Chapter 8: Su Pingnan Enters The Market

When the train arrived at the station it was already 7 p.m. Su Pingnan had already become familiar to the train staff. Everyone had been short of income, so they treated Su Pingnan—someone who could bring profit—with great courtesy.

Stepping out of the door, Su Wenwen and two others that Su Pingnan didn’t recognize had long been waiting on the platform.

Upon seeing Su Pingnan get off, Su Wenwen quietly introduced him to the two Lis, then led the two men over quickly to greet him. Because this was not the terminal station, Zhang Jianguo naturally could not accompany them further, but he still stepped off to exchange a few words with everyone before hastily boarding again.

Ertai Town currently did not have any decent hotels, so Li Zhiyu and the others chose a very distinctive restaurant to host a banquet for Su Pingnan. Fengcheng had not banned hunting yet, so the restaurant offered many wild dishes. Besides the usual braised wild chicken with mushrooms and wild boar or roe deer, the two Lis specially asked the owner to prepare a bear paw for Su Pingnan to try.

Li Zhiyu and Li Qiang had heard about Su Pingnan often over the past days from Su Wenwen and Guo Guangyao, so when they met in person they were extremely warm. Plus Su Pingnan looked very presentable—sharp black dress pants with a light blue shirt gave him an elegant air, and his movements were full of confident dominance. Li Zhiyu and Li Qiang were instantly impressed and felt that what Su Wenwen and the others had said was not exaggerated.

Su Pingnan’s dress had taken on a later-generation business-elite style—he simply could not bear the image of a shaved head, tattoos, and flared pants, so he spent a lot on grooming. What he didn’t realize was that this change quietly inspired imitation among the young people hanging around the station. Su Wenwen, unfortunately continued to dress the old way because he remained in Ertai Town the whole time.

Su Pingnan naturally took the seat of honor. Zhang Tong, with good discernment, took from his bag Zhonghua cigarettes and handed a pack each to Li Zhiyu and Li Qiang. Su Pingnan understood that at a first meeting, a successful business deal depended on one being generous and openhearted. At that time, Zhonghua cigarettes were an uncompromising luxury. Their impact on the two men’s senses was no less than flashing a 100,000-yuan bag in front of a materialistic woman.

People in Ertai Town were mostly mountain folk and quite bold in character. Stunned by the generous meeting gifts, Li Qiang and Li Zhiyu excitedly downed three rounds in succession. A one-liang cup taken six times equaled six liang, and they were drinking the local pure-grain liquor that was higher than 50% alcohol. Even Su Pingnan, with his strong constitution, began to feel his face flush as he drank rapidly.

Once the wine was downed, the atmosphere immediately livened. Su Pingnan knew his pine-nut business was not a one-off deal. He signaled to Zhang Tong to fill his cup, and Su Pingnan raised his glass.

Seeing everyone lift their glasses, Su Pingnan said, “We’re using your blessed lands to make money today, so it’s only right that everyone profits. From now on, for every ton of goods moved, I’ll give each of you brothers 40 yuan as a hardship fee.”

Having said that, Su Pingnan with a tilt of his head poured the wine down his throat.

At these words the two men nearly jumped in surprise. Ertai Town was still a remote little town. Li Zhiyu was better off with a monthly wage of around 60 yuan, while Li Qiang from the Industry and Commerce Bureau only made just over 50 yuan. Just one box of hardship fees was nearly a month’s pay for them. To them, Su Pingnan’s scale signaled someone who did big business—the sums were certainly not small.

The two men’s hearts burned with excitement, and as the alcohol took hold, Su Pingnan stood straight, his eyes full of a disdainful glare and faint tattoos showing on his body. Before everyone he truly seemed like a fierce tiger. Zhang Tong’s eyes sparkled, but he dared not drink too much—he was carrying the 40,000 yuan cash and feared losing it if he got drunk. But his rough-mannered admiration made him quietly down a cup.

At the table, Li Qiang gave a detailed account of Ertai Town’s pine-nut situation. Currently Ertai Town’s pine nuts were mainly sold to the forestry bureau’s trade and native-products company, and that company kept a harsh cap on the grades and prices: first grade nuts were worth 2.3 yuan, second grade 2.1, third grade 1.9. But usually, the company would demote first grade nuts to second and second to third. It was said relations between the sides had grown tense and no transactions were happening.

Early the next morning, led by Li Qiang—the local boss—Su Pingnan quickly secured several big mountain-sourcing households at 2.8 yuan per kilogram. After passing quality checks, the weighing and payment were completed in one go.

Su Pingnan knew the trajectory for next year: he naturally needed to cultivate good relations with these big suppliers, so he raised the price by 0.2 yuan. He also signed with the two suppliers a five-year exclusive purchase contract. He did all this with Su Wenwen present, and after finishing the deals, he called Su Wenwen aside.

“Once this batch is turned over, we’ll have the capital to scale up. I want you to watch this place closely—follow the contract template I just used and secure every major supplier within a hundred li of Fengcheng,” Su Pingnan said, his tone revealing a ruthless streak.

“Before the native-products company realizes what’s going on, I want you to capture over 80% of Fengcheng’s pine-nut contract share. You must make it happen.”

“Understood.” Su Wenwen nodded hard.

Su Pingnan’s gaze went to the setting sun. In a calm voice he said, “Since we’re entering the market, don’t give others a chance to get in as well.”

Once the first batch of pine nuts was shipped, he would immediately form a company and then sign contracts in the company’s name. In that way, the pine-nut goldmine of Fengcheng would be firmly in Su Pingnan’s hands—this would be the true start of his fortune.