Chapter 153: Get me another 1,000 sets of clothes.

"Brother Shen, you can't really say it like that. He may have opened a small restaurant, but the old man behind him is a force to be reckoned with."

Hearing this, Shen Guodong asked in confusion, "A powerful old man? Are you talking about the head of the Wang family?"

"Exactly. You’re right, it’s the head of the Wang family. He’s nearly sixty this year. He had a son late in life, and while the boy has some health issues, that doesn't stop him from squandering the family fortune."

"The old man has lived a hard life. In his youth, he followed an organization and made quite a name for himself in the provincial capital. When he got older, he wanted to settle down and live a quiet life, so he came back here to Fengcheng."

"Because he has ties to powerful figures in Shencheng, he naturally received their support when he arrived in Fengcheng, and he started dabbling in real estate development."

"We happened to cross paths, so I suppose you could say we are allies and enemies at the same time—it’s complicated."

"But the most important thing right now is that the old man probably has too many enemies, which is why he only had one dim-witted son at sixty. He has plenty of money, but his luck in life isn't exactly great."

Shen Guodong frowned and asked, "So that’s how it is. And you’re saying his protector is in Shencheng?"

"That’s right. But he does have his own little patch of influence here in Fengcheng. People in our line of work usually give him some face, and officials do the same. After all, he’s just running a modest restaurant now. He doesn't touch any illegal businesses; he’s pretty much legitimate, and the real estate development is enough to keep him wealthy."

Shen Guodong nodded. "Fair enough. How were those three matters handled?"

Shen Guodong operated on the principle of "I won't offend if I'm not offended." He considered the previous fight to be self-defense, so if the other party insisted on causing trouble, he was ready to clash.

The bald man smiled and said, "It’s settled. I’ve put a lid on it. The old man knows his dim-witted son is a troublemaker, so in our Phoenix City, there’s not much he can do. Even if he was beaten, he has to swallow it."

"Over the years, the old man has truly seen a lot of things, and his temperament has calmed down quite a bit."

Shen Guodong nodded. "Alright, then let it pass. We’ll ignore him for now."

"That works. Let me know if you need anything else, Brother Shen. I’d better get back to supervising the work; it’s not good for me to stay here too long."

Shen Guodong smiled, waved him off, and then looked toward the direction of Shencheng with a furrowed brow.

As his status grew, he realized that the more people he came into contact with, the more he learned about the darker side of things.

"Forget it. The Wang family is a major clan in Fengcheng, but for now, I’ll leave them be. I need to focus on developing our own factory."

He instructed Zhou Meiniang to report the wear and tear on the No. 1 production line from the day’s operation so he could evaluate it.

Wang Dafa had boasted that his factory could produce replacement parts with an 80% success rate, which would be a great boon to their operations.

80% was likely an exaggeration, but it was worth looking into. After all, imported original parts were exorbitantly expensive. Sometimes the costs were enough to make your heart ache; it was a massive expenditure for the factory.

About half an hour later, Zhou Meiniang came back. "The wear on the No. 1 production line wasn't too bad today."

"Take a look—only in a few rare cases during high-speed operation did any overheating occur, but those instances were isolated. Replacing those parts isn't expensive."

Shen Guodong looked over the report and was satisfied with the wear rates. "That’s fine. Let them keep running. Whenever something breaks, report the lifespan of the parts to me and keep a log."

Zhou Meiniang sensed the subtext in his words and asked suspiciously, "You aren't actually thinking of going to my uncle's company, are you?"

Shen Guodong asked, "Why? Is his company no good?"

"His company is decent enough, but if these parts are going into our own factory, what if they fail? Won't that delay the project?"

Shen Guodong smiled. "I’m not foolish enough to use their knock-off parts right away. If they break and cause the main equipment to burn out, it won't be worth the risk."

"I’m just thinking about having them on hand as backups for the future, since the original parts are just too expensive."

"If a part breaks, we can see if they match. Just keep the statistics for now and let me know if there’s any news."

After settling things with Zhou Meiniang, Shen Guodong placed a long-distance call to Huadu.

As soon as the call was picked up, the boss on the other end said, "Hey, boss! You received the shipment, right? How is it? It should be pretty comfortable, eh?"

Shen Guodong chuckled. "It’s actually quite good. I didn't expect that."

"Brother, we’re planning to place another order. Do you have more in stock? Send some more over."

The boss laughed. "Of course we have stock. Just pay the deposit first. Since we’re old friends and you’re the boss of Chenliang, tell me, how much do you need this time?"

"For this batch, let’s go with 1,000 units. I think 1,000 should be good to start selling."

"You got it. I can give you a discount for 1,000 units—how about 70% of the price?"

Shen Guodong caught the hint that there was still room to negotiate.

He shook his head and said, "We’re old customers now. How about this: I’ll take 1,500 units if you give them to me at 55%?"

The boss sounded troubled. "You’re taking a larger quantity, but 55% is too much of a cut."

"Brother, you’re killing me. I can’t make a profit at that rate. Our labor and production costs aren't free."

Shen Guodong replied, "I know labor costs money, but you have to trust that I’m a loyal customer. I’m taking 1,500 now, but next time I might need 3,000. Just think about that."

Shen Guodong was shrewd in business. He played on the boss's desire for volume, promising more with each order while pushing for better prices—a proportional arrangement.

The boss fell silent for a moment. "How about this: I’ll give you 60% for 1,500 units. If you take 3,000 next time, I’ll give you 55%. How’s that?"

After some back-and-forth, Shen Guodong decided that 60% was still profitable. "Fine, let’s do 1,500 at 60%."

Shen Guodong then looked over the information Liu Yueru had sent him. It seemed the feedback for their clothing line was overwhelmingly positive.

Even Liu Yuexian had called to say that her classmates were all clamoring for the floral dress she had been wearing.