I'm back in 1990

Chapter 11: Let's talk about bonuses and commissions

February 14, 1990, Star Period Roku

The air in the countryside was fresh, with the continuous croaking of frogs at midnight and the melodious chirping of birds rising and falling in the early morning. Huang Xiaochuan, who had gotten up early, stretched and felt so comfortable all over.

Grandma got up even earlier than Huang Xiaochuan; she had already prepared breakfast for the whole family.

After breakfast, Huang Xiaochuan went with Zeng Jiahua to visit his factory, as agreed at dinner the night before.

Zeng Jiahua was the factory manager of a township enterprise that specialized in processing and producing flanges and pipe valves. In the past, the technology was weak, so every Sunday he would send a car to the train station to pick up an engineer from Shanghai to come to the factory to guide and solve technical problems. This was a unique phenomenon of that period: the "Sunday engineer".

This engineer, surnamed Cai, in his fifties, worked for a large state-owned enterprise in Shanghai. He took on side jobs on Sundays to earn extra money. Nowadays, large state-owned factories have many employees, heavy workloads, and high costs, which makes their products less competitive than the township enterprises that sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

This led to the state-owned factories becoming increasingly inefficient, and skilled workers like Cai would use their Sundays to earn extra money.

Today is Saturday, a normal workday. The two-day weekend system was not implemented until 1995, so for now, we still have only one day off per week.

In his previous life, Huang Xiaochuan worked in foreign trade, so he was very familiar with the industry. During his university years, he heard his professor mention a case where a Singaporean trading company came to China to develop its business and made hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by taking advantage of the information gap between China and other countries.

In fact, their business is to buy low and sell high. China has low labor costs and abundant industrial products, making it the company's first choice for procurement. They plan to purchase accessories such as flanges and re-export them to Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand to earn the price difference. Of course, flanges are just one category among their hundreds of procurement projects.

In the 1990s, China's foreign trade was mainly dominated by state-owned foreign trade companies, which operated under a foreign trade agency system. Foreign trade authority belonged to these companies, and ordinary factories did not have import/export rights and needed to use them as agents. However, many foreign trade companies in Shanghai at that time possessed direct import/export rights, operating on par with provincial-level companies in other provinces. Many enterprises had to rely on these companies' quotas to export their products.

Since there was an extra layer of intermediaries, there would definitely be an extra fee charged. That's why foreign trade companies were incredibly powerful during that period, which is why Huang Xiaochuan chose to major in international trade in his previous life.

In later generations, foreign trade was conducted on a one-to-one basis, but nowadays, it is necessary to find an agent to act as an intermediary. The reason for this is that the country lacks foreign exchange, so all foreign exchange earned from foreign trade must be controlled by the state.

However, none of these were problems for Huang Xiaochuan. All he had to do was find customers, establish connections with agents, and complete the export process to exchange for RMB.

The process may seem simple, but it's actually not that easy. The most important part is the agency link. State-owned foreign trade companies with foreign trade rights were incredibly powerful during this period! They were truly like emperor's daughters who didn't have to worry about marriage.

......

Aside from the first day and Sunday when he spent reading newspapers in the office, Huang Xiaochuan spent the next three days running to the workshop to chat with the veteran workers despite the high temperatures. Of course, his secret weapon for striking up conversations was the cigarettes offered by his uncle Zeng Jiahua, which Huang Xiaochuan had taken from Zeng Jiahua's office.

Zeng Jiahua couldn't figure out what his nephew was up to. He wouldn't stay in the air-conditioned office and insisted on going to the workshop to play. But Zeng Jiahua didn't care. He was a grown man and wouldn't get lost anyway.

After getting a general understanding of the flange specifications and types the factory could produce, Huang Xiaochuan went to Zeng Jiahua's office and asked, "Uncle, what is your factory's annual output? Where are your main customers located? What is your annual sales volume?"

Huang Xiaochuan's question left Zeng Jiahua stunned for a long time. What was going on? Why did this child suddenly think of asking such a question?

He asked suspiciously, "Why are you asking this?"

