Chapter 12: Reborn Little Red Robe

Be ruthless, loyal and generous enough. Su Pingnan believed this was the basis of his standing. Otherwise, how could someone with no backing get people to serve him wholeheartedly?

In Wucheng at this time, real estate development was basically zero. Bihai Estate was built on a whim by a few Wucheng tycoons who made a fortune flipping property in Hainan and acted on impulse. It didn’t sell well—the price of 50,000 yuan per 100 square meters scared everyone off.

Su Pingnan thought it was absurdly cheap. The neighborhood was in a great spot, right next to Wucheng No.1 Middle School—future school-district housing for sure. On a whim he bought ten units: five as rewards, five as a fallback.

He only had vague memories of stocks and real estate from his previous life, so he prudently focused on slowly consolidating in Tiannan Province and did not rush to do too much. He remembered Hainan prices were already shockingly high and would crash in June next year—many would suffer terribly.

Feeling everyone’s extremely moved gazes, Su Pingnan smiled and said, “You don’t need to say you’re moved—show me your gratitude by getting things done.”

“You must learn to drive quickly. I’ll assign one car to Ertai Town and one here at the company. Having a car now elevates your status—it’s not just convenient, it makes handling affairs go much more smoothly.”

Su Wenwen and the others were completely stunned. They were still dizzy from just being given a house, and now cars too? In this era, even a motorcycle was dazzling, but they were to drive cars. Their hearts swelled with passion but they didn’t know what to say. They could only bow deeply and feel that the only way they could ever repay Su Pingnan was with their very lives.

Su Pingnan turned and said to Zhang Tong, whose face had reddened with excitement, “Call Wei San at the South Station. He has dealings with the Gao brothers in Tiandu. Tell him I want him to broker and order cars.”

By the 1990s, many people had already gotten rich, mostly by making money along the coast. As inland tycoons increased, untraceable cars began to appear openly inland.

The Gao brothers had wide coastal connections and were car maniacs who loved modifying vehicles. After doing business along the coast for years and saving some capital, they returned to Tiandu and set up an auto modification shop on National Road X03, becoming the largest private car dealers in Tiannan Province.

They added markups but their cars were truly solid. At this time vehicle registration had no standards—paying some money and pulling strings would do. The Gao brothers were shrewd, especially the older brother. Later, they would gracefully retire from the risky trade and switch to being a brand agency. But at this time, they had basically monopolized sales of several top car brands in Tiannan.

People at Jinxiu Foods began to work like mad. Everyone below was putting in all their effort, wanting to give Su Pingnan a satisfactory result. Su Pingnan, because his mind was full of the era’s high-profit industries, was greedy and wanted to acquire more capital.

Gao Chengfeng and his brother cut deals based on one’s reputation, and orders never required deposits.

When he received the call from Wucheng’s Wei San he was a bit puzzled—when did such a badass newcomer pop up in Wucheng? He quoted 700,000 and to his surprise, the other side agreed immediately.

Even if Wei San failed to pay for the three black Toyota SUVs, he’d still be able to sell them without any trouble. But if there was no payment for the two other refrigerated trucks, he’d definitely lose money on the deal.

After much thought, he decided that Wucheng’s Wei San was also a figure worth trusting. The Gao brothers couldn’t bring themselves to demand a deposit and gritted their teeth to agree.

When the cars arrived, Gao Chengfeng immediately notified Wei San. Wei San answered and said he’d go inform Little Red Robe—and then there was no further response.

The Gao brothers looked at each other, inwardly uneasy—this deal wasn’t small, and having it collapse in their hands would be hard to bear.

Wei San was crippled in one leg, but a veteran in these circles. He was careful and cautious and very honest, so he was well-established on Wucheng’s scene.

He called for ten minutes and always got a busy signal, so in a panic, he limped off to Su Pingnan’s food factory. In his anxiety, he moved with surprising speed.

Su Pingnan was nearly going mad from busyness—the opening was just over 20 days away, and everything was going so smoothly he began to doubt its reality.

Li Zhiyu, struck by some kind of frenzy, began shipping three truckloads, and pine nuts within a hundred li around Ertai Town were bought up clean. Su Wenwen’s efficiency was also terrifying. Contracts from several other townships were signed until his hand grew tired. Piles of pine nuts flowed into Ertai Town like a mountain.

Guo Guangyao negotiated even more smoothly. The cash-starved government turned green with envy the moment they heard about the extent of Su Pingnan’s investment and taxes, and the words “building the largest storage facility”. All procedures were greenlit. When Su Pingnan signed, 500 mu was sold to him as though he was buying cabbages—shockingly cheap at one million. These lands fell into Jinxiu Foods’ hands. With foundations just laid and no walls up yet, Su Wenwen had already worked furiously to pile the pine nuts mountain-high inside.

Seeing everyone else working so hard while her own progress lagged and the date approaching, Zhang Lihua steeled herself and simply wasted time drinking with Yang Qianli and the relevant departments.

As a result, Su Pingnan’s shipments in Wucheng were booming but he had no one available, so he had to go into action himself. The factory phone was ringing non-stop with daily orders—how could he possibly answer Wei San’s call?

As he walked, Wei San cursed himself for being blinded by the commission from this big deal. Neither the Gao brothers nor Little Red Robe were particularly honest people—if something went wrong he’d be doomed. He had only heard that Little Red Robe was making a lot of money, but he was exactly the sort who would earn big and lose big on a whim. He prayed hard that everything would go well.

But when he rushed to Little Red Robe’s food factory and saw Little Red Robe’s appearance, he was stunned by the scene before him.