Chapter 139: Demand Exceeds Supply (Thanks to Blue Ocean and Azure Sky for Their Generous Support)

Jiahua Apparel Wholesale Market.

After finishing breakfast, Wang Qiang glanced at his watch and saw it was nine o'clock in the morning. He strolled leisurely toward the first shop on the east side.

Before he even stepped inside, Boss Ding, with his sharp eyes, spotted him and rushed out in a flurry, lamenting, "Little Boss Wang, you're finally here."

His pager kept buzzing. Wang Qiang looked down at the screen while saying, "I just overslept a little."

"You still have the heart to sleep?" Boss Ding was burning with anxiety. "Quick, quickly get me some more four-piece bedding sets."

Having just read the latest message from Boss Tan, Wang Qiang put away his pager, looked up, and smiled, "You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the goods."

Boss Ding let out an exclamation of dismay, his face full of disappointment. "Tomorrow?"

"Yes," Wang Qiang nodded. "I had someone ship the goods yesterday. It's a bit far, so they probably won't arrive until noon tomorrow." He looked up at Boss Ding. "If anyone asks, you can tell them to place an order today and come pick them up tomorrow afternoon." In truth, he was anxious himself, but shipping from Shanghai took nearly forty hours. He wasn't a deity who could conjure goods out of thin air.

"Right, right, I can tell them to wait and pick them up tomorrow." Boss Ding was growing impatient. Without a second thought, he said, "Give me another hundred and fifty sets—seventy-five sets of polyester-cotton and seventy-five of pure cotton."

To his surprise, Wang Qiang wore an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Boss Ding, but I can only give you a hundred sets at most. If you want more after that, you'll have to wait another four or five days."

Boss Ding froze: "..."

Earlier, he had only taken ten sets to test the market, fully prepared to take a loss. He never expected that now that they were selling like wildfire, he wouldn't be able to get more stock.

If anyone from the future had witnessed Wang Qiang's response, they would have called it hunger marketing.

In reality, Wang Qiang wasn't engaging in hunger marketing at all. He simply had too little working capital. Even this batch of one thousand four-piece sets had been funded by borrowing forty to fifty thousand yuan from the remaining funds meant for registering his company. How could he possibly afford more stock?

"Fine, a hundred sets it is." Something was better than nothing. Boss Ding had already realized that the bedding set business had great potential. Yes, newspaper reports had a limited lifespan, and perhaps the bedding business would eventually cool down. But he had thought it through thoroughly: even if the trade slowed, everyone would know that Jiahua sold four-piece bedding sets, effectively opening up his sales channels. He could guarantee that even if the bedding business wouldn't be as booming as it was these past two days, it would still remain quite profitable.

This was a merchant's acute intuition.

...

Leaving Boss Ding's shop, Wang Qiang headed straight for Elder Sister Wang's store.

Just as he reached the entrance, he heard a commotion of arguing voices.

"They're all gone?"

"Forget it, let's go check somewhere else."

"Where is that Qunzhen Apparel? I read in the newspaper that they sell them there."

Four or five customers were preparing to leave. Elder Sister Wang was running around in a panic when she happened to see Wang Qiang arriving. She hurriedly called out to the crowd, "The supplier is here! Wait a moment, let me ask him."

The crowd temporarily halted their steps.

Elder Sister Wang covered the distance to Wang Qiang in two quick strides and asked, "Little Boss Wang, bring me some more bedding sets."

"Not today," Wang Qiang replied.

Elder Sister Wang's face fell in disappointment, and upon hearing there was no stock, the group of customers turned and bolted toward the door.

However, Wang Qiang's next sentence made them stop in their tracks once more: "If you want four-piece sets, you can place an order with Elder Sister Wang today, and I can have the goods delivered by tomorrow afternoon."

One of the young customers quickly asked, "I want to take ten sets. Will they be ready tomorrow?"

Wang Qiang readily promised, "Yes."

Another woman in her forties asked, "Is the price still fifty for polyester-cotton and sixty-five for pure cotton, like what we just discussed with the proprietress?"

On this matter, Wang Qiang didn't make the decision for Elder Sister Wang. "You can discuss it with her yourselves in a moment."

After hesitating for a moment, some people left, leaving three or four individuals behind to negotiate with Elder Sister Wang.

Elder Sister Wang readily agreed to everything, terrified the customers might walk away. She even brought out a ledger to register each order one by one and collected deposits, fearing that without a deposit, these people wouldn't show up tomorrow.

Once the registration was complete, the crowd dispersed.

Only Elder Sister Wang and Wang Qiang were left in the shop.

Elder Sister Wang, who previously hadn't paid much attention to Wang Qiang, beamed with smiles as she fetched a long bench. "Little Boss Wang, have a seat."

