Before going to Teacher Zhang’s house, the mother and daughter planned to have dinner first. 

Although Teacher Zhang had repeatedly invited them to her home, Ms. Huang still felt that it would be a hassle for others, so she politely but firmly declined. 

Lu Nan felt that some changes needed to be made step by step. As her mother’s heart gradually opened up, she would surely be willing to interact with someone as wise and interesting as Teacher Zhang. 

No rush. 

As they were about to enter the noodle shop, Ms. Huang said, “Didn’t you say you don’t eat main dishes at night?” 

Lu Nan smiled, “Their five-spice beef is especially delicious, I’ll just order a plate.” Though the seasoning was a bit much, it didn’t matter. It was only high-quality protein, no carbs. 

“Suit yourself.” Ms. Huang hesitated before finally saying that. 

While waiting for their food, Lu Nan talked about the requirements from Yuan Chuan. 

Everything else was fine, but Ms. Huang was a little worried about the contract amount with the mid-sized distributor, wondering if it was too large. 

Lu Nan casually said, “The annual contract amount for medium-sized distributors is 300,000 to 599,000. Mom, you don’t have to aim for the upper limit, just hit the lower one. Besides, not every distributor in the industry is diligent in completing their tasks. There are plenty of cases where tasks from this year are carried over to the next. It’s not a big deal.” 

Ms. Huang looked at her daughter, then looked at her again. 

“What’s wrong?” Lu Nan awkwardly touched her face. “Is there something on my face?” 

“No, just continue.” 

She did, continuing with, “By the way, our general manager will visit you tomorrow, Ms. Huang.” 

Such smooth talk! Ms. Huang frowned slightly and said, “What do we do? The office is empty, it doesn’t look right. It’s even worse than a shell company.” 

Lu Nan waved her hand nonchalantly, “It’s just a newly relocated trading company. It doesn’t matter how many people we have. We have a few small distributors in an office room. Oh, and there’s a distributor of classic wine in CIMC Building, called Haortei Wine Industry, with an office about the same size as yours. Usually, there’s just the boss’s wife in the office.” 

Ms. Huang had a hard time adjusting to this mentality. She kept feeling that when her daughter’s boss was coming to visit, it gave her a bit of the feeling of a teacher visiting her daughter’s home back in her school days. 

Lu Nan rubbed her forehead. “Mom, mom, mom, this is completely different! You can’t be too polite to Manager Wang. We need to do business, not small talk!!!” Then she thought for a moment and added, “I’ll write you a note later, anyway, that’s the bottom line for the contract negotiation. We can’t make any concessions.” 

After dinner, the mother and daughter bought some fruit at a store. Lu Nan carried the bag and knocked on Teacher Zhang’s door. 

Tonight’s video conference with Xu Chengzhi mainly covered two topics. 

First, the previous batch of $30,000 worth of liquor had arrived at the port, and it was time to collect the second phase of the payment; 

Second, to convey the initial communication results with Yuan Chuan, and to inform them that if they successfully obtain the distribution rights for two states and Xu Chengzhi can guarantee orders worth over $40,000 each month, they could give him an extra two percentage points of liquor for the December order. If this was achieved, it would add almost $10,000, which was a good amount of money. 

Third, based on the second point, both parties needed to prepare an additional distribution supplementary agreement, outlining the basic shipment volume and corresponding tiered rewards for shipment amounts. 

After all, while Weigou eats meat, its partners should at least get the soup. 

With extra rebates, Xu Chengzhi wouldn’t refuse, and based on the feedback from several Chinese-owned bars regarding the liquor after opening, it seemed there wouldn’t be any difficulty in reaching $40,000 worth of liquor orders each month. To be safe, he set the monthly basic shipment at $30,000. 

After leaving Teacher Zhang’s house, Ms. Huang said, “You even estimated the order volume for Xu Chengzhi?” 

Lu Nan nodded. “It’s pretty much accurate.” 

Ms. Huang wanted to say that her daughter was quite bold, negotiating with the supplier without customer confirmation, just like her father. 

But then she thought to herself, is it really such a bad thing if her daughter is like her father in this aspect? 

She forced herself to think objectively: Despite her ex-husband’s flaws in relationships and marriage, he was truly skilled in business. Her daughter being like him in this regard should be something to be happy about. At least, she wouldn’t be like herself, sometimes too impulsive or one-sided. 

“Mom, should I give you a ride back?” Lu Nan tentatively suggested. 

