Chapter 141: Manager Lu (Thanks to SSSDC for the 10,000-coin tip)

Afternoon.

The sky was grim and terrifying, with layers of dark clouds blocking out the sun, as if it were about to come crashing down.

It was going to rain.

Having received the payment and deposit, Wang Qiang looked up at the sky and hurried over to Weijia Electronics. Guided by Su Weiming, he went to discuss the order with Manager Chen.

Unfortunately, the logistics shipment had just gone out that very day. Wang Qiang had originally considered chartering a vehicle himself.

However, Manager Chen now completely regarded him as a major patron and immediately arranged a backup logistics van, personally helping Wang Qiang transport one thousand portable cassette players and one hundred and fifty CD players to the railway station.

This was the advantage of being a large customer; bringing in a larger volume of goods came with privileges.

Wang Qiang thought about it and figured it made sense. If he had a customer whose orders brought in tens of thousands of yuan each, he would certainly treat them like royalty too.

He first checked in the cargo and then sat in the waiting room, dozing off.

It wasn't until around eight in the evening that he boarded the train back to Shanghai.

……

Two days later.

Shanghai, Friendship Guesthouse.

Around twelve noon, five or six people gathered around a small round table for lunch.

Wang Qiang, who had just been picked up by Old Yao, held his rice bowl and wolfed down his food. With his mouth full of braised pork belly, he mumbled indistinctly, "Mmm, Big Sister, the dishes you cook are getting more and more delicious."

The landlady teased, "Are you implying my cooking wasn't delicious before?"

Old Zhu chimed in, "Stop teasing Xiao Wang. I bet he hasn't had a single decent meal during this trip."

Wang Baoguo looked at his son with a gaze full of tender affection.

Busy eating and having no time to respond, Wang Qiang nodded in agreement with Brother Zhu's words. Cantonese cuisine was quite nice, but no matter what, restaurant food could never compare to home-cooked meals rich in oil and meat. Coupled with the terribly poor food he had endured on the train for two days, the moment he returned, he ate ravenously, like a starving ghost reincarnated, stuffing his face desperately.

He ate two bowls of rice in a row before he was too full to manage another bite. Letting out a satisfied burp, he put down his bowl and chopsticks with a trace of embarrassment, "I went and ate all the dishes by myself."

OldYao used a toothpick to pick his teeth. "I ate breakfast late, not really hungry."

"Heh, if you weren't hungry, why did you sit down to eat?" Old Zhu gave him a sideways glance.

"Look at how stingy you are. Making a fuss over a meal I eat—there's no getting through to you," Old Yao retorted.

Old Zhu slanted his eyes to peer at him. "Is it just *a* meal? It seems like every time Xiao Wang is out for seven or eight days, you don't eat here for a single day. Eating is one thing, but sometimes you even pack food to take back."

"Wasn't there a day or two when I didn't eat here?" Old Yao smacked his lips and said.

The landlady exposed him without hesitation, "That's only because you went visiting relatives the day before yesterday."

Now Old Yao couldn't hold his ground and quickly changed the subject. "Hey Xiao Wang, what about that thirty thousand yuan we talked about earlier? We should sign the share agreement."

Wang Qiang knew Old Yao couldn't win the argument with the married couple and was using him as a shield, but it was indeed a legitimate matter. They couldn't all have contributed capital while he dragged his feet and delayed coughing up his share, could they?

"I'm not giving you money; you should be giving me money instead," Wang Qiang teased them.

Sure enough, Old Yao grew anxious. "Why do we have to shell out more money? Didn't we agree to each put up another thirty thousand?"

Old Zhu, who was usually a bit muddle-headed, actually figured it out this time. As he fished a cigarette out of his pocket, he said, "It's us who should be giving money to Xiao Wang."

Hearing Old Zhu say that, Old Yao also snapped to it. Slapping his forehead, he laughed, "Right, right, I almost forgot about the procurement."

Wang Qiang nodded and broke down the numbers for them. "Last time, I temporarily used twenty thousand yuan of our common funds, plus the thirty thousand yuan in payment for goods. Logically speaking, I should be putting forward fifty thousand yuan, right?"

The group nodded slightly, knowing Wang Qiang was reconciling the accounts with them.

"The total cost for procuring this batch of one thousand cassette players and one hundred and fifty CD players came to fifty-nine thousand. Twenty thousand of that was our pooled money, and the remaining thirty-nine thousand was advanced out of my own pocket." Wang Qiang said, looking toward his father, "Dad, is the money still with you?"