Wang Qiang didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down smoothly and said, "I don't have too many goods on hand. How many sets do you want?"

Elder Sister Wang's attitude today was exemplary, offering tea and cigarettes—a far cry from her previous demeanor of smoking away without even bidding him farewell.

Wang Qiang accepted the tea but politely declined the cigarette.

"Can you get me another hundred and twenty sets?" Elder Sister Wang asked, full of anticipation. With just three or four people having ordered around twenty sets moments ago, she was confident she wouldn't lose money on a hundred and twenty sets.

However, Wang Qiang no longer needed to beg people to take his goods like before. He shook his head and said, "Not that many. I can only give you a hundred."

Elder Sister Wang grew anxious. "Why only a hundred? That's not enough for me to sell."

Wang Qiang had to ensure that his previous customers all received their goods, so naturally, he couldn't allocate everything to Elder Sister Wang. Without offering much explanation, he simply said, "That's all I have for now. Do you want them or not?"

"I want them, of course I want them," Elder Sister Wang said helplessly.

...

Inside Boss Tan's shop.

Wang Qiang had just finished discussing the supply arrangement with the couple, promising to deliver a hundred sets tomorrow.

Unlike the previous shop owners, the couple wasn't desperately eager to grab more stock. Perhaps their existing apparel business was already doing quite well, and they viewed the bedding sets merely as a sideline to make a little extra money.

"Alright, I still have two shops to visit. I'll have them delivered to you tomorrow afternoon," Wang Qiang said, rising to leave.

Elder Sister Tan stood up to see him off. "Make sure you deliver them tomorrow afternoon without fail. Don't forget."

"I won't, I won't," Wang Qiang said, walking toward the door.

Just as he was about to step outside, someone recklessly barged in headfirst, nearly colliding with him.

Wang Qiang quickly stepped aside, frowning as he thought to himself, *Who walks in such a rush?* When he recognized the person, his displeasure only deepened.

It was a young man with dyed, colorful hair whom Wang Qiang recognized. Two days ago, when Wang Qiang had visited this young man's shop to pitch the bedding sets, he had nearly been chased out with a broom.

The moment the young man saw Wang Qiang, a beaming smile immediately spread across his face. "I just saw you come into Old Tan's shop and chased you down specially."

Wang Qiang kept his expression neutral, maintaining his composure as he asked, "Is something the matter?"

The young man rubbed his hands together. "I heard you have four-piece bedding sets available, so I wanted to get some from you." He had seen the explosive business at Sister Xu's shop directly across the way and turned green with envy. At first, the young man had been puzzled—wasn't Sister Xu's business usually quite mediocre? Why had it suddenly taken off? Later, after sneaking over for a peek, he realized Sister Xu's success was due to selling those bedding sets.

Recalling how people had continuously inquired about bedding sets from yesterday afternoon through this morning, the young man instantly realized that selling them was a lucrative prospect. He had asked around everywhere, finally cornering Boss Ding with endless questions until he found out Wang Qiang was the supplier, and then trailed the retreating figure to Boss Tan's shop.

Upon catching sight of Wang Qiang's face, the young man found him looking somewhat familiar, though he couldn't place where he had seen him. Surely, he figured, no businessman would turn down a paying customer, right?

To his utter astonishment, Wang Qiang was indeed turning down business. He slanted a glance at the young man. "Sorry, I don't." He was an honest person, but that didn't mean he would do anything for money. This blockhead had chased him out with a broom, and now that he saw the bedding sets were selling well, he wanted stock? In his dreams!

If you can't win on pride, win on principle.

Wang Qiang, who usually seemed easygoing, had a remarkably unyielding backbone deep down.

The young man hurriedly stammered, "I just heard you supplying others—how come you suddenly don't have any?"

Wang Qiang let out a dry, humorless laugh and stated flatly, "I supply everyone else, just not you." With that, he turned and walked away.

The young man flared up with anger, wanting to chase after Wang Qiang to demand what he meant. But suddenly, it finally dawned on him who Wang Qiang was. He froze in his tracks at the threshold of Boss Tan's shop, his face turning pale and mottled.

Who in the Jiahua Foreign Trade Apparel Wholesale Market didn't know how lucrative the bedding set business was right now? The young man was no exception. But in his wildest dreams, he never imagined that the supplier was the very person he himself had chased away with a broom just two days prior. If he hadn't driven him off that day, perhaps he would have already made a fortune off the bedding sets. But now, he finally understood that he had driven the God of Wealth away with his own hands. Regret washed over him. Watching others rake in money while he could only look on with envy—that was a bitter pill to swallow!