Chapter 352

"Alright, Mr. Li, I'll resolve the issues here in Malaysia as soon as possible, then fly straight to Jingcheng."

"This opportunity is crucial—if we seize it, we'll achieve twice the result with half the effort; if we miss it, we'll be scrambling to catch up behind everyone else."

"Mr. Li, rest assured—I was with the Sports Department's big shots during last year's National Day ceremony, and I even called them during the New Year's holiday. I think it won't be a problem."

"Then hurry up."

"Yes, yes."

Li Ye hung up the phone and couldn't help smiling, feeling a strange sense of ironic fate.

Last year, when Pei Wencong went to the National Day ceremony, Li Ye had been envious and resentful—he was just a kid with no standing.

But now Li Ye felt only relief: thank goodness Pei Wencong had gone to the National Day ceremony, and thank goodness the mainland's culture and sports were inseparable, letting Pei Wencong, a cultural man, get familiar with the big names in sports.

If 1984 was the founding year of mainland private enterprises, then the explosion of enthusiasm in the mainland's sports scene came with the 23rd Los Angeles Olympics.

The mainland delegation participated in the Olympics for the first time, winning 15 golds, 8 silvers, and 9 bronzes to rank fourth on the medal table, delivering a powerful stimulant to the Chinese people, who desperately needed national self-confidence.

Riding the momentum of that Olympics, "The Magic Water," Jianlibao, suddenly emerged and became a permanent memory for a generation.

As China's earliest electrolyte sports drink, Jianlibao was expensive—a standard 355-milliliter can cost 3 yuan.

But this didn't hinder its "magic"—it dominated the mainland's premium beverage market for nearly two decades.

If Old Li hadn't been too eager later on, foreign brands might never have overtaken it and crushed mainland beverage companies into ruins.

Li Ye originally had no intention of building a "beverage empire"—the beverage industry had high barriers to entry and wasn't easy to break into, and making money from foreigners was even harder.

Functional beverages required real technical expertise—for example, Jianlibao was developed through joint efforts by the Sanshui Brewery and three universities and research institutes, based on the research of a professor from the Guangzhou Sports Medical College, after multiple experiments to finalize the formula.

You can't just mix sugar water with melatonin and call it "the perfect gift"?

But Fu Guiru's appearance, and the overwhelming dominance of foreign brands in the mainland later on, made Li Ye suddenly change his mind.

The beverage market was a major goldmine in the mainland's food industry, known for frequent appearances of dark horses.

From the 1980s onward, the mainland's beverage industry, in just twenty years, nearly completed the entire development journey that took Western countries eighty years.

In 1982, the state classified beverages as "state-planned management products."

In 1983, the "Eight Major Soda Factories" accounted for 42% of the nation's total output.

Beijing's Beibingyang, Jincheng's Shanhaiguan, Shanghai's Zhengguanghe, Guangzhou's Asia, Fengtian's Bawangsi, Sichuan-Chongqing's Tianfu Cola, Dongshan's Laoshan Cola, and Henan's Shaolin Cola had all once been glorious.

But even combined, those eight giants couldn't match Jianlibao—and after decades of struggle, only the lucky ones survived, all powerless to challenge foreign brands anymore.

So this time, Li Ye wanted to try—to see just how much of a difference a time-traveler could make in changing history.

After hanging up Li Ye's call, Pei Wencong in Malaysia gave it a moment's thought, then dialed Fu Guiru's home number.

Knowing Li Ye well, he understood that anything Li Ye assigned carried dazzling golden fortune—so if Li Ye urged him to hurry, he wouldn't dare delay even a night.

"Hello, I'd like to speak with Ms. Fu Guiru."

"May I ask who's calling?"

Hearing the girl's voice on the other end, Pei Wencong knew it was the boss's younger sister, Fu Yiruo.

"Hello, Miss Fu, I'm Mr. Pei, a business partner of your mother. I have some business matters to discuss with her."

"Oh, Mr. Pei! My mom isn't home—could you leave your phone number?"

