Chapter 68 That's a client!!

Zhang Zisheng could only say, "I'll go back and discuss it with the factory director before coming back to see Comrade Cheng Shi."

After Zhang Zisheng left, Zhang Ziqiang sat there in a daze.

Cheng Shi asked, "What's wrong? You handled the talk quite well just now. You stuck to your principles and were both reasonable and firm."

Zhang Ziqiang replied, "No, I just feel like there's no way my dad would give my brother such a difficult task, so I'm wondering what kind of scheme my brother is cooking up again."

Cheng Shi smiled. "Who cares what scheme he's cooking up? Either way, it's child's play compared to me. As long as you stick to the three principles I mentioned, no matter how many tricks he has up his sleeve, it won't do him any good."

Just as they were talking, the telephone on the desk rang.

Cheng Shi picked it up, and it turned out to be Lu Zaixue.

Lu Zaixue was clearly suppressing her excitement and thrill, so her voice trembled slightly. "We tested the gear Mr. Cheng gave us, and it basically meets the requirements. It has now been installed in the product, and the self-inspection accuracy basically meets our standards. We are planning to send it to authoritative testing agencies both domestically and internationally for evaluation."

The corners of Cheng Shi's mouth couldn't help but curve slightly upward. "Good."

Lu Zaixue added, "The process might take a bit of time."

Cheng Shi said, "No problem, I'll wait for you."

After hanging up the phone, Cheng Shi noticed that Cai Aiping, Yu Datong, and Zhang Ziqiang were all leaning over and eavesdropping. He was left speechless and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What are you doing?"

Cai Aiping pointed at the phone. "Who was that?"

If Yu Datong and Zhang Ziqiang had asked that, Cheng Shi definitely would have ignored them. But unfortunately, it was his own mother.

Cheng Shi said, "Oh, just a client."

Cai Aiping grew excited. "Miss Lu?"

Cheng Shi gave a vague response. "Mmm."

Cai Aiping's eyebrows danced with joy. "That's wonderful! My son has finally found a girlfriend."

Cheng Shi said with a blank expression, "Huh?!"

Cai Aiping announced, "I'm going to tell your father this good news."

Panicking, Cheng Shi urged, "Mom, she's a client. A client!"

Turning a deaf ear, Cai Aiping scurried upstairs in a flash, shouting along the way, "Dear, our boy is going to get married!"

Cheng Shi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, sighing inwardly: I never realized my mother was so easily excitable.

Yu Datong and Zhang Ziqiang were grinning from ear to ear like two simpletons on the sidelines.

Cheng Shi narrowed his eyes. "You two better have a good reason."

Yu Datong wiped the smile off his face and gave a dry cough. "Well, I asked my buddy, and he said you just need to make a list of whatever you need, and he'll find a way to get it. You can just pay him the market price."

Cheng Shi brightened up. "Hey, that's great news. We'll be needing those materials right away."

***

Meanwhile, Zhang Zisheng had already returned to the automobile factory.

Zhang Guohua asked him, "How did it go?"

Zhang Zisheng gave a bitter smile. "I didn't even get a chance to speak with Cheng Shi. Zhang Ziqiang blocked me right at the door."

He hadn't expected Cheng Shi to be so formidable, leaving no room for him to use clichés like "support the development of state-owned enterprises and national industries, and raise your political awareness" to lobby him.

Actually, even if he had talked directly to Cheng Shi, the result would have been the same. However, he couldn't admit to his own lack of competence, so shifting the blame onto Zhang Ziqiang was his best option.

Zhang Guohua looked surprised. "What? That brat?! How could that happen?"

Zhang Zisheng explained, "He's Cheng Shi's sales manager now. Cheng Shi gave him pricing authority. When I demanded a price reduction, Zhang Ziqiang flatly refused."

Zhang Guohua grew angry as well. "That little beast, actually turning his elbows outward."

Zhang Zisheng comforted him, "It's fine, Dad. After all, we're a major state-owned factory with massive demand. Cheng Shi is a shrewd businessman; he can't possibly miss that. I'll go back and negotiate again another day."

