The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 166 New Crew_1

Gongge casually picked a private room on the second floor of the Lü Family Restaurant.

After asking the waiter to serve Li Qing a cup of tea, he then said, "The Kong Family has deep roots in our area, even though they started after you, the scale of their operations is not small, and apart from the few villages in the mountains, almost everywhere else in Sanhe Town has someone delivering goods to them."

"The huge profits of Wenguan Tea have made some locals restless, of course, Lü Zong is one of them."

"The line Old Kong the Third hooked up with is an owner in the county town who wants to invest in a factory."

Only after Gongge had explained in detail did Li Qing finally understand the whole situation.

Old Kong the Third, using his connections, had already monopolized the supply from most villages before Li Qing even noticed.

After hearing this, Li Qing suddenly realized.

Even without the current issue, he would probably have clashed with Old Kong the Third eventually.

He had focused on the hard-to-reach mountain areas first because he knew there were wild Wenguan Leaves there.

While Old Kong the Third took advantage of his connections to take over the remaining villages.

If Li Qing wanted to expand his business later, competing with Old Kong the Third would be inevitable.

Li Qing was now somewhat relieved that Lü Zong had intervened in this matter.

Otherwise, if he had to go up against Old Kong the Third later, relying on himself alone, he would probably find it difficult to come away with any benefits.

After their discussion, Gongge reached out to the manager of the local tea factory.

Both parties agreed to meet at a fast-food restaurant.

The visitor was a refined young man with a neat crew cut and a crisply ironed shirt.

"How much product can you supply?" the man asked directly as soon as he sat down.

"The same amount as Old Kong the Third’s quota, but his deal is under our management now," Gongge said.

The young man lit a cigarette and asked with some arrogance, "You’re replacing someone at the last minute—if there’s a problem, who’s responsible? We have a supply contract; who do I come to if there’s a breach?"

"There will be no breach. Whatever quota Old Kong the Third had, we’ll keep the same," Gongge’s face suddenly turned cold. "If you’re not assured, we can sign a new contract. Our boss is Lü Zong from the Lü Family Restaurant."

The young man’s expression changed subtly.

He set down his crossed leg and handed out cigarettes to both Gongge and Li Qing, "Sorry about that, I was a bit out of line. Since Lü Zong is taking over, we don’t even need to sign a contract."

"We still have to sign the contract; that’s what Lü Zong has instructed," Gongge waved away the cigarette offer. "Li Qing will be in charge from our side from now on. If there are no issues, you can arrange someone to interface with him."

"No problem at all," the young man smiled amiably, his eyes carrying a hint of ingratiating intent.

"Since it’s Lü Zong’s request, we’ll sign the contract where needed. The contact person is still the young brother, Zhang Senlin. Later on, Brother Li can just come directly to me. As for the price, it’s still the agreed premium. Does Lü Zong have any remarks about this?"

"He didn’t say anything about that. Since there’s no problem, you can talk to Qingzi about the specific details," Gongge gestured towards Li Qing, leaning back in his chair.

Li Qing had been listening the whole time and did not interject.

The evident change in Zhang Senlin’s attitude made Li Qing even more curious about Lü Zong.

His influence in the county town seemed particularly strong!

Merely the mention of a name had drastically altered Zhang Senlin’s behavior, inadvertently raising his own status as well.

This was the first time Li Qing had been addressed as Brother Li.

But truth be told, this feeling of being respected felt pretty good.

Afterward, Zhang Senlin explained their purchasing scheme and the rules for pricing beyond the agreed premium in detail.

Li Qing was shocked to discover that Old Kong the Third was actually earning a margin as high as seventeen, nearly making a fifty percent profit.

A profit of seventeen yuan per jin, a pure profit of a hundred jin would then amount to seventeen hundred yuan.

So ruthless!

But Li Qing didn’t plan to continue purchasing at Old Kong the Third’s prices, he wasn’t that heartless.

He was prepared to stick with his current price, a unified thirty-two, making a ten yuan margin.

However, this was Lü Zong’s business; he was just the middleman.

According to Lü Zong, he’d get a forty percent share of the profit, which meant a basic income of four yuan per jin.

As for the income from the premium price after reaching a certain ratio, Li Qing didn’t consider it for the moment, viewing it as additional income.

Even if it was just four yuan per jin, the income was very considerable.

After finalizing the detailed coordination plan, Li Qing and Brother Gong left the fast-food restaurant.

As for the contract, Li Qing didn’t even ask; it was none of his concern.

Getting involved might just turn into a hassle, so he simply pretended to be unaware.

"Brother Gong, with so many villages scattered all over, you’ll probably need to call in your manpower," Li Qing said on the way. "There’s still some time today. Let’s set a time to meet them."

"That’s exactly what I was thinking. You better make the arrangements early so they can get to grips with it quickly," Brother Gong said, glancing at the time. "Look, it’s well past lunchtime. Let’s find a place to eat; I’ll call them over."

"Sure." Li Qing was already hungry, but with so much going on, he hadn’t had a moment to tend to his stomach.

While Brother Gong made phone calls, they randomly picked a seemingly larger restaurant on the roadside and walked in.

"Hello, how many?"

The waiter came up with the menu in hand.

"Eight or nine people, just whip up a few of your signature dishes," Brother Gong said.

"Alright, we have a private room in the back. Please take a seat," the waiter replied.

Li Qing and Brother Gong chatted idly in the private room for a short while when several people pushed the door open and walked in.

The group was dressed in various attire.

Some wore shirts with vests, looking like waiters.

Others were in casual clothes, appearing to be ordinary workers.

"Brother, what’s so urgent calling us over?" a round-faced, big-eyed young man approached and asked.

Brother Gong didn’t answer his question but turned to Li Qing and said, "These guys have been with me for quite some time now; they work wherever there’s work to be done, but they’re all quick on their feet. They didn’t finish school and don’t have any special skills, so they just make do with whatever work they can get. As for their character and such, you can be assured."

Just as Li Qing was about to speak, the round-faced young man asked discontentedly, "Bro, who’s this little punk?"

"Your dad!" Brother Gong’s eyes suddenly bulged, "Still no sense of propriety when you speak. You little rascal, you deserve to be poor all your life. Get lost!"

Brother Gong’s sudden outburst scared the living daylights out of them.

"Bro, I was just asking casually," the round-faced young man murmured, shrinking back.

"Come on, tell me, who’s the little punk?" Brother Gong roared, pointing at his nose.

"...Me," the round-faced youngster said sheepishly, retracting his neck, "I’m the little punk."