Chapter 62: A New Business Partner

The top administrator of Liaoshi gazed at the passbook in his hands, wondering whether Yu Yang had handed it over by accident or on purpose.

One thing, however, was certain: the 25 million was real.

It was hardly a secret that Old Dong had allocated funds to the Yu Family Village for road construction and parking lot development.

What he had not expected, though, was for the funds to end up in Yu Yang's hands.

Thus, the young man before him was undoubtedly resourceful and well-connected.

At that moment, Yu Yang took back the large-sum passbook and handed over a loan document from the Liaoshi Commercial Bank instead. "Leader, investment is investment, but I've heard that public security around here leaves much to be desired."

The Liaoshi administrator had not anticipated Yu Yang cutting straight to the chase. Taken aback for a fraction of a second, he asked, "Is that so?"

"Not only is it so, but it also happened to one of my major clients. Twenty semi-trucks, their drivers and owner were detained first and then beaten. Half of the cargo on board went missing, resulting in a loss of over 200,000. I hear the trailer parts were even resold by the culprits to an auto parts factory, while my major client was forced to replace them with heavily worn, nearly scrapped parts. Just like that, the losses mounted to over a million."

Hearing this, the Liaoshi administrator's expression stiffened as he glanced at his secretary.

The secretary shook his head violently as if he had just touched a live electric wire.

The administrator's face darkened instantly. "Little Yu, go back to the hotel and rest. I will look into this and be right back."

With that, he climbed into a Passat and sped away.

The township mayor also looked deeply troubled. "Are Old韩 and Zhang Hai really in such a miserable state?"

"The details aren't entirely clear yet, but if we don't speak up, we'll undoubtedly suffer in silence."

This was an era where rules were somewhat loosely observed.

What Yu Yang had just told the Liaoshi administrator—people beaten, goods sold, parts swapped—was extremely commonplace in another timeline.

Because those dirty hands detaining the transport fleet—no, they should be called temporary workers—were not paid out of the fiscal budget. They received only a tiny monthly wage, sometimes none at all.

To feed their families, the only way they could make ends meet while handling cases was by skimming, extorting, demanding, and taking bribes.

Therefore, presenting the passbook had not been a mistake.

Much like what Colonel Zhou of the county armed forces department had said, only by making oneself more important would they be taken seriously.

Look, even the Liaoshi administrator had gone to handle the matter personally.

If he had not done this, his side would have swallowed a bitter loss, and seeking redress afterward would have been extraordinarily difficult.

The township mayor used to be an honest man, someone who at most would swap out license plates during investment promotion events.

After listening to Yu Yang's description, he fell into a long silence.

At last, he sighed, "Their hearts are all rotten."

The vice mayor and the director of the investment promotion office nodded in vehement agreement. "Our Shiliying is still the place with honest folk—modest, benevolent, and without so many crooked turns in our guts."

The chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company twitched at the corners of his mouth.

You might not have crooked turns in your guts, but you guys directly pull out straight-barreled shotguns and cannons!

Besides, if you didn't have crooked turns in your guts, how could your big boss have anticipated the other party's every move?

At this thought, the chairman felt a chill run down his spine.

At the age of eighteen or nineteen, where on earth did he acquire so much insight and such formidable methods?

In a daze, he felt as though he were looking at a young version of Old Dong.

Hiss...

………

After the Liaoshi administrator left, the head of the Liaoshi investment promotion agency hurried over to host them.

To fulfill the duties of a host, he moved them to a larger private dining room, ordering a full spread of premium cigarettes, alcohol, and dishes, awaiting only the return of the Liaoshi administrator.

The township mayor declared himself unsuited for such high-end affairs and led the vice mayor and the investment director to arrange food and lodging for the burly dark-skinned men and the financial staff.

Yu Yang, accompanied by the chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company, sat in the private room's reception area to rest temporarily.

As for the chairman of the Liaoshi Urban Construction Company and the plump female shareholder of the fertilizer factory, they had quietly slipped away the moment they saw the Liaoshi administrator.

The head of Liaoshi investment promotion lit a cigarette and struck up a conversation. "Boss Yu hasn't had the chance to tour Liaoshi yet, has he?"

"Our places aren't far apart. When I was a mischievous kid, I even crossed the Yellow River and came over to your side. I was especially well-read in *Water Margin*, so I made special trips to Yanggu, Gaotang, and Dong'e. It's just that Western Luxi was uniformly poor back then, unlike the south where ancient architecture is meticulously restored, so I couldn't spot any traces left from the novel."

"Indeed. If we had the money back when *Water Margin* was filmed three years ago, we certainly would have pulled the crew over here to boost tourism."

"My purpose in coming this time is twofold: first, to procure a batch of cement, asphalt, steel, and fine aggregate; second, to build a marketplace on the site of the old plastic factory."

"I wonder how much construction material Boss Yu intends to procure?"

"You've probably heard that I'm developing mechanized plastic greenhouses. Not the kind for tractors, but ones utilizing steel rail transport.

Since Western Luxi doesn't have an abundance of pine trees to manufacture railway ties, we adopted a novel design for the tracks.

Our factory currently covers thirty thousand mu, and in the future, it might expand toward Taiqian in Beihe. After all, Shiliying is too far from Pingdong County, and among the surrounding counties and districts, only Taiqian has a railway station. If our company wants to ship goods out by train, we have no choice but to go through there."

