At the weekly meeting, the current work focus was mainly on business development. Other than that, there weren’t any major activities going on. 

As a result, the meeting ended up repeating the same points as before. 

Lu Nan’s meeting style had always been straightforward. In less than half an hour, the meeting was over. 

She glanced at her eager subordinates and said helplessly, “Alright, you’re dismissed. Have a good weekend.” 

“Goodbye, Manager Lu!” “See you on Monday, Manager Lu!” 

The sales team, who had just earned themselves an unexpected half-day off, cheerfully called out their goodbyes and quickly packed up their things before rushing out. 

The scene was very similar to what Lu Nan had seen previously at the Hailin City office. 

There was still some time before the scheduled dinner with Mr. Hong. Huang Dafang sat at his desk, looking at his manager expectantly. 

“Manager Lu, what do you think Mr. Hong is up to with this whole arrangement today?” 

Hu Yueqing, who had been traveling around other districts recently and wasn’t fully informed about what happened yesterday, also looked up at Manager Lu with a curious expression. 

These two—one dark and chubby, the other dark and skinny—were now both looking up at her… 

One looked like a fathead fish, and the other like a skinny loach, the kind that surfaces to breathe with its mouth open. 

Lu Nan barely managed to suppress her laughter. 

“Mr. Hong said that after meeting with both our team and Lingyang Liquor representatives yesterday, he couldn’t make up his mind. So he decided to invite both sides to a dinner, mainly to sample each other’s products to help him decide,” Lu Nan explained what Mr. Hong had said over the phone. 

Then she added, “But Mingjiu Shijia has already been a distributor for both of us for nearly two years. Their store already carries Yuan Chuan and Lingyang liquors. There’s no way they haven’t tasted them by now, so this tasting is just a front.” 

Huang Dafang clicked his tongue. “A Hongmen banquet, huh?” 

Hu Yueqing nodded. “No good comes from a banquet like this.” 

You two clowns even coordinate your comments. 

Lu Nan looked at them, both appearing as if they were about to head into battle, and waved her hand. 

“Calm down. Soften your expressions a bit. We’re just going for a meal. Bring our best products and stay steady. That’s all we need to do.” 

“But Manager Lu, our competitor will be there too! Lingyang!” Huang Dafang said through gritted teeth. 

“If Mingjiu Shijia ends up picking Lingyang as their distributor, won’t their people just look down on us?” 

Worried that Lu Nan, being new, might not fully understand the long-standing rivalry between Yuan Chuan and Lingyang, Huang Dafang geared up for a lengthy explanation. 

“Manager Lu, let me explain…” 

Ugh, seasoned employees get real chatty sometimes. 

Lu Nan motioned for him to stop. “I know. I know Lingyang. They’re our old rival, right?” 

Huang Dafang’s face turned serious. “Their people don’t play fair at all. Let me tell you about something.” 

“I know,” Lu Nan interrupted again. “You’re talking about the bottle-smashing incident in Wancheng three years ago, right? I’m aware of it.” 

The Wancheng bottle-smashing incident had become a well-known conflict in the liquor sales industry. 

It started when Yuan Chuan and Lingyang’s distributors competed over a prime display spot at a supermarket before the Spring Festival. 

The disagreement escalated into physical shoving, but security and store staff quickly intervened. 

After some negotiations, Yuan Chuan secured the best spot. 

Everyone thought the matter had ended there. But the next day, during a year-end banquet, Lingyang’s sales team vented their frustrations. 

After a few drinks, Lingyang’s Wancheng city manager waved his hand and said, “Let’s go teach them a lesson.” 

Trying to stay “legal” and “frugal,” they didn’t cause trouble in the supermarket itself. 

Instead, they bought a box of Yuan Chuan’s inexpensive liquor (worth just over 200 yuan) and smashed it at the entrance of Yuan Chuan’s city office. 

Afterward, they even tipped a sanitation worker a few hundred yuan to clean up. 

Though minor in scale, the incident was serious in nature. 

Rumors spread that Yuan Chuan was selling counterfeit liquor and had been attacked. 