Huang Xiaochuan didn't answer why, nor did he wait for Zeng Jiahua's reply. Instead, he pushed a piece of paper in front of Zeng Jiahua. This was data he had obtained over the past few days by chatting with the factory workers and reviewing the workshop production records, which he used to calculate the factory's annual output.

Zeng Jiahua picked up the paper and scanned it quickly, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. He pressed the paper down, staring nervously at his nephew, and asked, "How do you know my factory's annual output?"

Huang Xiaochuan scoffed, "Uncle, this is nothing, it's too simple. You know there's a field called statistics? Just look at your workshop's production records, add them up, and you'll get a rough number. Don't make such a fuss."

"Is there really such a thing as knowledge?" Zeng Jiahua finally relaxed, and then scratched his head in confusion.

"Hey, it's just a branch of mathematics, and I only know a few basic things." Huang Xiaochuan deliberately put on a nonchalant air.

Zeng Jiahua looked at his nephew with some delight: "That's really impressive. I knew studying was useful."

Zeng Jiahua has one advantage: although he only has a junior high school education, he highly values ​​reading and learning, and he has great respect for learned people. Cai Gong was someone he invited after making three visits to his humble abode.

Then Zeng Jiahua started rambling on and on, basically saying things like, "Of all professions, only studying is noble." What could Huang Xiaochuan do but nod repeatedly to show that he also thought his uncle was right...

After Zeng Jiahua had finally had his fill of lecturing, Huang Xiaochuan revealed his true thoughts.

"Uncle, if I can bring business to your factory, will I get a bonus?"

Zeng Jiahua was drinking tea when he heard Huang Xiaochuan's words and stopped drinking. He thought to himself, "I just said you're fat and you're already getting cocky? You're just a kid, how can you do business?"

Seeing that Zeng Jiahua didn't believe he had the ability, Huang Xiaochuan added some more ingredients.

"I'm talking about foreign trade, you can earn more money that way."

Perhaps it was the keywords "foreign trade" and "money" that moved Zeng Jiahua. He put down his teacup and asked, "Then tell me, I want to see what tricks you, a mere young upstart, have up your sleeve."

Zeng Jiahua didn't expect Huang Xiaochuan to fall for his tricks. Instead, Huang leaned on Zeng's desk and tried to provoke him: "Uncle, I see now, you just don't trust me. How about this, let me give it a try? It doesn't cost you anything. But even though we're relatives, we still need to be upfront. If I bring in business for the factory and close the deal, how will you calculate my bonus?"

Zeng Jiahua was amused and annoyed by Huang Xiaochuan's words. He flicked Huang Xiaochuan's head with his finger and said, "You little monkey, you've even learned to bargain with your uncle?"

Seeing Huang Xiaochuan looking at him so seriously, Zeng Jiahua felt a little more relaxed: "How confident are you about what you're saying? If you can really close the deal, I'll give you a commission bonus according to the factory's supply and marketing department's regulations."

Seeing that Zeng Jiahua had relented, Huang Xiaochuan grinned, "The chances are pretty good, and the cost isn't too high. I'll need to use your phone to make some long-distance calls these next couple of days, but let me make this clear: if we don't find any business, the phone bill is on me!"

Zeng Jiahua was amused by Huang Xiaochuan. He ruffled Huang Xiaochuan's hair and said, "Oh my, your uncle can afford this phone bill. If outsiders knew that your uncle was asking his nephew for phone bills, they would laugh themselves to death."

"Use the phone as you please. I want to see if you, you little monkey, can cause any trouble in Heaven!"

The difference between township and village enterprises and state-owned enterprises lies in the fact that Zeng Jiahua, as the contractor, had absolute management rights over the enterprise. After paying the annual contract fees and taxes, he had considerable control over the remaining funds. It was because of this that the flange factory grew from a small workshop to its current scale.

Moreover, as the contractor, Zeng Jiahua not only receives a high salary but also a generous bonus from the town after exceeding his annual targets. This is the basis for his confidence in promising Huang Xiaochuan a reward.