The head of Liaoshi investment promotion burned with keen interest. "Does that mean the demand will be massive?"

"For the initial phase, we'll order two million. Afterward, depending on market prices, we'll consider whether to continue sourcing from Liaoshi."

"Easily done. With the municipal government's backing, the building material manufacturers will certainly give you a satisfactory price."

"Then I shall have to trouble your esteemed city."

"A minor matter. Actually, Liaoshi's investment environment is truly excellent. At the very least, our population and land area are four to five times larger than Taishi's. Whether it's vegetable cultivation or domestic sales, we have the advantage over Taishi, and our level of support will exceed what Old Dong provided."

"Is that so? That's wonderful! I worked myself to the bone to build such a massive enterprise, and Old Dong only gave 60 million from start to finish—among which was 5 million in credit cooperative loans, 25 million for road and parking lot construction, 20 million for residential building construction, and over a dozen refrigerated truck bodies... I wonder how much your esteemed city can offer?"

"..."

Has Old Dong lost his mind?

Pouring 60 million into an agricultural company with a registered capital of just 1 million in Taishi!

Yet, the head of Liaoshi investment promotion knew that Yu Yang was not exaggerating.

He even knew that Taishi had agreed to let Sanyuan Agriculture lay tracks inside its factory grounds and operate electric locomotives.

The Liaoshi administrator certainly lacked that kind of boldness.

For no other reason than that innovative projects carried too high a risk and too long a payback period.

If it succeeded, before results could be reaped, the administrator might be transferred away, making wedding garments for someone else.

If it failed, the administrator would be held accountable.

Weighing the pros and cons, no one was willing to take it on.

Still, as the head of investment promotion, win or lose, he had to make the utmost effort.

"Liaoshi cannot provide that much funding all at once, but the factory can be built gradually, and we can grant you a zero-interest loan every year. Furthermore, Liaoshi possesses something Taishi lacks."

"Oh?"

"Convenient transportation! West to Handan, east to Dongshan Prefecture, north to the capital, south to Heishi and Jishui. We have national highways, railways, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal."

"Except we lack an expressway."

"..."

"Pardon me, it just slipped out. We'll have one in the future."

"Yes, yes, haha."

Both sides felt a tinge of awkwardness, so they wisely dropped the subject.

Yu Yang brought up cement, asphalt, rebar, and fine aggregate once more to ease the atmosphere.

Soon, the conversation shifted to the marketplace on the site of the old plastic factory.

"I haven't quite made up my mind yet whether to open a specialty vegetable market or a large canteen."

The investment promotion head pondered this. "Why not do both at once?"

"Hmm?"

"Run a fast-food operation while selling semi-finished products, and simultaneously take reservations for pre-packaged vegetable boxes.

In other words, if they want to eat in the shop, we cook it for them.

If they aren't eating in the shop, we prep the ingredients, pack them in fresh-keeping boxes, include the seasonings, and attach notes detailing how to cook, stir-fry, add spices, and control the heat...

Customers can also check off items on a vegetable order sheet, leave a deposit today, and we'll have everything ready for them to pick up directly tomorrow.

This way, the variety of goods we can sell expands exponentially.

Whether someone loves cooking, lacks culinary skills, or simply wants to show off by cooking a rare meal, everyone will be fully satisfied."

"Makes sense."

Yu Yang slapped his thigh and gave a thumbs-up.

He had considered similar concepts, akin to outdoor hot pots, but he genuinely hadn't thought of handling stir-fries in such a manner.

In this way, a single storefront could run three businesses at once: fast food, semi-finished meal kits, and pre-ordered vegetable packages.

It was equivalent to opening three different channels, which could drive traffic to the restaurant and bring in a steady stream of diners.

By the same token, diners could easily be converted into grocery-shopping customers.

In short, whether people ate fast food, took ingredients home to cook, or stockpiled vegetables, his business would profit.

Most importantly, the three models incorporated the number three.

Hanging the name 'Sanyuan' above the storefront would tie everything together perfectly.

It proved that this business model was destined to be his.

Thus, it was time to expand the variety of vegetables.

Especially since bean sprouts had been sold for so long and in such massive quantities that even monks must have grown tired of eating them.

Yu Yang turned his head toward the chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company. "Old brother, you heard it too. Growing and strengthening our business is not a problem, and the restaurant will become one of our core operations. Right now, Taishi Road and Bridge is on a downward trend, and I'm short on manpower here. Why don't you come over and help me out by running the restaurant?"

"This... My personality isn't really suited for..."

Before he could finish, the head of Liaoshi investment promotion slapped his chest. "I can do it! I can run it!"

"You?"

"Everything I just said—didn't you catch the drift?"

"Hmm?" Yu Yang paused, spotting the eager 'count me in' expression on the man's face, and suddenly realized, "Turns out you're one of us!"

"Duh! An agricultural enterprise with over 60 million in investments is just starting out. Between being a regional investment promotion chief and a founding partner, which has a brighter future?"

"You do, of course!"

"Well, there you have it!"

The two men felt as though they had met too late in life and embraced on the spot.

The chairman of the Municipal First Construction Company stared blankly, a forest of dark lines crisscrossing his forehead.