"What did you say? Those wholesalers not only refused to ship for us but also came to the factory to show off?"
"What's going on? Can't you stop them? Have you lost all your face?"
Yu Zhou, who answered the phone, immediately berated the factory executives.
He knew his opponents were arrogant, but he didn't expect them to be so audacious.
They had no dealings with each other, and those wholesalers didn't give him any face, directly rejecting his products.
It would have been fine if they had all remained on peaceful terms, as he had other channels.
But why were they so relentless that they directly targeted him? Coming to his factory to flaunt their power was tantamount to tearing down all pretense of civility.
After hanging up, Yu Zhou rushed to the factory without delay.
Although admitting to being challenged wasn't a glorious thing, if he didn't react at all, his reputation would be ruined.
He, Yu Zhou, could disregard his reputation. In the business world, as long as there were profits, reputation could be disregarded.
However, now that he had started a factory, if he didn't even show his face after being insulted like this, then there would be no point in him continuing as the factory manager. Wasn't it better to go home and dote on his wife and coax his children?
"What's going on? Those middlemen who refused to accept our goods actually came to the factory to make a scene?"
"Have they lost their minds?"
Since the person at the factory hadn't provided detailed information over the phone, Yu Zhou didn't know the specifics.
As soon as he entered the factory gate, Yu Zhou began to inquire with Liang Xiaohai. Clearly, he needed to understand everything before he could offer any solutions.
"It's about some old accounts. These same suppliers were responsible for our dried fruit shipments before."
"Logically speaking, there are still some outstanding payments."
"They also supplied our city's supply and marketing cooperatives before, and we got the orders for the supply and marketing cooperatives through them as intermediaries."
"However, this order was only a small portion for them. Most of the large supply and marketing cooperatives earned their deals by dealing directly."
"Now that they're not accepting our goods, they're actually blaming us for breaking the rules and directly competing with the supply and marketing cooperatives, trying to cut us out!"
"So, they came to stir up trouble?"
Upon listening carefully, Yu Zhou realized that this was clearly the middlemen looking for trouble.
He even understood that it would be extremely difficult to get any resolution no matter where this matter was taken.
But they insisted on causing trouble, so what else could it be but showing off their power?
They were clearly trying to force his hand!
"They're forcing us to make a choice: either give them shares and ship through them, or sever all ties with us from now on?"
"There are still some dried fruit products left for the end of the year. According to them, if we don't compromise, they won't be responsible for those either?"
Yu Zhou understood their intentions after hearing a general outline. He walked around the factory while asking Liang Xiaohai questions.
This matter could be big or small. If they didn't have strong connections with the supply and marketing cooperatives and the support of the municipal government, this move could have directly hit Yu Zhou.
After all, once these connections weakened, the so-called subsidiary food alliance would definitely use their network to put pressure on the supply and marketing cooperatives and the municipal government.
At that time, not only would their melon seeds be unable to enter the market, but even their basic staple of loose dried fruits would be severely threatened.
"That's pretty much it! Anyway, their attitude is very arrogant. They're saying that if we don't compromise and don't ship through them, and instead directly compete with the supply and marketing cooperatives, they won't be responsible for our dried fruit products in the future either."
"They also said that they have connections everywhere within the supply and marketing cooperatives, and with just a few words, they can block our path..."
Liang Xiaohai's brow finally furrowed. It was clear that he understood very well that if a real conflict broke out, the dried fruit factory would be in dire straits, even if it didn't go bankrupt.
Although the supply and marketing cooperatives were a product of the planned economy and belonged to various government agencies.
It was not an easy task to make them completely disregard these middlemen.
After all, for the supply and marketing cooperatives, middlemen were also a very important link. They couldn't just sell melon seeds and nothing else, could they?
Most of the subsidiary foods in the entire Jiangbei market were controlled by these middlemen.
"Arrogant and ignorant, do they really think the whole world will obey their orders with just a word?"
Yu Zhou sneered, finally understanding why these people were so arrogant.
In terms of volume, the dried fruit market wasn't that large in any aspect. After all, no one would eat dried fruits as their main meal every day.
However, subsidiary foods were completely different.
Simply put, the entire dried fruit market was a category of subsidiary foods, but the subsidiary food industry was far more than just dried fruits.
They were banking on this fact, which was why they fearlessly came to show off their power.
"Where are they now? In the conference room?"
"We should still extend our hospitality. Have someone send some tea over!"
Yu Zhou took the lead and walked up to the administrative building, pushing open the conference room door.
The originally bustling conference room fell silent as soon as they saw Yu Zhou arrive in his jacket.
Those middlemen, each with their briefcases and acting like bosses, immediately shifted their gaze to Yu Zhou, their scrutinizing looks undisguised.
"Boss Yu, you've finally arrived!"
"We thought you could completely ignore us and not care about shipping matters, in which case we would have made a wasted trip today."
One of the middle-aged fat men didn't even bother to introduce himself and spoke slowly.
His posture, not even leaving his seat, made Yu Zhou's brows twitch. Just as Liang Xiaohai had said, these people were truly arrogant.
"May I ask who this boss is?"
Yu Zhou's tone was somewhat cold, as if he were suppressing his anger.
The more he acted like this, the more smug these 'bosses' felt.
If they hadn't been restricted by the entire subsidiary food industry's manufacturers, perhaps these people wouldn't have caused such a big scene today. But now that they had started, there was no turning back, was there?
Therefore, the fat boss smiled and stood up. Although he still made a show of politeness, his arrogant tone remained unchanged.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zhou Dachun. I'm quite well-known in the subsidiary food wholesale business in Jiangbei."
"Of course, I can't compare to you, Boss Yu, who is going up against the entire subsidiary food industry."
"Your reputation now is not necessarily known to everyone in Jiangbei, but at least all your friends in the business circle know about you."
"Everyone is watching to see how you will handle the issue of shipping your good products..."
Without extending his hand, Liang Dachun acted like a completely brainless brute.