Wang Baoguo nodded with an honest smile. "Old Yao and Old Zhu said it was safer keeping the money with me, so I didn't dare carry it on me for fear of losing it. Deducting the one hundred thousand registered capital, the twenty thousand you used, and the five thousand Old Yao took for renovation expenses, I still have twenty-five thousand left here."

"Alright, later you can take out nine thousand yuan. As for the rest of the money, once we collect the payments for the goods, we'll all go together to the bank to open a company account and deposit it," Wang Qiang said, looking around at everyone present. "What do you all think?"

"Fine by me."

"Let's do as Xiao Wang says."

Neither Old Zhu nor Old Yao had any objections.

After resting a bit to digest their meal, the four of them went out to deliver the goods.

……

Qiujiang Road.

Downstairs at the Electronic Digital Building.

With only a single van, the four of them first headed over to deliver the one thousand cassette players to their regular customer, Cheng Weihong.

Since the other party had raised complaints last time, it certainly wouldn't do to simply barge upstairs unannounced again. Old Zhu went downstairs to make a phone call, and then the four of them sat in the van chatting while waiting for Cheng Weihong to come over.

"Brother Zhu, are the one hundred and fifty CD players also on Qiujiang Road?" Wang Qiang asked from the back seat.

Old Zhu, smoking in the front passenger seat, took a sharp drag and said, "No, ask Uncle Wang. He knows."

How come my dad knows?

Wang Qiang looked at his father with a trace of puzzlement.

Wang Baoguo chuckled and said, "Over on some Huaihai Road."

"That's pretty close," Wang Qiang remarked.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Old Zhu said, "That's right. Uncle Wang and I were running around doing business, and as luck would have it, we heard that a department store over on Huaihai Road was opening, so we scouted it out and got it sorted in no time."

Wang Qiang took it for the truth and said, "Brother Zhu, you're amazing."

OldYao burst his bubble, saying, "Don't listen to his瞎吹 (bluffing). Old Zhu badgered the people there until they had no choice and agreed to take one hundred and fifty CD players to try out. That Manager Lu specifically said that if our CD players are of poor quality, they won't accept them."

So the deal hadn't even been fully finalized yet?

If the other party casually found an excuse to reject the CD players on the grounds of poor quality, wouldn't the goods be stuck on their hands?

Wang Qiang was speechless; Old Zhu was somewhat unreliable after all.

"What's there to be afraid of if they don't accept them? Don't we still have Old Cheng?" Old Zhu said carelessly. "I asked the day before yesterday, Old Cheng's CD players are almost sold out. Otherwise, do you think I would have let Xiao Wang bring the goods straight back?"

Speak of the devil, the van window was tapped lightly.

Cheng Weihong was standing outside the front passenger seat, peering inside with his head tilted.

Wang Qiang hurriedly pulled open the rear door of the van and shouted, "Brother Cheng, over here."

Cheng Weihong squeezed in, sat down next to Wang Qiang, and joked, "The way we do business feels a bit like a triad drug deal in a Hong Kong movie."

Wang Qiang chuckled and bantered back, "Do you want some drugs? I can hook you up with some."

"No, no, I don't have the guts for that," Cheng Weihong waved his hands repeatedly, then said with a slightly creeped-out expression, "Boss Xiao Wang, you're not actually in the triads, are you?"

The group was momentarily stunned, and then burst into hearty laughter, completely amused by Cheng Weihong.

They sat in the van chatting about trivial matters for a while longer.

Seeing that the time was getting late and they still had to deliver goods to Lujiazui shortly, Wang Qiang cut straight to the point: "Brother Cheng, where should we help you move the goods?"

"Send them to my place, it's not far, just up ahead," Cheng Weihong said, fishing a stack of cash from his chest pocket. "Let me pay you for the goods first."

While signaling Old Yao to drive, Wang Qiang took the money and began counting it. Thirty-eight thousand—exact.

The van drove forward for less than five minutes, and following Cheng Weihong's directions, turned into a residential compound.

Afterward, Wang Qiang and the others helped carry the one thousand cassette players up to the third floor.

With the delivery completed, the four of them bid farewell to Cheng Weihong and rushed toward Pudong.

……

It wasn't far.

Less than ten kilometers.

When the van slowly entered Huaihai Road and arrived at the Orient Building, Wang Qiang was momentarily stunned.

