Chapter 336: Planned Investment

In the span of a year, Zhang Ping'an's Oriental Fresh Supermarket had already opened in the wealthy districts of Xiangjiang. Thanks to the promotion by Tong Laosi in the Beautiful Country, people began snapping up goods as soon as Zhang Ping'an opened for business.

Last year, after Tong Laosi transported the ingredients to San Francisco's Chinatown and sold them in his own supermarket, the exorbitant prices attracted some stubborn customers;

Coupled with their own established status in the local area, after some promotion, many wealthy individuals were willing to try something new, and thus it became unstoppable.

Especially upon learning they were imported from abroad, people were hoarding them by the tens or hundreds of pounds; a mere fifty tons of ingredients didn't make a splash when dropped into the local supermarket.

Subsequently, Tong Laosi ordered another two hundred tons from Zhang Ping'an, but for the Beautiful Country market, it was still a drop in the bucket.

In just this one year, Tong Laosi had hauled away nearly seven hundred tons of ingredients from Xiangjiang. Seeing this, Zhang Ping'an realized it wouldn't do; watching the lion's share of the profits being taken by Tong Laosi and his group, he began Hunger Marketing, deliberately controlling the wholesale quantity of ingredients.

He limited it to fifty tons each time, once a month, to first ensure the supply for his own supermarket.

"Little brother, are you really out of stock? How about we pay more?"

Every time Tong Laosi hauled a shipment back, after deducting taxes and social expenses, the net profit would double. Zhang Ping'an's reduction of the quota was equivalent to smashing their rice bowls.

"There's really no way. You guys demanded too much in the beginning; cattle and sheep need time to grow, right? I can't just conjure them up for you, can I? Unless you only want to do a one-off deal."

"Lao Si, sometimes there's nothing wrong with a steady stream; at least there's still stock, don't you think?"

"Besides, the Mainland is currently seeking investment, and I plan to go there to open farms and breeding grounds. Once the volume picks up later, everything will be easy to discuss."

Tong Laosi's eyes lit up upon hearing this. If there was no meat, breeding pigs and cattle would do too. They had vast farms in the Beautiful Country; wouldn't it be better to be self-sufficient then?

"Ahem, Divine Doctor little brother, let's leave this matter for now. Can you see if you can get us some breeding pigs so we can raise them ourselves?"

"Oh? It's not impossible, but those who raise pigs have special secret recipes and require special feed; otherwise, you won't be able to raise ingredients of that quality."

Tong Laosi thought that was normal; he would have found it strange if there weren't some secret recipe to cultivate such excellent ingredients.

"I'll buy it."

"How about this: you go and discuss it properly with Jin Ye. I also need time to communicate on my end."

"Alright, alright, alright, thank you for your hard work, little brother."

Zhang Ping'an was also acting on a whim; selling feed was more cost-effective than selling meat. He would set up a feed processing plant himself, with the main raw materials being pellets made from a mixture of pasture grass, corn, and soybeans, pressed together.

Zhang Ping'an had mountains of these things in his space. He just needed to contract a piece of wasteland and plant these few crops to cover his tracks. The more Zhang Ping'an thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and he couldn't wait to implement it immediately.

Doing this was actually a win-win; although the taste would certainly be worse than what was produced in the space, at least they could be self-sufficient.

"Dahu, get me ten sets of feed processing equipment and put them in the wharf warehouse."

Now that the business had grown, they had backup warehouses at almost every wharf, just to facilitate shipping at any time.

"By the way, arrange for someone to go to Pengcheng to select two plots of about two hundred mu of wasteland to build feed processing plants. Don't worry about the cost; get it done as quickly as possible. I have a major use for them."

"Yes, Master."

Most of the nearly one thousand children initially trained by the security company had gone out to work; just pulling in ten or twenty of them could form the entire backbone of a company.

Zhang Ping'an believed that with their investment, they would certainly be valued in the Mainland and would be helped to complete the construction of the factory area as quickly as possible.

