Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Lisheng had no idea on who would use Mountain Cat as a bait to lure him to attack. Mountain Cat, the guy whose luck was so bad that he was captured by his old rival and attempted to kill Zhang Lisheng while borrowing the rival’s power only to die together. He thought hard about it, the only conclusion that he got to was to be more careful and cautious when he controlled his wizard gus to fight in the future. Apart from that, he must break through to Rank-6 Wizard as soon as possible, mastering the power of transformation and break away from the shackles of mortality. He would really possess the ability to protect himself before powerful enemies if that was the case.
“Lisheng, why are you staring off towards space again? We’re going to the gown boutique.”
“Are you guys done eating?”
“Of course. Look, we’ve even finished our dessert.” Tina shook the glass that had small blobs of ice cream residue.
“Let’s go then, are you guys driving?”
“We usually get our driver to bring us to the gown boutique, it’s the New York ladies’ battlefield.” Tina took her phone out from her handbag and made a call. Soon, an extended Maybach colored a bright silver gradually came to view and pulled over. Subsequently, a driver in his 50s wearing a blue, round hat and a light blue uniform got off the car in a respectful manner. He then opened the car door that was facing Tina. Tina, Sheila, and Trish stood up and got into the car. Zhang Lisheng then paid the bill helplessly and got into the car as well. Afterward, the driver slowly closed the car door and returned to the driver’s seat before starting the car.
To a man, what was more tiring than accompanying a lady to try on gowns was undoubtedly accompanying three ladies trying on gowns. Moreover, he had to endure the neverending annoying and picky comments the girls would ask him although he would not know how to answer.
Three hours later, the sky was already turning dark. Zhang Lisheng stepped out of a gown boutique with a straightforward name called the American Beauty in Manhattan Upper West. He took a breath of the warm air in the surroundings and then said to Tina who was ecstatic while he was looking pale, “This is the first and last time I’m going into a gown boutique…”
“Sorry about that baby. Don’t worry, I’ll only have one 18th birthday in a lifetime, you’ll never have to come here forever.” Tina gave an empty promise while chuckling. “You’ve done well. What do you feel like eating? I’ll give you a treat.”
“No need, I’ve promised my mom that I would eat at home.”
“Oh I always forget, you’re your mom’s little baby apart from being my baby.”
“Shut up Tina Douglin.”
“Okay, I’ll shut up after this. Get in the car, I’ll send you back to Fifth Avenue to get your car.”
“It’s alright. I would like to take a walk and think. You guys go ahead with your plan.” Zhang Lisheng waved his hand and declined Tina’s kindness. He turned around and slowly walked far away as he followed the bright, bustling avenue.
The news about building a new harbor spread through the entire New York for the next few days. As time went by, the slaughterhouse that Zhang Lisheng was still building became a hit all of a sudden which was ridiculous. It was Saturday again, the weather during early summer was lovely. The trees that were budding in green began having more and more migratory birds that came back as they chirped on the trees.
Since he had to go to Tina, Sheila and Trish’s joint birthday party in the afternoon, Zhang Lisheng, who had been cultivating the entire night, carried Mountoad with him and drove to the Mutteslow construction site when the day was getting bright, following the birds chirping. It was past 9 a.m. when he arrived at the construction site. The young man got off the car with a piece of meatloaf Lili made last night in his mouth. He ran towards Pinot who was wearing a hardhat while supervising at the site as soon as he spotted him. “Good morning Mr. Pinot.”
“Good morning Mr. Zhang Lisheng, you’re here checking your factory again. Don’t worry, it’ll be done soon. It’ll take ten days at the most and you can send in the machines.”
“The progress stated on the report is similar to what you said but Mr. Pinot, I don’t even see any half a meter high factory here. I really can’t imagine that this is what a completed construction phase looks like,” Zhang Lisheng said while pointing at the empty land.
“The biggest difficulty of the job is digging stable gullies and reinforcing the foundation. We’ll only need cement and bricks to build the factory, it’ll take less than two days to finish that.”
“Sounds magical.”
“The factory you’re requesting is only one floor… Nevermind Mr. Zhang, all you need to know is that your factory will be up and running real soon.”
Zhang Lisheng nodded. “Will you guys start phase two right after phase one is done?”
“Yes, the agreement states three phases of work. The biggest one is phase one, the remaining two phases…” As Pinot was speaking, a classic American muscle pickup truck, that was so dirty that nobody could tell what its color was, clumsily drove into the construction site.
“Sh*t, is that another glutton from some construction company union?” Pinot complained and waved as he replied, “I am. I’m the site manager, sir.”
