The film and television city starts from the courtyard

Qiang Mujie was initially wary of Zhao Shucheng interfering with his plans, but he learned from Li Li that Zhao Shucheng had rushed to Hong Kong for love.

This gave him a huge sigh of relief. With Zhao Shucheng not in Shanghai, his chances of success had increased significantly. Neither the Qilin Society nor A Bao posed a significant threat to him.

Ah Bao and Commander Cai have already planted spies in Nanguo Investment. He plans to observe the situation and is ready to strike at any time.

He also learned about Zhao Shucheng's collaboration with Wang Mingzhu to open a foreign trade company. He originally planned to give Wang Mingzhu a gift at the opening ceremony, but he did not expect that Wang Mingzhu's opening was very low-key and almost no one knew about it.

He learned from Fan Xinhua that Wang Mingzhu's Mingzhu Foreign Trade had opened and that the company's office was located on the fifth floor of the IKEA supermarket on Nanjing Road.

He felt indebted to Wang Mingzhu because of what had happened before, so he asked Xiao Ningbo to drive a brand new Cadillac to the IKEA supermarket and give the car to Wang Mingzhu.

The car, worth two million, immediately attracted a crowd of customers at the supermarket entrance. Fan Xinhua and Wei Hongqing had originally come to offer their congratulations, but after seeing the car, they suddenly felt that their gift was a bit too cheap.

Wang Mingzhu was surprised that A Bao would give such an expensive gift, but A Bao himself did not show up. She angrily told Xiao Ningbo to drive the car back, but Xiao Ningbo left in a hurry.

Wang Mingzhu didn't think that A Bao was still attached to their years of relationship; on the contrary, she thought he wanted to sever all ties with her.

Actually, that's not what Ah Bao thought; he just didn't want to bother Wang Mingzhu any longer.

Ah Bao is currently too preoccupied to worry about Wang Mingzhu's foreign trade company. His main focus is on Nanguo Investment, as he hopes to capitalize on any opportunities they make to profit. He's been raising funds from various sources to ensure the clothing company's successful IPO, and now he's waiting to seize the chance to make a killing and replenish his capital.

In order to secure her company's first order, Wang Mingzhu sought out her mentor, Jin Hua, to inquire whether the foreign trade headquarters had any suitable orders that could be assigned to her company.

It has to be said that Wang Mingzhu's timing was very opportune. The foreign trade company did indeed have a particularly good order: Walmart had an order for 200,000 pairs of jeans. However, many people are now eyeing this order.

For this order, Uncle disregarded his past conflict with Jin Hua and personally went to find her.

But after waiting all afternoon, Jin Hua only talked to him for less than five minutes, and she did so in a very businesslike manner, telling him to go and participate in the bidding himself.

Wang Mingzhu naturally received the same treatment; she had to compete for orders.

Wang Mingzhu was not disappointed, after all, her company was now affiliated with the foreign trade corporation, so even if the prices were the same as others, she would have a better advantage.

Wang Mingzhu didn't expect that Uncle was also interested in this deal. Thinking about the car that A Bao had given her before, she felt it was inappropriate for her to compete with him directly while still keeping A Bao's car. However, she couldn't find a suitable person to return it to A Bao.

Just then, Zhao Shucheng called back and, upon learning the news, Wang Mingzhu accepted the gift with peace of mind.

“Ms. Wang, since this is a gift from Mr. Bao for your opening, we will naturally accept it. After all, business is business, and friendship is friendship. Our two companies will inevitably compete head-on in the future, but we can't let this turn us into enemies, can we? In business, we should prove ourselves with our skills, not with personal relationships.”

Wang Mingzhu was surprised that Zhao Shucheng would let her accept the car so easily, but considering that the company belonged to both of them, including Zhao Shucheng, she had no choice but to keep it. However, she didn't want to drive the car, so she planned to drive it to Zhao Shucheng's old house and let him handle it himself.

"There's one more thing. I ran into Uncle today, on the 27th. You know Uncle, right?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "Naturally, there are very few people in Shanghai who don't know about the old mastermind behind Boss Bao, right?"

"That's right. After Uncle started doing business with Ah Bao, he rarely showed up in person. But today he went to number 27 himself. What kind of big order must it be for Uncle to go in person?"

