Big Data Cultivation Chapter 861

Chapter 861: Chapter 861: Blazing a New Trail Chapter 861: Chapter 861: Blazing a New Trail Boss Zhang faintly heard something amiss. He looked down at the five-kilo liquor jar he was holding in his hand–with only less than half a jar of liquor in it. He hesitated for a moment before speaking out, “Damn, I was angry just now, so I didn't take the liquor… To hell with it, I don't give a damn.”

“Don't say that,” Wang Shiwei's voice was slightly louder, “You might not be interested, but I really want to know what kind of liquor can be brewed… How about I go get those two kilos of liquor in your name?”

“Lao Wang, you sly devil,” Boss Zhang burst into laughter, “You must know what's good about this liquor, don't you? And yet you still want to swindle my share… You're truly conscienceless.”

“Haha, you've become smart too, huh?” Wang Shiwei also laughed, and after a while, he became serious, “Lao Zhang, if I were you, I'd take the liquor home, and when no one's around, drink a liang or two by myself… It'd be a waste to give it to someone else.”

“Um,” Boss Zhang pondered and only after a few seconds did he ask another question, “Is it really that good?”

“It's really that good!” Wang Shiwei replied without hesitation, and also hinted tactfully, “Lao Zhang, you have a two percent share, which is really quite good. You must cherish it.”

Boss Zhang hung up the phone and silently shook his head. He had indeed entertained some inappropriate thoughts just now. After Wang's reminder, he finally realized that he had been momentarily blinded by greed.

The person from Luohua Manor is said to come with divine wonders; this liquor is their strategy.

Even if Boss Zhang was greedy and unafraid of retaliation from the wealthy, who wouldn't be afraid of those mysterious forces that seemed to loom in the dark?

So, he better heed the advice and enjoy the newly produced liquor by himself to see what benefits it had.

The next day, Boss Zhang didn't go to his own store but directly headed to the liquor factory, “Miss Ye… CEO Ye, I'd like to ask, how many bottles have been produced so far?”

Ye Qingyi could have kept it to herself, as he was only a minor shareholder with two percent, but for the sake of a friendly cooperation, she answered, “Over a hundred cases, less than two thousand bottles…”

Spiritual Wine was bottled in kilo-sized containers, twelve bottles to a case. The custom bottles were exquisitely crafted, but the paper box packaging was quite ordinary.

“I tasted some of this liquor, and it's really good, with great health benefits,” Boss Zhang said earnestly and sincerely.

He truly recognized the exceptional qualities of Spiritual Wine, and because of this, he was somewhat puzzled, “Twelve bottles to a case with such packaging… I find it inappropriate. It doesn't reflect the value of Spiritual Wine. It must be packaged in smaller units, the more exquisite, the better.”

“Even if we can't do a two-bottle gift packaging, we should at least make it six bottles per case. Twelve bottles a case… how is that fitting for the status of Spiritual Wine?”

Ye Qingyi didn't drink, and she didn't have a clear understanding of these aspects. She simply nodded slightly, “Alright, I've taken note of your suggestion, and I'll consider it.”

Actually, Boss Zhang wanted to ask about the price of the liquor, but since he didn't get an answer the day before and didn't want to seem too eager, he asked another question, “Since production has started, when will we start marketing, and what will the sales model be?”

“Sales… will start soon, I suppose,” Ye Qingyi replied somewhat absentmindedly before giving him a thoughtful look, “Does Director Zhang also want to join the sales? I don't think that's likely.”

“Why not?” Boss Zhang was anxious, “I have shares in the distillery. It wouldn't be too much to ask for a little bit for agency, right? We're not a public company; there's no issue with related-party transactions.”

As he spoke, he became more agitated, “If you could give me exclusive agency rights to this liquor, within three years I guarantee…”

“Director Zhang, don't joke,” Ye Qingyi said with a laugh, “You won't even be involved in sales, let alone have exclusive agency rights… You've branded yourself in the past, and in terms of marketing, you don't have a clear advantage.”

In fact, her words were already somewhat restrained. It was not just a lack of “clear advantage”; the other party really had nothing impressive to offer.

No money, no promotional ability, and as for sales channels… they were barely better than nothing.

Boss Zhang was getting anxious, “That was just because I had no good products. If it were this liquor…”

He cut himself off mid-sentence. After all, who wouldn't know how to sell a great product? Better to talk about something else.

“CEO Ye, actually, I just want to know how you'll sell this liquor, as I want to buy some to take back.”

Ye Qingyi glanced at him, thought for a moment, and then answered, “This liquor will not be sold on the market.”

“Not sold on the market?” Boss Zhang was stunned, “Then how will we make money?”

“I'll sell it,” Ye Qingyi replied with an unruffled demeanor; due to her expressionless face, her emotions were unreadable, “After all costs, I'll add ten yuan to each bottle, then sell it.”

Boss Zhang was stunned. He couldn't fathom the rationale behind this strategy for a long time.

He didn't know that what Feng Jun was worried about were tax implications.

Initially, Feng Jun wanted Ye Qingyi to handle the sales herself–and regarding the massive profits, he didn't mind paying taxes.

But after careful consideration, he encountered a problem: after “Spiritual Wine” earned a lot of money, how could it be transferred for his use?

