The film and television city starts from the courtyard

When Wang Mingzhu arrived on the second floor, she saw A Bao staring at Zhizhen Garden across the street and said, "President Bao!"

Abao turned around and looked at her, asking curiously, "What was he doing chatting with downstairs just now?"

At first, Wang Mingzhu didn't understand, but when she saw the direction A Bao was looking, she smiled and said, "Oh, someone I know. He also came to Shanghai to make a living, but it seems he hasn't made any progress yet."

"Really?" Abao was a little skeptical. After all, if just anyone could talk to Wang Mingzhu, she wouldn't be the top foreign trade representative in Shanghai. Wang Mingzhu, after all, had the backing of Bund 27 and controlled import quotas; she was someone anyone in Shanghai who wanted to do foreign trade had to curry favor with.

Although she wasn't the only foreign trade salesperson, Wang Mingzhu was the best, so many bosses were willing to do foreign trade business with her. They could then promote themselves as "Miss Wang's Choice" and wouldn't have to worry about finding buyers.

This era is different from the future. The whole country is short of foreign exchange, so whoever can earn foreign exchange is a capable person. In Shanghai, if you want to do foreign trade, Bund 27 is an unavoidable hurdle, and you even have to maintain a good relationship with them in order to obtain a foreign trade license.

"Of course, by the way, Mr. Fan is at Zhizhen Garden right now and won't be out for a while. He's reserved a private room there and said he'd like to invite you over. He'll treat you to dinner here another day. Would you like to come?"

"I'm not going. You're not some crazy person, why do you insist I go to Zhizhen Garden?"

Wang Mingzhu said with a smile, "Naturally, it's because President Fan is captivated by the proprietress of Zhizhen Garden and insists that you come over to support him."

Ah Bao said, "President Fan is someone who wouldn't even pay for his own toothbrush or bar of soap, but now he's trying to curry favor with the boss's wife. Why should I be the one to deliver bullets?"

Seeing that Wang Mingzhu was about to say something, A Bao waved his hand and said, "Uncle has calculated it. The owner of Zhizhenyuan spent 30 million to take it over, and she needs to make a profit of 10 million a year to break even. Right now, there are only three stores in Shanghai that can do that: the Dynasty on Zhapu Road, Tiantian Fishing Port on Sinan Road, and the Honglu Restaurant where we are now."

Wang Mingzhu asked curiously, "How can she make a profit of ten million a year? That translates to at least eighty thousand yuan in daily turnover."

Ah Bao led Wang Mingzhu to the window, pointed to the intersection of Huanghe Road, and said, "Look, from the corner directly opposite, Zhizhen Garden looks like a birdcage. The Lisboa Hotel in Macau has the same layout, named 'A Hundred Birds Return to Their Nests into a Birdcage,' which means it's easy to enter but difficult to leave."

Wang Mingzhu looked A Bao up and down and said, "I remember you didn't believe in this kind of thing, how come you suddenly believe it now?"

“I don’t believe it either. After all, people who do business on Huanghe Road usually have some kind of gimmick. But now Zhizhenyuan is using me as a gimmick, trying to become the top brand on Huanghe Road. Why should I support them?”

Wang Mingzhu said, "Of course you can't become someone else's gimmick, but President Fan is at Zhizhen Garden right now. You've been negotiating this deal for three months, and President Fan has been waiting for you for three months. I've completed all the formalities, and it's just one step away from completion. You can't just back out now, can you?"

"I arranged to meet him here, at the Red Heron Restaurant."

Wang Mingzhu said, "What's the difference? Tao Tao is right across from us."

"In business, you have to keep your promises."

Wang Mingzhu sat down and said, "Sigh, now you're the one begging them to do business with you, and you're the one who's interested in their products."

"Without me, would his products sell well?"

On the other side, Mr. Fan's private room was also canceled by Li Li, who then asked Mr. Fan to go to Honglu to see A Bao.

Fan Xinhua was completely infatuated with Li Li. When Li Li told him to go see A Bao, he confidently replied, "I've waited for three months. Making him wait a little longer is no problem."

Wang Mingzhu was also getting restless. President Fan hadn't come yet, and A Bao seemed determined to stay at Honglu, which made her quite anxious.

"You can wait here yourself!"

Ah Bao said calmly, "You forgot? I waited for you for eight hours at the foreign trade company."

"So you're going to wait for him at Red Heron for eight hours too?"

"Of course not, it's 6:30 now. I'll wait until 7:00. If he doesn't come, then..."

"So what?"

Ah Bao sneered, but did not give Wang Mingzhu an answer.

