In the early morning at Zengwuwei Square, apart from the breakfast shop and the bus stop, there are not many people in other places. Everyone is in a hurry, some are going to work, some are going to make money.
More and more companies have settled in Shunfeng Building. Of course, they are not big companies. Most of them are small and micro entrepreneurial enterprises.
It was Cai Mingzhi's first time to come to Zhaohua Company. Gan Xiaofeng politely invited him to the conference room: "Manager Cai, we don't have coffee here. Would you like green tea or black tea?"
Even though Manager Cai had put aside his pride and personally visited the client, he still maintained his pride and said, "Boiled water, thank you."
Hearing this slightly arrogant tone, Gan Xiaofeng and Aqin looked at each other, and Aqin asked with a smile: "Cold boiled water or hot boiled water?"
Cai Mingzhi patiently said, "Ice water, thank you."
"We don't have a refrigerator in our company, so Manager Cai can only drink cold boiled water."
Tsai Ming-chi waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
Aliang, who had just parked the car and came up, smiled and said, "Sister Qin, I want a glass of cold water too."
After a while, Aqin brought two glasses of cold boiled water and closed the door of the meeting room.
There was a small blackboard hanging on the white wall of the conference room, on which the latest daily price of small yellow ginger was written with chalk. Cai Mingzhi stared at it again and again: "If you do this, you will disrupt the normal market price. Our company will not recognize it."
Gan Xiaofeng played dumb: "I don't understand what you mean, Manager Cai. Xishan small yellow ginger has not been available for half a year, so it's normal that the new ginger is in short supply."
"Where do the small yellow gingers in the market come from? Who else has them besides you?"
Gan Xiaofeng: "Yes, who else has it besides us? The Xishan small yellow ginger on the market must belong to our ginger farmers. It was you, Manager Cai, who told us to sell it and see how much we could get. As a result, you have seen that the price is getting higher day by day. It has only stabilized in the past two days. The latest price is 2.3 yuan."
Cai Mingzhi tapped the table lightly and said, "Then why don't you try to put all 300,000 kilograms of Xishan small yellow ginger into the market and see how low the price can drop! You are just raising the price and intentionally manipulating the market price by putting it out little by little."
"Manager Cai, you're being too harsh when you say manipulating the market price. Our boss said that if you don't want it, we'll keep it and sell it slowly. We're not in a hurry to use the money anyway, so there's no need to put it all into the market at once. Putting it all into the market at once is what we call disrupting the market price..."
Cai Mingzhi was anxious, but Zhaohua was not. He was anxious. "You don't have the final say, right? I want to see your boss."
Aqin: "Our boss is in school and has no time."
Cai Mingzhi: “!”
He was fighting a middle school student? And he lost?!
Gan Xiaofeng, who was extremely anxious last week, was now very calm. She smiled gently and said, "Thank you very much, Manager Cai, for your support for our work. You gave us a 10 cent discount last time. This time, our boss said that we should return the favor, so we will give you a 10 cent discount. It is 10 cents lower than the market price of 2.3 yuan, which is 2.2 yuan."
2.2 yuan, which is 90 cents more than the price they negotiated before!
Cai Mingzhi knocked on the table: "You are robbing! Do you know that?"
Ah Liang chimed in: "You guys are asking for too much. The company won't approve this price."
Gan Xiaofeng helplessly raised her hands: "Manager Cai, don't get excited, we are not robbing, we are doing business legally. According to the contract, our company has already given a ten cent concession. How about you report to the company first? The ginger farmers have started harvesting today. Do you want this batch of goods or not? You have to give us a definite answer. If you don't want it, we will first sell a batch of goods to others..."
Gan Xiaofeng raised the notebook in her hand and opened a page, which was filled with names, phone numbers and quantities. "You see, so many customers want to make reservations. We are not short of customers. There is still about half a year before the small yellow ginger goes on the market at the end of October. There is enough time for us to slowly sell this batch of ginger at a high price."
At this point, it was obvious that Zhaohua was determined to take them down. Cai Mingzhi had no way to explain to the company, and he still wanted to make a final effort.
"I need to see your boss. Will she come over after school at noon?"
"Not necessarily. She won't tell us in advance whether she's coming or not."
"Where does she live?"
"This... is not convenient to disclose."
"Okay! Even if you don't tell me, I can still find out."
Manager Cai stood up and wanted to leave, but then sat down again. It was still early and he wanted to wait a little longer.
After school at noon, she rode her bicycle back home. Before she entered the yard, she heard someone calling her from behind. Ye Zhao supported the bicycle with one foot and looked back.
