Chapter 306: What We Sell Is Not a Commodity, It Is History

Director Xiong and several people soon assembled a set of armor and put it on a rack.

"Brother Li Ye, this armor was just made by our Chang'an Craft Institute. Mr. Huo insisted on letting you take a look. What do you think?"

"Let me take a look? Why?"

Li Ye looked at Mr. Huo Renqiang in surprise.

A-Qiang exhaled, pulled Li Ye to the side, and explained, "I am now the deputy minister of the investment department, but that Minister Hu doesn't get along with me. This time he let me be responsible for this armor cooperation project, and I don't understand..."

Li Ye smiled, "You don't understand, and I don't understand either? Why don't you let your boss send someone who understands the business?"

A-Qiang said, "A total of two people were sent to me. One was pulled away by Minister Hu last week, and the other was chased away by me this week. Now I am the only one left..."

Li Ye also admired A-Qiang very much. He had a total of two subordinates, and they were hollowed out into a bare commander in just two weeks. No wonder he wanted to go his own way and resign from the position of deputy minister of the investment department.

But this job is a proper middle-level position in the Seris Company, with a base salary of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars per month, plus performance commissions, and the year-end bonus is not a small amount.

The key is the room for promotion, which is far higher than his previous position as a comic manager.

Li Ye hadn't met that newly appointed Minister Hu, but now it seems that the other party looks down on A-Qiang, this "three-no cadre."

No academic qualifications, no experience, no wrist, but he is stuck in the waist of the investment department, like a eunuch supervisor in ancient times, stuck in the throat, it's strange if he doesn't trip you up.

But...

A-Qiang has no academic qualifications, no experience, no wrist, but he has loyalty.

In the few years when Pei Wencong was most difficult, he accompanied him through the wind and rain, so Pei Wencong wanted to "promote" A-Qiang again.

But this promotion relies 30% on connections and 70% on ability. If A-Qiang is really not good, Pei Wencong can't help it. Doing business is not doing a gang; loyalty cannot be put first.

So for this armor order, if A-Qiang does well, it's fine, but if he doesn't do well, Minister Hu suggests to Pei Wencong to kick A-Qiang back to Hong Kong, and Pei Wencong can hardly oppose it.

"Okay, I'll take a look, but I can only give suggestions at most. The final decision still depends on you."

Li Ye couldn't refuse, so he walked to the armor.

But as soon as he touched it, he felt something was wrong.

"Why is it so thin and so light?"

The armor Director Xiong gave Li Ye last time, he took it back to Zaojunmiao to collect, and occasionally put it on to show off to Wen Leyu, so he knew at a touch that the two were not the same thing.

Master Lu, who followed Director Xiong, also said, "This weighs about 30 pounds, which is not light. The prop group ordered one even lighter,

but we used stainless steel materials. Actually, the cost is higher than the 40-pound one. It is easier to wear and more comfortable."

"This is not for wearing. Didn't they tell you the product requirements?"

Li Ye looked at Director Xiong and others, and then said, "Since it is imitation ancient armor, try to be as close to the appearance of ancient times as possible. Where was there stainless steel in the Tang Dynasty?"

Master Lu was stunned for a moment and said, "If iron materials are used, the maintenance of the armor is very troublesome. Once the maintenance is improper, it will easily rust..."

"Eh, it is precisely because maintenance is troublesome. You think about the generals in the past, did they have to maintain their armor personally?"

Li Ye said, "It is best if you summarize a complete set of maintenance processes and write it in detail into an armor maintenance manual.

It must be something that the buyer can complete by himself, but it cannot be too easy. In short, let the buyer enjoy the fun of being a warrior..."

Director Xiong and Master Lu were stunned for a while, and then Director Xiong couldn't help but say, "You are not looking for trouble, are you?"

Li Ye waved his hand and said, "I am just giving this suggestion. I think you use stainless steel to make armor. That is an industrial product, a movie prop. It is not necessarily easy to sell for a few hundred RMB because it has no effect of suppressing the house.

But you use iron, everything is made according to ancient armor, matched with cultural elements, and the price will be hundreds of US dollars. Look, which one do you choose?"

Director Xiong hadn't had time to speak, and Master Lu said, "You... what you said, brother, I am not a fool, but is the buyer a fool?"

Li Ye smiled and didn't answer him, but directly ordered A-Qiang, "You call Hong Kong, find a luxury marketing company, and entrust them to make a product marketing plan. You just follow the requirements, don't be smart."

A-Qiang nodded slowly, "I understand some, it's like LV Cartier, not pitting the poor!"

"What is not pitting the poor?"

Li Ye was very unhappy, "A piece of armor that is exactly the same as ancient craftsmanship, and it is also the work of a master craftsman, shouldn't it be a luxury item?"

"What you have to do is to make people not necessarily be able to buy it even if they have money. Do you understand?"

A-Qiang didn't dare to refute, nodding repeatedly. Anyway, he followed what Li Ye said, and if he messed up, Pei Wencong wouldn't dare to scold him.

Then Li Ye said to Director Xiong, "Actually, I tell you, it is very difficult for you to understand, but the set of armor you gave me is a very good example. It doesn't look like an ordinary product."

Director Xiong smacked his mouth and said, "Brother, to tell you the truth, that set of armor of yours was made by several old masters more than ten years ago, and now they can't even hold the hammer..."

Li Ye nodded and said, "Anyway, you just do it according to that meaning! I can't explain it to you clearly. I will write a small script later. After you go back, find Xie Dao and let him shoot an advertising short film for you,"

"At that time, you just need to tell Xie Dao one sentence, and he will understand everything."

Director Xiong hurriedly asked, "What sentence?"

Li Ye said seriously, "You just tell him that what we sell is not armor, but Tang culture, it is the history of the Chinese race.

Make people see this armor and feel the battlefield atmosphere, and have an impulse to put it on and kill the enemy."

Several people were silent for a while, and then Master Lu said, "I seem to understand a little bit. It means making people see that this armor has been around for many years and was worn by ancestors' warriors, right?"

Li Ye thought for a moment and said, "It's about that meaning."

Director Xiong slapped his thigh and said, "Oh, brother, if you said it earlier, wouldn't I understand? Isn't it just making old antiques? We have that craft in Chang'an, very fine!"

Director Xiong and Master Lu got the script that day and rushed back to Chang'an, but A-Qiang insisted on staying in the capital for a few days.

Li Ye didn't expose A-Qiang's desire to see his girlfriend, but just asked about the situation of the investment department recently.

"Mr. Li, to tell the truth, the recent situation is not optimistic. The rules in the mainland are very different from those in Hong Kong. We Hong Kong people are free, but the mainland is somewhat... dogmatic."

Li Ye glanced at A-Qiang and asked lightly, "Is Hong Kong very free? A-Qiang, are you free living in Hong Kong? Is it free to eat? Or free to live? Or free to pick up girls?"

A-Qiang was speechless. Are intellectuals all scolding people without seeing blood? Can't you just say I'm a loser?

Li Ye continued, "A-Qiang, since you come to the mainland to invest, you must learn to deal with mainlanders."

"Any investment company in the world, when entering another region to invest, must learn to 'follow the host,' which means you must understand who is the host."

Li Ye looked at A-Qiang and said word by word, "Don't earn the host's money while despising the host for being rustic and backward, understand?"

"I understand, Mr. Li. If it weren't for you, Mr. Li, I, A-Qiang, wouldn't be where I am today. I will try my best to adapt."

A-Qiang looked at the serious Li Ye. Although he didn't quite understand his meaning, he nodded and agreed without hesitation. ===== CHAPTER 307 =====