The sound of a lawn mower came from next door, and the scent of green grass wafted into the air. Song Xiaoping fanned his nose with his hands in disgust and glared at his wife coldly.
They are similar to many middle-aged wealthy couples. They no longer have feelings for each other, and their interests are tied together and divorce is impossible. The only thing left between the couple is the resentment towards each other.
Mrs. Song read the long report about Shijiu Lou in the Hong Kong Daily. She couldn't understand why Shijiu Lou was just a newcomer in the vegetable and fruit industry, and the tree hadn't even fully grown yet, so how could it attract the wind
She quickly returned to the living room, picked up the phone and called Ahua to ask him what was going on. Ahua had just received the news from his colleagues and had just finished reading the report.
Regarding the use of banned preservatives, this is a detail work and they, as senior executives, must be unaware of it. Ahua said he would conduct a thorough investigation immediately.
Mrs. Song held the sofa with one hand and held the telephone receiver with the other. "We need to conduct a thorough investigation internally, and the newspaper report externally must be blocked in a timely manner."
Ah Hua replied: "I know an editor-in-chief of the Xiangjiang Daily. I will ask about the situation first."
"Look at the last paragraph of this report. The reporter said there will be follow-up reports. Since you know the editor-in-chief, find a way to get through and spend money to stop the follow-up reports."
"I see."
After hanging up the phone, Mrs. Song picked up the towel around her neck and wiped the sweat off her face. There were a lot of big and small things happening in the company every day, and she should have been used to it, but there were so many tricky things recently that she had a headache early in the morning.
Song Xiaoping came forward and said sarcastically, "I want to see what is the last straw that breaks the camel's back."
Ever since she was removed from the position of general manager, Song Xiaoping has never had a good word to say about her.
Mrs. Song rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "If you can't speak, just shut up. No matter what, you are still the CEO."
A CEO who was sidelined? Song Xiaoping shrugged, picked up his suit jacket from the back of the sofa, put it on his arm, and prepared to go out.
"Where are you going again?"
"None of your business."
"Are you planning to cross the sea to Macau again?"
Song Xiaoping stopped and asked, "If I don't go to Macau to play cards, what can I do in Hong Kong? Is there still a place for me in Song Rongji?"
Mrs. Song knew Song Xiaoping's whereabouts very well, and she also knew that he had recently lost more than 10 million yuan in futures investment. She could turn a blind eye to Song Xiaoping's affairs with women outside, but she could not tolerate his reckless investments, incurring huge debts, and finally asking the company to pay the debt.
"You can earn more than 10 million by gambling in Macau? The old man said that the company will not help you pay off the bad debt you owe from investing in futures."
This warning would only make Song Xiaoping more disgusted. "Don't forget, I am the largest shareholder of Song Rongji. If I get pushed to the limit one day, I will have no choice but to sell my shares to pay off my debts. Don't get angry with me then."
"Song Xiaoping, you are just holding the shares of Song Rongji on behalf of the family. You can't just sell them whenever you want! If you sell the shares, this family will be finished. You owe more than 10 million yuan, so tell the old man yourself and ask him to give you the money to fill the hole and clean up your mess."
Song Xiaoping ignored her and went out.
Mrs. Song was so angry that she had a headache and she was completely helpless about what to do with her husband. She turned around and saw her daughter Song Xinyi coming downstairs in a gorgeous dress.
"Sarah, why are you here so early? Where are you going?"
Song Xinyi smiled sweetly and said, "I'm going to the art museum with Auntie Aileen. There's a magazine interview today. Auntie has always been reluctant to appear on camera, but this is a rare opportunity, and she wants me to appear on camera."
Mrs. Song knew that Miss Guo never appeared in the media, and except for a very few people, almost no one knew her name. Mrs. Song sometimes thought that Miss Guo's parents must hold high positions in the mainland, but after asking around, she couldn't find any clues.
She straightened her daughter's collar and asked, "When will Miss Guo's parents come?"
“Not sure yet.”
"Should we wait until her parents come before signing the contract?" This is what Mrs. Song is most concerned about recently.
