Chapter 164: To Counter Every Move
Qi Yu wanted to play a hooligan but Fu Yansheng was experiencing a rare bout of decency. “Don’t just recklessly interrupt like that. Did you listen to what I just said?”
“Uh-huh~” Of course Qi Yu heard it. The first part of what Fu Yansheng gave him a lot of reassurance. But the man said it so calmly that it seemed highlight his own uselessness. Qi Yu didn’t know just who it was he was competing against, pretending that everything was a piece of cake.
But he had to admit that Fu Yansheng did understand him. Indeed, he was unwilling to accept the help of the other party so easily. Advice and suggestions were fine, but directly helping him to pull in 500 million worth of investments was too heavy a favor. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to pay it back.
As for Xu Jing’s matter. In fact, the moment Fu Yansheng provoked him into getting angry, the depression in Qi Yu’s heart was relieved by a lot. He wasn’t going to do such a childish thing and call him and interrogate him.
Things having reached this point, he’ll just wait until they meet on a narrow road and see what tricks he had.
“Isn’t there still President Qu? Let’s talk about it after I’ve met with him.” Qi Yu said, unwilling to give up.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to talk to President Qu?” Fu Yansheng said, “You can’t just hope he’ll help because of favors. You’re both businessmen. You have to show him the practical benefits that Si Yuan can give him.”
Qi Yu thought about it: “Should I sign a conditional agreement with him for his investment? Given the scale of Long Xian Foods, it seems unlikely that they would want to take over Wang Zhendong’s share price in full, but at least they can invest in Mei Wei – Blooming Lotus and help us get through this difficult time. We can set a set return on investment for a specified number of years.”
“Guaranteeing him a profit is a good thing, of course. But have you ever thought about if you can’t meet the requirements in the conditional agreement?” Fu Yansheng reminded him, “Don’t forget that Mei Wei – Blooming Lotus is still currently burning money. Its development is dependent on stable financial support from the Group. There can only be one leader in each industry. If you can’t beat FIA, the situation may turn sharply against you. Wang Zhendong’s sudden divestment really is too strange. Before you’re able to find out the actual situation and reason for you, sigining a conditional agreement with President Qu akin to disco dancing in a condemned building. You might as well just borrow money from him directly.”
Qi Yu frowned deeply, “But the Si Yuan Group isn’t involved in any food or food related industry. It’s not possible to talk with him about the cooperation with Mei Wei – Blooming Lotus like I did with New Bird, right?”
Fu Yansheng: “No, Qiyu, you have to look at it from another angle. President Qu of Longxian Foods is a local businessman with a primary school education. I heard that most of the marketing strategies his company has launched in the past few years have come from his daughter who is still studying in Japan. Two years ago, this company had only been targetting cusotmers in small towns. Although the income from these customers was considerable, the quality was not enough and it would be difficult for them to scale up. On the other hand, Mei Wei is a well-known light luxury clothing brand both at home and abroad. The Si Yuan Group is also a listed company on the NSDK. Although the stock price has been suffering setbacks for a while, Long Xian Foods is very different from Si Yuan and Mei Wei in terms of brand awareness and influence.”
Qi Yu understood: “You mean to let them use Mei Wei and the Si Yuan Group to upgrade their brand?”
Fu Yansheng: “Yes, this is a chance that can only be discovered but not sought. Although you going to ask him, is you asking him a favor; but in his eyes, you, the son of the chairman of a large group, going to his small place, he might still think that you are loosening respect and degrading honor to go there.”
Qi Yu: “Oh…” No wonder Fu Yansheng told him set aside his lofty stance before. It seemed that President Qu would be more open to persuasion than Yang Xiaoxue.
Seeing Qi Yu’s furrowed brows stretch out, Fu Yansheng finally relaxed. With a smile at the corner of his lips, “Alright. Now how about we talk about how you just asked me to undress?”
Qi Yu: “…”
Qi Yu raised his eyebrows and said, “Why? You’re the one who keeps telling me to undress every time. Are you saying I can’t ask you to?”
“This is my first time finding you that you’re just as thirsty for me.” Fu Yansheng grabbed his collar and said mischievously, “However, what’s the point of watching me take off through a video call? There’s only six days until Christmas. If you want to watch me, I’ll go to you in six days and I’ll put on a show just for you.”
