But what? 

It wasn’t just Sister Tian who was curious—even Old Liu, who was about to leave Hua’an, was curious too. 

Lu Nan said, “However, there is still a month and ten days left until the contract with Hongtu Liquor Company expires. If during this period, Hongtu Liquor Company can complete the remaining payment amount, I can apply to the headquarters to extend Hongtu Liquor’s distributor status for another month. This arrangement shouldn’t be a problem.” 

During the twelve-month contract period last year, the total contract value was 4 million, and they actually collected 3.2 million by the end of December. Even if no payment is received from January 1st to the end of February, when the contract ends, they would have completed 80% of the contract amount, making them a relatively high-quality distributor—only customers like Feixiang, who pay 100% of the contract amount, are considered ideal clients. 

Most distributors who complete 60-80% of the contract are considered quite good. 

But according to the unwritten rules of the industry, distributors typically finish payments and stock up for Spring Festival before New Year’s. They usually don’t make payments during the New Year or early spring. 

So Lu Nan’s request was a bit demanding, but not unreasonable. 

When she said this, Old Liu couldn’t help but think to himself: Brilliant! Old Han, that unreliable one, still wants to deceive Lu Nan—looks like it’s not going to work. 

Yuan Chuan certainly didn’t want to lose a mid-sized distributor like Hongtu Liquor, mainly because Hongtu had strong overall capabilities—and also due to the old saying, “Better to work with the familiar than the new.” 

But Yuan Chuan is not entirely dependent on Hongtu. Although they can’t immediately find a distributor the same size as Hongtu, they can split the contract volume and recruit two distributors with 2 million contracts each, or even four distributors with 1 million contracts each. This sounds easy, but it’s actually quite challenging—however, it’s not impossible. After all, Yuan Chuan’s reputation still holds weight. 

Regarding the idea of “doing business with familiar partners,” this is actually a mindset that the Yuan Chuan salespeople have developed to avoid extra effort. After all, Hongtu is a professional liquor company with enough manpower, and Yuan Chuan’s sales staff in Hua’an City can save a lot of effort, just needing to organize expenses and report accounts at the end of the month. If they had to recruit new distributors, everything would have to start from scratch, and the workload for the first few months would increase. But it’s just an increase in difficulty—not impossible. If they really lose a distributor, everyone at the City Office would be in trouble. It might be better to work hard for a few months training a new distributor. 

All these difficulties are nothing in front of a determined city manager. 

In comparison, Hongtu Liquor is the one that doesn’t want to lose the Yuan Chuan distributor contract, otherwise, Han Jianxin and Tian Aizhen wouldn’t have this attitude. 

Old Liu silently admitted to himself that he’d indeed gotten used to slacking off in the past two or three years. He didn’t want to put in the effort to develop new markets or recruit distributors—he just wanted to keep operating in mature markets, shipping and collecting payments in a routine way. Wasn’t it nice to make money so easily? 

… 

The store clerk secretly messaged Tian Aizhen to let her know the new city manager from Yuan Chuan was at the store—a very young one. 

Before meeting Lu Nan, Tian Aizhen had been wondering whether she was one of those “people with connections” who had strong backing but little actual capability. 

After the meeting, she dismissed this thought. 

Even though she had misjudged that bastard Han Jianxin, she was usually a good judge of character: this Manager Lu was definitely someone who got things done—unlike that slippery Old Liu. 

She still holds out a slim hope, hoping that Manager Lu, being a woman, might give her a chance. 

There are too many people around her advising against it. 

Some tell her not to stir things up, to just close one eye and endure life; others suggest that she ask for more houses, more money, and forget about fighting for business, saying, “You’ve divorced, you still have three children to take care of—how could you have time for business? Why exhaust yourself so much?” 

Even Old Liu, that slippery city manager—Tian Aizhen had met him twice, and it was clear he favored that bastard Han Jianxin more.  

Tian Aizhen thought bitterly: How could I be someone who just sits back and lets things happen? The house is immovable and cannot be easily sold; no matter how much money is needed, it’s all spent—let alone the fact that business people usually have their money tied up in goods. How much cash can that scoundrel Han give me? A million? Two million? No matter how much, I’ll still be losing! 

So she wants her share of the business. 

That’s why she asked the staff to keep her informed. 

When Lu Nan didn’t reject her earlier but instead proposed “conditionally agreeing to the extension,” Tian Aizhen was quite surprised. 

But after thinking about it, it makes sense that the new Manager Lu would be willing to let her trade payment for more time. 

Forty days, eight hundred thousand yuan. 

Both the one making the offer and the one hearing it knew this wasn’t a hard limit. Even if the final payment was 790,000 yuan, would Lu Nan really refuse to renew the contract with Hongtu Liquor? 