Song Xinyi smiled and said, "Maybe? I don't know either."
Mrs. Song asked again, "Didn't Miss Guo want to introduce you to the eldest son of the Luo family?"
"Luo Shen? Last time we had dinner together at Auntie Aileen's house, he was so absorbed in playing games that I didn't say a word to him."
Mrs. Song didn't know that her daughter had met the eldest son of the Luo family. She had been busy recently and had come back home in the middle of the night for several days. She hadn't been able to have a good chat with her daughter. She asked, "What's going on? How come I don't know? Can you tell mom about it?"
"What is there to say? I heard that Luo Shen grew up in a small fishing village in Shenzhen. He and I have nothing in common." Song Xinyi said with disdain. Although they didn't chat much, Luo Shen's face was as handsome as if carved by a knife, and it engraved directly into her heart.
"How could Young Master Luo grow up in a small fishing village? Don't listen to those rumors. Besides, even if he grew up in a small fishing village, so what? He is the future head of the Luo family. Although we can be considered a well-off family, compared with the Luo family, we are just like an ant and an elephant. You have to seize the opportunity and be able to save face. If you can make a friend first, that would be great. That will be your future network, do you understand?"
Song Xinyi didn't like to hear her mother's complicated and mercenary words. She said mischievously, "Who wants to be friends with him? Anyone who wants can make friends. Anyway, Auntie Aileen loves me the most, and he will have to compete with me for her affection when the time comes."
Mrs. Song knew that her daughter had listened to her, and she also knew when to stop. "Okay, be careful on the road, and don't say anything you shouldn't say during the interview. The credit for the art exhibition belongs to Miss Guo and her friends, so don't take the credit."
"Know."
"Please say hello to Miss Guo for me."
After watching her daughter leave, Mrs. Song went back to her room to change her clothes. While having breakfast, she received another call from the company saying that the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had sealed off the warehouse on the ninth floor of the Food Court.
Mrs. Song had no appetite for breakfast and went straight to the company. She sat down in the office, and then Mr. Dong, the person in charge of the ninth floor, came in to report to her.
The reason why Shijiulou used the banned preservatives was that the preservatives were not previously listed as banned items. They were only listed in the first half of this year and the company has not had time to change them.
This is ridiculous! Mrs. Song angrily scolded: "It's almost the end of August now, and you are still using the preservatives that were banned in the first half of the year! How do you usually do things?"
After scolding the person in charge of Food Floor 9, Song Tai received even worse news. Many major customers had called to inquire about the situation. If the use of banned preservatives was not properly explained, it would most likely affect future cooperation.
Mrs. Song asked Mr. Dong to find a way to retain customers even if it meant lowering the price.
After President Dong left, Secretary Liang came in with coffee and placed it on her desk, saying, "Mrs. Song, there is a meeting at 10:30. Here are the materials that President Liao just brought. Please take a look first."
Song Rongji is extremely busy starting from August every year, but this year the company stopped production due to the shortage of Xishan turmeric at the beginning of the year, and some of the market share was taken away by other competitors. The company’s momentum has not been very good, and it has not yet received all its orders until the end of the year.
There are eight out of ten things in life that are not satisfactory. When the order is full, there is a shortage of small yellow ginger. Now that so many small yellow gingers have been ordered, the order has not been filled yet.
Mrs. Song was a little worried. Secretary Liang said, "Mr. Liao's intention is to lower the wholesale price of each box of ginger candy and take back the ginger candy market that was previously squeezed out."
Song Tai said: "I have no objection. Let's have a meeting later and discuss this matter. If everyone agrees, we will implement it."
Ah Hua knocked on the door and came in, looking unhappy. Secretary Liang went out with the folder.
Mrs. Song asked, "Didn't you get it done?"
"My friend said that this report was followed by another group and he couldn't intervene. But he did find out for us. Do you know who paid us to do this?"
"who?"
"Dingsheng Fenghua. That reporter is a connection of Dingsheng Fenghua."
