Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Lu Shengnan’s mind raced. In just a moment, she had a contingency plan worked out. Her nerves settled, and her usual calm returned.

"Were all your greenhouses destroyed, or are there any still intact?" Lu Shengnan’s steady tone traveled through the phone to the two brothers, helping them regain some of their ability to think.

"Two and a half greenhouses are left."

"If you harvest everything, what’s the total yield?"

"Around three hundred pounds."

’Three hundred pounds.’ Lu Shengnan breathed another sigh of relief. ’At least it’s not a total loss. Worse comes to worst, I can make do with these three hundred pounds. The event won’t be delayed, but its impact will be greatly diminished.’

"First, call the police. Don’t disturb the scene before they arrive, to maximize the chances of finding the suspect and recovering your losses," Lu Shengnan said, laying out the steps clearly. "Then, harvest all the sellable produce from the remaining two and a half greenhouses. Pick as much as you can. I’ll buy all of it at the contract price. Lastly, do you have the contact information for the owner of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant? If so, please give it to me."

Lu Shengnan’s words gave the Yan Brothers a clear set of instructions. They instinctively followed her advice and ended up giving Xu An’s phone number to Lu Shengnan.

After offering a few more words of comfort, Lu Shengnan hung up on the Yan Brothers, keyed in Xu An’s number, and pressed the call button.

RING RING RING... RING...

’Did my alarm go off? Is it time to get up?’

Xu An shot up in bed, grabbing his phone to turn off the alarm. He pressed it twice, but the alarm didn’t shut off; the ringing continued.

He looked down and realized it wasn’t his alarm but an incoming call from a completely unfamiliar number. A glance at the time showed it was 3:17 AM.

’A call this late... feels like a scam.’ Xu An didn’t hesitate to hit the decline button.

He put his phone back, glanced at the pitch-black night sky outside, tucked Xu Kang and Xu Le in, and got back into his own bed, ready to go back to sleep.

RING... Decline. RING... Decline...

After declining the call four times in a row, the groggy Xu An finally realized something. ’Someone calling me this many times in the middle of the night... could it be something important?’

When the phone rang for the fifth time, Xu An finally hit the answer button. He then heard a sigh of relief from the other end.

"Hello, may I ask if you are Boss Xu An, the owner of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant?"

"I am. Who is this?" Xu An quietly got out of bed, walked into the courtyard, and asked in a low voice.

"This is Lu Shengnan, the person in charge of Victory Supermarket. I’m very sorry to disturb you so late." After her apology, Lu Shengnan got straight to the point. "I’m contacting you at this hour to discuss something. Would you be willing to sell a portion of the produce from your partner greenhouses?"

Hearing this, Xu An dug a finger in his ear and asked with some uncertainty, "You want to purchase produce from the greenhouses I’m partnered with? Is that what you mean?"

"Yes. The request is indeed a bit forward, but I hope you’ll consider it, Boss Xu," Lu Shengnan coaxed. "Whatever amount of produce you provide to Victory Supermarket, Boss Xu, we will purchase a corresponding amount of produce from the wholesale market and deliver it back to you."

’Hmm.’ Xu An was at a loss for words. ’What’s in it for me?’

’Is the "benefit" that I give my high-quality produce to Victory Supermarket, and in return, they buy a batch of produce of varying quality from the wholesale market and give it to me?’

He thought about the scope of his restaurant’s business. It seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with Victory Supermarket.

Even the Qiansheng Group behind Victory Supermarket wasn’t powerful enough to say one word and make every citizen in Hai City afraid to eat at his fast-food restaurant.

Since that was the case, Xu An decisively refused. "I’m sorry, but the daily output from the greenhouses is limited. The quantity can’t meet your company’s demand. Please find another supplier."

With that, Xu An hung up. But he didn’t go back into his room right away. Instead, he sat down in the rocking chair under the tree.

’That President Lu just called me five times relentlessly. Who knows if she’ll call again in a bit.’

Having been hung up on, Lu Shengnan stared at Xu An’s phone number, finding it a bit incredible. ’Are all the people from Xu Family Village born stubborn?’

’It seems the name of Victory Supermarket and a simple favor aren’t enough to make him agree. I’ll have to entice him with a benefit.’

’What kind of sweetener can I offer Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant?’

Various ideas surfaced in Lu Shengnan’s mind, only to be rejected one by one. Suddenly, she recalled a piece of information she’d seen when searching for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant before bed.

Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was bidding for the food service contract for the Hai City Machinery Equipment Exhibition, and their competitor was the Black Swan Hotel.

Lu Shengnan’s eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, making her look like a cunning fox.

’Since you’re in the running, you must be hoping your fast-food restaurant can win this contract!’

’You won’t pass up a chance to eliminate a competitor, will you?’

’In that case, why don’t I use this information to my advantage and trade it for the greenhouse produce?’

RING... RING...

Just as Xu An expected, his phone was quiet for less than three minutes before it started ringing again. The screen displayed the same familiar number.

"Hello, President Lu—" Xu An had just started to speak when Lu Shengnan cut him off.

"Boss Xu, I understand your restaurant is competing for the contract at the Hai City Machinery Equipment Exhibition. I have some information related to this bid, and I was wondering if you might be interested~"

’The bid for the Hai City Machinery Equipment Exhibition?’

"President Lu, please go on."

"So, about the produce... what are your thoughts, Boss Xu?"

’The twelve greenhouses can produce over a thousand pounds a day at maximum capacity, but that kind of harvesting is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. After a harvest like that, the twelve greenhouses would need at least a week to recover before they could produce again.’

’But sparing an extra three hundred pounds isn’t a huge sacrifice. It would even generate some extra income for Aunt Hong and the others, since Victory Supermarket’s purchase price is higher than mine.’

’If three hundred pounds isn’t enough, then forget it!’

’Right now, I have a fifty-fifty chance. As long as it’s a fair competition, I’m not really afraid of anything.’

"I can provide three hundred pounds, max."

"Five hundred pounds!" the voice on the other end pushed her luck.

"At this hour, if I don’t sleep now, the sun will be up. Good night."

"..."

After saying this, Xu An didn’t hang up. He waited quietly for her response.

The two of them were silent for a good ten seconds. In the end, it was Lu Shengnan, the one asking for a favor, who couldn’t hold out any longer.

"Three hundred pounds it is!" Lu Shengnan’s voice came through the phone, sounding like she was gritting her teeth. "Have it delivered to the Victory Supermarket on Hai City Chaoyang Road at seven o’clock this morning."

"First, please tell me the information, President Lu," Xu An said with a hint of a smile in his voice. Lu Shengnan caught that subtle note of amusement, and it made her teeth itch with annoyance.

"The head of the Black Swan Hotel has been privately bribing members of the organizing committee to illegally obtain information on their competitors. I don’t have any proof, though. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."