Chapter 533: What Other Tricks Are You Up To?

Lin Sicheng knew that Zhao Xiuneng was joking.

In Zhao Xiuneng's own words: how he and Wang Qi Zhi hung out together, even going for foot massages every day, was no problem at all.

But if Lin Sicheng were present, the two of them would be teachers, would be Senior Brothers, and they would have to set an example.

Yet Lin Sicheng could not join in: when it came to respecting teachers and the Dao, he could still keep his head clear.

Wang Qi Zhi introduced them: "This is General Manager Fang, the Sales Director of Saishi Company. This is Engineer Qin and Engineer Xu; they will be responsible for future maintenance and care."

"General Manager Fang, this is General Manager Zhao, a Partner of the Center. This is Lin Sicheng, the Person in Charge of the Center..."

Fang Yin was stunned for a moment.

She knew of this General Manager Zhao; Wang Qi Zhi had mentioned him several times. She had always assumed that this center was a partnership between the two of them.

Suddenly, another Person in Charge of the Center had popped up—did this not mean he was the investor, the boss?

Looking at his age, he was only in his early twenties.

But she reacted quickly; after a brief moment of distraction, she hurriedly reached out her hand: "General Manager Zhao, General Manager Lin, I have long admired you!"

She shook his hand firmly, a look of curiosity on Fang Yin's face: "Is this Research Center invested in by General Manager Lin?"

"Yes, General Manager Fang!" Knowing what she was curious about, Lin Sicheng spoke frankly, "Professor Wang is my teacher; I am his graduate student!" The implication being: he was still a student?

No wonder he was so young.

Fang Yin suddenly realized: nine times out of ten, he was a "second-generation researcher."

From this, she could tell the nature of this center: a stepping stone.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Lin Sicheng always felt that when he mentioned he was still a student, this woman was secretly delighted.

Afterward, Wang Qi Zhi introduced the three people invited from the Cultural Relics Research Institute. He did not mention the Cultural Relics Research Institute, only saying they were well-known equipment inspection experts in the industry. Fang Yin attached great importance to this and shook hands with them one by one.

The cargo yard was right behind the company; the group did not enter the building but went straight to the warehouse.

The place was very large, a standard experimental instrument storage area: constant temperature, constant humidity, dust-proof, shock-proof, and moisture-proof.

Seeing the gauges on the door, Zhao Xiuneng was exceptionally curious: the laboratory built by the center was only up to this standard.

After changing into Protective Suits, the group entered the warehouse.

The Assistant brought over a document bag, which Fang Yin took and handed to Wang Qi Zhi.

"Professor Wang, please take a look!"

"Very well, General Manager Fang!"

Wang Qi Zhi replied and handed the documents directly to Section Chief Wu from the Cultural Relics Research Institute.

He strongly agreed with a saying of Lin Sicheng's: professional matters should be left to professional people.

Although he had learned quite a bit during this time, Wang Qi Zhi knew clearly that compared to these professionals, he at most understood a little bit of the surface. Since this was what they did, Section Chief Wu was very straightforward; after opening the document bag, he divided it into several parts, and the three of them looked at them together.

There was the "Pro Forma Invoice" (unofficial trade quotation), the "Packing List," as well as the "Configuration List" and the "Original Technical Parameter Sheet." The three of them were exceptionally serious, going through it word by word, line by line, and item by item.

They cross-checked it once and compared it with the Contract Wang Qi Zhi had given them.

Finally, Section Chief Wu handed the materials to Lin Sicheng: "Teacher Lin, we haven't found any discrepancies for now; you take another look!"

Lin Sicheng took them into his hands and flipped through them roughly.

All the instruments were selected by him and decided by him. This included the brand, the place of origin, the original place of sale, and even the purchasing agency.

The Contract was drafted by a professional agency, and only after Lin Sicheng had reviewed it did he sign with the purchasing agency.

Therefore, whether it was the configuration, parameters, or terms, he knew them like the back of his hand.

