Chapter Ten: Arrogant at First but Polite Afterwards

  The days of meeting are always too short, Lu Zhengdong really wants to accompany his mother a little longer, but Lu Zhengdong also knows that it's not the right time yet, he can only do his job better and achieve more, then his mother will be more satisfied.

  His mother's thoughts were also similar to his. Although she was reluctant in her heart, she urged him on, wanting to "drive" him to the south.

  Seeing her mother so determined, she had no choice but to steel herself and get on the bus.

  Lu Zhengdong arrived in the special zone and immediately set to work, first re-making the packaging of the products, including "Opening Certificate", "High Monk's Seal" and photos of "Attained Enlightenment High Monks". The entire product was made even more exquisite than those exported by handicraft factories.

  Lu Zhengdong did not directly take these things to find wholesalers who deal in such crafts. Nowadays, it's all about selling on credit, and generally, you only settle the payment after selling them off. This back-and-forth process would take at least one or two months before he could get some of the money. Whether it was to resume production at the craft factory or to use the Buddha's light for enlightenment, Lu Zhengdong couldn't wait that long.

  Lu Zhengdong plans to sell directly and look for small vendors at tourist attractions and temples.

  He targeted the white-collar workers in the office buildings, especially the female ones, because the office buildings are densely populated. For these white-collar workers with salaries ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars in this special zone, this price is just a drop in the bucket. Moreover, these people have high work pressure and need to find some comfort to relieve their stress. Although it's hard work, the profit will definitely be substantial.

  Scenic spots and temples that sell tourist goods, although the overall profit is not as good as zero sales, but the sales volume is relatively large, which can guarantee a certain profit while ensuring a certain sales volume.

  Doing so may be quite hard, but there will definitely be results.

  With a thick skin and a big heart, Lu Zhengdong spent his days wandering around the special zone's large and small office buildings, tourist attractions, temples, and wholesale markets for handicrafts. His products not only had certificates of authenticity but also awards from craft factories, export certificates, and high-quality products. He was quite familiar with these white-collar workers and often grasped their psychology in his speech, making him very popular. Not only did domestic white-collar buyers flock to him, but many people from X province also made purchases.

  As for those tourist attractions and small vendors, they are even more fond of his things.

  Within a week, the tens of thousands of dollars' worth of goods he brought were sold out. In half a month's time, nearly 100,000 yuan's worth of small products from the craft factory were all swept away by him.

  Although Lu Zhengdong was tired enough, after deducting the cost of re-packaging and living expenses, his wallet became thick and he became a real ten-thousand-yuan household. It's really a feeling that can count money until his hands cramp - all are banknotes with denominations of 10 yuan or less, and it takes half a day to count the money every day.

  However, this is just a sideline. His main purpose in coming south was to find stable sales channels for craft factories, and he didn't fall behind in this regard either.

  There are many leather goods companies in the special zone now, he stared at his eyes to choose, and if it's a temple of osmanthus fragrans, it can really be done, so we must find a powerful wholesaler to make money, so those small wholesalers didn't consider him at all.

  Lu Zhengdong targeted two companies, especially one called Tongda Arts and Crafts Trading Company invested by people from X Province, which was his focus. This company occupied half of the Buddhist handicrafts market in the special zone.

  However, the stronger the strength, the higher the threshold, and the more stringent the conditions. When Lu Zhengdong came to the door, he coaxed the front desk lady and went straight to the manager's office.

  The manager of Tongda Company, Mr. Li, is a Hong Kong person. He looks quite decent and has an air of elegance, and he's also relatively polite. However, as soon as it was mentioned that he came from mainland China, a sense of superiority suddenly emerged, and in his eyes, he became a country bumpkin. His attitude towards him became somewhat dismissive.

  Lu Zhengdong took a glance at Manager Li's office, the interior design was very particular, it looked like he had consulted with a feng shui master, and on his wrist he wore a string of jade Buddhist beads.

  In X province, about 80% to 90% of people believe in fate and Feng Shui, even many who have received good Western-style education are the same. The person in front of me is obviously one of them. However, many such culturally-oriented people only have a superficial understanding of these things, they just follow what others say and don't really understand.

  To get closer to each other, we need to find some common topics to talk about. Lu Zhengdong has been wandering around for so many years and has come into contact with all sorts of people from different walks of life. He also knows a thing or two about Feng Shui and Buddhist affairs. However, as someone who specializes in the business of Buddhist artifacts, he may have done more research on Buddhism than Lu Zhengdong.

  Lu Zhengdong ignored Li's attitude and continued to smile faintly as he began to talk about Feng Shui.

  At first, Manager Li was just listening to him casually, but Lu Zhengdong often stopped at the crucial point and left Manager Li's heart itching. Originally, Manager Li was very cold to him, but gradually became interested.

  Lu Zhengdong slowly began to talk about the Guiyun Temple, telling its history and former glory, saying that the temple had a magical Buddha light, and then describing what he saw of the Buddha light. Of course, Lu Zhengdong concealed the name of the Guiyun Temple.

  "Is there really such a magical Buddha light?"

