All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

However, none of the leaders cared that the patented technology belonged to Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory. In their view, Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory was a state-owned enterprise, and since the patent belonged to Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, it naturally belonged to the state without a doubt. The leaders could make the decision on this cooperation themselves!

At the meeting, some leaders who were on good terms with Lei Dongbao wanted to ask whether the matter should be consulted with the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, or at least Lei Dongbao should be notified, since Lei Dongbao is in charge now.

However, several powerful leaders in Jinzhou had already become dissatisfied with Lei Dongbao due to his reckless behavior at the Canton Fair. Jinzhou had high hopes for Lei Dongbao's Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory at this Canton Fair!

The leaders aren't pinning their hopes on air fryers; to this day, they still don't understand what they are. In short, in their view, no matter how good this thing is, it can't compare to a refrigerator production line worth five million US dollars, producing 300,000 units a year!

They pinned their hopes on the hundreds of thousands of second-hand Thunder electric fans. Before setting off, Lei Dongbao confidently stated that these hundreds of thousands of electric fans could bring at least ten million US dollars in foreign exchange to Jinzhou. At twenty US dollars a fan, they would definitely be in high demand!

But reality slapped them in the face. After arriving at the Canton Fair, Lei Dongbao had no interest in the electric fan at all. Instead, he focused on being a chef and led his team to work tirelessly. Moreover, it was said that he sold a chicken leg to foreign merchants for a sky-high price of five US dollars. Lei Dongbao lined his own pockets and could earn several hundred US dollars a day, which had an extremely bad influence!

In this situation, the leaders' perception of Lei Dongbao plummeted instantly. But then, suddenly, a god of wealth appeared at their door, so how could everyone not be happy!

Now that the Japanese are being so sincere, if Lei Dongbao finds out, he might use it as leverage again. After all, the thing the Japanese are asking to exchange was developed by Lei Dongbao and the research department of the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory.

Actually, there's another point. Although many leaders had some doubts, they didn't say them in front of the Japanese. Jinzhou also invited experts to come and look at the materials brought by the Japanese.

After reviewing the data and confirming its authenticity, the experts discussed the situation with the leaders. Although the refrigerator production line was not as advanced as the Japanese had claimed, it was still a generation ahead of domestic refrigerator production lines. While the experts were unsure whether the price was worth the five million US dollars the Japanese had mentioned, it was at least a million-dollar production line.

Moreover, for Jinzhou, it had no foreign exchange, and even if it had US dollars, it couldn't buy a refrigerator production line. This was a great achievement delivered to its doorstep, and many leaders felt that something was amiss!

However, everyone currently has only one thought: to sign the contract as soon as possible. This matter should be settled first. Once the production line is in hand, any problems that arise can be resolved internally. Even if Lei Dongbao makes a fuss, at worst, more compensation can be given to Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory. Through years of tacit understanding, many leaders have already decided on this matter with just a glance!

After all, there were too many leaders at this meeting, and they all had different ideas. As the meeting progressed, many leaders gradually realized that something was not quite right.

For example, why are the Japanese so enthusiastic?

Fortunately, the welcoming ceremony for the Japanese was so grand that many people in Jinzhou knew about it!

Lei Dongbao's actions over the past year have indeed earned him the admiration of many people in Jinzhou, and many leaders particularly appreciate him. Although many leaders were puzzled by the news of Lei Dongbao's reckless behavior at the Canton Fair, they felt that there was more to it than met the eye, given Lei Dongbao's past style of conduct. In addition, the sudden visit of the Japanese official at this time made many leaders uneasy.

After the meeting was introduced, Jinzhou hosted a banquet for Xiao Wazi and his party. At this time, several leaders secretly slipped into the office behind everyone's backs!

That morning, Lei Dongbao received seven or eight phone calls from the guesthouse. The calls came from leaders of the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory and leaders from Jinzhou. They all told him the same thing: the Japanese were visiting and had proposed to exchange a refrigerator production line for the complete patent technology of the air fryer.

When Lei Dongbao first heard the news, he was furious. These Japanese devils are too cunning! They did this to him from behind!

If Lei Dongbao were just an ordinary state-owned factory director, the Japanese might have actually managed to get this done quietly. They could have simply added a clause to the contract, stating that from this day forward, no company may produce air fryer equipment without the permission of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

At that point, the orders Lei Dongbao signed will be completely ruined!

At this moment, Lei Dongbao not only hated the Japanese, but also hated certain leaders who stabbed him in the back.

When Lei Dongbao went from Xiaolei Village to Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory, the reason he chose the nearly bankrupt factory was because they trusted him completely. However, this trust clearly came with a price tag; equipment worth five million US dollars easily betrayed Lei Dongbao!

That's pretty good!

However, Lei Dongbao also understood the limitations of some leaders' perspectives in that era. In the early 1980s, what did a refrigerator production line that claimed an annual output of 300,000 units represent? Lei Dongbao knew very well!

However, it would be a lie to say that Lei Dongbao didn't feel resentful after being kicked out of Xiaolei Village and being schemed against by Jinzhou. But this time, he wasn't going to play house with them anymore; if they were going to play, they should play a bigger game!

