Chapter 59: Partnership (Part 2)
"Xiaofan, after hearing you explain it like that, opening a shop really would make things much more convenient."
Zheng Dagang scratched his head while talking to Su Xiaofan over video.
"But brother, where are we going to find that many antiques? If we really have to go out and buy them, we'll need quite a lot of capital."
"Brother Gang, don't worry about the antique supply. I'll figure that part out. You mainly need to be responsible for selling them."
Su Xiaofan had already thought everything through, so he immediately explained:
"People who are genuinely in the antique business don't rely on customers coming to their shops to buy things. Almost all of them have their own sales channels. Brother Gang, you only need to worry about that side of things. And you don't even have to sit in the shop..."
According to Su Xiaofan's plan, the antique shop he opened would essentially be a place where he could turn the antiques he found through bargain hunting or restored through the system into cash.
Relying solely on the kind of antique shop that might go three years without making a sale but then make enough in one transaction to survive for another three years didn't fit Su Xiaofan's interests.
His plan was to sell some of the antiques at relatively reasonable prices to collectors within the antique circle.
The more valuable pieces, meanwhile, would be sent to auction houses.
Therefore, whether they rented an actual storefront in the antique market wasn't particularly important.
Su Xiaofan only needed a registered address to obtain a business license for an antique shop. The antiques they acquired could be kept at home, which would actually be safer.
"Xiaofan, antiques aren't that easy to acquire these days. If we buy something at too high a price, we might end up losing money."
Zheng Dagang was still somewhat worried.
Look at all those antique shops in the market. Which one hadn't been operating for ten or twenty years? They all had their own stable acquisition channels.
Su Xiaofan was still young. Zheng Dagang was afraid that someone might take advantage of him.
"Brother Gang, you really don't need to worry about where the antiques come from."
Su Xiaofan thought for a moment.
He knew that unless he put Zheng Dagang's mind at ease, his brother would continue worrying.
"My dad has been overseas for years, remember? When he came back last time, he told me that there are often auctions overseas where you can acquire quite a few cultural relics from our country."
Su Xiaofan took what he had heard that day and simply attributed it to his father.
"Besides, I have another channel. I can guarantee that the items aren't stolen and didn't come from tombs, so they'll be safe to sell."
Seeing that Zheng Dagang was about to say something, Su Xiaofan waved his hand.
"Brother Gang, don't ask about this channel. I can't tell you either. If you trust me, then the two of us can go into business together. If you don't, just pretend I never mentioned it."
Su Xiaofan knew that if he worked alone, it would be difficult for him to quickly turn the antiques he found into cash.
He needed someone to partner with him.
That was also why he was trying so hard to persuade Zheng Dagang.
After spending several years in the antique market, Su Xiaofan had also made friends with several stall owners with whom he had good relationships.
There were even several antique-shop owners who were quite close to him. From time to time, they would get together for barbecue and beer.
But when it came down to it, Su Xiaofan only truly trusted Zheng Dagang.
From the very beginning, when Su Xiaofan entered the antique market and started setting up his stall, he had known Zheng Dagang.
It wasn't that Zheng Dagang had sheltered him from every difficulty, but with Zheng Dagang's reputation behind him, not a single person in the entire antique market dared bully Su Xiaofan.
Moreover, Zheng Dagang valued relationships very highly and didn't care much about money.
Take the incident when Su Xiaofan was electrocuted, for example.
After Su Xiaofan was hospitalized, Zheng Dagang had taken people to the relevant government departments. He blocked their doors, caused a scene, and did everything he could to demand justice.
All the money he spent came out of his own pocket.
Later, Su Xiaofan heard one of the stall owners he knew mention that Zheng Dagang alone had spent more than ten thousand yuan treating the people who had helped him to meals.
As for how much he had spent on other favors, Su Xiaofan didn't know.
Yet Zheng Dagang had never mentioned any of these expenses to Su Xiaofan.
Later, when the compensation money was paid, Su Xiaofan had originally planned to give Zheng Dagang 100,000 yuan.
