116: Chapter 116 Drive the price down, drive it down, drive it all the way down!

"It's this delicious even when it's not up to standard. If it were up to standard, wouldn't it be even better?"

An Ke's eyes lit up, her voice filled with surprise.

Qin Xun simply shook his head.

"No, I want to find cheaper alternatives for these raw materials—materials with even lower, lower, and even lower prices."

"That includes the pearls, lemons, and even the straws and milk tea cups. We're going to use cheaper ones for everything."

"I said it before: if we want to drive down the prices, we have to start by driving down the costs!"

"All the way to the bottom!"

An Ke knew a thing or two about milk tea. Hearing Qin Xun's words, she couldn't help but start worrying again, and asked:

"Mr. Qin, if we switch to cheaper materials, people with sensitive palates…"

"...might be able to taste the artificial flavoring in some of the milk teas."

Qin Xun pointed at the milk tea displayed on the counter.

"The ice cream cone, I only sell it for 2 yuan."

"A cup of lemon tea only sells for 4 yuan."

"This large cup of pearl milk tea, I only sell it for 9 yuan."

He raised his voice and said with a smile:

"Friend, it's only a few yuan."

"If you don't taste artificial flavoring, what do you expect to taste? A whole cow?"

An Ke: "..."

Qin Xun made so much sense that she was rendered speechless.

...

Qin Xun said goodbye to the milk tea shop assistant and walked out with Xia Ning and An Ke.

"Let's go. We're going to the wholesale market for raw materials to pick out some cheap and effective supplies."

Xia Ning remained expressionless; she was already used to this.

An Ke felt extremely distressed inside.

Could it be that Qian Yunfa made me the supervisor of this subsidiary on purpose, just to embarrass me?

To keep me in check?

*Sigh*… being a little spy isn't easy!

Being a spy in plain sight is even harder!

...

Five minutes after Qin Xun and his group left.

More than a dozen executives from the Dudu Tea Lingnan subsidiary arrived at the Swan store, sweating profusely.

They saw only one milk tea shop assistant inside, who was cleaning up seven or eight cups of milk tea on the counter.

There was no sign of An Ke or Qin Xun anywhere.

A middle-aged woman hurried inside and asked:

"Young lady, isn't the newly appointed Ms. An at your store?"

"And Mr. Qin, Mr. Qin Xun."

Seeing the people at the door wearing shirts, dress pants, and company ID badges, the milk tea shop assistant was so scared that she found it difficult to speak.

"Uh… Ms. An and Mr. Qin went to buy… went to buy cheap stuff!"

The woman didn't understand.

"What did you say?"

The milk tea shop assistant explained:

"Mr. Qin used our old raw material powder to develop a few products himself, but then he felt the cost was too high, so he went to the raw materials market to buy cheaper substitutes."

The middle-aged woman keenly caught the key point and asked:

"He used the old powder to mix them?"

The milk tea shop assistant realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly covered her mouth. Seeing the woman's cold expression, she said with some difficulty:

"Yes, he used the leftover powder from before the product upgrade."

The woman was somewhat skeptical.

"It's mixed from powder, and he still thinks it's too expensive?"

The milk tea shop assistant nodded.

Seeing this.

The people outside shook their heads one after another.

*Sigh*...

We shouldn't hire such stupid shop assistants in the future!

She talks nonsense, it's impossible to understand her.

It hasn't even been an hour, and a layman claims to have developed products?

And he thinks the powder-mixed stuff isn't cheap enough?

How is that not cheap enough?!

And she said An Ke and Qin Xun went to the raw materials market to find raw materials?

That's just ridiculous!

...

One of the accompanying vice presidents picked up his phone and called An Ke.

"Hello! Ms. An, where are you right now?"

Before An Ke could speak.

In the noisy background on the other end of the phone, a young man was arguing with someone, hoarse from shouting.

"Old man!"

"Do you see how big my fist is?"

"You dare to charge me 15 a jin for ice cream powder of this quality?"

"10 yuan a jin, that's the price!"

