Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 850 - 472 Brewing a Catastrophe

Chapter 850: Chapter 472 Brewing a Catastrophe

Hearing Yan Fei make his decision so quickly, and it’s about selling beef and beef jerky, the neighboring boss was a bit surprised. However, it was only for a brief moment; what others do is none of his business. And with young people of Yan Fei’s age, those with experience know that this is the age when they don’t listen to advice. As an outsider, it naturally wouldn’t be appropriate for him to comment.

The staff member, though, was having some trouble, "This student, have you thought this through? If your family sent you, it’s better for you to discuss it with them. Transporting beef isn’t as convenient as other products, and it’s estimated that it’ll be difficult to secure orders at the trade fair. If you’re only bringing beef jerky, there’s no need for you to occupy a prime spot..."

The main issue was that there weren’t many prime spots left. The higher-ups had instructed to find a few more companies with bigger names and higher-grade products. The location of the mall wasn’t just close to Wan City, which is known for cattle breeding, but also not far from the neighboring province’s cattle breeding ground. Both places are at the same distance from the Provincial City and among the top five cattle breeds in the country. So, beef jerky really isn’t anything special or rare here.

As for beef, the staff member was also afraid that small local companies that come up would know nothing and end up turning their exhibition booth into a butcher’s stall, which would be quite the spectacle...

At an exhibition with a banner reading ’National Commodity Trading Fair’, having a beef stall among the first few prime locations amid a variety of high-end goods booths—just the thought of it gave the staff member the shivers!

If such a situation really happened, he felt he might as well consider finding a wet market early and renting a stall to sell meat...

Yan Fei didn’t understand the staff member’s difficulties at all as he persisted, "No trouble, I can make the decision by myself. Here is our company’s certificate; please register it."

The staff member’s face turned dark as he looked at the name on the business license Yan Fei had taken out, "Brother, won’t you reconsider this?"

The young fellow was also anxious. To tell the truth, an exhibition fee of eight hundred yuan wasn’t much, and anyone could afford it. Yet, usually, people would listen to advice, and those who came to register were mostly small businesses that were well aware of their own situation and felt somewhat embarrassed to be placed alongside those major companies.

Because the real big companies had already received their invitation letters, and some wouldn’t bother to come even if it was free. Considering it was the third year, and the previous two editions hadn’t shown significant results for big companies, some didn’t want to bother. But regardless of their attendance, organizers had to reserve good spots for them. The best locations wouldn’t be available for self-registered businesses like them; the best spots they could choose now were next to those large companies.

Moreover, once the trade fair started, these spots might still be subject to change. It’s possible that if a company in the front doesn’t show up, the spot reserved for it would need to be filled from those behind. Undoubtedly, under the public eye, spots would be adjusted in order. What if the beef stall ended up in the front?

After all this, he still disliked the company for lacking fame. Just from looking at the business license, one could tell this was a cattle breeding company registered in a county below Wan City, with the company’s address even located in a town.

Therefore, he even doubted the registered capital stated on it, feeling it must be inflated, considering that this kind of thing isn’t impossible to fake.

Regretfully, once Boss Yan Fei decided on something, he wouldn’t change his mind, "No need to consider further, just tell me if I can register or not. If I can’t, just let me know and I won’t sign up."

He was just trying it out, and this person was dilly-dallying, which was truly annoying.

"Sure, I’ll register you first." The young staff member had no choice. Regardless, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to turn someone away. If word got out that the trade fair wasn’t accepting company registrations, that would be even worse.

Having said this, he took out a layout plan, "This is the layout of the fairground, these squares represent booths, the ones without marks are available, you pick one! Just to clarify, this spot is temporary, and it might be adjusted if needed. But rest assured, the eight hundred yuan you paid won’t get you bumped to a six-hundred-yuan spot."

"Hmm, that’s fine. Anything else I should be aware of?" asked Yan Fei.

"Do you have any promotional materials? If you need to make a promotional banner, we can help with that. Just provide the material and we can create it." Since he let him register after all, he still had to tell him about the available services.

"Is there a charge for this?" Yan Fei glanced in the direction the staff member had pointed and saw a few sample banners. They were just flimsy banners that appeared to be of even lower quality than celebrity posters sold on the street for a dollar or two.

"Fifty for the small one, a hundred for the medium, and for the largest kind that can be placed on the ground, it’s two hundred yuan including the stand." He was very adept at this service, after all, it was likely the only money-making aspect of the entire trade fair, and even after explaining, he was worried Yan Fei would find it expensive, so he quickly added, "This includes the design fee, too."

"Then make it two hundred yuan," Yan Fei said decisively, immediately taking out another two hundred yuan.

The young staff member felt a bit embarrassed now, "Actually, a small one would suffice. You could stick it in front of your booth, and people coming by would still see it. The effect would be the same and you’d save some money."