Such a large scale?

Would people like this even deign to look at our CD players?

Perhaps Old Yao and the others didn't know, but large department stores all had their own procurement channels, and their acquisition costs wouldn't be much higher than what they had paid themselves; the prices might even be roughly the same.

With a flurry of thoughts racing through his mind, Wang Qiang kept a calm expression and followed right behind Old Zhu toward the top floor.

Sixth floor.

Guided by the staff, the four of them arrived at the office of the procurement department manager.

Knock, knock, knock.

A female staff member softly said, "Manager Lu, someone is here to see you."

A lazy, middle-aged man's voice came from inside, "Come in."

The female staff member pushed the door open and let Wang Qiang and the four of them enter.

Walking inside, Wang Qiang saw a man in his forties, as fat as a pig, sitting behind an office desk. The man waved a hand, signaling the female staff member to close the door and leave.

As soon as the female staff member left, Old Zhu immediately beamed with smiles and said, "Manager Lu, I've got the goods for you."

Manager Lu skipped the small talk and went straight to the point: "What we discussed last time was five hundred per unit, right?"

Old Zhu was slightly taken aback. "Right, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Later on, go tell the accounting department it's six hundred a unit, but in reality, they will only disburse five hundred to you. Got it?" Manager Lu instructed.

Hearing these words, Wang Qiang couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. This Manager Lu was clearly colluding with the accounting department to embezzle department store funds for his own pocket.

Things like this might go unnoticed if unchecked, but if old accounts were ever dug up, he himself would likely be implicated.

Without waiting for Old Zhu to agree, Wang Qiang immediately refused, "Manager Lu, I'm sorry, but we charge what we charge. If you find that unsatisfactory, we'll haul the goods right back."

Taking a little kickback was one thing.

You're openly asking me to help you embezzle department store funds?

Wang Qiang had no desire to court disaster over a single business deal.

Both Old Zhu and Old Yao looked at Wang Qiang with confusion, as if wondering why he would turn down business when it was right in front of them.

Manager Lu's face darkened with displeasure. He glanced at Old Zhu and asked, "Who is he?"

"He is our boss, Wang Qiang," Old Yao chimed in first.

Manager Lu, who had been somewhat unhappy just a moment ago, suddenly broke into a smile. "Ah, it's Boss Wang. What's this, turning away money?"

Wang Qiang insisted firmly, "Of course we want to make money, but we only sell them for five hundred. Five hundred it is, and we won't utter a single extra penny."

Logically speaking, once things had reached this point, the other party would surely tell them to hit the road.

Instead, Manager Lu said, "Fine, five hundred it is. I'll have someone take you to accounting."

*Whew,* they had managed to avoid wading into the same muddy waters after all.

Wang Qiang let out a breath of relief. Although he didn't understand why Manager Lu had ultimately agreed, he knew one thing: he wouldn't do business with this person ever again; things could easily go wrong if they did.

Shortly after, Manager Lu made a phone call and had someone lead Wang Qiang and the others to the accounting office to settle the payment.

As for the supposed issue Old Yao had mentioned earlier—about the CD players being of poor quality and getting rejected—it didn't happen at all.

In fact, Wang Qiang saw right through it: this Manager Lu wasn't looking to procure goods at all; he was just inventing an excuse to line his own pockets.

Fortunately, his own reaction had been quick.

After moving the goods and collecting the cash downstairs, Wang Qiang immediately gave instructions: "Brother Zhu, Brother Yao, from now on, let's not do business with this Manager Lu anymore."

Old Zhu asked with puzzlement, "Why on earth not?"

Wang Qiang stated bluntly, "He wanted to use us to skim money from the department store into his own pocket."

Old Yao said indifferently, "Isn't that kind of thing super common? What's to be afraid of, as long as we make our money?"

Wang Qiang laid down an ultimatum: "If you want to keep cooperating with me, you'll do as I just said."

Old Zhu had always listened to Wang Qiang anyway. "Alright, I'll listen to you."

Old Yao let out an "oh" and said no more, though it was unclear what he was thinking inside.

Wang Qiang didn't dwell on it; as long as the two partners agreed, that was enough. Regardless of anything else, the business deal had been completed today. Even if it was a one-off, at the very least, actually earning the money was real. He felt quite satisfied and wanted to deposit the funds into the company account as soon as possible, then swiftly wrap up the final procedures to get the company officially opened.