Read Novel Full Chapter 129 Part 1 – Tasteless Scheme (I)
Chapter 129 Part 1 – Tasteless Scheme (I)
After beating up He Wei, Mao Huimei’s mood was significantly refreshed. Back at the Xinsheng Food Factory’s booth, she had intended to cover for someone else so that the others could take turns for lunch, but clearly, no one had time for that anymore.
A crowd had gathered in front of the booth, and the ingredients in the demo cart they had set up this morning were nearly depleted. Several salespeople were busy introducing the products to interested attendees. Xinsheng’s skewered hotpot had gained some recognition in Yan City by now. Items like fish balls and fish tofu were still relatively rare in the north, so the Xinsheng brand faced virtually no competition at this exhibition. Many retail business owners were showing genuine interest in their products.
Their main goal at this expo was to recruit agents. While the hotpot seasoning could be sold nationwide, products like fish tofu and fish balls were limited by transportation logistics and could only reach neighboring provinces at most. Expanding the market beyond that would require setting up branch factories. In these matters, Xia Wenyue already had experience and plans in place, leaving Xia Mian with nothing to contribute.
Mao Huilan went to help replenish ingredients and take care of miscellaneous tasks. Seeing that they weren’t needed, Mao Huimei pulled Xia Mian along toward the international booths she’d been eager to see.
The international section had its own designated area. There were fewer booths, but each one was three times larger than those on the domestic side, attracting sizable crowds. Nowadays, ordinary people are still curious about blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners, so many strolled over just to take a look. Those actually conducting business were all sharply dressed professionals.
Mao Huimei had recently thrown herself into learning English and was eager to test her progress, so she couldn’t resist edging closer to a booth where a negotiation was taking place to eavesdrop on the English conversation.
Although there was an interpreter, the person conducting the negotiation was clearly fluent in English, so the two sides were conversing directly. Apparently, the company was selling machinery for juice production factories. Xia Mian listened for a while and soon noticed a young man standing at the booth.
He looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, tall and slender, dressed in a white shirt and suit pants with a refined air about him. He was staring fixedly at the booth, trying to appear calm, though his tensed and splayed fingers and the flicker of self-encouragement in his eyes betrayed his anxiety.
After a moment, his gaze swept across the juices displayed at the booth. Clenching his fists with a do-or-die determination, he walked forward. The booth manager was still negotiating with a previous customer, so the young man went straight to the interpreter.
“Excuse me, do you deal in juice?”
“Do you accept apples? Our apples from Jingyi Mountain are very sweet. I’ve brought samples of our early-ripening variety. Please try them…”
He was probably extremely nervous, blurting out his pitch all at once. But what had caught Xia Mian’s attention was the words “Jingyi Mountain.”
Isn’t that the same place those unscrupulous buyers had just been discussing for their fruit purchases?
She looked at the young man thoughtfully. The interpreter, hearing his pitch, clearly found them amusing and replied politely, “We don’t buy apples here. For apples, you’d want to go to domestic companies, maybe a canning factory or a beverage company.”
The young man insisted, “But aren’t you making juice here? Doesn’t juice need apples?”
“Well, if it isn’t Teacher Fang?” A woman’s mocking voice rang out. “What brings you here?”
Xia Mian turned toward the voice. It was He Wei and his cousin. She looked back at the young man and immediately guessed his identity: he must be the Fang Yongpeng they’d mentioned earlier, the local high school teacher who tried to stop the fruit farmers from signing those unfair contracts.
Fang Yongpeng’s expression changed when he saw the woman, his tone sharp with anger. “He Min.”
He Min gave a faint smile, her eyes sweeping across the booth. When she saw the row of juices, she let out a knowing smirk. “What’s this? Teacher Fang was too proud to sell to us, so now you’re trying your luck with foreigners?”
Then she seemed to find it even more amusing. “What, are you planning to fly out hundreds of kilograms of fruit from your mountain? If you use trains, they’ll probably rot on the way.”
Fang Yongpeng frowned deeply.
He Min continued her mockery, “Too bad for you, this booth sells machines, not juice. Even if you flew the apples out, they wouldn’t take them.”
Fang Yongpeng had regained his composure. He looked at her and replied coldly, “That’s none of your business. We’ll handle our fruit however we see fit.”
“Teacher Fang,” He Min said with a laugh, “you’re in no position to say that.”
“When the harvest season passes, even if Jingyi Mountain’s fruit is the sweetest and best around, no buyers means it’ll all rot on the ground. By then, the villagers who trusted you and pinned their hopes on you might end up hating your guts.”
“At that point, we’ll be the ones they depend on for food and livelihood. So do yourself a favor and stop meddling.”
“You’ll only wear yourself out and gain nothing. What’s the point?”
Seeing Fang Yongpeng fall silent, He Min smiled faintly. “Suit yourself. Just don’t come begging us later.”
Noticing the sudden tension from He Wei, He Min followed his gaze and quickly spotted Xia Mian and Mao Huimei.
Clearly, He Wei had already told her about them. He Min smiled pleasantly and said, “Ah, so it’s Miss Xia. What a coincidence. You’re here too?”
Seeing the contempt in He Min’s eyes, it was obvious He Wei had badmouthed them to his cousin, likely spinning tales about how Xia Wenyue’s family clung to Young Master Ning thanks to Xia Mian’s life-saving grace, using any means to climb the social ladder.
Xia Mian couldn’t be bothered with the arrogant duo. Mao Huimei flat-out acted like she didn’t see them and walked straight toward Fang Yongpeng. She had guessed he must be the representative of the fruit farmers from Jingyi Mountain, probably forced to seek out the foreigners out of desperation.
He Min’s face darkened for a moment at being ignored by two nobodies. Seeing that the booth manager had just finished with the previous client, she raised her voice in English, “Sir, congratulations! This young lady is interested in purchasing your machines. Her family owns a very large factory.”
The manager immediately came over enthusiastically and reached out to Xia Mian. “Hello! My name is Charles.”
He Min’s English was simple enough that Mao Huimei understood it, and seeing Charles about to start a business conversation, she felt a bit awkward. It was an embarrassing situation: obviously, they weren’t there to do business, but backing out would make them look bad.
Even if it was just to save face, Mao Huimei didn’t want to give these two trash a reason to laugh at them.
Xia Mian clearly felt the same. She patted Mao Huimei’s hand reassuringly, calmly greeted Charles in fluent English, then turned back to the He cousins with a sweet smile, “I finally understand why He Wei’s so tasteless. It must be your family tradition, huh? Is your whole family this lacking in decency?”
He Wei snapped, “What did you say?”
“Did I say anything wrong?” Xia Mian glanced at He Min, then sneered at He Wei. “Your He family’s business must have been built on shady tactics. Otherwise, how could this kind of sleazy behavior come so naturally?”
Mao Huimei added, “What’s the point of talking to them? They used to be humble farmers themselves. Now that success has gone to their heads, what kind of integrity or class can you expect from people like that?”
He Wei flew into a rage. “What the hell are you to insult our He family?”
Mao Huimei shot back coldly, “Then what are you, daring to insult the Mao family? Ten years ago, your family wasn’t even doing better than mine! Trash!”
He Min snapped too, “We were being civil, but you’re really pushing it. Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you latched onto someone powerful!”
“I can do whatever I want.” Xia Mian raised her chin and looked at her with disdain, taunting them, “What can you do to me?”
He Wei and He Min both flushed bright red with anger.
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