"You already know my number. I'm in a hurry—when your mother returns, please ask her to call me back."

"Alright, alright, I understand, Mr. Pei."

Fu Yiruo hung up and immediately called her mother.

Fu Yiruo knew her mother was working overtime at the factory today, but she was cautious—she never casually revealed her mother's whereabouts to strangers.

After explaining to her mother, Fu Yiruo hung up and turned around to find her younger brother, Fu Zhiman, staring at her with a dark expression.

"Zhiman, have you finished your homework? Do you need me to check it for you?"

"Besides checking my homework, can you do anything else a sister should do?"

"Zhiman, what are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" Fu Zhiman glared at Fu Yiruo, bitterly saying: "What good is it if my grades are good or bad? You and Mom are about to sell the company to outsiders—have you even considered my opinion?"

You and Mom are almost ready to sell the company to outsiders—have you even considered my opinion?

The Chinese-language education environment in Malaysia wasn't good, yet Chinese-language education persisted, thanks not only to the Chinese community's stubborn perseverance, but also to the emphasis on family education.

Fu Zhiman attended a Chinese-language elementary school, while Fu Yiruo was about to graduate high school—so she had always diligently tutored her brother and treated it as her duty.

But today, looking at Fu Zhiman's fierce eyes, a thought suddenly struck her: If you don't want to study, fine—what do I care? Let you die.

Fu Yiruo rolled her eyes at Fu Zhiman and turned to walk upstairs.

But Fu Zhiman stepped sideways, blocking her path.

"What? Did I hit the nail on the head? Was that another call from a Hong Konger just now?"

"He's buying someone's shares again, isn't he? Or increasing capital once more? If this keeps up, the Fu Company will soon be surnamed Pei!"

Fu Zhiman had previously held 26% of the Fu Company's shares; with Pei Wencong's capital increase, his stake had been diluted.

Fu Guiru and Fu Yiruo both thought the dilution was perfectly justified—after all, Pei had invested a fortune in real cash.

But Fu Zhiman felt cheated—deeply cheated.

Because previously, Fu Zhiman had been the "decisive figure" in the Fu Company—his 26% stake meant whoever he sided with controlled the company.

But now control had passed to "Mom," Fu Guiru.

As long as Fu Guiru stood with Pei Wencong, the rest of the Fu family could only stare helplessly.

So he hated it—he hated how, overnight, he'd lost his cherished title as "the family's top son."

Fu Yiruo looked at her brother blocking her way and forced back her anger: "Mr. Pei bought Auntie's shares to become the Fu Company's largest shareholder."

"If the Fu Company ever becomes surnamed Pei, it's because of Auntie's actions—not your mother's. Are you saying your conscience has been eaten by dogs?"

"You—you're saying I have no conscience?"

Fu Zhiman flew into a rage, pointing his short finger at Fu Yiruo: "Even if Auntie selling her shares was wrong, why did Mom agree to the capital increase?"

"After the capital increase, everyone in the Fu family lost out—only Mom benefited!"

After the capital increase and share expansion, everyone in the Fu family suffered losses, except for Mom.

Fu Yiruo slapped Fu Zhiman across the face, silencing his rant instantly.

Fu Yiruo shook her hand, dispelling the faint sting from the force of the blow.

Then she said coldly: "Mom told me this is what a sister should do. Don't glare at me again—glare once, and I'll slap you once."

Fu Guiru had indeed told her daughter: a sister who stands firm can always control her brother.

Before, Fu Yiruo had been cautious, afraid of provoking trouble for her mother due to Auntie's dominance.

But now that Auntie had made such a huge mistake and brought things to this state, why should she still endure her?

But now that Auntie has made such a huge mistake and turned things into this mess, why should we still put up with her?

Fu Yiruo climbed the stairs, feeling her steps seven times lighter.

That slap had felt incredibly satisfying to the seventeen-year-old girl—as if she'd shattered a decade's worth of gloom pressing on her heart.

That slap just now felt incredibly satisfying to the seventeen-year-old girl, as if she had smashed away a decade's worth of darkness weighing on her heart.

