Back To The 80s-Chapter 435 - 445: Join Hands_1

Zhao Honghe hung up the phone, immediately dropped his reverential expression, smoothed his popular side-parted hair, adjusted his trendy suit styled after the coastal cities, and he suddenly felt a sense of superiority, as if he were a successful man.

On the surface, he was respectful to Ou Ruoshui, but after a few days in the company, he realized that this woman, Ou Ruoshui, was nothing but a man’s pawn. The real boss behind the scenes was Ou Tiannan, who he should be fawning over. He also discovered something else – Ou Tiannan was cruel and malicious to everyone except Ou Ruoshui, whom he fulfilled every request of. Hence he needed to both curry favor with Ou Tiannan and keep Ou Ruoshui content, even though the two were not a couple.

If one day Ou Tiannan grew tired of Ou Ruoshui, Zhao Honghe was confident he would not be left stranded.

As he gloriously returned home, he ran into Gu Xiaobei at the entrance of the corridor. He immediately stopped, fixed his hair, put his hands in his trouser pockets and posed confidently, allowing Gu Xiaobei to go first.

This woman wasn’t tall, but her fair, delicate skin was attractive. However, compared to the beauty of Ou Ruoshui, she lacked something.

Gu Xiaobei glanced at Zhao Honghe from the corner of her eye, walked past him without lifting her eyelids. She thought it was enough to wear a suit in this cold weather, but to wear a high-necked blue shirt underneath and a red tie was pretentious.

Zhao Honghe looked down to adjust his tie, feeling scorned when he noticed that Gu Xiaobei did not even glance at him. ’Unrefined,’ he thought to himself.

The next morning, just as Gu Xiaobei’s shop opened, Zhao Honghe appeared with a leather bag on his shoulder, imprinted with skyscrapers and rockets. The bag had two bold characters written on it: ’Shanghai.’

Gu Xiaobei was taken aback. Isn’t this the same annoying man she encountered yesterday at the entrance of the building? He was still wearing the same brown suit, blue high-necked shirt, and a red tie.

When Zhao Honghe saw Gu Xiaobei, he froze. So, this was the woman his sister had been complaining about. He quickly put his thoughts aside, smiled and said, "Congratulations on your prosperous business. I’m Zhao Honghe, the business manager of Changsheng Company in Nanhai City."

Gu Xiaobei nodded politely, "Hello, what can I do for you, Manager Zhao?"

"Our company is also in the food business. I am here to see if there are any opportunities for cooperation," Zhao Honghe replied, an arrogant grin spread across his face.

Gu Xiaobei initially had some interest in the food products that Zhao Honghe mentioned, but seeing his arrogant smile quickly turned her off. Though it was a seller’s market, she had never seen a business person act as superficially as him.

Ignoring her inner disgust, Gu Xiaobei asked indifferently, "Oh, what kind of food is it?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Zhao Honghe pulled out a package with flamboyant colours from his bag and proudly laid it on the table.

Gu Xiaobei held the snack and looked at it seriously. It was a type of Cantonese pastry. The ingredients list on the packaging was simple - flour, eggs, sugar, and artificial butter.

When Gu Xiaobei saw the term ’artificial butter,’ she smiled, "I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we can’t sell this product here."

Zhao Honghe hadn’t expected Gu Xiaobei to reject him, which hurt his pride. Based on his experience in sales for a few months, most vendors needed their products and were afraid to miss out on an opportunity to work with them. He sneered, "Do you think our goods are not good enough, boss?"

Gu Xiaobei chuckled and shook her head, "No, I am afraid we won’t be able to sell it because people’s tastes here tend to be more salty rather than sweet."

Zhao Honghe found himself losing face. He angrily packed everything back into his bag and stomped out of the shop, heading straight to the newly opened store across the street.

Qin Li asked, perplexed, "Why not sell it? We don’t have many snacks to begin with."

Gu Xiaobei explained, "Many people misunderstand ’artificial butter’ and think it contains animal fat, which can be hard to sell here in the northwest. In the future, we need to reorient, these types of foods probably won’t sell anymore." Gu Xiaobei pointed to the food inside the shop and said with a bit of a headache.

Zhao Honghe went to the newly opened store across the street. The young store owner had noticed his arrival and walked over with a smile, "What can I get for you, comrade?"

Zhao Honghe reintroduced his products, and as he looked at the products in the store he added, "We have a lot of other products that can provide a variety to your selection. Moreover, we are about to set up a factory here. If we partner up, it will definitely benefit you."

The young man perked up at hearing this and asked, "That sounds great Manager Zhao. What’s your business requirements for collaboration? By the way, my surname is Ma, you can call me Ma De."

Zhao Honghe liked being flattered and added with a smile, "As long as you can create a sales network in the northwest, that’s enough. And as for the benefits..." He let the last word linger in the air without elaborating further.

Ma De nodded in understanding, "I get your point, Manager Zhao. Let me discuss with our bosses, Brother Hua and Third Brother, then I’ll give you a response, okay?"

Zhao Honghe looked at Ma De with satisfaction and said with a smile, "You should tell your bosses that the first batch of goods can be paid for later. When to pay is only a matter of my word." He finished saying this with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

Ma De hurriedly took out a box of cigarettes from the counter and handed it to Zhao Honghe, saying politely, "Rest assured, Manager Zhao. I will give you a satisfactory answer tomorrow."

Zhao Honghe left with his head held high, adjusting his tie with a smirk, as he thought of the benefits he would get from these country bumpkins by giving them some incentives. He glanced at Gu Xiaobei’s shop, ’This woman, with her long hair but short sightedness, instead of staying at home to take care of her children and husband, she wants to engage in business. She deserves to fail.’

Gu Xiaobei sat in the shop with her face towards the door, noticing the triumphant look in Zhao Honghe’s eyes. It seemed like he was able to strike a deal with the new shop across the street since he didn’t go into Ding Daquan’s shop.

Feeling an inexplicable irritation, she couldn’t sit still anymore. Standing up, she said to Qin Li, "I’m going out for a while, and won’t be back in the afternoon." She needed to check on the trademark registration and the land. She had to transition her business quickly.

Upon reaching the Trademark Office, she asked about the requirements for a trademark with a Halal logo.

The employee at the Trademark Office kindly informed Gu Xiaobei that the minimum requirement was that ten percent of the employees in a factory be of a minority ethnicity.

After hearing this, Gu Xiaobei felt a chill pass through her. It seemed that she had to first set up the factory before she could talk about adding a Halal logo.

Feeling somewhat disillusioned, she left the Trademark Office, looking at the occasional car passing by on the road. She felt a bit self-mocking. What if she had crossed over? What if she had foreknowledge? When you’re here, you have to obey the rules here. She still had to take everything step-by-step with no shortcuts to success.