Reborn in 1985: From Selling Braised Duck to Becoming the World's Richest Man

"Director Liu, is something wrong in the cafeteria?" Liang Ming asked.

"It's a bad thing, but also a good thing. Ever since you started selling your braised duck in the steel mill's canteen, all the workers in the factory have been coming to eat there."

Liu Ming said with a Versailles-like air.

"Now, as soon as it's mealtime, they clamor for braised duck, and they won't have it any less than that."

In the past, steelworkers often brought their own lunch from home.

If half of the workers come to eat in the canteen, that's considered pretty good.

Now that the canteen has braised duck, the workers are more willing to come and eat it.

Liu Ming was also pleased to see this.

Most importantly, the factory's top leader happened to pass by the factory canteen yesterday and saw so many workers eating there. This morning, he specifically praised Liu Ming's outstanding abilities at the workers' meeting.

I heard that because of this incident, the factory's top leaders have taken a better liking to his brother-in-law and might even promote him to deputy factory director by the end of the year.

"Then I'll stay here and wish Director Liu all the best in your business." After learning this information from Liu Ming, Liang Ming congratulated him with a smile.

"Of course, of course." Hearing Liang Ming's compliment, Liu Ming was in a great mood and felt very grateful to Liang Ming.

If it weren't for Liang Ming's braised duck, his and his brother-in-law's status in the factory wouldn't have risen so quickly.

After having the canteen staff move 100 braised ducks inside, he readily settled the payment for the braised ducks with Liang Ming for 450 yuan.

"Brother Liang Ming, as long as I work at the steel mill canteen, we'll cooperate on this braised duck business!"

Before Liang Ming left, Liu Ming patted his chest and assured him.

If an ordinary person heard this, they would probably be extremely grateful to Liu Ming.

This is a business that makes more than 400 yuan a day, which adds up to tens of thousands of yuan a month.

Liu Ming's words were tantamount to promising that an ordinary person could become a millionaire in just one month!

"This Liu Ming is a remarkable person. If his brother-in-law really gets promoted to deputy factory director, perhaps we can do him another favor..."

On the way to Xiangmanlou Restaurant, Liang Ming thought to himself.

He remembered that in his previous life, a major event had occurred at this steel plant this year.

Because of this incident, the entire leadership of the steel plant, from top to bottom, was dismissed.

The leaders sent from above later knew nothing about the operation of the steel plant, which led to the plant's rapid decline.

By the late 80s, with the reform of state-owned enterprises, steel mills went bankrupt and closed down, and many steel mill workers were laid off and became unemployed, spending their days idly, which had a great impact on social order at the time.

If I could have prevented that incident from happening in advance, perhaps I could have changed the fate of this steel plant!

While pondering, Liang Ming arrived at the back door of Xiangmanlou Restaurant in the county town.

"So you're the vendor who supplies Xiangmanlou Restaurant with mountain produce and freshwater seafood? From today onwards, you don't need to supply Xiangmanlou with your mountain produce and freshwater seafood anymore, give it all to me."

Just as Liang Ming parked the mule cart, he heard an arrogant voice coming from the side.

He turned his head and saw a fat middle-aged man wearing a jacket looking up at him with his nose.

"Who are you?" Liang Ming frowned, feeling very uncomfortable with the other party's attitude.

"My name is Bai Shi, and I am the director of the county's state-run restaurant. You can call me Director Bai."

Bai Shi arrogantly walked up to Liang Ming and rudely rummaged through the wild mushrooms and vegetables on the mule cart:

"These mountain products are of average quality. I'll give you a discount of 5 cents per pound, which is a great deal!"

Seeing Bai Shi's arrogant attitude and hearing his offer, Liang Ming was furious.

"5 cents a pound? That's a really high price!"

He buys these mountain products for 2 cents a pound each, not to mention the transportation costs from Liangjia Village to the county town.

I don't know how thick-skinned the people at this state-run restaurant must be to dare to offer such low prices.

"Just know that my price is high, and hurry up and send it to the county state-run restaurant. If you're late, I'll have to negotiate a lower price."

Shiraishi said arrogantly.

In his view, cooperating with this country bumpkin was already doing the other man a favor.

On ordinary days, countless suppliers with letters of introduction come to him seeking cooperation, but he always turns a blind eye.

“Then go ahead and sell it. I never intended to sell it to your state-run restaurant anyway.” Liang Ming said coldly, “Excuse me, please move aside. I still need to deliver goods to Xiangmanlou Restaurant.”

Bai Shi was taken aback by Liang Ming's words; he hadn't expected Liang Ming to refuse to cooperate with the county's state-run restaurant.

"Kid, do you know what you're saying?"

"Do you realize you missed a chance to make a fortune?!"

After hearing this, Liang Ming found it even more ridiculous: "The opportunity to make a fortune you're talking about? You don't mean a price of 5 cents a pound, do you? With such a low purchase price, I can't even make back my costs."

"Young man, you're so young, don't always think about making money. You need to understand the principle that suffering a loss is a blessing!"

Shiraishi said in a very serious tone:

“Supplying mountain and river delicacies to our state-run restaurants may not be as good as the market price, but you can build up your network, which will be helpful for your future business.”

Upon hearing Bai Shi's fallacy, Liang Ming scoffed, "Sorry, I do business to make money!"

"I'm still young, and my stomach is still sensitive, so I can't afford to suffer any losses."

"You..." Bai Shi's face darkened when he saw Liang Ming being so disrespectful.

Just as he was about to reprimand Liang Ming, a mature female voice came from the back door of Xiangmanlou Restaurant.

"Director Bai, isn't it against the rules for you to poach my suppliers like this?"

Jiang Meizhuang walked out of the back door with a sullen face, looking at Bai Shi with displeasure.

Today she was wearing a plum blossom cheongsam, her pair of snow-white legs were encased in flesh-colored stockings, and her delicate pink feet were covered in red high heels, exuding a charming and alluring aura.

Upon seeing Jiang Meizhuang, Bai Shi's expression turned slightly awkward, but he quickly returned to normal.

"Boss Jiang, what are you saying? Doing business is all about mutual consent. What do you mean by digging or not? That sounds awful."

Shiraishi, shameless as ever, said.

Seeing that Bai Shi was still arguing, Jiang Meizhuang's face turned somewhat ugly, but she also knew that in business, the highest bidder wins.

The crux of the problem lies with Liang Ming.

"Brother Liang Ming, what kind of acquisition price did Director Bai offer you? I can add more money!"

Jiang Meizhuang looked somewhat nervous as she finished speaking.

After all, Xiangmanlou's financial resources couldn't compare to those of the county's state-run restaurants.

If Shiraishi's offer is too high, she may not be able to compete with him.

Hearing Jiang Meizhuang's words, Liang Ming smiled and said, "Sister Meizhuang, this county-run restaurant is indeed very wealthy. You probably can't afford the price they're offering!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Meizhuang's heart tightened.

It's so hard to see that Xiangmanlou Restaurant's business is finally picking up. Is it going to end up losing to a state-owned restaurant?