Sure enough, Ms. Huang gave her a side glance. “Aren’t you tired of driving back and forth?” 

The attack was mild enough to be ignored. 

Lu Nan laughed. “But the bus has stopped, you know.” 

“When I came, I took a taxi. Why wouldn’t I take a taxi back?” After arriving in Hailin just under a month, Ms. Huang had realized that if she saved two or three thousand a month by cutting back on food, housing, and transportation, the time wasted here could be used for more valuable things. 

Lu Nan didn’t insist. After all, she had already given her mother many suggestions for work-related matters. If she also had to take care of her personal life down to the smallest detail, that would be a bit overboard and could even put unnecessary pressure on her mother. So she said, “Then I’ll drop you off at the entrance of the neighborhood.” 

“Are you worried I’ll trick you and take the bus back?” Ms. Huang held back her sarcasm, but a little bit still slipped out. 

“What? Safety! Safety first!” Lu Nan pouted and said in a bit of a spoiled tone, “Didn’t you always say that when taking a taxi at night, you have to note down the license plate number?” 

Ms. Huang paused slightly: Did she ever tell her daughter that? Thinking back, she always seemed to scold her daughter. 

… 

The next day, Manager Wang indeed came to visit Ms. Huang. He had gotten the address for Weigou and Ms. Huang’s contact information from Lu Nan. 

Because Lu Nan had mentioned during their last video conference that, to avoid any negative impact in the office, she wanted to keep her mother-daughter relationship with the Weigou boss confidential for now. 

This was a very reasonable concern. For example, Manager Wang knew that it was actually Pan Sasha’s father who was the distributor in Fengyun County, but the distributor’s signature on the contract was that of Pan Sasha’s uncle, and the headquarters turned a blind eye to it. 

Of course, Lu Nan’s situation was slightly different from Pan Sasha’s. 

Pan Sasha’s father could not be the distributor for Yuan Chuan Classic Wine because he had signed a contract with the national liquor distributor earlier, which imposed restrictions on him. 

If Pan Sasha’s father hadn’t had the national liquor contract, he could have directly signed with Yuan Chuan. 

However, in this case, Pan Sasha could no longer return to Fengyun, and more strictly, she couldn’t do any work related to Classic Wine within the Hailin city limits. 

So when Manager Wang set off today, he didn’t call Lu Nan but just smiled at her. 

When he arrived at Weigou, he didn’t care about the bare office space but was a little surprised when he saw Ms. Huang. 

Based on his expectations, someone with the courage to engage in the export of liquor should be more… smooth or, bluntly speaking, more aggressive? 

Why does she look like a housewife just returning to the workforce after leaving the family? 

Unable to find the right words to describe her, Wang Xinglong could only think: Maybe she’s just someone with hidden talent. 

Negotiating with Ms. Huang felt even more challenging. He realized that dealing with someone like her could be quite tricky. 

His years of sales experience mostly started with offering cigarettes, followed by creating the best atmosphere at the drinking table, and finally concluding at places like bathhouses or saunas. 

Clearly, these tactics were not suitable for Ms. Huang. 

Ms. Huang Li wasn’t the kind of person who knew how to curry favor, so Wang Xinglong could only keep the conversation strictly business. 

In the end, Ms. Huang did not disappoint and stuck to the negotiation bottom line her daughter had written for her. 

Two states, three million, and Weigou needed no financial support, including costs like tasting event meals, the salary of key account managers, store renovations, holiday brand consultant gift expenses, etc. After completing the annual target, quarterly and annual rebates would add up to a total of 22%. 

However, Wang Xinglong added one more clause: until a distributor was found in Hailin City, Weigou Trading could ship products within the city’s range—sounds like a good thing, right? 

But, this portion of the shipment would be calculated separately from the return payments as part of Hailin City’s task quota and would not count toward the three-million contract. 

Ms. Huang thought for a moment, recalling what her daughter had mentioned earlier, and decided to agree. 

It was essentially like signing an additional small-scale Harmony liquor distribution contract for Hailin City—with no costs, no rebates, and naturally, no sales pressure. 

The rest was about negotiating with Green Trading. 

This time, it was Ms. Huang who took charge. She immediately called Manager Ni. 

Manager Ni had been Wang Xinglong’s previous client, but now Ms. Huang was his current one. 

A clear hierarchy, like a food chain. 

So Manager Ni was still very polite to Ms. Huang. 

