I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Zong Shijie stared at the girl who got out of Shen Kang's car for several times, somewhat surprised.

He'd seen plenty of beautiful women; after all, their circle was never short of beauties. Many beauties like Zhao Ruyuan were practically begging to join.

But Zong Shijie had never seen anyone like this before, with such a perfect appearance, figure, and temperament.

This girl even made Zong Shijie feel inferior.

Then Zong Shijie turned his head and glanced at Zhao Ruyuan next to him.

He used to think Zhao Ruyuan was quite nice, and that it would make him look good to be seen with her, but now compared to her… he felt indifferent. She was just like a girl next door, nothing special.

But being ordinary is fine too, at least there's not much pressure.

Zong Shijie felt immense pressure just watching the girl get out of Shen Kang's car. It was a wonder that Shen Kang could walk calmly beside her; his mental fortitude was quite impressive...

Zhao Ruyuan was also looking at the girl who got out of Shen Kang's car.

She unconsciously clenched her fists tighter and straightened her back more defiantly.

But whenever she saw the other person's cold eyes and powerful aura, Zhao Ruyuan always felt a chill run down her spine...

In their eyes, the "confident goddess with a powerful aura" who walked towards them with a cold face was actually incredibly timid inside.

Shen Kang led this seemingly cold but actually cowardly guy to Guo Pinyan and Zong Shijie's place. He then briefly introduced He Qiuzhu to the two new friends, and then took out his phone to make a call. However, he didn't call Ding Ling, but rather a staff member in the factory area.

This number was given to him by Ding Ling.

Also last night, Shen Kang contacted Ding Ling and they finalized an agreement to get beans from Jule Foods.

……

Last night, Ding Ling was somewhat surprised when she received a call from Shen Kang. She didn't know what this young master wanted to talk about, and then she learned that Shen Kang wanted to purchase coffee beans from Jule Foods on a long-term basis.

Ding Ling also asked when Shen Kang would arrive, so she could receive him.

Shen Kang told her not to bother: "It's supposed to be a long-term purchase, but it's actually just a small-scale operation for a coffee shop right now, so the volume is relatively small and it's not a big business..."

After listening to Shen Kang for a while, Ding Ling understood the situation: a coffee shop wanted to get its goods directly from Jule Foods.

If it were anyone else, Ding Ling would have refused outright.

Jule Foods does have a coffee bean business, but it does not do retail; it only does wholesale.

If you were to supply a coffee shop, and most likely at wholesale prices... that would definitely be a losing proposition.

The person who brought this up was Shen Kang, and Ding Ling felt she could do it, since she was the person closest to Zhou Man and had witnessed everything that had happened from June until now.

Ding Ling also believed that President Zhou would tacitly approve of this.

So he said, "Okay, I'll talk to them and supply you directly at bulk prices..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Kang interrupted him: "We don't need large-volume pricing, just price it according to the quantity we purchase."

Ding Ling thought to herself, "Jule Foods would never normally supply this quantity, so how can there be a normal price?"

However, she was also quick-witted and adaptable, immediately proposing a solution: "There's no normal price for the quantity you're asking for. But considering the coffee bean industry, a 15% increase on top of the bulk price should be a reasonable price for this quantity. What do you think?"

Shen Kang agreed, "That makes perfect sense." He then went on to discuss other aspects, "Since the order volume is so small, it wouldn't be appropriate for you to provide logistics, so I'll handle the logistics myself..."

Shen Kang had clearly thought through the plan to get coffee beans from Jule Foods.

After listening to Shen Kang's plan, Ding Ling did some thinking and realized that if she followed Shen Kang's approach, Jule Foods would not only avoid losses by supplying Shen Kang with small batches of coffee beans, but would actually make a profit.

The main reason why large food companies lose money when supplying small businesses is that the profits from such small orders cannot cover the fixed expenses incurred in warehousing, sorting, and logistics.

These fixed expenses often need to be on a sufficiently large scale to amortize costs and generate profits.

However, in Shen Kang's plan, Shen Kang would handle the logistics himself, and all Jule Foods would need to do was sort the goods, which would greatly reduce costs. Therefore, even with such small orders, they could still make a profit.

This left Ding Ling with mixed feelings.

She had been in contact with Shen Kang for several months.

At first, she actually had a strong defensive mentality towards this boy: a boy from an orphanage suddenly becomes rich and powerful and becomes President Zhou's adopted son. How will things develop next?

