Seeing Chen Xiaoli flee in disarray, Lu Yao smiled triumphantly. Trying to snatch her boyfriend away? She was overestimating herself, not knowing who her opponent was.
"Yaoyao, you weren't serious about opening a large department store yourself, were you?"
Yang Jian hadn't noticed his girlfriend's expression.
Lu Yao felt a bit awkward. "I just had the idea. My dad said the bottom two floors of Chunfeng Lou were designed as a large supermarket. If you had enough money, he would have built an underground parking lot."
"Then I'll work hard to make money so you can open this supermarket."
"No, no, no. I don't have the ability. Opening a large supermarket isn't easy. Besides the huge investment, it requires professional management models and financial knowledge. I know nothing. It would be more reliable to bring in a chain supermarket."
"You can learn management. You're a top student. You should be able to pick up management training courses quickly. If not, you can bring in talent to manage it for you. For finance, let Rui Rui help you. She's studying finance."
"That's true. If I don't know, I can learn. I'll look into some courses first. By the way, why hasn't Rui Rui come back?"
"She's starting her senior year and preparing for postgraduate entrance exams. She didn't plan to before, but I forced her. So now she's studying very hard. She's been cramming all summer. I didn't even tell her when her sister had surgery."
"Preparing for postgraduate exams is indeed tough. I didn't take them because I was lazy. Otherwise, I could teach at a university."
"Let's go, lazybones. We're going to toast the guests."
"I'm not going. We're not married yet, and it feels strange to toast guests together. You go by yourself. I'll keep Sister Xia and Lin Nan company. They don't know other guests well, and it would be awkward."
Lu Yao turned back to her seat as she spoke.
Yang Jian had no choice but to drag Biao Biao along to toast table by table. When he couldn't drink anymore, he let Biao Biao take the drinks for him.
"Yang Jian, we have to enter the casino this afternoon and need to rush back to Hancheng. We won't be drinking."
Halfway through the toasting, Song Jianmin came over and pulled Yang Jian aside.
"Jianmin, have you finished eating?"
Yang Jian was already feeling the effects of the alcohol.
"We're done. Drink less. There are still many guests."
"I'm fine. How's your casino going?"
"It's okay. There are quite a few migrant workers. It's already reached the scale of Hongqi Street."
"Really? Then you can make tens of thousands of yuan in profit every day. Brother Hao will be able to get ahead soon."
Song Jianmin gave a wry smile. "How can that compare to you guys making hundreds of thousands in profit every day? Besides, my brother only has a thirty percent stake in the casino. On good days, he can get over ten thousand yuan, but most of the time, he only gets a few thousand. He also has to cover our rent and living expenses."
"Thirty percent? That's too little. Wasn't your operation organized by Brother Hao?"
"We organized it, but we have to rely on Xiong Er for maintenance. He takes the lion's share. We can't do anything about it. When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. Thirty percent stake is more stable than running an emperor company as a bookie. We make a steady profit every day. After a while longer, he'll have enough money to get married."
"Married? When is Brother Hao getting married?"
Although there was some estrangement between him and Song Jianhao, their superficial relationship was maintained. Song Jianhao had also specially rushed back from Hancheng to celebrate and had given a gift of eight thousand yuan. Social obligations couldn't be neglected, and Yang Jian felt even more embarrassed to ask Li Jin to shut down his casino.
"Their wedding date is set for October 1st."
"He's also getting married on October 1st? Where is the wedding being held?"
"The wedding date is set, but the location isn't yet. They'll definitely send you an invitation. Is anyone else getting married on October 1st?"
"Yes, my Brother Nan and Sister Xia are also getting married on October 1st. I'll have to drink separately from Yao Yao then."
"Really? I'll have to send a gift when Wei Xia gets married. She took good care of me when I was hospitalized."
"Okay, I'll have her send you an invitation then."
Yang Jian didn't try to keep the Song brothers. After toasting Song Jianhao, he escorted them out of the hotel.
Amidst a harmonious atmosphere, the banquet came to an end, and the guests left one by one. A Feng also left early as he had to enter the casino in the afternoon. Only Li Jin was going to check out Xinqiao.
Wu Wangchun was also familiar with Li Jin and was going the same way, so they returned to Xinqiao together.
Liang Liang drove Yang Jian and Lu Yao to the template factory.
Biao Biao hadn't been home for a long time either. He had to discuss buying a house with his family this time, so he would be home for a few days.
"Brother, your factory is doing very well! Although it's a bit small, it's orderly, busy but not chaotic, and has great development potential."
As soon as Li Jin entered the template factory, he praised it enthusiastically. A small workshop-style factory in the countryside was clean everywhere, with various rules and regulations visible, workers in uniform, and complete protective equipment like masks and gloves. Raw materials and finished products were neatly stacked, making it even more formal than many large factories.
Yang Jian, who was accompanying him on the tour, pointed to Jiang Bin, who was already at work in the distance, and said, "I hired a very awesome partner. He's the one running everything here. I've barely been involved."
"Impressive. I feel like your factory will grow big before long. This factory building is clearly too small. Why don't I invest some money and double the factory size?"
Li Jin suddenly proposed to invest. He had clearly seen Jiang Bin's potential.
Yang Jian was very surprised. "Brother Jin, don't joke. My little factory doesn't make much money in a year. Are you interested in this income?"
"No, the moment I came in, I felt that the manager of this factory was extraordinary. As long as he's given time, this factory will soar sooner or later. I'm optimistic about this industry and Jiang Bin. You won't object to me taking a small share, will you?"
Not knowing Li Jin's true intentions, Yang Jian found it difficult to refuse outright. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Brother Jin, how about this: I won't give you shares in the factory because Jiang Bin and I have an agreement. I won't go into the specifics, but I can give you the general distributorship for our products in Hancheng."
"General distributorship?"
"Yes, we are currently specializing in construction templates and are continuously expanding production capacity. When funds are sufficient, we will also start producing decorative panels. According to Jiang Bin, our construction templates can be reused more than ten times, and we will quickly occupy a considerable share of the Hancheng construction market."
"General distributorship is fine. Then I'll let the entire Xunsi River construction site use your templates first, but you have to give me a discount on the price."
"Don't worry, Brother Jin. I guarantee you the biggest profit margin. However, there will be one exception. I signed a contract with Dong Sheng Group a long time ago, and their templates can only be supplied directly by us."
This was exactly the effect Yang Jian wanted. With Li Jin's influence at Xunsi River, he could completely monopolize the sales of templates.
"No problem. I won't interfere with Zheng Guangyao and Dong Sheng Group's construction sites. I'll monopolize all other construction sites. Additionally, I'll set up warehouses in both Jiangnan and Jiangbei specifically for selling your construction templates."
Li Jin clearly intended to transition to legitimate business gradually. The underworld couldn't be a permanent path.