Song Tai frowned slightly, "Dingsheng Fenghua, the second-best company for a thousand years, is so unruly and wants to seize the market of Shijiulou?"
Ah Hua said: "I think so."
At this point, we can only deal with it as it comes. Mrs. Song ordered: "There will definitely be other media outlets that will follow suit. We still have to find a way to do public relations. We will do public relations for those that can be done, and find a few more media outlets that we are familiar with to fight back. At the same time, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department should quickly send people to follow up."
Mrs. Song finished her arrangements and felt a headache. She took a sip of coffee. The taste was so bitter that it almost made her head explode. She was so angry that she hung up the phone: "Liang Xin, didn't you add sugar to my coffee?!"
It seemed like the secretary did it on purpose.
Since around eight in the morning, Ye Zhao has been making and receiving phone calls and communicating with various parties.
Things went better than expected.
She always occupied the phone, so Aunt Qiao had to go to Fatty Ying's house if she wanted to make a call. Ye Zhao said that he would just pull a separate telephone line for her room, and she would pay for all the telephone bills in the family from now on.
Aunt Qiao made an appointment with some people to go out and play, and asked them to go out and have lunch by themselves.
It was around eleven o'clock when Ye Zhao received today's "Hong Kong Daily". While reading the newspaper, she boasted about her victory to her brother Xiang.
"We sent people to the warehouse on the ninth floor of the food court to secretly take photos. Dingsheng Fenghua was responsible for contacting the media reporters and reporting to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department under real name..."
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Zeng Xiang listened attentively and exclaimed: "You two have joined forces to take down Food 9th Floor?"
Ye Zhao smiled innocently and said, "It's definitely impossible to get rid of it all at once, but this is a good starting point. As long as we poach the big customers of Food 9, they won't be able to hold out for long."
Zeng Xiang nodded. He understood. "Shengheji and Dingsheng Fenghua are sharing the big customers of Shijiu Floor?"
"I guess so. Sheng He Ji wants vegetable orders, and Ding Sheng Feng Hua wants fruit orders. We started to poach customers yesterday. Zhao Hua has its own vegetable base, so it has cost advantages. We will start by poaching big customers with low prices..."
Brother Xiang stared at Ye Zhao, his eyes full of admiration. In his eyes, although Ye Zhao looked delicate and slender, he was a man who could do great things, had courage and charm. This had a fatal attraction to him.
Ye Zhao folded up the newspaper and put it aside: "I can only vent my anger when Food Nine Floor collapses."
"Song Rongji doesn't keep his word. How are you going to deal with them?"
Ye Zhao shook his head: "I haven't thought about it yet, but there will definitely be opportunities in the future. My top priority now is to strengthen Zhaohua and Shengheji."
Let’s make money first. Even if Song Rongji cannot be brought down, we won’t force it. We can’t be led by these petty grudges.
They discussed where to eat at noon. Ye Zhao wanted to eat instant noodles. "Let's have Qibao Yiding Chicken Noodles."
This ancient instant noodle has simple seasoning and rich flavor. Ye Zhao has eaten it twice recently and is a bit addicted to it.
"Then I'll go buy some Qibao Yiding." Zeng Xiang got up, took his wallet and keys and went out, asking her if she wanted to eat anything else.
Ye Zhao walked over and turned on the TV. After thinking about it, he realized there was nothing in particular he wanted to eat, so he asked him to buy some roast meat on the way. If not, forget it.
Zeng Xiang went out, Ye Zhao picked up the remote control and turned up the TV volume a little.
The couple downstairs are quarreling again. This new tenant quarrels every other day, which is a bit annoying.
She went and closed the window.
The TV was showing a compilation of floods that happened a while ago. In one clip, hundreds of thousands of big fish from the fish ponds ran out with the flood. The whole town was full of fish. People held nets and went fishing in the flood.
Ye Zhao stared at the TV screen, his thoughts wandering. If fish can move around with the flood, other things should be able to do the same.
She immediately picked up the phone and called Huang Dongliang.
Huang Dongliang just came back from Dongshan Town. He said, "I was just about to call you. The matter with Xiangxi Village has basically been settled. The director gave very favorable conditions."
