
"Come on, let's have a drink first." Fatty Ma raised his glass. "After all, we've become friends through a misunderstanding."
Li Xiangyang picked up his cup and clinked it against his.
After a few rounds of drinks, Fatty Ma started talking: "To be honest, I'm impressed. At first, I was thinking of ruining your business, but now it seems we're all in the same boat."
"What do we do now?" Fatty Ma put down his wine glass and looked at Li Xiangyang. "Everyone's lost money."
"We'll have to look for channels in other cities," Li Xiangyang said, picking up a piece of food. "At worst, we can open a primary agricultural product processing plant."
Fatty Ma nearly choked on his drink: "Do you have that much money?"
“No,” Li Xiangyang answered frankly. “But once the goods are sold, we’ll have working capital, right? As long as you don’t cause trouble, it can always be done.”