Chapter 344: The Factory Showdown: Bargaining for Survival

“Stinson is the mastermind behind all this?”

Zhou Can could hardly believe it.

It was Stinson who signed the order with the Zhou family’s food processing factory. He was also the one who broke the deal. Now, it turned out he was the same man trying to buy up the custom food products.

Even if he’d been slow, Zhou Can finally understood who’d been pulling the strings.

“According to the information I have, the company that signed the contract with us is called Meida Foreign Trade Company. But Meida is really just a shell—the real boss is Stinson. So the person trying to swallow your family’s factory is probably him. Of course, he might have others backing him too. Give it time—they’ll show themselves soon enough.”

Yin Qin spoke with total confidence.

Little did Stinson know, the son of Boss Zhou had connections like Yin Qin—and together, they’d already set a trap, just waiting for him to step in.

With the Zhou family factory teaming up with Yin Qin’s foreign trade company, even someone as cunning as Stinson wouldn’t see it coming.

Unless he caught wind of the plan and gave up on getting his hands on the Zhou family’s prized factory.

But greed is stubborn, and men like him never walk away.

After all that planning, with the prize nearly in his hands, how could he resist reaching out to take a bite?

Once Zhou Can hung up the phone, Su Qianqian looked over with a shy smile.

“What’s got you so happy? Next time you’re on a call, don’t fool around—you about embarrassed me in front of all your friends!”

She was talking about the bite Zhou Can sneaked just moments ago. Being touchy-feely in front of others—especially his friends—made her blush like mad.

Since meeting Zhou Can, he had always struck her as calm and steady.

This was the first time she’d seen him get so excited and lose his composure.

“Hey, you’re my wife. Who’s going to laugh at you? I’ll let you in on a secret—my family’s factory crisis is about to be solved! Wait for me to come home a conqueror!”

After saying that, Zhou Can pulled her into a hug and sneakily stole another kiss.

It made her protest with a playful little fist.

“Then I’ll wait for your good news at the hotel.”

She was just as eager as he was.

If the Zhou family’s crisis really blew over, she and Zhou Can might be free to finally talk about marriage.

Marriage was no small thing; both families had their hurdles to clear.

Her first challenge would definitely be winning over Zhou Can’s parents.

She’d been here in his hometown four days already, and still hadn’t officially met his folks—no wonder she felt a little on edge.

Before Zhou Can even made it to the factory, his dad called.

“Son, great news! Someone finally came asking about the custom food we’ve got in storage!” Boss Zhou sounded thrilled.

“Dad, you promised me I’d get to call the shots with the factory. Don’t go back on your word.”

What Zhou Can worried about most was his father jumping at the first chance and selling off that batch of custom food behind his back.

“Ha! With a son like you, I’d hand you the keys to the whole factory right now. Your mother and I would love to take it easy.” Boss Zhou completely misunderstood his son’s concern.

He thought Zhou Can had gotten a taste for running things and wanted to take over the family business for good.

“Just don’t sell that batch of custom food—leave everything to me.” Zhou Can made sure to remind him.

Boss Zhou had been fretting for days, wondering how to get rid of that batch.

Suddenly, a buyer showed up eager to make an offer—even if it meant losing a little money, he’d probably have leapt at the chance.

He had no idea all these buyers were thanks to his son bringing in someone talented to work things behind the scenes.

If it wasn’t for Zhou Can, those custom products might rot before finding a buyer.

A dozen minutes later, Zhou Can arrived at the factory.

He headed straight for the warehouse.

His father had told him on the phone—he was bringing the customer over to check the goods.

Even from afar, Zhou Can spotted a man in a deep purple suit, with a neat center-part hairstyle, carrying a black briefcase and shoes polished to a mirror shine. Behind him trailed a shapely female secretary: tall, blonde, blue-eyed, with porcelain skin—an absolute knockout.

Boss Zhou and his wife were both there, personally showing them around.

No question, the couple was pulling out all the stops for this client.

“Dad, Mom!”

Zhou Can greeted his parents, then turned his attention to the young man and the secretary.

“Hello to you both.”

He nodded politely to the two.

If he had to guess, this must be the ‘fish’ Yin Qin mentioned.

The clients barely acknowledged him, responding with just a cool nod.

“Let me introduce you. This is Jiang Shan, purchasing manager for Meida Foreign Trade Company, and his secretary, Miss Vinia.” After introducing his son, Boss Zhou turned to the clients. “This is my son, Zhou Can. He handles everything at the factory now.”

Just one line and Zhou Can’s rank shot straight up in the room.

“So, who do we negotiate with for this batch?” Jiang Shan asked with a slight frown.

