The next morning.
Lin Fan was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of his mobile phone.
"Hello~"
Lin Fan squinted, picked up his phone, and greeted weakly.
"Xiao Fan, still sleeping in?"
A surprising voice came from the receiver.
"Ayue, why is it you?"
Lin Fan sat up abruptly.
"I've been busy for over an hour, and you're still in bed?" Zheng Yue complained in a soft voice, seemingly trying to show off her diligence.
Lin Fan took the phone away and looked at it. It was only a little past seven. "Why are you up so early?"
"There are too many things I need to worry about." Zheng Yue propped the phone between her ear and shoulder, reaching out to take the hot milk handed by her secretary. "I have something to tell you, Uncle Xie has sent people from the supermarket procurement department."
"They'll arrive this morning. I'll notify you when they get here, and you can take them to see the goods."
She paused, then added, "You can quote any price, as long as it's not a loss. Actually, a small loss wouldn't matter. Uncle Xie has mentioned it to me many times, wanting to invite you to his home as a guest."
"I'll see if I have time," Lin Fan shook his head. Siam was a place of trouble, and he never wanted to go there again.
"Alright, that's all. I'll hang up now." Every beginning is difficult. Zheng Yue, new to Shimen County, still had a lot to do.
She was a strong woman who did everything herself and had almost no free time.
She only managed to call Lin Fan while having breakfast.
Just as she was about to hang up, she suddenly thought of something and anxiously asked, "Xiao Fan, what's your relationship with President Su?"
"Business partners," Lin Fan said without hesitation. "I only understand medicine and know nothing about business. She was the one who eagerly sought to cooperate with me, and I thought she was alright..."
"Is it her figure that's alright, or her face that's alright?" Zheng Yue's tone was a little displeased.
"What are you thinking?" Lin Fan felt guilty.
"In short, no matter what your past relationship was, you have me now, and I'll make her retreat." Zheng Yue said confidently and hung up the phone.
"Hello, hello." Lin Fan looked helpless. "Good heavens, what's gotten into her?"
It seemed Su Yurou was in for some trouble.
Should he tell her?
Lin Fan quickly dismissed the thought.
"When the wicked meet, the wicked shall be punished." Let them scheme against each other for now!
Ten o'clock in the morning.
Lin Fan couldn't fulfill his promise to Tian Mengyao. He washed the van and then drove to Shimen Town.
Lotus Supermarket attached great importance to this procurement, sending their Deputy General Manager of the Chinese business district, a kind man named Chen Zhiming, who treated Lin Fan with great respect.
He was accompanied by his deputy, a refined-looking man wearing glasses, who appeared to have a high level of education.
The group set off for Xiajiagou.
On the way, Lin Fan called his sister-in-law, asking her to inform Xia Deya.
After two hours of difficult travel, Lin Fan's van and Chen Zhiming's SUV finally stopped at the entrance of Xiajiagou village.
"Uncle Deya, why are you waiting here?"
Lin Fan saw a few people standing at the village entrance from afar. As he got closer, he realized it was Xia Xiangqian and his wife, Xia Deya, and two unfamiliar people, likely village committee cadres.
"Xiao Fan, you're here." Xia Deya greeted him warmly.
Everyone's eyes lit up as they looked at Chen Zhiming.
Xia Deya beamed and stepped forward, "Hello, hello, welcome to our Xiajiagou. I am Xia Deya, the village party secretary."
"Hello, I am Chen Zhiming, Deputy General Manager of the Chinese business district for Lotus Chain Supermarkets." Chen Zhiming, without any airs, shook hands with Xia Deya.
"Please, please come in." Xia Deya made a gesture.
The group walked into the village.
Before long, Chen Zhiming saw rows of toon trees along both sides of the dirt road.
"This is the toon from your village, right?"
"That's right."
Xia Deya nodded excitedly. "Please wait a moment, I'll pick some samples for you to see."
"Uncle Deya, I'll go," Lin Fan offered, seeing that the road was difficult to walk.
"I can do it myself. You don't understand these things." Xia Deya was afraid Lin Fan would pick old leaves or poorly grown toon, leaving a bad impression.
He walked towards the toon grove, his steps no less vigorous than a young man's.
"We'll go pick some too, so you can see the quality of our Xiajiagou toon."
Two village cadres also followed, carefully walking over the small stone slope towards the toon grove.
At this moment, Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cuie felt as if they were dreaming.
They actually found someone this quickly?
It all happened so suddenly that the elderly couple found it hard to accept.
"Manager Chen, I've picked them. Please take a look."
A moment later, Xia Deya and the two village cadres returned.
They held a large pile of fresh toon buds, a vibrant red and emerald green.
Chen Zhiming picked up a toon leaf and put it in his mouth, chewing it carefully.
Xia Deya smiled fawningly. "How is it? Delicious?"
"The taste is good," Chen Zhiming nodded. "Does your village use pesticides on your toon?"
"They grow in the wild. Who would spray them?"
"Yes, our village's toon has been here for so many years, no one has ever managed it, and it has spread into such a large area."
"Manager Chen, if you're not satisfied, you can take it back and test it. If there's any pesticide, we won't take a single cent."
Everyone guaranteed.
Chen Zhiming glanced at the toon grove in the distance and raised no further questions.
In fact, he was just going through the motions today. The procurement was definitely going to happen, as it was an order from the group headquarters.
"Secretary Xia, how much do you sell your toon for?" Chen Zhiming asked.
"This..." Xia Deya hesitated, not daring to speak.
He was afraid that if he quoted too low, the villagers would complain that he had let them down.
And he was afraid that if he quoted too high, they would find it too expensive and leave immediately.
"One hundred yuan per jin."
At this moment, a clear voice rang out.
If it wasn't Lin Fan, who else could it be.
"Hiss!"
Everyone gasped.
Xia Deya choked, his chest puffing up, his head buzzing.
The two village cadres behind him were stunned, not even noticing that the toon in their hands had fallen to the ground.
"Oh, my heavens!" Xia Xiangqian stumbled, almost falling.
Fortunately, Xia Cuie supported him. The elderly couple swayed before standing firm.
Chen Zhiming turned his head and smiled faintly at Lin Fan, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Instead, Xia Deya panicked.
They had finally managed to invite the big boss to buy toon, and such a sky-high price would surely scare him away!
His idea was to quote a high price if they were buying in bulk, say, twelve yuan per jin.
Ask for the sky, settle on the ground.
After some negotiation, they could sell it for ten or eight yuan.
It was better than selling it to small vendors for two yuan a jin.
He never expected Lin Fan to shout out a sky-high price!
Even he, the seller, couldn't accept it.
How much was a jin of pork?
How much did it cost to buy a chicken in the countryside?
A jin of toon for two old hens, this was too exaggerated and ridiculous!