Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

"Our styles are exactly the same as the Levi's sold in big department stores! But to be honest, the fabric, accessories, and craftsmanship are slightly inferior to the genuine Levi's, but most people can't tell the difference. It's no exaggeration to say that they are indistinguishable from the real thing. The hangtags, care labels, and the like are all 1:1 replicas..."

With Mr. Gu's personal introduction, Wang Feiyang selected two men's styles and two women's styles, a total of four styles, all of which are Levi's most classic and best-selling styles.

That's how it is to be a reseller: you don't need too many styles at once, but you can't skimp on the quantity of each one!

Although there are countless Levi's jeans on the market, their quality varies greatly, and the fabrics and workmanship used are vastly different, as are the cuts.

The reason Wang Feiyang chose to cooperate with Mr. Gu was, of course, because he knew that Mr. Gu's factory had indeed done OEM for major foreign brands. The fabric and craftsmanship used in his jeans were really good. Although the wholesale price was a bit higher than others, it could still be considered good value for money.

After all, jeans made of similar fabric and craftsmanship only cost forty-four yuan a pair at wholesale prices here, but they would cost several hundred or even thousands of yuan in a Levi's store!

After calculating the price, there was some haggling. In the end, General Manager Gu generously offered Wang Feiyang a special price for major clients, which was forty yuan per item, for their first collaboration!

Four hundred thousand yuan can buy ten thousand pairs of jeans. Half a month later, Wang Feiyang can just find a freight company to come and pick up the goods.

After Mr. Gu inspects the goods, he will have Wang Feiyang pack them on the spot. One hundred pairs of jeans will be packed into one large package, first in a special cardboard box, and then wrapped with yellow tape for waterproofing and shock protection...

Of course, Wang Feiyang didn't need to pay the full amount today. He only paid a 10% deposit that he had prepared in advance, which was 40,000 yuan. The balance would be paid when he picked up the goods.

After receiving the money, Mr. Gu gave me a receipt, which I can use to pick up the goods later.

"Haha, Mr. Wang, you're so young and accomplished! My daughter is about your age and doesn't know anything yet. You're already doing business abroad, amazing!" Mr. Gu said with a big smile, shaking Wang Feiyang's hand.

He was naturally delighted, as he had just closed a big deal!

Moreover, this kind of business is obviously not a one-off thing. If Wang Feiyang's sales are good, a second and third order will come soon, and the subsequent orders will become bigger and bigger!

With this successful first collaboration, things will be much easier to discuss later. There will be no need for full payment, and I won't even need to return to my country. I can simply confirm the style and quantity of the order by phone or online, and then transfer the payment.

However, these are all matters for future cooperation, which will take at least three to five months, so let's not talk about them for now.

Wang Feiyang then asked Boss Gu to help him contact a freight company that handles logistics and transportation to Russia. Although the shipment was not large this time, the cost was estimated to be high, since it included not only the freight but also customs clearance fees.

These days, there's almost no normal customs clearance in Russia. Goods from middlemen are almost always transported there through "grey customs clearance." Legally speaking, these goods are illegal, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

If you follow the normal customs clearance process, your goods will be delayed at customs for at least half a year before the process is completed. But if you use the grey clearance method, it will only take half a month at most to clear customs.

It's easy to imagine who ends up with the extra "customs clearance fees" collected by the logistics company.

But this also creates the biggest risk for the middlemen!

Because these goods lack proper customs clearance procedures, if they are discovered, they will be treated as "smuggled goods"...

After exchanging contact numbers with President Gu and finalizing some details, Wang Feiyang politely declined President Gu's invitation to stay for dinner and then got up to say goodbye.

…………

When the taxi was almost at the University of International Business and Economics, Wang Feiyang dialed a phone number—the dormitory number that Song Yi had left behind last time.

When the phone rang, Song Yi was about to go downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch.

When Song Yi heard Wang Feiyang invite her and Wang Yan out for dinner, her expression was a little subtle, but she immediately agreed without hesitation and arranged to meet at the school gate.

After hanging up the phone, Song Yi hesitated for a moment, took off her slightly casual coat, and found a nicer-looking outfit in her closet to put on.

I looked in the mirror again and felt there was nothing wrong before I went out and downstairs.

At the school gate, Wang Feiyang saw Song Yi walking quickly towards him. She was probably in a hurry, as her face was flushed and she was slightly out of breath.

"Why are you alone? Where's Wang Yan?" Wang Feiyang asked casually as he went up to her.

"She went shopping with her classmates early this morning, I wonder where she is right now," Song Yi replied with a smile.

Wang Feiyang didn't mind. "Didn't I say I'd treat you to dinner last time? Today's Sunday, and I figured you'd have time, so I called to ask you out for a meal. I can pay you back the money I borrowed. You choose where we should eat?"

"You bought a phone? What's the phone number? Give me one, I'm planning to buy a phone in a few days too, so it'll be easier to contact you then," Song Yi asked.

Now that mobile phone prices have come down, quite a few college students are using mobile phones, especially those from well-off families who bought them a long time ago.

Wang Feiyang then gave her his phone number, and Song Yi quickly wrote it down in a small notebook from her backpack.

Closing her notebook, Song Yi tilted her head slightly and thought for a moment, then asked with a smile, "How about we go eat McDonald's? A new one just opened nearby, and I haven't tried it yet."

Actually, Wang Feiyang really didn't want to eat at McDonald's. He could eat there occasionally to save time, but he couldn't go there often. Wouldn't it be better to spend the same amount of money at a small restaurant and order a couple of specialty dishes?

However, these days, fast food chains like McDonald's and KFC are obviously very attractive to young girls, so he didn't refuse and readily agreed, saying, "Okay, let's go eat McDonald's then, but it's the weekend today, so it'll probably be crowded."

When we arrived at McDonald's, there were more people eating than I had imagined!

So Wang Feiyang went to queue up to order food, while Song Yi went to reserve a seat. The two worked together, and teamwork made the job easier.

After queuing for quite a while, Wang Feiyang finally got his food. Carrying a large tray of food, he walked around the store twice and found Song Yi, who had reserved a seat in the corner. They sat down and started eating and chatting.

The two were classmates in high school. Although they weren't very close before, they had a lot in common to talk about. In addition, Wang Feiyang's eloquence, which he had already honed, quickly brought them closer. Song Yi was amused and smiled broadly, and she became much more affectionate towards Wang Feiyang in her words...