  Lu Zhengdong nodded:

  "I have seen it with my own eyes. In fact, language cannot describe the scene at all. Mr. Li, this kind of scenery can only be truly appreciated by going there in person and experiencing it for oneself."

  That magical scene was so shocking that even he, an atheist, was greatly shocked. With Lu Zhengdong's vivid description, Manager Li's expression was full of yearning:

  "Mr. Lu, where is this temple you're talking about? When can we see that magical Buddha light?" He said with a hint of regret:

  "Such a wonderful Buddha's light is probably rarely seen? It needs fate."

  Lu Zhengdong nodded and said:

  "This temple is in our city. Hehe, wanting to see the Buddha's light indeed requires some fate, but for now there is an opportunity."

  Manager Li hastily asked:

  "What chance?"

  "Manager Li also knew that the mainland was still underdeveloped, the government's finances were difficult, and the common people's lives were still struggling with poverty. So although the temple was also very famous, it didn't have the money to carry out repairs and maintenance. I am familiar with the abbot, the temple urgently needs repair funds, our factory's products also want to open up the southern market especially Hong Kong and Macau, so I proposed to the abbot the suggestion of using Buddha's light for the opening."

  Manager Li, as far as I know, there are only two places in the mainland that have such a Buddha light. The other Buddha light is reflected onto the top of the main hall, which is basically above the head of the Buddha statue. To hold a lighting ceremony on top of the Buddha statue would be extremely disrespectful. The only place that can hold a lighting ceremony is the Guiyuan Temple. In order to raise funds for repairs, the abbot of the temple has made an exception and allowed the lighting ceremony to be recorded.

  "Manager Li, if you were to number and put a unique mark on these blessed products, and attach a video tape of the blessing process to each product, that would be something truly one-of-a-kind in the whole country! We plan to find a company in the special zone to produce and sell these products, which is also my main purpose for coming to the special zone. If Manager Li is interested, we can discuss it further."

  Lu Zhengdong finally "exhausted his tricks" and stated his true intention of going through.

  Manager Li listened and said after a moment of hesitation:

  "Ah, I'm sure Mr. Lu is also aware of the strength and scale of our company, Tongda, which is undoubtedly the strongest and largest in the special zone. It's a good choice for Mr. Lu to cooperate with us. The products that are about to be launched are hard to come by, but your factory's products are regularly sold. If Mr. Lu can entrust those new products to our company, Tongda, for sales, then the sales of your factory's products will definitely not be a problem in the future, and your craft factory will also develop along with it. This is beneficial to both parties. As for the price of this batch of new products, we can discuss it, and I won't let Mr. Lu lose out..."

  It's clear that Manager Li also saw the huge profit margin of this kind of product, and immediately returned to reality from his admiration for Buddha's light. Manager Li wanted to monopolize the sales of the blessed products by using the ordinary products of the handicraft factory as a condition.

  That's Hong Kong people, superstitious but practical and astute, they will never miss an opportunity to make money.

  Lu Zhengdong smiled and didn't say anything, he now held a good hand of cards, the initiative was in his hands. The host and guest had swapped positions, it was time for Manager Li to ask for his help.

  Lu Zhengdong smiled and said:

  "I know Tongda's position in the industry, but there are also several other companies in the special zone that are not bad either, and they are also very interested. In addition, Southeast Asia is our traditional market, where we originally had some customers. We can't just make new friends and forget about old ones."

  Lu Zhengdong did not plan to find a few companies to sell opening products. For such high-end products, monopoly operation can maximize benefits for both merchants and manufacturers. However, he still wanted to put some pressure on Manager Li, with the initiative in his hands, he naturally wanted to maximize his interests.

  Manager Li was somewhat anxious upon hearing this:

  "We have Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan behind us, this is the largest market, which is beneficial to the development of your craft factory. As for Southeast Asia, you can just make a gesture, as for the other few houses in the special zone, they are completely small potatoes. Mr. Lu, you found a few houses in the special zone, it seems that you made a little more money, but it's not worth it..."

  Two people came and went, Lu Zhengdong got what he expected in terms of goods collection and payment after struggling, and then saw the good and collected it. After all, such a pioneering product is really hard to come by, and as long as this precedent is set, those who follow will be overwhelming, and at that time, there will not be much profit left. The ordinary products of the craft factory have sales channels, which are the long-term things.

  Buddhist handicrafts are only available in Tongda as a main business, and in this regard, they have an advantage, strong strength, and no need to worry about the safety of goods payments. If you can establish a relationship with Tongda, the handicraft factory will also have a relatively stable channel, which can lay the foundation for the development of products other than Buddhist handicrafts. It is also necessary to have a good relationship with Tongda.

  "As for the price, Manager Li hasn't seen how the product is activated and doesn't have an intuitive impression. I'd like to invite Manager Li to attend the activation ceremony, get an impression, and then we can discuss it again, so that everyone won't be at a disadvantage, what do you think?"

  Lu Zhengdong was also thinking in his heart that such things would be more shocking on the spot, and after stunning Manager Li, it would be easier to talk about prices...

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