Chapter 34: The First Batch of Goods Fully Booked!
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When Gu Wenqin heard that the other party had placed an order for two thousand pieces at once, she was delighted, though a trace of concern remained in her heart.
“Could this be a trap? My father once encountered something similar in business. The other party paid a deposit, but after receiving the goods, they kept delaying the balance. In the end, we never recovered the money for that shipment.”
Tang Ye secretly admired her caution. “We must personally oversee the shipment this time. I’ll have Fatty accompany the freight delivery. Payment and delivery must happen at the same time.”
Only then did Gu Wenqin look relieved.
In 2005, online payment for e-commerce was still in its infancy. Paying one or two thousand yuan online was manageable, but when goods were worth tens of thousands, people were understandably uneasy.
Tang Ye called Ding Hai.
“Fatty, I have good news. Someone has bought out our entire first batch.”
Sun Hai had been sprawled on the sofa watching a football match. He immediately sat upright.
“No way. Did I hear that right?”
Tang Ye deliberately built up the suspense. “This is only their first order. They’ll be replenishing their stock continuously afterward.”
Sun Hai counted on his fingers. “We’ll make thirty thousand yuan from this one deal! At first, I thought putting our products online was nothing more than giving up and waiting for the inevitable. I never expected us to actually make something of it. That kid Lin really knows what he’s doing. He’s a talent.”
After Sun Hai finished speaking, Tang Ye said earnestly, “This is our first shipment, so I need you to deliver it personally. Only hand over the goods after the payment has been confirmed.”
Sun Hai’s joking expression vanished.
“Sure. When are we shipping?”
Tang Ye exchanged a glance with Gu Wenqin.
“The truck driver will start loading shortly. We’ll send it out overnight and have the goods delivered first thing tomorrow morning. That way, we can demonstrate our efficiency and get the money safely into our hands as soon as possible.”
Sun Hai hurriedly began getting dressed.
“I’ll head to Pinghu and meet the driver!”
Hearing movement in the living room, Sun Hai’s mother saw him putting on his shoes. She glanced at the clock on the wall and asked curiously, “It’s almost dinnertime. Where are you going?”
With his back to her, Sun Hai spoke at lightning speed.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going out to fool around. I have serious business to handle. I won’t be home tonight.”
After watching him leave, Mrs. Sun went to the study and found her husband.
“Sun Hai seems to be hiding something from us these past few days. He just went out, and now he says he won’t be coming home tonight. Could he have gotten involved in gambling—”
Mr. Sun’s brows drew tightly together.
“That boy has no ambition. He can’t accomplish anything important, and he can’t even manage anything minor. Let him do as he pleases. As long as he doesn’t cause trouble, that’s enough.”
Mrs. Sun knew that the relationship between father and son was strained.
Her husband had wanted their son to join him at construction sites, learn the trade for a few years, and eventually take over the business. But after discovering that the construction foreman was bullying the workers, Sun Hai had gotten into an argument with him. Sun Hai had won the fight, but his father had spent a considerable sum cleaning up the mess.
In Mr. Sun’s eyes, Sun Hai was nothing but a spoiled wastrel who could not endure hardship and only wanted to reap the rewards without making any effort.
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Mr. Sun had also heard that Sun Hai had secretly gone into business with some classmates over the past few days. He regarded the matter with contempt. With his son’s habit of losing interest after three minutes, what could he possibly accomplish?
That evening, Gu Wenqin found a freight driver. Sun Hai set off for Yunhai with the driver to deliver the goods. At five in the morning, they arrived at the recipient’s address. Around nine, the recipient received a call informing her that the shipment had arrived. She was astonished. Deliveries usually took five or six days, so she had never expected the goods to arrive so quickly.
The person receiving the shipment was a thirty-five-year-old woman. She wore a black suit and had delicate features, along with a crisp, capable air.
After counting the goods, she confirmed the order through the online system. Lin Ziyang immediately called.
“The money has arrived in the account.”