In reality, the upper limit Zhang Guohua had given him was 5,000 yuan per set. Zhang Zisheng had taken it upon himself to quote an ultra-low price, hoping to score an easy first victory and make everyone look at him with newfound respect. Therefore, Cheng Shi's quotation today had already met their target.

The reason he hadn't signed was that, judging from today's conversation, Cheng Shi was clearly a technical person unskilled in business warfare. He barely spoke and relied entirely on Zhang Ziqiang, who had a background in sales, to handle the confrontation. As long as Zhang Ziqiang wasn't around, he believed he could definitely force Cheng Shi to sign the contract at an even lower price.

To take a step back, even if he managed to bring it back at 4,500 yuan per set another day, everyone would assume he had fought hard for that price through his own sweat and tears, rather than it being a gift from Cheng Shi, and it would have nothing to do with Zhang Ziqiang at all.

That evening, Cheng Shi machined a bearing and told Zhang Ziqiang to deliver it to the shipyard early the next morning. Then, he resumed tuning the old machine tool.

After taking inventory, he found that seven or eight parts needed to be completely remade. He thought to himself: Well, it looks like this is really going to take a long time.

Suddenly, someone spoke at the entrance, "Is Comrade Cheng Shi here?"

Why does that sound so much like Zhang Zisheng?

Cheng Shi straightened up and looked over. Sure enough, it was Zhang Zisheng. He thought to himself: Did this kid stake out the entrance and wait for Zhang Ziqiang to leave before coming in, or is this just a massive coincidence?

Zhang Zisheng said, "Ah, Comrade Cheng Shi. I'm here today to discuss the contract with you again."

Maintaining a poker face, Cheng Shi replied, "Alright, come on in and sit in the office."

Cheng Shi leaned back in his chair, putting on an unapproachable demeanor. He looked like a completely different person compared to the detached bystander of yesterday.

Zhang Zisheng stated, "I went back and asked the factory director yesterday, and he agreed to order the crankshafts from you at a price of 4,500 yuan per set."

Cheng Shi frowned slightly. "What 4,500 yuan per set?"

Zhang Zisheng answered, "That's the price we discussed yesterday."

Cheng Shi said, "That was only because Comrade Zhang Ziqiang was here yesterday, which is why I offered such a favorable price. Since you didn't accept it on the spot, the price is naturally different now that you're coming back to negotiate again."

What the hell? The price can go up just like that? And it's only been a day!

A storm of curses raged through Zhang Zisheng's heart, but on the surface, he tried hard to maintain his composure and asked, "What is Comrade Cheng Shi's quote now?"

Cheng Shi looked at him with a half-smile. "5,200 yuan per set."

Anger flared even brighter in Zhang Zisheng's chest: It's just a bit higher than the upper limit my dad gave me—you are definitely doing this on purpose!

But how did you know my dad's upper limit?

He pressed his lips together and remained silent.

Seeing through his confusion and anger, Cheng Shi lowered his gaze and casually twirled his left pinky bone with his right index finger and thumb. His voice was so calm that no emotion could be detected. "I calculated the cost of the crankshaft based on a comprehensive assessment of your factory's retail price for the product, and that's the absolute maximum it could be."

Only now did Zhang Zisheng realize how terrifying Cheng Shi truly was. Yesterday, Cheng Shi hadn't been using Zhang Ziqiang as a shield; rather, because Zhang Ziqiang was there, Cheng Shi had deliberately concealed his own sharp edge.

Lifting his gaze, Cheng Shi looked straight at him. "You didn't even know something this basic, and you still had the nerve to come talk about pricing."

Zhang Guohua had clearly quoted him right near the cost price so that Zhang Zisheng could secure the deal.

Zhang Zisheng's face turned beet red. He hadn't bothered to analyze why Zhang Guohua had told him 5,000 yuan per set in the first place.

As it turned out, the clown had been himself all along.

Unwilling to accept defeat just like that, Zhang Zisheng asked, "Can you offer a slight discount?"