Chapter 110

“What nonsense!”

Gong Kailin disliked Zhou Andong the moment he laid eyes on him; now, seeing Zhou Andong so domineering and utterly dismissive of them, his disgust deepened—he would have stormed out long ago if not for Zuo Peiming’s presence.

“With such a lack of sincerity, how can we negotiate?”

Zhou Andong glanced coolly at Gong Kailin: “I’m straightforward—don’t take it personally if I speak bluntly. Don’t you know in your heart how much the county distillery is worth? I came with sincerity, but…”

Here, Zhou Andong tapped his own head, “That doesn’t mean I’m clueless. With 13.8 million, I could buy three and a half distilleries of equal scale to yours.”

Forget other factors—compare your distillery to those in Yixian and Heifeng County. What advantages do you have? In my eyes, the only advantage—and the sole reason I chose your Jinli County Distillery—is that it’s only thirty miles from the city. Otherwise, why would I pick you?

Four million is my assessed value for your Jinli County Distillery. As for the land, it’s worthless—I’d even consider ten thousand too much.

So, the true value of your distillery is forty thousand. I’ve offered you six hundred thousand—a two-million premium—not because the distillery is worth that much, but because the city and Deputy Mayor Zuo are leaning in your favor, so I made a concession.

Zuo Peiming glanced at Zhou Andong in surprise—he had indeed favored Jinli County Distillery, but he’d said nothing. This kid had guessed his thoughts—not just clever, but truly empathetic, putting himself in their shoes. It was impressive, and it made him like Zhou Andong even more.

Zhou Andong picked up the cigarette on the table, lit it, and continued: “And one more thing—I’m building goodwill. After all, the distillery sits right under your noses, so I’m spending two million extra just to buy peace of mind.”

The words sounded polite, but the underlying message was anything but friendly: I’ve given you two million extra—don’t go looking for trouble, or we’ll all end up losing face.

Zhou Andong still stared at Gong Kailin, unyielding: “If you believe your distillery can fetch 13.8 million in your hands, cancel this negotiation. We have no reason to waste each other’s time.”

I could go to Yixian or Heifeng County and save one or two million. Meanwhile, you keep running this loss-making enterprise—maybe some deep-pocketed buyer will actually pay 13 million for it.

Zhou Andong’s words were brutally blunt; Gong Kailin was left speechless, his face flushing red and pale.

He disliked Zhou Andong, and Zhou Andong felt the same about him. As for offending him, Zhou Andong wasn’t worried—so long as hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue flowed into Jinli County, Gong Kailin couldn’t cause any real trouble.

Kang Yu’s frown deepened as he glanced at Lian Zhongyu and the other leaders; Factory Director Du Chunlai, Deputy Director Gu Cheng’an, and Qu Wenjiang could only sit and listen.

“Let’s discuss this among ourselves,” Lian Zhongyu said.

Zhou Andong shrugged: “Fine.” He stood up, called to Gu Bing, “Come with me to the restroom.”

Gu Bing was about to refuse, then caught on—he stood and followed Zhou Andong out of the meeting room.

“I’m saying, you don’t need to be so aggressive in negotiations. It’s making everyone uncomfortable—we’ll have to work together again.”

Zhou Andong smiled: “We hold the initiative—we must be aggressive to shatter their illusions. Unless you’re willing to pay double. Besides, everyone in there is sharp—no fools. No one brings personal emotion into business negotiations. Well, except Gong Kailin—he might actually be mentally ill.”

Inside the meeting room, Lian Zhongyu turned to Zuo Peiming: “Leader, can’t you say something? Six hundred thousand is far below our expectations.”

Zuo Peiming picked up his tea and took a sip: “I’ve already said—I’ve entrusted Zhou Andong with this. I won’t interfere in your negotiations. How much the distillery sells for depends entirely on your own ability.”

Lian Zhongyu gave a bitter laugh and turned to Kang Yu and the others: “What’s your opinion?”

“Though it’s below our expectations, six hundred thousand isn’t low,” Jiang Wei, the strongest advocate for selling the distillery, said. “If Jiangzhou Distillery walks away now, we’ll never get another chance. The end result will be the distillery rotting in our hands, and the hundreds of laid-off workers will become a ticking time bomb.”

Zuo Peiming looked at Jiang Wei with approval—he was the clearest, most level-headed person so far.

Kang Yu sighed. He knew deep down how little a severely loss-making enterprise was worth. Their inflated demand was simply because the county’s finances were tight—they wanted to exploit Jiangzhou Distillery’s urgent need to expand capacity and squeeze out a higher price to ease the pressure.

“You’re only seeing the present, not the future,” Zuo Peiming said. “Under normal conditions, your county distillery produces seven hundred tons a year—thousand tons isn’t out of reach.”

Do the math: how much tax revenue does that generate annually? If I told Zhou Andong to buy your distillery for 13 million, he’d agree—but he’d resent it. The goodwill between you would be broken.

One day, when Jiangzhou Distillery expands again, it might bypass Jinli County entirely and choose another location—or move away for some reason. How great would that loss be? Are you picking up sesame seeds while losing the watermelon?”

Kang Yu and Lian Zhongyu exchanged glances; seeing Lian Zhongyu nod, Kang Yu said: “We were short-sighted.”

He hadn’t thought of any of this—he’d only wanted to squeeze out a few more million to ease the fiscal strain.

Half an hour later, Zhou Andong and Gu Bing returned. The atmosphere in the meeting room had noticeably lightened—they’d agreed.

“Comrade Zhou Andong,” Kang Yu said, “After discussion, we agree to sell the distillery for six hundred thousand.”

Zhou Andong smiled, stood, and extended his hand to shake Kang Yu’s: “Believe me—this is your wisest choice.”

The rest went smoothly. In under two hours, two copies of the contract lay on the negotiation table. Zuo Peiming signed for the city, Gu Bing for Jiangzhou Distillery, Kang Yu for Jinli County, and Du Chunlai for the county distillery.

After signing, the mood grew even more relaxed—just as Zhou Andong had said, no one brought emotion into negotiations. Of course, except Gong Kailin—his face stayed dark, as if Zhou Andong had cuckolded him, his gaze toward Zhou Andong full of hostility.