Zhao Shucheng asked, "That must be a big order. Miss Wang, are you planning to compete with Uncle?"

“That’s right. The biggest order my mentor has right now is for jeans from Walmart. If they can do it, I can do it too.”

Zhao Shucheng asked, "Are you sure you want to compete head-on with Boss Bao?"

"This has nothing to do with whether it's Boss Bao or not. Life is short, and I've already prepared myself to only care about business and not people since I've started doing business. Besides, as you just said, in business, skill is what matters, isn't it?"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "You're in charge of the foreign trade company, so as long as there are no problems there, that's fine. But to compete with Abao, we need to be clear about our own strengths and weaknesses."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mingzhu asked with some curiosity, "Oh, then compared to Mr. Bao, what are our advantages and disadvantages?"

"Your advantage lies in the upstream. After all, you came from No. 27 and are still affiliated with No. 27. So, at the same price and with the same commission, no one else can compete with you. But Mr. Bao's advantage lies in the downstream industrial chain. He has been doing foreign trade for many years and has cooperated with many garment factories, so he can compete with you with low costs."

Wang Mingzhu nodded and said, "Yes, President Zhao, I just contacted factories of all sizes in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, but none of them are willing to take our orders."

"There's another one, have you tried it?"

"What factory?"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "It's Boss Ma's factory. The clothes they produced were still being sold in our supermarket. They gave me some face, that's why."

Wang Mingzhu frowned, looked outside the supermarket, and said into the microphone, "Is it going to work? You know, Boss Ma and his team produce fire-resistant cotton, but this time they need jeans, and it seems like they have no way of producing them."

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Then you underestimate Boss Ma and his team. They can copy the Three Sheep brand T-shirts in just one month. Jeans aren't high-tech products. As long as they have twill cotton fabric, they can produce the products we want in a short time."

"Really? But given Boss Ma's relationship with Boss Bao, do you think they'll help us?"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "How can we know they won't agree if we don't try? But even if they do agree, you should pretend that you haven't found a suitable manufacturer. After all, Uncle won't give up this order easily. If he finds out that we are cooperating with Boss Ma, he might send Abao to Boss Ma to terminate the cooperation, or he might tamper with the raw materials."

"Uncle wouldn't do that, would he?"

Zhao Shucheng sneered and said, "Miss Wang, it seems you haven't changed your role yet. You are no longer Miss Wang of No. 27 Bund, but Wang Mingzhu who has come out to do things on her own."

“Before, when you were on the 27th, people were begging you to cooperate. But now that you're out, you're the one cooperating with others and needing their help. Besides, the business world is like a battlefield. Uncle won't easily let his competitors rise, so it's normal for him to use such a method as cutting off the supply.”

Wang Mingzhu was stunned when she heard this; she truly hadn't expected to encounter such a situation. Having been at Bund 27 for so long, it was impossible for her to be completely ignorant of business, but this was the first time she had only heard about it and was personally facing it.

"I understand. I'll contact Boss Ma and ask him to keep it a secret from A Bao and Uncle." "That would be best. But you can also contact Fan Xinhua or Wei Hongqing to see if they have any other connections. Even if they can't help, it's okay, but we need to make a big splash. I'll be back in Shanghai the day after tomorrow, then things will be much easier."

"OK then!"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Mingzhu immediately found the IKEA store manager, got Mr. Ma's phone number, called him, and explained her requirements.

Mr. Ma thought something serious had happened, but it turned out to be just an order for jeans, which was no problem for them at all. Besides, it was already September, and T-shirts were no longer selling well. They were worried about what products they could make to keep the factory running.

Now that they have Wang Mingzhu's order, they can proceed cautiously. As long as the order is fulfilled well and can be sold smoothly, they can continue production and eventually sell their products at Zhao Shucheng's IKEA supermarket.

Wang Mingzhu was surprised that things went so smoothly and that Boss Ma agreed so readily; for a moment, she felt as if she were still in a dream.

Remembering what Zhao Shucheng had said earlier, she called Fan Xinhua and Wei Hongqing again to ask if they had any channels for making jeans.

Fan Xinhua was in a bit of a predicament, since his uncle had just given him instructions, so he could only awkwardly tell Wang Mingzhu that he didn't have any connections in this area.

Wei Hongqing was surprised that Wang Mingzhu would contact him, so he confidently assured her that he would definitely help her find a suitable manufacturer.

