Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 110 Shen Yanan

Song Yue'e was a little stunned; she really hadn't expected Li Zhe to be so assertive.

Her tone softened, and she smiled, "Comrade Li Zhe, our restaurant still very much hopes to cooperate with you. This contract does have some problems, so it's better to tear it up now and we can sign a new one."

"How should we sign? Should I sign it alone with you, or should we wait for both of you managers to be present so the three of us can discuss it together? Or perhaps you two should reach an agreement first, and then come back to talk to me when you've reached a consensus?" Li Zhe no longer wanted to cooperate with Maxim's Restaurant—there were too many issues.

They've only been working together for a few days, and they're already causing all this trouble. Who knows what kind of problems they'll create in the future? It's not like his vegetables aren't selling; why go through all this trouble? The Jianguo Hotel and the Jinglun Hotel are both just as good as Maxim's Restaurant.

"Manager Song, let's have the opportunity to cooperate again in the future." Li Zhe stood up and left the office.

"Comrade Li Zhe, don't be in such a hurry to leave! I didn't say I wouldn't cooperate with you. How about this, we can sign a new contract according to the original agreement. I guarantee this contract will be valid!" Li Zhe ignored her, took a few quick steps downstairs, got on his bicycle and left.

By the time Song Yue'e caught up, Li Zhe was already far away, which made her so angry that she slapped her thigh.

After thinking for a moment, Li Zhe did not go directly to the Jianguo Hotel, but returned to the Great Wall Hotel and found Tang Demin, the purchasing manager of the Great Wall Hotel.

"Brother Li, why are you back again? Is there something you've forgotten?"

Li Zhe didn't hide anything and told them about the Maxim's restaurant incident.

Tang Demin laughed and said, "Brother Li, you did the right thing! There's no need to cooperate with this kind of restaurant. Regardless of whether it's in accordance with the rules or not, since a contract has already been signed, it should be handled internally by them. There's no reason for you to be implicated."

"Manager Tang, I've ended my partnership with Maxim's Restaurant, and I happen to have a surplus of vegetables. I was originally planning to try and sell them to Jianguo Hotel or Jinglun Hotel, but since your friend also needs vegetables, I thought I'd talk to her first. If she's interested in purchasing the vegetables, it would be best to discuss it before this afternoon; if she's not interested, then I'll go directly to Jianguo Hotel and Jinglun Hotel."

"Brother Li, thank you for giving me this face. I'll contact her right now." Tang Demin knew very well that Li Zhe's words were not just polite talk, but a reflection of reality—Li Zhe had just terminated his contract with Maxim's Restaurant, and the extra batch of vegetables definitely needed to be sold as soon as possible; he couldn't let them become a burden.

In other words, his friend only has three hours. If three hours pass, Li Zhe will definitely have to go to the Jianguo Hotel or the Jinglun Hotel. Once Li Zhe goes to those two places, his friend won't even get leftovers, since his own hotel is the only one that can rival those two hotels.

3 PM, Mona Lisa Restaurant.

This restaurant is located on Jianguomenwai Street, not far from the Friendship Store, and foreigners can often be seen walking by. Li Zhe parked his bicycle at the entrance and looked around the restaurant—it had two floors, a Western-style decor, and a sign hanging at the entrance that read in both Chinese and English, and accepted foreign exchange certificates.

Li Zhe entered the restaurant carrying bags from the Friendship Store. It was past lunchtime, and there weren't many customers. A group of foreigners were sitting at a table by the window, drinking coffee and chatting away.

A waitress in a white uniform approached and asked, "Comrade, how many of you are there?"

"My surname is Li, and I have an appointment to meet with Manager Shen of your restaurant."

The waiter looked Li Zhe up and down. "Please come with me. Our manager is waiting for you on the second floor."

Upon reaching the second-floor staircase, there was a small bar counter diagonally opposite, behind which stood a woman in a leather jacket. A waiter approached the counter and announced, "Boss, Mr. Li has arrived."

The woman glanced at Li Zhe and gestured for him to sit down: "Mr. Li, please have a seat. I am Shen Yanan, the owner of this restaurant."

Li Zhe sat across from the bar, sizing up the woman opposite him: short, ear-length hair, wearing a black leather jacket, and a women's Rolex on her wrist. She wasn't short, but she was a bit overweight, making her appear shorter.

"What would you like to drink, Mr. Li? Red wine, white wine, or coffee?"

Afraid of not being able to sleep at night, Li Zhe didn't dare order coffee: "A glass of red wine, please."

Shen Yanan poured half a glass of red wine and handed it to Li Zhe: "How does it taste?"

Li Zhe didn't know much about red wine, but he had seen how the popular Douyin influencer drank. He swirled the glass, smelled it, and took a sip: "Not bad." In modern times, Li Zhe would probably be criticized for pretending like this, but in this era, it was still quite popular.

Shen Yanan couldn't help but look at Li Zhe with newfound respect: "Mr. Li, you also know a lot about red wine?"

"Not really," Li Zhe replied, getting straight to the point: "Mr. Shen, I heard you'd like to buy some fresh vegetables from me." "Yes, what kind of vegetables do you have? Give me a price."

