The film and television city starts from the courtyard

Huanghe Road, Zhizhen Garden.

Just as Li Li was about to leave, she saw Zhao Shucheng driving Wang Mingzhu and Fan Xinhua to Zhizhenyuan for dinner.

"Mr. Zhao, Ms. Wang! Mr. Fan, it's been a long time since you've dined at Zhizhen Garden."

Fan Xinhua said with a smile, "Miss Li, this may be the last meal I have at Zhizhen Garden. I don't know if I will be able to come to Zhizhen Garden to eat again in the future."

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Fan? We welcome you to Zhizhen Garden anytime you wish to visit."

Li Li was a little nervous, after all, she had never mentioned her departure from Huanghe Road to anyone other than A Bao and Qiang Mujie.

Fan Xinhua said, "I'm going to Shenzhen. I don't know when I'll be able to return to Shanghai."

"I see, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Wang, Mr. Fan, please come in!"

Li Li had Manager Pan lead them into the private room, while she left Zhizhen Garden to go to the hot pot restaurant where she had arranged to meet A Bao.

Looking at the less lively Zhizhen Garden, Fan Xinhua couldn't help but sigh and say, "I never thought Zhizhen Garden would be so deserted now."

Wang Mingzhu said with a smile, "The ebb and flow of the tide is a very normal thing."

As Zhao Shucheng and the others sat down to wait for the food, Fan Xinhua suddenly spoke up:
“Ms. Wang, I know you’ve been busy lately, and you even treated me to dinner. I’m a little embarrassed.”

Wang Mingzhu said, "You should already know about the incident where Mr. Bao and I were arguing over Walmart jeans, right?"

Fan Xinhua nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Bao is my friend, and you are my friend too. But I believe that you two are clear-headed when it comes to doing things. Many people say that you will definitely lose money this time with such a low price. But you are acting on emotion and you must defeat Mr. Bao."

"But based on my judgment of you, you won't act on emotion. Besides, Mr. Zhao is your partner and won't let you do anything reckless. You won't take action unless you've thought it through."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "President Fan, I didn't expect that among so many people, only you understand Ms. Wang. At such a low price, it's indeed difficult to make a profit normally, but this is foreign trade. We need to consider not only domestic production costs but also foreign exchange rates."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xinhua abruptly raised his head, looked at Zhao Shucheng, and said, "Mr. Zhao, isn't it inappropriate for you to tell me this like this?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "There's nothing inappropriate about it. After all, it's not something shameful. President Fan was able to build up Sanyang and even export it, so he must understand some things about foreign trade."

Fan Xinhua nodded and said, "That's true. Sanyang initially aimed to compete with major international brands, but unfortunately, it's now under my control. From its rise to its decline, it only took less than a year. In the end, it's because I, as the factory manager, am incompetent. By the way, have you found a factory yet?"

Wang Mingzhu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Not yet."

Fan Xinhua asked, "When is the final deadline?"

"If this batch of raw materials doesn't arrive at the factory by New Year's Day, there won't be enough time."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xinhua said, "Then there isn't much time left."

Wang Mingzhu said, "I will find a way."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Speaking of which, Mr. Fan, do you have any production lines that are currently idle in your factory? We could consider cooperating."

Fan Xinhua shook his head and said, "I'm not clear about the factory's situation right now. I'm no longer the factory manager. I'm leaving Shanghai for Shenzhen to build the land I bought before. So if you want to cooperate, you might need to talk to the new factory manager yourself, but I estimate it will be quite difficult. There are too many monks and not enough porridge, and competitors are enemies. The new company's first few orders will be intercepted."

“Take Zhizhenyuan, where we are now, for example. When it first opened, it also faced the blockade of Huanghe Road. Li Li almost had his chef team poached and the restaurant closed down, but in the end, he still managed to get through it.”

Wang Mingzhu said, "I thought it was just the area around Shanghai that was locked down. Who knew that all the factories in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai had been locked down?"

Fan Xinhua said, "Have Miss Wang and President Zhao considered going further south from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai?"

Wang Mingzhu said, "You mean Shenzhen?"

"Yes!"

"Even if I find a factory and sign the contract, and get this batch of goods there, there still won't be enough time."

Fan Xinhua said, "Then take a gamble. Send a portion of the fabric over first, find a factory, and start production immediately."

Wang Mingzhu said, "But what if I can't find a factory? Will this batch of goods just go to waste?"

