The film and television city starts from the courtyard

Xiao Ningbo originally wanted to take A Bao back to Shanghai, but when A Bao saw Zhao Shucheng's car, she didn't want him to drive back alone, since he had come to Zhuji for her sake.

"Little Ningbo, you've been running around with me all this time. You have your own factory to run too. I'll go back with Boss Zhao. You should go home too!"

Xiao Ningbo looked at Zhao Shucheng, hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay, but you have to call me when you get back to Huanghe Road."

Don't worry, I'll definitely call you.

On the way back, Abao excitedly told Zhao Shucheng, "Mr. Zhao, you know what? This factory looks dirty, but the quality is actually pretty good. Four hundred thousand pieces, plus Mr. Fan's eight hundred thousand pieces—if I could take it all, it would be incredible!"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "It seems that President Bao is really confident. That's a good thing. But judging from President Bao's approach to a manufacturer like this, is President Bao planning to replicate the success of Three Sheep?"

Abao nodded and said, "Not bad, do you think it has potential?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "The apparel industry innovates very quickly. If Mr. Bao can get Mr. Ma's products on the market in a short time, we can ride the wave of Sanyang's popularity. However, for a new brand to stand out, the main factors are design and fashionability. But if Mr. Bao needs it, my supermarket can reserve a few counters for you when it opens, so I can also get a share."

Abao didn't really think much of Zhao Shucheng's supermarket. After all, he wanted to create a famous brand, but the supermarket only sold daily necessities, which had no class whatsoever. His products, on the other hand, were meant to become famous brands in Shanghai.

"That's easy to say, but we'll definitely have to trouble Mr. Zhao a lot when the time comes."

Zhao Shucheng had actually noticed A Bao's decision to attend the banquet and knew he didn't think much of the supermarket and preferred to sell in places like the Shanghai Union Department Store. However, he was completely unaware that some things don't go according to his wishes. Looking in the rearview mirror, Zhao Shucheng saw that Wang Mingzhu was already asleep and said:
"Mr. Bao, Miss Wang has been completely open with you this time. You must not do anything to betray her in the future."

Abao nodded and said, "Of course I will. Miss Wang and I are comrades-in-arms who fought side by side."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "That's good. By the way, Mr. Bao, you should have connections in Hong Kong, right?"

"Yes, what's up? Does Mr. Zhao have any good cooperation opportunities?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "This isn't just for my supermarket opening. I was thinking that we should not only have local products, but also some products that are rarely seen in China. If it's convenient for you, Mr. Bao, could you help me make some connections? This can be considered foreign trade, and Mr. Bao should be very interested."

"Okay, I'll get in touch!"

Abao didn't think Zhao Shucheng's supermarket could grow very big, especially since it was located on Huanghe Road. He was worried about whether Zhao Shucheng could afford the rent or even make a profit.

In the early morning, Zhao Shucheng and his group finally returned to Shanghai.

Zhao Shucheng drove the car to the outside of the foreign trade building. Wang Mingzhu had already woken up by then. She looked around and asked, "Where's Boss Bao?"

"Boss Bao went to the Peace Hotel. I saw that it was during your work hours, so I brought you here."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Zhao!"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Miss Wang, don't be so polite with me. But if you really want to thank me, please don't forget what you promised me."

"Don't worry, I'll go back and organize the information to make sure your supermarket's products are the best in Shanghai and are all for export."

Zhao Shucheng nodded, then suddenly looked at Wang Mingzhu and said, "Miss Wang's pearl earrings are very beautiful. Did Mr. Bao give them to you?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "It's nothing, just a reminder to Miss Wang. If you and Mr. Bao haven't officially started dating yet, you'd better hand over the gifts he gives you as soon as possible. After all, there are a lot of people around here, and some might be jealous of your achievements and report you. Your foreign trade company isn't allowed to accept valuables!"

"No, I bought these pearls myself."

Zhao Shucheng shook his head and said, "Do you have an invoice? How much did you buy this pearl for?"

Wang Mingzhu was stunned when she heard this. After all, she only knew from A Bao that the earrings cost 26,000 yuan. When she returned the money to A Bao, her uncle said that the items at Ling Hong's place cost no more than 500 yuan. So she only gave her uncle 500 yuan, and kept the rest of the money in her office drawer.

“Abao said it was 26,000, and Lingzi said so too, but Uncle said it wouldn’t be more than 500.”

