Chapter 335: Reform and Opening Up

"Ahem, the director under the maritime department's competent authority has a bit of a friendship with us. As long as it's not contraband after he inspects it, and you offer a little tribute, someone will naturally help you complete the paperwork."

"Could you facilitate an introduction? You know me, I just love making friends."

"Sure, but this Maidige is very greedy. Of course, he also truly gets things done."

"Fine, greed isn't something to fear, as long as he can get the job done."

In Zhang Ping'an's view, taking money to get things done was already an excellent trait; he was only afraid of encountering those who took money and then scammed you.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning."

"Done, I'll wait for your call."

"Good."

Returning to the villa in the evening, after the four of them had an in-depth exchange, Zhang Ping'an began thinking about the feasibility of opening a supermarket in Xiangjiang. Everything else was easy to discuss, but the paperwork was difficult to handle; everything would have to wait until after meeting Maidige tomorrow.

At ten in the morning, Zhang Ping'an received a call from Tong Laosi, and after bringing along the wine he had scavenged from Lou Bancheng's house back in the day, he followed him over.

This was good stuff; it was a collectible of Lou Bancheng's from back then, and after settling in the space for over ten years, it was definitely a century-old wine.

"Wow, oh my god, you are Xie Yanan? Do we, perhaps, have some blood relation?"

"..." Zhang Ping'an swore this was absolutely a coincidence.

Zhang Ping'an was stunned when he saw Maidige; this guy looked thirty percent like his current disguise.

At the time, Zhang Ping'an had also deliberately made himself up to look twenty or thirty percent Western to prove his ancestors were foreigners, but he hadn't expected to accidentally run into a lookalike.

"Brother Divine Doctor, this is really... you wouldn't happen to really be blood-related, would you?"

"Ahem, Maidige, my grandmother was from Yingguo; perhaps this is fate?" Zhang Ping'an handed over the wine in his hand at the same time.

Hearing that Zhang Ping'an had the bloodline of their country, and with his authentic British accent, Maidige's perception of Zhang Ping'an suddenly rose significantly now that he had also presented a generous gift.

"Xie, my best friend."

Tong Laosi was dumbfounded. This guy rarely gave him a good look; he hadn't expected him to be so affectionate the moment he saw Brother Divine Doctor. He felt like a clown.

"Ahem, you are also my best friend."

"Hahaha, let's go, let's go inside and talk. Tong, thank you for introducing my good brother. I will handle your affairs well; you go get busy."

"..." There was no need to feel like one anymore; he was a real clown.

"Laosi, thanks. You need to transport those ingredients over as soon as possible anyway, so don't waste time here."

"Marisha, take this wine and let it breathe. Also, two medium-rare steaks."

"Very well, sir."

The wrapping paper on the two bottles of wine Zhang Ping'an brought over had mostly fallen off, and at a glance, they had a very historical charm. Maidige was naturally impatient to taste them.

The two chatted aimlessly for over ten minutes. Maidige kept asking about Zhang Ping'an's grandmother. Zhang Ping'an had no idea where the grandmother of this face was, so he finally steered the conversation to the main business.

"Maidige, I came here this time to discuss..." Zhang Ping'an got straight to the point and explained the matter.

"No problem, but let's keep business and personal matters separate. Even though we might be relatives, business is business."

"That is only right."

"Two hundred thousand US dollars per time, I don't care how large your volume is."

Damn, this guy is truly black-hearted. Just a moment ago he was calling him 'best friend' one after another, and now he opens his mouth with a black-market price.

"I..."

Zhang Ping'an greeted the other party's female relatives in his heart, but in the end, he helplessly agreed. However, this 'no limit' part was good; at worst, he would just handle a year's worth at once.

"No problem, happy cooperation."

"Happy cooperation. Come, Xie, my friend, the wine has breathed enough, let's go taste it."

Maidige was in a very good mood. Today, not only did he make a small profit, but he could also drink aged wine. How delightful.

"Sniff, sniff." Maidige went straight for an epic-level lung-full.

"Oh my god, mellow, the taste of history. Xie, my friend, you really are my best friend."

"Absolutely."

"Oh my god." Maidige took a sip of the wine; the deathly commotion he made would have made anyone who didn't know think he was having a seizure.

Zhang Ping'an hadn't drunk it before either, so he tried a sip. Damn, it was astringent and sour; he couldn't drink it at all, so he finally poured it directly into the space.

The two drank heartily, eating steaks mixed with blood. Zhang Ping'an really couldn't eat it, but in the end, the two successfully reached a preliminary agreement.

"Xie, my friend, come often in the future."

"OK."

Zhang Ping'an rushed to the pier. Tong Laosi had already started loading the ship. Seeing Zhang Ping'an's dark face, he understood instantly; he had probably been ripped off quite a bit.

"Brother, two hundred and fifty thousand US dollars a time isn't bad. It will be cost-effective once the volume is large later."

"Two hundred and fifty thousand?" Zhang Ping'an muttered to himself. It seemed this Maidige still had a bit of humanity.

"Yeah." By comparison, Zhang Ping'an's mood improved a little.

Zhang Ping'an observed the cold storage again. The fifty tons of cargo only took up about one-third of it. This place was remote, but it was a good spot. It would be great if he could buy it.

Thinking of this, Zhang Ping'an found a phone booth and dialed Qian Dahu.

"Master, you want to buy it? That's fine; the other party even asked me about it at the time."

"Fine, then arrange it as soon as possible."

The construction cost of this cold storage was probably only around four hundred and fifty thousand US dollars, but this was a pier, and with the land and various other things, it would probably be at least five hundred and fifty thousand.

Returning to the villa, Zhang Ping'an mentioned his idea of opening a fresh food supermarket.

"Brother-in-law, the channels and paperwork for this are hard to handle, right?"

"Hahaha, these have already been settled." As expected of Lou Bancheng's daughter, she saw the point at a glance.

"Then there shouldn't be any big problems."

"Good, we are selling green, natural, and pollution-free products. We'll only open in wealthy areas. Let's open ten first, each about three hundred square meters will do."

Zhang Ping'an felt some regret; he should have hoarded more ready-built houses four years ago. Now that housing prices had risen back up, he would have to spend quite a bit of wasted money.

"Good."

"You all start arranging the renovations. I will draw the supermarket blueprints for you in a moment, and I will bring the goods over next time."

"Mm, good."

Zhang Ping'an finished playing Landlord with the three women before going to the study to draw the renderings based on the supermarkets from his past life, then tidied up and returned to the Mainland.

In Sijiucheng, Nanluoguxiang, the crackling sound of firecrackers symbolized the arrival of the New Year, and there were many more children playing and making noise on the streets.

Yan Bugui had set up his table again and begun his great undertaking of writing Spring Festival couplets; a handful of melon seeds and a word of praise could keep the old man happy for half the day.

The 1977 Spring Festival passed by like that without anyone noticing, and Zhang Ping'an handed the photos of Wang Xiaoling and the children from these past years to his parents.

"These are... these are Weidong and the others. They've grown so big already, my good grandsons."

There were photos of the Weidong triplets from age ten to their current age of twenty-two, and photos of the Weiping triplets from age seven to nineteen as well.

"Good, good, good, very good."

"Father, Mother, rest assured; they will be able to come back in another year or two." Zhang Ping'an did not dare to take out the photos of the other two women for fear of being scolded.

"Good, it's good to come back."

Nine months later, Xiaogangcun in Wansheng took the lead in implementing the household contract responsibility system, pulling back the curtain on rural reform. Subsequently, in December, the conference was held, confirming the policy direction of "reform internally, open up externally," marking the arrival of the Reform and Opening-up.