Moreover, the temperature in Pengcheng allowed for work all year round; they might even be able to finish by the beginning of '79.

"Divine Doctor little brother, Jin Ye said it's completely feasible, it's just that the price is up for discussion. Also, can you provide a bit more ingredients at this stage? We'll pay more."

Tong Laosi understood Zhang Ping'an; if he offered more money, he would likely agree eight times out of ten. Anyway, the wool comes from the sheep;

Even if they paid more, the consumers in the Beautiful Country would be the ones footing the bill, and their earnings wouldn't decrease.

"This... it's not impossible."

After some friendly negotiation, the two agreed to sell all ingredients for the next six months at a price of thirty dollars, guaranteeing at least one hundred tons per month.

And they would deliver breeding pigs, cattle, sheep, and other livestock, as well as provide feed, by the middle of next year, with the price to be determined then.

At the end of the year, Zhang Ping'an left five hundred tons of ingredients in the cold storage and returned to Sijiucheng for the New Year.

Back at the Rolling Mill, Li Huaide had been much more low-key ever since the movement ended. He hadn't been liquidated like in the original story, but his gluttony and debauchery had somewhat affected his future official career.

"Ping'an, I plan to 'go to sea' next year. How about it? Any interest in working with me?"

"Ah? Factory Director, you..."

Logically speaking, Li Huaide's minor mistakes shouldn't have led to him being directly removed. With the Xu Family involved, they could even keep him safe. Zhang Ping'an didn't understand why Li Huaide would think of "going to sea."

"I'm doing this to respond to the country's call."

In fact, Li Huaide knew he had no possibility of advancing further, and given his age now, it was better to retire proactively and maintain his dignity.

"Factory Director, I don't have any plans to 'go to sea' for the time being. I need to go back and discuss it with my father and the others."

"Hmm, that's true."

In Li Huaide's view, Zhang Ping'an certainly had a bright future. He was already a Logistics Director, and it wasn't impossible for him to sit in the Deputy Factory Director's seat after a few more years of grinding.

"Factory Director, what do you plan to do after 'going to sea'?"

"Hmm, mostly related to automobiles and machinery."

Zhang Ping'an thought of how Xu Baisheng was now the factory director of the Mechanical Factory, so he didn't find it strange that Li Huaide would do business related to that.

"Factory Director, then when I 'go to sea' later, you'll have to give me some pointers."

"Hahaha, that's easy to say."

The '79 Spring Festival arrived without exception. The feed processing plant in Pengcheng was already more than half finished, and it was expected to be officially put into production after the first lunar month.

The factory wasn't very large, covering an area of eighty mu. With two shifts, it was expected to produce 150,000 tons of feed annually, with the remaining one hundred and twenty mu planted with pasture grass to cover their tracks.

The two factories were advancing side-by-side. They expected to finish recruiting after the Spring Festival and simultaneously purchase large quantities of corn and soybeans, which would then be mixed with the corn and soybeans from the space in a certain proportion.

"Ping'an, when will Weidong and the others be able to come back?"

"They just started working after graduating from university this year; it should be next year."

Weidong and Weijun graduated from university in '78. Both studied business administration and were currently interning in the pharmaceutical factory and the garment factory respectively. As for Wanqiu and the other two, they still had two years before graduation.

"Hmm, as long as they can come back, that's fine."

Zhang Ping'an naturally knew what his father was worried about—nothing more than the fear that his grandfather and the others wouldn't get to see their great-grandchildren, but that was clearly overthinking it.

His grandfather, Zhang Dadan, was already a centenarian this year, and his grandmother was one year younger. Both had aged a lot, but their bodies were still sturdy, and they spent most of their time in Zhang Family Village now.

However, Zhang Ping'an could also understand his father's worry; after all, in this day and age, centenarians were still quite rare, and one never knew when they might...

"Dad, don't worry, Grandpa and Grandma are in very good health."