Lu Hao left before eight o'clock to return to Hancheng for a meeting. Before leaving, he asked Yang Jian to visit Hancheng during the National Day holiday, as his sister and brother-in-law wanted to meet him.
Yang Jian could only agree to go on October 2nd. Lu Hao was someone worth befriending; he might even save his life at a critical moment.
Being locked up this time had worried his parents. Yang Jian didn't plan to go anywhere before the National Day holiday. He gave his brother-in-law one million yuan to be responsible for the secondary structure and interior decoration of Chunfeng Lou.
He himself would be on the road every day, directing the road construction, striving for an early completion.
Five days after Lu Hao returned, he sent a five-person team, led by a manager named Han Fei.
They first went to Chengguan to survey and assess Chunfeng Lou before coming to the template factory.
Yang Jian arranged accommodation for them; they would be staying here for a long time.
"Mr. Yang, we estimate the rent for Chunfeng Lou to be two million yuan per year. Do you have any objections?"
Manager Han informed Yang Jian of their assessment results, which were basically in line with Lu Hao's figures.
"Two million is acceptable. When will you sign the agreement?"
"Our assessment report needs to be sent back to the head office for review. Once approved, we will sign the formal contract and pay one year's rent. The results are expected after the National Day holiday."
"Alright, there's no rush. My renovation won't be that fast either. What preparations do I need to make?"
Yang Jian had been persuaded by Yang Huailin in the past few days and decided to establish a trading company. On one hand, it would help increase the villagers' income; on the other hand, it was a project with promising prospects.
Even Jiang Bin was optimistic about this project. Hancheng was implementing a "vegetable basket" project, and vegetable trading had a bright future, so he advised Yang Jian to enter this industry.
"Mr. Yang, we need to re-plan the industrial layout of Yangli Village. You need to arrange for a few people to accompany us on farm visits. They will primarily be responsible for liaising with the farmers and purchasing agricultural products in the future."
"How many people do you need?"
"That's up to you. According to President Lu's plan, Yangli Village's agricultural products will be divided into four major categories for our company. Each category will require at least one to two people to be responsible.
First, aquatic products. Yangli Village has over 500 mu of fish ponds. Developing aquaculture will provide our company with the four major types of fish long-term. This category will be equipped with professional aquatic transport vehicles to deliver aquatic products to supermarkets across the province periodically.
Second, vegetables. This is the focus. We will allocate planting based on the company's overall layout. For example, one team will focus on planting garlic sprouts, the second team on chili peppers, and the third team on scallions.
We want each village group to have a specialty crop. Once the scale increases, it will form its own independent industry and become a brand.
Third, rice. This requires processing equipment to supply supermarkets exclusively, allowing rice from Yangli Village and even Xinqiao Town to be sold throughout the province.
Fourth, miscellaneous grains and specialty products, such as sweet potatoes, peanuts, and beans."
Yang Jian nodded repeatedly as he listened. "Manager Han, your explanation makes it very clear. So, we need to deliver products according to your company's needs. If there's an overstock, it will be stored in the cold storage, or can it be sold elsewhere?"
"Yes, the cold storage is very useful. For agricultural products like garlic and ginger, if you have the funds, you can hoard them and wait for prices to rise. Since you're entering the vegetable trade industry, I suggest you build more cold storage facilities. Not only can they be rented out, but they can also help grow this industry."
Manager Han was clearly experienced and very familiar with the current state of the vegetable industry.
This was also Lu Hao's task for him: to help Yang Jian withdraw from the casino as soon as possible and support him in expanding his business.
With Lu Hao's support, Yang Jian would bypass many detours in the agricultural product trading industry and face minimal difficulties.
Yang Jian also understood Lu Hao's good intentions and therefore cherished this opportunity, deciding to increase investment in this area.
He asked Jing Yongli to step down from the board factory and register the trading company, and temporarily manage the finances.
He also appointed Yang Huailin as the company's manager, primarily responsible for liaising with farmers, and he would also select personnel for training.
Yang Jian had initially wanted to hire Han Fei as the general manager, but Han Fei was a senior manager at Hanhua Group and lived in Hancheng, unwilling to be separated from his wife and children.
For this reason, Lu Hao helped him find a professional manager named Luo Ping, who would come after the National Day holiday to set up the company structure.
September 25th was the tenth birthday of Zhou Tao's youngest son.
In Hancheng and the Hongzhou region, there was a custom of celebrating a tenth birthday by inviting friends and relatives for a banquet.
Yang Jian received an invitation. As he was not familiar with Zhou Tao, he could only attend the banquet with Yu Feng.
He had originally planned to return the 100,000 yuan Zhou Tao had given him as a gift all at once, but Yu Feng advised against it, saying it would be a bit of a snub.
A gift of twenty thousand yuan for a child's birthday was already very generous. She was also giving that amount.
The banquet was held at the Fengqi Hotel, with over two hundred guests.
As an established underworld figure in Chengguan, Zhou Tao had a wide social circle, so it was not surprising that so many people attended the banquet.
However, Yang Jian didn't know many people. Song Jianhao was also present, and he spotted Cat Brother, Hong Xing, and Hu Zhenghua in the crowd.
"Little Yang, my wedding date is the 11th. I'm taking this opportunity to give you an invitation. Please make sure to come if you have time."
Song Jianhao specifically sat at the same table as Yang Jian and handed him a gilded invitation.
Yang Jian opened it and saw that the wedding venue was Yanggang Villa. This location was a bit far, belonging to Yanggang Town on the banks of the Han River. It was more than forty kilometers from Chengguan and was actually even more prosperous than Chengguan. Song Jianhao had bought a house there.
"Brother Hao, Lin Nan is getting married on the same day as you. He might ask me to be his best man, so I might not be able to attend your wedding. I'll have to send my cousin to go in my stead."
"It's alright, your intention is what matters. Little Yang, Baoguo is back and has opened a casino in Lijia Ping, south of Chengguan."
Because of the disturbance at Erping's place during the Spring Festival, Song Jianhao had now broken ties with Cat Brother and his group and harbored some resentment, so he was keeping an eye on them.
A fierce glint flashed in Yang Jian's eyes: "Have you found any trace of Wu Laizi?"
"No, Wu Laizi shouldn't dare to show himself yet. Not only are you hunting him, but the police are also looking for him. He definitely wouldn't dare to return to Xinhe. I heard someone saw him in Nanhai."
"Is Baoguo's establishment a large one?"
Regarding Wu Laizi, Yang Jian planned to sort out his family matters first before heading to Nanhai. Yang Fan had already informed his fellow disciples there, and if Yang Jian went, they would fully cooperate.
As for Baoguo, he would leave him alone for now, to avoid alerting Wu Laizi and causing him to hide again, making him harder to find.
However, he could consider taking down his casino, as it made him uncomfortable to see such scum living too comfortably.