Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 379 Treating Guests (Part 1)

Once Yan Hui secured this bid, he wouldn't be idle. This didn't mean that he could rest easy just because Wang Yongjun was in charge.

In the steel trading industry, even at its most advanced stage, it won't need more than 10 people, because that person is the real salesperson, and no one else can possibly handle this business.

During this period, he treated people to meals and spent money as usual. Even those colleagues who reported him were invited to dinner together. The meals were of normal standard, and for example, the only alcohol served was regular Moutai.

In any case, Yan Hui gave him plenty of face, and he even brought a key figure with him—Liu Jianlei.

Liu Jianlei is strong and healthy, and can eat and drink a lot, something Yan Hui had noticed long ago. He didn't have many opportunities to drink before, but after Liu Jianlei took charge of the security department, as the head of a department, he attended eight out of ten company leadership dinners. To this day, Yan Hui still doesn't know how much Liu Jianlei can drink, but he has never let it interfere with his work.

The biggest change in Liu Jianlei over the past few years is that he talks less. He's not really used to these social niceties, and he usually just stays at work when he doesn't have much to do. Before, when he was working on construction sites, he could eat and sleep well, but now that he has more responsibility and is a leader, he doesn't feel as relaxed as before.

Recently, his family arranged several blind dates for him. He consulted Yan Hui for her opinion, and Yan Hui looked at the photos and information, but rejected them all. Yan Hui felt that Liu Jianlei was better suited to a more down-to-earth girl. Unfortunately, most of the female employees in his company were from the sales department, which wasn't a good match for Liu Jianlei either.

That day, Yan Hui took Zhou Ping and Liu Jianlei to a relatively high-end restaurant to host a banquet for a group of steel agents.

We've called out to everyone we know; whether they come or not is their business.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Yan Hui called for fifteen or sixteen people, but more than 20 people actually showed up. He had to book a private room with two tables and ask someone from the company to bring over two cases of Moutai.

One case costs 3900, and the cost of alcohol alone for this meal is over 10,000. Yan Hui felt a pang of pain, but there was really no other way. He had to spend the money to express his attitude.

This deal with the government isn't just about the 4 million yuan profit; it's primarily about the dual boost to our industry standing and the government's reputation. The benefits of securing this deal are well over 10 million yuan. At this crucial juncture, treating everyone to a meal is perfectly normal.

Yan Hui would never do something like opening champagne ahead of time. During the public announcement period, he practically disappeared under everyone's noses. Now that the orders have started shipping, he's only now starting to treat everyone.

Moreover, he didn't bring Wang Yongjun over; he only brought Zhou Ping and Liu Jianlei.

There were four first-level agents who came this time, and the rest were second-level agents and partners, who are quite well-known in the industry.

Another primary agent of Laiwu Steel is Zhao Changhe, whose region is far from Yan Hui's. He started his career in a county town and gradually worked his way up to the city. He has been in the industry for many years and is considered a fairly honest person. He didn't attend the last government bidding, but he still came over for dinner as a gesture of goodwill.

Besides Zhao Changhe, the remaining three first-level agents are Zhu Hong, Duan Zhipeng, and Wang Zhengyi.

Among the second-tier agents, Yan Hui is most familiar with three people. One is Wang Jian, whom I mentioned earlier. He is a small business owner I met in the early days of working with steel formwork. He has always respected Yan Hui, and the two have known each other for more than five years. The other two are Gao Jun and Gao Min, who are brothers. Yan Hui is also familiar with them, but we can't say we are particularly close.

Because of the biggest difference in status and position between Wang Jian and Yan Hui, Wang Jian had the most balanced mindset, and he would often share industry news with Yan Hui. For example, it was Wang Jian who told Yan Hui about General Manager Zhu's mockery of him while drinking a few days ago.

This information was useless to Yan Hui, but knowing it was nonetheless. Everyone sat down; Wang Jian couldn't sit at Yan Hui's table. This table was filled with Yan Hui's people, his top-level agents, and several other important figures.

They were all in the same industry and were chatting animatedly. When Yan Hui saw that almost everyone had arrived, he stood up, and the room instantly fell silent as everyone looked at him.

"I really didn't expect so many friends to grace us with their presence today. I apologize for the poor arrangements; I couldn't find such a large round table. But, in any case, our steel company is still relatively new, and we have much to learn from our seniors in this industry. If there are any shortcomings in our future work, I hope you will all be forgiving." Yan Hui raised his glass. "You've all come to give me face. Come, let me offer you a toast!"

Yan Hui's humble demeanor surprised many people. Half of the people present today were having dinner with Yan Hui for the first time, and none of them expected that a boss under 30 years old who could single-handedly secure a 1.6 million yuan project would speak so modestly.

"Mr. Yan, you're too kind!" Wang Jian replied, and many others echoed his sentiment.

Everyone raised their glasses to drink, and Yan Hui sat down and started chatting with the people around him.

To his right was Zhao Changhe, and to his left was Zhu Hong. Yan Hui knew that Zhu Hong was a proud man, and even though he knew that Zhu Hong was laughing at him behind his back, he still arranged for Zhu Hong to sit in the "second guest" seat.

Yan Hui was facing Zhou Ping, and Zhou Ping's left and right hands were Duan Zhipeng and Wang Zhengyi.

"Mr. Yan, I heard from Mr. Yuan that your main business is chemicals. I didn't realize it before, but now I want to ask, are chemicals really that profitable?" Zhao Changhe was very curious. "A friend of mine recently started a chemical project, and I'm thinking about whether I should invest."

"The chemical industry is too complicated. What kind of project is your friend working on?" Yan Hui asked in return.

"They produce concrete water-reducing agents."

"Mr. Zhao, concrete water-reducing agents are a broad category. Traditional water-reducing agents are lignin sulfonates, while high-efficiency water-reducing agents come in three types: sodium β-naphthalenesulfonate formaldehyde condensate, acetone sulfonate, and aminosulfonate. In addition, there is a high-end product: polycarboxylate polymers. I wonder which type you are interested in investing in? What are the patents? Although I don't know much about water-reducing agents, I can still offer some advice. If it's the last type, I'm interested in investing in it."

Yan Hui doesn't understand chemistry, but only compared to Chen Jian and Song Zhiyuan. In fact, he has studied all the chemical products used in the entire construction site chain, and if it's suitable, he might build a factory for them in the future.

If the new workshop that will be completed next year is left idle, he might produce something similar.

His R&D team faces difficulties in making breakthroughs in polyurethane, but developing a mature construction site product is not difficult at all.

"Huh?" Mr. Zhao was dumbfounded. "Mr. Yan, you're an educated person. I only graduated from junior high school, and I can't understand what you're saying."

Yan Hui: "."

(End of this chapter)