Forget it, no matter why they hadn't made a move, all he wanted now was to quickly go to Pengcheng to acquire land and build department stores and residential areas.
This way, Tang Shitong definitely wouldn't be able to find him, nor would he snatch away his Hua Bao.
Of course, he also knew this was only temporary. Sooner or later, they would come looking for him again, but he still didn't want to face them now. He'd stall for as long as he could.
With his mind made up, he didn't rush to leave. He turned and started looking through cooperation documents. When he saw it was Wang Dachui, he smiled. This Wang Dachui truly had no self-awareness. When they were in the South City, he colluded with the former Tang family faction and refused to pay rent, which forced him to have the department store closed, making them yield.
Now, he was coming to him, wanting to cooperate with his provincial department store. Quite ambitious!
However, he had nothing else to do anyway, so meeting him wouldn't hurt.
"Have someone call Wang Dachui in," Zhang Liunian said to Team Leader Gu opposite him, asking him to summon the other man for a chat.
Team Leader Gu nodded and immediately went to handle it. Within two minutes, Wang Dachui arrived before Zhang Liunian.
"Hello, Boss Zhang, long time no see." Wang Dachui came before Zhang Liunian, feeling a bit awkward. After all, he was here to seek cooperation, meaning he was the one asking for a favor.
Zhang Liunian stared at him expressionlessly for a moment. Then, he clasped his hands on the desk and gestured for him to sit down.
Wang Dachui understood his meaning and stepped forward, sitting down properly.
But Zhang Liunian's next words almost made his smile falter, "I told you last time that the rent for the South City department store's storefronts would increase by twenty percent. It seems we haven't signed the contract yet. Since you've come all this way, let's get this done."
After saying this, Zhang Liunian asked Team Leader Gu to print the contract.
Wang Dachui, however, could barely maintain his composure. After a long moment of awkwardness, he could only agree, "Alright, let's sign it then."
He thought he would achieve cooperation by coming here, but instead of cooperation, he had to pay out a lot of money first. This Zhang Liunian really held a grudge for his past actions.
But he had no choice. Who asked their positions to be different before?
"Boss, the contract is here." Team Leader Gu nimbly handed over two copies of the contract and placed them in front of Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian took them, looked them over, and manually filled in the rent amount before pushing the contract to Wang Dachui.
The latter took it and checked. Indeed, the rent had only increased by twenty percent, and there was nothing else. He picked up a pen and quickly filled in his name, then forced a smile and looked at Zhang Liunian, "Boss Zhang, the lease contract is signed. Can we discuss the supply contract? I know your department store business is even better than the South City department store. You must be in great need of good suppliers, and I want to be the suitable supplier you need. This is the quotation I brought, and I hope it shows my sincerity."
As he finished speaking, he pushed the quotation for the goods produced by his factory to Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian took it and carefully examined each item. After a while, he put down the quotation and regretfully told him, "I'm very sorry, but your prices and goods are not much better than what I have now. I have no reason to reject my current partners."
Wang Dachui didn't believe him. "How is it possible for anyone to offer a quote higher than mine? I'm willing to cooperate with Boss Zhang with the intention of not making any profit. No one could possibly have lower prices than mine."
Saying he wouldn't make a profit was false, but the low price was true. However, Wang Dachui would never have imagined that even with his prices so low, Zhang Liunian didn't find them to be the lowest. This was simply impossible.
Zhang Liunian didn't know why he thought his prices would be the lowest. He didn't even consider how his goods could possibly be cheaper than those from the Pengcheng Development Zone, where industrial zones were built one after another. How could the South City compare?
"Don't believe me? Then look at this price list." Zhang Liunian took out the price list from the merchant he was cooperating with, but he had torn off the company name.
Wang Dachui, not willing to admit defeat, took it and looked. His eyes immediately widened, and his breathing became unstable. It was true, their prices were indeed lower than his.
"How can they offer such low prices? My costs are more than this. Boss Zhang, you haven't been fooled into accepting inferior goods, have you!" Wang Dachui still wanted to struggle and find a breakthrough from other aspects.
Zhang Liunian looked at him with a smile, as if mocking him, "Boss Wang, you've come here in vain today. We have no chance for cooperation this time. If there is an opportunity next time, we'll discuss it further."
His words were a clear dismissal. Wang Dachui's expression became even more unpleasant. He had been openly rejected.
His goal could not be achieved today, but he was unwilling!
"Boss Zhang, these prices are really two cents higher than my cost. If they can really offer such low prices, they either want to cheat you or harm you. You must be very careful and not let them ruin your reputation."
Wang Dachui still couldn't believe that others could offer prices lower than his cost price. He even resorted to conspiracy theories.
Zhang Liunian, too lazy to listen to him, impatiently said, "The reason their unit prices are cheaper than yours is naturally because their costs are lower than yours. This is very easy to figure out. Alright, you should hurry back. I also need to be busy."
After saying this, Zhang Liunian turned away and ignored him. His attitude of wanting to send him away was very obvious.
Wang Dachui still wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a word. In the end, he could only leave dejectedly. As he walked to the entrance of the department store, he encountered Tang Shitong again.
"What? Didn't succeed?" Tang Shitong was waiting for Zhang Liunian to return, leaving him out in the cold. Seeing Wang Dachui emerge with an unpleasant expression, he immediately stepped forward and asked with a half-smile.
Wang Dachui stopped and looked into his eyes. He instantly saw mockery, and his mood became even more unhappy, "He doesn't want to cooperate with me, and your plan won't be achieved either."
The last sentence was his reminder to Tang Shitong. He couldn't cooperate with Zhang Liunian, so why should Tang Shitong be happy? It would be much harder to ask him for help in plotting against Zhang Liunian in the future.
Tang Shitong's expression shifted upon hearing this. He had indeed been gloating just now. But who asked Wang Dachui and the others to be so eager to break away from the Tang family? Naturally, he wanted to mock them when they encountered a setback and couldn't achieve their goals.
However, he immediately thought that since Wang Dachui's cooperation with Zhang Liunian failed, it meant his plan might also go bankrupt.
"If it doesn't work once, there's a second time. When Zhang Liunian returns, you can find him again," Tang Shitong pursed his lips and comforted Wang Dachui.
But Wang Dachui heard the implication that Zhang Liunian was leaving and quickly said, "Are you suggesting that Zhang Liunian is leaving the provincial city?"