Chapter 71: Negotiation

At 5:30, Sun Jinshan arrived at the Jiang family, riding his bicycle.

This time, Jiang Lihai also went to the county seat.

He had taken quite a few leaves recently, but the brick and tile factory deducted a day’s salary for each day off, and the leaders and employees in the factory didn’t seem to mind.

In reality, he wanted to go to work and earn money, but Jiang Liyun and Sun Jinshan had helped him make a good amount of money before. This time, they assured him that he would receive compensation at the end of the year, so he continued taking leaves.

Sun Jinshan came on a bicycle; Jiang Lihai borrowed Gu Dafa’s bicycle; and Jiang Liyun also had one. Only Jiang Liping’s original bicycle remained with the Li family, and now she would be riding with Sun Jinshan.

To be honest, riding a bike to town is one thing, but going to the county seat… Who knows if Sun Jinshan might get tired halfway through?

However, this didn’t concern her much.

Seeing everyone gathered, Jiang Liyun said, “Let’s go.”

Knowing it’s a long journey, Jiang Liyun had already oiled the bicycles, making the ride exceptionally smooth. Jiang Lihai, a young and strong man, found it easy to ride, but Sun Jinshan lagged behind with a slow pace.

When Jiang Liyun stopped, she noticed that Sun Jinshan tried not to sit on the seat while riding.

Jiang Liyun: “IsIs Sun Jinshan avoiding getting hit?

At this moment, Sun Jinshan indeed experienced a sweet pain. His father scolded him yesterday, causing no serious injuries, but sitting was a bit painful.

Now, he had to ride a bike to the county seat and carry Jiang Liping along. It wasn’t comfortable.

Fortunately, Jiang Liping also sensed something was wrong. After riding for a while and stopping for a brief rest, she directly suggested that Jiang Lihai should carry her.

Jiang Lihai: “HeHe was tired too and didn’t want to carry an additional person.

When the group arrived at the feed factory, it was past nine.

Jiang Lihai and Sun Jinshan took turns carrying Jiang Liping, both exhausted. Even Jiang Liyun, who had been riding the bike for so long, felt tired.

A few of them stopped a bit away from the feed factory, pushing their bikes and finally stabilising their breathing.

The white sweater that Feng Yi knitted for Jiang Liyun was ready, and she wore it today.

She took out the contract she had prepared from her bag and walked inside.

The factory manager, who had previously talked with Sun Jinshan, had been waiting for him to sign the contract. After waiting for a long time without seeing anyone, he thought Sun Jinshan might not come.

Now, when Sun Jinshan came with several people, he was quite surprised. He greeted Sun Jinshan immediately: “Old Sun, you finally came!”

“Sorry, I went to Shanghai, and it took some time!” Sun Jinshan said with a smile.

So Sun Jinshan went to Shanghai? The factory manager chatted with him, and Sun Jinshan explained, “I went to Shanghai to find markets for our chickens. Many restaurants there have signed contracts with us. The manager at Jin Yu Restaurant has decided that in the future, they will only get chicken legs and wings from us.”

Sun Jinshan was quite skilled at boasting, mixing truth and exaggeration, leaving the listeners amazed.

“Mr. Sun, you’re really amazing!” the factory manager exclaimed.

Sun Jinshan felt a bit proud.

Jiang Liping felt even more proud!

This time, accompanying them wasn’t very comfortable for Jiang Liping. Besides enduring the chilly wind, she felt like her body had been shaken apart.

The crucial part was that, even though they were in the county seat, she couldn’t go shopping or enjoy the scenery.

Nevertheless, deep down, Jiang Liping was genuinely happy. Witnessing Sun Jinshan and a factory manager chatting joyfully, an unparalleled sense of satisfaction welled up within her, and she smugly looked at Jiang Liyun.

Sun Jinshan was truly remarkable! Jiang Liyun couldn’t compare!

Jiang Liyun didn’t try to steal Sun Jinshan’s thunder; after all, when it came to serious matters, it would be her turn.

After exchanging pleasantries, they were about to get down to business.

The factory manager of the feed factory believed that Sun Jinshan must have some background; otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for a young person to run around everywhere and aim for big business right from the start.

The background might not be too extensive, but judging by Sun Jinshan’s age and demeanour, he probably had family elders involved in local administration.

However, even if Sun Jinshan had a background and knowledge, when it came to business, he might not be exceptionally well-versed.

After their previous discussion, the factory manager of the feed factory had already planned how to negotiate further cooperation with Sun Jinshan. Now, he began proposing some advantageous terms for himself, emphasising his limited funds: “Boss Sun, I’m running a small business here, and I don’t have much capital.”

“Manager Zhou, I’ve already drafted the contract; take a look.” Jiang Liyun placed the contract in front of Manager Zhou.

Seeing this, Jiang Liping felt a bit dissatisfied. Why was Jiang Liyun trying to overshadow Sun Jinshan in business negotiations?

Jiang Liyun hadn’t even finished primary school, and previously, she only worked with sofa nails at the sofa factory. What did she know?

Thinking this way, Jiang Liping looked at Sun Jinshan.

She thought Sun Jinshan would say something, but to her surprise, Sun Jinshan remained silent, letting Jiang Liyun take charge of the conversation with Manager Zhou.

What’s going on? Jiang Liping was a bit puzzled.

Sun Jinshan, on the other hand, was accustomed to this. Well, Jiang Liyun knew too much!

Now, Jiang Liyun even brought out some data, calculating the cost of the feed produced by the feed factory!