Lingyang’s actions amounted to a direct public humiliation for Yuan Chuan. 

In retaliation, Yuan Chuan’s team bought Lingyang’s liquor and smashed it in front of their office. 

This showed how some of the veteran city managers still carried a rough, streetwise attitude back then. Rather than engaging in crisis management, they prioritized venting their anger. 

The conflict escalated from smashing a few cases to smashing many, and eventually, both sides ended up at the police station. 

Afterward, both city managers were dismissed, and the involved sales staff faced various punishments. 

The incident tarnished both companies’ reputations. It even appeared in the local newspaper and public news programs, becoming a laughingstock among other liquor companies. 

Since then, Yuan Chuan and Lingyang have been bitter rivals, especially in cities near Wancheng, where salespeople from each side won’t even mention the other’s company name. 

Huang Dafang originally thought he could show off some insider information in front of Manager Lu, but to his surprise, Lu Nan already knew the full story. Huang Dafang said, “So, Manager Lu, having dinner tonight at the same table with that group—nothing good will come of it. Especially their current City Manager, Wu Kecheng. I’ve met him a few times during client visits. He’s got a filthy mouth, and I hear he doesn’t hold his liquor well either.” 

Lu Nan shook her head and replied, “I don’t care what kind of person he is, but you, Manager Huang, better watch your language. If you let something slip in front of people from Lingyang tonight, it could cause trouble even if there wasn’t any to begin with.” 

“Got it,” Huang Dafang nodded obediently. Hu Yueqing followed suit and nodded as well. 

“Also, I’ll be driving there, so you two can ride with me. But on the way back, we’ll definitely need to call a driver, and I might not be able to drop you off since it may not be on my way.” Lu Nan had a good memory but didn’t bother to memorize her male subordinates’ home addresses. She just remembered that Huang Dafang lived near the city office, but as for Hu Yueqing’s address, she had no idea. 

Huang Dafang nodded again to show he understood. “No problem, Manager Lu. Xiao Hu and I can just grab a taxi later. Since you’re the City Manager, Mr. Hong will surely want to drink with you a lot. Xiao Hu, you’ll need to stay sharp and help shield Manager Lu a bit.” 

Huang Dafang thought to himself: Although Manager Lu nearly drank the northern guy Guo Yu under the table when she first arrived, and Old Liu also hinted that she can handle her liquor well, I’m still not too confident. Who knows how many people Mingjiu Shijia and Lingyang will bring tonight? What if they run a relay-drinking battle? I’m well aware of my own drinking limits—I’ll be lucky just not to hold us back. 

Xiao Hu looked a little reluctant but still agreed. 

Seeing the two of them looking so tense, Lu Nan shook her head helplessly: Well, appreciate the thought. 

Mr. Hong had reserved a private room at the Hua’an Grand Hotel. 

The Hua’an Grand Hotel had been operating since the 1980s and was once considered a landmark building in Hua’an City. Although it was no longer the city’s most luxurious hotel, it still held a unique and irreplaceable significance for the locals. 

Lu Nan’s group arrived ten minutes earlier than the scheduled time. When the server pushed open the door to the private room, it was already filled with smoke, and several people were chatting and smoking. 

A middle-aged man, sporting a side-parted hairstyle, wearing a suit but still pushing out his belly, shouted, “Huang Dafang, your Yuan Chuan people really think highly of yourselves, making Mr. Hong wait for you.” 

This was Wu Kecheng, City Manager for Lingyang Liquor in Hua’an. 

Huang Dafang glanced at Manager Lu and quietly said, “That’s the guy, the one with the filthy mouth.” 

Indeed, filthy—and not just filthy, but ugly too. 

Lu Nan smiled calmly, not even sparing Wu Kecheng a glance. After all, his comment wasn’t even directed at her. 

She walked forward a few steps and addressed Mr. Hong, who was hosting the dinner: “Apologies, Mr. Hong, we were caught in traffic and arrived a bit late. Please don’t take offense.” Of course, traffic was just an excuse; they weren’t late at all. 

Mr. Hong understood and responded warmly, “Manager Lu is very punctual; it’s us who arrived early.” 

