Luh Kai looked around and, seeing that there were no seats left on the bus, sat down.
"What a coincidence, Ms. Cheng, where are you heading?" Luh Kai began.
Cheng Su felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity towards this man, who bore a striking resemblance to Luh Wei—probably because he really did look a lot like Luh Wei.
Upon hearing his question, Cheng Su took out a business card from her bag and handed it to him with both hands, "This is my business card."
As a businesswoman, it was inconvenient not to have a business card, so Cheng Su had long since printed cards for herself and the company’s sales staff.
Luh Kai took the card and said in surprise, "Oh, you’re the boss of Joy Soon Loy Jam?"
Cheng Su nodded with a smile, remembering that he worked at the supply and sales cooperative, and asked, "Your cooperative should also sell our company’s products, right?"
"Of course, we do. Although I’ve only taken over the cooperative recently, I’m aware that among similar food products, Joy Soon Loy Jam has higher sales than other companies, just that it’s a bit pricier!" Luh Kai said with a smile.
"There’s naturally a reason for a product to be expensive. Our company advocates producing the healthiest, most hygienic, and highest quality food. We pay great attention to quality, so the selection of raw materials is also very strict. This increases costs, and naturally, the price is relatively higher as well," Cheng Su explained, eagerly promoting her own products, and added with a smile, "Moreover, although our company’s products are expensive, they still sell well, don’t they?"
"That’s true," he agreed.
Cheng Su then thought of his earlier remark about recently taking over, and asked, "I don’t seem to have seen Director Luh at the cooperative before. Have you just taken up the post?"
Luh Kai nodded, "I’ve been at the city supply and sales cooperative for less than a month—only half a month, in fact. So, Boss Cheng, could you give us a better discount on the jam you supply to our cooperative? It would help me achieve more business performance!"
Cheng Su chuckled, "Director Luh, you really know how to seize an opportunity."
"I don’t have much choice," Luh Kai admitted with a wry smile, glancing at Cheng Su, and said, "You’re also a businessperson, Boss Cheng, so you know the path of development. The old dominance and bustle of the cooperative, with reforms and opening up and changes in policies, as people’s purchasing power increases, many goods now have their own counters and separate stores. In contrast, describing the cooperative as on a decline would not be an exaggeration."
Cheng Su looked at him with some surprise.
"Why, Boss Cheng, don’t you believe what I’m saying? You can go around the city and see, aren’t many shops doing business with their own signs now?" Luh Kai said somewhat nostalgically, "Now that the country is gradually phasing out the unified purchase and sale policy of goods, various coupons are slowly withdrawing from the market economy. As a result, the business scale and economic benefits of the cooperative are dwindling. To put it bluntly, it won’t be long before the cooperative goes bankrupt, and I, along with a large number of cooperative employees, will be laid off."
"It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I find Director Luh’s perspective exceptional, beyond my imagination. Since you have such insight, why would you still join the supply and sales cooperative system?" Cheng Su asked curiously.
Cheng Su was well aware that what Luh Kai said was true. With the rapid development of society and the economy, people’s living standards and consumption levels were rising, and many things no longer required coupons to purchase from the cooperative.
Take meat, for instance. In the past, pork had to be bought with meat coupons, but now, who needs them? As long as you can afford it, there’s always a market available.
And in a few years, the cooperative would completely decline, until later reforms would make it dominant