Chapter 1905

Chapter 1905: Chapter 1905

Time moved to Saturday. Song Guanchao called Chairman Yao’s number to confirm the time and place for their meeting tomorrow.

When the call connected, after stating his intention, Chairman Yao paused for two seconds and said, "Sorry, I’m afraid I can’t make it tomorrow. You can meet with President Bao instead."

An unexpected change occurred in the scheduled appointment.

However, Song Guanchao could tell that the other party did not mean to break the appointment deliberately.

At Chairman Yao’s level, time was not really free.

He had no idea how many people wanted to see him.

A last-minute cancellation indicated there was something or someone more important that needed his attention.

In comparison, Song Guanchao, a deputy-level official, was indeed not that important.

Song Guanchao was not angry and expressed his understanding.

After hanging up, he waited a few minutes and a number called in.

"Is this Director Song, Song Guanchao?" a mature female voice sounded on the other end.

"Yes, it’s me. Are you President Bao?"

"Yes." President Bao replied in a gentle tone with a slight smile, "Tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning, on the 28th floor of Guojing Building, I will be waiting for Director Song at the company."

"Okay."

Having set the time, Song Guanchao called Zheng Ting again, informed her of the time and place, and told her to rest early tonight to gather her energy.

In the evening, Song Guanchao and Liang Jiajia had dinner outside, and when they returned, they enjoyed another passionate time together.

"Time to sleep," Song Guanchao checked the time; it was past nine.

"Why so early tonight?" Liang Jiajia clung to him like a snake, half her body wrapped around him.

"I have to discuss a project tomorrow."

"Then you should sleep early." Liang Jiajia removed her long, slender legs from his body, lest she arouse his inner fire again.

In the next room.

Zheng Ting also finished her bath and lay in bed early.

She widened her eyes, slowed her breathing, and listened to the wall. After a while, she murmured, "Why did it end so early tonight?"

From Thursday night until today, for two consecutive nights, it went on into the early morning.

She thought tonight would be the same. Unexpectedly, after a bath, the sounds were gone.

"Lack of restraint, must be exhausted," Zheng Ting pouted, whimsically assuming that Song Guanchao was out of energy after several days of activity.

...

The next day.

After freshening up, Zheng Ting went to the buffet restaurant and saw Song Guanchao quietly having breakfast at a table.

She carried her tray over and sat beside him.

Song Guanchao looked up at her, "Morning."

"Morning." Zheng Ting picked up her chopsticks and ate at a moderate pace.

After breakfast, the two returned for a quick adjustment and then met in the lobby to set off together.

The set time was ten o’clock, but for business talks like this, it’s better to be early than late.

At nine thirty, the two arrived at Walmart’s office in Beijing.

After registering at the reception, they were led into a meeting room.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the door of the meeting room opened, and the young woman from before said, "Mr. Song, President Bao invites you over."

"Okay." They followed the young woman to the general manager’s office.

The young woman knocked and opened the door, stood aside, and gestured with a smile for them to "please come in."

Entering the office, the first sight was a large floor-to-ceiling window.

At the height of the 28th floor, it offered an excellent view.

Unfortunately, today’s fog was heavy, reducing visibility and detracting from the view.

Their gaze slowly shifted to a nearly two-meter-long mahogany desk, behind which sat a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, hair slicked back, with a round face.

President Bao came around from the desk, extending a hand, "Hello, Director Song."

"Hello, President Bao."

They shook hands, exchanged brief pleasantries.

The young woman poured two cups of tea and closed the office door.

Song Guanchao was here to discuss the project, so he got straight to the point and stated his purpose.

After listening, President Bao said, "Sam’s is a high-end brand under our company. Opening a branch requires research, and the process is complicated and takes a long time."

Song Guanchao nodded in understanding and then discussed Jiangzhou City’s advantages and the demand for foreign supermarkets in the whole of Nanjiang Province.

President Bao listened carefully, and when Song was done, he said, "I will compile the contents of today’s discussion and report to the board during the company’s regular meeting."

Song Guanchao’s brow furrowed slightly. President Bao’s attitude seemed enthusiastic but was actually perfunctory.

This was different from what he had expected.

Even as a layman, he could tell that foreign supermarkets had significant market potential in Jiangzhou.

Once opened, it would certainly be profitable.

Yet President Bao did not seem overly interested in this.

Even if they didn’t lack cooperation, ultimately, the attraction of foreign supermarkets was strong, and the cities in the country that could meet their requirements were few and far between.

Jiangzhou was one of the few that could ensure a consumer base and was just within their supply chain range.

Because of this, Song Guanchao was increasingly baffled by President Bao’s attitude.

However, having met and talked, he really had no other choice.

Thus, the business talk they had prepared for days ended in a rather hasty manner.

The materials Zheng Ting prepared over several nights were not even used, leaving a sense of powerless punch into the air.

Leaving the office building, Zheng Ting looked sideways at him and asked, "President Bao doesn’t seem very interested in Jiangzhou."

Even she, as a professional, could tell, and whatever hope Song Guanchao had left dissipated.

"Let’s just go back." Song Guanchao’s confidence was somewhat shaken.

He couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

Jiangzhou City had geographic advantages, a consumer population, and the city government was willing to provide space and relevant policy incentives.

Before coming, Song Guanchao thought this business talk was almost a sure thing.

But the result was a complete turnabout.

Honestly, Song Guanchao found it hard to accept.

Seeing his expression, Zheng Ting knew he seemed shaken and wisely kept quiet.

Back at the hotel, Song Guanchao sat on a stool and smoked two cigarettes. The phone screen stayed on Cai Zixiang’s number.

He was contemplating whether to trouble Cai Zixiang again.

Rationality told him, facing a multinational giant like Walmart, even with connections as strong as Cai Zixiang’s, the effect would be greatly limited.

But if he just went back like this, he wasn’t reconciled.

Because he was sure that Jiangzhou had all the conditions to attract a foreign supermarket.

President Bao’s attitude must have some other reason.

After much thought, Song Guanchao decided to dial Cai Zixiang’s number.

After all, it couldn’t be worse than the current outcome.

"Brother Song, have you met with Chairman Yao?" Cai Zixiang asked with a smile.

He was very attentive to Song Guanchao’s affairs, knowing he was supposed to meet with Yao Xianwang today.

"Chairman Yao had a last-minute issue and arranged for me to meet with President Bao instead." Song Guanchao said with a wry smile.

Cai Zixiang, astute as ever, sensed a problem from his wry tone. "It didn’t go well?"

"It’s quite a blow." Song Guanchao sighed.

Cai Zixiang was taken aback; in all the years he’d known Song Guanchao, it was the first time he heard him sigh.

"Tell me what happened, I’ll give you some advice." Cai Zixiang had knowledge of near local leader-level familiarity with major cities in the country.

He was equally familiar with Jiangzhou City.

So, upon learning of Song Guanchao’s plan to introduce a foreign supermarket, his first thought was that there wouldn’t be any issues.

However, now there was indeed a problem.

His first thought wasn’t that his judgment was wrong.

As Mr. Gu’s secretary, he had a scalpel-like precision intuition for business.

If he instinctively felt a commercial project had no issues, ninety-nine percent of the time, it wouldn’t.

If there was a problem, there had to be another reason.