After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 240 Mr. Mai is very proud
These days, ordinary people don't have much money.

The particularly strict foreign exchange controls made it very difficult to import expensive foreign equipment, which became a major advantage for Sancai Printing Factory. Their brand-new Japanese printing equipment was truly unique among privately-owned printing factories in the harbor!
Therefore, the Sancai Printing Factory did not stop production.

Because some high-quality books, or books printed in full color on offset paper, are beyond the capacity of ordinary printing plants. If you want them printed, you either have to go to a large state-owned printing plant, or you can only choose three-color printing.

But the profits from these few orders weren't even enough to cover the interest.

Fortunately, Mai Liangping found a strategy to deal with the situation and quickly subdued the competitors who were disrupting the market.

That day, he sat in his office with his legs crossed.

Looks like he's in a good mood.

"Old Xiao, you have business but you won't take care of your brother? ... Think about it? What's there to think about? In the whole harbor, can you find a printing factory that can compare to mine? ... State-owned ones don't count, they all act like big shots there, and if the printing isn't good, they don't take any responsibility... You still have to come to your brother!"

"What are you waiting for? Changxing Printing Factory, right? They've been thoroughly investigated there, their cutthroat competition is destroying the market, they were almost shut down! ...Okay, I'll wait for your news! As for the price, it will be absolutely fair within the market's acceptable range!"

"No problem, go ahead and ask around!"

Mai Liangping made a phone call.

He sneered in his heart.

He had long ago figured out the psychology of these private booksellers!

Private booksellers prefer to collaborate with private printing plants.

Because there are legal restrictions behind it.

The state has clear regulations that only state-owned publishing houses can apply for ISBNs.

What can be done if a private bookseller cannot publish without an ISBN?
Then the only option is to buy it from a state-owned publishing house.

However, there are also national regulations that prohibit the buying and selling of book numbers.

The two government orders virtually eliminated any possibility of private publishing.

Private booksellers with connections and channels, like Jiang Xiong, can collaborate with state-owned publishing houses to obtain ISBNs under the guise of joint development projects, thus making the process legal and legitimate.

However, most private booksellers can only operate in a gray area, spending tens of thousands of yuan to buy an ISBN and then finding a private printing factory to handle the printing.

As long as it's not a banned book, it's fine.

Therefore, Mai Liangping was very confident.

As long as Changxing Printing Factory's malicious price-cutting is curbed and fairness is restored to the market, most private booksellers will ultimately choose to cooperate with Sancai Printing Factory.

"Mr. Mai, a client has arrived!"

At that moment, the female assistant ran over happily.

Mai Liangping's eyes lit up, "A customer?"

The female assistant replied repeatedly, "Yes, it's Mr. Zhao Mingjian, the general manager of Jianghe Culture Company. He's here to discuss cooperation with us!"

"Ha ha!"

Mai Liangping cheered up.

coming!

After Changxing Printing Factory was punished, all of its orders came back.

"Let's go! Let's go greet them!"

Mai Liangping was in high spirits, feeling that the spring of his business had arrived.

He quickly went out to greet them.

The visitors were none other than Li Jun, an investigative reporter from the "People's Livelihood Investigation" column, and his cameraman Meng Duo, who came to impersonate booksellers to discuss business.

A warm greeting ensued.

Li Jun said with a smile, "I heard that our printing plant has introduced the latest Japanese printing equipment."

Mai Liangping said proudly, "Of course, it's unique in the entire harbor!"

"Then let's take a tour of the factory and have a look around?"

Li Jun naturally offered his suggestion.

Mai Liangping laughed and said, "Sure, the factory is over there. Let's go take a look! After you see it, I guarantee you'll want to sign the contract!"

Li Jun glanced at Meng Duo, the cameraman beside him. He saw Meng Duo carrying a briefcase and adjusting the angle of the hidden camera with his arm and waist before they went into the factory together.

It is indeed advanced equipment.

The noise level is much lower than other printing plants.

But the chemical smell was still quite strong.

"Mr. Mai, this smell is a bit strong!"

Li Jun said calmly.

The price of books in China is lower than that in foreign countries because the cost is lower, and one of the reasons is the use of inferior, toxic, and cheaper materials.

Mai Liangping smiled and said, "It's alright. The number of orders has been quite low recently, and the flavors have all been released. When you came last month, the number of orders was high, and we were working non-stop every day. The flavors were much stronger then, and we couldn't even get in."

Li Jun nodded. "This chemical smells like it must be toxic, right?"

"It's nothing!" Mai Liangping waved his hand dismissively. "The pollution here is very low. We only used a few chemicals, but it's much less serious than what you'd find at a chemical plant!"

Li Jun suggested, "We still need to wear masks properly. We must ensure safe production and protect the health of our workers."

Mai Liangping said with a half-smile, "Mr. Zhao, when you come to cooperate, would you prefer me to give you a high price or a low one?"

Li Jun said, "Of course, lower is better."

“Isn’t that the solution?” Mai Liangping argued logically. “If we make the workers wear work clothes and masks during production, and require them to take regular breaks and have regular health checkups, the production costs will inevitably increase. If the costs increase, the prices will also have to be raised, and we will all suffer losses.”

Li Jun shook his head and said earnestly, "Mr. Mai, we can't do business just for money!"

Mai Liangping found it ridiculous. "If not for money, then for what? For their health? There are laid-off workers everywhere now. I'd be grateful if I could just provide them with a job."

"As businesses, we must ensure safe and legal production."

Li Jun's words sounded grand and dignified.

It's basically just talking into a hidden camera and giving narration for the audience to hear.

Unaware of the details, Mai Liangping casually declared, "As long as no one checks, it's considered safe production!"

