Chapter 138: Sold Out (Special Thanks to Sanbao for the Generous Tip)

Night fell, and business hours came to an end.
In the wholesale market, shop owners were all closing their accounts and tallying up the day's sales.

Near the eastern side, in Boss Ding’s shop, his wife—who worked as a marketing planner at a company and had just rushed over after finishing her shift and cooking dinner—sat in front of the counter, holding a ballpoint pen as she scribbled and made corrections. She spoke up, "Decai, did the four-piece bedding sets you took yesterday sell well?"

"Sold out completely," Boss Ding squatted on the ground, counting a bundle of orange T-shirts.

"Oh... wait, what?" His wife gave him a surprised look. "Didn't you only sell two or three sets yesterday? How are they all sold out today? Did someone buy them in bulk?"

"No, our wholesale market made it into the Shenzhen Evening News, and then a lot of people came looking for the bedding sets," Boss Ding said with a chuckle. "We just sold a few bedding sets, yet the newspaper reported on it like it was some big deal."

His wife’s first reaction was that something felt off. That's right—selling goods was the most normal thing in the world; why would a newspaper bother reporting on it?

Driven by curiosity, she flipped through the materials in front of the counter, found today’s Shenzhen Evening News, and began reading. On the top of the second page, she discovered the news piece about Jiahua.

The vast majority of the article talked about how the Jiahua Foreign Trade Clothing Wholesale Market had recently started selling four-piece bedding sets, and the piece even employed various rhetorical questions, asking whether a wholesale market should be selling bedding sets. She paused, stunned.

Was this really just a random coincidence?

Why did she constantly have the feeling that this was someone's marketing campaign?

The more Boss Ding’s wife read, the more plausible it seemed. The news article dropped hints everywhere that Jiahua had bedding sets for sale and that they were very cheap. If this wasn't a marketing campaign, what was it?

"Hey Decai, you mentioned that the young man who sold you the bedding sets kept asking you how sales were going yesterday, right?" his wife inquired.

Boss Ding let out a hum as he hugged a bundle of clothes and walked deeper into the shop. "Why do you ask?"

"Did he come today?"

"He came by around noon to ask around, and then he disappeared."

"Right before the newspapers were delivered, is that when he asked?"

"That's right."

Dawning realization dawned upon his wife. This news report was most likely orchestrated by the young man who delivered the goods to her husband. Why did she have this thought? It was simple: after the report came out, everyone's business would undoubtedly surge significantly. Why would he ask when sales were poor, but stop asking once sales went up? That was clearly the sign of someone brimming with confidence.

"Decai, let me tell you something," his wife said, her expression turning slightly solemn.

Boss Ding dropped the clothes in a corner and straightened up. "What is it?"

"I think today's report in the Shenzhen Evening News about the wholesale market selling bedding sets was engineered by the young man who delivered your goods." His wife voiced her inner thoughts.

Boss Ding was taken aback, then chuckled. "You're overthinking it, aren't you? Why on earth would a newspaper listen to young Wang? Impossible."

Even though Boss Ding didn't believe it, his wife was seventy or eighty percent certain that the news had been manipulated by the "young Wang" her husband spoke of. It was an instinct born of her career as a marketing planner. A sudden idea even flashed through her mind regarding the promotional difficulties of her company's new product—it seemed she could borrow young Wang's method.

Make the newspapers speak for you?
Or perhaps television stations and the like?
This was simply a textbook marketing method!

A slight excitement stirred within his wife. This method was truly brilliant. She immediately said, "Decai, you handle your accounts yourself. I have some business to attend to." With that, she hurriedly stood up and walked toward the entrance.

Boss Ding uttered an "uh," asking, "Where are you going?"

"I have things to do."

Boss Ding was left baffled, but knowing that his wife was always busy with work, he didn't pursue her. Instead, he hurried over to the counter and set about doing his accounts. Once finished, he pulled a slip of paper with a pager number on it from the drawer on his right, absentmindedly picked up the telephone receiver resting on the counter, and dialed the paging number. Before long, the operator connected. "Help me leave a message for the subscriber: tell him to come to Boss Ding's shop tomorrow."

Having dialed the pager, he got up to go home.
The bedding sets were selling well; he needed to fetch some more.

***

Over at the hotel.

Wang Qiang had just finished dinner and was taking a shower when he heard his pager beeping outside, but he didn't rush to check it.
He washed himself at a leisurely pace.

Once he finished, he dried his body, wrapped himself in a bath towel, and trotted out. He picked up the pager from the bedside table and clicked through the messages. There were five in total. The latest one was from Boss Ding, telling him to come to the shop early tomorrow morning. Scrolling up to the previous one, it was stock market information. Wang Qiang continued scrolling up; this time it was from young Boss Lü—if he remembered correctly, that was the young female boss who had also only taken ten sets of bedding sets. The one above that was from Elder Sister Wang, with both of them similarly requesting that he visit their shops tomorrow.

Three people looking for him at the same time?
As for what it was about, it went without saying, didn't it?

One look and Wang Qiang understood what was going on. It was highly likely that those three shops had sold quite well today and run out of their bedding sets; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that all three of them were looking for him?

Still, he couldn't be entirely sure yet.
He continued scrolling up.

This was the final message—from Elder Sister Xu. She directly instructed Wang Qiang to prepare some stock over the next couple of days.

Even Elder Sister Xu was asking him to stock up?

He took this seriously, swiftly picking up the telephone on the bedside table to call Elder Sister Xu first. As it happened, Elder Sister Xu was still at her shop and hadn't left yet. It was a good thing the hotel he stayed at was upscale; otherwise, he would have had to run outside to make a call.

