Pure: As announced on my discord, I’ll be going on vacation. My internet will not be establish until about 1 week or so. I’ll released some extra chapters in patreon just to be safe, but I’ve already pre-scheduled the next few chapters in advanced on this website, hopefully, nothing goes wrong! I just won’t be as fast to reply is all~ Anyways, enjoy the chapter~

Translated by Pure

Edited by Alkonost

Chapter 54.3 "Factory found!"

Qi Kai couldn't go to the company, so he could only go home. As he mulled over Lin Jingzhe's interactions with Xiao Chi earlier, he arrived home to find his young uncle, Shi Nanxing, engaged in a game of chess with Elder Qi. Spotting Qi Kai's early return, "Didn't go to work today?"

"F*ck that." Qi Kai glanced at his grandfather who was very kind to Shi Nanxing but completely ignored him, and said angrily, "Qi Qing and his wife are squatting at the company again."

Shi Nanxing frowned slightly when he heard this. He threw the chess piece back into the chess box and asked, "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Qi Kai wore a dispirited expression. He had already been handed six separate development plans from Qi Qing and didn't wish to be saddled with yet another. 

Shi Nanxing smiled and told the elder that he and Qi Kai needed to have a private chat. After going upstairs and closing the door, he scolded the couple with a sullen face, "Completely undiscriminating."

"What should I do?" Qi Kai thoroughly was out of ideas. "We can’t keep dallying anymore, others have already started to speculate."

He thought of Lin Jingzhe's advice about accepting the offers while they still could, so he brought it up.

"You have to be careful with this person." Shi Nanxing looked serious after hearing this. "What's his background?"

"Tch. What kind of background could he have?" Qi Kai scoffed dismissively. "Remember Fang Wenhao from the Fang family? They went to the same school and got close to each other. Fang Wenhao helped him apply for a business license and introduced him to some people. For a while, Lin Jingzhe went to the Fang’s house every day. What kind of background could he really have?"

Shi Nanxing scolded, "Bull! If Fang Wenhao were truly that influential, why hasn't he improved his own struggling company? Don't you know Old Man Fang's temper? If they were just ordinary friends, would Fang Wenhao dare bring him to his house?"

Qi Kai was stunned. "Huh?"

The smuggling scandal in Qunnan was exposed due to Elder Fang. Shi Nanxing held some residual apprehension towards the elder, leading him to speculate, "Lin Jingzhe should at least know the old man of the Fang Family, otherwise why would Fang Wenhao help him so much? It’s not like he was the only one who was hugging Fang Wenhao’s thigh.”

"Forget it, I'll find someone to investigate this matter. You don't have to worry about it." Shi Nanxing was still deep in thought when he saw Qi Kai frowning in disbelief. He could only wave his hands and change the topic, "Don't sell that land for now. 60 million? Who are you kidding?"

Settling onto the sofa with a cup of tea, he finally added after a pause, "But the way Qi Qing and his side are acting will not solve anything. Since they refuse to toast celebratory wine, we'll force them to consume a forfeit [1]."

******

After a day of squatting in vain, the couple returned to their company car. Jiang Qiaqia looked anxiously at her husband, who was in the driver's seat, "Qi Kai has been dragging this for three months. If we don’t get an answer soon, we will be in big trouble."

Qi Qing took a deep breath and did not speak, his eyes fixed on the front. More and more people had moved to Yan City this year, and the traffic on the road had also gradually begun to increase. A group of pedestrians suddenly caused the car in front to stop. Qi Qing slammed on the brakes and quickly rolled down the car window. Like an angry lion, he yelled, "Do you know how to f*cking drive!? &*&%#@..."

Not to be outdone, the car owner in front also poked his head out to scold him. The two sides were head on head, cussing at one other without forgetting to include the other’s relatives too. After scolding, they both stepped on the gas pedal and left the scene.

Qi Qing pulled the window back up, honked the car horn angrily, and then said sarcastically, "Qi Kai thinks he’s putting on a monkey show."

Jiang Qiaqia looked at this man whose previously gentle temperament had vanished into thin air, and remained silent. She felt as if he had turned into someone she didn’t know nor understand. Unknowingly, Qi Qing had changed from a gentle and handsome scholarly businessman to this gloomy and terrifying man.

This made her unspeakably uncomfortable, but she was powerless to resolve it.

Qi Kai had really played them this time.

Qi Qing had collected a total of 20 million yuan. This included their personal funds and the remaining value left of their dying company in Qunnan. Almost all of it was now invested in the 20% share of the plot of land by Wubao Mountain purchased by Dominion Properties.

They had no other choice. The property market in Yan City curated great rewards, but the risks were equally high. It was not like a year ago now. The development plan in the north of the city had brought the entire land of Yan City into a new realm. It was almost impossible to independently obtain a piece of land with just 20 million.

Therefore, Qi Qing's original idea was to use all of his remaining 20 million to jointly develop a large project with Dominion Properties. Then they could take a loan from the bank, utilize that large project as collateral, and use it to maintain the company's basic expenses.

But even with all the money they had spent, Dominion Properties refused to submit a development application.

Don’t want to develop the land? Fine! That’s okay! Qi Qing had no objection.

But Qi Kai didn't even agree to put up a collateral! How could he be so excessive?!

If Qi Qing had more shares, of course he could use some means to get a loan, but the problem is that Qi Qing Real Estate only had 20% of the equity. If Dominion Properties refused to lend a hand, the banks wouldn't even bother to look at them!