Chapter 75: Go eat shit!

The fact that Lei Dongbao received so many calls naturally indicates that the Jinzhou leadership team is not entirely united.

Lei Dongbao immediately made two phone calls back and explained his request over the phone. The two people on the other end remained silent for a long time before finally agreeing to Lei Dongbao's request.

The two people Lei Dongbao dialed were two leaders with whom he had a good relationship. These two were also among those who had called him first, but their rankings were obviously not very high, probably fifth or sixth or lower.

Lei Dongbao told them two things!

First, give yourself three days. During these three days, no matter what their purpose is, do everything you can to prevent the Japanese from signing the contract!

Second, let them make a big fuss. The more enthusiastically those leaders who support the Japanese are supported, the more fiercely you should fight with them, and finally make this matter known to the leaders of Anyun Province.

At the same time, Lei Dongbao assured them that he would give them a surprise in three days, and all the leaders who supported signing the contract with the Japanese should write it down!

The two men were terrified, and after thinking for a long time, they finally agreed to Lei Dongbao's request.

The reason they agreed to Lei Dongbao's request was naturally due to his past performance, because he was a man who was good at creating miracles!

Everyone has their own ulterior motives, and the reason why others are willing to play with Lei Dongbao is naturally because they have their own ulterior motives.

If what Lei Dongbao said is true, and Jinzhou signs a contract with the Japanese, it will cause serious economic losses to the country. When the higher authorities hold them accountable, the two of them will definitely have a chance to turn the tide!

After settling these matters, Lei Dongbao made a phone call and spoke to the other end in fluent English.

"Mr. Mike, I regret to inform you that I will be leaving the Canton Fair with my team in two days. Therefore, if you need to cooperate, it can only be done within these two days!"

Lei Dongbao made five phone calls in a row using the same tone!

After hanging up the phone, Lei Dongbao sat in front of the bed in silence for a long time before finally sighing. It seemed that he needed to rest for a while after this incident. Taking too big a step could easily lead to trouble!

The five phone calls he just made were all to major buyers who had contacted him in the past two weeks, including several large American supermarket chains, such as Kmart and Walmart.

For the past two weeks, the bait I've used has attracted almost all the big fish at the Canton Fair. Now it's time to really reel them in.

Lei Dongbao chose to call these five large supermarket chains now, which was to tell them that it was time to take the bait and eat the fish. He was about to go home for dinner and was waiting for them, the big fish, to cook for him!

These five large supermarkets are the leading chains of several large supermarket chains in Europe and America. In the past two weeks, many small buyers have been preparing to rely on them and make group purchases. According to Lei Dongbao's information, the purchasing managers of these large supermarkets are not good people either!

Lei Dongbao offered a price of 500,000 units at $100 each. They tried to negotiate the price with Lei Dongbao several times, such as purchasing 500,000 units and getting a discount of ten or eight dollars, but Lei Dongbao simply ignored them!

Finally, left with no other choice, they decided to abide by the rules set by Lei Dongbao and began contacting those small buyers. However, these buyers were not so kind; they created their own price list. For example, if you purchased 1,000 units, Lei Dongbao would offer $280 per unit, while their price would be $240.

The purchase prices for the following 5,000 units, 10,000 units, 50,000 units, etc., were all different. In short, they knew very well that these small buyers could not purchase too many units, so they had no shame and started to act as middlemen to make a profit!

They asked Lei Dongbao for more discounts, naturally wanting to have their cake and eat it too!

Lei Dongbao did the math for them: if they purchased 500,000 units at a price of $100 each, as long as they found enough small buyers, they could even purchase them at zero cost and still make a profit. After hearing the news, Lei Dongbao sighed and said that every penny earned by capitalists was indeed stained with the stench of blood and tears!

However, Lei Dongbao welcomes these large buyers taking advantage of the middleman's profit margin; the more the merrier!

Anyway, if we mass-produce them, the cost to us will only be around 30 or 40 yuan, which is in Chinese yuan. If we sell them for 100 US dollars each, the profit will be so high that we have to trample on the face of capitalists!

So Lei Dongbao just gave them the final timetable; now, it's time to really close the net!

The fish took the bait, but unfortunately, someone wanted to sell the fishing rod and the stove used for cooking at home together, which Lei Dongbao naturally couldn't tolerate!

Lei Dongbao made the call. He spent the entire day at the guesthouse, officially ending Chef Lei's career.

That day was like the darkness before dawn, silent and still, with not a single phone call coming in.

Old Zhang, who was leading the team this time, had already fallen out with Lei Dongbao and had gone beyond complaining about Lei Dongbao, so the two of them hardly communicated anymore.

Old Zhang had been busy lately, and heard that Jinzhou had already closed orders worth over a million US dollars, so he didn't notice anything unusual about Lei Dongbao.

Time passed slowly, as if everyone was waiting for something. The next day, Lei Dongbao received a call from Jinzhou. Anyun Province had sent a working group to Jinzhou and had begun to investigate the situation that day.