Ye Zhao said: "That's good. Tomorrow you and Sister Sun will come to Shenzhen City together, and we will study the matter of Xiangxi Village carefully."
Huang Dongliang: "I know. Sister Sun told me."
Ye Zhao asked: "Brother Liang, is there any problem with the small yellow ginger in the town recently?"
Huang Dongliang was a little stunned by the question: "What's the problem?"
Huang Dongliang: "The trees were soaked by the flood for a few days. Some of the trees were severely soaked and have yellow leaves, but overall it's not serious and should be fine after a while."
Ye Zhao asked again: "Are there many ginger fields in Xishan Town that were flooded?"
Huang Dongliang smiled and said: "Most of them were flooded. Only a small part of the high ground was not flooded. But this is not a big problem. There were floods in previous years, so it will not have a big impact on the small yellow ginger."
This year is different from previous years.
"The small yellow gingers in the villages that Song Rongji had chosen were all soaked by the flood, right?"
"Of course. Their villages are the lowest in terrain, and they are basically all flooded."
Ye Zhao said: "Now go find a ginger field that has been soaked by the flood and secretly dig out a few small yellow gingers to study and see if the roots are rotten. Also dig up small yellow gingers that have not been soaked by the flood and compare them to see if there is any difference."
Huang Dongliang didn't understand: "Why?"
"You should do it quickly."
"Okay, soon, there will be small yellow ginger growing here."
After hanging up the phone, Ye Zhao suddenly felt a little nervous and his heart beat faster. Perhaps this was an opportunity given by God.
Or maybe, this was Song Rongji's fate that had been determined long ago, and she just pushed the time back a year.
She couldn't concentrate on watching TV, so she just lay on the sofa in a daze.
Brother Xiang bought some roast meat and instant noodles and came back. He boiled water in the kitchen to cook the noodles.
Ye Zhao smelled the aroma of fried salted fish next door, and his mind was excited, but his stomach was not hungry at all.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
Ye Zhao quickly picked up the phone, and it turned out to be Aunt Qiao calling. She was playing at the eastern beach and called back from the phone booth to tell them that if they didn't go out to eat, there was some stuffed tofu in the refrigerator that they could just steam with rice.
Ye Zhao was afraid of occupying the phone line, so he quickly said okay and hung up.
Sure enough, as soon as I hung up the phone, the ringtone rang again, this time it was Huang Dongliang.
Ye Zhao asked anxiously: "How is it?"
Huang Dongliang: "It's a bit strange. The turmeric that has not been soaked in water is normal, there is no doubt about that. But the turmeric that has been soaked in flood water looks fine at the root, but it rots when you pinch it."
Ye Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, "It could be ginger plague!"
"Ginger plague?" Huang Dongliang couldn't believe it. How could it be ginger plague
Ye Zhao explained: "Although the ginger fields that were infected with ginger blight last year were disinfected with lime this year and other crops were planted instead of small yellow ginger, some pathogens still survive in the soil. After this major flood, the ginger blight bacteria spread along with the flood..."
Huang Dongliang suddenly realized: "That means that the ginger fields that have been flooded have all been ambushed by the ginger plague?"
"Yes. It should be."
"But the flood has receded for so many days, why hasn't the ginger plague broken out yet?"
"Hasn't the root already started to rot? Maybe the ginger plague has weakened due to the flood, so the outbreak is slower this time. The slower it is in the early stages, the more severe it will be in the later stages."
Huang Dongliang sighed, "Song Rongji cancelled the cooperation, so we have dodged a disaster, right?"
Ye Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "We must not only escape this disaster, but also make good use of this ginger plague to severely damage Song Rongji."
Huang Dongliang was also excited: "Okay! I support! Kill them!"
"Do you know how many ginger fields are not soaked in water?"
"Not much. Anyway, the few villages that Song Rongji bought that were not soaked probably have less than a thousand kilograms. The other villages that were not soaked, combined, probably didn't even collect 10,000 kilograms. Should we collect these young yellow gingers?"
