Wu Jun told everyone to rearrange the booth, then headed for the main entrance.
As he passed the Meng Zalang booth, Wu Jun felt a gaze locked onto him, following his every move. The last time he’d had this feeling of being watched was when Ma Siyu had tailed him and Chen Lin to the movies.
When he reached the entrance, Wu Jun turned around. He pointed at the simple, temporary office set up behind the Meng Zalang booth, gave it the middle finger, and sneered before turning to leave.
"Damn it! That kid is still so arrogant. I really want to rush out there and beat the crap out of him!" a young man about Wu Jun’s age cursed inside the simple office after seeing the gesture.
A middle-aged man smoking next to him asked, "How are things over at Hongyun?"
"Don’t worry, Brother Feng. I guarantee they won’t sell a single bag today. The big afternoon order is definitely ours." The young man turned and said with a smile, "This Hongyun Rice distributor is really something else. He sells it cheap outside, but now that he’s in the expo, he’s raised the price to nearly double ours. He must be insane for money!"
This "Brother Feng" the young man mentioned was none other than He Qingfeng, the general distributor for Meng Zalang in Ji Bei Province.
"You guys who came with me from back home are the only ones I can count on. That bitch Jiang turned around and sold me out," He Qingfeng said, grinding out his cigarette butt in the ashtray with an angry snort. "If you can rely on a woman, pigs can fly."
Two days ago, when He Qingfeng saw that the Hongyun Rice distributor had actually sent people to set up their booth, he had called his old classmate, Jiang Han, to probe for information. Only then did he find out that she had already issued their permit.
She even claimed the company handling the permits was her brother-in-law’s, and she couldn’t possibly block her own brother-in-law. He Qingfeng could only scoff. ’Blocking a permit gets her a "brother-in-law"? If it was really your brother-in-law’s company, would you have even agreed to help me in the first place?’
He couldn’t rely on anyone else; he had to handle this himself. He Qingfeng had his workers from his auto repair shop come and cause trouble, while also bribing the expo’s security staff.
Last time, Hongyun Rice had snatched the Industrial and Commercial Bank order from him. This time, he absolutely could not let them steal the big order at the Rice Expo.
A month ago, in order to upgrade to a higher-tier distributorship and get a more favorable wholesale price, He Qingfeng had placed a one-time order for 5,000 tons of rice from headquarters. The payment was over one hundred million yuan. He didn’t have enough cash on hand, so he had to borrow over sixty million from his old classmate, Luo Zhengang, and even mortgaged his several auto repair shops to the bank.
He originally thought he would have no trouble selling it all. Meng Zalang had always sold well in Shimen. Between his four specialty stores scattered across the city and the restaurants he supplied, he should have been able to move those 5,000 tons in less than half a year.
But who would have thought that Hongyun Rice would appear out of nowhere? Not only did it steal the Industrial and Commercial Bank order, but it also poached many of his restaurant clients. Even business at his specialty stores plummeted.
Normally, he could move about 1,000 tons of rice a month. This past month, he hadn’t even sold 100 tons. Hongyun Rice had become a complete thorn in He Qingfeng’s side.
This was all because of Hongyun Rice. One wrong move, and he could lose everything and be utterly ruined.
He Qingfeng said, "He Qiang, keep watching the Hongyun booth. If you need more men, call them over from the auto repair shop."
"Got it, Brother Feng," He Qiang replied, and went back to coordinating his men in the employee group chat. The current group had been at the Hongyun booth for over an hour. They’d had their fill of rice, so it was time for a new shift.
Today, all one hundred or so employees from the auto repair shop had come on empty stomachs, just waiting for Hongyun Rice to be served.
...
After leaving the building, Wu Jun took out his phone and called Dong Shanshan.
"What’s this, Mr. Wu? You’re actually calling me first for a change." Dong Shanshan was very surprised to receive his call and asked with a laugh.