Zhao Shucheng then came up to the second floor and saw A Bao and Wang Mingzhu sitting there. He walked over and said, "Ms. Wang, Mr. Bao, I hope I haven't disturbed you?"

"Of course not, what's this gentleman's name?" Abao sized up Zhao Shucheng.

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Zhao Shucheng, a guy who came to Shanghai to beg for a living, never expected to have the honor of meeting President Bao today."

Abao looked at Zhao Shucheng and asked, "What kind of business does Mr. Zhao run?"

"All the money is now poured into the stock market, and we haven't decided what to do next. But we might have to deal with Mr. Bao quite often in the future."

Upon hearing Zhao Shucheng's words, Wang Mingzhu frowned and said, "Mr. Zhao, if you want inside information about stocks, you shouldn't be looking for Boss Bao. Boss Bao is no longer in the stock business, so you may be disappointed."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "Miss Wang, you misunderstand. I didn't want to know anything from President Bao. After all, the 414 incident just happened not long ago."

Wang Mingzhu's expression suddenly turned ugly, and she said, "What do you mean?"

"I'm telling the truth. Although there are rumors that Boss Bao is the backer of Golden Phoenix and that Boss Bao has ruined many people because of this, some things are not necessarily true just because you see them or hear them. Rumors stop with the wise. I don't know what the relationship is between Boss Bao and Golden Phoenix, but it's probably true that Boss Bao doesn't have any real inside information."

Abao looked at Zhao Shucheng with some interest and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"If Boss Bao really knew the news, he wouldn't have had anyone around him enter the market, and he certainly wouldn't have entered without knowing the background of 414's group. Although I'm not very good at stock trading, I don't need anyone else to give me advice."

Abao realized that Zhao Shucheng wasn't really there to extract information, and that some of the things Zhao Shucheng said were quite insightful, so he invited Zhao Shucheng to sit down, and the three of them chatted together, eventually even playing cards.

At first, A Bao was distracted. After all, his presence at Honglu and his lingering presence indicated a psychological battle with Boss Fan. If Fan Xinhua came, A Bao would have the upper hand in this business deal; if he went to find Fan Xinhua, Fan Xinhua would ultimately gain the upper hand, and A Bao would only earn a small fee for running the errand.

However, as the game progressed, Abao and Zhao Shucheng had a lot of fun and gradually forgot about the time.

Only Wang Mingzhu kept an eye on the time. Seeing that it was almost seven o'clock, the time A Bao had mentioned, and Fan Xinhua still hadn't shown any signs of coming, she became a little anxious. She excused herself to go to the restroom, but actually sent someone to Zhizhen Garden across the street to ask Fan Xinhua to come and see A Bao as soon as possible.

Little did Wang Mingzhu know that Fan Xinhua was completely infatuated with Li Li, and with her encouragement, Fan Xinhua and Wei Hongqing were preparing to cooperate. The two even seemed to be getting along very well, as if they were about to finalize the deal. Tao Tao, asked by Wang Mingzhu to find Fan Xinhua, naturally witnessed Fan Xinhua and Wei Hongqing discussing the cooperation.

"President Fan, you're still here? President Bao has been waiting for you for a long time."

Fan Xinhua said nonchalantly, "No rush, let me introduce you. This is Li Li, the owner of Zhizhen Garden. This is Tao Tao!"

"Hello, boss lady, I'm Mr. Bao's best friend."

Li Li said, "Alright, Mr. Fan, Tao Tao has come to invite you personally. If you don't go, Mr. Bao will get angry."

"Tao Tao, why don't you invite Boss Bao here too?"

Tao Tao was also surprised that Fan Xinhua would send A Bao here to meet him, and said, "You two agreed to meet at Honglu to discuss cooperation."

“I know, it’s the same everywhere. Let’s give the boss face. Honglu, we’ll go again next time.”

"No, you're like this..."

Before Tao Tao could even argue with General Manager Fan, Wei Hongqing had someone bring Fan Xinhua over to discuss cooperation.

Tao Tao was furious when she saw that Fan Xinhua wanted to leave A Bao out and cooperate with someone else, so she had a big argument with Fan Xinhua.

"Who is Boss Bao? He's built his business to where it is today just for fun. What are you doing? Threatening and bribing him? What's the point of doing this business? Let's all just quit."

Yangpu Liuzi was somewhat unconvinced by Tao Tao's words, feeling that he looked down on them. So they followed Tao Tao to Honglu, intending to ask him in person if he could really represent Bao Zong, and also to ask if they could not persuade A Bao to come.