Where did she get this data? How did Jiang Liyun know all this? Sun Jinshan was completely puzzled.

These data were provided by Jiang Liyun to Jiang Lihai much earlier, instructing him to inquire about them from the feed factory employees.

The last time Sun Jinshan and Jiang Lihai came to the county seat, Sun Jinshan was chatting with the factory manager, while Jiang Lihai used the excuse of wanting to tour the factory to look around.

The factory’s management was not that great at that time, and the employees had no intention of keeping factory secrets. Well, a feed factory didn’t have many secrets anyway.

Jiang Lihai easily found out the proportions of various raw materials used by the feed factory to produce feed.

Knowing how much soybeans and corn they used to produce feed, and with some additional calculations, they naturally figured out the approximate cost of the feed they produced.

Moreover, the feed from the factory was wholesaled to those nearby selling feed. Inquiring about the wholesale price was also possible. With all this information, negotiating the business became quite easy.

Jiang Liyun wanted to quickly finish the negotiation, even intentionally using some professional terminology, pointing out management issues in the feed factory, and suggesting optimisation solutions.

At first, Manager Zhou of the feed factory didn’t take Jiang Liyun, a young woman, seriously. However, as the conversation progressed, his expression became increasingly cautious.

“Miss Jiang, which school did you graduate from? Did you specialise in business management? I’m thinking of sending my son to study as well,” Manager Zhou said.

Jiang Liyun smiled and didn’t mention which school she graduated from. After inquiring about Manager Zhou’s son, she suggested that he attend high school and even recommended two schools within the province.

Manager Zhou earnestly noted down the names of the schools. When he saw Jiang Liyun directly signing the contract, he became a bit concerned. “For those working in government offices, aren’t they restricted from doing business? Or have you taken a leave without pay?”

In this era, graduates from good schools were usually assigned to specific units.

Jiang Liyun replied, “I don’t work in a government office.”

Manager Zhou looked at Jiang Liyun with admiration.

To come out and start a business directly instead of securing a stable job—that was remarkable!

Jiang Liping was already dumbfounded.

When Sun Jinshan was bragging earlier, she thought he was impressive. But now, it seemed like her younger sister was even more capable than Sun Jinshan.

Moreover, the schools her sister mentioned were ones she didn’t know about. How could her sister know?

If they were at home, Jiang Liping would surely enquire, but being outside, regardless of what she thought, wouldn’t undermine Jiang Liyun.

Equally astonished was Sun Jinshan.

Actually, before coming, Sun Jinshan felt that Jiang Liyun didn’t need to come. He had already negotiated with the factory manager, and he just needed to sign the contract!

But now that Jiang Liyun was here, he realised that he couldn’t get such favourable prices.

The crucial point was that even though Manager Zhou seemed enthusiastic during their discussion, he didn’t really treat Sun Jinshan as someone significant.

Sometimes, Manager Zhou even chatted with him in a tolerant manner.

However, facing Jiang Liyun, Manager Zhou’s attitude was entirely different. He clearly regarded Jiang Liyun as an equal.

After the negotiations, Manager Zhou warmly invited them to have a meal together.

Even though they ate in the factory, he had someone buy several ready-to-eat dishes.

Jiang Liyun didn’t decline. In fact, when she rode the bike here, she was already starving.

During the meal, Manager Zhou kept chatting with Jiang Liyun.

Even though Jiang Liyun had been busy lately, whenever she went to town, she would browse through newspapers and stay well-informed about current policies. She also knew about some future events.

This time, by signing a contract with the feed factory for a considerable amount of feed, she had a specific reason. Mainly, by next year, regardless of the product, prices would rise, and feed would be no exception.

The contract she signed with the feed factory required quarterly payments, with the first payment due in April next year. By then, prices would have already gone up. Even if they couldn’t use all the feed themselves, they could make a profit by selling it.

Of course, the feed factory wouldn’t lose money either because the feed she ordered would be produced before the price increase, and the factory would have already purchased the raw materials in advance.

“Manager Zhou, if you trust me, get more raw materials for making feed,” Jiang Liyun advised. “After the new year, there will be some changes.”

Manager Zhou, cautiously, asked, “Do you have connections?”

Jiang Liyun smiled but didn’t say anything.

Sun Jinshan: “…” He thought he was good at bragging, but Jiang Liyun turned out to be even better.

Jiang’s ancestors were all poor farmers, and Jiang Liyun’s mystifying words made people believe she had connections!

Yet he couldn’t help but admire Jiang Liyun.

He could only boast about low-end matters, but Jiang Liyun was different.

Jiang Liyun tossed around a bunch of professional terms, making it sound sophisticated.

Earlier, when Jiang Liyun casually taught Jiang Lihai a bit, he had already impressed the local officials. Now, with her taking the lead, it has become even more impressive!

After the meal, the group left the feed factory.

Just as they stepped out, Jiang Liping asked Jiang Liyun, “Liyun, how do you know so much?”

“Although I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school, I never stopped learning,” Jiang Liyun replied.

Hearing this, Jiang Liping felt a bit uneasy.

Back then, when things went wrong at home, they actually wanted her not to continue middle school. After all, the expenses for middle school were much higher than Jiang Liyun’s elementary school. Also, she was a bit older and could handle more work.

But she refused… Later, Jiang Liyun never went to school.

“Let’s go. We’re heading to the hatchery,” Jiang Liyun said.

They wouldn’t be able to get many chicks from the hatchery, and the negotiation would be relatively simple. After completing it, they should be able to make it back home in time.