“With me, of course.”

Zhou Can took over without missing a beat.

Seeing the way his father seemed eager to please, he knew if he held back any longer, Boss Zhou would probably start groveling.

“Your parents just showed us the stock. To be honest, zero-additive food like this spoils fast. The flavors are all custom, sales channels are tight, and at this quantity—even our company can’t guarantee we’ll move these in the short term.”

Jiang Shan started nitpicking, looking for excuses to drive down the price.

Zhou Can stayed calm, refusing to respond.

Boss Zhou and his wife thought their son would struggle with business, that he wasn’t great with clients.

They almost stepped in, but Zhou Can shot them a look over his shoulder.

He was telling them to stay silent and let him handle it.

The couple caught on and immediately showed they were deferring to their son.

Jiang Shan rattled off complaint after complaint but couldn’t get a rise out of Zhou Can. He finally took a hard look at him, surprised.

For the first time, he saw Zhou Can as a true negotiator.

“You must’ve been sitting on this stock for days, huh?”

Jiang Shan tried another angle.

“Yeah, it’s been a little while.”

Zhou Can admitted it without batting an eye.

This kind of honesty made Boss Zhou and his wife anxious. In business, being too frank made you an easy mark. Their son was still too green.

“You see? If you can’t sell it after all this time, it means nobody wants this stuff. The market’s tiny.” Jiang Shan kept hammering the point, trying to devalue the goods.

Inside, he was delighted. Dealing with someone this green would make haggling a breeze.

He thought he’d have an easy time getting a bargain.

“A small market isn’t a problem. Look at you—you showed up to buy, didn’t you?” Zhou Can replied, unfazed.

“Well… this is our business, after all. Not many people in the country are in this line of work,” Jiang Shan said, realizing Zhou Can might not be such a pushover. “Mr. Zhou, to be straight, there’s probably only one or two firms in the entire country who do what we do.”

Jiang Shan made it sound like if Zhou Can didn’t sell to him, there’d be no other buyers.

“Is that so? What a coincidence. Just yesterday, two foreign clients got in touch, wanting to buy this same batch. If you’re in this trade, you must know them—a white guy with blonde hair, tall, and a black man who said he was Smith’s assistant, both rolling up in a Rolls-Royce Phantom.”

As Zhou Can described the two, he watched Jiang Shan and the secretary closely.

He could clearly see Jiang Shan’s expression shift.

“Manager Jiang, do you know these two? Is their company really that strong? When they talked to me, they acted like this batch was theirs already and promised a sky-high price.”

Zhou Can deliberately pressed for details.

Jiang Shan’s expression turned stiff. “I know they do business in this field, but I don’t know much else. Mr. Zhou, let’s skip all that and talk purchase price instead.”

His only goal was to buy the goods for rock bottom.

“Fine, let’s hear your offer.” Zhou Can prompted.

“Last time, we said twelve hundred per ton, which was admittedly low. We’ll bump it up to fifteen hundred a ton this round,” Jiang Shan said, pretending he was being generous.

“Looks like you’re not here to buy after all. If that’s your offer, you can see yourselves out.” Zhou Can cut him off, showing them the door.

His parents were in a panic—but since the price was so low, they held their tongues.

“Mr. Zhou, please don’t be upset! Our Manager Jiang was just joking with you earlier. We’re willing to offer fifteen thousand a ton for your food. Accept, and we’ll sign the contract today—a truck will come pick up the goods at once.”

The secretary quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

She upped their offer tenfold.

Boss Zhou and his wife were ecstatic. After struggling to sell these for so long, someone offering such a high price was incredible.

Even if it meant taking a loss, it was much better than letting the goods rot in storage.

“Miss Vinia, your offer shows some sincerity. But I’m afraid I still can’t accept. The price doesn’t even cover cost.”

Zhou Can shook his head, turning it down.

“Don’t forget, you’re lucky anyone wants to buy these at all. If you try and get clever about waiting for a higher price, you might end up with nothing. Miss your chance here and you’ll never get another offer!”

Jiang Shan kept playing hardball.

The secretary switched to a softer approach.

“Thanks for the warning, Manager Jiang, but the offer’s not up for negotiation. I have other things to attend to, so I won’t show you out. Please find your own way.” Zhou Can repeated his dismissal.

“Mr. Zhou, we understand your situation. How about this—let me call our president in East Asia and see if we can bump up the offer a bit.” The secretary tried again.

“If it’s just a little more, there’s no need to call, Miss Vinia. Don’t bother.”

Zhou Can’s unwavering stance had Boss Zhou so anxious he was about to stomp his foot.

