Zhou Huan was thinking about the approximate amount of the shop rent, and also about the competition from peers who might eventually take advantage of Baiyue.
But Zhou Huan didn't hesitate for long before nodding and saying affirmatively:
"Since President Lu has such courage, then I'll also pledge my commitment!"
"If I can't make Baiyue profitable within six months, I, Zhou Huan, will resign and never work in the supermarket industry again in my life."
It's unacceptable to have a good general at the top, but a bunch of bad soldiers under his command.
Lu Fan also admired Zhou Huan's character and conduct, and after hearing his words, he nodded in satisfaction.
Lu Fan initially felt that the arrangement for Zhang Hong was not quite right, but after thinking about it, he decided to let Zhang Hong continue to follow Zhou Huan:
“You’ve worked together for so long, you have your own tacit understanding. It wouldn’t be right for you to be building an empire while I’m holding you back.”
With Lu Fan's words, Zhang Hong once again became his old classmate's driver and assistant.
Zhou Huan was happy. Zhang Hong had no grand ambitions, and he really felt sorry for his parents for giving him such an ambitious name!
He felt that following his old classmate, his salary had increased by two thousand, his job duties were more streamlined, and the work atmosphere was more relaxed—all of which were great things!
All three parties were delighted and satisfied.
In business, your success may not be everyone's. Just as Zhou Huan had predicted, trouble soon came knocking.
"Manager Zhou, the contract is all negotiable, but I heard that Baiyue has allowed that Lu's brand, which has a terrible reputation, to be listed on the shelves?"
"If this escalates, won't it affect our supply as well?"
The first to approach Zhou Huan was Guangyuan Supermarket's largest supplier and one of its distributors.
Food products have high profit margins and account for a large proportion of profits in almost all major supermarkets.
This was true for Guangyuan Supermarket Laiyue, and it is also true for Baiyue now.
Although Director Qiu, who came to the door, was very satisfied with the terms of the newly signed contract, he began to worry after hearing rumors that Baiyue had put the Lu's brand on the shelves.
Although the new contract saved him, the distributor, nearly ten million in additional expenses.
But Director Qiu was still very worried about Baiyue's actions, which ultimately led to their distributors and manufacturers being unfairly blamed as well.
Don't ruin your reputation before you even make nearly ten million!
Director Qiu then rushed over excitedly to dissuade him:
"Manager Zhou must have been fooled by those scoundrels. Didn't he know that Lu's Group is on our industry's blacklist?"
"Let's take it off the shelves while there aren't many customers yet." Director Qiu was practically spitting out smoke as he spoke, and Zhou Huan's expression changed several times before he finally said:
"To be honest with Director Qiu, our Baiyue and the Lu family are one family."
Director Qiu was speechless, choking back a gasp: "Wh-what? Which Lu family?"
Zhou Huan forced himself not to look at the distributor who supplied Baiyue with an idiot's gaze, and said with a forced smile:
"How many Lu families are there? Isn't it just the one you mentioned that's on the blacklist?"
After thinking about it, I realized that Director Qiu's special reminder was well-intentioned, but he just did something wrong.
Ignorance is no excuse.
Zhou Huan saw no need to argue with someone who was unaware of the situation, so he softened his tone and explained the whole story to Director Qiu:
"So, we're really family now, it's just that the company isn't big yet and we haven't formed a group."
Director Qiu was just too shocked to react. He came here with good intentions to complain, but who would have thought that the owner behind Baiyue also runs the Lu's Soy Sauce Factory brand?
They've really gone so far as to complain to the master of the house.
Director Qiu himself was also at fault, and he didn't seem to care about Zhou Huan's attitude; he just still had some doubts in his mind.
"Could it be that your boss upstairs couldn't stand seeing his products being blacklisted?"
"So that's why you started your own chain of supermarkets, planning to sell your own goods, right?"
Seeing Zhou Huan nod, Director Qiu's hope was dashed.
I admire the boss here.
But Director Qiu wasn't as reckless as others; he really dared to gamble his own business and money on luck.
Although somewhat embarrassed, Director Qiu still apologized:
"Manager Zhou, when we signed the contract, we really didn't know that the upstream company belonged to your Lu family."
"In that case, a lot of things will have to be changed. For example, I can't possibly sell some big brands, like the brand of a top-tier company like Shengjing Company, here."
Director Qiu dared not take the blame, but he was also really concerned about the contract terms given by the Lu family.
He was a classic example of someone who wanted everything and wanted to have it all. He hesitated for a moment, then thought of a way to continue the cooperation:
"We can't supply top-tier brands to Shengjing anymore, but we can still cooperate with those low-end domestic brands and miscellaneous brands. What do you think?"
Zhou Huan was almost laughing in anger at Director Qiu's shamelessness.
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