"What’s the point of talking so much to a meat seller? If he’s willing to spend the money, just take it and get on with it, I’m waiting to sign up too!" Before Yan Fei could respond, the impatient boss at the side could no longer wait.

The staff member always felt that Yan Fei’s company was too small, and even a single extra penny spent was wasted, so he kindly offered a suggestion. He didn’t expect that by taking up time, he would upset the waiting boss.

Yan Fei glanced back at the boss but ignored him, passing over the two hundred yuan, "Hurry up and process it. Don’t delay, I have to bring the materials tomorrow, is that okay? With this small amount of money, even if there’s a loss, I won’t blame you."

The young man smiled apologetically at the old boss, "Just a moment, let me write him a receipt."

"Go ahead, hurry up! I came before they did!" The old boss complained, noticing the map the young man had just taken out for Yan Fei to choose the booth location. "Hand me that map, I want to pick a spot. Show me which of the most expensive spots are still available..."

"Sure, sure!" The young man was actually quite pleased inside. He had been discussing with this boss for a good part of the day, and the boss hadn’t decided whether or not to attend. Now, he suddenly booked an 800-tael spot. "These are the ones still blank; no one has taken them. You can choose any of them."

After showing the old boss the available spots, he brought out the receipt again and explained while writing, "This is just a temporary receipt. You keep it for now. After the fair is over, we’ll issue the official invoices. At that time, you’ll also need this receipt to attend the fair, and then you can exchange it for an invoice..."

"What’s the deal with these front positions?" the boss next to him asked, holding the map.

The young man quickly stood up, looked at it, and apologized, "I’m sorry, those spots are reserved for the big enterprises we invited. They weren’t supposed to be printed. It was a staff error when printing the map."

The boss was somewhat dissatisfied, "So there’s no choice left with these remaining spots?"

It really was his bad luck, just as he finished speaking, a woman who came over with a map said to the busy young man, "Xiao Li, how many spots did you book here? Let’s check and see how many are left, so we don’t duplicate them later."

As she spoke, she glanced at the map the boss was holding and quickly marked it, then marked her own map as well. "How come you booked spots and didn’t report it? Luckily, there’s no duplication this time, but remember to come and mark it promptly next time you book a spot to avoid any mistakes."

Xiao Li immediately changed his attitude toward the woman, who was a fellow staff member, and said with a cheeky grin, "That’s because I have Sister Hua here to help! Thanks, Sister Hua. I’ve been too busy to do it myself, sorry for the trouble."

The woman he called Sister Hua was actually an older lady and beamed with joy at his flattery, "You kid, always so sweet. Alright, carry on with your work! Make sure to report to me when you book any more spots!"

As the lady left gracefully, the old boss’s expression darkened further—the two spots Sister Hua had just marked were also 800-tael spots.

There were already so few spots left, and now two fewer. Now only two spots remained.

It made sense, really. Tomorrow was the last day for registration. Those who wanted to register had done so long ago. The last ones surely wouldn’t get good spots.

"Fine, I’ll take this spot. Mark it for me quickly, at least it’s farther from the meat sellers." The old boss knew in his heart that it was his own fault for registering late. Nobody else to blame but himself for not choosing earlier!

But Yan Fei didn’t like hearing that and gave him another look without saying a word.

Xiao Li, on the other hand, was very good-natured. He smiled apologetically at Yan Fei and then looked up and called out to someone not too far away, "Sister Hua, spot number 14 has been booked."

Spot number 14? That’s probably why this spot was left over. Many businesspeople are superstitious and seek good omens. Although spot number 4 isn’t very lucky, it’s at least near the front with a better position. But spot number 14 is one of the worst among the better spots— who would want to choose a spot with bad connotations and not a great location...

"Serves him right!" Miss Xu Xiaoyan murmured softly from Yan Fei’s side.

Truly serves him right. The guy was just stirring up trouble for nothing. When it was time to register, he loitered; after others had registered, he complained about the wait. Yan Fei might put up with his mention of meat sellers, but the young lady couldn’t help but grumble.

However, she just muttered under her breath without trying to provoke anything, making sure the man didn’t hear her.

Yan Fei turned his head to gently squeeze the girl’s hand, and then turned again to give her a smile, making her giggle. They were indeed a couple, their silent understanding of each other expressed in their gestures alone, eliciting an envious feeling in others.

Already extremely dissatisfied and feeling that everything was going wrong that day, the old boss was hesitating about whether to ask Xiao Li to swap for the spot he had previously scorned, the one closer to the ’meat sellers.’ As soon as he turned and saw the couple being so affectionate, especially their smiles—it probably seemed to him as if they were laughing at him—he muttered in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Nianggepugai..."

He was indeed a boss, knowledgeable, having been to the south and knowing a few phrases of the local dialect.

But what he didn’t realize was that this particular dialect was also used in Hong Kong. And the ’meat seller’ he was referring to was someone who sold beef there. Although he hadn’t spent much time in the south, he had, after all, been to Hong Kong...