Chapter 219: Chapter 219 Prospects (Requesting Monthly Passes)

Zhang Weihong, although a newcomer to the jade industry, had in fact established quite a good reputation.

Responsible, straightforward, generous, and… understanding, without being overbearing.

Even when she turned someone down, she did so in a way that spared feelings—she wasn’t incapable of being tough, but she never resorted to such tactics in negotiations, always aiming to part on good terms even if the deal fell through.

Of course, things like “Sister Hong’s plane ticket” were not unknown, but what of it? Although jade was touted as possessing the virtues of gentlemen, the industry was never a place for gentlemen to dabble in, being fraught with too much bloodshed.

That being so, when the middle-aged man spoke in such a manner, it was essentially an ultimatum for Zhang Weihong: If you don’t agree, then there’s no point in talking further.

Based on his experience, the other party would surely give in a little, allowing both sides to save face and continue the negotiation.

Zhang Weihong had indeed planned to do just that; she didn’t want to lose any client, even if she found them unpleasant to deal with.

However, at that moment, her mobile phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and picked it up, “Cai Xin, it’s me. How’s it going?”

As she listened, a faint smile spread across her lips—subtle, yet sincerely happy.

Anyone who had been around could tell that this was the smile of a young girl in love.

The middle-aged man’s eyes went wide. He had never expected to see such a sweetly feminine smile on the face of the savvy and proud Director Zhang.

Even a hint of envy emerged in his heart: just who was the man that could elicit such a sweet smile from her?

Zhang Weihong was on the phone for about five minutes, mainly listening, with occasional responses that were brief and spoken in a low voice.

After hanging up, she turned to the man with an apologetic smile, “President Su, I’m really sorry… I might have to go to a meeting soon, so I won’t be able to stay much longer.”

The middle-aged man stared at her in stunned silence, “You mean… we’re postponing our cooperation?”

“Hmm?” Zhang Weihong tilted her head and thought for a moment before responding, “Then let’s postpone it, and for that I am truly sorry.”

“You’re joking, right?” President Su grew more upset, How could you just agree to that? “I’m in urgent need of restocking, but if we pass the Spring Festival peak season, I’ll have to wait until summer for restocking at the earliest.”

Zhang Weihong answered absentmindedly, “Then we’ll talk about it in the summer. After all, we’re not able to come to any conclusions right now.”

How can you do this? President Su was even less accepting; he asked incredulously, “Such a big decision, and you’re not going to discuss it with your partner?”

In truth, anyone who came to buy jade knew that Zhang Weihong was not the real boss of the jade. She was merely someone Feng had put in front to show face, to help handle the day-to-day operations, acting as a senior manager.

To call her a “partner” was a rather flattering description; most would prefer to think of her as a highly-paid employee.

Zhang Weihong didn’t take issue with his words, simply smiling faintly, “That’s between him and me, and there’s no need for President Su to worry about it.”

President Su’s face darkened, “If that’s the case, then I might consider informing President Feng to see what he thinks about it.”

Upon hearing that, Zhang Weihong gave him a strange look, “You know President Feng?”

“I have friends who know him,” President Su mumbled his response, “I just haven’t bothered to reach out to him before.”

“Then you can go to him now,” Zhang Weihong gestured to her mobile phone, speaking indifferently, “He just got back to Zhengyang today. You’d better hurry up; in a couple of days, he might be off to some other place.”

“You’re going to the meeting with him?” The middle-aged man nodded in sudden realization, then put on a different face, chuckling, “In that case, Director Zhang, go ahead with your busy schedule. The matter of jade, we can discuss it another time.”

“You’d better ask someone to discuss it with President Feng,” Zhang Weihong didn’t want to dawdle any longer, “President Feng has been considering stopping the jade business recently, at least scaling it back… He feels that sticking to one line of business is a bit too exhausting.”

“Too exhausting? Are you kidding me?” President Su almost couldn’t believe his ears as he stared at her, “In the jade industry, is there anyone who can make money more effortlessly than you two?”

Zhang Weihong didn’t bother explaining and reached for her handbag, “If I were you, I’d hurry up and stock up. President Feng said that, whether he continues with the jade business or not, he won’t be selling to people from the capital in the future!”

“Damn,” the middle-aged man froze upon hearing this, and after a long moment, he snapped, “This guy is too full of himself, not selling to people from the capital… If you can really manage that, I’ll take your last name!”

Feng Jun truly had such an idea in his heart. Since the capital did not welcome me, I wouldn’t sell jade to the people of the capital. We were already mutually repulsed, so it was best to just part ways.

That evening, Feng Jun hosted a banquet at the sanatorium to entertain Sister Hong, congratulating each other on the preliminary completion of this year’s cooperation.

The attendees included the sister duo Zhang Weihong and Wei Hong, Wang Haifeng, Xu Leigang, as well as Coach Wang’s two hoodlum friends, Zhang Wei and Li Qiang. After a while, Henglong’s Vice President Liang Haiqing and Li Dafu’s Chairman Li Yongrui also arrived.