Cai Mingzhi appeared out of nowhere and Ye Zhao hadn't noticed him before.
"Manager Cai, why are you here at my house?" Ye Zhao got off his bicycle.
Cai Mingzhi: "I couldn't wait for you at your company, so I had to come here to wait."
Ye Zhao knew why he came and deliberately angered him: "For business matters, you only need to make a phone call and our Manager Gan will rush over to discuss it with you. Why do you have to come here in person?"
Cai Mingzhi put his hands on his hips and said, "It's hard to get the price of turmeric this time. The headquarters can't approve it. The cost of last year's batch of turmeric was too high, which led to a serious reduction in production costs this year. We have always lived frugally and ate vegetarian food, but... Look! You can't blackmail us every year, right? This is not a long-term business approach, Boss Ye!"
Ye Zhao smiled dumbly: "Your Song Rong Ji is a big family with a lot of business, what does this little money mean? The total value of this batch of small yellow ginger is not as valuable as Mrs. Song's necklace. You don't have to complain about your boss's poverty."
Cai Mingzhi was about to speak when Ye Zhao interrupted him again: "Besides, was the small yellow ginger expensive last year? I could have sold it at a higher price! Last year's batch of small yellow ginger saved your Song Rongji. I could have sold it to Zhongshi at a high price, but I didn't. Even if you can't continue the future transactions with a grateful heart, don't strangle us, right? Small yellow ginger costs 1.2 yuan, and you want to charge 1.3 yuan? Excluding labor and transportation costs, you really plan to not let us make a penny. Is this your way of long-term cooperation? From what Manager Cai said, do I still have to be grateful to you, thank you for not letting us lose money?"
Cai Mingzhi knew he was in the wrong, but he still tried to explain: "I originally thought you could lower the purchase price to less than 1 yuan, but who knew... You helped the ginger farmers find technology to build greenhouses, and you should have already negotiated the best purchase price with the ginger farmers. If you bought it at 70 or 80 cents, the ginger farmers would have no other choice and would definitely agree. I'm not saying anything bad about you, Boss Ye, you really don't know how to do business."
"What does that mean? It means that we at Zhaohua are more honest than Song Rongji. We know the difficulties faced by ginger farmers and that they suffered a great loss last year, so we raised the purchase price this year and gave them a certain profit margin. We are thinking of the ginger farmers. I thought that after last year's battle, Song Rongji would be able to empathize with us and think of us in this way. Who would have thought that you don't want to let others make a penny! Do you know that this will backfire? The price has been discussed to this point. I don't know whether this is your personal intention or the intention of your headquarters. In short, I am very disappointed with you, Song Rongji."
After Ye Zhao finished speaking, he made a helpless gesture to express his speechlessness and disappointment!
Cai Mingzhi, who had to listen to the lecture from Party B, whispered, "Boss Ye, let's not talk about this. The price was low before, so it must be high now."
Ye Zhao: "This is the market price now."
“This market price is created by you.”
Ye Zhao: "You have to understand that this market price is determined by market rules. There are enough merchants in the market who want to buy small yellow ginger..."
Cai Mingzhi gritted his teeth and made a last desperate effort, trying to scare Ye Zhao, "This market simply can't absorb your 300,000 kilograms of small yellow ginger."
"Do you know who is buying Xishan small yellow ginger? Jianghang is one, but the main customers are your competitors, Yuen Wah Kee and Yun Lang. They don't want you to resume production. They want to swallow up Song Rongji's market. So as long as we don't spit out all the goods in one go, they will buy as much as we have."
"One dollar and a half! Is that OK? That's the highest price I can get."
Ye Zhao stared at Cai Mingzhi: "Isn't this the highest price your headquarters set at the beginning? Manager Cai, you are such a good employee."
“I’m trying to save money for the company!”
Who believes it
Ye Zhao patted the bicycle seat and said, "The market situation has changed now. How can it be 1.5 yuan? Let's follow the contract and trade according to the market price."
How could Ye Zhao give in when things had come to this point? She was not a bodhisattva. She could still be known for her kindness to the poor. But being kind to the rich? That was not kindness, but stupidity.
Cai Mingzhi sighed heavily: "Is there really nothing to discuss?"
"I think Manager Gan should have told you that the lowest price we can accept is 2.2 yuan. Manager Cai, you should report to the headquarters as soon as possible. The ginger farmers will start harvesting today. If you don't give us a reply tonight, we will sell the 30,000 kilograms of small yellow ginger harvested today to your peers at the market price tomorrow. The later you decide, the less small yellow ginger will be left. I don't know how many orders you have accumulated in the past six months. If you can't deliver the goods, the loss..."
