Chapter 986

October 6, 1993, the 21st day of the eighth lunar month, Wednesday!

Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu got up before seven, washed up, and went to the dining room for breakfast.

Unexpectedly, Wu Hongkang and Zhang Shenghui were already there, trays in hand, sitting across from them.

Wu Hongkang smiled and said, “Young Master Zhou, I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you yesterday.”

Zhang Shenghui bit into a boiled egg: “After you left, I told Old Wu that fate is truly unpredictable. The world is so big, yet after being separated for decades, you two just happened to meet like this.”

“You didn’t know, did you? We already had contact over a month ago.”

Zhou Andong took a sip of his porridge, then took the boiled egg, peeled and handed to him by Jian Qiu.

“We discussed a cooperation back then, but neither of us recognized the other at the time. Yesterday, when I saw Old Master Zhou, my wife said the old man looked just like my grandfather. I went over to ask—and turns out, Old Master Zhou really is my third uncle. He came back specifically to find my grandfather.”

Wu Hongkang nodded: “This proves your families’ fate this lifetime isn’t finished yet.”

Zhang Shenghui’s attention was drawn to the cooperation Zhou Andong mentioned: “You’re cooperating with Jinwan Group to supply liquor for their hotel?”

“No!” Zhou Andong bit into the bun Jian Qiu pushed to his mouth: “It’s agency distribution—besides Jiang Xiaobai and Yugong Wine, we’re also handling beverages: iced black tea and Feichang Cola.”

Wu Hongkang’s mouth dropped open: “You mean Jiang Xiaobai and Yugong Wine, plus the drinks, are going to be exported across the sea?”

“Exactly!”

Zhou Andong had just swallowed the food when Jian Qiu pushed another bun toward his mouth.

“The agency deal was settled last night. The earlier cooperation was with Dahrunfa.”

“Dahrunfa?” Zhang Shenghui’s eyes widened: “Don’t tell me you’re the one who started Dahrunfa.”

Before Zhou Andong could answer, Jian Qiu held out another bun to his mouth.

Zhou Andong sighed and took another bite, muttering: “Look at your reaction—you’ve never seen the world, have you? I just opened a supermarket for fun, and you’re this shocked?”

“….”

Zhang Shenghui wanted to curse—calling opening a supermarket “fun”? Is that even human speech?

Wu Hongkang suddenly asked: “Does Dahrunfa carry Erguotou and Qinchi?”

Zhou Andong shook his head: “No.”

“Why?” Wu Hongkang and Zhang Shenghui asked in unison.

Zhou Andong let out a cold laugh: “Dahrunfa is your own liquor factory. You asked for a few percentage points discount—and before you finished speaking, you were thrown out.”

“Slap!”

Zhang Shenghui slammed the table: “Who? I’ll investigate and deal with it seriously when I get back.”

Wu Hongkang nodded along: “Exactly. If Dahrunfa wants to cooperate, giving a few percentage points discount is nothing—why throw them out? Absolute scum.”

“Wait!”

Zhang Shenghui’s face lit up with a smile like a courtesan greeting a wealthy, elegant gentleman, eyes sparkling with flattery.

“Young Master Zhou—no, Brother Zhou—I’ll give you five percent discount. If Dahrunfa runs promotions, I’ll give fifteen percent.”

Wu Hongkang quickly added: “Same as Old Zhang—I’ll give you five percent, and fifteen percent during promotions.”

“No problem!” Zhou Andong agreed without hesitation.

Zhang Shenghui and Wu Hongkang smiled—they really were good partners. But before their smiles faded, Zhou Andong added:

“But now, any product wanting to enter Dahrunfa must pay entry fees and management fees, among other charges.”

“What?” Zhang Shenghui protested: “We put our products in your store, give you huge discounts, and now you want us to pay fees too? What ‘other fees’? Why don’t you just rob us?”

“What do you think?” Zhou Andong rolled his eyes: “Discounts are discounts. Entry fees are entry fees. Two different things. Don’t act like you’re being treated unfairly—if it weren’t for our brotherhood and partnership, do you think you’d even get in just by paying the fee?”

“How much foot traffic does Dahrunfa get every day? You should have some idea. There are countless products trying to get in—liquor included. Don’t say Erguotou and Qinchi—even Jiang Xiaobai and Yugong Wine have to pay.”

Hearing that Jiang Xiaobai and Yugong Wine also had to pay, the two fell silent.

“Fine!” Zhang Shenghui nodded: “How much is this fee?”

“I don’t actually know. Send someone to Dahrunfa to negotiate.”

Zhou Andong bit into another bun Jian Qiu offered him.

“Aren’t you eating?”

Wu Hongkang joked: “Your wife feeding you—I’m jealous just watching.”

Zhou Andong smirked: “Jealous? Go home and have your wife feed you too.”

Jian Qiu shoved the last bite of bun into Zhou Andong’s mouth: “What’s there to be proud of? The bun wasn’t tasty—I didn’t want to eat it, but didn’t want to waste it, so I gave it to you.”

Zhang Shenghui and Wu Hongkang burst out laughing, then quickly stifled it, realizing the setting.

“Sigh!”

Zhou Andong sighed: “Where is our unspoken understanding? Our old unspoken understanding? In front of others, can’t you just go along with me to save face?”

“Who’s an outsider here?” Jian Qiu smiled. “Factory Director Wu and General Manager Zhang are family.”

“I love hearing that, Sister-in-law,” Zhang Shenghui nodded vigorously. “Young Master Zhou, you really ought to learn from your wife how to handle people.”

Zhou Andong finished his last sip of porridge, wiped his mouth with a napkin: “If you want to learn how to handle people, you’re the one who needs the most improvement, Old Zhang. Stop obsessing over people behind their backs—focus on how to boost Qinchi sales.”

“Bullshit!” Zhang Shenghui snapped: “Who am I obsessing over?”

“Me!” Zhou Andong burped: “Oh, and Old Wu too—you’ve been scheming about both of us plenty.”

“I’m not wasting time on you.” Zhang Shenghui stood up: “Old Wu, finished eating? Let’s go.”

Zhou Andong grinned at Wu Hongkang: “Old Zhang’s too sneaky. Stay away from him—you might get screwed one day and won’t even know where to cry.”

Wu Hongkang sighed: “I should stay away from both of you.”

Zhang Shenghui patted Zhou Andong’s shoulder: “I scheme behind your back—do you scheme less about me? Don’t mock the lame for being lame, and don’t call the blind bad—the two of us are half a jin, eight liang.”

Zhou Andong sighed: “Old Zhang, I’ve noticed your skin’s gotten thicker.”

“Same to you,” Zhang Shenghui laughed, then walked off with Wu Hongkang.

At this point, many familiar and unfamiliar people began arriving at the dining room, greeting Zhou Andong as they passed.

By the time Jian Qiu finished eating, it was still before eight—the meeting didn’t start until nine. The two returned to their room.

Zhou Andong called Yao Army and told him to send someone to Tanghezi to pick up the old master and old mistress and bring them to Jingcheng.

But he didn’t tell them why—he wanted to surprise the old master.

Seeing he still had time, Zhou Andong stood up: “I’ll go check if Zhou Anlei is awake. Yesterday I promised to take him for a haircut and new clothes, but never got around to it.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jian Qiu said, rising. They stepped out of the room.

As they knocked on Zhou Anlei’s door and entered, a very sexy, beautiful figure flashed past at the end of the corridor.