It's just that they have money.

Liu Wenhu did not respond immediately.

He placed the document on the table, pressed it down with his palm, then looked up, his gaze lingering on Fang Chen's face for a few seconds.

"Fang Chen, how old are you this year?"

"Twenty-five."

"Twenty-five." Liu Wenhu repeated the number, his lips twitching slightly, as if he were smiling but not quite. "When I was twenty-five, it was my second year after graduating from agricultural college. I worked as a salesman in an agricultural supply store in the county town, riding my bicycle to the countryside to run business, covering more than a hundred kilometers a day."

Fang Chen remained silent, knowing this was a unique moment for older comrades to reminisce about their youth, and waited for him to continue.

He pulled a page from the stack of documents on the table, turned it over, and pushed it in front of Fang Chen.

It was a company profile that Fang Chen had prepared for Huang Zi'ang.

To be precise, it was the version that Xu Wen helped Huang Zi'ang compile for external publicity.

The document includes Huang Ziang's photo, educational background, the scale of the planting base, and several real photos of the blueberry greenhouse.

Liu Wenhu pointed to Huang Ziang's name with his finger.

"I was surprised when Xiao Zhang sent me the information. I had met this young man a few years ago when I attended a meeting at the National Agricultural University, and I was very impressed with him."

Fang Chen didn't respond, but just smiled and waited for Liu Wenhu to continue.

The other party's meaning was clear: because they had a good impression of the outstanding young man, they were willing to give him a chance.

Liu Wenhu casually flipped through a couple of pages of the document, then closed it and placed it on the table.

"Your data is well-prepared, detailed, and logically sound. I can roughly guess what you want to talk to me about, but any farmer of any size could talk to me about that."

He crossed his arms and looked at Fang Chen with a scrutinizing gaze.

Why should I talk to you?

The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly tensed up.

Xu Wen put down his pen, looked up, glanced at Liu Wenhu, and then at Fang Chen.

"To be honest, I'm not short of money," Fang Chen smiled. "So I'm not here to ask you for investment."

"Oh? What's that?" Liu Wenhu asked, intrigued.

"Your Wenhu agricultural supplies are king in Northeast China, but what about outside the Shanhaiguan Pass?"

Liu Wenhu smiled noncommittally.

Fang Chen began to paint a rosy picture: "I told you, I'm not short of money. I can easily invest in creating a brand, a brand of high-quality southern fruits grown using your agricultural supplies. That would be more effective than sending a hundred sales representatives to South China to run the market."

Liu Wenhu remained silent.

He picked up the document on the table, opened it again, and read it page by page, this time very slowly.

Fang Chen didn't say anything more, picked up his water glass, took a sip, and waited patiently.

About two minutes later, Liu Wenhu closed the documents and looked up.

What do you want?

"Your channels support our blueberry sales, with QR codes for entry and direct shipping from the production area," Fang Chen said. "In exchange, you will have priority supply rights for our blueberry brand in the southern market."

"Priority supply rights?"

"You are our only agricultural input partner. All orders from the southern market, including the agricultural input portion, must be shipped from Wenhu."

Liu Wenhu stared at Fang Chen for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"You're using my channels to pave the way for you, and then you want me to be your supplier?"

"Mr. Liu, you've got it backwards." Fang Chen laughed as well. "You're the one who used Huang Zi'ang's blueberries to pave the way for your trip south, and you also gained a stable client from the south in the process."

The two exchanged a glance.

Liu Wenhu extended his hand.

"I'll have someone contact you about the QR code tomorrow, but if your brand doesn't take off, I'll withdraw at any time."

Fang Chen grasped his hand and shook it vigorously.

"Don't worry."

The negotiation of contract details took most of the day. When the three of them walked out of the Wenhu Agricultural Supplies Building, the wind was stronger than when they arrived.

Springtime in the North is like this: warm under the sun, but chilly in the shade.

Zhang Zhenghao walked ahead with his neck hunched, the zipper of his windbreaker pulled all the way up to his chin, making him look like a penguin.

"Damn, I thought it was my face that made me so powerful."

Fang Chen patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, saying, "Without your influence, I wouldn't be able to see them."

"Where to next?"

"We're already in Northeast China, shouldn't we have a couple of drinks?"

"Does Xu Wen want to drink?" Fang Chen turned to look at Xu Wen, who waved his hand somewhat awkwardly.

"Tsk, boring."

"Don't make things difficult for that girl."

Zhang Zhenghao put his arm around Fang Chen's shoulder and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't pretend to be an honest person."

Fang Chen pushed his arm away: "Let's go, let's go, let's get some Northeastern specialties."

Fang Chen led Zhang Zhenghao into a barbecue restaurant near the hotel that looked like it had been around for a while. Pushing open the heavy plastic curtain, the aroma of charcoal and cumin wafted out.

The shop had seven or eight tables, five or six of which were occupied, and it was bustling with activity. Each table had an independent exhaust pipe hanging above it, and the sizzling oil splattered onto the charcoal fire, sending up plumes of white smoke.

"This place is good." Zhang Zhenghao's eyes lit up, and he found a corner seat to sit down. "It's down-to-earth."

Fang Chen handed the menu to Xu Wen: "Take a look and see what you'd like to eat?"

Xu Wen took the menu, glanced at it, and handed it back: "You guys order, I'm fine with anything, I don't have any dietary restrictions."

"Here I come." Zhang Zhenghao took the menu without ceremony and ordered more than a dozen skewers in one go: "Lamb, beef, heart tube, beef tendon, chicken wings, silkworm pupae, grilled leeks, grilled eggplant... and a case of beer."

"A whole case?" Fang Chen raised an eyebrow. "Can you finish it all?"

"If we can't finish it, we'll save it and continue tomorrow," Zhang Zhenghao said matter-of-factly.

Fang Chen smiled and didn't stop him.

The beer was served first. Zhang Zhenghao opened a bottle, filled Fang Chen's glass, poured himself a glass, and raised his glass: "Come on, to you, to President Liu, to Xiao Xu, and to my reputation."

Zhang Zhenghao was only a month older than Xu Wen, but he spoke as if he were a senior.

Fang Chen picked up his glass, clinked it against his cup, and then tilted his head back to take a big gulp.

The cold beer slid down my throat, carrying a faint malty bitterness.

Xu Wen sat beside them, sipping his hot tea and quietly watching the two of them.

"Honestly," Zhang Zhenghao put down his cup, wiped his mouth, "what you said to Liu Wenhu today, was it something you'd planned beforehand or something you improvised?"

"Yes, we have both." Fang Chen picked up a peanut and chewed it. "The direction was planned in advance, but the specifics will depend on the atmosphere at the scene."

"Aren't you afraid he'll just reject you outright?"

"I don't lose anything by refusing," Fang Chen said. "If he doesn't see me, what do I lose? The cost of a plane ticket. If he sees me and I don't agree, what do I lose? Half a day. The cost of trial and error is very low in this kind of thing, but if it succeeds, the benefits are huge."

Zhang Zhenghao glanced at him, then nodded thoughtfully: "Why are you talking so eloquently now?"

Fang Chen smiled and said, "Maybe it's because I don't have to go to work anymore, so my mind is clearer."

"What if you really get rejected?"

"We'll just invest our own money to build the brand and distribution channels," Fang Chen said casually.

"Do you have enough money?"

"That's enough." Fang Chen nodded matter-of-factly, then gave a reasonable explanation, "I forgot to tell you, my stock has hit the daily limit for seven consecutive days, doubling in value."