While Zhao Shucheng was shuffling the cards, A Bao checked the time, stood up, and was about to leave.

Wang Mingzhu quickly stopped him, saying, "President Bao, why are you in such a hurry? Everyone is having a great time. Besides, look, it's not even seven o'clock yet. President Fan might be here soon."

"It's already seven o'clock."

Wang Mingzhu said, "This thing belongs to someone else."

"I'm not short of stock, he's the one who needs me as a distributor, okay?"

As they were talking, they heard a commotion outside. They looked up and saw Tao Tao being pushed in.

"Is that General Manager Fan?"

"He didn't come, he didn't come, look..."

Yangpu Xiaoliuzi led his men directly to Abao and said, "Boss Bao, hello. I'm Yangpu Xiaoliuzi. We reserved a seat for you at Zhizhenyuan across the street, and the wine is ready. They said you weren't coming. Well, if you're not coming, we were just joking. We were just joking. If you, Boss Bao, don't come, we'll give Boss Fan's goods to another company."

Abao looked at Xiao Liuzi and said, "This joke has gone too far."

“You can’t compare to your brother. Come here. This fishmonger says he can represent you. If you don’t come over, you don’t need the fish.”

Tao Tao said anxiously, "Don't say that. Did I say that? I didn't say anything like that."

Zhao Shucheng walked out from behind A Bao and the others, smiling as he said, "Mr. Bao, it seems you've run into some trouble. But we agreed earlier that business is about first come, first served, right? Since we've reached an agreement, you can only do business with me first. It shouldn't be a problem for others to wait, right?"

Abao was taken aback by Zhao Shucheng's words, but quickly realized what Zhao Shucheng was doing. He smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry you had to see this. But since we've reached an agreement, we'll naturally do as agreed."

As he spoke, Abao went to Tao Tao's side, pulled him behind him, and said, "Tao Tao is my best brother; he can completely represent me. He said if I don't go today, I don't want the goods, so I definitely won't go."

Xiao Liu was surprised that A Bao would say such a thing, especially in front of his subordinates, and immediately felt a little embarrassed.

Seeing that A Bao was about to leave, he blocked his way and said, "How about this, Mr. Bao, give me some face, let's go over for a drink and close the deal. Everyone's happy."

Wang Mingzhu had never encountered anyone talking to her like this before, and said angrily, "Let me tell you, if you keep talking like this, no one will be happy."

"Miss Wang, let's go together. Have a few drinks, sit on each other's laps, and we can talk about anything..."

Ah Bao couldn't stand it anymore and slapped the man hard across the face, saying, "Watch your mouth."

Wang Mingzhu hadn't expected Ah Bao to act so impulsively to protect her, but she was also worried that a fight might actually break out. After all, Ah Bao had only recently been discharged from the hospital after his car accident and hadn't fully recovered; he certainly wouldn't be a match for this group in a fight.

Seeing that things had escalated into a fight, Zhao Shucheng could only sigh and say, "Can't you two just have a nice chat? Why do you have to resort to violence, especially in front of me, and even lay a hand on a woman?"

Before anyone could react, Zhao Shucheng charged at Yangpu Xiaoliuzi and his gang, punching them one by one until they were all knocked down in front of the Honglu Restaurant. He said:

"If you've had too much to drink, go home and sleep. Don't wander around or cause trouble while drunk. You were lucky this time that you didn't mess with the wrong people, otherwise you wouldn't have just been thrown out."

Xiao Liu looked at Zhao Shucheng with some anger and asked, "Who do you think you are?"

"I am Zhao Shucheng. If you want to settle accounts with me, I hope you can do it quickly. If you want to find someone, you can arrange a time and place, and I will accompany you to the end."

Xiao Liuzi was surprised that Zhao Shucheng was so fearless, and dared not make any rash moves. After all, he did not know Zhao Shucheng's background, whether Zhao Shucheng was capable or had someone behind him.

Zhao Shucheng didn't care about Xiao Liuzi's thoughts. He just glanced at them, then turned to A Bao and Wang Mingzhu with a smile and said, "Miss Wang, President Bao, it seems we won't be able to have a good time today. You should go first, and we'll meet again another day if we have the chance."

Abao nodded, then looked at Xiao Liuzi and said, "Go back and ask Boss Fan if the business is still going. Make sure he thinks things through."

Xiao Liu hadn't expected that not only would he fail to invite A Bao and get beaten up, but he might even ruin Fan Xinhua's business. Who knows what Boss Wei would think of him then? (End of Chapter)