But Zheng Dagang hadn't even waited for him to finish speaking before slamming the door and leaving.
The matter eventually went no further.
So when it came to character, Su Xiaofan completely trusted Zheng Dagang.
And now that he possessed this ability, Su Xiaofan also wanted to bring his older brother along so they could make money and become wealthy together.
"Why would I not trust you as a partner?"
After hearing Su Xiaofan speak so openly, Zheng Dagang knew that his brother was determined to open the shop.
"Xiaofan, then how are we going to divide the shares?"
Zheng Dagang said,
"Even brothers have to keep clear accounts. Since the two of us are going into business together, let's make everything clear from the beginning. That way, we won't have conflicts later. We shouldn't let a business deal destroy our brotherhood..."
Zheng Dagang was a little older and had experienced more things. He knew that partnerships were difficult to manage.
Once money and financial interests became involved, it wasn't just friends who could turn against each other. Even biological brothers often ended up fighting over money.
Zheng Dagang and Su Xiaofan got along extremely well.
Although Zheng Dagang was considerably older than Su Xiaofan, when it came to handling matters, Su Xiaofan was actually more mature.
When the two of them first started setting up stalls together, Zheng Dagang had helped Su Xiaofan for a while because Su Xiaofan was unfamiliar with the market.
But during the following years, it was actually Su Xiaofan who helped Zheng Dagang more.
Therefore, Zheng Dagang didn't want their business partnership to destroy their brotherly relationship.
"Brother Gang, how about this?"
Su Xiaofan thought for a moment.
"Let's first divide up our responsibilities after opening the shop.
"During the early stages, you'll handle things like applying for the business license. Whether we need an actual storefront will also be up to you to decide. You'll cover those expenses.
"Later, you'll also be responsible for selling the antiques. I'll give you a minimum price. As long as you don't sell below that price, you can decide how to sell them.
"I'll be responsible for the antique supply. The purchasing costs will also be entirely covered by me.
"After the antiques are turned into cash, we'll deduct the daily operating expenses. You take thirty percent, and I take seventy percent. We'll settle the accounts once a month.
"What do you think, Brother Gang?"
"Xiaofan, this... this doesn't seem right."
Although Zheng Dagang didn't particularly like studying, he had a pretty good head for numbers.
The moment Su Xiaofan finished speaking, Zheng Dagang understood.
Su Xiaofan's proposal gave him an enormous advantage.
After all, if they didn't rent an actual storefront, operating the antique shop would basically require very little expense.
As for registering the antique shop, that wouldn't cost much either. If you knew the right people, a few hundred yuan would be enough to get it done.
The biggest expense for an antique shop was the money needed to purchase antiques.
In today's antique market, finding genuine bargains was almost impossible.
When antique shops purchased inventory, they needed to pay real money, and the prices weren't cheap either.
According to Zheng Dagang's understanding, when antique shops bought antiques from collectors and then resold them, their profit margin was usually only around forty to fifty percent.
Some were even lower, at only twenty or thirty percent.
If Zheng Dagang received thirty percent of the profits, that meant the antiques Su Xiaofan had spent his own money purchasing would ultimately generate profits that were heavily favoring Zheng Dagang.
Wouldn't that mean Su Xiaofan was basically working for nothing?
What Zheng Dagang would never have imagined was that, in the future, the antiques Su Xiaofan brought out would have acquisition costs of perhaps one percent of their selling price at most.
They would basically be the equivalent of picking them up for free.
Of course, if Restoration Points were used, that would be a different matter.
After all, according to Su Xiaofan's method of converting the value of Yin Stones into Restoration Points, even a single Restoration Point was extremely valuable.
"Xiaofan, if you're providing all the money to purchase the antiques, then I'll only take ten percent."
Zheng Dagang shook his head.
"Brother Gang, there are still opportunities to find bargains overseas. Thirty percent isn't too much for you."
Su Xiaofan insisted on his opinion.
"How about this, Xiaofan? I'll take twenty percent. On top of that, all the expenses of the antique shop will have to come out of my twenty percent. How does that sound?"