Of course not. 

That so-called remaining contract amount was just Lu Nan’s way of testing Hongtu’s sincerity. 

Everyone present understood this. 

Tian Aizhen never expected that calling a few times for “sister” or “little sister,” having a drink, or playing the sympathy card would make the other party unconditionally help her. 

There were plenty of people worse off than her. If Manager Lu were the kind of soft-hearted, muddle-headed person who could be swayed that easily, the higher-ups at Yuan Chuan wouldn’t have made her the city manager, would they? 

However, Tian Aizhen still had some doubts, so she put down her glass and asked carefully, “Manager Lu, you mean Hongtu Liquor, not me personally?” 

Lu Nan nodded and emphasized, “The one who signed the distribution contract with Yuan Chuan is Hongtu Liquor.” 

“Then if…” Tian Aizhen wanted to say something more. 

Lu Nan patted her arm, “I can tell by your accent that you’re from around here, right?” 

Tian Aizhen was startled and nodded, “Yes, I’m local, though from the countryside.” 

“Don’t joke, Sister Tian. Hua’an is undergoing urban renovation everywhere. There’s no distinction between city and countryside now,” Lu Nan casually chatted, mentioning how she saw all the construction sites bustling when she drove into Hua’an just yesterday. 

“Demolition and relocation is just a way to strike it rich overnight. Some people can handle it, some can’t. But after all, windfall money isn’t something you earn through your own ability, so I never feel secure with it. You still need a business and real money in hand.” As Tian Aizhen spoke, she slurped her drink and asked Lu Nan, “Manager Lu, are you okay with eating blood?” She was referring to the special dish just ordered by President Han — lamb blood tofu. 

Lu Nan was not picky and nodded, “Yes, I can.” 

So Tian Aizhen scooped half a bowl of the lamb blood tofu dish for Lu Nan, saying, “Although Han Jianxin is a terrible person, he’s exceptional when it comes to finding good food.” She even made a small jab at her almost ex-husband. 

Later, there wasn’t much talk about work between Tian Aizhen and Lu Nan. Manager Liu eavesdropped for a while, but eventually, Tian Aizhen made him drink several more glasses of wine. He originally didn’t want to drink much, but when he saw Lu Nan, the “female wine warrior,” seem to offer him a drink, he quickly clinked glasses with Tian Aizhen, drinking over six or seven taels before forgetting to call Han Jianxin to report back. 

“Manager Lu, you’ve got business to take care of this afternoon, so I won’t hold you up. I’ll think carefully about what you said, and we’ll stay in touch.” Tian Aizhen sent Lu Nan and her group to the entrance of the country-style restaurant and bid them goodbye. 

Lu Nan had already asked the restaurant staff to call a designated driver — restaurants around here often have the driver’s number posted on the chopstick holders or table corners, which is a bit of a local specialty. 

It was around 2 PM. Lu Nan initially planned to return to her accommodation to collect the house keys but now needed to change her plan. She asked the driver to take them to a tea house near Sifang Building to relax and drink some tea. 

Old Liu had no idea what awaited him and, while sitting in the back of the car, said to Liu Yang, “See, Manager Lu is so polite, even treating us to tea.” 

Liu Yang glanced at the tipsy Old Liu and muttered to himself, “Idiot.” 

Once they entered the tea house, it was fairly empty for a weekday afternoon. Lu Nan led the way and ordered a private room, while she also ordered Pu’er tea for herself. “What would you like to drink?” 

“Same for me,” Manager Liu quickly replied. 

Liu Yang ordered chrysanthemum tea. 

Soon, the waiter brought out all the tea. Lu Nan picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Manager Liu. He wanted to mimic her cool, composed hand gesture from earlier at Hongtu Liquor, but what she said while pouring made his hand falter awkwardly. 

Lu Nan said, “Manager Liu is being transferred to Fujian Province, right? It’s still in the East China region, so that’s good. We’ll meet at the half-year meeting. Otherwise, I’m worried that when it comes time to explain to General Director Wu and Regional Director Tong why Sifang Construction under Manager Liu collected most of the payment in just six months, and when it came under my hands, there was no payment after that.” 

Old Liu withdrew his hand and rubbed his fingers. 

“Manager Lu, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Sifang Construction is a new player in the alcohol industry and this is their first year, so they’re not very familiar with the market. Of course, I admit there were some small mistakes on my part too. At the end of the year, I was in a rush and didn’t keep track of the payment progress properly. But to say that Sifang Construction hasn’t made any payments in the first half of the year is absolutely impossible. The company initially decided to become a distributor because they needed to give out alcohol and treat people for building relationships. Look, before the Lunar New Year, Sifang Construction definitely had to consume a fair amount of stock. After the New Year, they’ll continue to use up more, and by April or May, they’ll be needing more alcohol…” Manager Liu explained calmly after snapping back to focus. 