He wasn't worried that after Ye Qingyi made money, she would intentionally withhold his share. If she didn't pay up, so be it–he would just stop supplying Spiritual Wine in the future. Seeing someone's true colors over a sum of money was quite worth it; they'd be square.

What he was considering was that Ye Qingyi acted through the San Sheng Company to give him money, which couldn't escape the oversight of commerce and taxation departments.

Without a doubt, most of the money made from selling the wine would be taken by him–the money was so substantial that others couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to it.

Therefore, after much thought, he felt that San Sheng couldn't be allowed to establish their own sales channels.

It would be better for them to produce the wine, then add a little extra to sell it back to him; as for the final selling price, that would be his concern.

In this way, actually, San Sheng Winery was essentially a factory doing outsourced production, earning only a processing fee. Even if the brand belonged to San Sheng, it couldn't be helped–the core technology was in Luohua's hands.

Ye Qingyi had roughly grasped Feng Jun's line of thinking, but she hadn't completely understood–providing the brand, yet ending up as an OEM factory. This logic seemed a little incredible.

However, she just sighed over it, as she was very clear that all the funds on San Sheng's books were also from Feng Jun.

She even thought Feng Jun was being quite generous. She had already collected two hundred tons of wine, amounting to four hundred thousand catties. By processing and selling the wine to Feng Jun, the company's profit could reach four million–before tax.

Each year… at least there would be two batches of two hundred tons, right? She felt that earning a few million a year already gave her reason to smirk.

So her attitude was as follows: I have no interest in understanding all the ins and outs of this business operation. After all, Feng Jun supplied the money and the technology, and even took responsibility for repurchasing all qualified goods. With such a good deal, why bother thinking about it so much?

Moreover, she hadn't quit her job with Li Dafu–Li Yongrui had made a special exemption, allowing her not to come to work.

Sounds strange? Not at all strange. Li Dafu is a state-owned enterprise for sure, but do you really think state-owned enterprises don't keep idle staff? Just look at the big four banks–don't they still keep the idle staff who can bring in large business?

Boss Zhang pondered for quite some time but was still a bit confused. In his mind, earning a net profit of ten yuan per bottle of wine was quite remarkable. In bulk wine sales, one wouldn't even make five yuan per catty.

If one could sell a million catties of wine a year, that would be a profit of ten million–he didn't even consider taxation.

But, at the same time, he felt an instinctive pity: such good wine earning only ten yuan seemed unfair.

So, he subconsciously objected, “Only adding ten yuan to the price, this sales strategy isn't right… How can such good wine be given exclusive agency rights to one party?”

Ye Qingyi looked at him with a smile that was both mocking and mirthful, “But weren't you the one who just wanted exclusive agency rights?”

Boss Zhang's face flushed red, “That… if I were the agent, my pricing would definitely be more sincere than others, really.”

Ye Qingyi's cherry lips parted slightly, and she gently expelled two words, “Heh heh~”
Boss Zhang still wasn't giving up. After thinking for a moment, he inquired again, “What will his final selling price be?”

Ye Qingyi answered leisurely, “Why rush to ask? You will know sooner or later. To inquire in such a fluster is but to further confuse one's mind.”

Feng Jun's planned price was twenty thousand yuan per bottle of San Sheng, and he wasn't doing the whole nineteen thousand nine hundred ninety-nine yuan gimmick. It was too much trouble to calculate. One catty of Spiritual Wine could be converted into two thousand catties of San Sheng, roughly amounting to forty million in Huaxia currency.

Too expensive? I'm sorry, but ordinary folks still won't be able to buy it. He didn't plan to sell this wine through advertising but through word of mouth.

The other costs of two thousand catties of wine were actually negligible; the main thing was the one catty of Spiritual Wine valued at ten fragments of spirit. If converted, one Spirit Stone was worth four hundred million.

The wine Feng Jun wanted to sell was not just about health. He also wanted to sell wellness–longevity wine. In the two thousand catties of original liquor, besides adding one catty of Spiritual Wine, a Foundation Establishment Pill would also be added.

The Foundation Establishment Pill was deep green in color, but no matter how green, once it dissolved into two thousand catties of wine, you wouldn't be able to tell; it tasted almost the same as the San Sheng Wine, with an extremely subtle difference.

As part of the San Sheng Wine series, the wine with added Foundation Establishment Pill was called “San Sheng Vintage Wine.” As to why the word 'vintage' was added, that's up for interpretation.

But this price was also subject to interpretation–one bottle of San Sheng Vintage Wine sold for fifty thousand.

Feng Jun didn't consider this price expensive. Two thousand catties of vintage wine sold for only one hundred million, sixty million more than San Sheng Wine. But one of his Foundation Establishment Pills would sell for fifty million, so the additional ten million–was it really that expensive?

As for where to place the sales, Feng Jun chose four places: Maoshan, Magu Mountain, Wudang Mountain, and Mount Taibai. He simply informed them that he had developed such a series of wines: if you help me sell them, you can get a ten percent rebate.

All four places were Cave Heavens, and because of religious policies, related industries were tax-exempt.

Of course, he wasn't asking them for help with selling, it was more a matter of… I have such an opportunity here.

(Updated to here, summoning monthly votes.)

Chapter end

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