Chapter Ninety-Nine: Approval Note

“Service?” Qi Zhiyong blinked in surprise.

“How do you mean, service?”

But Xu Fei chose that moment to keep them in suspense.

“Sorry, Director Qi. That concerns our next step.”

“Our?”

The word made both Qi Zhiyong and Meng Anyi pause.

“How do you mean?”

Just then, the door opened, and Xiao Lan and the fat man came in carrying dishes.

“The food’s here.”

The fat man’s expression toward Xu Fei was no longer the same as before. He smiled at Qi Zhiyong. “Cousin, you’re here?”

“Mm.” Qi Zhiyong gave only a slight nod.

The two of them set the dishes out one by one.

After they left, Xu Fei stood up and closed the door.

“Director Qi, come, let me pour you a drink.”

He filled the glass and placed it before Qi Zhiyong.

Then he poured one for Meng Anyi as well.

“I don’t drink.”

Xu Fei smiled. “Sister, however much you drink is fine. Still, today I must pour you a glass.”

“Why?”

Meng Anyi looked at him curiously.

“You seem to have something on your mind, Xiao Xu. What did you mean just now by ‘our’?”

Xu Fei raised his glass.

Zhang Mingyang, who had not said a word, also lifted his cup.

“Brother, you don’t seem to be a man of many words?” Qi Zhiyong looked at Zhang Mingyang.

“Haha, Director Qi, I’m just a rough fellow.”

“A rough fellow?” Qi Zhiyong shook his head.

“Zhang Fei was a rough fellow too, but without him, Liu Bei would have found it hard to divide the realm into three.”

Xu Fei glanced at Zhang Mingyang with a smile. “Director Qi, you’ve got a sharp eye. My Third Brother here is the most loyal and righteous of all.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“All right, Old Four, come on. Director Qi, this younger brother toasts you.”

As he spoke, Zhang Mingyang lifted his cup to Qi Zhiyong.

They were sitting close together. Qi Zhiyong merely raised his own glass, and Zhang Mingyang took the initiative to clink cups with him.

“Bottoms up!”

With that, Zhang Mingyang drained his drink in one gulp.

“Good.”

Qi Zhiyong drank as well.

“Come, come…”

Xu Fei clinked glasses with Meng Anyi.

“Sister, please drink at your own pace.”

He drank his down too.

Meng Anyi only took a small sip.

“Xiao Xu, can you say it now?”

Xu Fei smiled and nodded.

“Director Qi, sister, I have an invitation. I’d like to work with the two of you.”

“Cooperate?”

Qi Zhiyong said calmly, “How do you want to cooperate?”

“I’ve bought a batch of televisions, and I plan to find a good storefront in Donghai and open an appliance shop that specializes in televisions.”

As he spoke, Xu Fei looked at Qi Zhiyong.

“Director Qi, I’d like to give you a share of the profits.”

“You want to give me shares?”

“Yes.”

“This... doesn’t seem right. I haven’t contributed anything. I can’t take something for nothing.”

Xu Fei shook his head.

“Director Qi, this share isn’t really for nothing. I hope to rely on your standing at the Nanjing Television Factory to make sure our supply of goods is secure.”

“I still don’t quite follow.”

This time Meng Anyi took up Qi Zhiyong’s question.

“That’s right. If you sell them yourselves, wouldn’t it be the same? Why give us a share for free?”

Xu Fei smiled. “Sister, money isn’t made by one person alone. With you two behind us, our business in Donghai will have a solid foundation. In fact, as I said just now, over the next half-year the television market is going to see a qualitative leap.”

“You’re that certain?”

“Yes.”

Qi Zhiyong thought for a moment.

“You only need to make sure the supply arrives on time?”

Xu Fei nodded.

“Director Qi, all you need to do is guarantee the supply of televisions. As for the split, I’ll do seventy-thirty.”

“Seventy-thirty?” Meng Anyi asked in confusion. “What does that come to?”

“About sixty yuan per television.”

“What? That much?”

Meng Anyi looked at Qi Zhiyong in surprise.

But Director Qi’s face remained placid.

“Xiao Xu, I can make sure of the supply side, but the market changes you’re talking about—are they really going to happen?”

“That’s right.”

Meng Anyi seemed to sense Qi Zhiyong’s cautious attitude.

“How can you be so sure?”

Zhang Mingyang then said with a smile, “Director Qi, Madam, the reason we’re giving the two of you a share is simply because we mean no harm. If money can be made, why wouldn’t you want to earn it?”

Qi Zhiyong gave a slight nod.

“Xiao Xu, let me think it over a little.”

Xu Fei smiled and nodded.

Then he lifted his glass again.

“Come, tonight we’re here to drink. Of course Director Qi should think it over. After all, this is our first meeting, and cooperation is only our one-sided idea.”

Zhang Mingyang shook his head.

“What a pity!”

Qi Zhiyong frowned slightly.

“Brother Zhang, what’s such a pity?”

“I was just telling him, Director Qi, considering who you are, how could you possibly care about a sixty-yuan share on a single television?”

“Mm.”

Qi Zhiyong considered it.

“This matter isn’t impossible to work out.”

“Oh?” Zhang Mingyang blinked.

“Director Qi, you think it could work?”

Qi Zhiyong glanced at Meng Anyi beside him.

“Old Qi, these two younger brothers both seem honest. Besides, they’ve already said they don’t need us to put in a single cent. They only want us to guarantee the television supply. With a free benefit sitting right here, what more are you still thinking about?”

Xu Fei knew it then.

The sixty-yuan split had moved this woman.

“All right.”

Qi Zhiyong seemed to have been persuaded by his woman.

“Wonderful!”

Seeing him agree, Xu Fei stood up.

“Then our cooperation starts with this deal.”

“What? This one already counts?”

Meng Anyi looked at Xu Fei in disbelief.

“Of course. Since Director Qi has agreed, then from now on we’re partners.”

“Straightforward!”

After all, Meng Anyi was a woman accustomed to such occasions.

Smiling, she refilled Qi Zhiyong’s and her own glasses.

Seeing this, Xu Fei raised his own cup.

“Come, let’s toast to the success of our televisions this time.”

“Success? Yes, that’s a good word.”

Qi Zhiyong smiled and lifted his glass as well.

“Success!”

All four of them drank to that.

Afterward, Zhang Mingyang and Xu Fei kept toasting Qi Zhiyong in turn.

That Director Qi really could drink.

By the time Zhang Mingyang was too drunk to keep going, Qi Zhiyong was still as steady as a mountain.

In the end, Xu Fei offered to take Zhang Mingyang back.

Only then did the drinking party break up.

After the two of them returned to their room, Xiao Lan came knocking.

“Big brother, my aunt asked me to bring this to that older brother.”

Xu Fei glanced at it. It was a bowl of hawthorn water.

“Thank your landlady for me.”

“My aunt also asked me to give you this.”

As she spoke, Xiao Lan handed him a note.

Xu Fei took it and looked it over.

It was Qi Zhiyong’s authorization slip.

The quantity was one hundred televisions.

Xu Fei casually gave Xiao Lan two yuan.

The little girl left happily.

He looked at the slip in his hand.

With this, he could go pick up the goods tomorrow.

Xu Fei lay back on the bed in high spirits.

Today’s gains had been considerable.

And what satisfied him most, of course, was that he had reached an agreement to cooperate with Qi Zhiyong.

It seemed his plan was moving step by step toward success.

Xu Fei lay on the bed with his eyes half-closed, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

At that moment, he thought of Du Man.