Chapter 225: Price Difference!

Let's not talk about Louis over there; instead, let's focus on Jiang Hai and his team. As they followed the girl into the exhibition hall, Jiang Hai casually asked, "Are you studying abroad here? Which university are you attending?"

"I'm at Harvard School of Pharmacy, and I'm already a junior this year," the girl smiled and replied.

"School of Pharmacy?" Jiang Hai was a bit surprised when he heard her mention it.

He wasn't questioning the university itself; after all, any school with Harvard's name was undoubtedly one of the best in the world. Even if it were Harvard's excavator major, it would still rank among the top five globally. Perhaps only the legendary Blue Flying could rival it.

What puzzled him, however, was why a girl from Harvard's School of Pharmacy, an elite institution, was here selling cars. How unprofessional was that?

"There's no other way," the girl continued. "I'm an exchange student. I studied in China until my sophomore year, and now I'm spending the rest of my time here. However, my student status is still in China, so the department can't issue me any work or internship certificates. I can only take on other jobs. I work as a shopping guide here. The commission isn't much, but the basic salary of $200 a week is enough for me to live." Seeing Jiang Hai's confusion, Lu Qing smiled and explained.

Jiang Hai nodded. It wasn't easy for a foreigner to work here.

"By the way, I noticed your accent—it seems like you're from the north. Are you from the capital or somewhere nearby? I'm from Shandong Province," she asked as she turned to Jiang Hai.

"Oh, I'm from Bingcheng, not the capital," Jiang Hai replied with a smile.

"Bingcheng? Northeast China? Why don't you have a Northeast accent?" Lu Qing seemed surprised upon hearing that Jiang Hai was from Bingcheng.

"The three provinces in Northeast China don't all have the same accent," Jiang Hai chuckled. "The heaviest accent is in Liaoning Province. Further north, in Jilin, it's actually lighter. In Bingcheng, people speak Mandarin, which is very close to standard Mandarin. There are some small slang terms, like 'bo le gai' or 'tu lu pi,' but overall, it's almost identical to standard Mandarin."

Jiang Hai recalled once speaking to a friend from Yun Province, who was astonished when he spoke Mandarin on the phone with his mother. His friend had asked, "Why are you speaking Mandarin when you call your mom?" This surprised Jiang Hai, as Mandarin was commonly spoken in Yun Province.

Meanwhile, Cindy and Kama, who were trailing behind, looked a little downcast because they couldn't understand Mandarin. Cindy tolerated it, but Kama couldn't help but tug on Jiang Hai's sleeve, her large eyes pleading for a translation.

Jiang Hai simply smiled and translated the conversation for them.

When Kama heard that Lu Qing came from Harvard Medical School, she was extremely surprised and eagerly joined the conversation. It turned out that this was the school Kama had always wanted to attend. In the U.S., the social status of doctors is incredibly high. Medicine and law are the highest-paying civilian professions. Though some wealthy elites may not think much of them, to most people, they are incredibly lucrative careers.

Kama, whose family wasn't poor but not wealthy either, had exceptional academic performance. It was no surprise that she aspired to study medicine.

As the two continued to chat, they had unknowingly reached the car exhibition hall.

As soon as he entered, Jiang Hai was taken aback by the vastness of the space. Hundreds of cars from various brands and models filled the hall. After all, this was the largest car dealership in Winthrop, also serving as the warehouse for Boston's car sales center. In Boston, buildings tend to be narrow, and even a 4S store doesn't have much room for storage. But compared to Boston's dense layout, the surrounding areas were much more spacious.

Though Lu Qing hadn't sold many cars yet, she still carried herself with confidence, as she had received proper training. She led Jiang Hai and the others to the front of several cars and began her introduction.

"Although I don't want to admit it, the price difference between domestic cars and those here is pretty shocking," Lu Qing began. "Forget the quality for now, just the price alone is staggering. After I started selling cars, I researched the price differences for domestic cars online. Tsk tsk..." She shook her head.

She continued, "Let me introduce the cars to you. If you're looking to buy, Japanese cars are still the best value. I know Mr. Jiang might not be a fan of cars from Japan, but they're the most cost-effective. If you just need a reliable mode of transportation, these cars are a great choice!"

"Here we have a Toyota Camry. The starting price for the low-end version is $22,425, about 130,000 RMB. In China, it sells for 179,800 RMB. The high-end version is $28,625, around 174,000 RMB, and sells for 329,800 RMB in China."

"This is a Honda Accord. The low-end version starts at $21,680, and the high-end version is $29,115. In China, the low-end version costs 200,000 RMB, while the high-end goes for 300,000 RMB. This is a Mazda VI, starting at $20,990, or about 127,700 RMB, but it sells for over 170,000 RMB in China. The Sylphy is $15,990, and the Corolla is $16,800... American cars are cheaper here."

Listening to Lu Qing's introduction, Jiang Hai couldn't help but shake his head. These low-end cars were about one-third cheaper here compared to their prices in China, whether they were Japanese or American.

However, the Korean cars, such as Kia and Hyundai, were similarly priced to those in China. Some low-end models were even cheaper in China than here, which puzzled Jiang Hai.

But he wasn't here to buy those cars. He waved his hand to interrupt Lu Qing. "I'm not here for these cars. Please show me some high-end models."

Lu Qing, who had been speaking endlessly, stopped and looked at Jiang Hai in surprise. She had never thought of him as particularly wealthy, but since he had made a request, she complied.

She led them to the center of the showroom.

"This is the Volkswagen Touareg 13, with a 3.6-liter engine and 280 horsepower. It's considered a high-end car in China. In China, it starts at 910,000 RMB, but here, it's priced at $43,995, which is over 600,000 RMB cheaper than in China..."

Jiang Hai's jaw almost dropped. Buying this car in China would cost more than three times what it would cost here.

"I want something better," Jiang Hai said after some thought. In China, a car worth a million yuan was already impressive, enough to pick people up in style. But here in the U.S., a car priced below $100,000 to do the same seemed somewhat embarrassing.

"How about this, the BMW 740Li, 2013 model, with a 6-liter twin-turbocharged engine and 544 horsepower. It starts at $141,200, and in China, it would cost about 2.56 million RMB."

"141,200—more than 800,000 RMB... Is there anything better?" Jiang Hai muttered as he did the math in his head. He wasn't short on money anymore, so he wanted to see if there was something even more luxurious.

"The best options are the top luxury sedans: Bentley, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce. Since you're asking, I'll skip over the Continental and show you the Bentley Mulsanne. The 2011 model with a 6.8-liter luxury version costs $298,900 here, but in China, it's around 5.25 million RMB."

Jiang Hai quickly calculated the price difference. This one was "only" about twice the price.

Next, Lu Qing introduced the Rolls-Royce Phantom, which cost $469,900 here, but in China, the convertible version was around 8 million RMB. The extended sedan version also sold for about 7.98 million RMB.

"Okay, I'll take the extended version," Jiang Hai said, no longer bothered by the price difference. It was clear that car prices were ridiculously high in China.

"It seems that technical barriers are the key," Jiang Hai mused. "They sell at whatever price they want. Tsk tsk, really shameless."