Chapter 979 - 978: The Deal
"Wow..."
Everyone was in an uproar. This was simply unbelievable to them. On the land of Afghanistan, a nation within a nation was founded, and they even formed their own military so openly. If this happened in our country, it would have been eradicated long ago.
"No way?" Song Wu found it hard to believe and said, "Isn't the government going to intervene?"
"Intervene? Haha..." Lin Chuan laughed and said, "On the land of Afghanistan, there must be over a hundred armed groups, big and small, right? Even if each armed group only has a hundred people, that's more than ten thousand soldiers altogether. Moreover, some armed forces have thousands of soldiers. How can the government forces manage all of them?"
"That's true!" Song Wu nodded and said, "Afghanistan is indeed rather chaotic now."
The group got out of the car and entered the hall.
"You've had a hard journey, I'll have lunch prepared right away." Silver Fox smiled. Her smile was enchanting, extremely beautiful, making it breathtaking.
The Song family brothers were drooling. They almost jumped in to kiss her.
"Lin Chuan, did you come here for something this time?" Silver Fox curiously asked.
"Yes!" Lin Chuan nodded and said, "I do have something, otherwise, I wouldn't have come all the way here."
"What is it?" Silver Fox curiously asked.
"I plan to cooperate with you." Lin Chuan grinned.
"Oh?" Silver Fox was taken aback, then curiously asked, "What's your business with me?"
"It's something very important." Lin Chuan smiled and then said, "You should know about my business in Japan, so I've set up a seafood processing plant back home for exporting seafood. You have so many people here, the food consumption should be huge, right?"
"Uh..." Silver Fox was dumbfounded for a moment, then laughed and said, "Have you ever seen someone use seafood to feed soldiers?"
"No!!" Lin Chuan shook his head and said, "You can add a seafood can or some seafood products to the soldiers' lunch or dinner. Canned food is also important during marches. Seafood can replenish high protein, it's on par with beef if not better."
"Makes sense." Silver Fox thought for a moment and said, "Food shortage is an issue in Afghanistan, and not just Afghanistan, but also in the surrounding countries. How did you suddenly come up with the idea of doing seafood processing?"
"To make money!" Lin Chuan laughed.
"You, running short of money?" Silver Fox laughed and asked.
"No one in this world finds too much money a problem." Lin Chuan laughed, then said, "Besides, I really do need money. The real estate project back home is still losing money. I need to earn a little extra to support my family."
"So how many cans do you plan to sell me?" Silver Fox curiously asked, "And what's the pricing?"
"That's easy." Lin Chuan chuckled and said, "I'm always about small profits and quick turnover, earning a bit of hard money is fine. Besides, you're bringing some economic growth points and jobs to our country. Right?"
"Don't say that." Silver Fox smiled and said, "It's not easy for me to make money either. So, since it involves cooperation, we must make it clear. I'll have someone come up with a plan, so I can see the consumption here."
"That's easy." Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Selling to others for three US Dollars, but for you, just two dollars each. How about that?"
"Okay!" Silver Fox responded. The price was indeed affordable. Besides canned seafood, there were other foods as well. Lin Chuan quoted all these products. Since it's a cooperation, sincerity is necessary. Lin Chuan's smile had a hint of cunning as he said, "The prices are naturally the best."
"Sure." Silver Fox nodded, "Let's have lunch first. You'll get a procurement plan in the afternoon. Then you can have the goods shipped from home."
"Sure!" Lin Chuan nodded.
Silver Fox would naturally not refuse Lin Chuan's cooperation, even if his price was higher, she would still accept it. After all, everything she had was given by Lin Chuan.
During the meal, Fire Fox's staff had already produced a procurement plan.
"Such efficiency!" Luo Guoqing, who was beside them, exclaimed in surprise.
"There are no lazy people at Fire Fox." Silver Fox gave a calm smile.
Lin Chuan glanced at it and said, "Half a million cans, and a million packs of dried seafood... So much?"
"That's for a quarterly procurement." Silver Fox smiled and said, "And it also accounts for wartime consumption. So, it's not that much. But, I have a condition."
"What is it?" Lin Chuan asked in confusion.
"According to the procurement plan, the total price is ten million US Dollars." Silver Fox put down her chopsticks and smiled, "I'll give you five million US Dollars."
"What about the remaining five million?" Lin Chuan hurriedly asked.
"Don't worry, I won't shortchange you." Silver Fox giggled and said, "I'll offset the remaining five million US Dollars with Afghani alabaster."
"Uh..." Lin Chuan immediately laughed and said, "This is possible."
