Chapter 1921:

Chapter 1921: Chapter 1921:

Upon hearing this, Song Guanchao immediately became energized.

"Tell me in detail."

"Chairman Li from Mingchuang Company found me this morning, saying someone approached them, wanting them to source all their raw materials from him in the future."

"Chairman Li certainly wouldn’t do that; his suppliers have been stable partners for many years, you can’t just change them on a whim."

"Not to mention the price, the quality can’t be guaranteed either, so he directly refused."

"The guy acted like a thug, leaving harsh words, saying if the suppliers weren’t changed, his company wouldn’t be able to continue."

"At first, I didn’t think much of it, but other companies started calling me one by one this morning, that’s when I realized the person had gone to all these companies."

Song Guanchao understood, the visiting self-promoting supplier thought these companies were newcomers and wanted to use intimidation and coercion to secure their supply chain.

This behavior is indeed quite gangster-like.

It’s the 21st century, and in a big city like Jiangzhou, there’s still someone so audacious.

It must either be some brash guy with a shady background or a second-generation entrepreneur trying to start a business.

"What’s the person’s identity?"

Zhou Xingjian directly took out a business card and handed it to him.

The business card was exquisite, with the title "Chairman of Jianghua Group," but it didn’t indicate what the business was about.

The chairman is named Yue Heng.

"What does this company do?" Song Guanchao casually put down the business card.

"A shell company," Zhou Xingjian said, "They do second-hand subcontracting work."

Song Guanchao suddenly realized, meaning this guy doesn’t really have the capability to provide raw materials to these companies.

He’s merely a middleman, first securing supply contracts with these companies, then finding downstream suppliers.

This kind of play is often common in government or state-owned enterprise projects.

"If they come again, have them report it directly to the police," Song Guanchao said.

He didn’t know if this Jiang Heng was someone from the underworld or a privileged second-generation official.

But none of that mattered.

He wasn’t a newcomer in Jiangzhou; when it came to officials or businessmen in Jiangzhou, he could hold his own against them.

With his assurance, Zhou Xingjian felt more at ease.

He’d been a civil servant at the City Government for many years, well aware of the myriad troubles a company could encounter from its establishment to its operation.

Many times, troubles didn’t arise from the market but came from various enforcement and governing departments.

Even companies that received direct orders from higher-ups couldn’t avoid being hassled by the troublesome minions.

Such trivial matters were difficult to discuss with the leaders.

After all, even high-ranking leaders wouldn’t truly pursue the ideal of absolute purity in governance.

If they did, who would still cooperate with you?

He’s now unsure if Jiang Heng has any official backing, but it doesn’t matter; with Song Guanchao’s intervention, even if Jiang Heng has connections, he doesn’t believe Jiang Heng could compete with Song Guanchao.

After Zhou Xingjian left, Song Guanchao pulled out the phone numbers of several foreign enterprises.

He had been back from Jinling for a while, and he needed to know exactly when these parties would come to inspect.

Though they said they didn’t need any reception from the local government, only conducting market-based inspections.

However, you couldn’t simply do as they said blindly.

Both domestically and internationally, society is about human connections; doing the reception well never hurts.

Three phone calls took half an hour, during which Song Guanchao obtained the exact times.

These three Japanese companies are all coming next week.

Next, he made a call to Yao Xianwang.

Just as he was about to hang up, Song Guanchao suggested arranging for someone to coordinate directly with him, so there would be no need to bother Yao Xianwang.

About five minutes after hanging up, a call came in from a Beijing number.

The caller was the head of the market department at Sam’s Supermarket, named Rao Yinyin, specifically responsible for the inspection in Jiangzhou.

Song Guanchao asked about the approximate date of the inspection and learned it would be next Thursday.

Having confirmed the specific inspection dates of these foreign enterprises, Song Guanchao noted them down in his notebook.

Next was the inspection itinerary.

Generally speaking, foreign enterprises have their complete set of inspection protocols.

But what Song Guanchao wanted was for all of them to set up in the Cultural Industrial Park.

This included Sam’s Supermarket.

He had roughly understood the distribution locations of Sam’s Supermarkets in other cities that had them.

Basically, they are located in relatively remote areas.

Because supermarkets occupy large areas and require equally large parking spaces, placing them downtown would be costly and inconvenient for traffic.

As for whether remoteness would lead to travel inconvenience, that’s not a concern at all.

Firstly, the consumer group of Sam’s Supermarket isn’t the average employee with a few thousand yuan in monthly salary but rather those close to middle-class.

This demographic typically owns cars, so they rarely rely on public transportation.

The Wensong District Cultural Industrial Park in Jiangzhou might be a bit far out, but it isn’t remote.

At least personally, Song Guanchao believed setting up the supermarket there would be the most appropriate.

The entire morning, he studied the location and routes of the industrial park.

After lunch, he leaned back in his chair for a brief nap.

Just as he was drifting off, the phone’s ring woke him up.

With a look of weariness, he opened his eyes, put his feet off the table, and grabbed his phone to see, it was Zhou Xingjian calling.

"Hello, Old Zhou, what’s the matter?"

"Director Song, the fire department just visited," Zhou Xingjian said, suppressing his anger.

The drowsiness immediately dissipated for Song Guanchao, and he asked, "Is it that Jiang Heng?"

"No one else but him."

"How many companies were checked?"

"Seven."

"What did the fire department say?"

"Fines and mandated corrective actions within a time limit."

"All right, I got it."

Song Guanchao hung up, muttering curses and grabbed his coat to head out.

These fire department guys must have eaten bear’s heart and leopard’s guts, don’t they know the industrial park was personally designated by Wu Qiangwei as a project?

They dared, at such a critical moment, to mess with him?

He drove to the industrial park, not making a single phone call during the journey; today he wanted to test whether he could intimidate these people from the fire department.

About half an hour later, he arrived at the industrial park and found Zhou Xingjian.

"Was it Wensong District’s fire department?"

"Yes."

"Come with me."

He pulled Zhou Xingjian into the car and headed straight for the Wensong District fire brigade.

The fire brigade was in the old town of Wensong District, next to the district bureau.

The main gate was spacious, enough for several fire trucks to enter and exit simultaneously.

On top of the main building structure at the back of the yard hung twelve red characters: Disciplined and strict, braving fire and water, dedicated to the people.

Looking at these twelve characters, Song Guanchao sneered.

"No parking allowed here."

A man about thirty years old walked out of the checkpoint booth at the entrance and waved to Song Guanchao’s car.

Song Guanchao rolled down the window, pointing at the pass under the windshield: "A City Government vehicle."

The man stared for several seconds, not knowing whether he was absent-minded or just dumb, and asked, "The leader didn’t mention anyone from the City Government was coming, is your pass fake?"

"..." Song Guanchao squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "Then call your leader and tell him Song Guanchao from the City Government has business with him."

The man realized it then, judging from the demeanor and tone, he had to be a leader from the City Government.

He quickly grinned, "Sir, don’t mind, I was just asking casually, I’ll open the door for you right away."

He walked back into the booth and opened the gate.

Song Guanchao drove into the yard, turned off the ignition, and walked with Zhou Xingjian towards the building.