“…F*ck.” Qi Yu scolded with a smile. “Alright, come here then.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Fu Yansheng: “Then I’ll go book a flight?”
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After hanging up, Fu Yansheng was about to stretch out his hand to do something when his phone vibrated. He opened it and saw that Qi Yu had sent him another message.
Little Fish: “Before you see me, you are not allowed to bring yourself off.”
Fu Yansheng glanced at the bulge at a certain spot, cursed inwardly and replied with a smile, “Alright. I’ll keep it all for you.”
Qi Yu saw that it was past twelve o’clock. He remembered that he hadn’t finished talking to Ye Qinru just now, but afraid that calling him back at this hour would disturb the other party’s rest, Qi Yu decided to just send a text message.
Qi Yu: “I hadn’t found any news about Lin Huan holding any shares in New Bird. Although Yang Xiaoxue said that today, it might not necessarily be true. Let’s not give up any possibility and talk to her directly about the strength of our company.”
The next morning, he received a reply from Ye Qinru—
Ye Qinru: “I already figured it out after our talk last night, Chief Qi [thumbs up]”
Ye Qinru: “Don’t worry, I will try my best.”
***
Two days later, Qi Yu took Chu Meng to Nanshi to see President Qu.
At Fu Yansheng’s prompting, Qi Yu asked Chu Meng to find a lot of information about Long Xian Food for him to study. President Qu’s full name is Qu Weixiang and he was similar in age to Qi Yuancheng. Long Xian Foods Co., Ltd. was established in Longfang County, a small county in Nanshi. It could be regarded as a popular local enterprise. It occupied the space of more than ten fields and housed a dormitory for their workers, a factory, office building and other such establishments.
On the day of their meeting, Wang Meng took them to leave at 6:00 in the morning and drove for three and a half hours. They arrived at the Long Xian Foods at around 9:30. Qu Weixiang received their call and personally brought his assistant down to greet them.
“You are Chief Qi of Shanyu Investment? Welcome! Welcome!” President Qu, seeing that Qi Yu was so young but didn’t put on any airs and was even very amiable and cordial. “It must have been very hard for you, coming to our small place all the way from Haicheng on such a cold day. I hope the journey hadn’t been too unpleasant!”
Fu Yansheng is right. Qu Weixiang’s disregard for dress and plain words gave people the impression that he was a businessman with full of hometown flavor. As before, Qi Yu still naturally and unrestrainedly expressed their respect. This time, he brought with him two bottles of expensive foreign wine as a first-meeting gift.
“Thank you, you’re too kind!” Qu Weixiang accepted it with a smile and said quickly, “Well, don’t just stand here. Come in, come in. Let me show you around first!”
As he spoke, he led Qi Yu to get on a door-less sightseeing car similar to those in tourist areas. He explained: “The factory is relatively big and walking it would be very tiring. Riding on this is most convenient. I raised this company from the bottom up and now we have about 300 workers. Building No. 1 is our factory for processing dried fruit and candied plums… Hey, let me tell you, it was my daughter who came up with the idea of producing these candied peaches and plums. She told me that those unpalatable preserved plums sold in bulk at the supermarkets were already outdated. We needed to improve the quality and take the high-quality route. Three plums are placed in a small pack and we invested in a high-end design for our packaging. It’s designed to look right at home in those 24-hour convenience stores! It was positioned together with specialty chewing gums and it’s selling really well! It’s a good thing I listened to her. When our plum candies came out, we were sold out almost every month!”
Qu Weixiang and Qi Yu were sitting in the first row. President Qu introduced the company’s performance and at the same time, bragged about his daughter as well. When he was excited, his words would come out with spittle and he would flail his hands about, expressing his feelings with his body. Chu Meng just wanted extend her briefcase to serve as a protective block for Qi Yu.
However, Qi Yu listened very carefully and asked a lot of questions during the tour which greatly stimulated Qu Weixiang’s desire to talk about his company. From the candied plum factory to the factory producing popped rice and corn to their facility for processing chocolate; they would often go then stop to talk, they would even drop into the workrooms to take a look. The tour took a full hour of visiting!
Longfang County is located to the south of the Yellow River. During the tailend of December, the winds were piercingly cold. When they finally arrived at the office building, Chu Meng was freezing.
