After Lu Nan finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, she saw her mother leaning against the headboard reading the agreement. The TV was on, but the news was blabbering away, and no one was paying attention to it. 

Lifting a corner of the blanket, Lu Nan leaned over and asked, “So, how is it? Don’t you think this agreement I drafted is pretty good?” 

It was indeed good, but her mother, habitually, picked at it: “The binding force on both parties is too weak, and the compensation terms for breach of contract are too lenient.” 

Lu Nan smiled faintly, not offering much explanation. The atmosphere between them was good right now, so she didn’t want to make her mother feel like she was always arguing. Besides, once her mother got to know Xu Chengzhi better, she’d naturally make her own judgment. 

The important thing now was that she still had something to confess. 

“…So, you’ve already set up a meeting with your distributor on my behalf? And you used my name?” 

Lu Nan quietly corrected, “Soon-to-be former distributor.” 

Her mother turned her head to look at the bedside table as if searching for something. 

“Mom, what are you looking for?” 

Her mother replied, “A bamboo twig! I want to see if I can give you a little scare and make you reveal something you’ve been keeping to yourself.” 

The term “bamboo twig” was used in Lu Nan’s hometown to refer to a forked bamboo branch. She had heard her grandmother tell stories about how every family in their generation used to break off a piece to take home, for the purpose of spanking children—enough to hurt, but not to cause lasting harm. 

For instance, her uncle, who worked as a small leader in a school’s logistics company but liked to speculate in the stock market, had received his fair share of spankings as a child. 

Although her mother had a quick temper, she had never hit Lu Nan. The angriest she had ever gotten was slamming her palm on the table, only to bruise her own hand in the process. 

So Lu Nan knew her mother was just joking. 

Sitting up straight, Lu Nan raised three fingers and swore, “Mom, I really don’t have anything else to hide from you. This is the only thing left. I swear.” Except for the rebirth—she could never say that. 

Her mother stared at her seriously for half a minute before deciding to trust her, “Okay, then tell me… what’s the deal with this Green Trading?” 

Lu Nan briefly explained that, due to local dealers selling counterfeit goods in Hailin City, Manager Wang pushing Green Trading to make payments to meet year-end sales targets, and Green Trading itself being in the liquor business outside of its expertise, their company decided to withdraw from the liquor industry to stop the losses. 

“Got it,” her mother said, “So, the liquor you’re sending to Xu Chengzhi is the inventory from Green Trading?” 

“It’s yours,” Lu Nan corrected, “This will be your business from now on. I’m just providing the funds and making the connections.” 

Her mother thought Lu Nan was just being considerate of her dignity as an elder and didn’t think much of it. She continued with her doubts: “But this doesn’t make sense, right? Even you know that Hailin City can’t sell Harmony liquor. Why not find a new market to export it? Green Trading is a trading company, how could they not have thought of that?” 

Lu Nan puffed up a little, “What do you mean, even I thought of it? Let me tell you, Mom, this isn’t something just anyone could think of. Even if they did, not everyone could pull it off. Export? There are so many countries, how do you decide which market to enter? You can’t just ship it to any country and expect it to sell.” 

Her mother, not understanding much about this, gave her a look, “Then which countries can it be sold to?” 

“First, outside of Mainland China, the top two markets aren’t countries, they’re regions—Hong Kong and Macau, because they share the same cultural roots and are more open to liquor culture. Then there’s the U.S., followed by Singapore, France, Australia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Netherlands… roughly those. I remember the last time I went to a small tasting event with Green Trading, I overheard that their biggest client is from Germany. Germans like beer. And Green Trading mainly deals with textiles, so their liquor business is totally unrelated. The company only signed the distribution contract because the European economy was weak and they wanted to diversify.” 

As Lu Nan spoke, her mother took notes. After she was done, her mother pulled out her phone to check if she was making things up. 

Lu Nan laughed, “This is all from the data I researched! You won’t find it!” 

Her mother couldn’t find anything relevant, only the total export value of liquor from a few years ago, which was only around one or two billion USD—quite modest compared to the import value of wine. 

Now, her mother was a little anxious, “Since it’s so difficult to export liquor, do you think Xu Chengzhi might… not be able to sell it?” 

“Brother Xu and his wife have been in the U.S. for almost a year now. They’ve integrated into the Chinese community there. If he’s asking for $30,000 worth of liquor, he definitely has confidence that he can sell it.” Lu Nan said confidently, “Are you worried about the balance payment? Don’t worry, Teacher Zhang is still in the country, and I’m staying at their place.” Of course, she was joking. 

After the joke, Lu Nan said, “Brother Xu is just testing the waters with the liquor. After all, I’m in this business, and he trusts my expertise and his own judgment. And after this, the types of goods he buys will gradually increase. So I’m telling you, Mom, import-export trade has a lot of potential. The supplier information you’ve been keeping will be really useful in the future and will save you a lot of time finding factories.” 

“Let’s not talk about the future. Tell me about tomorrow’s situation.” 

Her mother asking this made Lu Nan really happy. 

“Tomorrow when you go to Green Trading, just negotiate like this,” Lu Nan said. “Although Green Trading insists on repurchasing the inventory at the original price, I think they’re just trying to save face. If you go and negotiate tomorrow, you can push the price down by 10 to 15 percent. After the price is settled, then talk about invoicing.” 

“That much room to negotiate?” Her mom had seen the contract and knew that Party B’s supply price to Party A was the ex-factory price plus VAT. 

