Chapter 77: Am I Going to Hit Rock Bottom?

Li Xian didn't have a bad habit of prying into other people's privacy; he merely wanted to hear the first batch of people who received the toilet paper talk about their opinions on the product. 

Although he nearly got mistaken for a pervert, he still gained valuable insights from his observations. 

While most people found the price of the toilet paper a bit hard to swallow, they were generally very satisfied with the quality. Compared to the coarse, black, and hard paper most commonly seen on the market, the thin, white, and soft qualities were the most frequently praised attributes he heard.

This gave him a lot of confidence.

The free paper giveaway event lasted for a full three days and created a huge stir in several regions. The number of people coming to queue up for the paper grew exponentially each day. In Beilin City, which had the highest population density, the event even led to a stampede and nearly caused a trampling accident. Thankfully, there was a police station next to the giveaway square. Sales team members called in officers to maintain order, which helped stabilize the situation.

In just three days, the factory's warehouse had emptied out of finished paper products accumulated since production began. Over seven tons of toilet paper were given away.

On the fourth day, when Li Xian arrived at the forestry bureau sports field, a crowd of no less than a thousand had already gathered by just after three o'clock.

Upon arrival, he coincidentally encountered several leaders from the supply and wholesale departments of the bureau. These people had come to see the spectacle and had already learned that Li Xian was the new factory manager of Xina Paper.

Seeing Li Xian, Han Chunsheng, the director of the supply and marketing department, approached him, offering a cigarette. "Little brother, I heard from Old Chen that you've been giving away paper like this in several cities for four days now. Must have lost quite a bit, right?"

Li Xian smiled and declined the cigarette, saying, "It's been manageable."

"Hmm," Han Chunsheng lit his cigarette and sighed, "What you're doing isn't really sustainable. Your paper has been on the supply counter for five days, and not a single roll has sold. You see, giving it away for free results in a lot going out, but no sales! At this rate, can your factory handle it?"

Nearby, several leaders and bosses from wholesale departments nodded in agreement. Their situation was similar. Their wholesale clients were grocery stores, small shops, and vendors. Even after a few days, not a single one had come to buy Xina toilet paper.

"Let's wait and see," Li Xian shrugged in response to their concern.

Before the giveaway started, the sales team had already distributed some toilet paper to various regional distributors for consignment. The cost price of each roll was eventually settled at 0.09 yuan, and the factory packaged it in bags of twelve rolls each. The price offered to these distributors was 1.6 yuan per bag, providing them with a profit of 0.3 to 0.4 yuan per bag. This bulk packaging also left a margin for small shops and vendors who sold individual rolls.

Compared to other toilet paper on the market, this profit was considerable.

However, sales were dismally low.

"Ahem," Seeing Li Xian's calm demeanor, Han Chunsheng was choked by cigarette smoke. "Little brother, I need to be upfront. Our supply counter space is limited, and we need to be efficient. Your paper can stay for a week or two, but if it doesn't sell, we can't keep wasting space."

His words were somewhat blunt but honest. These channels were established through social connections made over drinks, and their relationships weren't particularly deep. The primary reason they accepted Xina Premium was the profit.

Without profits, there would be no goodwill to discuss.

Li Xian thought for a moment and replied with a smile, "Director Han, don't worry. Starting tomorrow, our giveaway will stop. If sales don't improve after a while, we'll consider switching to new business ventures. How about this: if after two weeks things don't get better, I'll send someone to handle it myself. Is that okay?"

Seeing Li Xian set a deadline, Han Chunsheng and others nodded in agreement.

...

In the following two days, salespeople from various regions returned to the factory one after another. They had already informed their channels to call the factory whenever they needed supplies.

Since the giveaway ended, Li Xian, along with Chen Shulin, waited every day in the sales department office.

But despite their waiting, no order calls came in.

Chen Shulin was naturally grumbling. To him, Li Xian had created a huge buzz, giving away nearly eleven tons of finished paper, worth around six thousand yuan, and spent over four thousand on promotions. 

Spending over ten thousand yuan, and in the end… it was all in vain!

There was no effect at all!

Li Xian, however, remained calm in the face of Chen Shulin's complaints.

Yet Chen Shulin did not know that beneath this calm exterior was immense anxiety.

It was already November, and the construction business had gradually stopped due to weather. The first snow of the forest area had fallen the previous day. Although it didn't accumulate, once it starts snowing, construction on walls and metal roofs would be impossible.

Wang Qinghe from the forest farm had already dismissed all the workers, leaving only a few of his own brothers to do minor repairs and handle leftover tasks from previous construction.

The construction team had no incoming revenue.

After paying the workers' wages, and with only thirty thousand yuan left in hand besides the hundred thousand in the bank, Li Xian faced the upcoming salary payments. With over a hundred employees, that would be another twenty thousand. Plus materials, electricity, and water expenses…

The thought of these hefty expenses gave Li Xian a headache.

While staring blankly at the phone on his desk, the office door opened. Zhang Dagong and Li Jie walked in together.

"Factory manager," Zhang Dagong rubbed his large hands, "We haven't had a single order these past few days, and the warehouse is almost full. But the workshop is still running two shifts. How about we switch to one shift, or even… stop production for two days?"

Li Jie, noticing her brother's mood wasn't great, added hesitantly, "Second brother, Dad came by earlier. He asked about the sales situation. I told him we're still managing, selling about three to four hundred jin a day. He'll likely ask you when you get home, so don't let anything slip."

Hearing these messages, Li Xian let out a heavy sigh.

Looking at the small snowflakes on the window, now turned into tiny droplets of water sticking to the glass, he felt like a thousand wild horses were galloping through his mind.

Oh heavens!

Am I going to hit rock bottom?