Chapter 334: On the Eve of Reform and Opening Up 2.0

Tong Laosi and his group followed the scent here, and because this group of people had been eating Space Ingredients for several years, although they had all aged quite a bit, their bodies remained healthy and robust.

Tong Laosi is fifty-eight this year, but he looks to be about fifty; his second elder brother beside him looks older.

"What Divine Doctor? You two must have mistaken me for someone else, right?"

"Are you the boss of this pharmaceutical factory? We are old acquaintances of the person who makes the Medicinal Wine."

Although they had never seen the Skin Cream before, it was not strange that such miraculous effects came from the hands of a Divine Doctor.

"Hmm... I am indeed the boss, but the person who gave us the prescription is someone else, and he is currently not in Xiangjiang."

"This... then can you contact him?"

"Not for the moment, but you can leave your information, and I can notify you when he comes over."

"Alright, this is our address; we should be here for the next two months. Once the Divine Doctor returns, please be sure to have him contact me."

"Okay."

Lou Xiaoe could not contact Zhang Ping'an, but she went home and asked her father; back in Sijiucheng, there were truly not many rich and powerful people her father did not know.

"Surname Tong?"

Lou Bancheng rubbed his chin, lost in thought. Although he was known as Lou Bancheng, it was only because he had many industrial businesses; there were plenty of people richer than him behind the scenes, but the first thing he thought of with the surname Tong was the Banner People.

"He might have some connection with Ping'an. Let's wait until he comes over to talk about it."

"Mm, okay."

A month later, Zhang Ping'an slipped into Xiangjiang again, and Lou Xiaoe informed him of this matter immediately.

"Tong Laosi? His nose is truly sharp."

However, Zhang Ping'an's eyes lit up slightly. He was also worrying about the large batch of Space Ingredients piling up and going to waste in his space. Since the restaurant couldn't open for the time being, he might as well make a wave of quick money first.

"I do know them. Give me their address, and I will go meet them."

"Okay."

Zhang Ping'an fiddled around for a while, transforming from a foreigner with blonde hair and blue eyes into a handsome man in his forties.

"Ahem," Zhang Ping'an tried to find the voice he had back in the Black Market, and it took a while to adapt before he drove to the Peninsula Hotel.

A mouthful of authentic English shocked the receptionist, and then he waited for Tong Laosi downstairs with a newspaper.

"Laosi, over here." Before his seat was even warm, Zhang Ping'an saw Tong Laosi hurrying over and waved at him.

"Hahaha, Divine Doctor little brother? Truly a man of talent. Twelve years since we parted, and the Divine Doctor little brother's demeanor remains the same."

"Hehe, this is our first time meeting, right?"

"Ahem, indeed, but according to Li Shenyi's judgment at the time, you wouldn't be over forty. It seems that is indeed the case now."

"Hehe, he certainly has some skills, but not many. By the way, his Silver Needle is still with me. Didn't he come with you?"

"Uh, Li Shenyi is already eighty; he is not suited for long-distance travel. Besides, the Silver Needle is not buried in your hands; rather, it adds to your splendor."

"Hahaha, Laosi, oh Laosi, you are still as glib as ever after all these years. How is Jin Ye?"

Jin Ye's age should be sixty-four or sixty-five this year. Back then, that old fellow ate the best, and his body is likely even better than Tong Laosi's.

"Good, his body has been excellent all these years, it's just that the food he eats is a bit lacking—not even one ten-thousandth of what you provided back then, little brother."

"Hehe, why, still want to eat it?"

"I want to, I want to eat it so much." Tong Laosi nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

During those six or seven years, their palates had been spoiled. At first, they didn't feel much, but later, the more they ate other things, the more they felt it was like chewing wax.

"It's not impossible, if you can handle all the taxes. I can only ship to Xiangjiang, and there are no procedures."

"That shouldn't be a big problem, but I have to wait until I ask Jin Ye."