Ding Ling did not hesitate to speculate in the worst possible light:

Children raised in orphanages are often sensitive and precocious compared to their peers. Shen Kang will likely do everything in his power to please President Zhou, hoping to transform this contractual adoption relationship into a genuine one, making himself one of the true heirs of Shengyuan Group.

Therefore, Shen Kang is likely to do all sorts of sycophantic and obsequious things. He might even resort to all sorts of conspiracies and tricks in order to climb the ranks.

Ding Ling had already prepared her defenses, ready to speak up and remind President Zhou when he was gradually numbed by those fake acts of kinship and flattery.

However, what happened next was completely unexpected by Ding Ling.

Shen Kang didn't try her best to please President Zhou as she had expected. Instead, their interactions were often a back-and-forth of sarcasm and barbs.

Shen Kang did not attempt to enter the Shengyuan system.

Instead, he used the "signing fee" and "salary" that Boss Zhou gave him to start a housekeeping company and pursue his own career.

This greatly surprised Ding Ling.

Even more surprisingly, Shen Kang actually managed to develop his own business.

After that, Shen Kang not only didn't try to climb the corporate ladder by clinging to President Zhou, but instead, when President Zhou encountered problems, he proactively stepped forward and helped him out. Moreover, he insisted that this wasn't helping, but simply a purely business transaction, a win-win situation…

Ding Ling began to doubt herself, wondering if she was being too defensive and thinking too badly of people.

Just as she had guessed, Shen Kang approached her during the National Day holiday and asked for her help.

This reignited Ding Ling's guard. But when she learned the details of the help offered, she was stunned.

Shen Kang wasn't asking for help for his own sake, but for Professor Xiao's.

Shen Kang not only helped President Zhou, but also Professor Xiao, and Miss He, needless to say, was practically tied to his waist throughout the summer vacation.

Ding Ling even had an absurd idea—it seemed that, to Shen Kang, President Zhou's background as the heir to the Shengyuan Group was worthless.

It seems that in Shen Kang's eyes, Zhou Man is Zhou Man, his adoptive mother; Xiao Bonian is Xiao Bonian, his adoptive father; and He Qiuzhu is He Qiuzhu, his sister.

They are who they are, simply because they are who they are, without any other involvement.

In Shen Kang's mind, Zhou Man's identity as his adoptive mother seemed to be far more important than her identity as the heir to the Shengyuan Group.

The more Ding Ling observed, the more she felt that her absurd idea seemed to be true.

It was from this point that Ding Ling began to let down her guard against Shen Kang and started to look at him from a different perspective.

Upon closer inspection, she found Shen Kang to be increasingly impressive: he was handsome, capable, knew his place, and could manage relationships with everyone in his uniquely playful way… As an only child, Ding Ling even had a vague feeling that she wished she had a younger brother like him.

It was at this time that Shen Kang called her and told her about Jule Foods and coffee beans, and even came up with a plan that would allow Jule Foods to also make a profit—this was indeed Shen Kang's style.

But this only made Ding Ling feel more sorry for her younger brother, feeling that he was too sensible. So much so that when they finished their conversation and were about to hang up, Ding Ling couldn't help but speak up.

"Shen Kang, if you do it this way, Jule Foods will make a profit, and that coffee shop will make a profit too. All things considered, it seems like you're the only one who'll lose out, right?"

Shen Kang's voice came through the phone, as cheerful as ever: "So, Sister Ding, you still don't see far enough. On one hand, I also have shares in this coffee shop, so supporting it is helping myself. On the other hand, I can use this business to further support my logistics."

"We might burn through some money initially, but according to the plan, once the coffee and logistics scale up, we won't be burning through money anymore; instead, we'll be making money. I'll be the one who earns the most then—I'm absolutely ecstatic!"

At this point, Shen Kang added with emotion, "In this situation, it's like you, Sister Ding, are a man, and I stole your wife and had a child with her. Not only did you help raise the child, but you also worried about whether I was doing well. Sister Ding, you are truly an honest and kind person."

Ding Ling, who had been feeling quite conflicted and distressed, couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing Shen Kang's words. She spat out, "What kind of nonsense is this? I'm a woman, not a man."

However, this was indeed the style of Shen Kang that she was familiar with: in his words, he won from beginning to end and never suffered a loss. In this way, even those who accepted his help would not feel too much psychological burden.

The more Shen Kangyue acted this way, the more Ding Ling liked and felt sorry for him, after all, this boy was only 18 years old.

But just like the previous times, Shen Kang's plan was successfully implemented. Ding Ling was persuaded by him and made arrangements for it.

……