Before anyone could raise any questions, Lu Fan circled a few more landmarks:
"The places you see now, next to our Baiyue Supermarket, are the locations of the Guangyuan branch under Zheng Hongshan's leadership!"
With such a direct comparison, not only Li Fang, but also Jiang Manyue and Chang Fei, who had little understanding of the branch and Guangyuan, noticed the problem.
Li Fang said in surprise:
"Hey, why is Guangyuan located right next to our Baiyue store?" "Does they have a grudge against us? Why are they targeting us like this?"
Jiang Manyue shook her head and reminded her:
"Second sister, Guangyuan has been in Nanshan City for quite some time, while our Baiyue has only just opened for business."
Therefore, the only possibility is that several of Baiyue's branches were opened next to Guangyuan's store!
Even if it's a targeted attack, Baiyue is targeting Guangyuan more.
Lu Fan said with a wry smile, "When we were acquiring it, we only thought that it would be more convenient if it was next to a residential area or community with more people."
"I didn't expect Guangyuan to choose such a location. If I say it wasn't deliberately targeted, people probably won't believe me."
Chang Fei also saw through the meaning: "But in this way..."
He glanced at his wife, Li Fang, and then at Lu Fan.
Lu Fan gestured for his brother-in-law to continue, and Chang Fei gave a simple, honest smile:
"I think that since Baiyue is currently running an opening promotion, and the two stores are so close together, there's no reason why they shouldn't be affected."
Jiang Manyue pondered for a moment and asked, "You mean to say that the opening of Baiyue's new store has significantly impacted Guangyuan's sales performance?"
"But that doesn't make sense either. Baiyue is Baiyue, but Guangyuan also has its own regular customers."
"There's no reason why, just because of Baiyue's appearance, this General Manager Zheng from Guangyuan would suddenly come and say that he wants to continue cooperating with Lu's Food Factory."
Li Fang also had her own thoughts. She hesitated and asked, "Could it be that they know that the Lu family is connected to the owner of Baiyue?"
That makes sense.
But how could Zheng Hongshan, an outsider transferred from another place to Nanshan City, have the connections to know that Baiyue and Lu's Food Factory are owned by the same company, both being brands under Fanyue Real Estate Company?
Lu Fan thought it was going to be tough.
Chang Fei added on behalf of his wife, "Judging from the food factory's sales figures for the past two months, the actual sales volume all occurred at Baiyue Supermarket."
"Could it be said that Baiyue's promotions caused Guangyuan's condiment sales to plummet?"
Jiang Manyue frowned, glancing at Chang Fei and then at Lu Fan:
"Impossible. It's just one or two months of sales. And it's only because we're a new store opening. Can't this Mr. Zheng even wait that long?"
Although Lu Fan was also unsure of General Manager Zheng Hongshan's character, Chang Fei and Li Fang's analysis was already quite comprehensive:
"It's not impossible. Zheng Hongshan's arrival in Nanshan City was sudden." "Zhou Huan resigned, and Guangyuan's headquarters did not choose the local branch manager to succeed him."
"Firstly, it's possible that the branch managers are incompetent. Of course, this possibility is extremely slim. After all, they're all just working for someone else. If they can become branch managers, it's unlikely that they can succeed as the head manager."
"Either Zheng Hongshan has some extraordinary abilities, but that seems unlikely now."
After eliminating all the impossibilities, only one option remains.
Lu Fan laughed and said, "I'm afraid the managers of these branches are also familiar with Zhou Huan, and it's even very likely that Zhou Huan personally promoted them."
"It seems that after Zhou Huan left, Guangyuan headquarters still wanted to plant some landmines in the supermarkets, or perhaps the store managers of several branches also wanted to leave, which is why they urgently transferred this head store manager from the neighboring city."
This explanation is reasonable, but it wasn't the focus of their casual conversation.
Li Fang confirmed with Lu Fan again whether they should continue cooperating with Guangyuan, or rather, Zheng Hongshan:
"At least there will be some sales volume, which will bring Baiyue and Guangyuan to the same level."
Li Fang was thinking about the immediate situation, while Lu Fan was thinking about the long term:
"The initial refusal by Guangyuan led to the formation of Baiyue today. It was because of this that we were able to cooperate.
Isn't this point clear enough?
Previously, Guangyuan was Lu Fan's, or rather Lu's Food Factory's, backstabber, but now, Guangyuan has become Baiyue's rival.
A competitor!
Lu Fan would naturally hesitate when faced with a collaboration proposal from a competitor.
However, this hesitation didn't last long, and soon a definite answer was given:
"No, we absolutely cannot cooperate."
Li Fang was somewhat surprised, but the company's business was all Lu Fan's own. She had always just followed orders and rarely had her own opinions.
Although he was also somewhat puzzled, he didn't ask Lu Fan anything. It was Chang Fei, the outsider, who asked first:
"That's why. With Guangyuan's help, the soy sauce factory's sales are at least guaranteed."
Lu Fan shook his head and carefully explained the situation to him:
"We can't look at things too one-sidedly. In the short term, the renewed cooperation with Guangyuan is indeed beneficial to our food factory."
“But now we own more than just food factories; we also own Baiyue, and other businesses and operations.”
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