"You're just waiting to die here anyway. Taking a gamble might be your only way out."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "President Fan's suggestion is good, but we have our own plans. We either don't do it at all, or we prepare thoroughly. We can't gamble on it. Rather than relying on luck, we hope the new company will be built on a solid foundation."

He glanced at Wang Mingzhu and said, "Just like President Fan back then, when you were doing Sanyang, didn't you only bring in 20,000 pieces of clothing for your first sale? You know, you signed a contract for 800,000 orders back then. Shouldn't you have brought in 100,000 or 200,000 pieces at the beginning? Didn't you have to test the waters before you dared to start production?"

"Mr. Zhao is more composed than I imagined. I thought that someone like Mr. Zhao, who made his fortune in stocks, would like to gamble like Mr. Bao."

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Maybe others gamble when they invest in stocks, and they make their fortunes by luck. But I'm not like that. Even when I do invest in stocks, it's after analysis and assessment of the risks."

“Speaking of which, when my supermarket opened, I did consider partnering with Sanyang and giving them a counter inside. But unfortunately, Sanyang had already given away their distribution rights. If I had partnered with them, the middlemen would have made the difference, and I wouldn't have made much money myself, so I didn't go through with it.” Fan Xinhua smiled and said, “It’s not too late to partner now. Many distributors’ contracts are expiring. If you’re interested in partnering, Mr. Zhao, I can help you get in touch with our new management team.”

Zhao Shucheng shook his head and said, "It's not really the right time now. After all, it's already October, almost November, and the weather is getting colder. There's not much of a market for T-shirts anymore. Speaking of which, I'm a little curious, Mr. Fan, your Sanyang has really established its own brand, but your products have always been T-shirts. Haven't you ever thought about producing other clothes? Like jackets or pants?"

Fan Xinhua shook his head and said, "It's not that we haven't considered producing other types of clothing, but transforming the factory faces many difficulties. On the one hand, our burnt cotton is best suited for T-shirts; on the other hand, new products require specialized designs, which we lack. Of course, more importantly, the people in the factory believe it's better to stick to what they know."

"After all, if we produce other clothes and fail to gain consumer recognition, it will damage the Sanyang brand and make it even more difficult for the factory to survive in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shucheng sighed and said, "President Fan, what a pity! If you were the owner of this factory, or even if you owned all the shares, you might have been able to lead Sanyang much further."

"You can't say that. I was given the opportunity to be the factory manager because they trusted me, but I betrayed their trust. After Sanyang achieved some success, it became complacent, abandoned its cooperation with Boss Bao, and gave the distribution rights to others, causing Sanyang's performance to decline."

Meanwhile, Abao is meeting with Lili.

He had previously asked Li Li to help him find funding so he could underwrite the IPO of his apparel company. Li Li introduced A Bao to a client named Lin Tai, an independent investment expert.

After meeting, A Bao got straight to the point and presented his two proposals. One was fund management with a fixed annual return of 20%. The other was a profit-sharing arrangement where A Bao would take a 10% commission, but would not take a penny if there were any losses.

Mrs. Lin offered to guarantee Ah Bao a minimum of eight percent of the profits, with an additional thirteen percent for any gains.

Abao thought the terms were good, and besides, he couldn't find a better source of funding right now, so he agreed.

However, to A Bao's surprise, when Lin Tai provided the funds account, she also produced the mortgage contract for Zhizhen Garden, which surprised A Bao and made her feel that Li Li was very affectionate towards her.

Because Li Li had already left, when A Bao called Li Li, he was told that Li Li had already left Zhizhen Garden.

After Zhao Shucheng and Fan Xinhua finished their meal, when they came out of Zhizhen Garden, they saw a large crowd gathered around Jin Meilin across the street.

It turns out that Jin Meilin's boss, Mr. Jin, used the restaurant as collateral to borrow a large sum of money from Mrs. Lin at exorbitant interest rates, which he then gave to Xiao Jiangxi to invest in stocks. However, they knew nothing about stock trading and just followed the crowd, resulting in all their funds being tied up.

Before going to see Abao, Mrs. Lin went to Jin Meilin to collect a debt from Boss Jin. Boss Jin was too ashamed to face Lu Meilin or his creditor, so he hid in fear.

Unable to find Boss Jin, Mrs. Lin could only show the mortgage contract to Lu Meilin. Lu Meilin promised to give Mrs. Lin an explanation in ten days, so Mrs. Lin had no choice but to leave.

