Chapter 31: Are We Doing This or Not?

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The Western District Agricultural Wholesale Market.

A little after one in the afternoon, the market had entered the bleakest stretch of its day.

Many shops and warehouses had already closed for business. Everywhere lay wilted vegetable leaves and rotting fruit.

Anyone with experience in the food trade knew that when buying produce, one either came early for the freshest goods or came late to pick up the cheapest.

The four men each held a boxed meal as they wandered along, chatting idly.

Wu Bei still remembered this long-established wholesale market quite vividly.

The year before he joined the army had also been the most prosperous year of his father’s business. Back then, a senior official from the Urban Construction Bureau had approached Wu Shihao and asked him to help renovate the market.

Wu Shihao had waved his hand grandly and agreed on the spot.

That year, Wu Bei had followed his father to the market countless times.

“Brother Wu, the largest vegetable supplier in the market is the Su Family Produce Shop. Most of the companies and institutions in Chong City get their cafeteria supplies from here!”

When they reached the Su Family Produce Shop, where Wu Bei had worked half a day, Wang Shun lowered his voice and explained.

At that moment, the door to the shop’s storeroom was already tightly shut. An old scavenger woman and a girl of eighteen or nineteen were rummaging through piles of rotten vegetable leaves, searching for anything still fit to eat.

“Ah... Life is hard.”

Luo Hou shook his head and sighed with feeling.

Wu Bei merely swept his eyes over the grandmother and granddaughter before continuing onward.

There were too many unfortunate people in the world. He was no Buddha, and he could not save every living soul.

When they passed another enormous warehouse, two heavy cargo trucks were unloading goods inside. Wu Bei stopped to watch.

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Wang Shun hurried over and said, “Yongji Dried Goods Store is the most successful seasoning business in the market. Practically every restaurant in the city buys its supplies from them! The owner’s son is in charge of the market supervision office.”

“No wonder!”

Wu Bei nodded with a broad smile.

Since ancient times, power and wealth have belonged to officials, while hidden corruption has watered the fields.

Wang Shun pointed toward the large warehouses farther ahead and continued explaining. “The fruit shops up front have contracted the citywide fruit supply.”

By the time they reached that point, the four men had essentially made a complete circuit of the market.

The market occupied a vast area, roughly the size of three or four football fields. Besides food wholesalers, there were also several electrical-appliance and toy shops.

Even during the quietest part of the afternoon, small trucks laden with goods could still be seen coming and going from time to time.

“Anyone figured out what’s going on yet?”

Finding a shady spot, Wu Bei turned to the other three with a smile.

Luo Hou scratched at his head of dreadlocks and began speaking in florid language. “That little girl we saw scavenging just now was really something. Her face was like peach blossoms, like a lotus rising from the water...”

“Get lost!”

Qi Jinlong impatiently shoved him aside and frowned. “Brother Wu, I’m a simple man. I don’t have much of a brain. Just tell me what you want done, and I’ll do it! As for execution, you can count on me. I’ll get it done fast!”

“And you?”

Wu Bei blinked at Wang Shun.

Throughout the entire tour, aside from explaining the market’s circumstances, Wang Shun had been observing everything with great seriousness.

“I made a rough calculation just now. The market has more than forty shops. Excluding the smaller businesses, there are six or seven of substantial size. If each shop has ten loaders and five trucks, then altogether they need at least a hundred workers and fifty freight vehicles.”

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Wang Shun cleared his throat and answered solemnly.

Hearing this, Wu Bei nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that only this honest and steady man had understood why they had come to the market.

Wang Shun continued, “If we calculate the workers’ wages at one hundred and fifty per person, that’s fifteen thousand a day. Add five thousand a day for vehicle rental, and the minimum daily turnover would be twenty thousand. If we want to establish a dedicated loading and unloading company, an initial investment of one or two million might not even be enough, because many shops settle their accounts by the month.”

Qi Jinlong cried out, “Damn! One or two million would be enough to get us into earthwork contracting. Wouldn’t that be more respectable and bring in money faster?”

Wu Bei shook his head and cut him off.

“One or two million is only the investment. We’d still need working capital. The shops in this market have been cooperating with their current intermediary companies for years. Their interests and personal relationships are probably both quite solid. If we offer exactly the same amount, why would they use us?”

“And then there are the workers’ wages. If they can earn the same amount, why would they work for us? So in the early stages, we’ll have to subsidize heavily. We’ll charge the shops less and pay the workers more.”

The other three stared at Wu Bei with their eyes wide open. None of them had expected such an inconspicuous business to require so much money and involve so much trouble.

“But it isn’t impossible to make a profit. As long as we can monopolize the market, we can lower prices first and raise them later.”

Seeing that the others were beginning to lose heart, Wu Bei explained his plan in detail.

His thinking was straightforward. Once the company reached a sufficient scale, all the workers would be under their control. Without them, no one would be able to get the work done.

As for the workers, they would accept anyone at the beginning. If a man had a pair of arms and legs, that was good enough. Once they had reached a certain scale, they would keep only the best of the best: one man would do the work of two while being paid one and a half wages. The workers would be happy, and the company would profit as well.

“So, are we doing this or not? The decision is yours.”

After laying out both the advantages and the drawbacks, Wu Bei left the choice to the other three.