After a rough scan and comparing the data on the outer packaging, there were indeed no discrepancies.

Lin Sicheng put away the materials and looked at Fang Yin: "General Manager Fang, roughly when can it be delivered?"

"There are still a few auxiliary pieces of equipment that have already been declared to Customs; at the fastest, one or two days, at the slowest, three to five days. At the latest, they can enter the site by the weekend."

Lin Sicheng calculated roughly: the renovation was indeed not finished yet, but a portion of the work could only be done after the equipment entered the site. There was another portion that had nothing to do with whether the equipment entered or not.

The only thing that mattered was the floor; he remembered the reinforcement was done the day before yesterday, so if it were left to dry until the weekend, it would be more than enough.

"Then I will trouble you, General Manager Fang!" He raised the document bag in his hand, "General Manager Fang, can I take this set of materials back?"

"Of course!" With a smiling reply, Fang Yin took out another document, "Professor Wang, General Manager Lin, if there are no problems, this document still needs to be signed!"

Wang Qi Zhi took it and glanced at it: "Purchase List," "Provisional Acceptance Report."

The content was fine, but out of caution, Wang Qi Zhi handed the two reports to Section Chief Wu.

Section Chief Wu did not quite understand: he knew the "Purchase List," as it was an attachment to the Contract. He also knew the "Equipment Acceptance Report," which was the final confirmation document that needed to be signed after the equipment entered the site and installation and commissioning were qualified.

As soon as it was signed, it meant the final payment had to be made.

But what was a "Provisional Acceptance Report"?

He took it into his hands, flipped through it carefully, and was still completely confused.

Fang Yin explained: "Professor Wang, General Manager Lin: according to the regulations of the Customs department, taxes and fees must be declared to Customs within fourteen days of the equipment entering the country. If it is overdue, a late declaration fee must be paid, along with fines of varying amounts..."

"These two reports are among the documents submitted to the Customs department along with the tax declaration application; they do not affect the final acceptance."

The imported equipment for the Cultural Relics Research Institute was all purchased by the China Equipment Import and Export Company; the Cultural Relics Research Institute only used it and had never managed anything else. Therefore, neither Section Chief Wu nor the two operating Technicians really understood this.

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng understood even less.

But they at least knew that no matter what the document was, one could not sign it casually.

Furthermore, the boxes hadn't even been opened yet; they had only compared the labels on the outer packaging. What if the things inside were different from what was on the labels?

Wang Qi Zhi spoke frankly: "General Manager Fang, if we don't sign, what will be the consequences?"

"It might affect the acceptance: today is already the fifth day since this batch of equipment entered the country. If they can only enter the site this weekend, installation will take at least two to three days. Then the time left for final acceptance might only be one or two days. It might even be less than twenty-four hours..." "After all, this is the latest generation, the most advanced equipment in the world to date; the first operation will also require communication and training with your center's operators. I am afraid the time will not be enough..."

More than just not enough?

According to Section Chief Wu's plan, even if they worked around the clock for twenty-four hours, he would need at least five days to finish commissioning all the equipment.

As soon as he shook his head, Wang Qi Zhi understood: there was definitely not enough time.

"General Manager Fang, what if it is delayed by a day or two?"

Fang Yin said: "Professor Wang, imported equipment is subject to production-type value-added tax. This includes a six percent tariff, seventeen percent value-added tax, and in addition, there are regulatory handling fees, storage fees, customs declaration agency fees, and so on.

All sorts of miscellaneous costs add up to about twenty-seven percent... If the tax filing period is missed, most of that cannot be refunded..." I asked you what would happen if there were a delay; why are you lecturing me on tax clauses?

After a slight pause, Wang Qi Zhi suddenly realized: "You mean, if there is a delay, we have to pay this portion?"

Fang Yin nodded: "Yes, Professor Wang, it is written in the Contract!"

It was indeed written in the Contract; this was to prevent the Party A from delaying the inspection and causing losses to the purchasing agency.