Only then did Sun Hai finally let go of the anxiety that had been hanging over him. He took out the delivery receipt and asked her to sign it.
The woman’s name was Qi Meiyu. When she saw Sun Hai climb into the truck and prepare to leave, she called out to him.
“I have a question.”
Sun Hai stopped and turned around.
“Boss Qi, what would you like to ask?”
Qi Meiyu’s expression grew solemn.
“I’d like to know who designed these products.”
Sun Hai thought to himself, The designer is that old rascal Tang Seng. But aloud, he gave a different answer.
“Our factory director. She’s a particularly beautiful and capable woman, just like you.”
Qi Meiyu smiled thoughtfully.
“Please give her my regards. If I get the chance, I’d like to visit your factory.”
Sun Hai invited her enthusiastically.
“You’re welcome to come and inspect it anytime!”
After the truck disappeared from view, Qi Meiyu instructed the employees to move the products to their designated places in the warehouse. She repeatedly reminded them, “Handle them gently.”
In Qi Meiyu’s view, the lingerie featured a design philosophy on par with that of international luxury brands. Its quality and materials were equally excellent. Not only could the products bring in substantial profits, they were worthy of being called works of art.
She had come across a post while browsing an online forum and subsequently bought a piece from the online store. She had originally been attracted by the low price—the cost of trying it out was negligible—but after putting it on, she had found the comfort far beyond her expectations.
One particular piece of lingerie even seemed to possess “magical” powers, making an apple look like a pomelo.
She later bought dozens of pieces and distributed them among the women on her team for them to try.
They reached a unanimous conclusion: Qinge lingerie had enormous market potential.
After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Qi Meiyu had left customs to enter the business world without hesitation. Thanks to her keen instincts, she had become one of the first people to benefit from the new policies.
The two thousand pieces would be shipped to South Korea and Japan, where the profit could easily double.
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After Tang Ye arrived at work, Sun Hai called him on the way to share the good news.
Sun Hai sounded completely relaxed.
“It’s all taken care of. I never imagined we could actually sell things online. At first, I thought you were just pulling my leg!”
Tang Ye himself had not been entirely certain at the beginning, but he had possessed a powerful intuition that this would be the breakthrough Qinge needed to transform itself.
“By the way, what did you talk about when you met the buyer?”
Sun Hai paused.
“She was curious about the designer. I told her it was Gu Wenqin. I didn’t give you away.”
Tang Ye was both amused and exasperated.
“Why, thank you.”
Sun Hai teased him. “You’re not angry, are you? I was protecting the team’s image. If I’d said the designer was some old man, it would have sounded rather strange.”
Tang Ye privately reflected that Sun Hai appeared careless and thick-skinned, but in fact, he considered things quite thoroughly. Tang Ye was a civil servant, and if word got out that he had been involved in designing women’s lingerie, it could damage his reputation.
“From now on, tell outsiders that General Manager Gu is the designer.”
Going from zero to one was always the hardest part. Once that breakthrough had been made, it was like a man and a woman sharing a bowl of fruit salad together: there would inevitably be a second time, followed by countless more.
Lin Ziyang could clearly feel the orders increasing. He was often so busy answering inquiries that he had no time to eat.
Meanwhile, the Qinge Garment Factory’s production lines increased from one to three. Since the original products had no sales channels, only one line had been kept running. Everyone else had now begun producing lingerie.
Old Lin made round after round through the factory with a wooden baton in hand. As he looked at the workshops still brightly lit in the middle of the night, he was filled with emotion.
Only a few days earlier, the factory had been lifeless and desolate. Now, almost without anyone noticing, it had become vibrant and full of energy.
As an onlooker, Old Lin could see everything clearly.
Gu Wenqin, once so stubborn, seemed to have suddenly become a different person. She now followed that young man Tang Ye’s instructions without question.
Once a person learned to adapt, their entire spirit seemed to undergo a rebirth.
She had led everyone out of the depths of despair.
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