"Mr. Liu, do you have some time? I'd like to invite you to lunch!" Zheng Wucheng asked cautiously.
Liu Yifeng didn't know him well and didn't want to attend his dinner party. "If you have something to say, just say it. I don't have time at noon!"
"I know Mr. Liu, you're still holding a grudge about our former boss using the contract to threaten your brother. We were indeed wrong about that. My boss and I have profoundly realized our mistake and hope you'll be magnanimous and not take it to heart."
Hearing Zheng Wucheng's polite words, Liu Yifeng remained unmoved. "Manager Zheng, if you're just apologizing for what happened before, there's no need. Everyone has different ways of handling things, and I've long forgotten about it. Just tell me what you want, or I'll hang up."
Seeing that Liu Yifeng was about to hang up, Zheng Wucheng hurriedly said, "Mr. Liu, please don't hang up. You should be able to guess why I'm calling. Ever since you started supplying your vegetables to Long Teng Grand Hotel, their business has been booming. They're packed every day, and the private rooms on the second floor are booked a week in advance. In our city, there are only two five-star hotels, mine and theirs. With his obvious advantage, most customers choose to dine at his place for your vegetables. This has impacted our hotel's business. We're now operating at a loss, and if we don't find a way to increase our performance soon, we'll face the risk of bankruptcy."
"What do you mean? Are you blaming me because your hotel's business is bad and you're facing bankruptcy?" Liu Yifeng questioned.
Zheng Wucheng quickly shook his head and explained, "Mr. Liu, you've misunderstood. We're not blaming you at all. We just wanted to invite you out for a talk. See if you could supply vegetables to us as well? We can discuss the price; as long as you agree to supply us, we'll meet any conditions!"
Seeing Zheng Wucheng speak directly, Liu Yifeng wasted no more words. He immediately said, "I'm already cooperating very well with Long Teng Grand Hotel. If I cooperate with you now, wouldn't I be helping his competitor? I'm afraid I can't help you with this matter!" Liu Yifeng's vegetables were not hard to sell. He didn't want to affect his relationship with Wan Hui over this. After all, Wan Hui had spoken up for Kai Chen in front of his chairman, which was why Kai Chen could quickly solve his performance issues and even introduced him to a lot of business later, allowing him to remain firmly in the position of general manager of the branch. He had also doubled the price of his vegetables, so it would be wrong to sell vegetables to Jing Xuan Hotel and impact their performance. "I'm sorry, I really can't help you with this. I can only say that you're unlucky that Long Teng Grand Hotel met me first. I hope you can think of other remedial measures. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."
"Wait..." Before Zheng Wucheng could finish speaking, Liu Yifeng had already hung up the phone. He was so angry that he smashed his phone to pieces. He had humbled himself so much, yet this Liu Yifeng gave him no face at all!
"General Manager, what do we do now?" the lobby manager asked from behind.
"What else can we do? Find another solution! Go find the head chef and have him research the market. I don't believe that in such a vast vegetable market, only Liu Yifeng's vegetables are the best!" Zheng Wucheng said frantically. The lobby manager didn't want to provoke him further and quickly left. After he left, Zheng Wucheng kicked the corner of the table in anger to vent his frustration. Liu Yifeng didn't care if their hotel lived or died. If it went out of business, that would be a problem with their capabilities. The market was inherently cruel, survival of the fittest. He wasn't a saint who helped everyone he met. It was better to have principles when doing things.
After hanging up the phone, he put it down and went to the talent market. In recent years, different people came to apply for jobs every day. It was most suitable for him to find a driver there. Once he found one, he would let the driver drive this car and buy a new one to pick up Tong Tong. After all, with money, one should enjoy life. Many things didn't need to be done by himself. Hiring someone else to do them would bring him peace and leisure.
Since it was already lunchtime, he went to a small restaurant near the talent market and ordered a rice bowl. After eating, it was only 12:30. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, he sat in the restaurant and read a novel to pass the time. At this moment, a QQ message popped up on his backend. He opened it and saw it was from Xia Qianqian. They hadn't been in contact since he helped her get back on her feet and they had a meal together. The last time Xia Qianqian enthusiastically left him her contact information, he thought it was just politeness, but he didn't expect her to actually contact him. Xia Qianqian's online name was "Qian Qian Xia Ri," which suited her name quite well. In QQ, she asked if he had time and wanted to invite him to dinner tomorrow because she would be very busy with work in a few days, and wouldn't be able to meet up for at least two months. Liu Yifeng still had a lot of things to buy tomorrow, so he politely refused. "I'm sorry, I don't have time tomorrow, but it's okay, we can still make plans after you're done with your busy period."
Xia Qianqian looked at Liu Yifeng's reply and immediately sent another one: "Okay then, sorry to bother you!"
"It's not a bother, I'm just really busy. I'll treat you to a meal when you're free next time. By the way, you mentioned you'll be busy for over two months. Have you taken on a role?" In his understanding, simply participating in a singing competition wouldn't take that long. Only filming a TV series would take three to four months, or at least one to two months. Of course, those with just a cameo appearance were excluded.
Xia Qianqian sent a grinning emoji. "It's a secret for now. You'll know when you see me on TV. However, if my teammates and I achieve a high ranking, my resources will be endless!" Liu Yifeng could feel her happiness and excitement through the screen. "Is that so? Congratulations! When you become famous, don't forget to get me an autograph. If I'm ever in dire straits, I can sell it to get by."
"Mr. Liu, you always tease me. But I really hope to achieve something. After all, I've been working in this industry for so many years. If I still don't achieve anything, I'll have to switch careers."
"Last time I went back, I specifically used my computer to search for your songs on Kugou Music. Although you weren't the lead singer, I could tell your voice was beautiful. You should be a very talented singer. Why hasn't your company released an album for you?" Liu Yifeng was somewhat puzzled.
"Mr. Liu, you haven't worked in our industry before. You don't know that talent alone isn't enough. You also have to cater to the higher-ups. If you don't cooperate, you'll be shelved directly, and you can't breach the contract, or you'll have to pay a sky-high breach of contract fee," Xia Qianqian replied quickly, typing on her keyboard. Liu Yifeng couldn't help but sigh when he read this. He could imagine the bitterness of a young girl like Xia Qianqian working hard in the company for so many years yet remaining an unknown. But she still held onto her original aspirations and persevered, which was particularly commendable. He immediately sent a "fighting" emoji. "Keep going, I believe that hard-working girls will also have good luck!"
"Keep going, wait for my good news!" Xia Qianqian said, also sending a "fighting" emoji. After that, they ended the conversation. Liu Yifeng saw that it was still early and didn't want to read novels anymore, so he opened the news headlines and started reading. As soon as he opened it, he saw that on Saturday night at 8:20 PM, Mango TV would be broadcasting a brand new music program, "Who Is the Singer." Unlike previous singing shows, this one used a masked format. The audience had to guess who was singing and then choose the best singer to advance. From the top sixteen to the top eight, then to the top four, and finally, the four would compete for the championship, third place, and runner-up. The first episode's contestants would be broadcast tomorrow night, and the article included stills of the contestants singing.