Chapter 513

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"Just these few aren't enough."

Guo Mingyuan slowly shook his head, saying with a very certain tone: "Manager Zhou, you've overlooked a most critical issue, and that's the Lu Family Restaurant."

He looked at the somewhat puzzled expression on Zhou Li's face, then continued: "Although this shop's scale is much smaller compared to our new store, its influence is not low; it has already formed a word-of-mouth effect over there. If we don't secure this location, after we open we'll be competing with it for customers. But if we take it into our pocket, we'll have one less major competitor, and only then can we completely monopolize Food Street's foot traffic, making our restaurant the sole benchmark there."

"General Manager Guo, I understand your meaning, but..."

A difficult expression appeared on Zhou Li's face.

The words Guo Mingyuan just spoke, she had already thought of them from the start.

However, she had also long since inquired about the price Lu Feng had been offered by others, so she didn't want to go do useless work.

He's someone who could even refuse a million-yuan annual salary; it's estimated that even if she went personally, she could talk her lips raw and still not get him to agree to the acquisition.

Zhou Li's words hadn't been spoken yet when the private room's main door was lightly knocked twice from outside.

The waiter entered with a smile on his face, saying very politely: "Hello guest, the person you're waiting for has arrived."

After she finished speaking, she stepped aside to the side, and behind her followed a middle-aged man with a slightly plump figure, who walked into the private room with a smile on his face and steady steps.

"Hahaha, General Manager Guo, this is truly a coincidence."

The middle-aged man laughed heartily the moment he entered, his voice full of vigor: "I was just planning to find time to visit your company when I start work next week; I didn't expect you'd invite me first. On behalf of our Jiang City Land Administration Bureau, I warmly welcome you to invest and develop business here!"

The person who came was precisely the Deputy Director of the Jiang City Land Administration Bureau, surnamed Cheng.

Although his position in Jiang City isn't considered large, his jurisdictional scope happens to cover Garden Road Food Street and the surrounding areas.

Within his jurisdiction, his say still carries no small influence.

"Bureau Chief Cheng, please sit quickly. Actually, today I took up your rest time to invite you out because there's a small matter I want to trouble Bureau Chief Cheng with."

Guo Mingyuan immediately stood up, the serious expression on his face replaced with a just-right enthusiastic smile, and he proactively walked forward to shake hands with Bureau Chief Cheng.

His posture was humble, but there wasn't any fawning meaning to it.

After all, their catering group owns over a hundred high-end chain restaurant branches nationwide, and has a certain influence domestically.

As the party investing in Jiangcheng, he still had some confidence in his heart.

Bureau Chief Cheng laughed and shook hands with Guo Mingyuan: "General Manager Guo, you're too polite. We're also very welcome for you to come to Jiangcheng to invest in catering."

As he spoke, he sat down next to Guo Mingyuan and cut straight to the chase: "What trouble or no trouble, as long as it's beneficial to Jiangcheng's urban development and construction, we'll definitely strongly support it! Speak, today you invited me over — which piece of land have you taken a fancy to?"

Bureau Chief Cheng knew very well in his heart that a corporate executive like Guo Mingyuan absolutely wouldn't invite him to a meal for no reason.

Today there's definitely something involving land or shops that needs their Land Administration Bureau to coordinate.

However, the catering group Guo Mingyuan is in has a certain reputation domestically; if they can build a high-end restaurant in his jurisdiction, it can drive the local economy, which is also a good thing for him.

"Bureau Chief Cheng, let's not rush to talk business. Let's eat first, we can talk while eating in a bit."

Guo Mingyuan said with a smile, then waved to the waiter at the side: "Waiter, you can serve the dishes now."

"Ah, that won't do."

The smile on Bureau Chief Cheng's face faded somewhat; he waved his hand and said with a serious expression: "I'm a person who still has principles in doing things; I don't mix work and eating, and I never talk business while eating. Let's still settle the proper business first; the eating matter isn't urgent."

"Alright then, since Bureau Chief Cheng you put it that way, I'll just say it directly."

Guo Mingyuan nodded, as if he had long anticipated Bureau Chief Cheng's way of doing things; no unusual expression showed on his face.

He picked up that plan document on the dining table and handed it to Bureau Chief Cheng: "Bureau Chief Cheng, this is the plan our company formulated. Please review it first."

"Hehe, looks like General Manager Guo you really came prepared this time."

Bureau Chief Cheng accepted the documents with a beaming smile, flipping them open as he spoke.

"That's as it should be."

A familiar smile appeared on Guo Mingyuan's face, and he said with a very sincere tone: "Coming to see you, Bureau Chief Cheng, of course we must make complete preparations. After all, our group attaches great importance to our first chain restaurant in Jiangcheng, and we sincerely hope to get your support. I wouldn't want you, Bureau Chief Cheng, to think we're unreliable because our preparation work wasn't done well."

Speaking of it, he and Bureau Chief Cheng had dealt with each other a few times in other occasions before, so he could be considered to have some understanding of this Bureau Chief's working style.

Bureau Chief Cheng is upright in character, does things with his own set of rules, and has never accepted any gifts.

Any project that can truly drive economic development in his jurisdiction, he will spare no effort to support; he's a famously pragmatic leader in Jiangcheng.

"Garden Road No. 48 to 55?"

Bureau Chief Cheng flipped to the location marking page in the document, looking at the circled position on the map, and confirmed with Guo Mingyuan: "This area's location — you want to use it by agreement?"

"Yes, Bureau Chief Cheng."

Guo Mingyuan straightened his body, saying with a serious face: "These several shops are currently located in the old city district's central area, with relatively dense residential areas around, but the commercial forms are somewhat scattered, mostly small-scale restaurants. Our group plans to build a large high-end restaurant integrating dining, culture, and service here, filling the local high-end dining service gap."

"Your plan is indeed not bad."

Bureau Chief Cheng nodded slightly, his tone carrying a few points of agreement: "If a high-end restaurant opens here, it can not only provide jobs for local residents, but also revitalize the old city district's popularity and drive consumption in this area. It's a good project."

"Bureau Chief Cheng, you speak very correctly. That's also what we plan."

Guo Mingyuan took the cue and continued, saying confidently: "Right now there's a lack of a landmark large-scale dining establishment there to attract foot traffic. If you, Bureau Chief Cheng, can agree to allocate these several shops' locations to us, our company will go all out to build it into the core landmark there."

"Hmm..."

Bureau Chief Cheng lowered his head and carefully examined the detailed content in the plan, nodding as he read: "I see your plan says to integrate these eight shops, total area reaching over three hundred square meters. Although this scale isn't especially large, in the old city district it's not small. I think it's good."

Seeing Bureau Chief Cheng's tone was approving, Guo Mingyuan knew in his heart this matter was eight or nine parts out of ten settled.

But his face still maintained a calm expression, and he slowly stated this time's core request: "Not hiding it from you, Bureau Chief Cheng. Right now our company has already started arranging professional teams to negotiate acquisition for seven of the shops inside, and progress is all relatively smooth. Only the acquisition of Garden Road No. 55 this one shop has a bit of difficulty. So I want to trouble you, Bureau Chief Cheng, to help. If we have your official approval reply, later our negotiations will go much smoother."