"I want to buy 5,000 jin! And maybe even more in the future!"

Immediately after, the voice of the old man… the old guy sounded.

"Sell! Sell! Sell!"

"Large quantities get better prices, of course!"

"You should have said so earlier! Forget about 10 yuan—I'll sell it to you for 9 yuan a jin!"

The vice president was stunned, his phone almost slipping from his hand.

Uh...

They really were buying raw materials.

Only 9 yuan a jin?

This… this…

Nowadays, what decent brand of milk tea shop would use such cheap ice cream powder?

The vice president's mind went blank; he didn't even know what he had said to An Ke.

After hanging up the phone, he saw everyone looking at him.

He gave a bitter smile.

"Let's hurry up and find another job!"

"Dudu Tea is finished!"

...

Qin Xun was picking and choosing in a huge wholesale market, haggling with various old men, old women, and uncles, arguing until his face was red, sometimes even on the verge of a physical altercation.

In the end, he settled on all the raw materials he needed.

Qin Xun wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Flower City is really hot!"

Suddenly.

He noticed that Xia Ning and An Ke's faces were also a bit flushed.

"You must be overheated too, right?"

An Ke smiled without saying anything.

Xia Ning let out a cold snort.

They weren't overheated; rather, being by Qin Xun's side and watching his intensity while haggling with people made them feel a bit embarrassed.

Walking out of the wholesale market.

Qin Xun instructed An Ke.

"I've already negotiated the prices for the goods. Send the Dudu Tea company's procurement department to push the prices down even further from what I've already negotiated."

"They definitely didn't give me the lowest price."

An Ke nodded.

When the company makes the purchase, the sellers will treat it as a major account. Wanting to secure steady, long-term business, they might even take the initiative to lower the prices further.

Xia Ning was so hot that her shirt was sticking to her skin. She had never endured this kind of exhaustion before and felt a bit irritable.

"Since the company has to handle the procurement in the end anyway, what was the point of you coming here this afternoon?"

Qin Xun turned his head to look at Xia Ning and smiled.

"I was afraid that if I just went and lay down in the hotel's air-conditioned room, you would think I wasn't taking my work seriously."

Xia Ning: "..."

Before she could say anything to jab at Qin Xun.

Qin Xun turned his head and looked at An Ke.

"You must insist that the company handles the procurement. They are only allowed to negotiate the price; they are absolutely not allowed to change the products I've already selected without authorization."

"These items aren't expensive, but the quality isn't bad."

An Ke nodded.

"Understood!"

Qin Xun smiled.

"Ms. An, you're the boss now, not my assistant. You need to carry yourself with a bit more authority."

An Ke said with a smile:

"Understood!"

...

At dusk.

The dozen or so people from Dudu Tea finally caught up with Qin Xun's group.

Following the rules of the business world, they were dragged to a hotel, where there was another round of drinking and toasting, with all sorts of flattery flying around.

"Ms. An, you are young and promising."

"Mr. Qin, you are young and promising."

"This upgrade and transformation of the Lingnan region relies on the two of you!"

"A single spark can start a prairie fire!"

"You two are truly a perfect match, a dynamic duo of terror!"

...

Xia Ning didn't speak throughout the whole thing, sitting quietly beside Qin Xun, head down, drinking a bowl of soup.

Just like an outsider.

It wasn't until she heard "dynamic duo of terror" that she looked up at that sycophant, letting out a cold snort in her heart.

Some people in the Dudu Tea team really need to improve their cultural literacy.

They don't even know how to use idioms correctly!

...

After the drinking session broke up, it was already dark.

Qin Xun only felt himself being supported by two women, one on his left and one on his right, as he walked into a room.

Dazed, he leaned back on the sofa and fell asleep.

Standing in the room, Xia Ning realized it was a suite.

A suite with a bedroom and a living room.

She looked at An Ke with a cold face.

"What do you mean by booking this kind of room for us?"

An Ke just smiled lightly, pointed at her and Qin Xun, and then pointed at herself.

"It's not for you two, it's for the three of us!"