Fifty million a day, trapped in the county town, can't spend it all.

"What I mean is, Mr. Zhang, if you trust me, I can introduce you to a few reliable construction teams. They've been working in Mou County for decades, I know them well, their skills are good, and their prices are fair." Zhao Yongchang smiled. "Of course, I have no objection to you finding someone yourself. I'm just making a suggestion. It would be great if it could help, but if not, consider it making friends."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, Mr. Zhang, take your time to think it over." Zhao Yongchang's tone was still warm. "By the way, I'll treat you to dinner another time when you're free. Although Mou County is small, there are a few restaurants that are really good. You've been back for so long, I'm afraid you haven't tried them yet, right? Let's eat and chat."

"it is good."

"Then it's settled, Mr. Zhang. Let's meet up when you have time."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yang's expression turned sour. This was hardly the way to make friends; even if it was about seeking cooperation, this wasn't the proper way.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yang took out his phone again and called Cheng Kainian directly.

"Hey, Mr. Zhang, congratulations on successfully acquiring Moore Department Store." Cheng Kainian's voice came through the phone.

Zhang Yang was taken aback. The contract had been signed less than an hour ago, and the news had already spread? Was it because the county town was small, or was there an invisible network in place, so that any whisper or whisper could instantly reach certain people's ears?

"Director Cheng is well-informed. I just signed the contract less than an hour ago, and you already know about it," Zhang Yang said without changing his expression.

"Not at all, not at all. The county town is small, and news travels fast. Besides, Mr. Zhang, you are now a celebrity in Mou County. You've only been back for a week and you've already invested tens of millions. Bosses from all walks of life want to get to know you and see if there's an opportunity to cooperate with you."

"Oh? I don't think I'm that famous. It seems I underestimated the way you bosses gather information."

"Look at what you're saying. It's just normal business cooperation. You know that every industry is struggling right now," Cheng Kainian said with a laugh.

"Alright, I understand, Director Cheng. I'd like to ask you about someone."

"Who? I know everyone in Mu County who has any reputation."

Zhang Yang uttered each word clearly: "Zhao Yongchang."

There was a moment of silence on the phone.

"Why did Mr. Zhang ask about him?"

"Zhao Yongchang just called me. I won't say where he got my number, but he said he wanted to introduce me to a construction team."

"This..." Cheng Kainian sighed, "He is the largest building materials wholesaler in Mu County."

"Wholesale building materials and renovation?"

"It's just a business deal on the surface."

"Oh, how so?" Zhang Yang suddenly became interested.

Cheng Kainian lowered his voice: "Besides selling building materials, he mainly works on municipal engineering projects."

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow: "A building materials seller doing construction work?"

"Well, he's been deeply involved in the county for decades. Over the years, he's been able to take on all sorts of projects, big and small. Think about it carefully. Plus, think about the backgrounds of those people who started in the building materials business decades ago. Zhao Yongchang's ability to get where he is today is not to be underestimated. I can't say more, but I'm sure Mr. Zhang is smart enough to guess the reason behind it."

"Understood."

"He seems to be in a hurry."

"What's the rush?"

"Mr. Zhang, Moore Department Store is such a big building. If you want to renovate it, just think about how many tens of thousands of dollars that project would cost. It's a huge piece of meat. Who wouldn't want to take a bite? When Shuai Deheng was in charge, he was the one who handled all the work on this building."

"What if I don't renovate?"

"Then consider it a good deed, so that if you ever need any help in the future, he'll still come to you."

"I see, I understand."

Cheng Kainian smiled and said, "President Zhang, as for Zhao Yongchang, it depends on how you get along with him. If you get along well, you'll have a lot less to worry about. If you don't get along well, there will be some trouble."

"Thanks, Director Cheng, I understand. Let's have dinner together sometime."

"Okay, okay."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yang lit a cigarette.

It seems the waters in this county town run very deep; I've been targeted without even realizing it.