Fifteen thousand per ton was already good money—why was his son driving such a hard bargain? If they walked now, they’d be left with nothing.

“What price would you accept, Mr. Zhou?” The secretary smiled.

“Less than one hundred and twenty thousand per ton? Forget it.” Zhou Can’s counteroffer left his father speechless. The secretary and Jiang Shan were just as stunned.

“Are you serious? One hundred twenty thousand per ton? At retail you can’t even get that much!” Only now did she realize the factory owner’s son was a serious negotiator.

He was far tougher than his parents.

“I’m very certain—less than one hundred twenty thousand a ton, and it’s not for sale.” Zhou Can stood firm.

“You’ve lost your mind. No one will ever buy at that price! Let it rot for all I care. Mark my words, it’ll all be wasted in the end.”

Jiang Shan stormed out.

Even Boss Zhou thought his son’s price was outrageous. In his mind, thirty-five thousand would just about break even, forty-one thousand and they could make a tidy profit. One hundred twenty thousand was insane—these were just regular food products, not miracle medicines.

Where was all that profit supposed to come from?

“Mr. Zhou, that’s way too high for us. We can’t accept it. Thirty-one thousand per ton is our absolute max. If you’re going to stick to that scary price, I guess we’ll have to leave it for another day.”

The secretary’s Chinese was impressively fluent.

She also spoke with poise and gentleness. Zhou Can even wondered if she was actually the true decision-maker.

Maybe Jiang Shan was just the pawn here.

Thirty thousand per ton—hearing that made his folks’ hearts leap. Even if they sold at that, they’d only be losing five thousand per ton. Totally acceptable.

And as soon as the stock was gone, the factory’s broken cash flow would start recovering in no time.

Boss Zhou was dying to agree. But he’d promised his son full control and meant to keep that promise.

He shared a look with his wife and both smiled.

Watching their son, their feelings had shifted from sighs of worry to deep admiration. Without his stubbornness, would the buyer even have bumped the offer?

If it had been up to them, they’d have sold at fifteen thousand per ton.

The price had doubled, and they saw their son in a new light.

“Turn right on your way out. Goodbye.”

Zhou Can gestured toward the door.

One moment, Boss Zhou was singing his son’s praises for keeping his cool. The next, he was almost in tears—he couldn’t believe his son was kicking out a client who’d come up to thirty thousand per ton.

Even if they wanted a bit more, wasn’t this a moment for polite negotiation?

His stubborn kid had sent them packing, no room to argue.

If they missed this chance, who knew if another buyer would ever come along?

“Fine, Manager Jiang, we’re done here!”

The secretary seemed genuinely annoyed now.

Face stone-cold, she grabbed Jiang Shan and left. If anything, this just proved she was the real boss while Jiang Shan was simply the front man.

“You’ll regret this.”

Jiang Shan called back as he left, tossing over his shoulder one last threat.

“Hey, hey…”

Seeing them really leaving, Boss Zhou panicked, ready to chase after them and say something to save the deal.

Zhou Can yanked him back.

“Let them go!”

“Have you lost your mind? They were offering thirty thousand per ton! Even if they could add a little, why throw them out?” Boss Zhou muttered under his breath, glaring at his son.

“You promised me full control. So don’t interfere. Even if these rot in storage—that’s on me.”

Zhou Can wouldn’t budge an inch.

This was also the first time he’d stood up to his father so directly.

He never noticed it before, but as he’d grown stronger, he no longer felt intimidated. Now, he faced his father with confidence and courage.

“You stubborn kid! If you’re going to ruin things, at least clear the factory debts and pay off the staff and suppliers first! If this shipment rots, how will we cover our bills? At thirty thousand per ton, that’s twenty-four million! Lose that and the whole batch will go to waste, not to mention the cost of disposal.”

Boss Zhou was nearly pounding his chest in frustration.

He and his workers had poured their sweat and blood into sourcing the ingredients and turning them into finished products.

Watching these goods rot in the warehouse would be worse than a knife to the heart.

“Dad, let me ask—what price did Stinson promise you per ton?”

“Fifty thousand per ton! But Mr. Stinson’s offer was already way higher than market rates. Under normal circumstances, forty-two thousand would be a great deal. This is food, not gold—go too high and no one will buy.”

Boss Zhou figured he still understood things better than his son.

“Just wait. If it’s not at least fifty thousand per ton, we’re not selling.”

Zhou Can didn’t hesitate for a second.

With Yin Qin backing him up, even if no one else bought, she’d guarantee to take the stock at forty-five thousand per ton and clear out their shelves.