Chapter 9: Official Procurement
"A few?" Yang Wendong immediately picked up on the quantifier.
"My name is Elena. What's yours?" Elena introduced herself, seemingly because she expected further interactions to come.
Yang Wendong replied, "My name is Yang Wendong."
"Yang Wendong, then I'll call you Mr. Yang. My Chinese is decent, but calling you by your full name feels a bit awkward," Elena said with a smile.
She then glanced at Su Yiyi beside him and asked, "Mr. Yang, is this your wife?"
As soon as she spoke, Su Yiyi's face turned red, but she didn't say anything.
Yang Wendong chuckled and said, "No, her name is Su Yiyi."
"Oh," Elena smiled. "Mr. Yang, that rat trap of yours—after I took it back, I used it for a few days and caught three big rats. It worked really well.
So I'd like to buy twenty more. If the results continue to be good, I'll come back again."
"No problem. However many you need, I can supply them!" Yang Wendong responded confidently.
These past few days of selling at the stall had mostly been small sales. Although A Biao had sold a batch before and mentioned they worked somewhat, it was clear he wouldn't be coming back to buy more.
Meeting another major customer made Yang Wendong very happy. Plus, this deal didn't need to be split with any middlemen.
"That might not be all. Who knows—maybe in the future, the quantity I order will far exceed your expectations?" Elena said with a smile.
Yang Wendong looked curiously at the middle-aged white woman in front of him and asked, "What kind of quantity are we talking about?"
"Hundreds, maybe thousands, or even more," Elena replied. "I work for a government department. Under the Hong Kong government and affiliated foreign firms, there are many warehouses storing grain, daily necessities, or other materials.
Over the years, a lot of these warehouses have had serious rat problems. The government allocates a budget each year for rodent control, and your rat trap costs far less than traditional cages—so it has a big advantage.
This time, I'll bring twenty traps to one grain warehouse and test them. If the results are good, we may roll it out internally on a large scale, and the quantity needed could be huge."
After hearing this, Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "Ms. Elena, don't official procurements usually go through fixed channels?"
In every era, for every company or government body, purchasing supplies is a lucrative affair, and these materials naturally give rise to networks of vested interests.
"You know quite a bit," Elena noted, understanding what Yang Wendong meant, though she didn't make it explicit. She explained:
"Many warehouses—even government offices—already have rat cages, but they don't work well. So they're considering switching to new methods. Your device is something new, and no one else has it."
"I see," Yang Wendong nodded. Since it was a new product, even without a registered patent, he was currently the only known source.
Elena continued, "Actually, it's also because your product is low in value but widely applicable.
Individual warehouses wouldn't spend much on a purchase. I happen to be in charge of supply-related matters in Hong Kong, so that's why I came personally."
"That makes sense," Yang Wendong smiled. A small, inexpensive item like this would be distributed across many warehouses in Hong Kong.
In short, a single warehouse's purchase wouldn't be a large amount. A centralized purchase might be worth a bit more—but the people in charge usually wouldn't care about something so small.
After a short while, Yang Wendong had selected twenty rat traps and tied them together with thin rope.
The bamboo traps weren't heavy, but if not tied up properly, they'd be hard to carry with just two hands.
Elena took the traps, counted them, and confirmed they were all there. Then she placed them on the ground, pulled out a ten-dollar bill from her pocket, and handed it to Yang Wendong.
She added, "Mr. Yang, if these traps work well, I'll expect a discount on the next order."
"No problem," Yang Wendong nodded. He understood what she meant.
In today's Hong Kong, if you wanted to make it, you had to understand how the system worked.
And in the future, it would be the same—only less direct. Then, one would have to use all kinds of "legal" methods, like arranging for a manager to buy a second-hand car at a 4S dealership and then file for "three times compensation"...
To Yang Wendong, Elena had already proven herself a good person—someone who helped poor Chinese. But good people also like money, and that's not wrong.
In fact, someone like her having more money might even be a good thing.
Noticing Yang Wendong's slightly strange expression, Elena seemed to understand something and quickly said, "That discount is really just in the literal sense. Even when the government spends money, we're still expected to save."
"Hmm... Even if you're trying to save, that doesn't mean everyone else will, right?" Yang Wendong said, still unsure of her real intentions, and just followed along.
Elena shook her head and replied, "That's beyond my control. All I can do is act according to my own conscience."
"Alright," Yang Wendong nodded.
Elena's expression changed slightly again, and she said, "A few days ago, the man who was beaten... he died."
"Died?" Yang Wendong was stunned. That man had been beaten badly at the time.
But he had still been able to stand, and with his daughter's help, had managed to walk.
He hadn't expected that the man would die. It truly hadn't crossed his mind.
Elena went on, "I was worried, so I had a friend look up his address. When we went back, he had already been dead for a day. His daughter had disappeared, and the room they lived in—just a shanty—had already been taken over by someone else."
"This is just how society is," Yang Wendong said.
This was 1950s Hong Kong. Dozens or even hundreds of people fighting in the streets with knives wasn't unusual.
"I've already reported it to the police, but the hawker control team is under the police's jurisdiction. In the end, this case will probably just..." Elena didn't finish her sentence.
Some things were understood by everyone—there was no need to spell them out.
Yang Wendong understood too. A single life at the bottom of society—in 1950s Hong Kong, that was the most expendable thing of all.
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