Wu Jun got straight to the point. "Sister Shanshan, I remember you saying you have a branch here in Ancient City, right?"
"Yes, I do," Dong Shanshan said. "Are you in Ancient City right now? I’ll call the restaurant; go on over and eat whatever you like, it’s on me."
"Thanks, but that’s not it," Wu Jun said. "I was hoping you could do me a favor, Sister Shanshan."
Dong Shanshan laughed. "Don’t beat around the bush with me. Just spit it out."
Wu Jun dropped the pretense. "I need your restaurant to send some cooked rice over to me. As much as they can possibly steam. The more, the better. I’ll be waiting outside the Ancient City Rice Expo to receive it."
"Using your rice? Okay, I understand. I’ll call them right away. I’ll give your number to the branch manager, and he’ll contact you when he’s on his way," Dong Shanshan confirmed before hanging up.
’Let’s see you finish it all this time. Eat till you burst,’ Wu Jun chuckled, pocketing his phone. He turned, opened his car door, got in, and shut it.
The Hongyun Rice was being devoured the moment it was ready, leaving no chance for it to even be properly displayed. His call to Dong Shanshan had solved that problem.
The issues with the venue and the display were now resolved. As for attracting attention, that was an even smaller matter for Wu Jun.
He took out the phone bound to his [Resource Tycoon] system and tapped [Summon Farmer].
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Six Farmers, dressed in sharp suits and with imposingly built figures, appeared inside the car, filling the remaining six seats.
With six behemoths suddenly appearing inside, the car rocked and sank noticeably lower on its suspension.
These were the same six he had taken to teach a lesson to Zhuang Lei, that "Brother Lei" from International Village. They were still wearing the expensive suits he had bought for them last time.
Wu Jun felt that six giants, each over two meters tall, would be far more eye-catching than the models inside the exhibition hall.
After all, seeing one hulk of this size was a rare sight, let alone six of them appearing at once.
"Boss Wu, what can we brothers do for you?" asked Xiao Hong, the Farmer sitting closest to Wu Jun, his tone eager.
"First, you can give me some room..." Wu Jun said with a wave of his hand. "Xiao Hong, get out of the car and wait for a minute."
"You got it!" Xiao Hong obeyed without a second’s hesitation, doing exactly as Wu Jun commanded. He opened the door, got out, and cleared up some space.
Wu Jun operated his phone again, taking out a sack of Super Rice from the game. He filled a small bag with some of it, then returned the large sack to the game’s inventory.
His plan to attract attention had two parts. The first was Xiao Hong and his crew, the "F6" combo. The second was the aroma of the rice.
The aroma of ordinary rice would be lost in the mixed scents of hundreds of other rice varieties, but the fragrance of the Super Rice should be able to cut through the noise and completely overpower the competition.
Of course, this small bag of Super Rice was just bait. The mission would be accomplished as long as he could secretly let its aroma waft out.
After waiting in the car for about forty minutes, Wu Jun received a call from the manager of Dong Shanshan’s branch restaurant. He and his men had arrived outside the Rice Expo and were asking for Wu Jun’s location.
Wu Jun led his "F6" group to meet them. When the delivery crew saw the six behemoths, their jaws dropped in amazement. After a quick word with Wu Jun, they all scrambled to take out their phones for pictures with the giants.
"Mr. Wu, will this be enough? If not, I can go back and get more," the branch manager said. He had brought four large steam cabinets in two small trucks. Each cabinet held 10 large trays, and each tray contained five or six pounds of cooked rice.
"Thanks. How much is it? Let me pay you," Wu Jun said, taking out his phone to scan a payment code.
The manager frantically waved his hands. "No, no, you’re too kind, Mr. Wu! Ms. Dong gave strict orders. She said if I dared to charge you a single cent, I’d be working for free this month."
Hearing this, Wu Jun didn’t press the issue. He thanked the manager again and had Xiao Hong and the others carry the trays toward the convention hall.