Qu Weixiang took them into the elevator, pressed “2”, and said with a smile, “This building has eight floors and is the tallest building in our entire company. When it was just built, they all asked me to set up the chairman’s office on the highest floor. But I insisted on being on the second floor. It’s great being on the second floor, it’s so convenient going up and down!”
Qi Yu asked, “Then, what’s upstairs?”
Qu Weixiang: “Finance, the planning department, advertising department, etc. Don’t let the height fool you. We only take up around three and a half floors. Most of the top half is empty. So tell me, how could I dare put my office on the top floor? If I come to work overtime in the middle of the night, there won’t be anyone on the floors below. And if the elevator breaks down, I’d be scared to death…”
Qi Yu raised the corner of his lips. “President Qu is very funny. Looking at the momentum of your Long Xian Foods, the company will definitely expand in the future. Those empty floors will come in handy.”
Qu Weixiang smiled and said, “My daughter will also have graduated by then. I have already agreed with her that she will be the chairman and I will work for her.”
Qi Yu glanced at him and said with a smile, “You really dote on your daughter.”
Qu Weixiang: “She’s my only daughter, how can I not dote on her? Besides, how can an rough person like me with only a primary school education compare to college students like you two? Right now, I’m just paving the way for her. When she comes, she will definitely do better than I ever have!”
While talking, Qu Weixiang took them into the chairman’s office. The office was only about 30 square meters, with half being his office and the other half serving as a reception area. There were only two old leather sofas and a wooden coffee table in the reception area.
Chu Meng thought that it would be a little warmer inside than outside. But unexpectedly, from the downstairs hall to the chairman’s office, there hadn’t been any air conditioner turned on. By this time, she was already shivering from the cold.
Qu Weixiang ordered his assistant to make two cups of tea for them. He then looked to Qi Yu again and said, “Chief Qi seems quite young. You’ll probably be graduating soon, right?”
Qi Yu: “I have half a year before I graduate.”
“Ah? Is that so? So, you’re only a year older than our Xianxian!” Qu Weixiang couldn’t sizing up at Qi Yu. He saw that this young man had a proper face and his words and actions were all top notch. His heart was filled with admiration, “But I think Chief Qi is a lot more steady than my daughter. As expected from someone who’s been trained to be the heir of such big group since childhood…”
Qi Yu was stunned. He came here today as the CEO of Shanyu Investment Company. It stood to reason that Chief Qu shouldn’t be aware of his other identities. Could it be that he’d heard something Xu Jing from before?
Qu Weixiang sighed. Only then did he realize that Chu Meng had her hands cupped together breathing into them. He hurriedly asked, “Manager Chu, are you cold?”
Chu Meng said: “Ah, it was probably the wind outside. It was quite cold.”
Qu Weixiang got up quickly, walked out and shouted, “Xiao Wang! Xiao Wang! … You can make a hot water bottle for Manager Chu after you finish making that tea!”
Xiao Wang: “…Okay!”
Chu Meng glanced at the vertical air conditioner in the office and began to suspect that it there just for decoration.
After returning, Qu Weixiang said apologetically, “Manager Chu, I’m sorry. I just didn’t notice that our female comrades aren’t quite so resistant to the cold. Don’t worry, once Xiao Wang come in with that hot water bottle, you’ll warm up quickly.”
Chu Meng smiled and said, “It’s okay. I’ll be fine with that hot tea in a while!”
Qu Weixiang was about to sit down when he suddenly remembered something and said, “Wait a minute”, and hurried out again.
Hearing Qu Weixiang’s retreating footsteps, only then did Chu Meng say to Qi Yu, mood complicated, “Chief Qi, this Long Xian Foods looks so shabby. Why do I feel like they might not be reliable?”
Qi Yu looked around. He too felt a little uneasy in his heart, but his father taught him since he was a child that you mustn’t judge a person by their appearance. The sea cannot be measured with a bushel. Qu Weixiang might appear as though he were being small-minded, lacking in his reception of guests who’ve come from so far away. However, this might also simply reflect his plain and simple lifestyle.
From frugal to extravagant, that the chairman of a proper listed company despite his wealth could still maintain this sort of humble lifestyle, somewhat amazed Qi Yu. Compared to those businessmen who displayed their wealth, President Qu was more practical and pragmatic.
“Let’s wait and see,” he said.