Li Jun pointed to a large white plastic bucket next to him that was emitting a pungent smell. "What's this? It smells really strong!"

"It should be a fixative."

Mai Liangping didn't seem to care. Li Jun gave the cameraman next to him a look.

Cameraman Meng Duo leaned closer, pointed his briefcase from his waist at the label on the large white barrel, which listed the name, purpose, and chemical composition, along with a skull and crossbones warning sign and a "highly toxic" warning.

I took pictures of everything.

Mai Liangping found the smell too pungent. "Mr. Zhao, shall we go outside and discuss cooperation with me?"

Li Jun smiled and said, "Sure, let's talk!"

……

Outside the Sancai Printing Factory.

A dilapidated gray-white van was parked there.

Zhou Haoran and reporter Yan Hong waited patiently in the car.

Investigative journalists are all clever, and Yan Hong said with a smile, "You have a grudge against this Sancai Printing Factory, don't you?"

"You can tell that?" Zhou Haoran didn't deliberately hide anything. "Is it that obvious?"

Yan Hong said, "It's not obvious, but I can tell. You've been so busy, accompanying the truck for two days in a row, just to keep an eye on this Sancai Printing Factory?"

Zhou Haoran nodded. "We do have some grudges. I'll ask you to help out when we're making the post-production for the show."

Yan Hong said with difficulty: "It's not easy to operate. There are some principles to 'People's Livelihood Investigation'. If it's criticism, we won't disclose the other party's name, company name, etc. We can't act as a legal judge. Even criminal suspects have privacy protections. If it's praise, we can only name the other party after obtaining their permission."

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "There's no need to name names. Sancai Printing Factory has brand-new Japanese-imported equipment. Among all the private printing factories in the entire harbor, it's the only one without any branches. As long as this information is revealed, everyone in the industry will know who it is."

"This is easy to handle!"

Reporter Yan Hong took full responsibility, saying he could handle the whole thing.

Zhou Haoran gave a perfunctory bow, saying, "Thank you."

Yan Hong laughed heartily, then lowered his voice and said, "It seems like 'People's Livelihood Investigation' is going to be taken away."

"Assigned to the general channel?"

"Ah."

"Are you really going to split it up?"

"It's highly likely!" Yan Hong was clearly unwilling to see this outcome, his face clouded with worry. "It seems the director is trying to influence things, but it's not working. I reckon the director has probably already compromised, selling us out in exchange for his own promotion. 'People's Livelihood Investigation' is a program he created single-handedly!"

Zhou Haoran didn't care about these things. "What about the special reports on the private economy?"

Yan Hong smiled and said, "This will definitely not be affected."

Zhou Haoran said, "Whatever arrangements the station makes, we'll leave it to fate."

Yan Hong had already considered him one of his own, and whispered, "If 'People's Livelihood Investigation' is moved to the general channel, then new programs will be added to the vacant prime time slot."

Zhou Haoran said "hmm".

Yan Hong suggested, "With your talent, you can't stay in sales forever, right? If you want to achieve great things, you should come and work on the program."

"Do you have any plans?"

"Come with me to the dance hall tonight. Our editor-in-chief, Ms. Gu, will be there too. She said that if 'People's Livelihood Investigation' is really taken away, she will stay and work on a new program."

"Oh."

Zhou Haoran wasn't very interested; it was none of his business.

He now thinks being a salesperson is pretty good.

You have a lot of free time!
He doesn't have to go to a regular job, which allows him to freely manage his part-time and side businesses outside.

Yan Hong winked and said, "Our Chief Editor Gu is much prettier than Chief Editor Lin of 'Family Matters.' Go and get to know her. If you really start a new program in the future, you'll have a reason to transfer your work relationship here."

That evening, Zhou Haoran went to the dance hall as promised.

I met Editor-in-Chief Gu Xiulan.

She is indeed much prettier than Editor-in-Chief Lin, but she can't compare in terms of temperament, and her bust size is much smaller than Editor-in-Chief Lin's.

Having learned from Editor-in-Chief Lin's experience, Zhou Haoran dared not be too rash.

Proper and formal social interactions.

If you want to dance, ask one of the unfamiliar girls at another table to dance.

Once raw, twice cooked.

I've mastered it.

Surprisingly, no one refused him.

The dancing part was very interesting; the girl had to wear a mask before she could dance with him.

It's kind of interesting that it's a bit of a hodgepodge.

However, when he invited another pretty girl to dance, he unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

Mai Liangping from Sancai Printing Factory!
There was only one man in his twenties in his booth, with an arrogant air about him. There were seven or eight girls in the booth, all of whom looked reserved and not like dancers from a dance hall.

"Mr. Zhou, what a coincidence?"

Mai Liangping was the one who discovered him first.

Zhou Haoran exclaimed with delight, "Mr. Mai? You're here too!"

Mai Liangping didn't invite him to sit down, his expression somewhat arrogant, a smirk playing on his lips: "How's business lately, Mr. Zhou?"

"what business?"

Zhou Haoran was slightly stunned.

Mai Liangping said with a smile, "I heard that Changxing Publishing House was criticized in a notice and required to make rectifications."

"Really?" Zhou Haoran looked bewildered. "Then I'm not quite sure. Did something happen?"

Mai Liangping was quite pleased with himself. "It's best if you don't know."

"Mr. Mai, you can continue having fun, I won't bother you any longer!"

Zhou Haoran waved his hand in a friendly manner.

He went to the bar, ordered a bottle of Rémy Martin brandy that cost over 4000 yuan, and brought it over. Actually, they had even more expensive liquor, but he only had 5000 yuan in his bag and could only pay in cash.

(End of this chapter)