In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

Chapter 142 The Blackmail of Individual Business Owners

The next morning, before it was fully light.

When Zhang Yong came out of the winery's guesthouse, Wei Shuyun had already started the jeep.

"Don't drive your motorcycle today, ride in my car. It'll be easier to put the blueprints in there," Wei Shuyun said as she turned the steering wheel. "And that Zhao Fucai, my dad has dealt with him for over ten years. He has only one flaw—he overreaches."

Zhang Yong, sitting in the passenger seat, nodded.

When the jeep arrived at the entrance of the Chaoyang Building Materials Factory in Tongxian County, the minibus was already parked there.

Fang Qiming stood at the car door counting the number of people and used a loudspeaker to announce today's plans.

As soon as Zhang Yong got out of the car, he saw a black Santana parked at the factory gate.

Zhao Fucai.

Sure enough, the figure with a slightly protruding belly emerged from the back seat of the Santana, a Hongtashan cigarette tucked between her fingers, and walked towards them with a smile.

"Good morning, Teacher Fang! Zhang Yong!"

Fang Qiming glanced at him and nodded. "Boss Zhao, why are you here so early today?"

"Sigh, I didn't sleep well last night. I was thinking you guys have to visit six more places today, so as the middleman, I have to do my part."

Yes. Zhao Fucai tucked the cigarette behind his ear and pulled a piece of paper from his bag.

The ledger paper is red-checkered, covered entirely with numbers and model numbers.

He handed the paper to Fang Qiming.

"Teacher Fang, this is the price list for the distribution box that I prepared for you last night."

Fang Qiming took it and glanced at it.

Zhang Yong also went over to take a look.

The paper listed a bunch of items in a general way: main control distribution box, temperature control module, frequency converter, contactor, thermal relay, etc. Each item was marked with a unit price.

The bottom line: Total: 18,700.

Fang Qiming frowned. Yesterday, this old guy was bragging that 800 yuan a set was a friend's price, but today, even after deducting half for items that didn't need to be replaced, the total price still reached 18,700 yuan.

Zhang Yong quickly did the math in his head. Based on the market price he'd previously checked with Wang Guanghui, the normal cost of repurchasing all the electrical control materials should be under five thousand yuan, especially since many of them didn't need to be replaced. But Zhao Fucai's quote was almost four times higher!

"Boss Zhao." Fang Qiming looked up. "This price—"

Zhao Fucai smiled and waved his hand, took the Hongtashan cigarette from his ear, lit it, and took a deep breath.

"Teacher Fang, I'd like to tell you something." He lowered his voice, and smoke billowed from his nostrils.

"The factories throughout Tongxian County are currently booked until the end of the year for this batch of goods. I was able to get them because I have a relationship with their boss, and he reserved them for me."

He smugly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Within a radius of fifty li in Tongxian, only I, Lao Zhao, was able to bring in so many distribution boxes before the beginning of winter."

This was said very bluntly, and even had a slightly threatening tone.

Fang Qiming did the mental calculations: the total contract amount was 60,000; deducting Zhao Fucai's 10% commission of 6,000, and then deducting the remaining 18,700, plus the cost of steel pipes, welding materials, sealants, and other machinery and materials, it would be approximately 8,000.

Following the rules of the school's industry-university-research pilot program, after deducting management fees, taxes, fuel costs, and other expenses, the amount they ultimately receive is at most a little over ten thousand yuan.

Ten thousand yuan, to be divided among twenty people.

After working for more than a month, each person only gets 500 yuan?

Yesterday, everyone was happily thinking they would receive a huge sum of money, over a thousand yuan, but today Zhao Fucai cut them in half.

Fang Qiming was so angry that his face turned white, and his eyes were filled with anger as he looked at Zhao Fucai.

Zhao Fucai's smile deepened.

He leaned against the Santana's door, crossed his legs, and the Hongtashan cigarettes glowed and faded between his fingers.

"Teacher Fang, I didn't mean to make things difficult for you." He seemed to be thinking of the other party's feelings.

