Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Zhou Rui played his last trump card. He was right; tea plants have a high demand for fertilizer. If they don't fertilize for one, two, or even three years...

That tea garden is probably not much different from the wild ones. There is a high possibility that dead plants will appear. If fertilizer is not applied, next year's yield will be reduced by one-third.

This is not alarmist talk, but a stark reality.

This blow was enough to shatter Zhang Chengyun's last line of defense and stubbornness.

How could Zhang Chengyun not know that he had been running a tea plantation for several years? If he couldn't even figure out what fertilizer tea trees like, then he would truly be an incompetent fool.

Knowing this, Zhou Rui's attack struck directly at the vital point, and Zhang Chengyun could no longer sit still. He suddenly stood up.

"How do you even know this! Who are you?!"

Zhang Chengyun panicked, he really panicked.

Although he initially showed disbelief that Zhou Rui would seriously discuss cooperation, he even tried to "drive Zhou Rui away" at one point.

But deep down he knew that the tea pickers' riot today was a sign that the company was already struggling financially. If they didn't fertilize this year, next year's yield would definitely drop significantly.

By then, it will be too late.

So, despite his earlier act of seeing Zhou Rui off, he actually always hoped that Zhou Rui was genuinely there to discuss cooperation.

The tricks they played were twofold: first, they felt Zhou Rui wasn't genuinely interested in the collaboration; second, it revealed their ulterior motives.

He hoped to raise the price a bit, because these days, who doesn't want to make more money?

But Zhou Rui remained as steady as a mountain, as if everything was under his control, making all his little tricks seem like those of a clown...

Until now, it was a single hit.

Zhang Chengyun broke down, while Zhou Rui remained seated with a faint smile on his lips.

The positions are now reversed; Zhang Chengyun is now standing and looking down at Zhou Rui, but his aura is completely different from before.

The person standing was anxious, defensive, and breathing rapidly.

The person sitting there was calm, smiling, and breathing evenly.

Zhang Sheng sat beside him and witnessed the whole thing, but he didn't say a word except for Zhou Rui's sudden question.

However, Zhang Sheng, who was sitting down, had his brows furrowed and his face showed deep disbelief.

He was just thinking to himself that Zhou Rui was a tea farmer, but now it seems that Zhou Rui is really not even twenty years old? This is fucking a monster!

A child prodigy? Wait a minute, this kid didn't even finish junior high. I heard he used to just like tinkering with weird things and reading newspapers...

Zhang Sheng swallowed hard. He had finished his tea, but no one refilled it for him, and he didn't refill it himself.

This has led to a situation where, even though he hasn't spoken, his mouth feels dry.

Zhou Rui, of course, had no idea what the two of them were thinking.

After dropping this final bombshell, he looked at Zhang Chengyun with a smile, and only after Zhang Chengyun's breathing had calmed down a bit did he continue speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Boss Zhang, I won't say any more. I'll give you my final price: 145 yuan. If you agree, we can have a pleasant cooperation."

"If you don't agree..."

Zhou Rui glanced at the full cup of tea on the table and said leisurely:

"The tea on the table is about to get cold, Mr. Zhang, what do you think?"

"Whether you let this cup of tea get cold or give me a fresh one, the decision is yours. I'll only give you ten seconds to think about it."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..."

At this moment, Zhou Rui spoke one sentence after another, giving Zhang Chengyun no extra time to react.

Before Zhang Chengyun could even process what was happening, four out of ten seconds had already passed.

"Six, five, four, three... two..."

"Wait a moment!"

Just as Zhou Rui was calmly counting down two, Zhang Chengyun suddenly slammed his hand on the table, making a loud noise. His wife, children, and elderly relatives in the other room began to whisper among themselves.

"Boss Zhang, have you made up your mind?"

Zhou Rui asked with a smile, and Zhang Chengyun seemed to lose all his strength, plopping down in a chair. After a short while, he remained seated.

He stood up, supporting himself on the table, and without saying a word, reached his hand across to the other side.

Picking up Zhou Rui's teacup, Zhang Chengyun turned around and poured the full cup of tea, which he had only drunk from once, into the vegetable garden by the door.

Because the teapot was full, a lot of water stains fell onto my hands.

The tea was no longer hot; it had already cooled down.

After pouring out the tea, Zhang Chengyun took out a small handful of roasted dried tea leaves from a bag and was about to add them when Zhou Rui's voice rang out again.

"Boss Zhang, do you have any fresh tea leaves? This time, I'd like to drink fresh tea."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengyun stopped, his hand, which had been resting on the rim of the cup, still holding a small pinch of tea leaves between his fingers.

In just two seconds, Zhang Chengyun nodded and said "okay".

After putting the dried tea leaves back, Zhang Chengyun took out a bag of freshly picked tea leaves from the cabinet and put it into a cup.

Picking up the kettle and pouring in boiling water, Zhang Chengyun's expression vanished, leaving only a cryptic look.

Glug glug...

Boiling water submerged the tea leaves, and the bright green leaves floated to the surface. Zhou Rui's gaze was not fixed on Zhang Chengyun, but rather quite leisurely.

"Try it, it was just picked from the tea garden yesterday."

A cup of fresh tea, not quite full, was placed in front of Zhou Rui's table.

This cup was poured by Zhang Chengyun himself.

Zhou Rui finally reached out and picked up the teacup, a delicate fragrance wafting into his nostrils.

"Boss Zhang, it's not a big deal. There's no need to act like you've suffered a huge loss. At least you got cash, didn't you?"

"I no longer have to worry about production, sales, and management. I can finally give those people an explanation. Everything is fine."

Zhou Rui didn't drink the tea immediately, but smiled and said a few words to Zhang Chengyun.

The latter sighed softly and replied after a while:

"Zhou Rui, you're very good. Zhou Shiwei raised a good son. Old Master Zhou Yong'an is very fortunate to have such a good eldest grandson."

"I agree. Let's do it your way. I have time here. See when we can call the Party Secretary and the others to go and survey the land together, write up the relevant documents, and that's settled."

Zhang Chengyun didn't expect that in the end he would gain nothing from the struggle. However, as Zhou Rui said, this matter could actually be considered a win-win situation.

Zhou Ruineng can take over, and he can sell; it's a win-win situation.

Overall, Zhou Rui got a good deal at this price.

However, Zhou Rui initially wanted to lower the score to 140 or below.

In the end, he changed his mind and offered a price of 145 yuan per mu for the tea trees.

It wasn't that he was kind-hearted and compassionate, but rather that he thought of a saying.

Be a man to stay on the line and meet each other in the future.

They're all from the same village, so if they really drive the price down to around 130, it would be too greedy of them.

Zhou Rui blew on the tea in his hand and took a sip.

"Uncle Zhang, I'm sorry about earlier. It was a pleasure doing business with you."