However, after Mrs. Lin went out, she saw that it was snowing lightly. When she turned around to leave, she saw Mr. Jin shivering by the window.

Mrs. Lin didn't try to find Boss Jin directly, nor did she call out to him; she simply left.

After Mrs. Lin left, when Mr. Jin tried to climb in, he slipped and fell from the building, dying instantly.

What Zhao Shucheng and his group saw was a crowd surrounding Boss Jin. Zhao Shucheng couldn't help but shake his head and say, "See, this is what happens to gamblers."

Wang Mingzhu said, "But I heard that Mr. Jin borrowed money to speculate in stocks and is being chased for debts. That doesn't count as gambling, does it?"

"How can it not be considered gambling? If you use your own money to invest in stocks, at worst you just have to start over. But if you borrow money to invest in stocks, it's pure gambling. If they have knowledge of the stock market and have experience and ability, then you can say they are rational."

"But people like Boss Jin who borrow money to speculate in stocks have no experience or ability in stock trading at all. They only know how to use borrowed money to make money, but they don't even know what a chicken is, let alone how to hatch eggs. Not to mention gamblers like Boss Jin, their gambling nature makes them unable to quit while they are ahead, and they are more prone to emotional outbursts. Even when they lose money, they refuse to leave, thinking that they will recover their losses one day, but they don't realize that they will only sink deeper and deeper."

"That's the kind of person Mr. Jin is. Maybe he used his own money to speculate in stocks at first, but after losing money, his first thought wasn't to stop, but to borrow money to speculate in stocks, trying to follow suit. But such a gambler is naturally not suited for the stock market. After all, the stock market is a game of capital harvesting, which is different from gambling by a gambling addict. There is no way to make money by luck alone."

Lu Meilin used to laugh at those suckers who lost money in the stock market, but she never expected that her husband would lose everything and now even lose his life.

Although she had known for a long time that her husband had an ambiguous relationship with Xiao Jiangxi, she turned a blind eye because she herself was not clean either. But now that her husband was dead, Xiao Jiangxi was still in front of her, and she vented all her anger on Xiao Jiangxi.

Zhao Shucheng had already left with Wang Mingzhu and had no idea what happened on the Yellow River Road after he left, but he could guess a little.

Since Boss Jin's suicide, A Bao has been unable to contact Li Li, so he asked Commander Cai to investigate Li Li, but unexpectedly made a discovery.

Back then, Mr. A had eighteen henchmen, only one of whom was a woman named Chen Zhen. Li Li's appearance was no accident; she and Qiang Mujie seemed to have known each other for a long time, making it hard for A Bao not to suspect that Li Li was Chen Zhen.

After searching for many days, Abao finally caught up with Li Li at her doorstep and questioned her about whether she had mortgaged Zhizhen Garden.

Li Li admitted that she mortgaged the property to Mrs. Lin in the hopes that A Bao would seize the opportunity to turn things around. If A Bao won the market, she would take the cash and leave, letting A Bao take over Zhizhen Garden. However, if A Bao lost, she would withdraw the guarantee, and Mrs. Lin would also cancel the designated transaction. In that case, A Bao would have to bear the consequences and responsibilities himself.

Ah Bao felt he understood Li Li, so he thought Li Li had put in a lot of effort. He would never abandon Li Li and run away like Mr. A. If they won, it would be a win-win situation. If they lost, he would only bear the consequences and would never implicate Li Li.

When Li Li heard what A Bao said, a sweet smile appeared on her face, but A Bao did not see the cold killing intent in Li Li's eyes.

Uncle wanted to give Abao one last push, so he went to Jinhua and said that Wang Mingzhu still hadn't found a suitable garment factory. If they couldn't start work on New Year's Day, Wang Mingzhu would not only face a lawsuit, but also implicate the foreign trade company.

Therefore, Uncle hopes that Jin Hua can persuade Wang Mingzhu to transfer the Walmart order to A Bao, so that they can guarantee the order will be completed on time and Wang Mingzhu will not have to bear the loss.

Jin Hua flatly refused and even had her uncle forcibly driven away.

Mei Ping quickly chased after him and told Uncle that Fan Xinhua had advised Wang Mingzhu to go to Shenzhen to find manufacturers, and that Uncle should prepare in advance. (End of Chapter)