"The market situation is what it is. Raw material prices have gone up, and shipping costs have also increased. My price is already a friendly price."

"If you try to find factories yourself, firstly, they won't know you; secondly, you won't be able to get production slots; and thirdly, you won't have any vehicles for transportation. By the time you've finished all that trouble, it'll be too late. When winter comes, the boilers of twelve factories won't be able to start. That's no joke."

After he finished speaking, he added another sentence.

"Of course, I know you're in a hurry. I'll give you a day to consider it. But—"

He flicked his cigarette ash. His smile widened.

"If you don't give me a reply by 5 PM tomorrow, I'll transfer the goods to someone else. There are two other small boiler teams in the next county that are also looking for distribution boxes, and they won't negotiate the price with me."

Fang Qiming didn't say anything, but simply folded the quotation, stuffed it into his shirt pocket, and turned to get on the minibus.

Stable.

He knows these intellectuals all too well.

You're good at technical stuff, but not at procurement? No way.

In Tongxian County, without Zhao Fucai, no one could possibly gather this batch of distribution boxes within forty days.

After a full day of surveying, everyone's enthusiasm for work was noticeably lower than yesterday.

At six o'clock in the evening, Fang Qiming told everyone to go back to the car to rest first, and then he took Zhang Yong, Qian Zhiyuan, and Wang Guanghui to the winery guesthouse that Wei Dabiao had arranged for him.

As soon as the door closed, Fang Qiming slammed the price list on the table.

"Tell me, what should we do?"

Qian Zhiyuan was the first to speak. "Teacher, can we bypass him and go to Tianjin to find a factory ourselves?"

"It's too late." Fang Qiming shook his head. "We don't have procurement channels or transportation vehicles. Even if we find a factory, why would they give us priority in production?"

Qian Zhiyuan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Silence fell in the room again.

Fang Qiming leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table.

He was pondering a question: Should he compromise?

Although Zhao Fucai ate up a large portion of the profits, if the contract is successfully secured, everyone can still receive several hundred yuan, which is much more than the school's subsidy. More importantly, the project deadline is fast approaching; if it's delayed, the reputation of the Kyoto University Industrial Society will be completely ruined.

Fang Qiming was about to say, "Let's go with this price for now—"

A hand pressed down on the price list on the table.

Everyone looked at him.

Wang Guanghui pushed up his glasses, his eyes shining.

"Teacher Fang." Wang Guanghui pulled a palm-sized notebook from his work clothes pocket and turned to a page. "Boss Zhao said that he's the only one who can source goods within a fifty-mile radius of Tongxian, and that's true. But we're not limited to buying from Tongxian."

Fang Qiming was taken aback.

"My supervisor, Professor Li, spent six months as a visiting scholar at the Tianjin Electrical Research Institute last year. The institute has a pilot plant that specializes in producing small batches of industrial electrical control equipment."

He spread the notebook out on the table.

"The factory price of the same model distribution box in the research institute's pilot plant is nearly 60% lower than what Zhao Fucai quoted. Most importantly, as long as we can accurately measure the dimensions, we can buy only the parts that need replacing, instead of replacing the entire set. This way, we can keep our electrical control procurement costs below 3,000 yuan!"

"Moreover, Professor Li and the director of the pilot plant are fellow students. I called my mentor last night, and he said that as long as we provide a purchase order from Peking University, the research institute can use academic cooperation channels to prioritize production. Delivery will be in ten days; they have their own fleet of vehicles to deliver to Tongzhou."

The office was silent for three seconds.

Then Qian Zhiyuan suddenly slapped his thigh.

"Wang Guanghui! You little brat, why did you hold back a trick up your sleeve!"

Fang Qiming's eyes lit up. He grabbed the notebook.

Tianjin Electrical Research Institute! Pilot Plant! Academic Cooperation Channels!

Zhao Fucai could never have imagined this path.

"I have to thank Zhang Yong for this first." Wang Guanghui turned to look at Zhang Yong beside him. "Didn't you two notice? He chatted with me for a long time while we were working this morning."