Cai Mingzhi was so angry that his head hurt. When the negotiation failed, he began to threaten: "Boss Ye, I hope you can expand your vision. It will not benefit you at all to offend Song Rongji just to make a little money."
Ye Zhao retorted: "How did I offend Song Rongji? If I don't follow your price and trade at the market price, will I offend Song Rongji? Song Rongji is so overbearing, can you walk sideways?"
"This market price was originally created by you!"
Ye Zhao sneered in silence: "Then I have to thank you. Without the opportunity given by Manager Cai, I really wouldn't have made much money from this small yellow ginger transaction. Isn't this result all due to you? Thank you. Let me tell you, before you want to control others, you have to consider what you have in your hands! I can afford to lose! But you can't!"
Cai Mingzhi raised his hands and stroked his hair helplessly. He slid down to his knees and said, "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Boss Ye. Can you please negotiate the price this time? I will definitely make up for the October transaction."
If that's the case, why bother provoking her in the first place
"It's too late." Ye Zhao said, pushing his bicycle into the yard.
Looking at Ye Zhao's back, Cai Mingzhi kicked the wall hard in anger!
The kick was so hard that his entire face was deformed from the pain.
When Ye Zhao returned home, Aunt Qiao was standing by the window in the living room cleaning it. She asked, "Who was that person who was talking to you just now?"
"What a fool. Why are you cleaning the windows at this hour?"
"I've been cleaning for the whole morning and will soon be done. There are construction projects everywhere and the dust is getting bigger and bigger. I used to clean it once every six months and it wouldn't get dirty, but now I have to clean it every month. Xiao Zhao, bring out the dishes so we can eat."
"oh."
Ye Zhao put down his schoolbag, went to wash his hands and served the dishes. Today, Auntie Qiao made stuffed tofu and braised pork feet. Just as he brought out the dishes and served the rice, he heard Auntie Qiao say in surprise, "Is that the car that sent Xiangzi back? Is Xiangzi really back?"
Ye Zhao walked to the window and saw Zeng Xiang getting out of the car, holding a backpack in his hand and throwing it behind him in a casual manner.
Aunt Qiao opened the window and shouted, "Xiangzi! Why are you up so early today?"
Zeng Xiang looked up and saw them, he just smiled and didn't say anything.
Ye Zhao knew his class schedule, and she said, "He has an exam this morning, so he probably won't have classes in the afternoon."
As long as he was not in school, Zeng Xiang would usually come back. In his heart, home would always be the small west building in Zengwuwei.
Hearing the door opening, Ye Zhao quickly hid behind the wall.
Aunt Qiao smiled helplessly, pretending not to see it, and helped her cover up, "Xiangzi, have you eaten?"
"No. I'm starving, you guys..."
"Bang!" Ye Zhao suddenly jumped out, scaring her brother Xiang so much that his skull almost burst open!
Aunt Qiao laughed wickedly at the side, "I was giving you a look, but you just couldn't see it, you're so stupid!"
When has Bking ever been scared? He put his backpack on the sofa: "Mom, when did you ever make eye contact? You were obviously covering for her! Ye Xiaozhao, remember, don't blame me for retaliating next time!"
Ye Zhao didn't believe he would retaliate, and she didn't try to be tough. She showed weakness: "Brother Xiang, I don't dare anymore."
As soon as she showed weakness, he couldn't do anything to her.
But next time, she will dare to do it again.
Two hours later, in the general manager's office of Song Rongji headquarters in Gangcheng.
Song Tai and Song Xiaoping had a quarrel because of their different concepts of company development. After Song Xiaoping slammed the door and left, Song Tai supported her forehead with one hand and tried to calm down.
Liang Xin knocked on the door and came in. Looking at Mrs. Song's appearance, she wanted to speak but hesitated.
"What's up."
"What's wrong with him?"
"The supplier of the latest batch of turmeric has raised the price..."
“How much will it increase?”
"The market price is 2.2 yuan per catty, and the cost is 70 cents more expensive than expected."
Mrs. Song had heard about the price fluctuation of small yellow ginger yesterday, and had also found out the reason. She was in no mood to deal with it today. "Let Mr. Xu handle these small matters himself, and don't delay the ginger candy factory from completing the order."
"Okay." Liang Xin was about to go out when Mrs. Song called her back.
Mrs. Song ordered: "Tell Mr. Xu to remove the person in charge of the Shenzhen branch. Don't let him be afraid to remove the person just because I appointed him. The situation was different then, and we urgently needed to replace him with our own people. Now that things are stable, we must make sure that the most capable people take the top position."
