Reborn in 1981, starting by smashing my iron rice bowl.

However, this situation was within Liu Weidong's expectations. After all, he had known for a long time how rigid state-owned enterprises were. If it weren't for this, these shopping malls wouldn't have started to close down one after another after more than ten years.

Faced with this stalemate, Liu Weidong confidently said to Wei Wanqing, "It seems it's time for me to step in. Senior Sister, leave this matter to me!"

The strong woman looked at Liu Weidong in disbelief: "You really have a way?"

"Don't worry!" Liu Weidong said, "Today, Qi Haixia and I will relax for a day, stroll along Nanjing Road and walk along the Bund, while I go to discuss the contract!"

The Peace Hotel, where the three of them were staying, was not far from the No. 1 Department Store, so Liu Weidong quickly arrived at the department store and found Wang Guohua, the purchasing manager.

Seeing Liu Weidong arrive again, Wang Guohua frowned secretly. These out-of-towners had been inviting him to meals every day for the past few days, hoping to get their clothing products into the market.

However, the No. 1 Department Store is a famous shopping mall in Shanghai and even the whole country. It is not something that private enterprises can easily move into, so Wang Guohua has never agreed.

They either deliberately drive the price down too low, or they make some additional demands. In short, they play a game of cat and mouse, neither letting the other party get their way too easily, nor wanting to drive them away outright.

After all, Wang Guohua had already seen the samples. These clothes were top-notch in terms of materials, workmanship, and style. It would be a real shame not to sell them.

Therefore, Wang Guohua's current idea is to delay as much as possible until the other party loses patience, so that he can continue to fight for better conditions for his unit.

However, these out-of-towners came every day, which made Wang Guohua a little impatient. He felt that they came too frequently and were affecting his other work.

So after Liu Weidong entered the office, Wang Guohua put down his pen and said, "Comrade Liu, didn't I say yesterday that I still needed to ask my superiors whether or not to order your goods, and that you should come back in a few days to hear the news? Why did you come today?"

Liu Weidong knew, of course, that Wang Guohua was just making excuses. As the purchasing manager, he had every right to decide whose goods to order. There was no need to consult his superiors about such matters; otherwise, what use would he be as the purchasing manager?

Liu Weidong, of course, wouldn't expose him. He just smiled and said to Wang Guohua, "Manager Wang, you've misunderstood. I'm not here to ask you for information today, but to say goodbye."

Wang Guohua immediately sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly asked Liu Weidong, "Farewell, why are you saying goodbye?"

"The Second Department Store has decided to purchase our goods. Manager Wei just signed the contract with them yesterday," Liu Weidong said unhurriedly. "They want quite a lot of goods. Manager Wei is in a hurry to go back and arrange production, so he asked me to say goodbye to Manager Wang. Thank you for your care these past few days. We are going back tomorrow."

Wang Guohua panicked and shouted, "Hey, how could you sign a contract with Erbai first?"

Liu Weidong feigned surprise and said, "Oh, didn't we talk to Manager Wang before? It's not easy for us to come to Shanghai, and we've been in contact with both the Second Department Store and the Sixth Department Store. We just didn't expect the Second Department Store to have such a large order volume, so..."

At this point, Liu Weidong gave a deliberately apologetic smile before continuing to say to Wang Guohua, "...So we have to go back ahead of schedule."

"Oh dear, I've already consulted with my superiors and was planning to sign a contract with you!" Wang Guohua said with a regretful expression, starting to persuade Liu Weidong: "Although No. 200 is considered a large department store, it's not as well-known as our No. 1 Department Store. We're famous throughout the country. If your products enter our department store, you'll quickly become famous nationwide, which will be very beneficial for your future development!"

Liu Weidong secretly found Wang Guohua's reaction amusing; he had expected this to happen.

After all, as people in later generations know, these large shopping malls in Shanghai were also competitors, which perfectly illustrates the saying "rivals in the same trade are enemies".

So, Wang Guohua had previously ignored Wei Wanqing and the others, but after learning that they had signed a contract with Erbai, he immediately became anxious and wanted to cooperate with them as well. Liu Weidong had anticipated this, which was why he dared to assure Wei Wanqing that he would at least secure one shopping mall.

Seeing that Wang Guohua was really anxious, Liu Weidong pretended to be thoughtful and said, "Manager Wang has a point. How about we share some of our production capacity with our No. 1 Department Store? It would be very beneficial for the future development of our factory."

Wang Guohua breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Oh, that's more like it! I'll have someone draft the contract right now. As for the price... let's stick to what we agreed on last time, eighteen yuan and five jiao per piece. What do you think?"

Having just embarrassed Wang Guohua, Liu Weidong nodded in agreement, saying, "No problem. If Manager Wang trusts me, I can sign the contract on the spot. It's quite a coincidence that the contract seal is in my possession."

Wang Guohua just wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible, so he naturally didn't object and said on the spot that there was no problem.

Not long after, Liu Weidong obtained the supply contract from the No. 1 Department Store!

These days, securing a supply contract from Shanghai No. 1 Department Store as a private entity is no easy feat. Besides the goods themselves needing to be of very high quality, Liu Weidong's series of clever maneuvers were also essential.

Otherwise, even if the contract is eventually signed, the price will be driven down to a very low level, resulting in the embarrassing situation of not making a profit or even having to pay out of pocket.

Liu Weidong was very happy to receive the contract. He not only treated Wang Guohua to a meal at a nearby restaurant, but also gave him a very exquisite lighter.

The lighter was an imported product that Liu Weidong had bought in advance at the Friendship Store. Wang Guohua liked it at first sight, accepted it with a big smile, and was extremely affectionate towards Liu Weidong.

After lunch, Liu Weidong took his leave, and Wang Guohua secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the samples Liu Weidong brought were excellent. If the Second Department Store had them but the First Department Store didn't, he would inevitably be criticized by his superiors, which was something Wang Guohua absolutely didn't want to happen!

Liu Weidong then went to the Second Department Store and used the same trick again. He only slightly revealed to them that he had already signed a contract with the First Department Store, and he obtained a second supply contract.

What Wei Wanqing had been trying to accomplish for several days without success was achieved in just one day thanks to Liu Weidong's efforts!

Even Liu Weidong was proud of himself. Winning contracts for two of Shanghai's largest shopping malls in one go was an absolutely remarkable achievement!

Unbeknownst to Liu Weidong, Wei Wanqing and Qi Haixia were also thinking of him.