Chapter 148: Taking on an Apprentice

Upon hearing from Qin Huairu that she had found him a house, and that his third uncle lived right across the way, Qin Weiguo was overjoyed and wanted to go take a look as soon as he got off work.

"Don't be in such a rush, Big Brother. The uncle hasn't given me the keys yet."

"Alright then. When I have time, I'll have to treat the uncle to a drink."

Dazhuang, Erzhuang, Erniu, and Qin Weiguo were all apprentices learning techniques from Lao Jia; they all knew each other, and upon learning at this moment that they would be living in the same courtyard in the future, they were even happier.

The Jia Family in the Siheyuan.

"Huairu, that courtyard of Ping'an's belongs to his maternal grandfather. It likely took a lot of persuasion to rent it to you all to live in, so tell your third uncle and big brother to take good care of it."

"I will, Mother. My big brother even said he wants to treat the uncle to a drink."

"Hmm~ having that intention is very good."

"Xiaohua, you don't know yet, do you? The three cousins from your maiden family have also been arranged by Ping'an to live there."

"What? No, I have to go ask."

"What are you going to ask? Since Ping'an was able to rent out the entire courtyard, his maternal grandfather probably won't be coming back for a while."

"Besides, it's not like you haven't seen Ping'an's maternal grandfather's family before. That bearing—tsk, tsk, tsk—if someone told me he was a Factory Director, I'd believe it."

"Then never mind, I won't ask." Zhang Xiaohua also realized.

Returning home, Zhang Ping'an waited until the chill had completely left his body before teasing his two sons. The twins, now nearly half a year old, had blossomed; they were like porcelain dolls carved from powder and jade.

The next day at work, Zhang Ping'an gave the keys to Qin Dabao and took him to see the courtyard along the way. In any case, there would definitely be family members in this courtyard in the future, so perhaps he should let them make a few extra keys themselves.

"Brother Dabao, you and Weiguo will have the three side rooms and the ear room on the east side. The main rooms, the ear room, and the daozuofang will be for my three cousins respectively. You should make a couple of extra keys when the time comes."

"Done."

Qin Dabao was very satisfied with these three side rooms and the ear room; it was completely enough for his family of four to live in. Moreover, three yuan a month was a mere pittance; over ten years, it would only be three hundred and sixty yuan.

At the same time, Qin Dabao also knew that Zhang Ping'an was helping him; otherwise, let alone three yuan, he wouldn't be able to rent such a good courtyard for thirty.

As the end of the year approached, Zhang Ping'an also began to get busy, taking Wu Guohua to the countryside to familiarize him with procurement routines, while the three Tiezhu brothers were arranged to go home and continue hunting.

Plus, the three of them already had quite a bit of stock at home, enough to support the procurement tasks before the New Year.

"Guohua, when we go to a village, we usually find the village head first to arrange things. Of course, you can also find hunters. I know you have a sweet tongue, so I'm not worried about that, but you also have to be willing to spend."

"For example, carry some cigarettes and candies with you. This way, you can easily get along with the men and women in the village, and the procurement will go much more smoothly."

"Besides, it's not just people from our Rolling Mill who come to every village to procure; procurement agents from other state-run factories will likely come too. Between two agents, everyone is willing to befriend the one who is generous. You have to give to receive."

"Master, I understand."

"Good, let's go. I'll take you to Li Family Village first to test the waters."

Li Family Village was the very village where Zhang Ping'an's two elder sisters lived. Because of their connection, and because Li Huaide was also from here, they were much friendlier toward the Rolling Mill.

Zhang Ping'an had already established relations here before he even knew about Li Huaide, and the village head, Li Zhiyuan, greeted Zhang Ping'an warmly upon seeing him arrive.

"Ping'an, are you here to procure goods or to see your sisters this time?"

"Uncle Li, I'm bringing a newcomer here to let him get familiar with the procurement process."

"Grandpa Li, have a smoke."

"Hahaha, what a clever little guy. Alright, you two sit at my place first, and I'll call out for you."

Now, loudspeakers had become popular in most rural villages, but they were all installed at the village office, and this was the village head's home.

"Good, thank you, Uncle Li."

"Sorry to trouble you, Grandpa Li."

"Guohua, you know that our procurement prices have room for fluctuation, and the prices in each place are different. But for me personally, I always give at least eighty percent of the original price, sometimes ninety, or even one hundred percent."

"This depends on personal preference, but if you want to consider the long term, you should give everyone enough profit. After all, we can't rely on price differences to get rich, and don't end up being too clever and losing your job."

Wu Guohua looked shocked. He wasn't a fool; his father's job had always been linked to procurement, and he knew a bit about the inside story.

Most procurement agents could give seventy percent and it would already be considered high. Many people relied on price differences to earn huge wealth, yet Zhang Ping'an said he gave at least eighty percent. No wonder he always completed his procurement tasks so easily.

"Master, this..."

"Guohua, just remember that because of the relationship between your father and me, I won't harm you. Don't just look at immediate interests. Of course, you'll have to grasp this yourself in the future."

Zhang Ping'an couldn't very well say that the natural disasters in a few years would make it very difficult for these non-plan procurement agents to survive, could he? By laying the groundwork in the villages early, their future procurement would be much easier.

Zhang Ping'an had shared this method in his group before, but not everyone agreed. Some people just cared about immediate small change. Zhang Ping'an couldn't be bothered to care; once their procurement resources were snatched away by other factories, they would know.

You can't teach someone who won't learn; experience is the best teacher. Only after experiencing it themselves will they know what is good and what is bad.

Under the call of Li Zhiyuan's loudspeaker, many people gathered at the village head's house with their own goods.

"Guohua, you get ready to weigh, I'll record."

"Alright, Master." He had already been taught these things a few days ago.

"Wild Boar leg, thirty catties; dried mushrooms, fifteen catties; eggs, thirty..."

Following Wu Guohua's reporting of the items, Zhang Ping'an recorded them one by one and calculated the money. In the end, the miscellaneous items in the tricycle weighed about one hundred and seventy or eighty catties, and the bamboo basket on the back of the bicycle also had about one hundred catties.

"Ping'an, there will be quite a few people in our village slaughtering New Year pigs before the New Year. You can make a few more trips then."

"Done, Uncle Li, I'll keep that in mind."

"Hmm."

The prices Zhang Ping'an gave were higher than all other procurement agents, and he never came empty-handed. Whenever people had things to sell, naturally, he was the first person they thought of.

"How was it, Guohua? Tell me your thoughts."

"Ah? Oh, oh." Wu Guohua was still in shock. He hadn't expected to be able to procure nearly three hundred catties of supplies in one go, and the villagers even took the initiative to ask them to come more often when they had meat.

"Does it feel unbelievable?"

"To be honest, Master, this completely overturned my understanding of procurement."

"Hahaha, do you think being a procurement agent is easy? First, my two sisters are married here, so I have a bit of a mass base."

"Secondly, I offer high prices, and this is the result of four or five years of my management. I remember your mother is from the countryside; you can use that as a breakthrough point."

"Yes, Master, I understand."

"Hmm, you helped with this procurement too, so let's put half of the supplies under your name."

"Thank you, Master."

"Since you've called me Master, I will naturally help you, but procurement ultimately still depends on yourself; I can help you three or five times, but I cannot help you for a lifetime, so you still need to adapt as quickly as possible and ask if there is anything you don't understand."

"Understood, Master."

Returning to the Rolling Mill, everyone looked at the supplies the two had registered with envy; their own harvest today was not even a fraction of theirs.