Chapter Forty-Four: Discussing Business

  On Saturday, Ning Qingmin arrived at the store and coincidentally received a dozen new samples from Chaozhou. He was busy letting Zhang Yu hang them up and listening to Zhang Yu's report on some matters. Just as they were talking, a middle-aged man with an Eastern face came in, dressed in Korean style. Ning Qingmin judged that he was Korean and, seeing that the other party did not bring a translator, quickly gestured for him to look slowly.

  "How much?" The Korean asked the price in English, and Ning Qing quickly replied in English. The Korean heard the price and made a surprised expression, seemingly thinking it was expensive. He picked up the calculator on the table, pressed a number, and smiled saying "OK?"

  "NOOK!" Ning Qingmin smiled and pressed the price back to its original position, it seems that Koreans only know a few simple English phrases, negotiations still need to rely on calculators.

  The Korean looked at the price Ning Qingmin had pressed out and pressed down on it with his hand, asking for a lower price.

  Can't make too big a concession, that would make the other party think I'm making a lot of money and randomly raise the price. Ning Qingming thought to herself as she made a worried expression, seeming to have made a very big decision, before finally conceding one yuan from the original price.

  Koreans stroke their forehead with their hand, make a "my god" gesture and exclaim in Chinese, "Expensive!"

  "It's not cheap, this is a pearl embroidery product, just the labor cost is over 20 yuan." Ning Qingming also spoke in Chinese.

  The Korean "hehe" laughed and snatched the calculator, lowering it by two yuan.

  Ning Qingmin made a throat-slitting gesture with her hand, as if to say "kill me", and adjusted the price back down. At the same time, she explained in English that it was a new product and the price was very reasonable.

  The Korean made a face as if he had actually earned a lot of money, both sides holding calculators pressing back and forth, killing each other in several rounds, the battle was fierce. Zhang Yu standing behind Ning Qingmiao looked silly.

  "Learn a bit, if the other party doesn't bring an interpreter, then you have to discuss business like this." Ning Qingming added another sentence while he was free.

  The Korean looked at the price and couldn't bring himself to kill it, made a gesture of not talking about it, stood up and was about to leave. Ning Qing hurriedly called out again, lowered the price by 0.5 yuan, and handed the calculator over for the Korean to see.

  The Korean man smiled and said "Haha", stretched out his hand to shake hands with Ning Qingming, indicating a deal had been made. He then asked: "Colour!" Ning Qingming knew he was asking how many colors this style of clothing came in, so he quickly pulled out the color cards to show him.

  The Korean flipped through it for a while, then took out his phone and made a call. After a while, a translator came running over with a large stack of orders, panting heavily.

  The Korean pointed at the clothes he liked and said a few words to the translator, then waved his hand at Ning Qingmian before quickly running out.

  The translation says: "This customer is in a hurry, he goes around to look at things himself, and after finding something he likes, he negotiates the price, then has me come over to sign the contract." As he said this, he took out the contract, asked about the delivery date and details, and casually mentioned: "One yuan commission per item."

  Ning Qingming was taken aback, and said: "You've ordered 2,000 sets of clothes, with a commission of one yuan per set. That's not 2,000 yuan? If this customer orders from ten or more households, won't your commission be more than what we earn from our hard work?"

  Jing Qingmin didn't respond, slowly took the water handed over by Zhang Yu, and after taking a sip, said: "This customer has very strict requirements for the goods. At that time, I will be responsible for inspecting and receiving the goods. Some allowable errors, I won't report to him."

  This is a naked threat. If no commission is given, even if the goods are fine, the inspector can still find fault with them.

  Ning Qing thought for a moment before saying, "The main thing is that this customer came to us with a very low price quote, so our profit margin is also low. How about this: you get a commission of 50 cents this time, and if they come back here to place an order again next time, I'll give you a commission of $1."

  "Um," he said, "let's just leave it at that for now!" And with that, he signed the document.

