"You must finish this drink with me!"
"We haven't had a drink together alone in so long!"
Song Qing started by urging him to drink. Honestly, with such a beautiful woman in front of you, and one with such an elegant demeanor, even if you didn't want to drink, you absolutely couldn't refuse such a request.
That's precisely how Yu Zhou felt now. Seeing the girl like this, he couldn't help but start pouring wine into his mouth, with practiced ease.
Song Qing seemed genuinely happy today and kept drinking. Even Yu Zhou found himself caught up in the atmosphere.
They drank and chatted from time to time, occasionally discussing business matters.
"When I took over Tailong Light Industry, I really didn't expect that light industrial products would become so difficult to produce these days."
"If it weren't for the design plans and the bracelets and sweater chains you gave us, we would have struggled to find a breakthrough in traditional light industry."
"Now, we haven't only stabilized the production of bracelets and sweater chains but, more importantly, we've learned a great deal in the process."
"Both sales and the market have been gradually captured by Tailong Light Industry. It's just a pity that it's so easy to imitate items like bracelets and sweater chains, making it difficult to create a massive market."
Song Qing was also under immense pressure at the factory.
After all, it was a large factory with thousands of employees, and it was gradually getting back on track. If they couldn't find new profit points, then the privatization would be a failure.
It was for this very reason that Song Qing had readily agreed to Yu Zhou's high price, without hesitation.
After all, whether it was sweater chains or bracelets, these were light industrial products, and they didn't involve too much complexity.
Even though intellectual property rights were largely a joke in China at the time, being the first to introduce these two items to the market would secure a substantial market share.
Especially for export products, they were almost entirely monopolized by Tailong Light Industry. Perhaps it was this that led to Tailong Light Industry's increasing development.
Compared to the small sum of money given to Yu Zhou, finding a new product and a new profit point was something Song Qing considered incredible.
"So, business is tough these days!"
"Are the sales of your company's previous products still stable?"
Yu Zhou also sighed with emotion. Even though his "Three Horses" had entered a path of rapid development, he was still very clear-eyed about the current industry landscape.
Things were getting better year by year, but the competition was also extremely fierce.
Take, for example, the current sunflower seeds. Even though he had intimidated a group of people and completely defeated the Su family, could they really hold onto that position forever?
Clearly, even if Yu Zhou had such thoughts, it was impossible.
It lasted for about two to three months.
Other sunflower seeds appeared on the market. It was precisely because of this that even though they had driven the popularity of sunflower seeds, in many cases, they had also made the entire industry pay attention to sunflower seeds.
Perhaps in coastal cities, the only popular sunflower seeds were 'Hutou Sunflower Seeds,' but in neighboring provinces and cities, and even in Zhongnan Province, other brands were abundant.
As a result, even if Yu Zhou didn't want to compete, he had to at this point. For him, this might not be a bad thing, but for other companies, it might be a different story.
"But I still have to thank you. If it weren't for the bracelets and sweater chains you designed, Tailong Light Industry would probably be having an even harder time now."
Song Qing, with a flushed face, sincerely thanked Yu Zhou again. After all, what Tailong Light Industry had done before were traditional light industrial products. While not bad, these products weren't in the fast-moving consumer goods sector.
What was the hottest, most profitable, and most sustainable industry right now? It was the fast-moving consumer goods sector. The main reason for Song Qing's current cash flow recovery was opening the door to this sector.
And all of this was thanks to the bracelets and sweater chains designed by Yu Zhou. How could she ignore Yu Zhou's contribution?
"We each got what we needed at the time. If it weren't for your money, I wouldn't have been able to reform the dried fruit factory or develop it to its current scale."
Yu Zhou also felt a sense of emotion. In half a year, even with his extreme confidence, he hadn't expected to develop the dried fruit factory to this extent.
A factory acquired for hundreds of thousands now had a valuation of forty million. Even by Song Qing's valuation, it was thirty-five million. How many times was that?
It was a tenfold expansion. Perhaps such expansion wouldn't be considered remarkable in the internet industry of later years.
But don't forget, it was only 1993. In that era, what did forty million represent? Yu Zhou had never even dared to imagine it before.
"You can't say that. I did use some methods at the time. After all, without those methods, I really couldn't guarantee that you would sell it to me."
At this point, Song Qing didn't hide anything.
Did Yu Zhou really not know about the methods she used? Not entirely. In fact, he was well aware of them.
Yet, Yu Zhou didn't care about any of it.
The reason was simple: he genuinely needed the money at the time, and only people like Song Qing could afford it.
As a result, even though he had haggled, he wasn't truly unwilling.
So, when he saw Song Qing raise a glass and start to apologize, he didn't act overly sentimental.
Normal communication between the two parties was the best outcome.
"We've had enough to drink, shouldn't we head back?"
Feeling a bit groggy, Yu Zhou, unsure why he was getting tipsy so easily today, stood up to pay the bill.
He always hated the feeling of being drunk and didn't want to get himself intoxicated, especially in front of a woman.
"Let's have more! It's not a big deal!"
"My secretary is by the side; she can take you home later."
But Song Qing was getting into it, completely disregarding Yu Zhou's intention to leave, and opened another bottle of baijiu.