ca-book Chapter 174 You can't hit a smiling face
Chapter 174 You can't hit a smiling face
Lu Yuan turned around at the sound, his gaze sweeping over the bustling crowd, and immediately spotted the man in the suit and tie: Mike Zhang.
Walking alongside him was Lisa Thomas, the blond, blue-eyed daughter of the Thomas Group president.
Since successfully facilitating the cooperation between the Thomas Group and the Lu family, Mike Zhang not only received high praise from Thomas, but also a substantial bonus.
He knew very well that the source of all this was the young man in front of him, Lu Yuan.
Initially, he didn't expect the Lu family to offer anything that would satisfy Thomas. He was just doing his job for money and going through the motions. But Lu Yuan gave everyone a huge surprise.
Therefore, he had a very good impression of Lu Yuan.
To the uninformed, the person negotiating with the Thomas Group was Lu Yuan's father, Lu Xin. But those who witnessed the negotiations knew perfectly well that the one who was truly orchestrating the cooperation behind the scenes was Lu Yuan.
This child is no ordinary person.
Therefore, when Mike Zhang unexpectedly encountered Lu Yuan on the streets of this foreign land, he naturally took the initiative to go up and greet him.
"Mike Zhang?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes as he looked them over. "You're still in Jiangcheng?"
Lu Yuan thought they would leave after signing the contract.
"Hey, business isn't completely over yet." Mike Zhang laughed heartily, his Chinese still carrying a strong foreign accent, making it sound a bit awkward. "Today I accompanied Miss Lisa out for a stroll, and also to learn about the local customs and culture of Jiangcheng."
"I see." Lu Yuan nodded slightly, his gaze involuntarily falling on Lisa.
Lisa, as expected of a daughter from a prestigious family, exudes an elegant aristocratic air in every gesture.
Today she wore a well-tailored white dress, with blonde hair, blue eyes, bright eyes and white teeth, and a charming temperament.
In this relatively traditional small town, her appearance was like a beautiful sight, so stunning that she attracted the attention of many passersby.
Lisa smiled and nodded to Lu Yuan, showing great enthusiasm.
Although she didn't speak Chinese, she knew that Lu Yuan's English was excellent, so the two could communicate without any problems.
During the conversation, Lu Yuan learned that Lisa's main purpose for this trip was to investigate the clothing market in Jiangcheng.
However, to her great regret, the small town's development was somewhat lagging behind, and most of the clothing styles were conventional and unable to keep up with international trends. She had walked around for a long time but found nothing of interest.
Lu Yuan truthfully explained the whole story to her:
Although Jiangcheng has many garment factories, most of them are still in the stage of OEM manufacturing and have almost no independent research and development and design capabilities.
In terms of production capacity, it can't compare to the provincial capital;
In terms of innovation, it cannot compare to Wucheng.
It is in an awkward position, neither high nor low.
This is precisely why the Jiangcheng government has been vigorously attracting investment in the past two years. They are eager to introduce external resources to transform the local garment industry from simple OEM manufacturing into a comprehensive model integrating R&D, production, and sales.
After listening to Lu Yuan's clear and logical analysis, a hint of admiration flashed in Lisa's eyes, and she gained a completely new understanding of the city.
The two were speaking fluent English as they stood at the entrance of the investment promotion office.
The staff members who had initially ignored Lu Yuan gradually became curious.
For someone Lu Yuan to speak English so fluently and naturally at his age, it's hard not to think he's the son of a wealthy family.
After all, in this day and age, only well-off families can afford to spend a lot of money to specifically cultivate their children's foreign language skills.
Despite Lu Yuan's impressive foreign language skills, the staff at the investment promotion office still did not take any substantial action.
They even secretly wondered if this was a play deliberately staged by Lu Yuan.
After all, some poor guys will use any trick in order to gain attention or to obtain business information.
However, what happened next completely stunned them.
Two middle-aged business owners who were consulting at the investment promotion office had only glanced at the sign casually, but suddenly stood up with surprise as if they had been electrocuted and quickly went out to greet it.
"Mr. Mike Zhang!"
