Chapter 48: Zhang's Business Association (2)

  Xu Feng then told Ma Teng the same thing that Zhang Lei had told him. Like Xu Feng, Ma Teng was also amazed by the intricate design, and when he heard the clever part, he couldn't help but get excited. When Xu Feng finished speaking, Ma Teng patted Xu Feng's shoulder and said: "Old buddy, I didn't expect you to come up with something like this."

  "You're overestimating me, all of this was thought up by Zhang Lei, the leader of Zhangshi Technology. What do you think?" Xu Feng didn't dare to take credit and quickly explained the facts.

  Ma Teng was even more astonished, sighing: "It's really unimaginable, what kind of existence is this young man? Not only does he have such high attainments in carpentry, but he has also studied the way of business so thoroughly. A young man who is not yet twenty years old! I really can't wait to see him."

  "At first, I was like you too. When Mr. Yang found me, I also thought it was unbelievable. But the fact is the fact. I just came back from Xujiayang, guess what I saw? The wood cutting there uses machines, two people can cut a log as thick as a man's arm into any shape they want in half an hour!"

  "Not only that, but the cut wood is put on another machine, and in just a moment, it can be polished to a high gloss, much faster than a plane. Alas, I've lived for half my life, and this is really the first time I've seen such a wonderful thing."

  Xu Feng thought about it for a moment and realized that his experience was not even as much as an afternoon's worth, despite having spent many years studying the subject. He suddenly felt ashamed.

  Ma Teng was deeply moved by what he said, and he couldn't believe everything Xu Feng depicted. If it were true, that would be a historic leap for the woodworking industry!

  "In any case, you'll have the opportunity to see for yourself later. I guarantee that everything I've said is true. This Zhang Lei is really like a divine being descended from heaven, there's almost nothing he doesn't know. Join us, and I believe you don't want to continue living under the Su family's condescending gaze either?" Xu Feng said after describing the benefits of cooperation and Zhang Lei's strength, finally feeling that Ma Teng should be moved.

  Ma Teng was indeed moved, Zhang Lei had promised that this was a risk-free deal, who wouldn't be tempted? However, he still confirmed at the end: "This Zhang Lei has never been heard of before, a sudden emergence, can he be trusted?"

  "So, let's just say that Yang Yong, the boss of Songjiang Prefecture, doesn't need to be mentioned. All the matches in Songjiang Prefecture are sold by him, and these matches were provided by the famous merchant Bai Yang, also known as White Boss. And this White Boss's matches could only be produced with the help of Zhang Lei and his father. Going further back, he made matches for people to use when smoking, and tracing it back even more, his tobacco leaves were new things brought from overseas, said to have a strange fragrance. And these fragrant cigarettes were the first successful product he made." Xu Feng summarized all that Zhang Lei had done in over a year with one breath.

  Ma Teng was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but laugh, saying: "I didn't expect that in such a short period of time this young man would have accomplished so many things. Since that's the case, I can rest assured now. We've been cooperating for quite some time, I believe you won't cheat me, right?"

  Xu Feng heard the tone and knew he was on board, so he immediately took advantage of the situation and guaranteed: "Little Ma, you see what I'm saying? When have I ever cheated you? We business people only care about two words: integrity. If we don't even have this basic morality, who will trust us? Right? Today, I also brought the contract for you to take a look. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, let's discuss it thoroughly and work together to resist monopolies, which will benefit everyone."

  As he spoke, he took out a revised contract from his pocket. These were attached to the envelope by Zhang Lei, and he had copied several copies.

  He took the contract and read it carefully several times. When he saw that every store sign had to have "Zhangshi Business Association" at the bottom left corner, he couldn't help but frown. However, when he saw the explanation below, he felt relieved. Zhang Lei said this was to make Zhangshi Business Association deeply rooted in people's minds, identify with this brand, and thus speed up the recognition of goods in society. As a businessman, Ma Teng understood this point.

  When Ma Teng saw Zhang Lei's statement about equity participation and dividend distribution, he couldn't help but exclaim "good guts". In order to let the joiners have no worries, he withdrew from the dividend compensation plan, which moved most people.

  After carefully reading it three or four times, Ma Teng made sure he had thoroughly researched every word before closing the contract and saying: "Alright, I'll take a gamble on your integrity, Old Xu. I'm investing one thousand taels."

  Finally got the first ally, Xu Feng was overjoyed, although the process was a bit tough, but the result made him more confident.

  The two chatted for a while longer, and seeing that it was getting late, Xu Feng bid farewell to Ma Teng and hurried on to the next house.