“Hi Mr. Site Manager, nice meeting you. I heard there’s a large-scale slaughterhouse building near Mutteslow, may I know if this is it?” The cowboy got off the car, he was 195cm tall with a muscular body. The cowboy walked closer to Pinot in big strides, a soft ‘tss…’ sound could be heard when the leather boots with spurs walked on the cement ground.
“Yes.”
“Could you help contact the owner of the factory? I’m California Hamilton Farm’s owner Jonah Hamilton. I would like to talk about business with him.”
“I’m Zhang Lisheng, the owner of this newly built slaughterhouse. What kind of business would you like to discuss with me, Mr. Hamilton?”
The cowboy was stunned. He then took a good look at Zhang Lisheng. “What a young factory owner. Of course, I really can’t tell an Asian’s age… Oh, I’ve said too much. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just an innocent opinion, nice meeting you Mr. Zhang.” He gave Zhang Lisheng a tight handshake.
“Don’t worry, I know what you mean. Please be straightforward.” Zhang Lisheng placed his hand behind him due to the pain from the handshake, he spoke while moving his hand around.
“Sure, Mr. Zhang. I would like to sign a long-term agreement with your slaughterhouse…”
“You’ve thought quite far ahead Mr. Hamilton. Your farm’s in California, it’s not too late if we discuss this when the new New York Harbor is done…”
“Your slaughterhouse’s slaughtering quota will be fully booked by the farm owners in the villages around New York City when the new harbor is completed.”
“I don’t want to lie to you Mr. Hamilton. My situation here isn’t as positive as you think. I recently found out that my self-service slaughtering fee of $50 per pig, $50 per cow and $40 per lamb seems to be unacceptable.”
“Indeed, the price is expensive compared to slaughterhouses in other cities. However, it’s very reasonable for slaughterhouses close to New York City. The maintenance fee for this slaughterhouse right here must be higher but the consumer group of top-grade meat in New York City is guaranteed. Fresh and top grade meat can be sold much higher than in other places. Moreover, you could deduct a portion of the price with agricultural tax,” Hamilton said while smiling.
The most common place where fresh meat could be found in America was at supermarket counters. Supermarkets in the major cities in America were categorized into three types. The most common one would be the supermarket with various products as well as daily necessities of all ranges. The other one was called the grocery store. There would only be one brand for each item, but the price was affordable and naturally, the basic quality was guaranteed. The last one would be the gourmet grocery stores in high-end communities.
The price of items was jaw-dropping for the normal middle-class people. For fresh meat, sometimes it was two to three times more expensive than the ones that seemed similar in supermarkets, let alone supermarket of different grades. Apart from the different grades of livestock, the most important criterion of judging whether the meat would be sold at a jaw-dropping price or be sold off at $1 to $2 per pound was the time of product being put on a shelf. No matter how fresh frozen meat looked, it would definitely be sold extremely cheap. In New York, the freshly slaughtered meat that was sent in within three hours would not go into the supermarkets at all as they would be taken by all high-class restaurants directly.
With that said, the terms ‘quality’ and ‘fresh’ were the only ways to conquer the high-end meat store in America, especially New York City which was a metropolis. As the biggest farming state in America, the livestock quality from California was undoubtedly guaranteed but the freshness could not be compared with the farms close to New York no matter what.
However, a way to solve this problem happened coincidentally. The solution was the slaughterhouse close to the sea with smooth shipping. Naturally, although that was the case, the farm owners from California would have a production cost that was undoubtedly much higher than local New York farms if they were to ship fresh meat into New York. However, there was profit after all with extraordinary significance.
Zhang Lisheng was just an owner who did nothing in managing the slaughterhouse. His knowledge was in a blur so naturally, he could not connect the dots. All he heard was that Hamilton agreed on his fees so he said casually, “I can’t believe a non-New York farm owner knows my business situation more than I do…”
“I understand your situation, I can solve your situation Mr. Zhang. I’ll sign an agreement with you to slaughter 10,000 cows, 20,000 pigs and 15,000 lambs per year following your charges of $50 per pig, $50 per cow and $40 per lamb. What do you think?”
“Oh but.. but my slaughterhouse’s a self-service business…”
“Of course, I’ll be hiring the workers. All you need to do is to provide the venue and machines. I’ll pay you a 30% deposit, I’ll transfer it to your account once the agreement is signed. For the remaining fund, I’ll pay you every time I send a batch of livestock to slaughter. I’ll pay it on the spot, I’ll never owe you.”
“Oh-oh, that’s a really-really generous condition. Seems like I must give my business consultant a call, please give me a moment,” Zhang Lisheng was shocked by the condition that the California farmer owner offered, since it looked too good to be true. He thought about it and took a few steps back, he took out his phone to call Tina.