I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 726 The rain kept falling, and the soybeans were ruined.

Fang Qingye later learned that a designer from Shanghai had successfully hired Nanxin Qiangsheng Modeling Factory as its director.

Of course, it was Bai Ou who told him.

“I talked with Shen Yi several more times. He said that the name Nanxin Qiangsheng Modeling Factory was outdated and suggested changing it to Jinghai Xingsu Industrial Design Co., Ltd. Xingsu means “the origin and exploration of form”, which is full of philosophical beauty and professional depth.

"According to our preliminary calculations, upgrading and renovating the factory's facilities and equipment, establishing a design and prototyping center, purchasing equipment such as computers and digital cameras, and improving the working conditions for employees will require approximately 3000-3500 million RMB."

"Also, he also discovered Zheng Qian's painting and said she was very talented. He hoped she could return to the factory to work in the newly established design and prototyping center and planned to hire her as the chief designer. I also talked to Zheng Qian, and she was willing to go back."

“You’re the CEO of Tuofang Technology, so if you decide, I won’t worry about these things,” Fang Qingye said with a smile, sitting on the living room sofa.

"You're slacking off again!" Bai Ou muttered, hugging her pillow. "Are you planning to go fishing again?!"

"As the ancients said, 'Fishing in the green bay in spring, the apricot blossoms are in full bloom in the depths of spring.' Now it's springtime, a perfect time for fishing, so of course I want to go fishing," Fang Qingye said confidently.

Indeed, Nanxin has been blessed with bright spring sunshine and gentle breezes lately, making it a pleasant place to stroll through the fields even without fishing.

But in Brazil, thousands of miles away, Qiao Yongfeng's life was not so easy.

He was riding in a Mitsubishi Pajero SUV, swaying and bumping along a muddy road toward Londrina in Paraná state, with another SUV of the same model following behind.

The world was simplified into two colors: the sky was filled with low-hanging, lead-gray, water-laden clouds; the ground was covered with endless, varying shades of brownish-red mud, and in between was an endless curtain of rain.

The road had been completely turned into a reddish-brown swamp, with murky rainwater accumulating in the deep ruts, reflecting the few lonely ivory palm trees standing silently on both sides.

Not far away, there were large fields of soybeans that were almost ripe, but they were now soaked in rainwater.

"Damn it! Is there a hole in the sky? It just keeps raining!" Seeing this, Qiao Yongfeng couldn't help but swear.

Indeed, it has been almost a month since he arrived in Brazil from China after the Chinese New Year, and it has rained almost non-stop.

The muddy roads were a minor issue; what infuriated Qiao Yongfeng was that hundreds of thousands of acres of soybeans had been affected!

He set off from Apukara Naron, 50 kilometers away, and saw this kind of situation all along the way.

The SUV wobbled into the city of Londrina. Instead of going to the hotel, he had the driver head straight for the Philger Company—a large local soybean trading and agricultural production materials distribution company that he had acquired two years ago in partnership with Fang Qingye's Tuofang Technology Company.

The car entered the company gate and parked in the courtyard. Qiao Yongfeng got out of the car without an umbrella and went straight up to the office building. His assistant Yan Shi followed quickly, and two of the four bodyguards who got out of the car also went upstairs.

He knocked and entered the office with the general manager's sign. A young woman with blond hair and bright red lips was sitting behind a large desk looking at documents. Seeing that it was Qiao Yongfeng, she quickly stood up to greet him, speaking fluent English:

"Mr. Qiao, you're finally back. I was really worried you might have encountered some danger on the way with all this rain."

She is Katia, the general manager of Philgrey Company. She was originally the assistant to the president of Philgrey Company and was appointed as the general manager after the company was acquired.

"The road conditions weren't great, and the SUV broke down once along the way, but nothing else," Qiao Yongfeng said, sitting down on the sofa next to him. Yan Shi also sat down beside him. Katya had her secretary pour them each a cup of coffee and then sat down on the sofa next to them, asking with concern.

"Mr. Qiao, how's the situation?"

“It’s very bad. Today I visited several large farms near Apukaranaron and spoke with the farmers. They said that most of their soybeans were soaked by rain, and they expect this year’s yield to be reduced by more than 5%.”

“I also received statistical data from the cooperatives in the cities of Cambe, Rolanda, and Tamayoo. Due to the flooding, the major farms are expected to reduce their yields by 3% to 5%.” As she spoke, Katia took a statistical report from her desk and handed it to Qiao Yongfeng.

As Qiao Yongfeng looked at it, his expression became even more serious.

Cambe, Rolanda, and Tamayu are three satellite cities of the Londrina metropolitan area and major soybean producing regions. 60% of the farms that have signed purchase agreements with Felgrayn are concentrated in these three cities.

The cooperatives are soybean purchasing and storage facilities established by Fairgray in various locations, essentially local branches.

"It seems that Philgrey Company will not be able to complete its acquisition target this year." Qiao Yongfeng sighed as he looked on.

At the beginning of this year, Fairgray signed a cooperation agreement with COFCO Group, under which Fairgray will be responsible for purchasing 40 tons of high-quality soybeans.

The farms that had signed long-term purchase contracts with Fairgre Company covered approximately 13 hectares. Based on the initial forecast of a yield of 3.7 tons per hectare, the company was more than capable of fulfilling its target. However, a month of rain shattered those hopes.

“Now we’re pinning our hopes on O’Amex’s soybean purchases in Mato Grosso. They called yesterday to say that negotiations with the largest local cooperative, the Cerrado Agricultural Cooperative Alliance, are progressing smoothly,” Katia said.

Mato Grosso is Brazil's leading soybean-producing state, far ahead in both output and planted area. It is often compared to Brazil's "Iowa."

O'Anli is Katia's husband, but his official title is Director of Topway Technology's office in São Paulo, Brazil.

Two years ago, Fang Qingye went to Brazil to acquire the Philger Company with Qiao Yongfeng. On his way, he passed through Hong Kong and took O'Anli from the original Hong Kong branch because he was a Portuguese from Macau and spoke fluent Portuguese.

Fang Qingye and Qiao Yongfeng's acquisition in Brazil was thwarted by ADM, one of the four major grain traders, which colluded with local gangs. O'Neill used his European appearance and fluent Portuguese to "seduce" Katia and break the deadlock.

Finally, with Huang Tao's help, the Brazilian government deployed special police to wipe out the local gangs, and with Katia's covert support, they successfully acquired the Philgeri Company.

Fang Qingye and Qiao Yongfeng left, but Ou Anli, having developed feelings for Katia, stayed on his own initiative. Fang Qingye appointed him as the director of Tuofang Technology's office in São Paulo, Brazil, making him the company's full representative in Brazil.

Due to the continuous heavy rains, Filgray was unable to complete its planned acquisition. Therefore, a few days ago, O'Neill led a team to Mato Grosso to prepare 10 tons of soybeans in Filgray's name as a supplement.

Hearing Katya say this, Qiao Yongfeng sighed and said, "I hope so, so that we can barely complete the acquisition contract signed with COFCO."

Just then, Katia's phone rang. She glanced at it and answered immediately, speaking in Portuguese, which Qiao Yongfeng couldn't understand.

But he noticed that Katia's expression was becoming increasingly serious.

After finishing the call, Katia said to Qiao Yongfeng, "Mr. Qiao, O'Neill just called and said that ADM offered the Celado Cooperative a price 15% higher than the market price and promised to cover all logistics costs, so our negotiations broke down!"

(End of this chapter)