"Don't, you should still deliver the goods as usual tomorrow!" Sun Wenshi immediately spoke up upon hearing Song Nianchu suggest taking a two-day break.
You must understand, their supply and marketing cooperative's business had improved immensely over the past month, far beyond what it was before.
Although the state-run restaurant also sold canned goods, their business wasn't as good as here. After all, many people would buy other things along with the canned goods when they came.
It's not possible for people to eat at the state-run restaurant every day.
If they stopped for two days, all the business would be snatched away by the state-run restaurant, and he'd have nowhere to cry about it.
"Is it the same quantity as before?" Song Nianchu inquired.
"Yes, the same quantity." Sun Wenshi nodded.
"Alright, it's settled then." Song Nianchu remained calm and unhurried.
After settling matters with Sun Wenshi, Song Nianchu got up to leave. Only after she had gone did Sun Wenshi turn to look at the door behind him.
He was just about to call for the person inside to come out when the door opened from within.
Xiang Tianyi walked out slowly.
"You heard her just now, she doesn't agree." Sun Wenshi looked somewhat apologetically at Xiang Tianyi.
Song Nianchu had guessed correctly; the one who proposed wanting exclusive distribution rights was indeed Xiang Tianyi.
For this past month, he had been getting goods from Sun Wenshi to sell in the city. He not only supplied the city's supply and marketing cooperatives but also tentatively expanded to several surrounding counties. The response had been very good.
Therefore, after the contract expired, he proposed to Sun Wenshi that he wanted to sign an exclusive distribution rights contract with Song Nianchu, but he was still refused.
"I already told you before, Comrade Song is not an ordinary person. Don't use your little schemes on her, but you wouldn't listen. See, she won't take the bait at all." Sun Wenshi shook his head and sighed, then added,
"Don't ask me to help bring up such things again in the future. What if she thinks it was all my idea and stops supplying goods to me altogether? Then my losses would be huge."
"You think she hasn't figured it out?" Xiang Tianyi snorted coldly.
"What do you mean?" Sun Wenshi blinked in confusion, then caught on, looking at Xiang Tianyi in surprise. "You mean Song Nianchu already knows it's actually you doing business with her?"
"Most likely."
"I say, since both of you have already guessed, why must you still have me relay messages in the middle? Can't you two discuss it directly?" Sun Wenshi shot Xiang Tianyi an annoyed look.
"Then have her come find me." Xiang Tianyi said.
"Can't you, a grown man, be a bit more broad-minded?" Sun Wenshi rolled his eyes at him.
Xiang Tianyi didn't respond, but Sun Wenshi knew his silence meant refusal.
"Alright, if you don't want to talk about that, we won't. Now that she has refused your exclusive distribution rights, what will you do next?" Sun Wenshi returned to the main topic.
"Even if we can't get exclusive rights, we must secure priority distribution rights. We must be the first to get any new products in the future." Xiang Tianyi stated.
"What if we can't even get that?" Sun Wenshi pressed.
Xiang Tianyi frowned. "Go ask first."
"Being this middleman relaying messages is quite tiring. Just consider all the possibilities at once. If priority rights can't be secured either, what will you do then?" Sun Wenshi wanted to clarify everything upfront.
Relaying messages back and forth is really exhausting.
"If even priority rights can't be secured, then..." Xiang Tianyi was getting annoyed by the questioning.
"Then no more cooperation?" Sun Wenshi finished the sentence.
"Then continue according to the original plan!" Xiang Tianyi said through gritted teeth.
Sun Wenshi was amused by his expression.
"If you had said that earlier, we could have signed a new contract just now."
"Do you know what negotiation is? It's called negotiation when there's back and forth." Xiang Tianyi gave Sun Wenshi a look.
"I don't know about your newfangled ideas. I'll ask for you again tomorrow when she comes. Now you can go home." Sun Wenshi shooed him away.
"Your wife invited me for dinner at your place today." Xiang Tianyi retorted with a cold snort.
"When did that happen? I didn't know." Sun Wenshi raised an eyebrow.
"Your wife specifically sought me out today."
"Hey, that woman doesn't discuss things with me anymore now."
"Is there any need to discuss with you? You're not the one cooking." Xiang Tianyi straightened his clothes. "I'm leaving first. Your wife said she stewed pig trotters for me today."
With that, Xiang Tianyi headed for the door.
"Hey, don't go alone, I'm coming with you." Sun Wenshi quickly got up and followed.
"..."
After leaving Sun Wenshi's office, Song Nianchu didn't leave immediately. Instead, she went to the front of the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some notebooks and pencils for Mu Shi'an.
Seeing some navy blue cloth on the shelves, she thought that the weather would soon turn cold. Mu Shi'an only had two or three thin pieces of clothing, which definitely wouldn't be enough.
So she bought some more cloth and weighed out some cotton, planning to have someone help make him two sets of clothes later.
She didn't forget Mu Haoxuan and Mu Yongnian either.
Just as she finished buying her things and was about to leave, she saw Sun Wenshi and a young man walking towards the back.
The man had his back to her, but from his silhouette and the way he walked, Song Nianchu recognized him.
Xiang Tianyi.
She knew it was him. That half-drunk cup of tea at Sun Wenshi's place was probably his too.
Actually, she thought Xiang Tianyi didn't need to be so roundabout. She was always very open to business that came her way.
Moreover, there were no irreconcilable conflicts between them. It was just a business deal that didn't work out. No need to make things so complicated.
But since he didn't show himself proactively, she didn't feel it was right to expose him. After all, she really didn't want to miss out on such a big business opportunity.
Song Nianchu withdrew her gaze, stuffed all her purchases into her basket, and then went with Wu Gang and the others to the market to buy ingredients.
What Song Nianchu didn't know was that the moment she turned away, Xiang Tianyi also looked back.
However, Song Nianchu's figure was blocked by Wu Gang at that moment, so he didn't see her.
"..."
By the time Song Nianchu and the others returned to Qinghe Fishing Village, everyone was already off work. Wu Gang and the others had to deliver the goods to the village office, so Song Nianchu went home first.
As soon as she entered the house, Song Nianchu called out,
"Haoxuan, Yongnian, come out quickly and see what I bought for you."
Mu Haoxuan and Mu Yongnian, who had been inside printing labels, hurried out.
Sister, what did you buy for me?" Mu Haoxuan asked, tilting his well-behaved little face up.
"Look!" Song Nianchu said, pulling out the cloth she had bought for Mu Haoxuan and the others from her basket.
"Wow, such pretty fabric." Mu Haoxuan's eyes lit up.
"This is for making your winter clothes. I also bought some cotton. It's time to change out of the clothes you're wearing." Song Nianchu smiled.
"Sister, you're so good to me!" Mu Haoxuan wrapped his arms around Song Nianchu's leg.
"Of course I am." Song Nianchu ruffled his hair.
"And what about you?" Mu Shi'an had walked over at some point without her noticing.
