Yu Zhou's face showed a hint of confusion. He couldn't recall anyone he knew who would coincidentally run into him at the Yangtze River Hotel.
Although he had a premonition in his heart, now that it had happened, he felt a sense of helplessness.
No matter how far he advanced, such things were bound to occur.
If he could seek out others for development back then, then others could certainly seek him out for their own development.
In this regard, Yu Zhou was not much different from those who were now coming to find him or arranging chance encounters.
Of course, under these circumstances, Yu Zhou knew this fact clearly, but he wouldn't expose them.
"I am Liu Hanshan, involved in supplying supermarkets. President Yu might not remember me, but I have always remembered President Yu vividly."
The middle-aged boss, appearing to be in his thirties or forties, stepped forward with a fawning smile. Even before he introduced himself, Yu Zhou could clearly tell his intentions.
Suppliers, or rather, intermediaries, had always been suppressed by Yu Zhou.
It wasn't that he believed intermediaries shouldn't exist. To expand the market, especially to sell melon seeds nationwide, cooperating with intermediaries was unavoidable.
However, Yu Zhou would never allow himself to be held hostage by intermediaries. Once this started, there would be no turning back. If he truly became entangled, returning to the original state would be absolutely impossible.
These intermediaries would gradually start to control your factory.
Even if you were in control initially, you would eventually be forced into a passive position.
At that point, even if you wished to continue developing, it would be an impossible task because the products you produced would gradually lose their pricing power.
Once they fell into the hands of these intermediaries, it would be even more difficult to break free.
Therefore, Yu Zhou had always worked tirelessly, or at least with considerable effort, to suppress intermediaries.
Perhaps this was the main reason why Liu Hanshan, standing before him, had come to find him?
"President Liu! What can I do for you? Have a seat and let's talk!"
"Let me introduce you! This is Mr. Zhang Dongliang, who is in the clothing business. He is also a representative of Jiangbei businessmen!"
"If you have any good channels in the future, don't forget Mr. Zhang!"
Yu Zhou spoke politely as he introduced Liu Hanshan to Zhang Dongliang.
In his eyes, apart from granting most of his authority to the former, other matters could be discussed and resolved amicably.
Yu Zhou was not an autocratic person, at least not when dealing with partners, where such autocracy was useless.
But when it came to matters of principle, many things could change.
It wasn't that no one had approached him before with hidden intentions, offering benefits that even Yu Zhou found to be a considerable price to pay.
If he were just a professional manager, it would have been acceptable.
After all, if he could gain benefits, it would just be resource allocation, and he wouldn't mind.
But was Yu Zhou truly just a professional manager? This endeavor, even if it wouldn't be his primary focus of development later on, was still his undertaking.
Before handing it over to others, he would absolutely ensure there were no issues on his end. This was a matter of principle and something Yu Zhou felt was most crucial at present.
"Hello, Mr. Zhang. We intermediaries always depend on end-users like Mr. Zhang and President Yu for our livelihoods. Therefore, you are our benefactors."
"So, we ask for your continued support in the future!"
"Don't worry, as soon as I have channels in the apparel industry, I will contact big bosses like Mr. Zhang immediately!"
The way he spoke was very courteous and he even offered many terms that surprised Yu Zhou.
It just goes to show that being an intermediary is not an easy job.
To put it in the words of a few years ago, these so-called intermediaries were like matchmakers, profiting from both sides.
They were the ones who engaged in buying and selling.
You couldn't deny that this group of people had their own channels and possessed a drive that many others lacked. However, to say that they were truly capable of developing a small company into a super-large enterprise would be asking too much.
After all, their primary focus was trade and channel-related matters.
Naturally, Yu Zhou didn't exactly neglect such valuable individuals, but if you insisted on giving them significant importance, or even relying on them, that was something Yu Zhou was unwilling to do.
"Boss Yu! Since we've met, I have a question I'd like to ask you!"
"My business primarily serves supermarkets in the central market."
"But giving me only two tons of goods per month, isn't that a bit too little?"
"I'm not complaining! It's just that the demand in the entire central market is at least ten tons per month. With only two tons, I don't have enough to sell!"
Finally, Liu Hanshan revealed the purpose of his visit.
He had previously gone to the original location of the dried fruit factory to find Liang Xiaohai and other senior executives.
Unfortunately, although the dried fruit factory had been greatly expanded within its original premises, the demand for melon seeds remained insufficient. Even with the factory working overtime, it couldn't meet the ever-increasing shipment volume.
On top of that, they had to prioritize shipments to Runhua. Currently, it seemed impossible to increase production significantly in the short term.
Because of this, the supply volume to intermediaries in the northern, central, and southern coastal regions was insufficient.
This was precisely why these intermediaries were like ants on a hot pan, anxiously running around.
If this continued, and others emerged to seize their market share, it would become very easy for them.
Under such circumstances, who would be willing to simply give up their market?
They had no choice but to humbly beg Yu Zhou, or rather, to ask Yu Zhou for more supply.
After all, within the entire [San Pi Ma] company, only Yu Zhou was the one who truly had the final say, and whose promises they could rely on with peace of mind.
In this situation, even though they knew that approaching him might lead to some loss of profit, not a single one of these individuals was truly willing to give up.
In their eyes, the profits they might concede now were insignificant, but if they could capture or stabilize the entire market, they would make substantial profits.
This was the mindset of intermediaries; even if they didn't consciously think about it, they instinctively acted with the goal of dominating the market.
Yu Zhou sat there, not answering.
He didn't know the other party's intentions, but these words couldn't be spoken openly, at least not now.
After a moment of silence, he finally said, "It's not that I don't want to give it to you, but everyone is demanding more shipments right now."
"If I give it to you, I'll offend others!"
He tried his best to put on a hesitant demeanor, but as soon as these words left his mouth, the other party's eyes instantly lit up.
This meant it wasn't impossible to negotiate!