Lu Nan thought to herself: her mother always being kind to others really wasn’t without benefits. Courtesy is mutual. She had always had smooth dealings with Manager Ni, so now when she stepped in to mediate, and since the regional director had clearly instructed Wang Xinglong not to insist on an 80% buyback of Harmony liquor because of the 3 million yuan contract, it all helped. 

The three parties negotiated at Weigou’s rather unimpressive office because Lu Nan had not yet disclosed the actual purchase price of stock between Weigou and Green Trading. 

In the end, it was agreed that Green Trading’s people would return the stock to Yuan Chuan at an 86% factory price. 

The official business was finally settled, and bad debts wouldn’t last till the New Year. 

Everyone was happy. 

Wang Xinglong’s style was quite old-fashioned—he liked to arrange dinners to socialize—but Manager Ni from Green Trading wasn’t interested, and Ms. Huang also politely declined. 

He could only regretfully say, “Well, when the contract comes through, I’ll host a meal for Ms. Huang.” As for Manager Ni? Forget it—everyone parted amicably, and it would be best if they “forgot each other in the future.” 

The next morning, Manager Wang announced that Harmony Wine had finally signed a new distributor in Hailin City before the year’s end, earning applause from everyone. 

Manager Wang continued, “Special recognition to Lu Nan; she developed this distributor.” 

What?! 

The entire office was stunned. 

Lu Nan, a newcomer who hadn’t even been with the company for six months, working on group purchases for Classic Liquor, had signed a distributor for Harmony Liquor? 

Lu Nan was so capable, the other group-purchase managers really didn’t measure up in comparison. 

Many people secretly glanced at Chen Lu’s face. 

Chen Lu’s face turned slightly red. 

But Manager Wang didn’t care about the looks around him and directly said, “Chen Lu, come to the office.” 

When Chen Lu entered Manager Wang’s office, she sat down nervously. 

“Take care of Weigou Trading for now. It’s not big, and there are no fees or activities; just visit occasionally to maintain the client relationship,” said Manager Wang. 

Chen Lu asked in confusion, “But… isn’t that Lu Nan’s client?” 

“Lu Nan isn’t the most suitable person for this one,” Manager Wang replied. “It’s settled then. You can head out now. Oh, and prepare for a dinner with the Weigou boss tonight.” 

Yesterday, Ms. Huang had received the second payment from Xu Chengzhi. As a gesture, she transferred 300,000 yuan into Yuanchuan’s corporate account, and specified that the shipment include moderately popular, low-alcohol Harmony liquor products. 

She had now officially become the distributor for the Yuan Chuan Group in the two Midwestern states. 

So, tonight’s dinner was unavoidable. 

Chen Lu was confused and a bit guilty when she left Manager Wang’s office. 

She hadn’t attended a small tasting event in months and couldn’t even invite her own clients to meals because there were no distributor funds. Now, with Manager Wang’s comment, it was like a shot of adrenaline—no matter how small, it was still a new distributor. Looking at it this way, her year-end review probably wouldn’t be too embarrassing. 

After leaving the office, Lu Nan was already gone, so Chen Lu thought for a while and called her after leaving the city office. 

Lu Nan seemed quite busy, and when she answered, it was noisy in the background. “Sister Lu, what’s up?” 

Chen Lu hesitated but still explained the situation. “Manager Wang gave me Weigou Trading to handle, you know about this, right?” 

Lu Nan replied, “I know. It was actually my suggestion.” 

“Then you… don’t mind?” 

“Sister Lu, I’ve got something to do. Let’s talk later,” Lu Nan said. 

Chen Lu heard someone shout “Manager Lu” in the background, so she said, “Okay, you can get back to it.” 

By evening, Chen Lu understood why Lu Nan had said they’d talk later. 

When Chen Lu saw Lu Nan in the private room at Zui Qian Wei, she awkwardly smiled. 

No matter what, Chen Lu genuinely admired Lu Nan’s capabilities. 

But now, it felt like she had stolen Lu Nan’s client. 

Lu Nan, however, didn’t care at all and continued chatting casually with Chen Lu. 

When Distributor Ms. Huang arrived, Chen Lu was shocked: This…! 

Looking at Ms. Huang, she felt she looked familiar, but standing next to Lu Nan, their facial features were remarkably similar. 

Lu Nan made a “shh” gesture at Chen Lu. 

At the dinner table, Manager Wang said to Chen Lu, “Ms. Huang here is Lu Nan’s relative. Chen Lu, from now on, you should pay more attention to Ms. Huang’s side.” 

Chen Lu was a bit stunned.