"Don't rush to collect them. Dig up some small yellow ginger from a few more places and send them here immediately. We'll take them to a professional organization for testing to determine whether it's ginger plague or not." Ye Zhao had to make sure it was ginger plague before he could proceed with the next step.
Huang Dongliang is ready to do a big job.
Brother Xiang brought out instant noodles, a plate of barbecued pork, and a plate of roast duck. He heard everything she had just said to Huang Dongliang.
He asked her, "This is a godsend opportunity. What are your plans? Do you still have some ginger?"
"We only have about 10,000 to 20,000 kilograms of small yellow ginger, which is not much. We can't make much money with this small amount of small yellow ginger. In fact, even if I do nothing, it will be enough to cause Song Rongji to suffer a big setback. However, if I do something big, Song Rongji will never be able to recover. I need to find a helper." The helper Ye Zhao thought of was Dingsheng Fenghua. As long as she told Dingsheng Fenghua about her plan, the other party would definitely be interested.
When capital smells blood, it will be tempted.
If Dingsheng Fenghua was not interested, there were still Song Rongji's competitors. She didn't have enough money and couldn't fight alone.
Zeng Xiang listened to her passionate words. He believed in her strategy and judgment: "You don't have to look for Dingsheng Fenghua and others. I can cooperate with you to seize the equity of Song Rongji."
Ye Zhao stared at her brother Xiang and said worriedly, "Brother Xiang, this will cost a lot of money. I have to find Dingsheng Fenghua because I don't have money. Otherwise, I would have taken down Song Rongji by myself."
Zeng Xiang picked up a piece of roast duck for her and said, "Tell me how much money you need. If I don't have enough money, I can find a way to raise it."
Yes, Zeng Xiang, the future big boss Luo Shen, the heir of the Luo family, his confidence shows that he can really mobilize funds. It is better to give benefits to Brother Xiang than to others.
Ye Zhao patted him gently and said, "Brother Xiang, if you follow me, as long as you are willing to invest money, you will definitely make a fortune. By then, the control of Song Rongji will be yours."
Zeng Xiang was amused by Ye Zhao's impassioned speech. He followed her lead and said, "Okay, I'll follow you and you protect me."
"No, you protect me." Ye Zhao immediately flattered him modestly.
Ye Zhao briefly told him about his plan, and the two of them had similar interests and hit it off immediately.
Brother Xiang is responsible for making money, and Ye Zhao is responsible for doing things. The division of labor is clear.
They were chatting excitedly when someone knocked on the door. Zeng Xiang went to open the door and saw Feng Ma standing at the door, carrying a lot of bags and a folding bed on the floor next to her.
"Young Master! It's great to have you at home." Aunt Feng was afraid that it would be Zeng Erqiao who opened the door. Zeng Erqiao might not give her face and directly drive her away, and she would not be able to report back.
Zeng Xiang was surprised: "Feng Ma, why are you here?"
Aunt Feng walked in directly. "Your grandmother and your aunt are worried. They said you lost weight the last time you went back, so they asked me to come here to take care of you. If you don't gain some weight in the next ten days, I won't be able to report back."
Zeng Xiang had no choice but to help her bring in the folding bed.
As soon as Feng Ma came in, she smelled the aroma of instant noodles: "What are you eating?"
Walking into the living room, seeing Ye Zhao eating instant noodles, Feng Ma shook her head and said, "Just eating instant noodles? No wonder you've lost weight."
Zeng Xiang introduced them: "Xiao Zhao, this is Feng Ma, the nanny who brought me up, and this is... Ye Zhao!"
Ye Zhao had heard Aunt Qiao mention that Aunt Feng had been living here to take care of Brother Xiang, so she politely greeted her, "Hello, Aunt Feng."
Of course Feng Ma knew who Ye Zhao was. She came here just to keep an eye on this girl. As expected, she discovered the situation as soon as she arrived: a single man and a single woman were eating instant noodles at home and having an affair.
"Have you eaten?" Ye Zhao asked politely.
