Courtyard House: Inheriting the Restaurant, the Jia Family Wants to Get It for Free

"Let's invite our experts to take their seats and have a meal first. We can discuss anything else afterward."

"Yes, yes, let's eat first, let's eat first!" Deputy Factory Director Yang also realized what was happening and quickly called out to everyone.

The way he looks at Cheng Shuhai now is completely different.

It was a complex look in his eyes, a mixture of admiration, envy, and even a hint of awe.

He knew that he, and indeed the entire steel rolling mill, had far underestimated Cheng Shuhai's power.

This person is no longer just a highly skilled cook or a neighborhood committee director with some connections.

His influence had even extended to Moscow, allowing him to establish direct connections with a Soviet deputy minister!

This is absolutely incredible!

The atmosphere at the welcoming banquet that followed became somewhat peculiar.

After learning about Cheng Shuhai's "glorious deeds" in Moscow, several experts, including Boris, became exceptionally respectful towards him.

They savored the delicious food on the table, constantly expressing their admiration.

"Oh my God! This fish is a work of art!"

"This braised pork is so delicious! It's even better than our best stewed beef!"

"Comrade Cheng, you are truly a genius!"

Deputy Factory Director Yang and Li Weimin, on the other hand, seemed somewhat reserved.

They watched as Cheng Shuhai and several Soviet experts chatted fluently in Russian, talking about everything from Red Square in Moscow to the sunset over the Kremlin, while they couldn't get a word in edgewise, feeling like outsiders at the dinner table.

The meal left Deputy Factory Director Yang and Li Weimin with mixed feelings.

They originally wanted to ask Cheng Shuhai for help to save face, but instead, Cheng Shuhai got all the credit.

I ended up being the foil.

After the banquet, Cheng Shuhai personally escorted everyone to the door.

Just before getting into the car, Deputy Factory Director Yang pulled Cheng Shuhai aside, lowered his voice, and said in an almost ingratiating tone, "Director Cheng, um... about the Soviet comrades..."

"Don't worry, Director Yang." Cheng Shuhai knew what he wanted to ask. "This is a cooperation between our country and our Soviet comrades. I personally just played a matchmaking role. If any projects are implemented, our steel rolling mill will definitely be given priority."

Cheng Shuhai's words were impeccable, both stating his position and reassuring Deputy Factory Director Yang.

"Oh, that's good, that's good!" Deputy Factory Director Yang breathed a sigh of relief. "Director Cheng, you've done another great service for our factory this time!"

After seeing everyone off, Cheng Shuhai returned to his office and opened the document that Andrei had given him.

The document was written in Russian and was quite long.

Cheng Shuhai looked at it carefully.

The more he looked, the faster his heart beat.

In the document, Deputy Minister Ivanov first gave his report extremely high praise, believing that his understanding of the food industry was ahead of its time and that many of his views had important reference value for the reform of the Soviet food industry.

Then, the document formally proposed the intention to cooperate.

The Soviet Union hoped to introduce the production technologies for several "new types of canned goods" mentioned in Cheng Shuhai's report.

For example, "braised pork canned food", "shredded pork with garlic sauce canned food", and even "Mapo tofu canned food".

These were all ideas that Cheng Shuhai conceived by combining his experience from later generations with the ingredients in the blessed land. They were entirely new concepts in this era.

In return, the Soviet Union offered three forms of support.

First, they could provide Cheng Shuhai's food processing plant with a state-of-the-art canning production line from Germany at the time. Free of charge!

Secondly, they were willing to provide Cheng Shuhai's factory with a long-term, low-priced, high-quality supply of tinplate (the main raw material for making canned food boxes) under the guise of "technical exchange." At the time, this was a strictly controlled strategic material.

Third, and most importantly for Cheng Shuhai, they were willing to open up parts of the Soviet Union and Eastern European markets to his factory. In other words, the canned goods produced by Cheng Shuhai's factory could then be legally sold abroad!

This... this is no longer a collaboration!

This is like a huge pie falling from the sky!

Cheng Shuhai's hands trembled slightly as he held the document.

He knew that another huge turning point in his life had arrived!

If this cooperation goes through, his "Cheng Group" will no longer be limited to the small city of Beijing.

He will have his own window to the world!

His business empire will officially expand from catering and food processing to... international trade!

This is the most solid foundation that will truly enable him and his family to remain invincible in any future storm!

He suppressed his excitement and immediately picked up the phone, dialing Lou Bancheng's number.

"Boss Lou, it's me, Cheng Shuhai. Are you asleep? I have some incredibly good news!"

When Lou Bancheng rushed to Cheng's Restaurant overnight and read the document from Moscow, this seasoned businessman, who had seen it all, was speechless for a long time.

He simply held those few pages of paper and looked at them over and over again, the veins on his hands bulging from the effort.

"Shuhai..." After a long while, he finally raised his head, looking at Cheng Shuhai, his voice hoarse, "You...you've really stirred up a hornet's nest!"

"A free German production line? A long-term supply of tinplate? And they're opening their market to us?" Lou Bancheng stood up and paced back and forth in his office, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement and elation.

"Do you know what this means? It means that our factory has risen to the top in one fell swoop! From a small-scale food processing plant operating only in Beijing, it has suddenly become a foreign-related enterprise that can stand on equal footing with national-level foreign trade companies!"

"With this connection, we can expand our business overseas! To places we never even dared to dream of before!"

Lou Bancheng stopped and looked at Cheng Shuhai, his eyes filled with emotion.

"I, Lou Bancheng, have spent half my life in the business world and consider myself someone of importance. But compared to you, I realize that my vision and perspective are simply insignificant."

"I initially partnered with you simply because I thought you were skilled, intelligent, and could help the factory make more money. I never imagined you could pave roads all the way to Moscow! All the way to the Kremlin!"

"Mr. Lou, you flatter me," Cheng Shuhai said modestly. "It was just good luck; I happened to have the opportunity."