Chapter 123: She Is The One!

Agents are responsible for managing business on behalf of companies. While the ownership of the goods remains with the manufacturer, these agents handle wholesale distribution to other parties or sell directly to end users, earning a commission in return. After goods are manufactured, they may pass through a master agent, primary agents, secondary agents, and so on, reaching distributors and sub-distributors before finally arriving in the hands of the customer.

In this business model, the master agent enjoys the lowest cost of acquisition, aside from the manufacturer. After layers of markups and multiple rounds of exploitation, the final price is passed on to the consumer. Having not yet secured a master agency agreement, the Penguin company founded by Su Mu was currently sourcing goods from other agents. Before having the leverage to deal directly with a master agent, they were subject to the markups of other primary agencies, with each computer costing about forty to fifty dollars more than the factory price. Considering Penguin’s sales volume over the past month, this meant they had missed out on roughly two hundred thousand dollars in potential profit, which was why he was so eager to seek a direct agency agreement with IBM.

Now that he had secured a seat at the table, Su Mu transformed himself, standing on equal footing to negotiate as a master agent. He was uncertain if the lady before him, named Marianne, would agree to his terms, but there was a strong possibility she would. As Su Mu had stated, this was the market’s lowest price. He had already made it clear that even without using his own capital, Penguin could raise sufficient funds. Looking at it from another angle, once the agency rights were secured, the opportunity to make money was right in front of him; was there any reason to worry about finding partners to invest? Marianne herself felt that wouldn't be a problem.

Sensing that Su Mu was as shrewd as any businessman she had encountered, she realized that taking advantage of him would be unlikely. Taking a deep breath and quickly weighing her options, she said, "I will give you 1.3 million dollars. One million will be a loan to you, and the remaining three hundred thousand will be a one-time licensing fee for your company. I cannot agree to any markups on top of the factory price."

If it were Li Ping'an, he likely would have agreed immediately. Su Mu was smarter; he suddenly felt, with a vague intuition, that these agency rights were more important than he had initially imagined. Furthermore, this Latina lady likely had a very optimistic outlook on future sales; otherwise, she would never have made such a proposal. She was willing to pay a higher licensing fee just to become the master agent.

If Su Mu nodded right now, three hundred thousand dollars would be his—more than he had earned in all the time prior. With the agency rights in hand, his purchase costs would also drop slightly, meaning even more profit in the future. Looking at the downsides, agreeing would inevitably create a new competitor—one who would be using Penguin’s resources to vie for the market—and he would have to exert himself for Marianne’s benefit, only to never earn from her again after this one-off deal.

It was a matter of short-term versus long-term interests. Subconsciously, Su Mu felt there were aspects he hadn't yet considered; the lady before him seemed too desperate. He felt he could push for more. He shook his head and said, "I am very sorry, but I don't think there is any point in continuing this conversation. Even a transit warehouse costs money to rent, yet you plan to pay my company nothing moving forward. That does not serve my interests. You are optimistic about the future of the personal computer market, and so am I. This is only the beginning; the PC market will certainly continue to grow as it trends toward becoming a household commodity. Therefore, I value long-term benefits. Three hundred thousand dollars for the licensing fee plus a twenty-dollar markup per computer—that is my bottom line."

Seeing the conflicted expression on Marianne's face, Su Mu felt a surge of excitement: there was still room to negotiate! He then heard her say, "Leave your contact information with me. I need to think about it and will give you an answer tomorrow morning, okay?"

Guessing she likely wanted to try her luck with Mr. Rivers first, Su Mu replied, "Fine. I don't have a business card. Do you have paper and a pen?"

"..."

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Internal tensions at Penguin had temporarily stabilized. With the master agency agreement nearing completion, Su Mu no longer cared about the small company recently established by the employees who had resigned. Taking a taxi back to the old warehouse, he found his company headquarters looking quite shabby after visiting the IBM building. After sharing the good news with his staff, he pulled Li Ping'an along and headed, as if by habit, to a talent recruitment agency named "YOP."

They had been there four or five times already, and the manager knew them well. As soon as he saw Su Mu, he said, "What a coincidence! I was just about to call you with some good news. I’ve found the management talent your company needs. She was a sales assistant at Coca-Cola and later sold aircraft for Boeing. If you don't mind a small blemish on her resume, she perfectly fits your requirements. The salary is only thirteen dollars an hour—isn't that great?"

Catching the focus of his words, Su Mu asked, confused, "A blemish?"

"Well... she forged a degree, a degree from the Yale School of Management. It was discovered by the HR department, and she was subsequently fired by Boeing."

Worried that Su Mu might refuse, the manager explained, "But she is very experienced. It’s just a pity that her real educational background is too low, so she never had a chance for promotion, which is why she took the risk of buying a fake degree. However, the fact that she sold twenty-nine aircraft for Boeing is proof enough of her ability!"

In the United States, the credit system is relatively well-established; being caught for something like forging a degree basically meant one's future was ruined. Su Mu rolled his eyes at the manager, complaining that he was picking on him for being young by introducing such a "flawed" genius. Many people in Chinatown had good skills, but unfortunately, their education was too low, and on top of that, they lacked social intelligence and were often perceived as unlikeable, making promotion opportunities slim. Education is just a stepping stone; ability is what matters more in the workplace.

Su Mu didn't mind. He said, "I want to meet the lady first. As long as her character is fine, I can consider it. But is a woman okay? You know, the vast majority of my company are men. I’m worried she won't be able to manage them well. I don't mean to discriminate against women, but in terms of authority, female management is indeed not as effective as men."

"No, no, no. Believe me, there isn't a man who wouldn't listen to her demands. She will absolutely make your employees explode with two hundred percent of their fighting spirit!" The manager wore an ambiguous smile as he pulled a resume from his drawer.

Su Mu took the resume and flipped through it. His gaze was naturally drawn to her appearance. She was only twenty-six and exceptionally charming. In her photo, she was wearing a red dress, with brown hair and a hint of green visible in her pupils. Li Ping'an made a lecherous expression and patted Su Mu on the shoulder: "She's the one!"