novelraw Chapter 534: Must We Partner?
Chapter 534: Must We Partner?
Chapter 534: Chapter 534: Must We Partner?
"Ban Xia, Ban Xia." Zhao Xuran heard his two younger brothers snoring, and after calling softly a few times without any response, he knew he could handle the matter.
"Tell me, what’s going on with you two." Zhao Xuran couldn’t figure out why Zhao Guangran looked so excited that afternoon while Gong Ruini was sulking. Was someone bullying her?
"Big brother, I’ll go first." Although Zhao Guangran noticed Zhao Xuran’s displeasure, he felt his matter was more important and decided to speak up first.
"Go ahead." Seeing that Gong Ruini didn’t seem eager to speak first, Zhao Xuran gestured for Zhao Guangran to start.
"Big brother, I found a way to make money." There was so much to say, but he decided to start with the most attention-grabbing detail.
Found a way to make money? Could it be discovered during class? Zhao Xuran didn’t know such opportunities were so easily uncovered these days. "Go on."
Zhao Guangran quickly explained his money-making idea, "Big brother, what do you think of this idea."
Gong Ruwen gave Zhao Guangran some pointers. He didn’t expect his younger brother to think of this. Wait, could this be Gong Ruini’s idea? Otherwise, why was she looking at Zhao Guangran with such displeasure?
"Ni Zi, what do you think?" Zhao Xuran thought it was a good idea, but he wanted to know Gong Ruini’s opinion.
"I also think it’s good." Gong Ruini set the tone for the discussion, "But there are also many problems."
Luckily, Ni Zi didn’t betray him, which relieved Zhao Guangran, but he became displeased when he heard the latter part, "Why are there problems?"
"Why wouldn’t people want this? As long as we do well in this exam, our reputation will surely spread."
"Ni Zi, let me tell you, this matter has become known throughout the school; it might even spread to nearby schools. By then, they will be our potential clients."
"Also, we have the test papers starting from grade one. If the market is good, we could produce more." Initially, this task needed big brother to take the lead. Zhao Guangran didn’t think he had the capability.
He knew his brother came to him with no good intentions. He hadn’t expected to be faced with such a proposition. This kid is scheming, "Listen to Ni Zi."
Zhao Guangran felt that Gong Ruini was contradicting him, but Zhao Xuran didn’t think so. Ni Zi always considered things from a broader perspective.
"I am thinking that to release these exercise books, we need to consider many factors." Gong Ruini took out a notebook from her bag, listing the issues she had thought of, "Brother Xuran, take a look."
Ah, when did Ni Zi write this? Zhao Guangran truly didn’t know. He leaned over to take a look, "Wow, Ni Zi, why do you think there are so many issues?"
"And aren’t we just printing some exercise books? Do we need to find a manufacturer? Wouldn’t that leave us with less profit?" Zhao Guangran’s original plan was to buy the tools themselves and print at home, thus making more money. But with Gong Ruini’s changes, they would end up making significantly less.
Zhao Guangran really didn’t understand what Gong Ruini was thinking, "Can’t we just make money properly?"
"Wow, Ni Zi, why would you write that someone will steal our stuff? Isn’t that like taking our money?"
"And at a lower price." The more Zhao Guangran read, the angrier he became. How could there be so many problems according to Gong Ruini? This is just doing business, how could there be so many issues? He’s about to go crazy.
"This is quite normal. Once someone gets a copy, they can easily photocopy it." Zhao Xuran found nothing wrong with the point Gong Ruini made, "Especially when there’s good money involved, countless people would be fixated on it."
Zhao Xuran thought of what their parents had mentioned last time, "Ever since everyone could return to the city, but there are only so many jobs. Many people didn’t get an assignment; they have to sustain themselves somehow, and with this kind of low investment with high returns, how do you think they would choose?"
Ah, this is too much, Zhao Guangran had heard their parents mention this, but he didn’t think it concerned him. Naturally, he wouldn’t care about or pay attention to such things. But now he realized how foolish he had been.
"What should we do then?" Even big brother said so, and for money, people really might act that way. What should they do, "We can’t just sit back and watch our money get taken by others, can we?"
"It’s not our money yet; we’re just considering it. But I do think this idea is good; it can encourage more people to be interested in studying. Even if we earn a little, it’s still earning." Zhao Xuran thought further, "Ah, this isn’t something we can handle ourselves; it requires adults."
No way, does this involve adults again? In Zhao Guangran’s mind, adding adults equaled sharing profit which equaled less profit, so he was really resistant to this. To him, "Brother, this business isn’t big enough; we don’t need to follow Ni Zi’s approach completely."
Zhao Guangran admitted that exercise books printed via lithography looked nicer and cleaner than those casually printed with ink, but it required a lot of money. Besides, involving their parents simply showed they didn’t have enough financial resources. Otherwise, why would they need to bring others in?
Zhao Guangran was anxious if more people were involved. Considering his pitiful savings, what share could he hope to secure?
"Brother, I regret telling you about this." Ah, if only it were just him and Gong Ruini working on it, at least even if big brother found out, so what? As long as Ni Zi was around, big brother would never get mad at him.
But now there’s no remedy for regret, "Big brother, maybe we could ask Grandpa Zhuge."
Yes, besides needing help from their parents, Grandpa Zhuge could help them ask around. With Grandpa Zhuge’s help, things would resolve quickly, and he wouldn’t care about money with them kids.
Zhao Xuran was both amused and exasperated by this calculating brother, "True, asking Grandpa Zhuge is good, he wouldn’t take our share. But why do you think he must help us?"
"Sure, he would help for the sake of Ban Xia and the others. But favor is limited; the more you ask, the more it’s owing."
"Do we really live here just because we need to accompany him?"
"That’s helping us." After saying a few stern words to Zhao Guangran, Zhao Xuran realized some things needed clarification, or else this brother wouldn’t comprehend, "Actually, I was thinking, involving dad, they can help promote the product."
Promoting it? Such a good product needs promoting? Zhao Guangran didn’t understand. Couldn’t they just sell it in Beijing and still make money? Was all that hassle necessary?
"We could promote it to other regions. This way, even if someone copies and prints secretly, we are selling in those areas, without stock pressure, and maybe we could sell it in the Northeast." Zhao Xuran stated that venturing into other regions to attract clients wasn’t something they, as little kids, could handle.
Even though Zhao Gang and the others trusted Zhao Xuran immensely, that didn’t mean they could let him venture out to other areas.
Besides, even though Zhao Xuran was quite mature and responsible, handling many family matters, would outsiders know this? Seeing a small kid like Zhao Xuran discussing business cooperation would no doubt be viewed as a big joke.