Zhao Shucheng said, "Look, this is the problem. The real value of this earring is no more than five hundred yuan, but Lingzi claims it's worth twenty-six thousand. So, if someone reports it and an investigation is conducted, what do you think the price will be? Will Linghong really reveal her purchase price, or will she reveal Lingzi's price?"

Wang Mingzhu paused for a moment, then said, "So what do you mean?"

"If you really like these earrings, you can go to Linghong's shop and buy the exact same earrings, then hand them over. The price shouldn't exceed five hundred yuan, so that you can explain it to everyone, and even if others find out, they can't say anything."

Zhao Shucheng glanced at the third floor of number 27 and said, "Of course, if you think I've said too much, just pretend you haven't heard it."

Wang Mingzhu was certainly not ungrateful, and said with a smile, "How could that be? You're doing this for my own good. But I don't have time now, I have to go to work. I'll handle this after I get off work."

After Wang Mingzhu entered the 27th, Zhao Shucheng was driving home when he became somewhat curious about the person named Lingzi. She was quite capable to be able to sell the pearl earrings to Abao for almost a hundred times the price.

However, Zhao Shucheng had no intention of investigating, as he was busy with many things and had no time to concern himself with other people's affairs.

Ah Bao encountered another problem: Li Li, the owner of Zhizhen Garden, came to Lingzi's Tokyo Night and asked Ah Bao for help.

Abao owed Li Li a huge favor because Li Li had given him a high-quality replica of the Three Sheep T-shirt, so he had to hurry to Night Tokyo to see Li Li.

Li Li's Zhizhen Garden offended the wife of Jin Meilin's boss when it opened. Later, Fan Xinhua's Sanyang successfully went public on Nanjing Road. Fan Xinhua held a celebration banquet at Zhizhen Garden, which was attended by business elites from Shanghai. This offended all the boss ladies on Huanghe Road.

Before Abao went to Zhuji, Zhizhenyuan was shut off by Xiao Jiangxi, causing chaos among the customers.

But this was not the end, but just the beginning. Li Li realized the crisis, which is why she came to A Bao for help. Li Li was in a very difficult situation at the moment. The fat chef she had poached with a high salary was constantly threatening to quit, demanding a 50% raise from Li Li, or else he would have the waiters deliberately break plates.

To make matters worse, the restaurant owners on Huanghe Road contacted their food suppliers, demanding that they stop providing ingredients to Zhizhenyuan. Tao Tao was also threatened, forbidden from supplying Li Li with seafood such as lobster.

Ah Bao went to the Peace Hotel to see Uncle Ye first, asking him to help hire a chef, and then hurriedly rushed to Night Tokyo.

"Sorry, I just got back to Shanghai."

Reiko said, "I've been waiting for you all this time!"

Li Li watched A Bao eat his rice porridge and said, "Boss Bao, Chef Fatty... did you already know that my kitchen staff was leaving?"

Abao said, "When I said Zhizhenyuan wouldn't last a month, I wasn't saying your kitchen staff would beat someone up. I understand the simplest principle: the bigger the tree, the more the wind blows. The better your business is, the less business others will have. Besides, your kitchen staff was poached from someone else, so naturally they could be poached by someone else too. Anyone can imagine that."

Li Li said, "Since I dared to open a restaurant on Huanghe Road, I wouldn't have been unprepared, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Now, it's not just the chefs who are having problems, but also the ingredients. Tao Tao's Aolong East Star Grouper and other ingredients can't be provided, and other stores are also saying they're out of stock. I know that Boss Bao has a good relationship with Tao Tao, so I can only come to ask Boss Bao for help."

Abao said, "That's because Miss Li hasn't gotten used to the speed of the Yellow River Road yet."

"I know we have no personal relationship. If you help me this time, consider it a favor, and I'll repay you next time. As long as it benefits my business, you can name your terms."

Ah Bao said, "Tell your kitchen staff to leave today. They'd better go to Riri Fresh now and see if they'll honor their promise."

Li Li said, "Even if Riri Fresh really goes back on its word, it doesn't mean it can solve my kitchen problem."

Ah Bao said, "You need patience to do business well and sustain it for a long time. Digging into the kitchen is just the tip of the iceberg; the real feast is yet to come!"

Upon hearing this, Li Li immediately called Minmin, dismissed her kitchen staff, and prepared to launch a signature dish according to A Bao's suggestion.