After handing over the office to Huang Xiaochuan, Zeng Jiahua went to the workshop. Taking this opportunity, Huang Xiaochuan sat down in his uncle's office chair, found a national telephone directory, and started looking up the phone numbers of major foreign-related hotels in Shanghai.

At that time, telephone numbers were listed in the national telephone directory, organized by area code, and the postal and telecommunications system updated the directory annually. Huang Xiaochuan searched for the Shanghai area code in the directory and then looked for the registered units, easily finding the phone numbers of these hotels catering to foreigners.

After finding these phone numbers, Huang Xiaochuan folded the two pages of phone numbers to make a mark, and then he called the front desks of each hotel one by one.

His purpose in doing this was to find the Singaporean businessmen. He had only heard about it briefly when he was in college in his previous life, and his memory of it was a bit hazy. Moreover, the case files did not specify which hotel these Singaporean businessmen were staying at. However, he clearly remembered the time period, so he adopted this kind of wide-net approach used in later lives to find the businessmen.

After making phone calls all morning without getting anywhere, Huang Xiaochuan rode Zeng Jiahua's motorcycle home for lunch.

During the meal, Zeng Jiahua joked with Huang Xiaochuan, "Little monkey, I saw you made quite a few phone calls this morning, any progress?"

Huang Xiaochuan leisurely sipped his soup, replying, "What's the rush? Good things come to those who wait. Just wait for my good news!"

Zeng Jiahua pointed at Huang Xiaochuan with his chopsticks: "You little monkey, you've learned to brag now. I'd like to see how much phone bill you can waste before you manage to close a deal for me."

Grandma scolded Zeng Jiahua with a stern face: "Speak properly, what are you doing pointing and jabbing with your chopsticks? Do you act like a proper uncle?"

Zeng Jiahua was so frightened that she immediately withdrew her hands and chopsticks. Huang Xiaochuan held back his laughter and busied himself peeling shrimp for his grandmother, leaving the shrimp meat for her to eat.

Zeng Jiahua's poker face was incredibly expressive at that moment, but he didn't dare to lash out at Huang Xiaochuan in front of his mother, so he could only bury his head in his rice.

In the afternoon, Huang Xiaochuan continued to cast his net and make phone calls. After finishing his own business, Zeng Jiahua leisurely brewed a cup of tea, sipping it while watching Huang Xiaochuan make phone calls.

"Hello, is this the West Suburbs Hotel? I'd like to ask if a Singaporean businessman from Jiadao Company is staying at your hotel?"

"No?"

"Okay, thank you for your help."

After hanging up, Huang Xiaochuan picked up the phone and continued dialing numbers in sequence.

"Hongqiao Hotel? Do any foreign trading companies from Singapore's Jiadao Company stay there?"

"There are plenty, aren't there?"

"Would it be convenient for you to transfer my call to their room?"

"Oh! What unit do I work for?"

"I'm from a foreign trade company in Suzhou. I'd like to discuss an export deal with a representative from Jiadao Company. It involves millions of dollars in foreign exchange for the country, so I'd really appreciate your help!"

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jiahua's jaw nearly dropped. This little monkey! He actually impersonated someone from the Suzhou Foreign Trade Company. How utterly lawless! However, when he heard about the million-dollar sum, he decided to see what Huang Xiaochuan was really up to.

Less than a minute later, the call was transferred to the room, and someone picked up the phone and said "Hello!"

At this point, Huang Xiaochuan switched to fluent English and started chatting with the other party.

Having worked in foreign trade for so many years in my previous life, English was a basic skill for me, and I never expected to need it so soon.

This scene left Zeng Jiahua speechless with astonishment. He thought to himself, "This kid can actually speak a foreign language, and so fluently at that? Is this really my mischievous nephew?"

A dozen minutes later, Huang Xiaochuan politely said goodbye to the other party, hung up the phone, and asked Zeng Jiahua, "Uncle, could you lend me a better car?"

"Gulp!" Zeng Jiahua swallowed hard.