GBP Chapter 497 Expanding the Scope of Acquisitions
Chapter 497 Expanding the Scope of Acquisitions
Li Xiangyang laughed upon hearing Wang Ergou's words: "Not a bad idea. The problem is, aren't our current acquisition points, which will become distribution centers in the future, essentially doing the same thing as Boss Liu?"
Li Xiangyang's tone carried a hint of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing regret and reflection), "Think about it, if everyone could directly find out-of-town businessmen, then who would we sell all the things we acquired to?"
Wang Ergou was stunned for a moment, his eyes widening: "Oh dear, how come I didn't think of that?"
“These days, information isn’t readily available, so people have to rely on intermediaries to connect them,” Li Xiangyang continued. “Boss Liu can find businessmen from other places; that’s his skill and connections. If we want to do business directly with businessmen from other places, we’d have to go there ourselves.”
“That’s unrealistic,” Wang Ergou suddenly realized. “We still need Boss Liu as a middleman.”
Li Xiangyang nodded: "That's right. Just like when we buy mountain products, the villagers also rely on us as middlemen. That's the way business works."
The two chatted as they rode their bikes.
By the time we got back to the village, the sun was already setting.
From a distance, Li Xiangyang could see several people gathered at the entrance of his yard.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that several villagers had brought the wild rabbits and water birds they had caught to ask for advice on how to process their fur.
"Li Xiangyang, you're finally back!" Old Wang greeted him eagerly. "I caught two rabbits today using your method, but I don't know how to remove the pelts without tearing them."
Li Xiangyang smiled and took the wild rabbit from Old Wang's hand: "Come on, let's go to my yard, I'll teach you."
In the courtyard, Li Xiaoyun and Li Wangchen were picking vegetables together.
Seeing Li Xiangyang return, the little guy immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over: "Daddy! Daddy! I learned how to cook with Mommy today!"
Li Xiangyang scooped up his son in his arms: "Really? Then Daddy's going to have a good taste of my son's cooking tonight. You go play with Mommy, Daddy has something to do."
After Li Xiangyang finished speaking, Li Wangchen nodded obediently.
Li Xiaoyun came out carrying a teapot and poured a cup for each of the villagers: "Take your time learning. If you don't understand anything, just ask my husband."
In the following days, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou organized two more hunting trips into the mountains, reaping a rich harvest.
With the leather brought by the villagers, a batch of goods was quickly accumulated.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou loaded the goods early in the morning and drove the truck to the county town.
Several bicycles and a horse-drawn carriage were already parked in front of Mr. Liu's shop, presumably other hunters had come to sell their goods.
As soon as Li Xiangyang entered the store, he saw a middle-aged man in a suit and glasses talking to Boss Liu.
Upon seeing Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou enter, Boss Liu immediately waved: "Brother Li, Ergou, come here quickly, let me introduce you. This is General Manager Sun, who specializes in buying leather goods."
Mr. Sun turned around, looked Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou up and down, and extended his hand: "Hello, I heard from Boss Liu that your goods are of good quality?"
Li Xiangyang shook hands with him: "Hello, Mr. Sun, our goods are indeed excellent; you'll see for yourself when you see them."
Wang Ergou had already deftly opened the sack and laid out the processed hides one by one on the counter.
Mr. Sun put on his reading glasses and carefully examined each piece of leather, occasionally rubbing it with his fingers and even bringing it close to his nose to smell it.
"Yes, it's very clean, no meat scraps, and no odor," Mr. Sun nodded. "And the meat is very intact, almost no damage."
Li Xiangyang explained from the side, "We capture them using a snare method, without damaging their skin, and we are very careful in the post-processing."
Mr. Sun continued inspecting the items, and then decided to take them all.
After the transaction was completed, Mr. Sun handed Li Xiangyang a business card: "This is my contact information. You can contact me directly if you have any goods to sell in the future."
Li Xiangyang took the business card, secretly pleased. This was a big client; future business would be much more secure.
On the way back to the village, Wang Ergou excitedly said, "Brother Xiangyang, we've hit the jackpot this time! We even got Mr. Sun's contact information directly, so we can skip the middlemen in the future."
Li Xiangyang chuckled and shook his head: "You're getting stuck on this again. Just because Boss Liu introduced a client to us, we're going to skip him? That's not how business is done."
Wang Ergou was a little embarrassed: "That's not what I meant..."
“I know you want to make more money, but business is about integrity and long-term commitment,” Li Xiangyang said seriously. “Boss Liu helped us this time, and we’ll need to do business with him again next time. We’ll pay him the full referral fee. We’ll consider other methods when the time is right.”
Wang Ergou nodded thoughtfully: "Brother Xiangyang, you're right. I was a bit too eager for quick success."
Back in the village, Li Xiangyang told Li Xiaoyun about his haul, and she beamed with joy: "Now we have another source of income, and we can use some of it to expand our purchasing station."
Li Xiangyang nodded: "Yes, I plan to hire a few more people and expand the scope of our acquisitions."
The next morning, Li Xiangyang called on Wang Ergou, Li Daqiang, and Zhang Weiping to hold a meeting to discuss the expansion plan for the purchasing station.
“I want to build another shed, specifically for processing hides, on top of what we have now,” Li Xiangyang drew a diagram on the ground. “We also need to buy some more tools to improve efficiency.”
Li Daqiang asked, "Brother Xiangyang, should we hire a few people specifically to handle the acquisitions? That way, you and Ergou can have more time to go to more distant places."
Li Xiangyang gave him an approving look: "That's a good idea. Do you have anyone in mind?"
Li Daqiang thought for a moment: "Several young men in the village would be suitable, such as Wang Tiezhu and Liu Fu. They are both clever and quick learners."
Zhang Weiping chimed in, "And my cousin Zhang Xiaohu, he told me the other day that he wanted to find a job."
Li Xiangyang nodded: "Okay, then you guys go and make the contact, bring the person over tomorrow, and I'll interview them."
Wang Ergou asked, "Brother Xiangyang, we're currently only collecting goods from our own village and a few nearby villages. Should we consider going to more distant places?"
“I’ve thought about that too,” Li Xiangyang said thoughtfully, “but expanding too quickly isn’t good either. We should stabilize what we have now before considering more distant goals.”
After discussing their plans, the group went about their own business. When Li Xiangyang returned home, he saw Li Xiaoyun teaching Li Wangchen to write.
Li Xiangyang squatted down and took the paper from his son's hand: "It's really well written."
Li Xiaoyun said with a smile, "This child is just so restless. It was only with great difficulty that I managed to get him to calm down and write a few words."
Li Xiangyang patted his son's head: "Boys are like that, they're just at the mischievous stage. They'll be fine in the future."