The two men, one on each side, excitedly and tightly grasped Mike Zhang's hands. Their enthusiasm startled Mike Zhang, making this grown man "lose his color."
"You... what is this?" Mike Zhang looked completely bewildered, and Lu Yuan and Lisa were also stunned.
The two middle-aged bosses quickly explained that they were both businessmen in the Jiangcheng garment industry chain.
I had heard about the visit of representatives from the Thomas Group and also learned that Mike Zhang was Thomas's personal assistant. I had been struggling to find a way to curry favor with him, and today I finally got the chance.
After listening, Mike Zhang smiled awkwardly and admitted that Thomas was only staying in Jiangcheng for vacation. The business deal was basically finalized, and there was probably no chance to discuss cooperation now.
Fearing the two wouldn't believe him, Mike Zhang simply used Lu Yuan as a shield: "This is Lu Yuan, the son of our boss's business partner. You should know him, right?"
"Lu Yuan? Is that the young master from the Lu family?"
"That's right! A top student who scored over 600 points on this year's college entrance exam!"
The two were overjoyed to recognize Lu Yuan.
Industry insiders know that the Thomas Group, which came from afar, did not choose those large-scale garment factories, but instead favored the smaller Lu Family Garment Factory.
Although the specific reasons have not been made public, the fact that the Lu family garment factory was chosen by Thomas suggests that it must have something special about it.
In addition, Lu Yuan's outstanding college entrance examination results make him even more formidable.
"Lu Yuan, I'm your Uncle Zhang, an old acquaintance of your father!"
"I'm your Uncle Li. My son even went to the same elementary school as you!"
The two men warmly shook hands with Lu Yuan, trying to get closer to him. They not only made an appointment to have tea at Lu's house another day, but also asked him with concern when he would hold his graduation banquet, patting their chests and saying that they would definitely come to support him.
Lu Yuan couldn't help but feel ashamed. He hadn't expected that he would enjoy the "celebrity effect" brought by his high score before his university admission notice even arrived.
Although the staff in the investment promotion office did not know Lu Yuan, they knew both of the bosses.
Even these experienced business owners treated Lu Yuan with such respect, which shows that this young man must be someone of great importance.
The first to get restless was the investment promotion manager.
He quickly straightened his suit and tie, and strode out to greet them with a broad smile, insisting that Lu Yuan and his group come in and have a seat.
To be honest, Lu Yuan's first impression of the central shopping mall's leasing office was not good, but the other party's attitude made a complete 180-degree turn, and they warmly invited him and provided smiling service.
As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face, so Lu Yuan could only go in and sit down.
The manager knew he had slighted this "god of wealth" earlier, and if he didn't show utmost sincerity now, there would be no way to salvage the situation.
He personally took out his treasured Longjing tea and respectfully brewed it for Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point, saying that he wanted to rent a shop in the central shopping mall to open a clothing store.
Considering that Lu Yuan had connections with these clothing merchants, there was no doubt that he really wanted to open a clothing store.
Upon hearing this, the manager immediately pulled out some materials and enthusiastically introduced the store: "Of course, you should choose a shop on the first floor when opening a clothing store! We happen to have several shops in excellent locations that have become available. Take a look and see which one you like, and I'll take you to inspect them right away."
Lu Yuan was taken aback, his brows furrowing slightly: "When I asked earlier, didn't you say the first floor was already fully rented?"
"Uh... that was a new intern, I made a mistake." The manager blushed and quickly changed the subject awkwardly, "These are all very good shops, and if you're willing to sign a two-year lease or more, we have many discounts available..."
The manager launched into a long speech, while Lu Yuan began to seriously haggle over the price.
His bargaining was incredibly precise and ruthless, leaving the manager completely stunned. But the manager didn't dare offend Lu Yuan, after all, he had so many boss friends backing him up.
Lu Yuan's bargaining was not just unreasonable; it was based on a well-reasoned analysis of the development bottlenecks and customer flow trends in Jiangcheng and the central shopping mall over the past two years.
The business insights and expertise he shared were so profound that even the investment manager had never heard of them before, which easily impressed him.
Mike Zhang translated Lu Yuan's words to Lisa, who nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with even more admiration and respect for Lu Yuan.