After finishing his cigarette, Zhang Yang pondered for a long time.

Cheng Kainian's words were undoubtedly a reminder to him, but it was impossible for Zhao Yongchang to take on the renovation of Moore Department Store. Regardless of their previous rules, Zhang Yang was determined to compete with Pang Donglai, so he would definitely contract out the entire process from design to renovation to a team.

However, it doesn't matter if I give him the materials. He has a lot of connections, and I can't spend my money outside of Mou County. Letting him help me buy them is also a solution.

Just then, a Lalamove truck suddenly drove in and stopped in front of his house.

The driver got out of the car and stood at the door, asking, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang?"

"I am... and you are...?" Zhang Yang walked over with a puzzled look on his face.

"Could you please accept the package?"

???

Zhang Yang was completely bewildered. What kind of goods were they buying? Following the driver to the truck bed, he assumed it was something Chen Rou and her group had purchased, but that didn't make sense. Even if they bought factory goods, they wouldn't be bringing them to his house. But when the truck door opened, it was filled with expensive cigarettes and liquor...

"Who sent you to deliver this?" Zhang Yang asked, glancing at the driver.

"I don't know. I just accepted the order, then went to the wholesale department to pick up the goods and delivered them to you according to the delivery address," the driver waved his hand.

"Give me the phone number of the person who placed the order."

The driver handed the order information to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang glanced at it and saw that the name of the person who placed the order was Moore Department Store... He dialed the number left by the person who placed the order, but the phone was switched off.

After talking with the driver, he had no choice but to temporarily accept the goods and move them to his living room.

Zhang Yang planned to investigate who sent the goods and then return them. He dared not accept anything from an unknown source, and besides, he didn't need the money.

night.

Zhang Yang was enjoying the cool air in his yard, pondering the events of the day, but he had no clue what to do with them.

Just then, Chen Rou called.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Brother, regarding the renovation of Moore Department Store, I contacted three companies today. One of them is Aedas Design Studio, which was involved in the design of Pang Donglai Times Square. Do you think we should contact the others? Or at least have them come and take a look at the site and produce some design drawings for comparison?"

Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, "Let's forget about the other two. We'll go directly to Aedas Design Studio and ask them to send their design team to the site as soon as possible and then produce the design drawings."

"Okay, I'll contact them right away."

......

The next day.

When Zhang Yang arrived at the company, the company he had contacted the day before had already sent three designers, two women and one man.

"Hello Mr. Zhang, we are from Aedas Design Studio. I am Ye Mei, the chief designer," the woman introduced herself. "These two are my assistants, Xiao Xiao and Xiao Feng."

Zhang Yang shook hands with each of them.

"You came from Hong Kong?"

Ye Mei smiled and said, "Yes, I booked the tickets as soon as I received the notification last night."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

This team has incredibly high execution capabilities. They finalized the deal last night and arrived in Mou County this morning. Keep in mind that there are no direct flights from Hong Kong to here.

No wonder they're the team that designed Pang Donglai Times Square.

In the past two days, Chen Rou and Sun Xiaomin have almost finished getting things done in the office building, and some workshop equipment is also being installed one after another.

The group held a brief meeting in the conference room on the second floor of the office building.

"Mr. Zhang, your company was just established?" Ye Mei saw the names of two companies hanging at the entrance when she arrived.

Zhang Yang nodded. "Mm."

After some small talk, Ye Mei got straight to the point: "President Zhang, Director Chen contacted me yesterday and explained the general situation. Are you planning to completely renovate the existing shopping mall, making it a one-to-one replica of Pang Donglai?"

"Pang Donglai's design and shopping mall facilities have been in use for many years, right?" Zhang Yang said slowly. "Many of the facilities should have been upgraded by now. I hope you can design something better than Pang Donglai. Of course, you can only decide after you have seen the site."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Zhang. We have participated in Pang Donglai's projects more than once, so we have no problem with experience. As for design concepts, Aedas is also quite well-known internationally."