  After several days of hard work, Xu Feng finally contacted five peers who were not too bad in scale and had been suppressed by the Su family for a long time. Together with his own six houses, they raised a total of 10,200 silver coins. After making all the arrangements, he personally rushed to Xujia Camp to inform Zhang Lei of this news.

  At the same time, it is unknown who informed on him, but Su Lun discovered Xu Feng's financing and was extremely angry.

  "What is this guy doing now? Is he not giving up yet? If he dares to oppose me, I will make him die a terrible death!" His face was ferocious, and the tea table was slammed with a loud bang.

  "Master, don't be alarmed. In my opinion, he's just making a last-ditch effort. Without the original materials, even if he has something better, what can he use to make it? And if the price is too high, will anyone still buy it?"

  "You don't know squat, I won't swallow this insult! Damn it, dare to oppose me? If I don't kill him, my name's not Su!" Su Lun yelled furiously.

  Chen Yufei shook her head silently, feeling that she had nothing more to say, and could only stand there quietly.

  After venting his temper for a while, Su Lun let out a long sigh and felt much better. Then he said, "Go and investigate clearly who is behind the scenes. Oh, pay special attention to that Zhang Lei."

  Chen Yufei couldn't wait to get away from here as soon as possible. After hearing Su Lun's words, he hastily responded with a "yes" and ran out like flying.

  As for Zhang Lei, after several days of hard investigation and mobilization, he found that the funds he could use had already exceeded 4,000 taels. Adding to this the money from selling fans, he barely made up 5,000 taels. This made him ecstatic, as it was an amount of money a common farmer couldn't earn in his lifetime, yet Zhang Lei achieved it within just one year.

  When he received the news of Xu Feng's arrival, he had just finished lunch and led Xu Feng into his study.

  "What's going on?" Zhang Lei asked straightforwardly. Apart from this matter, Xu Feng wouldn't have anything else to discuss with him.

  Xu Feng proudly took out all the contracts signed by everyone and said, "How's that? The efficiency is not bad, right?"

  Zhang Lei was also very surprised, he originally thought that these people could join would be giving face, and didn't think they could come up with much money, which is why he urgently called his own funds, but didn't expect these guys to be rich, and suddenly almost couldn't get 51% of the shares.

  "As I wrote above, my technology accounts for 25% of the shares, and then my funds account for 25% of the shares, totaling 50%. That is to say, the total amount of capital should be converted to 22,000. Then I also need to buy one percent of the shares from one of you, so as to form a leadership." Zhang Lei said.

  Xu Feng hastily expressed: "What is Mr. Zhang talking about? Can't I just take out 1% from my side? Don't mention the 400 taels of silver, that's too much nonsense."

  "How can that be good?" Zhang Lei pushed back, four hundred taels of silver may not be a lot, but in the future if it becomes big, this will be divided according to proportion, and the benefits will increase several times, tenfold or even more, Zhang Lei does not want this small problem to become a fuse within the group. "Let's do this, consider these four hundred taels of silver as my loan to you, I'll return it next month. Don't mention those words, even close brothers need to calculate accounts clearly."

  Since Zhang Lei had said so much, Xu Feng couldn't say anything else. He replied: "Okay, Mr. Zhang is indeed a man of principle, then it's as you wish."

  "It's not what I meant, when it comes to money matters, I've always been very careful. I hope that everyone can communicate without any obstacles. There's a saying that goes 'talking about money hurts relationships', and if things get to that point, they become very tricky. Alright, let's not discuss this issue anymore. Now everything is ready, all we need is the east wind." The funds are now in place, Zhang Lei is full of confidence.

  Xu Feng asked: "I wonder what this 'Dongfeng' refers to?"

  "Now that the funds are in place, we can calculate the shares according to each person's proportion and register them. Then, we'll have a shareholders' certificate. As I see it, now is the time for us to get together and discuss the establishment of our business association. And then, officially launch it. The longer this drags on, the harder it will be to keep it confidential. If that Su guy finds out, it'll be even more troublesome." Zhang Lei said. He was worried that if they couldn't finalize things quickly, there would be unnecessary complications.

  Xu Feng nodded in agreement with Zhang Lei's concerns, saying: "I think so too. Coincidentally, two days from now is a good day, May 1st. Why don't we schedule the meeting for that day? What do you think?"

  "That's great, then you go ahead and arrange it, there aren't many days left anyway. I still have a few things to take care of here, so let's just do it directly at your store later. No need to find another place." Zhang Lei said.