Wei Hongqing didn't care at all about what Wang Mingzhu said about factories of all sizes in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai refusing to work. He said, "You're dealing with the regulars, I'm dealing with the unorthodox. Even guerrillas can become soldiers. I'll invite guests to Honglu tonight, and I'll definitely solve your manufacturing problem then."

Wei Hongqing was not just making things up; he sought help from his father's close friends, the owners of the Haining Fur Company.

The business owners didn't understand why Wei Hongqing wanted to leave Haining and work hard in Shanghai. They all advised him not to get involved in the mess in Shanghai and to go home as soon as possible to inherit his father's fur city.

Wei Hongqing naturally couldn't agree to that. He didn't want to go back to Haining either, and he wanted to make a name for himself on his own.

When Wang Mingzhu arrived at Honglu, she saw that Wei Hongqing was already drunk. She knew that Wei Hongqing had not helped to negotiate the production line, but she was still very grateful for Wei Hongqing's enthusiastic help.

She never expected to run into Abao here.

When Abao saw that Wei Hongqing was drunk, he offered to take Wei Hongqing home.

Wang Mingzhu said, "No need. Mr. Wei helped my company today, so it's better if I personally take it back."

"I'm leaving!"

Wang Mingzhu said, "I ran into Uncle on the 27th!"

“He told me.”

Wang Mingzhu said, "I did it for Walmart's order of 200,000 pairs of jeans."

"If I were you, I would do the same. After all, it's a new company, and you have to make a good start. Walmart jeans are the best choice."

Wang Mingzhu said, "I want others to know that I, Miss Wang, didn't enter the business world because of Mr. Bao..."

"And he's even more impressive than Boss Bao."

"Not only that, I know how much commission you can give to No. 27. I can do the same; it's all about who offers the lower price. If we end up matching, my company is affiliated with No. 27, so we'll have an advantage over you."

Ah Bao laughed and said, "You're smart, so you've been keeping a close eye on my bids. If we break even, you win?"

"That's right!"

"What about the cost? With my current cost, you simply can't achieve it no matter what you do."

Wang Mingzhu disagreed, saying, "Not necessarily. So many new companies are established in this industry every day. If you want to stand out, the first thing you have to do is be bold."

"Alright, let's see who's the bravest now."

Ah Bao had no intention of giving in to Wang Mingzhu. After all, he wasn't in complete control of his business; the decisions were still made by his uncle, who wouldn't let him back down.

Ah Bao couldn't understand why the two of them had suddenly come to this point. Was he wrong?

Zhao Shucheng was unaware that A Bao and Wang Mingzhu were about to have a showdown; at that moment, he was at Vivian's mother's house.

Since she was going to take her daughter away from Hong Kong, Zhou's mother was naturally a little worried, which is why she asked her daughter to bring Zhao Shucheng home so that she could vet him.

However, upon seeing Zhao Shucheng, Zhou's mother immediately understood why her daughter had made such a choice. After all, Zhao Shucheng was very handsome, no less so than those movie stars, and he was also a stock market guru with considerable wealth, and he took good care of her daughter.

This made Zhou's mother feel that Zhao Shucheng might be the best match for her daughter, much better than that guy Ni or something. She didn't want her daughter to have to constantly face her husband's infidelity or prostitution in the future, and she only wanted her daughter to have a good future.

So when Vivian suggested that she would go back to Shanghai with Zhao Shucheng the next day, she did not refuse. Instead, she told Zhao Shucheng to treat her daughter well.

Zhao Shucheng readily agreed, even suggesting that Vivian wouldn't always live in Shanghai, and that he could accompany her back anytime she wanted.

Zhou's mother was very satisfied with Zhao Shucheng's answer, so during the meal, she kept putting food into Zhao Shucheng's bowl, which made Vivian roll her eyes and feel like she had fallen out of favor.

After dinner, Zhao Shucheng watched TV with her for a while before saying, "Auntie, it's getting late, I should head back now. I still need to pack my luggage. If it's convenient for you, you're welcome to visit our home in Shanghai."

"Okay, Amin, you see Xiao Zhao off!"

Zhou's mother didn't try to stop Zhao Shucheng, but simply asked Vivian to see him off, intending to give her daughter some more advice later. (End of Chapter)