Chapter 350 — Cooperation Talks

Soon the food and wine arrived. Xu Yan did not bring up the specifics of cooperation, and neither Bao Lin nor Jing Yu asked. When Chinese do business, they are not so direct as foreigners, who lay everything on the table from the start—cooperate or not is a single sentence, and once it is settled, everyone goes off to a celebration banquet.

Chinese business is different: first everyone eats and drinks together, builds rapport, grows familiar, sees eye to eye—and only then brings out the contract to talk business. Of course, one cannot say which way is better or worse; it is merely a matter of differing local custom.

Though the three did not discuss the cooperation, they covered a great deal of talk on every subject under heaven, and Xu Yan also introduced Bao Lin to the scope of the Jiangyan Group's businesses. In truth, Bao Lin had already roughly understood the direction the man wished to cooperate in without his saying so.

Bao Lin drank wine with Xu Yan; Jing Yu drank juice. Her capacity for liquor was considerable, but these days she touched almost no alcohol at all. She felt certain that Yang Puqi would not like a girl who drank to excess, and so a girl had best be more refined.

After three rounds of drinks, Xu Yan finally began to reveal his purpose in seeking out Bao Lin: "President Bao's security services company is truly the first of its kind in Songjiang!"

"The first—I wouldn't dare claim that. There are still some smaller security companies about," Bao Lin said with a smile. Indeed, apart from the Mingyang Security Company, Songjiang had a number of small private security firms; but since they targeted different clients, there was no conflict. These small companies merely provided private bodyguards for the sons of wealthy families—a business Bao Lin had never taken up.

Everyone knew those young masters and misses were no easy masters to serve—how easy was their money to earn? Bao Lin had no desire for such money. But the small security companies lacked the capacity to take on hotel or residential compound contracts; they could only handle these small-scale personal assignments. "In terms of scale, you can be called the first!" Xu Yan said with a smile.

That much was true, and Bao Lin did not deny it—to deny it would not be modesty but shameless lying through one's teeth: "In terms of scale, it's passable enough. After all, we work in cooperation with the municipal bureau, with official guidance and supervision, so things go more smoothly than for those small companies."

With this, Bao Lin also pointed out his own backing—that his was a company affiliated with officialdom, not some little civilian firm—letting the other man know his weight.

But all this Xu Yan had already investigated clearly beforehand. "By the way, the bank money transport business here in Songjiang—is it handled by a transport company affiliated with the postal system from out of town?" "That should be the case," said Bao Lin, thinking to himself, So now we come to the real business—much as I expected. The man wants to enter Songjiang's bank transport market.

That market, however, was one Bao Lin had never entered, so there was no conflict with his own business; if the other side was truly interested in cooperation, it was not something he could not consider. "President Bao, as Songjiang's largest security services company, has Mingyang Security never thought of taking this market?" Xu Yan took a sip of tea and asked with a smile.

"Our company has been established less than a year, and we have never engaged in a similar line of work, so for the time being we have no such plans." Bao Lin spoke the truth—his company had been founded only recently; how could he possibly have considered such a thing? Bao Lin hid nothing and spoke honestly; even if he claimed to have considered entering the market, the other man would not believe it.

Bank money transport is vastly different from ordinary security work. First, in the training of personnel, he had no experience whatsoever; second, in deployment, equipment, and emergency handling, a newly established security company was simply not up to the task.

So Bao Lin was all the less likely to fantastically plunge into that industry—do it well and you swim against the current; do it badly and you smash your own signboard.

"Our Jiangyan Group has some intention of entering the Songjiang market. What does President Bao think?" Xu Yan finally stated his intent. Since Bao Lin had no interest in entering the market, it was easier for him to broach the subject.

"Oh? As far as I know, the Jiangyan Group has long been in the bank transport business—not only within the province, but in cities outside it as well, you have established dedicated transport companies," Bao Lin said. "What, you have an interest in the Songjiang market?"

"An interest, certainly." Xu Yan did not deny it, nodding. "But this market is already worked by another company, and it would not be proper for us to cut in. After all, our Jiangyan Group is an outsider here, and it would not do to snatch the market from their hands." At these words, Bao Lin basically understood why the Jiangyan Group had come to him to discuss cooperation.

As Xu Yan said, Songjiang's transport business was already handled by another company from within the province, and that company had official backing, being affiliated under the postal system. So no matter how capable the Jiangyan Group might be, it could not simply snatch the market from under their noses.

But Baolin was different! Sanli's company was a local Songjiang firm, properly established and operating under official guidance and oversight. If Mingyang Security Company were to take over this market, no one could raise a word of objection.

Call it local protectionism, call it support for local enterprises—either way, it was only human nature, and there was simply no fault to be found in it! This was precisely the real reason Xu Yan had sought out Baolin.

"Heh heh. So what President Xu means is that you want to pull me in, so that together we can take this market?" Baolin was, of course, somewhat tempted by Xu Yan's proposal! Mingyang Security Company had grown to its present scale and had essentially exhausted its room for further expansion; if it wanted to grow, it would have to reach into other industries.

This bank money-transport business happened to be an excellent industry project. Of course, Baolin was not so naive as to think that his own company's strength alone would be enough to do this market well! Winning the market would not be difficult, but the crux of the matter was whether they could make a success of it! If he ruined his own brand, he would have been better off never entering the industry at all.

So if the Jiangyan Group—a company with abundant experience in the bank money-transport market—cooperated with him to launch this business, that would pose no problem at all.

"President Bao is sharp! That is indeed our thinking. May I ask what President Bao's intentions are?" Xu Yan nodded. "Of course, there's no need to decide right now. After all, today we've only just met to make each other's acquaintance and build a little goodwill. As for the specifics of cooperation, there will be plenty of time to discuss them once things are settled." "Naturally, this proposal of yours interests me a great deal," Baolin said. "But whether we involve ourselves in this will require careful assessment once I return."

"That goes without saying." Xu Yan said this without the slightest concern. "I'm only a manager of a branch office down below; the specifics of any cooperative intent must be decided by the head office. Ah, not like President Bao... I don't have the authority to decide anything! Come, let me toast President Bao."