Qu Weixiang came back soon after. He was on the chubbier side and after going back and forth like this, there was actually a thin layer of sweat on his head. He was in sharp contrast to the shivering Chu Meng.
He wiped his forehead and said with a smile, “I was so engrossed on touring you around the company that I forgot that it’s almost lunch time. I just went to tell the canteen chef to cook us up something delicious. In a bit, we’ll go down and have something eat.”
Qi Yu said politely, “A casual lunch would do. President Qu doesn’t have to worry too much. The main reason for our coming here today is to discuss a possible cooperation with you.”
Qu Weixiang interrupted him, “I know, I know. Chief Xu called me!”
Qi Yu: “Chief Xu? You mean Xu Jing?”
Qu Weixiang smiled and said, “En, he called me just yesterday.”
Qi Yu was stunned, how could Xu Jing have known that he was coming to find Qu Weixiang?
Qu Weixiang’s assistant Xiao Wang came in, put the hot tea in front of them and handed the hot water bottle to Chu Meng. After he left, Qi Yu raised his eyes and asked, “What did Chief Xu tell you?”
Qu Weixiang: “He said that the Si Yuan Group, the company above Shanyu, has encountered some difficulties recently and that you might come to me for help. Chief Xu has been a man of honor for our Long Xian. It was thanks to Shanyu’s investment that we were able to expand our production and multiply our profits. He was the one who introduced me Manager Hong of Yudong Securities to help us with Long Xian’s listing. Since you experiencing difficulties now, naturally, I should help but…”
Seeing that the other party hesitated to speak, Qi Yu asked, “But…?”
Qu Weixiang smiled and said, “Before that, Chief Xu hopes you can call him.”
Qi Yu’s eyes narrowed – before what? Before Qu Weixiang helps them?
What did Xu Jing mean by this? Was he trying to tell him that without this favor he’d won, Qu Weixiang wouldn’t have agreed to take action?
Qi Yu only felt a surge of anger in his chest. He said solemnly, “Alright. President Qu, is there someplace I can use to make a call?”
Qu Weixiang pointed to the side and said, “There’s an empty conference room next door.”
Translator’s note:
I’m so sorry to have to do this, especially since we’re now close to the end (about 20 or so chapters) but with the whole world (except China apparently) deciding to just live with the pandemic and move on, I find myself even busier than before. Hermit-ting was so much easier and so much more conducive to translating. Ugh. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I’ll have to reduce the number of releases per week from 5 to 3 releases. Regular releases will be on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays; with unplanned releases on Monday and Thursday (basically, if I get to translate more I’ll do releases on Mondays and Thursday as well.) In short, I’ll try my best to translate more than 3 a week but no promises. Again, I’m so sorry. orz
Im kinda getting irritated with Xu Jing. Although I do want them to make up, isn’t he being a bit too petty..? Or is this just me?
Its perfectly fine, need to force yourself to translate for us all the time! I’m fine even with an update once a week! Use this time to take a break 👍
Thanks for the chapter ♥️
Not just you – I think that Xu Jing just wants to monopolize Qi Yu and can’t stand that he’s listened to and learnt better from someone more trusted… urgh ._.
It’s definitely not just you 😂 I was expecting so much more maturity from Xu Jing considering how long he’s been with the Qi family but apparently not
Thanks so much for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter and take your time with the release! Not much more left now 😊
Definitely mushroom-sama, no need to rush yourself! Like the other reader said, even once a week is okay.
I am sad for Qi Yu, and eager for them to talk it out. QY didn’t handle their relationship well, and maybe he needs to get some things off his chest.
Thanks for your hard work!
real life comes first, take all the rest you need. <33 Nice to know there’s 20 left
now im curious as to why xu jing wants qi yu to call him? He too knows that they differ in opinions and every single conversation between them is intense, unless one of them concede or something they won’t be able to cooperate with each other. if qi yu calls will he come back? is qi yu even willing to have him back?
thanks for the chapter!
wow, who does xj think he is? If only I could personally smack him in the head.
Xu Jing this damn bro…
i wonder why ppl say qy didn’t handle their relationship well and put on him the onus of repair? he did in fact choose to go to xj for help and even explained when he could but not only xj treated him as a child but couldn’t let go of his pride, childish of being the qy confidant.
qy is the only one that were trying to figure out a way for it to work.
posting this on reread cause ppl only blame qy, even if xj as an older adult should know better
seconded