Lin Jiang frowned slightly.
"Where are they?"
"They're downstairs. A huge group of over twenty people showed up. The building's security guards thought something was off, so they stopped them and came to notify us."
"Alright, I'll go take a look."
Lin Jiang stood up and walked over with Chen Jingxian and He Siyao.
The twenty-odd people were all stopped outside the entrance. They were dressed plainly, a mix of men and women.
Behind them was a large bus, which was clearly how they had arrived.
Looking at them again, each one had a dark, weather-beaten complexion, like black pieces on a chessboard.
The building's security guards recognized Lin Jiang. When they saw him come out, the security manager walked over.
"President Lin, these people are all here to see you. We don't know what's going on. It's best if you handle this."
"Thanks for your hard work, Brother Wang."
"It's nothing."
Lin Jiang walked over, and the twenty-something cattle farmers all turned to look at him.
"This is a place of business. If you cause a scene here, the building management will call the police. Let's go talk somewhere else."
Leaving them with that, Lin Jiang walked away.
The twenty-odd people looked at each other, then quickened their pace and followed Lin Jiang to a shady spot.
"I don't have time to meet with all of you. Send a representative to talk to me."
"Let's you and I talk," a man with short hair stepped forward and said.
"We came here to terminate our contracts with you. As soon as you terminate the contracts, we'll leave."
"Who are you? Does what you say carry any weight?"
"My name is Ma Yan. I'm the biggest cattle farmer in Red Star Town, so I can be the representative," Ma Yan said.
"Like I just said, we're here to terminate the contracts. Don't try to tell me anything else. Just terminate them, and we'll be on our way."
"So you think you can sign a contract whenever you want and terminate it whenever you want? What do you take this for, a flea market with no rules?"
"You took advantage of us not knowing the law and played tricks on us, and now you're the one making accusations?"
"You signed the contract in black and white, and the contents were explained to you clearly. Now you're saying we played tricks? Do you fucking hear the shit you're saying?"
"You just took advantage of the low cattle prices to buy in at the bottom. We've figured it out now, and we don't want to be in a contract with you anymore."
Ma Yan was a stubborn character, posturing as if he'd cause trouble until the end if the contracts weren't terminated.
"No problem. But remember this: once the contracts are terminated, there won't be another chance to work together."
"Who would want to work with an untrustworthy company like yours in the future anyway?" Ma Yan said with self-righteous indignation.
"Just tell us if you'll terminate the contracts or not. If you won't, we're not leaving. We'll just wait you out right here."
"Of course. If you don't want to do it, there are plenty of others who will. Go back and find He Xuelu. I'll have him arrange the contract terminations," Lin Jiang said.
"You said it."
"Mhm."
With a nod, Lin Jiang left, turning his head to say to He Siyao:
"Buy two cartons of cigarettes for Manager Wang. Also, tell Uncle He to terminate all their contracts. No matter who comes, if they want to terminate, grant their request."
"Understood."
Although she was a little indignant, since Lin Jiang had given the order, she could only do as he said.
"Are you sure you want to terminate the contracts?" Chen Jingxian asked, following behind him.
"It's no big deal. I have money in my hands, you think I'm afraid I won't be able to spend it?" Lin Jiang said.
"Li Wuyang thinks he can restrain me with a method like this. He's like a moron."
"So you're a premium brand, completely trustworthy, is that it?"
Lin Jiang stretched a bit. "Of course. The show is just getting started. No need to rush."
Not far away, a Panamera was parked. Li Wuyang and Liu Renming were both sitting inside.
The two of them had taken in the entire scene that had just unfolded downstairs.
"Judging by Ma Yan's expression, Lin Jiang must have given in," Liu Renming said.
"I thought he was some big shot. Turns out he's just a coward."
"Let's keep this up. For the time being, we can raise the cattle prices a bit more. We'll try to stop them from sourcing a single cow locally. They'll have to pay high prices to buy from out of town, which means they'll have no price advantage and no market share. They'll be out of business in less than half a year," Li Wuyang said.
"A stinking noodle shop owner gets a bit of dirty money and thinks he can just jump into another industry and mess around. I'm going to take this chance to teach him a good lesson!"
「Several days passed.」
All of Lin Jiang's businesses were proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The two new restaurants were also about to open.
Meanwhile, the cattle at the processing plant had been fed the special fodder for seven days and had been slaughtered. The quality of the meat was better than imaginable. You could already see the snowflake-like marbling, though it wasn't very dense yet. Still, it was far superior to ordinary beef.
Most importantly, the cost hadn't increased by much. It could be sold at market price, and he would still make a profit.
The C5-grade beef from his restaurant was what many unscrupulous merchants would pass off as A5.
If they were raised for a month, Lin Jiang couldn't even imagine how incredible the A5-grade meat would be.
Lin Jiang kept a portion of this meat for his own restaurants' use.
The rest was all sent out for sale, preparing to seize market share. At the same time, he set aside some funds for expansion.
As a result, for the past several days, the thing he did most was hold meetings, planning out every single move.
