"Then don't worry about it, just build it up for me."
Engineer Cui silently rolled up the blueprints, sat down on them, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, not saying a word, just looking at me.
I said, "Why are you rolling it up? Do you understand?"
Engineer Cui said quietly, "I understand without even looking at it—I don't want this drawing anymore." Then he said to me in a very emotional tone, "Brother, I don't know what you're going to do, but Yucai is also my life's work, so please don't ruin it."
I said firmly, "I don't care, you have to listen to me this time. I know you're thinking about your reputation, but if you don't build it up for me, I'll decorate every building with red and green decorations until you're done and leave. It won't be over until it's decorated like the village secretary's villa. And then every ribbon will have 'Designer: Cui Moumou' written on it..."
Engineer Cui's face flushed red and green as if it had been painted with various colors, and finally he sighed and said, "Can you tell me what you're thinking first?"
I said, “Don’t worry about what you think. I’m just telling you that this wall is meant to block people. It’s going to be high, 2.5 meters. It’s going to cut the school in half, leaving me with a side gate in the middle to let people out.”
Engineer Cui asked in confusion, "Are you going to build... the Berlin Wall?"
"No matter what kind of wall it is, what I need is a tangible effect that can separate people."
Engineer Cui waved his hand and said, "What are you trying to achieve? If you thought the old building was shabby, wouldn't I have told you to tear it down long ago? I would have built a new one for you."
I said, "Didn't I tell you already? This old building is like my wife. If I surround it with walls, then I'll be—" I slapped my thigh, "That's right, I'll be keeping my mistress hidden away."
Chapter 82 Unequal Treaties
Separating people with walls has never been successful in any era, and the Berlin Wall was no exception. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this at the time.
After leaving Yucai, I originally wanted to go back and get some sleep, but I received a call from Sun Sixin, who said that two groups of three people from the bar were looking for me, including my "Second Uncle".
"My second uncle?" I immediately realized: Liu Laoliu!
While yelling at Sun Sixin to keep an eye on him no matter what, I stepped on the gas and sped toward the bar.
As soon as I entered, I was surprised to see Liu Laoliu sitting there, and I felt relieved. Sun Sixin pointed to the old man with a date-shaped head on the table next to her and said, "That's also looking for you. It looks like he doesn't know your second uncle and the others."
Me: "...That's my third grandson!"
Liu Laoliu said leisurely, "Xiaoqiang, it's not good to talk bad about people behind their backs." There was another person sitting next to him, but this person seemed to have drunk too much and was slumped on the table without moving.
I jumped in front of the two tables, pointing at Liu Laoliu, about to curse him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it in front of outsiders—it would ruin my image! In the end, I could only smile and ask the other old man first, "Is there something you need?"
The old man was dressed in a conventional gray-white jacket and wore an old Shanghai watch, looking like a factory manager. He first smiled politely at everyone, then said modestly to Liu Laoliu, "If you're in a hurry, you can go first." Liu Laoliu smiled back, "I'm not in a hurry."
Then the two old men started being polite: "You go first." "You go first."...
I was so annoyed. These two old men were treating me like a prostitute, and they were probably discussing who should go first. Damn it, how about we do a threesome?
Finally, the old man with the jujube pit couldn't persuade Liu Laoliu. He shook hands with me first, then took out a stack of documents from his old-fashioned black satchel and said in an unquestionable tone, "Director Xiao, right? Sign this."
My heart skipped a beat. His tone sounded just like someone issuing a court summons. I picked up the document and saw it was another agreement. My name was Party A, and Party B was the largest state-owned distillery in our area. I didn't bother to read the clauses carefully at first, and glanced at the old man with the date pit in confusion. The old man said, "Oh," and then handed me a card. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My surname is Ni—Ni Zhuling." He then handed me a card with two large characters at the top: "Fragrance Spreads Throughout the World, Famous Throughout the Country." Then came my name. My title was: Director and Chairman of the Trade Union of Jiaxiang Distillery. Jiaxiang Distillery was very famous in our area, producing only high-proof liquor, both high and low grades, practically monopolizing the local liquor market, and also having distribution channels outside the province.