Qi Qing and his wife didn't have much money now, but the company was still a bottomless pit, and this was all Qi Kai’s fault! That company had dozens of mouths that did nothing but had to be paid every month; this was their biggest burden now.

It was almost the end of the month again, and Jiang Qiaqia felt panicked. Next month, she would have to hand out wages and pay their company’s taxes. This was going to be another 100,000 yuan coming out of their own pockets.

When Qi Qing looked at the left rear view mirror, he accidentally saw her depressed expression from the corner of his eye. Like a flame doused with gasoline, the anger in his stomach rose tens of meters. Without warning, he reached out and pressed the car horn. Amidst the sharp whistling sound, he gritted his teeth unwillingly and said,  "Let's lay off a few people first."

******

When Lin Jingzhe got the university’s approval for his leave to Hawaii, he received good news from Wang Quan. "The factory has been found!"

He was currently in dormitory 305, having lunch with Lu Xiaojiang and the others when he heard this announcement. They were now sophomores in the new academic year. Lu Xiaojiang swore that he would find his destined girlfriend among the freshman school girls, yet his passion for eating was noticeably more intense than his pursuit of love. The action of pouring rice into his mouth was faster than anyone else.

While chewing the rice, he grabbed a piece of red braised pork belly from Lin Jingzhe’s lunch box, stuffed it into his mouth, and sighed in delight.

The braised pork belly, prepared by Mother Zhou, was a culinary masterpiece. Only the diners who tasted it could experience the beauty of it. 

Mother Zhou's cooking technique involved cutting the pork belly into large pieces after roasting the skin over apple wood. The meat was then stir-fried on high heat until it shrank and turned translucent. Once half the fat was rendered out, Mother Zhou added her homemade bean paste and a bit of sugar to make a sauce. Finally, she would add a bone broth into the pot and stew the meat until it was so soft that it would melt in the mouth. The roasted pork skin would also become a tender and chewy treasure. It was savory and had a springy texture, along with an almost charred flavor. The red braised pork’s juices were luscious, and there was a hint of spiciness that the folks of Liyun personally enjoyed. It was a match made in heaven when paired with rice.

This pot of meat made Wang Jun, Chen Jiankang, and Lu Xiaojiang feast as if they were starving pigs, but Lin Jingzhe had no time to fight for food. The half piece of pork belly he took a bite of was placed on top of his bowl of rice. The mellow soup in the meat began to seep out little by little, soaking into the rice with its decadent flavor, but he only concentrated on Wang Quan's voice on the other side of the receiver.

After a long time and several unfruitful trips, Wang Quan finally found a suitable factory.

Located to the west of Yan City, the chosen site was in the city's densest industrial park. Out of the thousands of options, Wang Quan chose a site with an area of 2,000 square meters. The surrounding neighbors are relatively ordinary state-owned enterprises, producing some simple daily necessities, so smog was not a concern.

Wang Quan’s efficiency was very high. Before he found the factory, he had already contacted the modern equipment suppliers. As long as the factory was approved and Lin Jingzhe gave an order, the equipment could be shipped from any part of the world to Yan City. 

Cooperating with an expert was truly worry-free. Lin Jingzhe was very happy with their current progress. "Thank you for your hard work."

"What hard work?" Wang Quan responded  politely. "You and Boss Ding contributed to the recipes. If I don't contribute some effort in these trivial aspects, wouldn't I be of no use at all?"

Though Wang Quan said this, he knew in his heart that the true driving force behind this food factory was not Mother Zhou who produced the recipes, but the investor Lin Jingzhe.

The scope of the factory, including production equipment and future labor costs, would amount to tens of millions. Mother Zhou may not even be able to afford a fraction of this amount. Therefore, the three people have already negotiated the investment: Lin Jingzhe and Wang Quan would each contribute half, and Mother Zhou would be a technical investor. In terms of shares, Lin Jingzhe and Wang Quan each had 35%, while Mother Zhou, by the virtue of providing various technical formulas, was allocated 30%.

The factory location and equipment had been finalized. Mother Zhou's intricate condiment recipes were also ready and set for mass production. Once the workforce was assembled, they could commence production.

The sales had been premeditated too. Initially, they would sell the products at Mother Zhou’s store for a limited period. As the production line matured and output increased, they would formally introduce the products to the broader market.

It was worth mentioning that just one and a half months ago, the first large supermarket in the south of Yan City had opened for business.

Compared with the self-selected supermarkets opened in the 1980s, this large supermarket, with an area of 1,000 square meters, caused a sensation in the social circle of housewives in the entire Yan City when it first opened. The Yan City Daily published the report on the front page of its newspaper on the supermarket’s opening. In the following days, it was heard that the supermarket was overcrowded with citizens who came to shop.

The two-storey, 1,000 square meter supermarket offered a wide variety of basic necessities and even sold household appliances. Luxury indulgences such as milk, biscuits, candies, cakes, etc., and even imported snacks were frantically snatched up by citizens as if they didn’t want any bills in their wallets. Even the editor, who wrote the newspaper excerpt, said in a joking tone that if he hadn't been to this XX supermarket, he would have still been in the dark about how the living standards of the citizens of Yan City had improved so dramatically.

It was almost 1992, a seemingly ordinary year when some struggled to make ends meet.

But it was this year that truly heralded a new era in the market economy.

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Footnote:

[1] Since they refuse to toast celebratory wine, we'll force them to consume a forfeit - Is a popular idiom which means when someone is hesitant to do something until forced to do so. 

—

Red braised pork belly

Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost!

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