The next day, Zhang Liunian woke up refreshed. His wife was still fast asleep. He quietly got dressed and went out of the room, then, taking哑巴 and Zhang Liusha with him, they began practicing their martial arts.
In the morning, Zhang Liunian rode his motorcycle alone to the South City Food Factory. This was the first time he had proactively approached Fang Yan for cooperation.
Fang Yan was both surprised and pleased by his arrival. Surprised because her attempts to buy Zhang Liunian's braised meat recipe several times had failed, and even sending her second sister had yielded the same result.
Just as she thought the matter was dead in the water, someone informed her that Zhang Liunian wanted to discuss cooperation with her. How could this not make her happy?
"It seems he's finally seen sense. Great!" Fang Yan rubbed her hands together and went to the office. As she pushed the door open, Zhang Liunian was already seated by the desk.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Zhang Liunian immediately stood up and looked over.
Their eyes met, and Fang Yan was momentarily stunned.
After not seeing him for several days, Zhang Liunian was still as dashingly handsome as ever, but unfortunately...
Wait, unfortunately what?
Fang Yan shook off the inappropriate thought, then subtly adjusted her clothes and sat down opposite Zhang Liunian.
"I heard you wanted to discuss cooperation? It's about the braised meat recipe, isn't it? You've finally come to your senses and agreed to sell me the recipe. It wasn't easy.
However, the price is similar to what I offered last time. Do you think you can accept it?" Fang Yan truly saw great potential in this recipe.
If they could acquire this recipe, they could not only develop many new food products but also grow bigger and stronger, successfully climbing to the top spot in the provincial food industry.
Moreover, she had heard that Zhang Liunian had opened a braised meat shop in South City. Although it had only been a few days, she had visited it.
The business was truly excellent, already outperforming many other shops in South City.
As expected, her judgment was good; she had recognized the superiority of his braised meat recipe at first glance.
"It's not about cooperation on the braised meat recipe, but rather a different kind of collaboration," Zhang Liunian said with a wry smile as he sat down, negating her guess.
Fang Yan was taken aback. Besides this recipe, what else could they possibly cooperate on?
Food? They already cooperated on all the food Zhang Liunian made.
"Not the braised meat recipe?" Seeing him deny it, Fang Yan had lost interest and didn't really want to hear about his new proposal.
But thinking that he had already come, she decided to listen after all.
"Go ahead and tell me!" Fang Yan said, crossing her arms and looking at him.
Zhang Liunian could see her lack of enthusiasm and didn't waste time, getting straight to the point: "I heard your food factory plans to build employee dormitories, is that correct?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Yan's eyes narrowed, and her expression turned strange. This matter was indeed in progress; it had only just been announced. They were currently surveying how many people wanted to build, and if over half opted in, it would be finalized. If less than half, it would be dropped.
But how had Zhang Liunian heard about it so quickly? People hadn't even gotten off work yet, so it was impossible for the news to spread this fast.
Besides, Zhang Liunian had come directly to her and hadn't spoken to anyone to inquire, so how could he possibly know about this?
This Zhang Liunian was unusual, his knowledge of their food factory's affairs was too timely and precise.
Seeing Fang Yan's off-kilter expression, Zhang Liunian felt a bit uneasy. He knew this event occurred around this time but couldn't pinpoint the exact date.
"You, where did you find out? We just announced this matter," Fang Yan stared intently at Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian secretly broke into a sweat. So it was just announced. He seemed to have arrived a bit too early. "I have my ways."
The employee dormitories for the food factory were the first batch of such housing in South City. Once they were built, other factories would follow suit.
Such major decisions wouldn't be made without proposals and discussions.
Zhang Liunian's statement thus explained his source of information.
Fang Yan gave Zhang Liunian a deep look, trying to guess what his "ways" referred to. However, what came out of her mouth was: "So, the cooperation you mentioned is about this matter? Regardless of what you want to cooperate with us on, you'll be disappointed, because it's still uncertain whether this will go through."
"It will definitely happen," Zhang Liunian was very sure. In his previous life, it had indeed happened, and he was merely stating the outcome in advance.
"Oh? How are you, an outsider, more confident than me, the factory director?" Fang Yan was now even more curious about Zhang Liunian. How could he be so sure that their factory would approve this project? Where did his confidence come from?
Even she, the factory director, couldn't be certain, yet he was so resolute!
"Believe me, building employee dormitories for the food factory is imperative, and the cooperation I'm discussing now is to take on the responsibility of building these dormitories. This is my proposal, along with the cooperation agreement, material quotes..." Zhang Liunian produced the documents he had prepared yesterday and pushed them into Fang Yan's hands.
The latter took them dumbfoundedly, feeling somewhat forced into a corner. The proposal for building the food factory dormitories had only just been announced, and they were still assessing its feasibility.
Now, someone had come forward saying he wanted to take on the cooperation for building the dormitories. This was simply ridiculous!
Why the rush? The outcome was still uncertain, yet he had gone to the trouble of writing a proposal and drawing up design blueprints. Wait, these house designs were truly excellent. They guaranteed each household independent kitchen and bathroom facilities, as well as a balcony. Furthermore, the area was not large, and most astonishingly, the price was unexpectedly low.
This instantly gave her a clear understanding of her previously vague feelings.
If the dormitories were indeed built like this, it would indeed be a good thing. It would not only enhance the reputation of their food factory but also make people proud to work there.
With this thought, she reviewed them carefully and found that from the first page to the last, there was not a single flaw in the cooperation agreement. It was so detailed that it even accounted for every brick. Could such a cooperation agreement have come from Zhang Liunian, a man with only primary school education?
Was he truly only educated to a primary school level?
"Did you personally prepare all these documents?" Fang Yan swallowed, suppressing her shock.
"Yes, I did. What's wrong?" Zhang Liunian hadn't realized how much his work had impressed Fang Yan, and he looked at her with an expression of incomprehension as to why she was so surprised.
Fang Yan's breath hitched. She discreetly calmed her shock and asked again, "Your designs and plans are indeed very attractive, but whether we will be the first to build employee dormitories is still unknown. Therefore, I cannot answer or agree to cooperate with you at this time."
"I can come again tomorrow."
"Let's talk about it tomorrow!" Last time, when she wanted to buy Zhang Liunian's braised meat recipe, he had asked for an exorbitant price. Now that the tables had turned and he was the one seeking cooperation, shouldn't she return the favor?
Zhang Liunian, seeing Fang Yan's pleased expression, narrowed his eyes. "You're still holding a grudge against me because of the recipe."
Fang Yan grinned. "You rejected me several times. Can't I reject you just once?"
"What I told you last time was the truth. My recipe is indeed worth that price," Zhang Liunian said calmly, not angered, but stating a fact.
"Heh, I don't believe you," she scoffed. He claimed it was worth hundreds of millions. Not only in South City, but even the top food factory in the country couldn't afford that price.
This Zhang Liunian was clearly obsessed with money. Fine, there was no point in wasting more words.
"I have other matters to attend to, so I won't see you out," Fang Yan said with a cold smile, then got up and left.
Zhang Liunian watched her leave, then followed suit and departed from the food factory.