"Fine, I will stay here for two days. You hurry up and decide; I'm not sure when I'll come next time."

"Is little brother's business that big now?"

"That's not it; it's about healing the sick and saving lives. Saving one person is easily hundreds of thousands of US dollars; I don't even want to do business anymore."

Tong Laosi clicked his tongue in secret. The money earned this time was enough for his expenses for several years; comparing people really makes one want to die of frustration.

"Little brother, let's set a rough price first, so I can report to Jin Ye."

"Hmm... the current price of beef in Xiangjiang is two US dollars a catty. As for the rest, forget it, I'm too lazy to calculate in detail; let's just count everything as twenty US dollars."

"Presumably, you have realized the value of these ingredients over the years. If you only want a ton or two, it's not worth me making a trip. It's best if it's fifty tons or more."

"This, okay."

"Mm, just notify the pharmaceutical factory when there is news."

After Zhang Ping'an left, Tong Laosi dialed an international long-distance call.

"Jin Ye, that is how things are."

"Mm... buy it. This time, we can just revive our old fresh food supermarket. If it does well, we will continue to stock up; if not, we'll just keep it for ourselves to eat."

"......"

"Then let's start with fifty tons. Chicken, duck, fish, meat, melons, fruits, and vegetables—in short, whatever a fresh food supermarket can sell, you arrange it. Buy some Medicinal Wine too, get the pure stuff, don't get the watered-down goods on the market."

"And that Skin Cream, get some of that too. I'll send you three million; you just go ahead and do it."

"Okay, Jin Ye."

They had initially bought large tracts of farmland in the Beautiful Country and could make a small profit every year. Later, they invested in their own fresh food chain supermarkets, but the business was dismal and it was now in a state of semi-bankruptcy.

The first thing Zhang Ping'an did when he got back was to rent a cold storage at the pier and buy various sacks. He believed that Tong Laosi and the others would definitely buy.

"Okay, Master, it should be done by the afternoon."

"Good, just put the things there when they arrive."

"Got it."

Qian Dahu now takes on external security tasks, and his reputation has been built up over the past two years. He has collaborations with major companies, so getting a temporary warehouse is a piece of cake.

At noon, before Zhang Ping'an had left the pharmaceutical factory, he received a call from Tong Laosi.

"Hello, I am looking for the Divine Doctor, little brother."

"That's me, go ahead, Laosi."

"Alrighty, ten tons of chicken, ten tons of beef..." Tong Laosi rattled off a list, all in units of tons.

"Ahem, also the Medicinal Wine, Divine Doctor little brother, I want the pure kind from before, and I also need the high-end series of Skin Cream."

"Fine, I will have it ready for you by tonight at the latest. Don't forget the money, cash is best."

"Efficiency, little brother, your efficiency is absolute. Fine, same old rules, we do cash on delivery."

With six or seven years of friendship, plus this face-to-face meeting, Tong Laosi trusted that Zhang Ping'an would not harm him.

"Done."

In the afternoon, Dahu got the cold storage sorted out, and Zhang Ping'an also got a box truck, making a show of entering and exiting the cold storage multiple times.

Zhang Ping'an finished everything by five in the afternoon, then slapped the cold storage key directly in front of Tong Laosi.

"Laosi, this is the cold storage key. It's at Kowloon Wharf, it has a number on it, and I rented it by the day."

"Good, good, good."

Tong Laosi rushed non-stop to Kowloon Wharf, looked at the stacks of goods, and smiled with satisfaction, immediately handing two suitcases over to Zhang Ping'an.

Looking at the suitcases in his hands, Zhang Ping'an suddenly felt a sense of boredom; a mere three million US dollars, he felt like he had lost out.

"Ahem, Laosi, are your connections solid? In a couple of years, if I want to transport food ingredients to the Mainland, can you handle those procedures?"

"This, actually it's all a transaction. As long as you can pay a certain price, there will be people who will open the back door for you."

"Oh? Tell me in detail."