Pei Wencong received Fu Guiru's call and arrived at the Fu Company factory that same night.

Upon arriving, he found Fu Guiru directing workers as they tested a new product.

Seeing Pei Wencong, Fu Guiru explained: "The workshop has normal production during the day, so we can only test the new product at night. I'm truly sorry to trouble you so late, Mr. Pei."

Pei Wencong shook his head: "It's no trouble at all—I admire your dedication, Ms. Fu."

Fu Guiru smiled: "You've invested in the Fu Company, so we must deliver results—we can't let our investors down."

Fu Guiru didn't say everything—she'd always planned to develop new products, but funding had stalled the project; now that she had money, she'd restarted R&D.

【What matters is not disappointing me—it's not disappointing your son.】

Pei Wencong said: "Our headquarters has sent word—we must immediately prepare to set up a factory on the mainland. I'll fly to Jingcheng the day after tomorrow, so we must quickly discuss the details."

Fu Guiru stared blankly for several seconds, then whispered: "So soon?"

"What? Ms. Fu, what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing," Fu Guiru rallied herself. "Let's go to the office."

In the office, Fu Guiru handed Pei Wencong several business plans.

"I've prepared a few business proposals these past few days—I planned to discuss them with you later, but if you're in a hurry, we can review them now."

Pei Wencong took the documents but didn't open them—he knew that from discussion to implementation, a plan simply couldn't meet Li Ye's timeline.

Pei Wencong looked at Fu Guiru and asked: "Do you know Thailand's Tianxi Pharmaceutical Group?"

Fu Guiru nodded: "I know them. Mr. Xu from Tianxi is also a Chinese immigrant—I met him face-to-face two years ago when he promoted their new product in Lijiapu."

Pei Wencong was slightly surprised, but then remembered—both were in the Chinese beverage circle. Mr. Xu had sold "Red Bull" in Lijiapu as early as 1982, so it was normal for Fu Guiru to know him.

Fu Guiru continued: "Also, I won't hide it from you—our Fu Company's new product under development was inspired by Mr. Xu's product."

"But we haven't succeeded yet—if we could have more time…"

Pei Wencong shook his head: "There's no time. Headquarters requires us to launch the product on the mainland before summer."

"Before summer?" Fu Guiru exclaimed. "It's already March—Pengcheng's new factory hasn't even been built yet, and the production line needs tuning—it's impossible!"

"No, no, no, Ms. Fu—I once heard a wise man say: as long as you use your brain, anything is possible."

Pei Wencong recalled Li Ye's words and listed them one by one: "The Pengcheng factory is easy—we have a partner with ready-made facilities."

"For the canning line, we can temporarily outsource production—there's a factory in Pengcheng—we can order a brand-new line later. As for the product…"

"Our headquarters wants to partner with Tianxi Group—to launch sports drinks on the mainland first, then expand into other areas once we're established."

Our headquarters' position is to seek cooperation with Tian Silk Group, first launching sports drinks on the mainland, and once firmly established, pursue development in other areas.

Fu Guiru: "."

As a veteran in the beverage industry, Fu Guiru could easily see through Pei Wencong's intentions.

This is the old trick of borrowing a hen to lay eggs!

First, use your connections with Tian Si Group to push Red Bull into the mainland market; once you've secured market dominance, launch a new product to replace it, then part ways amicably with Tian Si Group in Thailand.

But once the mainland beverage factory is firmly established, won't you also part ways with Fu Company?

So Fu Guiru asked coldly: "Mr. Pei, forgive my bluntness—what exactly do you mean by 'other plans'?"

【You're asking me? You should ask your son!】

Pei Wencong was both amused and exasperated, and finally held up one finger.

"Ten million dollars. The headquarters has granted Ms. Fu a budget of ten million U. . dollars, entirely under your personal control. Is that sincerity enough?"

Ms. Fu pondered deeply—it felt as if even selling herself wouldn't be worth ten million U. . dollars.

"It makes no sense!"

Fu Guiru had no reason to refuse.