Crossing through time 04, I blew up the American aircraft carrier.

Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province, is located at No. 16, Fuzhou South Road.

A tall tower stands here, towering above all others, looking down on all others.

This is the Zhonggang Building, built in 2000, currently the largest office building in Qingdao!

It is located next to May Fourth Square and the QD Municipal Government, with the glass-walled Customs Building standing in the distance.

The 18th floor, being the second-to-top floor, has the highest rent. Being able to open a company here is a symbol of strength!

The most luxurious office space, spanning 200 square meters, has just been renovated.

A large sign for a Middle Eastern import and export trading company hangs at the entrance. Half of the interior is a public area, fully equipped with computer desks, chairs, water dispensers, and more. The other half is decorated as meeting rooms and offices.

The general manager's office, with its large desk and soft leather sofa, looks quite impressive!

Behind the desk was a floor-to-ceiling window, where two young men in suits stood, their hair slicked back with hair gel, giving them a look reminiscent of Hong Kong and Taiwanese films.

"Hongguang, look, this is our future empire!"

"Ergang, the rent here is 50,000 yuan a year, and with the renovations, we've already spent over 100,000 yuan... This..."

Zhang Hongguang was somewhat worried.

"What are you afraid of? We're in big business! Without a high-end office, people will look down on us!"

Cough!

As they were talking, the computer speakers started playing.

Zhao Er glanced at the latest Pentium 4 computer on his desk, and an avatar was flashing in the lower right corner of the screen.

Whoosh! Zhao Ergang quickly returned to his desk and began typing away on the keyboard.

The God of Wealth is calling; you must respond quickly!

Pharaoh of Egypt, all the goods you requested have been loaded onto the ship, and customs procedures have just been completed. They are about to set sail. Is there anything else you require?

A reply appeared on the screen quickly.

One hundred containers of fertilizer! Half ammonium nitrate and half potassium nitrate!

no problem!

Fifty containers of white sugar?

All right!

and many more!

Pharaoh of Egypt, I've registered a company. From now on, your payments will be made to my company account! The account number is...

If another million dollars in payments were to come into his personal account, he'd be called in for a chat with the police again!

Recalling his previous experience, Zhao Ergang still felt lingering fear.

Finally, the negotiations ended.

"Ergang, I'll go contact the supplier right away!"

"Come to our door? We're the bosses! Just give them a call and have them come over and give us a quote!"

"Oh? Okay!"

"By the way, go to a nearby university and invite a group of senior students over."

"What are you doing?"

"Of course we'll pretend...we'll provide them with a place to practice!!"

We haven't officially hired any staff yet! Just put some college students with good looks and demeanor outside, even if they're just playing games, they can still give customers a good impression!

That afternoon, inside the conference room.

"Mr. Zhao, rest assured, our Qingdao Fertilizer Plant is a long-established enterprise. One hundred containers of fertilizer is nothing to us. Potassium nitrate is 100 yuan per ton, and ammonium nitrate is 150 yuan per ton—the lowest price in the country! Delivery will be within a week!"

Internationally, fertilizer prices remained relatively stable from 1995 to 2003, only starting to surge in May 2004. By 2008, the cheapest potash fertilizer had reached a record high of $1100! Other fertilizers were even more expensive!

It wasn't until the global financial crisis that fertilizer prices came down!

Now, international fertilizer prices have started to rise, with potassium nitrate maintaining a price of around $200 per ton. Domestic fertilizer plants are not so quick to react and are still exporting at the previous prices!

Zhao Ergang compared the prices quoted by several middlemen and, sure enough, the original manufacturer was the cheapest!

"Okay, Manager Wang, let's sign the contract then! Agricultural technology in the Middle East is underdeveloped, and they need a lot of fertilizer. This is a long-term business, so you'd better supply us with the highest quality fertilizer, otherwise... it'll be a disgrace to 'Made in the East'!"

"Definitely, definitely!"

A dozen minutes later.

"Secretary Zhang, see the guest out!"

"Yes, Second...Mr. Zhao!"

Manager Wang, who was heavily pregnant, walked out and looked at the young men and women working in front of their computers. His eyes were full of envy. How many foreign trade orders must there be to keep so many people busy!

I never expected that a large private import and export company would emerge in Qingdao. We must cultivate good relations with them and establish a long-term cooperative relationship!

If he goes around to those computers, he can see the various game screens.

CS, Red Alert... while a few female classmates were playing Connect Four...

Manager Wang walked to the door with a sigh, just in time to see someone rushing over.

"Old Peng?"

"Old Wang? You're here to discuss business?"

"Yes, the contract has been signed. Mr. Zhao is a straightforward person! You will definitely be able to reach an agreement."

"Uh-huh."

Inside the meeting room.

"General Manager Zhao, our Laoshan Sugar Factory is the largest sugar factory in Shandong Province. Formerly the Second Food Factory, we exported many of our products in the past! With years of export experience, our white sugar, produced using sugar beets as raw material, is even better than cane sugar!"

Shandong's climate is suitable for growing sugar beets, especially the Jiaodong Peninsula and central Shandong, where there are large areas of sugar beet cultivation. The sugar made from these sugar beets is truly exceptional!

"Regarding the price, the FOB price in London is $350 per ton. If you are paying in US dollars, we can quote $320 per ton."

Zhao Ergang frowned: "This price doesn't have much of an advantage!"

"Mr. Zhao, you don't know, our domestic sugar production capacity is actually severely insufficient, and some companies still need to import sugar. Our price is not high..."

"Okay, Manager Peng, let's sign the contract. The goods will be delivered to the port in a week; our customer needs them urgently."

"well!"

As night falls, the day's work is finally over!

Outside in the cubicles, the hired extras had all left, and Zhang Hongguang was filled with emotion.

"Ergang, now I understand why you opened your company in Qingdao. There are so many manufacturers here, it's easy to coordinate. I just make a few phone calls, and they all come to my door to sell their products!"

"That's right, to start a company, you have to be in a big city. Later, we'll even open one in the capital!"

dong dong!

"Is someone coming to our door to sell things again? Ergang, we've already signed a contract, are we still taking on business?"

"Guests are always welcome; perhaps we can even have a meal together later!"

Zhang Hongguang understood; it was obvious that Zhao Ergang wanted to freeload a meal.

Let's see which lucky person gets their turn!

The door creaked open, and two men in peaked caps appeared outside.

Zhang Hongguang was instantly dumbfounded.

Is Mr. Zhao Ergang here?

"this……"

"I'm here!" Zhao Er had just finished fixing his hair in front of the mirror when he came out. When he saw the peaked cap, he instinctively... turned around and wanted to run away, but... this was the 18th floor, where could he run to?

I was careless; I should have rented the space on the first floor!

However... I didn't do anything illegal or disorderly; it was all normal trade!

Could we have been tricked by the Egyptian pharaoh again?