One is the late declaration fee, and the second is the storage fee, because the constant temperature and humidity Treasury is expensive to run for even a single day.

Next are the capital costs and exchange rate risks. Although the Renminbi is very stable, after all, with funds in the tens of millions, a slight fluctuation after the decimal point means losses calculated in the "hundreds of thousands."

Wang Qi Zhi did not remember it that clearly, so he specifically opened it to take a look. After a careful glance, he saw the sentence "Installation completed within two weeks of entry," and he finally remembered:

This clause seemed to have been added specifically by Lin Sicheng.

At the time, he had even asked him about it, and Lin Sicheng had explained: All imported equipment has a certain optimal activation period, which the industry calls the "Best Installation and Debugging Window."

Roughly speaking: internal lubricants, seals, and electrical components undergo certain quality changes depending on latitude and climate variations.

Eventually, they can recover, but this adaptation period is at least two weeks or more. Therefore, it is easiest to discover problems when debugging within two weeks. At the time, the sales representative from Saishi Company took the opportunity to propose that if the inspection exceeded two weeks, the resulting costs would be borne by Party A.

Lin Sicheng had agreed to this point at the time as well. But Wang Qi Zhi had not expected that this portion of the costs would be so high?

With a cost of twelve million, a twenty-seven percent tax fee, that is almost three million.

Looking at it this way, do these two documents really have to be signed?

But Wang Qi Zhi felt it would be better to have a professional take a look.

Just as he was about to say something, Lin Sicheng took the documents.

He flipped through them; there were basically no problems, and they were likely meant for customs declaration. But Lin Sicheng felt it was better not to sign.

To put it bluntly: Saishi Company's approach was actually just the standard commercial company method for legal tax avoidance.

If they don't audit you, of course, nothing happens. If they do find it, you will have to spit out exactly how you swallowed it.

Or even spit out double.

The key is that neither Lin Sicheng nor this newly established Center has a particularly good relationship with Customs.

If he signed it, it was one hundred percent certain: before the Center even opened, Customs would arrive with the tax authorities.

Lin Sicheng returned the documents: "General Manager Fang, we can enter the site one day early, for example, on Friday. If that is not enough, we can move it up another day..." "Of course, there is no problem on the company side!" Fang Yin reminded him, "But General Manager Lin, even if you move it up two days, your side's time might not be enough!" Two days plus one day is only three days. It is still two days short of the five days planned by Section Chief Wu.

He kept signaling with his eyes, but Lin Sicheng acted as if he didn't see: "Thank you, General Manager Fang. If it really is delayed, then we will handle it according to the Contract!"

Since he had said that, what was there to fear?

Fang Yin nodded: "Thank you for your understanding, General Manager Lin!"

They read through it very quickly, taking about two hours in total, and it was just barely eleven o'clock.

Fang Yin said she had arranged a light meal for them to eat simply.

They would have to rely on Saishi Company for maintenance in the future, and there would be many areas for cooperation, so deepening the connection was inevitable.

Saishi sent cars, and Wang Qi Zhi did not decline, letting Section Chief Wu and the two Technicians get in.

They were helping for free without charging a cent. Since there was a Mercedes-Benz to ride in, it would be a bit unreasonable to make them squeeze into a Santana. Several people got into the Santana 2000, following behind the two Mercedes-Benz cars.

Wang Qi Zhi looked envious: "Lin Sicheng, look at that, even a hired hand is driving a Mercedes-Benz."

They were indeed hired hands, but Saishi was a legitimate international giant. Being able to reach the position of Director meant they were definitely an Executive of a foreign-funded company. Moreover, as a sales Person in Charge, it was very normal to ride in a Mercedes-Benz.

Lin Sicheng said half-jokingly: "Teacher, I will get you one!"

Wang Qi Zhi: "You riding in a Mercedes-Benz is too high-profile; if I ride in one, would it not be high-profile?"