"Okay, I'll talk to Mr. Xu. Do you want to transfer Manager Cai back?"
"Why transfer him back? We need to hold him accountable this time, demote him and reduce his salary, so that he can continue to stay in Shenzhen! Tell Mr. Xu that it's not just a matter of supply. The mainland market is very important to us in the future, so we need to send someone reliable."
In this way, the Zhaohua colleagues who originally just wanted to earn some hard-earned money made 270,000 yuan from the small yellow ginger transaction with Song Rongji for the second time.
Ye Zhao, who had made money, invited Aunt Qiao and Zeng Xiang to have morning tea at Fenghuangju on Sunday.
There were many guests at Fenghuangju on weekends. They arrived late and there were no seats available. They happened to see Aunt Jiao, the village chief's wife, and Ni Meng's wife occupying a large table, so Aunt Qiao took them over to share the table.
Aunt Jiao had heard that Zeng Erqiao had taken a fancy to a tenant and spoiled the girl as her daughter-in-law. She smiled and teased, "Sister Qiao, I was the one who introduced Ye Zhao to you. You were not happy at first, but now you see... Ouch..."
The two children were still young, and Aunt Qiao didn't want others to talk nonsense and affect them, so she changed the subject: "Did you win money playing mahjong? Who's paying?"
Aunt Jiao: "What do you mean by winning money? We just chip in. We come here once a week."
"Oh, you guys really know how to enjoy yourself."
Zeng Erqiao called the food cart over and brought a basket of spare ribs, a basket of chicken feet, a basket of shrimp dumplings, and a basket of steamed buns. Ye Zhao and Zeng Xiang went to the ordering area to order other food.
Aunt Jiao watched them walk away, and hurriedly asked Aunt Qiao in a low voice: "Hey, I heard that Ye Zhao helped someone buy the land in Zizhulin? What did she think? Can she keep that place? What friend trusts her so much? Isn't she still studying?"
Zeng Erqiao picked up the boiling water to rinse the dishes and chopsticks. She said, "You keep asking me questions. Which one should I answer?"
"Answer whichever you want."
"I don't know which friend she bought it for. Her friend is rich, so it doesn't matter. He trusts her."
"Isn't she cheating people?"
"What are you talking about?"
Aunt Jiao came over, and the other two women also came forward to listen. Aunt Jiao said, "Zizhulin is now rented to Fatty Ying to collect waste. How much can it be rented for? This business is too good! He is too young, still a child, I can't understand..."
The village chief's wife, Ai Sao, interrupted and said, "She is different. Isn't she the only daughter of the owner of the toy factory? The daughter of a rich man has been in charge of the family for a long time. What do you think?"
"No matter how early you came into the family, you shouldn't invest recklessly like this, right? Lao Kai was trapped in Zizhu Forest for three years. She is a living Bodhisattva who helped Lao Kai escape from his predicament." Aunt Jiao said tentatively, "Please ask her to come and help me one day. I also want to escape from my predicament."
Zeng Erqiao didn't understand: "Your hotel is doing well, why would you want to get out of this predicament?"
Ai Sao: "She said that piece of land she owned, the one near the garbage dump, has also been lying idle for a long time, hasn't it?"
"Come on!" Aunt Qiao got a little angry when she heard this. "Why don't you let her buy the garbage dump as well?"
Aunt Jiao said, "The land at the garbage dump, isn't it easy for her to get it? That land belongs to the village collective. If she wants to buy it, the village committee will definitely sell it to her at a discount price."
Ni Meng's wife Aunt Wang shook her head and said, "It's useless to buy it. It's impossible to move the garbage dump away."
Aunt Jiao: "This is also Secretary Wang's fault. How could he have agreed to the government building a garbage disposal site there in the first place?"
Mrs. Ai is the wife of the village chief. She knows a lot. "What Secretary Wang says doesn't count. It was suppressed from above."
Aunt Jiao: "It's all the fault of that old man Lao Kai. If he hadn't said that the area could be developed, we wouldn't have followed suit and bought land there."
Sister Ai asked Aunt Jiao: "Your piece of land is just a little bit, right?"
Aunt Jiao: "It's about 700 to 800 square meters. All our money is tied up there. We don't even have the money to build another building to rent out."
Aunt Qiao asked, "Where do you have land to build a building?"
Aunt Jiao: "Our old house, the tile house, the chicken coop and the yard together have an area of 200 square meters. We want to tear it down and rebuild it, like Ni Meng's family, and build a six or seven-story building for rent. Aunt Wang, how much did your building cost?"
Aunt Wang said, "I don't know the details. Steel bars and cement are all going up in price now. One hundred thousand is not enough."