As for whether pressuring Sifang Construction to stock up would make the colleagues who took over his job feel uneasy, Old Liu had already considered this when he planned to make a quick profit and leave. Anyway, this is kind of an “unspoken rule.” Who would be foolish enough to cultivate the market, build a solid foundation, and then just let someone else take over for cheap? 

When Old Liu learned that the successor was a new hire, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope: maybe they wouldn’t know the ins and outs of things? 

“Actually, I know that the city manager wanted to make their resume look good before transferring,” Lu Nan nodded as if believing him. 

Old Liu let out a sigh of relief: it seemed like she understood the business, and didn’t plan on openly confronting him. 

Lu Nan continued, “Regarding the payment issue, I won’t hold it against you. But… according to what Manager Liu is saying, the person in charge of alcohol sales at Sifang Construction is really a genius in this field. After only six months, they already know how to get the maximum support from the manufacturer.” 

Old Liu choked. 

He thought Lu Nan hadn’t noticed. 

He thought after asking Liu Yang in the morning, Lu Nan was just dissatisfied with his stockpiling actions. 

He thought… 

He thought that even if the person taking over was an experienced city manager, they still wouldn’t have noticed!!! 

“Signing a 2 million one-channel distribution contract, achieving 1.5 million in payments in six months—Sifang Construction is a quality distributor. But Manager Liu, I haven’t had access to the Hua’an City system for long, and I was only able to check it yesterday. These costs… weren’t reported correctly, right?” Lu Nan took out her tablet, unlocked it, and said slowly, “Sifang Construction made a total of 1.5 million in payments by the end of December. But at the same time, the costs were already exceeded. How am I supposed to organize activities for them in the next six months? Let me see… the promotional support includes: channel rewards, large customer manager subsidies, small gift alcohol, brand consultant gifts, small tasting meeting meals, large tasting events… Oh, the large tasting event wasn’t reported for the major region, so it can’t be held, but besides that, all activities were reported. Liu Yang, you’ve worked hard this past six months. But I do want to ask, the promotional expenses for the order meeting are 20,000? Is that a little small? When was it held? I saw all the required documents, but the event photos… something doesn’t seem right?” 

After finishing that point, Lu Nan continued, “And regarding orders: the first order was paired with a gift, but they gave Sifang Construction an excessive free order; carton recycling? Hah—how could such a large amount of cartons be recycled in the same month the first order was shipped out? Manager Liu, if you’re cooking the books, people usually mix eight parts truth with two parts lies, but you’ve watered it down too much.” 

“Do you want me to keep going on the distributor rewards?” Lu Nan glanced at Manager Liu, who was sweating profusely, and kindly said, “Liu Yang, could you hand Manager Liu some tissues?” 

She didn’t rush the handover, knowing that city managers usually had some tricks up their sleeves, so she gave Manager Liu enough time to tie up the loose ends. 

But Manager Liu was too greedy. 

If only Liu Yang had explained a bit during the work report this morning, and given Lu Nan some face in front of the subordinates, she wouldn’t have had to make him drink and scare him today. 

Originally, Lu Nan didn’t think it was a big deal; she’d dealt with predecessors leaving behind deficits before (in a past life). 

But Manager Liu, having taken advantage, still acted like he was innocent and even tried to deceive her alongside Han Jianxin. 

That was unforgivable. 

After Manager Liu wiped his sweat, Lu Nan calmly voiced her dissatisfaction. 

Of course, Manager Liu cried foul: “Manager Lu, you’ve misunderstood me. I’m about to transfer, how could I possibly do something like that?” 

“Manager Liu didn’t intend to trick me in this matter, but during the tea break at Hongtu Liquor, you must’ve received a message from President Han, right? After reading the message, you couldn’t help but glance at him a few times. After that, you kept supporting his words, implying how strong Hongtu Liquor’s capabilities are,” Lu Nan’s face darkened. “If it hadn’t been for Tian Aizhen showing up, President Han would have probably brought up the matter of retaining the distribution rights at the dinner table, right?” 

“I genuinely thought there was potential for collaboration with Hongtu Liquor, which is why I recommended President Han to you. You see… didn’t you later tell Tian Aizhen that our company could still extend the distribution contract with Hongtu Liquor?” 

Manager Liu didn’t expect Lu Nan had even noticed his subtle reactions after reading the message, as if she had surveillance on him. It was terrifying!