Mother Feng shook her head: "I don't eat instant noodles."
She was familiar with the place and wanted to move her things into Ye Zhao's room because that was her room before.
Zeng Xiang stopped him and said, "This room has been rented to Ye Zhao. Aunt Feng, why don't you ask the driver to pick you up? There are only three rooms at home, and there is no place to stay."
Aunt Feng felt a little sad after hearing this. Her young master used to get used to her leaving for just one or two days, and now he was driving her away.
"I know, so I brought a folding bed. This room is a little bigger, so there is more than enough space for a folding bed."
"This is not good." Zeng Xiang glanced at Ye Zhao.
Ye Zhao also felt embarrassed. She smiled and said, "Mother Feng, I rented that room. I can't sleep with another person in the room."
"Oh!" Mother Feng was even sadder. She didn't expect the little girl to be so unreasonable. It was impossible for her to keep an eye on her all the time.
But she was an old servant of a wealthy family after all, and she knew the rules. She had always endured Zeng Erqiao's criticism of her in the past, let alone such a small matter. She smiled and said, "Then I'll sleep in the living room. Just don't think I'm in the way."
Zeng Xiang and Ye Zhao looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to say.
Mother Feng put her things on the balcony and moved the folding bed in at night. Then she started to work and made soup for her young master.
When Zeng Erqiao came back in the evening, Feng Ma had already prepared dinner. In Zeng Erqiao's eyes, Feng Ma was the Luo family's spy. She would rather do the work herself than have one more person at home.
But Feng Ma was thick-skinned and humble. She pretended not to hear any unpleasant words and could not be driven away.
We can only live in peace temporarily.
Ye Zhao and Zeng Xiang have been sticking together almost all the time these past two days. They were busy discussing strategies to deal with Song Rongji. Every time Feng Ma approached, they both tacitly kept silent.
When Feng Ma came back this time, she had a high-tech product hidden in her bag, a mobile phone.
Wow, many big bosses don’t have this thing, but she, a servant, has it.
At night, she secretly called Guo Xuyan on the balcony and reported the situation truthfully in a low voice, "They are like sugar idiots, wishing to stick together every minute of every second... They must be together... No, they sleep separately... She doesn't care. I see she gives the delicious food to the girl first. It seems that she likes it very much... Okay, okay... Do you want to make two servings of soup? And one for the girl too... Yes, I know, I don't look down on her... Hey, she is beautiful, much prettier than Miss Song... I will sleep in the living room... It's okay, it's my duty... I can't help..."
In the conference room of Song Rongji Hong Kong City Head Office, Mrs. Song listened to the work report of the person in charge of the ninth floor of Ahua Japanese Restaurant.
Several big clients had been poached, and these orders from Shijiulou were small orders in front of Song Rongji. However, Mrs. Song's heart was bleeding as she had lost her important clients to Ye Zhao.
Song Tai closed his eyes slightly, very disappointed, "In other words, Sheng He Ji teamed up with Ding Sheng Feng Hua to deal with us, right?"
Mr. Dong, the person in charge of Food 9, nodded and said, "They teamed up to trick us."
"Don't say they cheated us, you dug the hole yourself! Do you know how difficult it is to build a business? A preservative killed us! President Dong, are you responsible for this?!"
President Dong was not convinced: "Yes, I am responsible. I take overall responsibility. But why did we offend Sheng Heji? Why should we get involved in their drivers' strike? And now we are suing their head office in the mainland? I didn't offend this thief!"
Ah Hua was also trying to pass the buck: "Boss Dong, are you blaming me? Giving up cooperation with Zhao Hua was the company's decision, I was just executing it. Flies don't bite seamless eggs, the illegal use of banned preservatives is the main problem, don't try to divert the conflict."
Mrs. Song covered her forehead. At the critical moment, no one really stood up to take responsibility. They were all shirking responsibility! This meeting was meaningless.
Fortunately, there is good news.
Mr. Liao said that Song Rongji received a large overseas order for ginger candy, and they exceeded their performance target this year!
This is a great joyous event.
(End of this chapter)