E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 123: The 123rd Episode: Skill is Needed to Chase Final Payments

Chapter 123: The 123rd Episode: Skill is Needed to Chase Final Payments

Before Da Boyi could reach Zhou Xueyin, she proactively made a call, "Big Wave E, what’s the situation on your end? Can we do it the way we talked about?"

"Yinyin, listen to me calmly, if you think the conditions are too harsh, you can disagree. Don’t worry about me; I’ll think of other ways..." Da Boyi didn’t directly answer her question.

"Your company isn’t making you come up with this 1 million RMB within a month, are they?" Zhou Xueyin asked randomly.

"No, no, even if they are ruthless, they wouldn’t be that extreme. They want 1.8 million RMB, principal and interest, back before the Spring Festival..." Da Boyi said without much confidence.

"As long as it’s not one month, that’s good. From now until February’s Chinese New Year, there’s still time; we just need to work hard!" Zhou Xueyin said confidently.

That said, making another 500,000 RMB in just three short months might not be so easy.

"The company I used to work for, as soon as they heard I was in trouble, they ran faster than rabbits, not one willing to help..." Da Boyi said weakly, "You’re the best, willing to help me."

"Let me tell you some good news. On the afternoon of the day I rescued you, the company received an advertisement payment of 500,000 RMB, so that means that in three months, we only need to make another 500,000 RMB to settle the debt!" Zhou Xueyin gave Da Boyi a dose of encouragement.

"Awesome, Yinyin! How are you so awesome! How about this, let me handle the chasing of the final payments, alright? I’m best at this!" Da Boyi volunteered to help Zhou Xueyin.

"Great! Chasing final payments is really a headache for us; why don’t you come over and train Jixiang on how to do it?" Zhou Xueyin was indeed eager to have someone teach them for free how to chase outstanding payments.

Invited again to 51buy, Da Boyi explained to everyone how to relentlessly chase the final payments.

"Generally speaking, companies that delay the payment of final amounts fall into several categories1: they have money but just don’t want to pay. 2, they have difficulty in cash flow, but it’s not that they can’t pay. 3, no cash flow, if they pay, they won’t have anything left to eat. 4, close to bankruptcy..."

Da Boyi took a sip of water, "Generally, the first two are easier to collect from, you just need to treat them to a meal, get the boss happy, and when they’re happy, they hand over the money. You might not like to hear this, but if a girl goes out for a meal, it’s even easier to get the money back..."

"Cough, cough..." Zhou Xueyin coughed, although it was a rough way to put it, the logic was solid; in this society, there’s hardly any money that a pretty girl can’t get back...

"The third type is more difficult. I once dealt with a company with cash flow problems; I had to stake out at a place for a long time to help them get their payments back, and in the end, it was a lot of effort for little reward; I didn’t get much commission..." Da Boyi explained with a look of disgust.

"Forget about the fourth type; just let them offset the debt with assets, they’re close to bankruptcy, what else can you say? Giving them more money is like a ’meat bun beating a dog’, it’s all in vain. Remember not to be soft-hearted and believe in any promises of a turnaround with just a bit more money!" Da Boyi emphasized, "Oh right, you guys are just chasing debt, not getting involved in investment issues..."

"So for the fourth type, besides offsetting the debt with assets, there’s no other way? What if they don’t have any assets left?" Li Jinna asked curiously.

"Then just consider it pro bono work... At least you guys got some deposits and payments; it’s many times better than investment companies like us!" Da Boyi declared with a curled lip, clearly, he’d encountered more than one company close to bankruptcy.

"Got it, did everyone understand? Before we leave work this afternoon, I’ll list the companies we need to chase down for final payments, and you’ll divide it amongst yourselves," Zhou Xueyin said, glancing at Wang Anqi, "Taotie, have you figured out how much we can recover in final payments this time?"

"It’s not that much, about 300,000 RMB, none of them are big orders. Those companies with good credit and reputation have already paid up voluntarily; they didn’t even need to be chased..." Wang Anqi flipped through the ledger.

"Alright, I get it... Then I’ll go ahead and try contacting those cosmetics manufacturers..." Zhou Xueyin sighed.

Big cosmetics brands didn’t fancy their platform, small brands couldn’t afford to advertise, and mid-tier brands spent most of their advertising budget on beauty magazines. The rest went to major website ads; as a mid-level vertical media, they hardly got any piece of the advertising pie.

At the moment, the only ads they might be able to expand into were beauty products and men’s brands...

Half an hour later, Wang Anqi sent the organized list of companies to the group chat, also noting which companies would be easier to recover final payments from.

"Are those companies marked for debt offsetting already confirmed as unable to return the final payments?" Zhou Xueyin asked, looking at the notes, frowning.

"Almost, I see that aside from ads with us, they’ve got rid of their advertisements elsewhere. A lot of counters have also been removed... " Wang Anqi said with regret.

"Alright, for the remaining 15 companies, how about you three divide them up? Five each?" Zhou Xueyin sought everyone’s opinion.

"I’ll take these seven; I was following up with them before..." Li Jinna circled some on the paper; some seemed easier to chase for final payments, but others might be more challenging.

"Then Xiaoyun and I will try the remaining eight, alright..." Zhang Jingwan and Zhao Caiyun claimed the eight companies. Actually, these eight were specifically left for them by Li Jinna, as they were easier to negotiate with.

"Hello, I’m from 51buy..."

"No thank you!"

Li Jinna hadn’t finished speaking when the other party hung up the phone, "Hey, at least listen to a person introducing themselves... That’s really strange."

"Hello? Good morning, I am..."

"Beep Beep Beep..."

This time, Li Jinna hadn’t finished speaking, and the other party hung up again.

"Strange, I didn’t dial the wrong number..." Li Jinna confirmed the number repeatedly, sure it was correct, and dialed again.

But this time, the other party didn’t even pick up, just hung up directly, not giving Li Jinna a chance to speak.

"Yinyin, did this manufacturer change their phone number?" Li Jinna called Zhou Xueyin over.

"Not that I know of. If those in sales change their numbers, they usually give a heads-up," Zhou Xueyin was also puzzled.

She took the phone and dialed: "What’s wrong with you? Stop calling me non-stop!"

Before Zhou Xueyin could speak, the other party started to berate her.

"Don’t hang up yet! Are you Cui Xinwen?" Zhou Xueyin seized the opportunity to ask urgently.

"Yes, me..." the other party responded irritably.

"I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, I’m Zhou Xueyin, general manager of 51buy... Do you happen to remember me?" Zhou Xueyin’s memory of Cui Xinwen was not of this attitude; how had her tone changed so radically after not being in contact for more than half a year?

"Hmm..." the other party pondered for a moment, "I’ve resigned, you can call this number..."