Reborn in 1991, I opened supermarkets all over the world.

After getting off the bus, Lu Zifeng found a public phone on the roadside.

The call connected, and a woman's voice came from the other end: "Hello, this is Jiangping County Huihuang Garment Factory. Who are you looking for?"

Lu Zifeng replied, "Is Comrade Qin Deshou here?"

"Section Chief Qin has gone to the workshop. Call back later."

"How long will it take?"

"How would I know?"

The woman's tone was very firm, which left Lu Zifeng speechless.

Lu Zifeng switched hands to hold the microphone: "It's like this, I'm planning to order a batch of cotton-padded coats..."

Before she could finish speaking, the woman's attitude changed completely: "Please wait a moment, I'll go get someone for you right away. Or you can leave your phone number and I'll have him call you back. It'll be ten minutes at most, no, five minutes."

"Okay." Lu Zifeng glanced at the number on the public phone booth and gave it to him.

Judging from the woman's change in attitude, the factory where Qin Deshou works probably won't last long.

About three minutes later, Qin Deshou called back.

He greeted me breathlessly over the phone, "Hello comrade, where are you from?"

"I am Lu Zifeng... the one from the hotel last time."

"Oh, it's Brother Zifeng. Uh, didn't you look down on our cotton-padded jackets? What's wrong...?"

"If I didn't say it this way, how could I contact you?"

"You little rascal, you almost gave me a heart attack. Okay, tell me, what happened?"

Lu Zifeng countered, "Is it convenient for you to talk now?"

Qin Deshou glanced at the woman beside him and said, "Xiao Huang, go get me a bottle of hot water."

A few seconds later, Qin Deshou said into the microphone, "It's convenient now."

Lu Zifeng asked, "Have those cotton-padded coats been disposed of at the factory?"

Qin Deshou said, "I disposed of it. I sold it to a machinery factory, and they used it to give as employee benefits."

"Great job, Lao Qin!" Lu Zifeng was somewhat surprised.

He originally thought that Qin Deshou would be unable to dispose of the batch of cotton-padded clothes and would definitely be scolded by the factory director when he returned. Then he could find Qin's sore spot and lure him to find another way.

I never expected him to dispose of the cotton-padded jacket in this way; he must have some skill.

Qin Deshou gave a bitter laugh: "What's the point of doing this? I sold it to the machinery factory below cost, and I got criticized by everyone in the factory several times when I got back. But I had no choice but to sell it. Forget about employee wages, I wouldn't even have money for raw materials for the spring order. Wouldn't I just be waiting to die?"

Lu Zifeng felt a sense of exhilaration at the unexpected turn of events, even though it was somewhat unethical.

"Old Qin, you've already devoted yourself to your factory. If they don't appreciate it, that's their problem. You need to think about your future. Here's what I'm thinking: you've been in sales for so many years, you must have a lot of distribution channels, right? Do you know anyone who needs oranges? I'll have a batch of oranges at the end of this year. How about we do some collaboration?"

Qin Deshou thought for a moment: "I don't have any relevant resources at the moment, but I have an acquaintance who makes glass bottles. Perhaps they have customers who sell bottled juice."

"That's right, that's how business is done!" Lu Zifeng already had a plan in mind.

After hanging up the phone, Gu Quan asked, "Where are we staying this time? The same kind of hotel as last time?"

Lu Zifeng thought for a moment and said, "Let's rent a house."

Gu Quan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He felt it was unnecessary, since he only went into the city a few times a month.

Lu Zifeng did the math for him:

If you always stay in those shady little hotels, not only will you not sleep well, but you'll also be walking along the river all the time and might end up getting your shoes wet.

Staying in a nicer hotel always required asking Liu Guoqiang from the supply and marketing cooperative for a letter of introduction, which was inconvenient, left us indebted, and most importantly, wasn't cheap.

If I stay there a few more times, the rent will be covered.

Most importantly, he plans to register a shell company using the rented house as the address.

Otherwise, many businesses simply cannot negotiate on an equal footing with others.

If Lu Zifeng, as a reborn individual, is able to grasp the general direction of the times, then Qiao Ling is undoubtedly the best partner to implement that direction in the details.

Although their joint venture grocery store had passed the golden age of gift box packaging and lacked any promotional methods, it still did better business than the supply and marketing cooperative in terms of groceries.

Besides her excellent interpersonal skills, Qiao Ling was also better at understanding consumers' psychology than the sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperative.

For example, when weighing bulk candy, the supply and marketing cooperative staff would scoop out a large spoonful first, and if they found it was too much, they would take it back little by little. It gave the impression that they were afraid the customer would get a bargain.

Qiao Ling would intentionally scoop out a little less, and if she found it was insufficient when weighing it, she would add it little by little. It gave the impression that she was afraid the customer would be cheated.

If she's happy, she can simply grab a little more for the customers.

Therefore, any customer who had dealt with Qiao Ling was unwilling to go to the supply and marketing cooperative again—unless she didn't have any in her shop.

Of course, Qiao Ling's little tricks are nothing in front of truly cunning people.

For example, Su Min saw through Qiao Ling's ulterior motives for doing business at a glance.

"Comrade, what do you need?" Qiao Ling noticed that she had been there for a while but hadn't bought anything; she was just looking around like she was browsing a supply and marketing cooperative.

But how can the variety of products in my small shop compare to that of the supply and marketing cooperative? What's the point of improvement?

Su Min looked at Qiao Ling with a half-smile: "I'm looking for Lu Zifeng."

Qiao Ling was stunned for a moment, but quickly recognized Su Min as the fashionable woman she and Lu Zifeng had seen when they were setting up a stall on the roadside in the family area.

"He's not here," Qiao Ling replied.

Su Min took out a piece of paper from her bag with a landline number written on it: "He can contact me when he gets back."

After saying that, he slammed the note on the counter, gave Qiao Ling a cold look, and left.

Qiao Ling sensed Su Min's hostility, but didn't know why.

She picked up the note, ran to the public phone booth at the entrance, and paged Lu Zifeng.

Not long after, Lu Zifeng called back.

"Zifeng, the woman who wanted to buy the grain depot warehouse has come to our door. She even left a landline number, asking you to come back and talk to her."

Lu Zifeng was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't even started taking action yet, so how had he been discovered?

"Sister Ling, you know all my brothers, right? When you see any of them, have them tell Song Zheng to contact me."

"Okay. You'll be back tomorrow at noon, right?"

"It depends. I rented an apartment in the city center, so I don't have to rush."

"What do you mean? Are you planning to settle down in the city?" Qiao Ling asked tentatively, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"We'll talk about it when I get back."

"Oh~"

After hanging up the phone, Gu Quan handed Lu Zifeng a piece of paper: "This is full of contact numbers for business license processing services. Pick the cheapest one."