"Cash is quite a precious resource. If I give you ten million US Dollars, it means I'll have ten million less," Silver Fox laughed and said, "The white marble is my product here, so of course, I hope to use it to offset the debt."
"No problem." Lin Chuan promptly laughed and said, "Afghan white marble is of good quality, and it can be sold at a good price back home."
"Then... let's wish for a pleasant cooperation." Silver Fox raised his glass.
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan hurriedly raised his glass as well.
Everyone raised their glasses in succession.
"By the way, I'm planning to start a large-scale food wholesale company in Afghanistan and the Middle East areas," Lin Chuan said, "Silver Fox, do you have any good suggestions?"
"Well..." Silver Fox thought for a moment, then said, "The situation in Afghanistan is turbulent. Aren't you afraid of losing everything?"
"Since I'm going to gamble, I'm prepared for the worst-case scenario!" Lin Chuan laughed.
"Alright," Silver Fox chuckled, "Since you're prepared for the worst, there's nothing more to say."
Lin Chuan chuckled and then said, "The Middle East and North Africa are places where food is relatively scarce. Given the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, while it's dangerous, there's still no problem making war profits."
"Heh heh..." Silver Fox nodded, "Indeed, but that place is too dangerous."
"Grasping the chestnuts from the fire," Lin Chuan laughed.
"Then I suggest you start setting up from Kabul," Silver Fox laughed, "I can help you out here, but your goods coming from overseas will take at least half a month to arrive, right?"
"Right, so we need to start setting up during this half-month period so that once the goods arrive, they can be directly put on sale," Lin Chuan said.
"Hmm!" Silver Fox nodded.
With Silver Fox's help, over the next few days, Lin Chuan and Luo Guoqing frequently traveled between Abbas Town and Kabul. With Silver Fox's operation, they quickly secured a row of shops in downtown Kabul. A total of three large storefronts, covering over three hundred square meters.
To ensure normal opening sales wouldn't be affected, Lin Chuan called back home and asked Miss Lan to find a way to arrange a transport plane, then shipped over fifty tons of seafood to Kabul. Silver Fox dispatched a convoy to transport all this food to the city center of Kabul. Although it was quite costly, it's fine as long as it can be sold at a good price here.
In Kabul, Lin Chuan hired a few locals to manage this large seafood supermarket, with over a dozen locals working as cashiers onsite.
A few days later, this Chuanda Seafood Supermarket officially opened.
On opening day, over a hundred people queued at the door ready to shop.
Seafood is indeed a rare commodity in Afghanistan, as there are no sea domains, and it is a mountainous country. So, seafood is still a novelty for them. Many wealthy individuals came in person to make purchases.
Although the prices were high, the buyers were still coming in an endless stream.
On the first day of opening, the turnover was surprisingly as high as a hundred thousand US Dollars.
"Oh my." Song Wen was stunned.
"Isn't this too incredible?" Song Wu also found it unbelievable. Forget a hundred thousand US Dollars, they even thought ten thousand CNY was shocking. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a hundred thousand US Dollars, equivalent to over six hundred thousand CNY. It was simply astonishing.
Luo Guoqing laughed and said, "It seems that it's really easy to earn money from foreigners."
"This is all due to the consumption power of the rich in Kabul," Lin Chuan said, sitting in an office in the supermarket, laughing, "The poor simply can't afford it."
"Lin Chuan, why should we give up on the vast number of poor consumers?" Luo Guoqing asked in confusion, "We can totally capture these consumers."
"What do you mean?" Lin Chuan asked.
"Seafood processing, we can grade it," Luo Guoqing hurriedly said, "Take abalone for example; we can grade them into premium abalone, ordinary abalone, and small abalone. Premium abalone sells at a high price, while small abalone can be for common consumption."
"Right!" Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan suddenly realized, immediately understanding the key point.
The grading is to prevent the rich from losing their sense of superiority when buying seafood, but also not to make it unaffordable for the poor. This way, the wealthy can buy the expensive, fresh, high-end, premium seafood, while the poor can buy those lower-end seafood products that died during transport and don't look good but taste nice. In this way, money can be made from both the poor and the rich, and seafood products won't be wasted. The marine products that died during transportation won't be discarded wastefully. Why not?
The initial exploration takes quite a long time, and the subsequent adjustments need to gradually keep pace.
The opening of this large seafood supermarket in Kabul has attracted the attention of the entire Kabul. It stocked tens of tons of seafood products, including a variety of richly flavored seafood canned goods and dried products, as well as various flavored snacks made from seafood.
[Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!]