  Ning Qing quickly calculated that 2,000 pieces would earn more than 200,000 yuan. This was still a mid-range embroidered product; if it were low-end, the profit per piece would be only a few yuan. It's said that woolen products have high profits, but for knitwear, low-end goods can only earn around one yuan per piece, which is not enough to cover translation fees. Because of this, many shop owners themselves go out to learn simple trade English conversations, hoping to avoid translators and communicate directly with customers. However, even after learning English, they still cannot avoid translations in other languages, which is unavoidable.

  As he saw the translator off at the door, Zheng Mei was standing at the entrance opposite, smiling and saying: "Xiao Ning, business is good!"

  "It's okay." Ning Qingming smiled and responded with a sentence, having just heard Zhang Yu say that Zheng Mei and others were doing okay in business, but they loved to look at other people's samples everywhere and ask around who had received orders, how many customers had placed orders, and so on.

  "This translation is so arrogant, every household has to pay a commission." Watching the translator walk away, Zheng Mei said with her hands on her hips: "Knowing that she brought the client, we have to set the price one yuan higher first and reserve it for her commission."

  "No one even told the client." Ning Qing sighed, "This way, she earns more than us."

  "Translators are all about the same, I told the client that at most we can change one translator, but the commission might not be just one yuan, it could be two yuan, which is even more unbearable." Zheng Mei smiled lightly, "Anyway, the wool comes from the sheep's body, our translation commission, we'll just add the price to the client's bill."

  "I'm going to the restroom!" Ning Qing heard Zheng Mei say a few words, remembered that she hadn't washed her hands yet, and walked in the direction of the restroom.

  As I came out of the restroom, a hesitant voice asked, "Xiao Ning?"

  Ning Qingmin looked up and saw that it was Cheng Jianjun, and couldn't help but smile and say: "It's Manager Cheng."

  "It's really you! You've become prettier, I almost didn't dare to recognize you." Cheng Jianjun smiled and said: "I heard from Hu Hua that you signed a booth on the first floor. When I came down to patrol the scene, I didn't see you, so we met now."

  "The shopkeeper has hired a girl to watch, I only came when I had time." Ning Qingming said and asked about his son's situation. Cheng Jianjun took out his mobile phone, turned to the photo and said: "Let me show you what he looks like now!"

  "Wow, so cute! Just born and all wrinkly, but just a few months old and already so handsome!" Ning Qingming looked at him in surprise and exclaimed: "Growing up really fast."

  "Feel free to drop by my place anytime." Cheng Jianjun smiled and gestured with his hand, "Just give me a call if you need anything." He walked towards the elevator entrance and waited for the lift.

  Ning Qingming knew he meant that if there was something he needed help with, he could call him, and nodded hastily, helping to press the elevator button.

  The elevator door opened and Cheng Jianjun turned back to say: "Xiao Ning, when you go out to do business, you need to move around more and observe the market needs."

  "Thanks for the advice!" Ning Qingming smiled as he watched the elevator doors close before heading towards his bunk.

  "Xiao Yu, after work let's go out and buy a computer. Some foreign merchants can send pictures to them via email, if they like the design, we can make samples for them to see." The Korean translation just now although needs commission, fortunately the deposit given is also high, first gave half, before 5 pm will be transferred to own account, this way can also buy some necessary things first. Ning Qingmin was talking to Zhang Yu while organizing orders, and made another copy to put on the fax machine, faxed to the factory.

  "I don't know how to use a computer!" Zhang Yu heard that they were going to buy a computer and was initially excited, but then thought about how she didn't know how to use it and felt a bit worried.

  "There's a computer school nearby, it costs over 700 yuan for a month, and classes are at night. I'll pay the tuition, you go sign up! Computers are easy to get familiar with if you play around with them often, there are only a few commonly used functions anyway. Ning Qingming originally wanted to teach Zhang Yu herself, but thinking about it, she didn't have time for that either, schoolwork wasn't urgent, but still needed time to study. Might as well spend a few hundred yuan and let her go learn outside."

  "Thanks boss!" Zhang Yuhuan was overjoyed.