"Broccoli and green peppers are five foreign exchange certificates per pound, and lettuce is four foreign exchange certificates per pound. No bargaining, cash only." Li Zhe opened the bag from the Friendship Store, revealing the vegetables inside—the green peppers were brought from home, and the broccoli and lettuce were from the Great Wall Hotel.

Shen Yanan grabbed the bag, picked up the lettuce and green peppers, and looked them over: "Not bad, the vegetables are all quite fresh." She called over a waiter: "Send these vegetables to the kitchen." After the waiter left, Shen Yanan said to Li Zhe: "Mr. Li, if I remember correctly, you should be able to provide cucumbers, right?"

Sorry, we're out of cucumbers.

Shen Yanan said, "Then I'll take 20 jin of each of these three kinds of vegetables, at the price you mentioned before."

Li Zhe didn't rush to agree, but instead asked, "Mr. Shen, I wonder if Manager Tang has mentioned Maxim's Restaurant to you?"

"Manager Tang said you don't need to worry. I'm in charge of our restaurant, and this kind of trouble won't happen."

Li Zhe continued, "Mr. Shen, after I terminated my contract with Maxim's Restaurant, I originally wanted to discuss cooperation with Jianguo Hotel, but then I remembered that Manager Tang recommended you to me, so I came to your restaurant to discuss it."

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant before coming here. After all, considering the restaurant's reputation and operating history, the Jianguo Hotel's supply contract seems more stable. I'd like to know what advantages your restaurant has compared to the Jianguo Hotel?

“I like straightforward people,” Shen Yanan said with a smile. “Like you said before, Jianguo Hotel has a bigger reputation, and cooperating with them is indeed more stable. But the problem is that your dishes don’t have to worry about selling—just like now, you’ve already found a new partner as soon as you terminated your contract with Maxim’s Restaurant.”

Therefore, the stability of your supply channels doesn't have a significant impact on you, because you hold the reins in this market, not the other party. Maxim's Restaurant is simply an exception.

Shen Yanan poured herself a glass of red wine, took a sip, and said, "Speaking of our restaurant's advantages, I enjoy making friends. When I told them I wanted to open a Western restaurant, all my friends offered me advice."

I didn't know you had a supply channel before. A friend who stayed at the Great Wall Hotel told me that they had fresh vegetables there. Then, I went to the Great Wall Hotel and found Manager Tang in the purchasing department, which is how I got in touch with you.

In the future, if you need anything, you can come to me. I'll help you with what I can, and if I can't, you can ask your friends for help. Having more friends means having more options, right?

The other party has the ability to open a restaurant and collect foreign exchange certificates here, so they must have connections and a background. Li Zhe doesn't think that supplying vegetables will make him a friend of the other party, but he agrees with the principle that having more connections means having more paths—connections are useless when they're not needed, but they can be a killing move when they are.

Neither Shen Yanan nor Li Zhe were the type to dawdle. The two discussed some details and drafted a contract to sign a vegetable supply agreement.

The Li family's residence in a Suzhou alley.

In the living room, Liu Zhiming, the foreign manager of Maxim's Restaurant, waited anxiously. Business had been much better lately thanks to the availability of fresh vegetables. A sudden disruption in the vegetable supply would definitely impact the restaurant's business, so even though he hadn't caused the trouble, he had to come.

Seeing Li Zhe push the door open and come in, he hurriedly went to greet him: "Mr. Li, I'm so sorry about what happened this morning! I wasn't in the restaurant at the time, which is why this misunderstanding occurred. I apologize to you on behalf of Manager Song."

Li Zhe had a good impression of Liu Zhiming: "Manager Liu, I know you have your difficulties, and I understand, but I don't want these things to affect my business."

"How about this? Let's give our restaurant another chance. I've already discussed it with Song Yue'e, and we'll still buy vegetables according to the previous agreement. Come to our restaurant tomorrow, and we'll sign a new contract. I guarantee there won't be any problems with this contract!"

Li Zhe is past the age of believing other people's promises. This time it seems like an accident, but it has exposed the problems of their restaurant. In other words, this kind of thing was inevitable, it was just a matter of time.

The restaurant's rules haven't changed, and neither have the staff, so similar incidents are likely to happen again. Li Zhe has no interest in getting involved in their game—they fight because they genuinely gain something from it, while Li Zhe will only get trouble by getting involved. Since the contract has already been terminated, why get involved in this mess again?
Li Zhe said firmly, "Manager Liu, let's cooperate again in the future. I don't plan to do business with your restaurant at the moment. You should find other suppliers."

Seeing that Liu Zhiming was about to speak again, Li Zhe waved his hand to stop him: "Actually, our termination of cooperation might not be a bad thing for you. What do you think?"

Liu Zhiming was stunned for a moment, then he understood what Li Zhe meant: It was one thing that there was no vegetable supply before, but now that the restaurant's business is doing well because of the vegetable supply, if the vegetable supply is suddenly cut off and the business declines, someone will definitely have to take responsibility for it.

He took a deep breath and asked, "If Song Yue'e leaves Maxim's Restaurant, will we still have a chance to cooperate?"

Li Zhe wouldn't give him any guarantees, looking outside: "Let's talk about it next year." Next year's off-season vegetable production will surge, and market conditions will change.

(End of this chapter)