"Boss Bao, I'll take your advice and disband the kitchen staff. Whether Zhizhenyuan can open tonight depends on you. I'll be there at 6 PM sharp. I'll wait for you to tell me the address."

Li Li dismissed the kitchen staff, but the guests at Zhizhenyuan could not be evacuated. Manager Pan had no choice but to send the waiters to the kitchen to help prepare home-style dishes, which caused some chaos.

The restaurant owner on Huanghe Road stood by and watched the commotion, even inviting other female restaurant owners to book private rooms at Zhizhenyuan Restaurant to see Li Li make a fool of herself.

Uncle had a plan all along. Chairman Jia of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce brought his business owners to Shanghai for an inspection. Because they were worried about not being used to the food in Shanghai, they all brought their own chefs. Uncle and Chairman Jia were childhood friends, so Uncle asked the business owners' chefs to help out at Zhizhen Garden.

Chairman Jia was delighted to see Uncle Jin, but after agreeing to lend him the chef, he tentatively asked, "Brother Jin, nowadays, new talents are replacing the old. Not long ago, a powerful figure crossed the Hong Kong stock market and swindled over 100 million yuan. I heard that this person is also from Shanghai. I wonder what his relationship is with Uncle Jin?"

The old man paused for a moment after hearing this, and asked, "What's the name of this person you're talking about?"

"Zhao Shucheng!"

The old man chuckled and said, "This person has nothing to do with me, but he's quite well-known in the Shanghai stock market. My apprentice has met him a few times. Did he offend you?"

"No, not really. But this person is very skilled, especially in short-term trading. He always trades just before the peak, and his turnover rate is very high. We only found out about this formidable figure after he left Hong Kong. We came to Shanghai this time to get to know him, so that he won't be unaware of us when he goes back to Hong Kong."

The old man nodded and said, "No problem, I'll have Abao make the contact and have him introduce you two."

Uncle did not have dinner with Chairman Jia. After returning to the Peace Hotel, he asked Stamp Li to collect information on Zhao Shucheng during this period. After reading it, he couldn't help but sigh that the younger generation is indeed formidable.

He called Abao to ask if Abao knew about Zhao Shucheng's stirring up trouble in the Hong Kong stock market.

Ah Bao was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, and said, "Uncle, I really didn't know. I only know that he left Shanghai for two months, and after returning, he planned to open a supermarket. As for anything else, I don't know."

"It's good that you weren't involved. I'll call Hong Kong. Zhao Shucheng has offended a lot of people this time. He makes a lot of money, most of which comes from taking food from other people's mouths. People like him either soar to great heights or fall into the abyss. You need to be careful when you associate with him."

"I understand, Uncle. We don't have any connection, so don't worry!"

After hanging up the phone, Abao stood there lost in thought.

You see, ever since Ah Bao started doing business with his uncle, he'd researched both the domestic and Hong Kong stock markets, but he never dared to get involved himself. It wasn't like mainland China, where he could access a lot of information; he was completely unfamiliar with Hong Kong, and whether he could even escape unscathed was a question.

Ah Bao arrived at the hotel that Uncle had mentioned. Chef Ding prepared his signature dishes, and Ah Bao praised his skills highly, inviting him to help out at Zhizhen Garden for a month.

Wang Mingzhu also encountered a problem. Her mentor, Jin Hua, had asked her to receive some foreign guests. They had originally booked a private room at Zhizhenyuan Restaurant, but now she heard that Zhizhenyuan Restaurant did not have a chef.

"What do we do now? I can't joke around with the task my master assigned me."

Upon hearing this, Abao laughed and said, "Oh dear, is it that serious? Don't worry about me, let me think of something for you. I've got an idea for a small restaurant with an amazing chef. Would you like to give it a try?"

Wang Mingzhu was initially very excited, but when she heard that it was in Night Tokyo, she hesitated. After all, Night Tokyo was a small place with mediocre chefs. If it weren't for Ah Bao's connections, it probably would have closed down long ago.

"Mr. Bao, you must be joking, okay? I'm entertaining foreign guests, not hosting a dinner for myself."

"I'm not joking at all. Today I'm personally cooking the Crane Needle and Shipping King Fried Rice..."

"Let me think about it. I'll ask my master and then I'll let you know."

Wang Mingzhu hesitated for a moment, then, remembering what Zhao Shucheng had said before—that she could ask him for help if she encountered any difficulties—she decided to give it a try and called Zhao Shucheng. (End of Chapter)