It was no big deal for Boss Liang to come. He was just the Executive Vice President of Henglong, and besides, because of Ye Shao’s incident, he wasn’t on very good terms with Feng Jun and was actively trying to mend their relationship.

But it was different for Li Yongrui to come. He was the industry leader of Funiu Province, the man in charge of a state-owned enterprise, capable of representing the entire Funiu jewelry industry and conveying messages directly to the provincial government.

Someone like Boss Liang, with a bit of wealth, could possibly be encountered, but to reach out to someone like President Li, you’d need some social standing.

The food and drinks had not been served yet, but everyone naturally began discussing the current state of the Funiu jade industry. However, Feng Jun wasn’t very interested in talking; most of the time, he just watched with a smile.

As they talked, Li Yongrui started discussing the threat posed by the jewelry industry giants, with a deeply worried look on his face.

Funiu’s jewelers could only be considered mediocre within the nation, not the best but not the worst either.

Over a decade ago, foreign jewelers swept into Zhengyang en masse, causing a bloody carnage. Although Funiu’s merchants eventually managed to retain half of their turf, a good portion of the high-end market was also snatched away, and the foreign jewelry businesses managed to get a foothold.

In recent years, another batch of jewelers had grown stronger, and if the previous offensive on Zhengyang was led by foreign brands, this time, those planning to conquer Funiu again were new domestic businesses as the main force.

Once a brand grows large, it will inevitably pursue a nationwide, chain operation strategy. This is very normal. Only with scaled-up operations and a well-rounded channel can a company stride forward and develop.

Li Yongrui had to admit that there was nothing wrong with their approach, but as the elder of the provincial jewelry industry, he couldn’t just sit back and watch foreign businesses besiege his territory. He had to resist.

There was nothing wrong with scaled operations, and local businesses striving for survival weren’t wrong either. It was all a matter of perspective.

In Li Yongrui’s view, the local jewelry businesses were at a life-and-death juncture, and he believed it was necessary for everyone to join forces to fend off the external enemy. If they remained disunited, they could easily be defeated one by one by the powerful adversary.

He had a sense of crisis, and so did Liang Haiqing. However, Boss Liang believed that in a market economy, why did those foreign brands do well? Because they followed market laws. We could compete with them, but there was no need to be aggressively confrontational.

Li Yongrui sneered at his words, “Fair competition? Their scale, channels, and sales volume far exceed yours, and naturally, their bargaining power, too… The strong grow stronger, and the winner takes all. And you think you can compete fairly with them?”

With a frown, Liang Haiqing responded, “Is a full-fledged competition necessary? We can’t beat them in being bigger and more comprehensive. Are you saying that our design capabilities are stronger or that we have more comprehensive overseas procurement channels? Differentiated competition is our way out!”

To be honest, Zhengyang’s jewelry design capabilities were really not up to par, not to mention comparing with Europe, the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Even designers from the Megacity and Goat City were far ahead of Zhengyang.

The situation was the same for procurement capabilities. If it weren’t for Feng Jun, Zhengyang locals would have had no direct access to affordable jade—they could gamble on stones, but clearly, that couldn’t be a stable supply channel.

As for importing from overseas, there were Funiu People engaged in this line of work, but most of them operated on a small scale. Where was it like some businesses that directly controlled the sources?

Liang Haiqing wasn’t entirely wrong, but Li Yongrui countered with a cold laugh, “Differentiation? How come I heard that Henglong already has other plans and seems to be adjusting its business focus?”

“I really don’t know about that,” Liang Haiqing flatly denied this claim, but then he dismissively added.

“However, if necessary, adjusting the business focus is normal. We run Henglong intending to last a century, but a century-old shop can also engage in sideline businesses. As long as it benefits the company’s development, I see nothing wrong with that.”

“A century-old shop?” Li Yongrui laughed derisively. “I have no prejudice against private enterprises. The earliest batch of century-old shops in Funiu was also developed from private enterprises, but I have to say: given the current social environment, for a state-owned enterprise to become a century-old shop, there might be a slight chance, but for private enterprises… it’s simply impossible!”

After a pause, he added, “In my opinion, it’s very likely that Henglong will split up and sell its jewelry business. Your boss’s heart isn’t in the jewelry business at all.”

“That’s our own business,” Liang Haiqing wasn’t angry and replied expressionlessly, “Business moves, who can say for sure? As for state-owned enterprises like Li Da Fu… not so easy to sell.”

“Li Da Fu may not have other abilities, but self-preservation is not a problem,” Li Yongrui replied proudly, “I just hope to organize everyone, join forces to go international, rather than let some excellent craftsmen survive on nothing but intangible cultural heritage subsidies in the future.”

Upon hearing the words “intangible cultural heritage subsidies,” Zhang Wei suddenly burst into laughter.

(Updated to Chapter 5, summoning monthly passes.)