Lei Dongbao knew exactly what they wanted to know: the true value of the air fryer and whether it could be exchanged for the refrigerator production line.

In Lei Dongbao's view, the situation is now clearly not good, so he can only hope that the leaders will be wise and not rush to make decisions.

At the same time, Lei Dongbao was also secretly waiting for something. If Jinzhou called him today, he might explain the whole story. If Jinzhou chose to avoid the transaction, Lei Dongbao was determined that after this, it would be time for him to leave Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory.

Unfortunately, Lei Dongbao thought too highly of himself, and the phone didn't ring at all until evening.

Early on the third day, the guesthouse phone rang one after another. The two leaders from Jinzhou called first.

On the phone, the two leaders sounded dejected, saying they had done their best.

Yesterday afternoon, after a brief investigation, the leaders of An Van province decided to approve the deal between Jinzhou and Japan. It has been decided that Japan and Jinzhou will sign the agreement this afternoon!

Lei Dongbao glanced at the time, then hung up the phone with a grim face. It seemed that time was of the essence!

After hanging up the phone, Lei Dongbao was preparing to take the initiative and call a few big fish; it was time to close the net.

At that moment, several big fish called almost simultaneously. On the phone, the heads of these chain supermarkets seemed to have reached an agreement and directly arranged to meet Lei Dongbao at a foreign guest hotel.

Lei Dongbao smiled and readily agreed to the other party's request to meet, then led his team to the hotel!

The foreign guesthouse in the 1980s was quite nice, with not only single rooms but also conference rooms. Everyone went to the conference room!

Upon arrival, both parties took their seats. Lei Dongbao was astonished to find that all five big fish had arrived as if they had arranged it in advance, along with a group of other foreigners of various skin colors. Clearly, they had already formed a group to share the cost.

After the waiter served the coffee, Lei Dongbao picked up a cup, took a sip, and then slowly put it down, indicating that the waiter could begin.

The white man leading the group also stood up deftly, smiled, handed Lei Dongbao a document, and then said...

"Lei, our five companies have formed a joint procurement alliance. We have reached a consensus and decided to jointly purchase 500,000 air fryers this time!"

After hearing what the white man said, Lei Dongbao was stunned. Only 500,000 units? That was much less than he had imagined!

Lei Dongbao wasn't just sitting idly by; his team had been investigating for over half a month. Because of their unique promotional model, a large number of buyers were interested in the air fryer, with an estimated fifty buyers, including many large ones.

But these five leading companies have clearly brought all the buyers into their purchasing alliance. So many buyers together only purchased 500,000 units, which doesn't make sense!

Seeing the surprise on Lei Dongbao's face, the white men opposite him exchanged glances, already having made their own plans. The white man who had just spoken continued.

“Lei, we have analyzed your air fryer. The technology is not complicated and the process is very simple. In our opinion, it is worth far less than one hundred dollars per unit. If you insist on a purchase price of one hundred dollars per unit, our purchasing alliance regrets to inform you that our final purchase quantity will only be 500,000 units!”

Lei Dongbao finally understood: these old devils were cunning! They were setting a trap for him!

You allow us to sell your junk at exorbitant prices? We finally have a home appliance with our own patented intellectual property rights, and you still complain about the price of $100? Go to hell!

Lei Dongbao quickly recovered and then gestured for the other party to continue speaking!

Seeing Lei Dongbao's appearance, the other party thought that Lei Dongbao wanted to back down, and then a smug smile appeared on his lips as he continued.

“Ray, if you can lower the price to fifty dollars per unit, we are willing to purchase two million air fryers!”

Lei Dongbao was taken aback by the quantity, but he quickly realized that these old devils were still fishing. They were first making a big promise to Lei Dongbao, and once Lei Dongbao agreed, they would reduce the quantity and then purchase one million units at fifty-five US dollars each. Do you agree?

disagree?

Sorry, we will not be purchasing the previous 500,000 units!

They're leading you down a path step by step. If it were any other Chinese manufacturer, hearing that they're offering $50 for two million units and calculating their own costs, they might actually agree. With a 100% profit margin, many manufacturers would be perfectly content.

Lei Dongbao couldn't stand being led by the nose. Did these old devils really think that Chinese enterprises were easy targets?

Like I said before, go eat shit!

Lei Dongbao then stood up, glanced at his watch, and spoke directly without saying a word.

"Mr. Mike, and everyone else, I want to reiterate once again that the purchase price for over 500,000 units is $100 per unit. This is the final price!"

Lei Dongbao's assertive attitude made the foreigners opposite him all look up at him. They hadn't expected this Chinese man to be so assertive!

Lei Dongbao smiled and looked at everyone. Seeing their faces, which were as white as dead pigs scalded with boiling water, he thought for a moment and continued.

"Everyone here has come from afar. As a guest, I apologize for my previous assertiveness. Regarding the price, I suddenly have a new idea!"

Everyone turned their attention to Lei Dongbao once again. They hadn't expected him to suddenly agree to a lower price. Many people were overjoyed and eagerly awaited his new offer!

Lei Dongbao smiled faintly, paused for a moment, and then spoke.