"Elder Sister Xu, it's little Wang. Are you looking for more goods?"

"I'm just telling you to get them ready in advance. I sold over sixty sets today. If things can keep selling as well as they did today, I reckon I'll need to pick up more stock in three or five days. When haven't I told you three or four days in advance before having you deliver the goods? Just giving you a heads-up."

Sold over sixty sets?

Wang Qiang was greatly startled, crying out involuntarily, "You sold that many?"

On the other end of the line, Elder Sister Xu laughed cheerfully. "That's right! I ran into two big clients—one took fifteen sets, and another took twenty. Then there were the miscellaneous ones sold piecemeal. People all came looking because they were holding the newspaper." Her tone carried a hint of pleased vanity. "My shop name is written quite clearly in the newspaper, after all."

Wang Qiang’s spirits lifted. Indeed, the Shenzhen Evening News had explicitly used Elder Sister Xu’s shop as an example, so her business today was bound to be much better than anyone else's. Moreover, Elder Sister Xu had some prior experience selling bedding sets. For her to ask him to prepare the stock over the next two days meant it was very likely she would sell out the bedding sets within four or five days, because his previous two deliveries had both arrived three days after receiving a call.

He immediately agreed. After hanging up, Wang Qiang promptly dialed the number for Old Zhu’s inn.

The call connected quickly, and the female boss's voice came from the other side, "Hello, sa ning?"
(Shanghainese for "Who is it?")

Wang Qiang immediately replied, "Big sister, it's little Wang. Is my dad there?"

"He's drinking with Old Zhu. I'll go call him for you." The female boss put down the receiver, her footsteps receding inward.

Rustling sounds came from the other side, making it impossible to hear what was being said.

A moment later, the receiver was picked up, and his father's voice came through, "Qiangzi, what is it?"

Wang Qiang first asked, "Dad, do Brother Zhu and Brother Yao agree to let you use this money first?"

His father let out an affirmative hum.

Wang Qiang immediately instructed, "Go out right now, find a payphone, and call Boss Zheng. Ask him if he can send five hundred sets of polyester-cotton and five hundred sets of pure cotton bedding sets to Shanghai overnight. If he can, keep them at home first, and go to the railway station tomorrow morning to ship them over."

"In such a hurry?" his father asked.

Wang Qiang explained, "I have to be."

Although Boss Ding and the others hadn't explicitly said they wanted goods, Elder Sister Xu had sold over sixty sets today. Even if two of them were major clients, Wang Qiang could still imagine how many bedding sets the other shops had sold. Perhaps their sales were far inferior to Elder Sister Xu's, but barring any accidents, they should all sell out tomorrow—after all, each of those shops had taken a maximum of twenty sets.

"Alright, I'm going right now," his father said.

Wang Qiang cautioned, "If the goods arrive, page me so I know."

He hung up the phone.

***

Wang Qiang remained restless for a long time, lying on the bed with his eyes rolling continuously.
One hour...
Two hours...
Unawares, he drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, a crisp beeping sound rang out in the quiet of the deep night.
Wang Qiang, who had been sleeping soundly, snapped his eyes open and grabbed the pager from the bedside table. It was a page from his father, informing him that the goods had been successfully secured.

Wang Qiang let out a breath of relief. Checking the time, it was already half past twelve in the morning, and he went back to sleep, well-content.

***

Dawn broke.
The Jiahua Clothing Wholesale Market.

Boss Tan and Elder Sister Qiu had sold twelve or thirteen sets of bedding sets yesterday. Thinking the newspaper coverage was just a fleeting flash in the pan, they hadn't thought much of it, figuring their business today wouldn't be as good as yesterday's.

However, shortly after opening their doors today, they were startled by the scene before them: streams of people were coming over to buy bedding sets.

"Boss, do you have bedding sets?"
"The polyester-cotton ones are only fifty a set?"
"Give me two sets of bedding sets—one polyester-cotton, one pure cotton."
"How did I know about this? How else? Saw the news when I got home after work yesterday."
"Not me. I heard about it from someone else and only then found out Jiahua actually had bedding sets for sale. I used to go to the department stores, and they were ridiculously expensive. Look how cheap it is here—pure cotton is only sixty-five."
"What? Sold out?!"
"Boss, why didn't you stock up on more goods?"
"Forget it, forget it, I'll go check somewhere else."

Not even an hour after opening, the remaining six or seven sets of bedding sets in the shop were completely sold out, and people kept coming over from time to time to ask if there were any left.

Boss Tan and Elder Sister Qiu looked at each other in dismay. Business was even better than yesterday?

They could no longer sit still and began conferring in front of the counter.
"Old Tan, since the bedding sets sell so well, shouldn't we get some more from little Wang?" Elder Sister Qiu said, her hands itching. Yesterday she had wanted to return the goods because business was bad, but who could have expected the bedding stock to suddenly catch fire and sell out entirely?

Boss Tan could no longer hold back either, searching the drawer for Wang Qiang's pager number. "I'm calling little Wang."

Elder Sister Qiu urged him hastily, "Call quickly, call quickly!"

It was no wonder she was in a rush; twenty sets had sold out in two days, and the business seemed no worse than selling clothes. Coupled with the steady stream of people coming to inquire, any fool could see there was a business opportunity here.

***

In fact, it wasn't just them.
Throughout the entire Jiahua Foreign Trade Clothing Wholesale Market, practically all the bedding sets had sold out because everyone had taken very little stock to begin with.

Except for Elder Sister Xu, who had taken over three hundred sets and now had customers crowding the entrance of her shop, her mouth split wide in a delighted grin.

Little did she know that the other bosses who had taken bedding sets from Wang Qiang had already completely sold out of their inventory!