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

Even after leaving the auction venue, Lin Siyan remained in low spirits.

She had never been called a "brat" before, and she felt incredibly wronged.

Lu Zifeng walked over to her and nudged her with his arm: "Still feeling wronged?"

Lin Siyan glanced at Lu Zifeng and asked, "What if she really yells at me again?"

Lu Zifeng said, "I slapped her so hard she flew across the river."

Lin Siyan burst out laughing and said, "That's called intentional harm."

Lu Zifeng nodded and said, "Yes, I did it on purpose."

Lin Siyan lowered her head and remained silent, a smile playing on her lips.

Next, Lu Zifeng needs to complete the signing and other formalities, while Du Heng will take Lin Siyan to interview Ma Jun, the station chief of Dongxian Grain Station.

Ma Jun was a party involved in this transaction, and his words carry significant weight.

Lu Zifeng told Du Heng that after finishing his business, they should go to Chef Wang's hospitable restaurant for a get-together.

Not far from the auction venue, a group of grain station employees surrounded Du Heng.

They want to know the whereabouts of the grain depot's assets and to accuse the grain depot manager, Ma Jun, of previous underhanded dealings.

Following behind the group of employees, Song Zheng quietly gave Lu Zifeng an "OK" sign.

Lu Zifeng nodded slightly and turned to attend to his own business.

Qiao Ling stood at the shop entrance, gazing at the end of the street, occasionally tiptoeing.

Finally, she saw the familiar bicycle return.

Lu Zifeng dismounted with a swift motion and leaned the bicycle against a large tree by the roadside.

Qiao Ling went up to her and asked, "How was it? How was it?"

Lu Zifeng gave an "OK" sign: "Got it."

Qiao Ling's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

Actually, she wasn't particularly concerned about the gain or loss of that warehouse; she was just worried about what would happen if Lu Zifeng failed.

"How much?"

"Forty-four thousand."

"Huh?" Qiao Ling was startled.

Lu Zifeng had appraised the value of the warehouse for her, and it was only a little over 30,000 yuan.

In less than half a day, an extra 10,000 yuan was thrown in.

Ten thousand yuan!

Even if you raid a family's home, you probably wouldn't find 10,000 yuan!

"It's alright, this is a fixed asset. Whether it's repurposed in the future or simply appreciated in value, it's a good investment."

"Alright, whatever you say." Qiao Ling said, then, seeing Lu Zifeng dragging the stall from the doorway into the shop, she hurriedly asked, "What are you doing? Don't you need to watch the shop anymore?"

Lu Zifeng pointed to his watch: "It's almost noon, of course we're going to the victory celebration banquet, aren't you coming?"

Qiao Ling snorted: "Why shouldn't I go?"

After closing the door and getting on the bike, Qiao Ling jumped on without hesitation.

She gripped the metal bar of her seat, listening to the music playing from the audio shop on the street:

Everyone has a dream.

Their love gradually faded into confusion.

Three people have three kinds of love

Find your own ideals...

This Cantonese song has a light and cheerful melody, but the lyrics are full of helplessness.

But it's okay.

Anyway, they don't understand Cantonese.

It doesn't spoil my lighthearted mood at all.

"Is this your first investment in life? Aren't you going to invite your uncle and aunt to celebrate together?" Qiao Ling asked.

"It's different. We get together with friends at noon, and then we get together again at home in the evening."

"Should I go tonight?"

"Go if you want!"

"If you're not sincere, I'm not going."

"Okay, okay, I'll pick you up on my bicycle tonight!"

"That's more like it."

Lu Zifeng was delayed a bit while handling the formalities. When he brought Qiao Ling to the Haoke Restaurant, Wei Jun, Gu Quan and others were already sitting there waiting.

Upon seeing Lu Zifeng arrive, driver Deng Darong got up and left.

Lu Zifeng was puzzled: "Where are you going?"

Deng Darong said, "I'll go out for a meal too."

Lu Zifeng said with a straight face, "Are you out of your mind? Why don't we just eat together?"

Deng Darong said somewhat embarrassedly, "Didn't you give me an extra twenty yuan for cigarettes and food?"

Lu Zifeng laughed and said, "Giving you money for cigarettes and food is standard practice in your line of work. But today is a gathering of friends, so sit down."

Qiao Ling greeted Wei Jun, but Gu Quan didn't need to; they were too familiar with each other.

"Hey, didn't you say there was also Reporter Du?" Qiao Ling asked.

"Oh, they still need to interview Ma Jun, the head of the grain station. Let's order first, and we can cook it when they arrive. Chef Wang is very quick," Lu Zifeng said.

Chef Wang poked his head out from the kitchen: "That's right, if we're slow, some people might not pay us."

"Does it make you look like you have a mouth?" Lu Zifeng rolled his eyes at Chef Wang.

Qiao Ling had heard about Lu Zifeng and his gang's past, and shook her head, rubbing her forehead.

I glanced at Gu Quan unintentionally and saw that he wasn't very interested.

Presumably, Du Heng disappointed him again, as he did not bring the female reporter named Tang Guo with him for this interview.

After chatting for a while, Wei Jun said that a lot of wholesale clothing had arrived at the dock, and the samples were quite good.

Lu Zifeng shook his head and said he would not be doing the clothing business for the time being.

Wei Jun was somewhat surprised. They knew each other when they were wholesaling clothes at the dock.

The profit margin in the clothing business is still quite good.

Lu Zifeng said, "Now there are at least 20, if not 30, clothing stores in the entire Dongxian County. Although we can still make money, it's much more tiring than before. If you want to do business long-term, two things are very important."

"First, there's the technological barrier. If you can do something that others can't, there's no plagiarism or imitation, and you can always maintain a monopoly, even to the point of holding others hostage. The so-called technological barrier, broadly speaking, includes things like chips and engines; more specifically, it includes culinary skills, recipes, and so on."

"Secondly, there's the financial barrier. You need money to do it. Even if someone else learns it at a glance, they can't imitate it if they don't have enough start-up capital."

"Sister Ling knows that when we first started making fruit baskets, others copied us the very next day. When we were in the clothing business, if someone saw what we were selling well, they would buy it the very next day."

Qiao Ling nodded silently.

Lu Zifeng took a sip of tea and continued, "So our investment in this store won't be small. At least in Dongxian, there won't be too many imitations. Even if someone does imitate us, they don't need to squeeze into the same area as us."

Wei Jun touched his ear and asked, "So... what are the plans for New Era?"

Lu Zifeng thought about the 92 Prosperity Certificate for early next year and said, "At most one year, the model that has worked in Dongxian will be copied to the main city. Of course, you've been working your way up from the bottom for many years, so feel free to use your own ideas."

I checked the time; it was already 12:30, and Du Heng and Lin Siyan still hadn't arrived.

Lu Zifeng wondered if he should make a pager to ask about the situation.

Just as he stood up, Song Zheng rushed in, saying in a panic, "Something bad has happened! Your two reporter friends have been stopped by Ma Jun."

"Holy shit!" Lu Zifeng slammed his hand on the table, and Gu Quan also stood up and walked out.

"He said he would treat them to a meal," Song Zheng added.

Lu Zifeng turned around speechlessly and slapped Song Zheng on the head: "Can you stop talking so fast?"