“Yep.” Lu Nan nodded. “I’m guessing Yuan Chuan will offer up to 20% rebates to any new distributor willing to take Harmony inventory.” 

“Then why don’t we just sign the procurement contract with your company directly?” Unconsciously, her mother had started saying “we,” which was a good sign. 

“Because Green Trading is offering a discount, while Yuan Chuan is giving a rebate. One reduces the payment for goods directly, while the other gives a rebate in finished liquor. Although Yuan Chuan’s offer seems better, in reality, the former is more advantageous.” Lu Nan explained. 

Her mother shook her head, “Liquor companies are full of tricks. A rebate isn’t really a rebate; it’s liquor!” 

Lu Nan continued, “But once you take the liquor from Green Trading, Yuan Chuan will definitely contact you. They’re mostly worried about you selling at low prices or reselling goods. Plus, they’ll want to see if the newcomer is a fool who’ll take on the inventory without a distribution contract. We can deal with that later… Although we still need to sign the distribution contract, we can hold off a little on Yuan Chuan.” 

“Didn’t you say rebates aren’t cost-effective?” 

“They aren’t now, but we can renegotiate! We’ll talk until it’s worth it.” 

Lu Nan went over the key points for negotiating with Green Trading—mainly pricing and delivery coordination. 

As for the negotiation tactics, her mom didn’t need her help at all. 

“So, you’re saying I should go alone tomorrow?” 

Lu Nan nodded like it was obvious. “I need to avoid suspicion, don’t I?” 

Her mother rolled her eyes, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re a senior executive at Yuan Chuan, avoiding suspicion. Pfft!” 

“Oh! I’m not going to argue with you!” 

*** 

The next morning, Lu Nan got up and washed up. 

There was a knock on the hotel room door. 

With a face full of face wash foam, Lu Nan called out, “Mom, please open the door.” 

After her mother opened the door, she found a staff member standing there, holding a dustproof bag and a tote bag. “Hello, madam, here are your clothes from yesterday’s dry cleaning. Please sign for them. Of course, you can check them first before signing.” 

Just as Lu Nan’s mother was about to ask if the staff had delivered to the wrong room, Lu Nan called from the bathroom, “Mom, please sign for them.” 

Being careful as always, Lu Nan’s mother opened the bag to inspect and was stunned. 

Inside was a complete outfit: a black turtleneck thin knit sweater, a khaki wool coat, slightly flared black trousers, and even socks; the tote bag contained a pair of deep brown leather shoes. 

The style definitely wasn’t something her daughter would wear, so it must be… 

“Size 165 clothes, size 29 pants, size 38 shoes,” Lu Nan came out of the bathroom. “Mom, try on your ‘battle clothes.'” 

These were the clothes she bought at the mall yesterday afternoon. Afterward, she had them delivered to the hotel, having arranged with the front desk to clean her clothes and deliver them to her room by 8 a.m. the next morning. 

A bittersweet feeling rose in Lu Nan’s mother’s chest. When it comes to business meetings, people often judge by appearances first. She had indeed dressed casually and loosely this time — one of the reasons she didn’t want to meet her daughter’s roommates at her dorm. 

More precisely, she hadn’t really cared about how she dressed in years. 

And now, her daughter had even taken this into consideration, and every size fit perfectly. 

Lu Nan didn’t give her mother much time to reflect. After thanking the staff, she pushed her mother onto a chair, took out the cosmetics from her bag, and quickly applied some foundation, drew her eyebrows and eyeliner, and added lipstick. 

“Perfect.” Lu Nan held her mother’s face, looking from side to side. “Wishing my mom a victorious start. Now go get changed.” 

After having breakfast with her mother, who was now looking refreshed, Lu Nan glanced at her phone. “Mom, I have to go to work now.” Before leaving, she took a few steps towards her mother, stopped, and gave her a hug. “Good luck, Ms. Huang Li.” 

Lu Nan actually had some concerns. She wasn’t worried about whether her mother would back out because she knew her mother’s character well—once her mother made up her mind to do something, she would never back down. 

Her only concern was whether her mother could reach an agreement with Green Trading. 

Once she arrived at the office, her mind was clearly elsewhere. 

During the morning meeting, Manager Wang and Chen Xiao looked at her several times. Eventually, Manager Wang couldn’t hold back and spoke up. “Lu Nan, could you explain the promotional policy I just mentioned?” 

Lu Nan snapped back to attention, and, noticing Xiao Feifei’s somewhat worried look, calmly began, “The upcoming banquet group purchasing policy is as follows: from December 1st to 31st, anyone purchasing a classic wine from the banquet package will receive six bottles of red wine and twelve bottles of beverages for free. The cost of the wine and drinks will be covered by the distributor, and the expenses will be reported at the end of the month. The distributor will receive the equivalent value in sample wine (unpackaged, not for sale) in the next month. As for the premium tobacco and wine channels, the promotion will focus on classic wines of ten and fifteen years, offering a small bottle (100ml) of the corresponding wine with every purchase. The city-wide limit is fifty items, with thirty-five ten-year bottles and fifteen fifteen-year bottles. Once the stock runs out, the promotion ends.” 

Manager Wang glanced at Lu Nan, then continued, “Yes, Lu Nan understood correctly. This is the group purchasing and premium tobacco and wine channel plan for next month. Now, let me explain the supermarket and distribution channels—pay attention, so that when we explain the policies to our distributors, we don’t make any mistakes…”