Zheng Dagang spoke very seriously.
"If you think that's acceptable, then the two of us will work together. If not, forget it. Your brother can't take too much advantage of you."
"Brother Gang, you really trust me that much to find antiques?"
Seeing how serious Zheng Dagang looked, Su Xiaofan couldn't help laughing.
The two brothers hadn't even seen a single antique yet, and they were already seriously discussing how they would divide the profits.
"I know you, kid. You wouldn't say something without being sure about it. Since you say you have a channel, then you must have a way to make it work."
Zheng Dagang trusted Su Xiaofan more than most people.
After spending several years together, he had never seen Su Xiaofan do anything unreliable.
When Su Xiaofan had first arrived at the antique market, Zheng Dagang hadn't thought highly of this innocent-looking kid at all.
It was only because Zheng Dagang felt sorry for him—and because Zheng Dagang himself was warmhearted and loyal—that he had helped Su Xiaofan.
But what Zheng Dagang hadn't expected was that this young man, who was only seventeen or eighteen and still had an unmistakably youthful look about him, would manage to establish himself in a place as complicated as the antique market in only two or three months.
Although Zheng Dagang had helped him during that process, Su Xiaofan's ability was beyond question.
Zheng Dagang also knew that Su Xiaofan had originally been capable of getting into Yanjing University.
His intelligence naturally went without saying.
And when it came to emotional intelligence, Su Xiaofan was also exceptionally capable.
Someone with such high intelligence and emotional intelligence was instead setting up a stall in the antique market.
Sometimes, Zheng Dagang couldn't help feeling that it was a shame.
"All right, then. We'll do it your way, Brother Gang. You'll take twenty percent."
"But in the early stages, there's no need for us to rent a shop. We just need to find a registered business address."
Su Xiaofan trusted Zheng Dagang's character.
Since the business hadn't even started yet, there was little point in arguing over the division of profits.
At worst, once they started making money in the future, he could simply give Brother Gang a little more.
"Those things are easy. We know people at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. We can get the business license done in five days at most."
These matters were Zheng Dagang's specialty.
As someone who had lived in the antique market for years, he had connections in all sorts of places.
"A registered address is easy too. I can just use the address of one of the shops."
As for the registration itself, it was even less of a problem for Zheng Dagang.
When his family had been relocated due to redevelopment years ago, they had received not only commercial housing and compensation money but also several street-front shops.
All of them met the requirements for registering a company.
"Brother Gang, I knew none of this would be difficult for you."
Su Xiaofan chuckled.
One of the reasons he had chosen to partner with Zheng Dagang was precisely because of these connections.
If Su Xiaofan had to handle all the procedures himself, it might take one or two months and still not get done.
For Zheng Dagang, however, it was nothing more than treating the right people to a meal. He could have everything settled within three to five days.
"By the way, Xiaofan, we also have to continue the magical-artifact business."
Zheng Dagang suddenly remembered this.
He hadn't been idle during this period.
He had already listed all the large and small temples and Taoist temples in Luochuan in the notes app on his phone.
"Of course! We absolutely have to do it!"
Su Xiaofan happily agreed.
With the Nurturing Pool inside the Restoration System, occasionally producing a few magical artifacts wasn't difficult for Su Xiaofan.
As long as customers needed them and were willing to offer a price that satisfied Su Xiaofan, he wouldn't mind spending some Restoration Points to nurture a few magical artifacts.
"Brother Gang, there's something about the future supply channel for our antique shop that nobody can know."
Su Xiaofan suddenly thought of something and hurriedly added,
"That includes Uncle Jing. You can't tell him either.
"Just say that you bought them from collectors. Whether other people believe you or not is their problem."
"Don't worry. I understand. Are we really going to let someone steal our supply channel?"
"Even Uncle Jing—I won't tell him."
Zheng Dagang nodded firmly.
This allowed Su Xiaofan to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He knew that Brother Gang was very good at keeping secrets.
(End of Chapter)
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