The boomerang he had thrown a few days ago was finally coming back.
Outside of company matters, Lin Jiang's daily activity was taking Zhou Jingliang out to eat, drink, and have fun.
Following Qin Youyou, Li Zhiyi, and Qin Yangyang, that evening for dinner, Lin Jiang brought Jiang Xiaoqi along, rubbing it in Zhou Jingliang's face yet again.
That night, seeing Jiang Xiaoqi sitting next to Lin Jiang...
Zhou Jingliang was filled with so much hate!
'Every single one of them is a total knockout. Is he even fucking human?'
After dinner, no one went home. Lin Jiang went to the hotel next to the restaurant and booked two rooms.
After getting Jiang Xiaoqi settled, he went to Zhou Jingliang's room.
"Has Zhang Jingjing been completely obedient to you these past few days?"
"Like a fucking dog. If I say go east, she doesn't dare go west. If I tell her to stand, she doesn't dare sit."
Zhou Jingliang said, taking a drag from his cigarette:
"She's trying everything she can think of to get the recipe from me."
After talking with Zhang Jingjing that day, Lin Jiang had started his plan.
He said he would give her the recipe, but he gave it to Zhou Jingliang instead.
"Don't let it slip. Just say you've mastered the recipe. Make it look convincing. You have to make her believe you really have the recipe, not just the pre-mixed seasoning."
"Don't worry about me. You send stuff to my place every day, and she comes to check every time. Even if you sent over a pile of dog shit, she'd take it out for a sniff," Zhou Jingliang said.
"I've been keeping an eye on it for you these past few days. Business at Jinyuan's noodle chain has gotten a lot better, but it's still not as popular as yours. I even ordered takeout. The taste is good, just a bit bland. They probably diluted it with more water."
Lin Jiang had done the same thing, ordering one from all the different locations.
He had already confirmed that all of Jinyuan's chain restaurants were using his recipe.
The objective had been achieved.
"Now Zhang Jingjing is asking me for the seasoning every day, and for more and more each time. I can't just keep giving it to her like this, can I?"
"Their current stock should last them another week, right?"
"About that," Zhou Jingliang said.
"She also said she wants another 110 pounds and asked me to mix it for her as soon as possible. If I really make that much, it'll be enough to last them a month."
"Stall for another week. If she asks for the recipe again, just give her that list I gave you before. Tell her it's the recipe."
"Alright."
「Before he knew it, another week had passed.」
It was also time for the new restaurants in Xuanli Community and Fenghua Community to open.
At 9:58 AM, the two new restaurants officially opened.
Thanks to their prior reputation and the grand opening discounts, the restaurants were packed the moment they opened.
And at the moment of opening, the game mission was automatically completed.
[Mission Complete (Grow Bigger and Stronger): Reward: Craft Fruit Wine Recipe, 40 EXP]
Lin Jiang had figured out a use for the reward long ago.
Once the barbecue restaurant opened, this would be the star product.
"The quality of the beef in this beef rice bowl is incredible!"
"It's so soft and tender, and it smells amazing."
"Look at the display picture on the light box. This is basically Wagyu quality, isn't it?"
"Most importantly, the price hasn't gone up. This is the same price as when I ate at the Berkeley location."
"The owner is so conscientious."
The first wave of customers gave the pan-fried steak rice bowl extremely high praise.
This was within Lin Jiang's expectations; there's always a market for a good product.
Just then, the restaurant door was pushed open. He thought it was another customer, but to his surprise, it was Jiang Rongmin who walked in.
She was wearing a coffee-colored, V-neck long dress and a string of Tahitian pearls, exuding an air of elegance and mature charm.
"Aunt Jiang, your presence truly makes our humble shop shine."
Seeing Jiang Rongmin arrive, Lin Jiang went to greet her.
Accompanying her was her family's chauffeur, who was holding a solid gold money tree that was clearly incredibly valuable at a glance.
"The two of them are on a business trip, so I came to take a look. See where would be a good place to put this."
"Let's put it on the counter. With this thing, we'll be raking in money every day."
As he spoke, Lin Jiang pulled out a chair for Jiang Rongmin to sit.
Jiang Rongmin looked around the restaurant and said with a smile:
"You just opened, and you already have so many people. Even without my money tree, you'd be raking it in every day."
"You flatter me, Aunt Jiang."
She had just come to take a look. The two chatted for a while, and then Jiang Rongmin left without staying too long.
Just then, Zhou Jingliang, who had been helping in the back kitchen, came over.
"I saw you two talking and laughing just now. Who was that woman? She looked a bit familiar."
"The Qin Sisters' mom."
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
Zhou Jingliang stared at Lin Jiang in astonishment.
"You're bagging all three of them?"
Lin Jiang: ???
"Does that dog brain of yours not work at all?"
Just then, a game notification appeared.
[Boss has appeared. Player, please be on guard.]
Lin Jiang glanced outside. A notification like this meant that Wang Xianping had arrived.
He was showing up at this time, right on the new store's opening day. He was most likely here to scout out the competition.
He checked the time on his phone.
'The time should be about right.'

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