Mrs. Ai: "The prices have skyrocketed in recent years. If you want to build it, build it sooner."
"No Money."
"Why are you pretending to be poor?"
Aunt Jiao complained: "We really have no money. The hotel only makes a living, unless we can sell our land."
Aunt Qiao knew the purpose of Aunt Jiao's words, so she lowered her voice and said, "I warn you, don't set your sights on our Xiao Zhao, she has no money."
Aunt Jiao: "Didn't she buy it for her friend?"
Aunt Qiao couldn't tell the truth to outsiders. Ye Zhao bought it himself, so she could only say, "Her friend doesn't have any money either."
"Oh, Qiaojie, you really treat her as your own."
Ye Zhao ordered a bowl of dried vegetable and lean meat porridge, while Zeng Xiang ordered a bowl of rice noodle. The two stood by waiting, childishly stretching out their hands to compare the size.
Ye Zhao: "Why are your hands so much bigger than mine?"
“Because I practice boxing.”
Ye Zhao was curious: "Do you have calluses on your hands? I have a few."
Ye Zhao rubbed the small calluses on his hands. His hands were originally rough due to years of hard work. After taking care of them for more than half a year, they finally became smooth and tender. Recently, he rode his bicycle more often, and some small calluses appeared on his hands again.
"Touch it." He stretched out his hand, and Ye Zhao touched it with his fingers. His fingers were very slender and beautiful. Only when he touched it did he realize that there was indeed a thin layer of calluses.
Not only the palms of a boxer's hands, but even the backs of his hands are rougher than those of others.
Zeng Xiang had no bad intentions when he extended his hand for her to touch. But when she touched him, he suddenly tensed up and his heartbeat accelerated...
Fortunately, it happened in public, with people coming and going nearby and the noise was quite loud, otherwise any reaction of his might be noticed by her, which would have been embarrassing.
He was about to withdraw his hand when he heard someone shouting next to him—
"Xiao Zhao!"
Ye Zhao turned around and found that it was Bai Yunlian.
Bai Yunlian came forward and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, you guys are here for morning tea too?"
Ye Zhao asked back: "Did you come with my dad?"
Bai Yunlian said: "Your father is in the box, shall we join him?"
"No thanks. We have a seat."
Bai Yunlian was rejected, but she didn't show any intention of leaving immediately. Ye Zhao asked, "Anything else?"
"Well, Xiao Zhao, your father's birthday is in two days. Why don't you come back and have dinner with him? I think he will be very happy."
"Why should I celebrate his birthday?" Ye Zhao answered coldly.
Bai Yunlian knew that Ye Dingguo had been very concerned about Ye Zhao's affairs recently. She thought that their relationship as father and daughter had been repaired, but it seemed that it had not been.
Bai Yunlian: "Your father loves you so much, and you are his only daughter. He must hope that you can celebrate your birthday with him this year."
"He never celebrated my birthday, so I won't celebrate his birthday either. You don't have to be a nice guy in front of me. Others may not know who you are, but I should know." Ye Zhao said, guessing with a smile: "You are not competing with Gao Yueyue for where to celebrate my dad's birthday?"
It's true. Bai Yunlian still doesn't know whether Ye Dingguo will celebrate his birthday at her place or at Gao Yueyue's place. If she can invite Ye Zhao to come to her place, then Ye Dingguo will definitely come back.
At the moment when Bai Yunlian was stunned, Ye Zhao understood. She nodded slightly, "You should save your mind to fight with Gao Yueyue. She is definitely a qualified opponent. You two should have fun."
Her dried vegetable and lean meat porridge was ready. Zeng Xiang had already put it on the tray and added chopped green onions for her.
The two people left the ordering area one after the other.
Bai Yunlian handed the ordered menu to the waiter and then went into the private room.
In the box, Bai Lu and Bai Yunping's children were talking. Ye Dingguo had just returned from the bathroom, and Bai Yunlian asked him, "Have you seen Xiao Zhao?"
Ye Dingguo was surprised: "Ye Zhao is here too? Who is she with?"
"Out in the lobby, with the boy who was always with her, the one who formed a band with her." Bai Yunlian didn't know how to describe Zeng Xiang as the boy who came with a tape recorder to expose her "evil deeds", for fear of triggering Ye Dingguo's bad memories of her.
Ye Dingguo: "Just the two of them?"
"I just saw the two of them, holding hands, very intimate."
Ye Dingguo frowned and wanted to go out to see what was going on, but was stopped by Bai Yunlian: "Old Ye, what are you going to do? Don't be impulsive."
(End of this chapter)