PFC Chapter 520 Cooperation
Chapter 520 Cooperation
That was a very honest remark, and Fatty Ma couldn't help but retort sarcastically, "You've made me lose so much money, why wouldn't I cause more trouble? Give me a reason."
Li Xiangyang put down his chopsticks and looked directly into Fatty Ma's eyes: "Are you trying to spite him, or are you trying to make money?"
This sentence struck a chord with Fatty Ma.
Fighting with anger? Can fighting with anger make up for the money lost?
Making money? In the current situation, it's indeed very difficult for one person to break through.
"You mean..." Fatty Ma slowly put down his wine glass, his voice low, "...we'll join forces?"
"Why not?" Li Xiangyang picked up a piece of food and said slowly, "Do the math. These medicinal herb shops in the provincial capital are driving down prices so drastically because they know that if you won't sell, they will."
Fatty Ma fell into deep thought. He had to admit that Li Xiangyang was right.
After running around the provincial capital for the past few days, he has come to deeply understand what it means to be "at the mercy of others."
Back in his small town, he was considered a fairly successful business owner, but when he arrived in the provincial capital, the big herbal medicine merchants looked at him like he was a lamb to the slaughter.
"How exactly do we join forces?" Fatty Ma asked tentatively.
Li Xiangyang put down his chopsticks and looked seriously at Fatty Ma: "The first step is for us to unite and not rush into anything. If they try to lower the price, we won't sell."
“I understand that,” Fatty Ma nodded. “If they can’t get the goods, they’ll naturally have to lower the price. But the problem is, what about the warehousing pressure? Stockpiled goods are also a cost.”
“This is the second step.” A glint of light flashed in Li Xiangyang’s eyes. “Let’s invest together to build a primary agricultural product processing plant. We can process these raw materials into finished products, change the form of the goods, and then sell them.”
Fatty Ma frowned even more deeply: "A processing plant is an idea, but the problem is the distribution channels. Who will buy the processed goods? If you had ready-made channels, would you be here drinking alone like me?"
Li Xiangyang laughed, and that laugh gave Fatty Ma a sudden sense of foreboding.
"Mr. Ma, do you know Ma Laosan?"
Fatty Ma's hand trembled, and he almost dropped his wine glass: "Ma...Ma Laosan? Which Ma Laosan?"
“It’s that Ma Laosan you’re thinking of.” Li Xiangyang’s tone was calm, but Fatty Ma sensed a deeper meaning in it. “I’ve been doing deer blood wine business with him for a long time. If you’re making products based on this approach, just contact him.”
Fatty Ma's expression suddenly became quite interesting, with surprise, regret, excitement, and resentment all playing out on his face.
"Damn it!" Fatty Ma slammed his hand on the table, drawing the attention of several other tables of customers. He quickly lowered his voice, "If you had these connections, you should have said so earlier! If you had, why would I have been so presumptuous as to challenge you?"
“You didn’t ask either,” Li Xiangyang said casually.
Ma Pangzi thought about it and realized that since the two of them were competitors, who would reveal their hand to their opponent?
Extremely relieved that he hadn't been foolish enough to continue his deadly struggle with Li Xiangyang, Fatty Ma picked up his glass, downed it in one gulp, and slammed it heavily on the table: "Bottoms up!"
He extended his hand: "Li Xiangyang, from today onwards, we are partners."
Li Xiangyang also extended his hand and shook hands with Fatty Ma: "Pleasure doing business with you."
“However, there’s one thing I need to make clear,” Fatty Ma’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Since it’s a collaboration, we have to follow the rules. How much to invest, how the shares will be divided, how the profits will be calculated—all of these things need to be clearly stated.”
“Of course.” Li Xiangyang gave Fatty Ma an approving look. “It seems Boss Ma is quite experienced.”
Fatty Ma was a little embarrassed by the praise: "Doing business, there has to be a method."
The two discussed the details for a while and basically finalized the framework for the cooperation.
Li Xiangyang was responsible for contacting Ma Laosan to determine the product direction and sales channels; Ma Pangzi was responsible for raising funds and finding a suitable factory. The two allocated shares according to their respective investment ratios, and profits were also distributed according to shareholding.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Just before parting, Fatty Ma suddenly remembered something, "Do your employees at that purchasing station know you're going to cooperate with me?"
Li Xiangyang shook his head: "They haven't said yet. But that's not a problem; they'll understand."
"That's good." Fatty Ma breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried they wouldn't be able to accept it. After all, before we..."
“The past is the past, the present is the present,” Li Xiangyang interrupted him. “Business people need to have a long-term vision.”
Fatty Ma nodded in deep agreement: "You're right."
After saying goodbye to Fatty Ma, Li Xiangyang returned to Xiaoliang Village.
Inside the purchasing station, Wang Ergou was busy running around. Seeing Li Xiangyang return, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Xiangyang, you're finally back!" Wang Ergou ran over, looking exhausted. "These past few days have almost killed me."
"You've had a tough time, brother." Li Xiangyang patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder. "How's the situation now?"
"We still have too much inventory," Wang Ergou sighed. "If this continues, our cash flow will be in trouble."
After thinking about it, Li Xiangyang decided to tell Wang Ergou about the cooperation.
"Ergou, I have an idea and I'd like to hear your opinion."
"you say."
"I plan to cooperate with Fatty Ma."
Wang Ergou's eyes widened in disbelief: "What? What did you say? Cooperate with Fatty Ma?"
“Yes,” Li Xiangyang repeated calmly, “cooperating with Fatty Ma.”
Wang Ergou's face turned grim: "Xiangyang, are you running a fever? That's our enemy!"
“Precisely because he’s our enemy, he understands our weaknesses better,” Li Xiangyang patiently explained. “You’ve seen the current situation. If we keep fighting, and he finds a channel to sell at an even lower price, we’ll be the ones who lose. He’s also aware of this and is waiting to profit. So rather than both sides suffering losses, it’s better to join forces and grow bigger.”
Wang Ergou still couldn't accept it: "But..."
“No buts,” Li Xiangyang interrupted him. “Ergou, when we do business, we can’t just look at temporary grudges. We need to have a long-term perspective.”
Wang Ergou thought for a moment, then finally nodded: "Alright, since you put it that way, I'll support you. But, how exactly do we cooperate?"
Li Xiangyang explained in detail the plan he had discussed with Fatty Ma in the provincial capital.
After listening, Wang Ergou's expression gradually changed from skepticism to agreement: "That's indeed a good idea. Especially with Ma Laosan's connections, it's really useful."
"Is there anything else I should be aware of?"
Wang Ergou thought for a moment and said, "There's one thing we need to make sure we don't suffer losses in this cooperation. After all, you've seen what Fatty Ma is capable of."
"Don't worry about that," Li Xiangyang said confidently. "With Ma Laosan as our connection, the initiative is still in our hands."