Zhang Yang nodded; of course he knew Aedas was very famous.

"However, Mr. Zhang," Ye Mei continued, "in terms of overall layout, according to the latest design concepts, it can completely crush Pang Donglai. But you should know that Pang Donglai's business is so popular not just because of its beautiful design."

"Of course I know that, but design is equally important."

Ye Mei smiled and said, "That's good then."

"Alright, let's go to the site first, then you can come up with a preliminary design plan based on your observations, and we can discuss the details later." Zhang Yang stood up.

The group drove quickly to Moore Department Store Plaza.

After Xiao Li parked the car, Zhang Yang and Ye Mei continued their discussion while the two people Ye Mei brought, led by Chen Rou, took equipment and began measuring the perimeter.

Ye Mei followed Zhang Yang's steps into the mall and began to look around.

As she walked through each area, she took photos and calculated the dimensions. Two assistants followed after measuring the perimeter and then began sketching in their notebooks based on the dimensions she provided.

Zhang Yang couldn't understand much of the industry jargon they used, so he simply acted as a tour guide.

Having explored the first floor to a certain extent, Ye Mei stood in the central courtyard, looked around, and said, "It needs to be demolished."

"All those messy display cases in the atrium on the first floor have been removed. Pang Donglai's atrium is empty, allowing customers to breathe. Look here, it's blocked as soon as you enter. Customers' first reaction is to turn around and leave. This is completely opposite to Pang Donglai's concept of 'openness'."

After looking at the first floor, the group strolled around the second and third floors.

"All the shops on the second and third floors will be combined, with half of them used as a sales area for medium and large packaging stores. The initial design includes a main aisle 4 meters wide and shelves no more than 1.6 meters high, so customers can easily see where they want to buy, with a clear and unobstructed view!"

"The other half is used as the fresh food and cooked food area. We designed it as a transparent partition. There is no physical separation between the fresh food area and the catering area at Pang Donglai. The food is made and sold on the spot, forming a 'food theater'. This way, customers can see the chefs cutting meat and baking bread. This transparency itself is a form of trust."

Zhang Yang nodded and continued leading them upstairs, showing them the remaining two floors.

After Ye Mei and her two assistants had toured the area, she said:

"Move the gold and silver jewelry sales area that was originally on the first floor to the fourth floor. Since you want to follow the Pang Donglai route, the first floor must be a supermarket as soon as people enter, and those are the things that ordinary people need every day. Then move all the supermarkets on the basement to the first, second and third floors. The sales area will be tentatively set as I just mentioned. Let all the restaurants on this floor go to the basement."

"As for the fifth floor, the original design by the mall's designer was reasonable. We can just renovate it according to the style later."

Zhang Yang nodded: "President Ye, since you've read it, and I'm quite satisfied with what you just said, when would you like to see the first draft?"

"Tomorrow, but before that, Mr. Zhang, could you please provide me with a structural diagram of the entire building? I need to avoid load-bearing walls during the design process."

"Okay, wait a moment, I'll contact the property management right away and get a copy of the map." After saying that, Zhang Yang led them towards the management's conference room.

Just then, the phone rang. Zhang Yang answered the call, and Zhao Yongchang's voice came through:

"Mr. Zhang, I heard you brought a team of designers from Hong Kong to Moore Department Store today? Are you preparing for a redesign and renovation?"

Zhang Yang frowned. Zhao Yongchang's information network was too good. He was very unhappy with the feeling of being watched, but he was just starting out and couldn't afford to fall out with these local bullies in the short term.

The martial arts world isn't just about fighting and killing; it's all about human relationships and social interactions. Cheng Kainian once said that Zhao Yongchang is incredibly effective at handling certain matters.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, yes, the designer came to check out the site."

"By the way, Mr. Zhang, did you receive the things I sent you?"