Lu Nan smiled and turned around to say, “Xiao Hu, hand the wine over to the server.” 

Being ignored, Wu Kecheng’s expression turned awkward. He then tried to save face by turning to Mr. Hong and saying, “So this is Manager Lu? The new City Manager from Yuan Chuan—so young and pretty. There’s an old saying: ‘Young people without facial hair can’t handle big tasks.’ I wonder if Manager Lu is reliable? Oh right, she doesn’t have any facial hair to begin with. Hahaha!” 

“I’ve heard that saying too,” Lu Nan replied with a faint smile. “But I recall there’s a second half: ‘Empty on the inside, don’t put on airs before others.’” As she spoke, her gaze briefly swept over Wu Kecheng’s protruding belly, and she gave a meaningful chuckle. 

Wu Kecheng looked annoyed, but since he had been the one to start the provocation and Mr. Hong was sitting right there, he had to play it off, saying, “Look at that, Mr. Hong, young ladies nowadays sure are sharp-tongued.” 

Mr. Hong, for his part, hadn’t expected that the polite, well-mannered young woman he met yesterday could be so quick-witted and cutting today, perhaps showing more of the hard-edged spirit one would expect from someone in the liquor business. He didn’t take sides and simply said, “Since everyone’s here, let’s sit down.” His secretary then went to inform the staff to start serving drinks and food. 

Seating arrangements were another tricky matter. 

Naturally, people from both Yuan Chuan and Lingyang wanted to sit near Mr. Hong. 

Hua’an was a city that valued tradition and ancient etiquette, where seating at banquets still followed old customs: the left side was considered the place of honor. 

Having been in Hua’an for over two years, Wu Kecheng knew this well. Playing his little tricks, he said, “Men to the left, women to the right,” and promptly seated himself to Mr. Hong’s left. 

Lu Nan didn’t bother arguing over such minor things. She calmly glanced at Huang Dafang and Hu Yueqing, signaling for them to sit beside her. 

No sooner had they settled in than Mr. Hong’s secretary came to ask, “President Hong, which wine should we open?” 

Both Yuan Chuan and Lingyang had brought their own wine. Which one should be opened first? 

Mr. Hong decided to stay neutral: “Open both. With so many people, let’s start with two bottles.” 

Thus, one from each side: Yuan Chuan opened their 20-Year Classic, and Lingyang opened their 20-Year Cellar Reserve—fairly matched. 

Each side would drink their own wine, but what about Mr. Hong? Which would he drink? 

This mattered a lot. 

Wu Kecheng, having no intention of being polite to Yuan Chuan’s people—even if their City Manager was a woman—reached for his decanter and quickly poured a glass for Mr. Hong. “Mr. Hong, please try our Lingyang 20-Year Cellar Reserve. It’s smooth and leaves a sweet aftertaste!” 

Lu Nan didn’t compete for the pouring job. She calmly placed the Yuan Chuan decanter near Mr. Hong’s right hand, along with a clean 20ml glass, and said with a smile, “Since today’s theme is wine tasting, it makes sense for Mr. Hong to try Lingyang’s wine first. Our Yuan Chuan 20-Year Classic has a much bolder entrance. If you taste ours first, it might overshadow the subtler notes of Lingyang’s Cellar Reserve. It’s like eating a strong-flavored dish before a mild one; the milder dish would seem bland afterward.” 

“Our Lingyang wine isn’t bland!” Wu Kecheng, finding Lu Nan’s words unpleasant, tried to object. 

Lu Nan interrupted him, her tone as sweet as tea, adding, “Of course, I’m not saying Lingyang’s Cellar Reserve is bland. It’s just that, according to the wine-tasting principle of ‘light to strong,’ our Classic is better suited to be tasted later. Xiao Hu, ask the server to bring some purified water.” 

Xiao Hu nodded and went to arrange it as instructed. 

“After tasting one wine, it’s good practice to drink some purified water to cleanse the palate before tasting the next,” Lu Nan explained to everyone, mostly to Mr. Hong. 

Since tonight’s event is about tasting wine, then let’s truly taste it properly.