This old man with the date pit is actually a factory manager.
I hurriedly shook hands with Director Ni again: "My apologies, I grew up drinking the wine from your factory—but what brings you here?" Director Ni gestured for me to look at the agreement.
This time I read the agreement carefully. It was a very strange agreement, stipulating that from the day both parties signed it, Party B, that is, the winery, would be responsible for fully assisting Party A in getting "Five-Star Juniper" wine onto the production line, producing bottled wine, and promoting it nationwide. In this process, Party A would only be responsible for providing the finished liquid wine, and would keep the secret formula to itself.
This is blatantly an unequal agreement, and I'm the only one who ultimately benefits. The Fine Winery seems to gain nothing from this agreement; not only is it doing all the work for someone else, but it also has to contend with our Five-Star Juniper competing for its market share. I sat there hesitant, not daring to move. This agreement is too far-fetched, like a piglet running onto a fire, roasting itself, and then coming up to me saying, "Eat me!"—Uh, that's not just far-fetched, that's terrifying!
I finally couldn't help but ask, "What benefits will your winery gain from cooperating with me?" As I casually flipped through the terms and conditions, I discovered another major problem: there was no mention whatsoever of the conditions for the winery.
Factory Director Ni paused for a moment and said, "Oh, as long as we both follow this contract, the kickbacks will be paid by someone else—in fact, someone is paying us to do all this. Our winery has acted as the packaging and advertising agent this time, and we will get a kickback from him for every bottle of wine sold."
I couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" in surprise.
Factory Director Ni laughed and said, "Your friend said he owes you money, and that you'll understand as soon as he mentions it to you."
It suddenly dawned on me: it was Jin Shaoyan! Once I realized this, all my worries vanished, and I felt completely relieved. I grabbed a pen and hurriedly signed my name. No wonder Director Ni was so aggressive when he first asked me to sign; he knew this was an agreement that was impossible to refuse.
I asked with a smile, "Aren't you afraid that our wine will compete with your products for market share?"
Factory Director Ni laughed and said, "Don't worry, our factory only produces high-proof liquor. It has always been our regret that we don't have our own flagship product in the low-proof liquor market. These are two relatively stable markets, so the impact is not significant. Besides, Director Xiao's Five-Star Juniper has an excellent reputation. If we don't make it, someone else will sooner or later."
I noticed that there was only one drink on Director Ni's table, and I immediately scolded Sun Sixin, "Why didn't you give Director Ni a bowl of our wine?"
Factory Director Ni hurriedly waved his hand: "It's me who doesn't want it—I don't drink a drop of alcohol."
I laughed in surprise, "No wonder you're the manager of the winery!"
Factory Director Ni stood up and said, "Then Director Xiao, you continue with your work. I'll send a car to pick up the wine from you tomorrow. If sales are good in the future, we can set up a production line for direct production and sales. Of course, you will still keep the secret recipe."
After Director Ni left, I held my copy of the contract and grinned foolishly, "Hehe, this is going to be a windfall!" I knew our wine would sell incredibly well. It already had a solid reputation in the city, with a constant stream of people coming to taste it after 4 PM every day. Many had already complained that it was sold out. Its rich aroma practically wafted through the bottle; it shouldn't be much worse off elsewhere. Why hadn't I thought of this way to make money before?
Liu Laoliu suddenly chuckled and said, "He's finally made his move."
Then I remembered Liu Laoliu and said fiercely, "By the way, what's up now? Who did you say finally made a move?"
Liu Laoliu gestured towards the contract in my hand with his lip: "'Him,' who else could it be?"
I clutched the money-making contract tightly and asked warily, "What do you mean?"
Liu Laoliu said slowly, "You don't know him because you haven't dealt with 'him'. Before he officially considers someone a match, he always tries to make the opponent stronger so that the game becomes more interesting. He would never play against a terrible chess player."
"...Who's the terrible chess player? Explain yourself clearly!"
Liu Laoliu chuckled and said, "In the lower realm, money is always the greatest power. Maybe he saw that you were too poor, so he helped you out so that you could continue to fight him."
I asked in surprise, "You mean he was the one behind the distillery scandal?"