Chapter 162: Lishan Farm Takes Responsibility!

Chapter 162: Lishan Farm Takes Responsibility!

A business car sped into You City, quickly entering the bustling metropolis. Myster, naturally, was aware that he had gone viral on the internet.

As soon as he landed, he had arranged for a business car to bring him to You City.

"It seems that the women in your country don't want Lishan Farm to cooperate with us," Myster said to the man beside him in broken Chinese.

The man was their company's Fujian Province agent, Xu Shengyang.

"Mr. Myster, don't worry about those women," Xu Shengyang said dismissively. "Most of them are ordinary people with little money. They're afraid that if we cooperate, they won't be able to afford the whitening sweet potatoes anymore."

"They aren't our target customers anyway. Our whitening injections and skincare products are luxury items, not something they can afford."

"Besides, what can they do? This is a world where profit comes first. No one would pass up a chance to make money. Selling the whitening sweet potatoes as a luxury item is clearly more in line with their value, making it easier to earn more and gain more fame."

"Unless the owner of Lishan Farm has lost his mind, he will cooperate with you, Mr. Myster."

Myster nodded in agreement. "That's right. In this world, profit is king, and no one opposes capital. It's the same with many businessmen in this country who are eager to enter the international market."

The car soon arrived at the Lishan Farm parking lot.

As Myster got out of the car, his foreign appearance caught the attention of the tourists, and many recognized him as Myster.

Several female tourists followed him to the office center, filming videos and uploading them to the internet: "That foreigner has arrived at Lishan Farm."

This only made the women who were following the situation even more anxious.

The news of Myster's arrival at Lishan Farm even reached the authorities in You City.

Liu Xian immediately called Zhao Han to ask, "You know about the whitening sweet potatoes and that foreign company, right?"

Zhao Han nodded. "Yes, they came so quickly, it seems they are determined to get their hands on Mr. Zhang's whitening sweet potatoes."

Liu Xian frowned. "What do you think Mr. Zhang will choose?"

He was genuinely concerned about this matter.

Although he didn't understand how Lishan Farm managed to create such a unique sweet potato, he was certain that it could become a symbol, not just for Lishan Farm but also for You City.

Whenever he went out for inspections or research related to agriculture, he could tell other county officials, "We have a special sweet potato in You City!"

It would definitely be a focal point.

However, whether the whitening sweet potatoes were marketed for the masses or as a luxury item would lead to two very different extremes. While it wouldn't change the impact on You City's economy or taxes, he personally hoped that the sweet potatoes would be marketed for the masses.

He really admired Mr. Zhang, and he knew that if the sweet potatoes were marketed for the masses, it would bring many hidden benefits to Mr. Zhang.

But the natural tendency of businessmen to pursue profit meant that choosing the luxury route was also understandable, and no one could say anything about it.

Zhao Han, hearing Liu Xian's question, smiled and said, "Based on my understanding of Mr. Zhang, he will likely continue to market the sweet potatoes for the masses. If he had wanted to go the luxury route, he could have sold them at a high price from the beginning. Moreover, Mr. Zhang's ability to create a place like Lishan Farm shows that he has exceptional talent, vision, and methods. His decisions won't be easily swayed."

Liu Xian nodded. "The foreigner has already arrived at the farm. We should have a result soon."

...

Lishan Farm Office Center

Zhang Lin was surprised that Myster had actually come, and so quickly.

When Zhong Miaoying reported, he initially wanted to ignore them, but then decided to have her bring them in. It was important to show his stance and make it clear that he wasn't easily swayed.

Soon, Zhong Miaoying led two men into the office.

It was Myster and Xu Shengyang.

"This is our farm owner, Mr. Zhang," Zhong Miaoying introduced them.

Xu Shengyang immediately smiled and approached Zhang Lin, shaking his hand. "Mr. Zhang, hello. I'm Xu Shengyang, the Fujian Province agent for Eiffel Company. This is Mr. Myster, who is here to discuss the whitening sweet potatoes on behalf of Eiffel Company."

Myster, after Xu Shengyang's introduction, also stepped forward with a smile and shook Zhang Lin's hand. "Mr. Zhang, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sit down!" Zhang Lin's attitude towards them wasn't overly warm.

However, Myster didn't seem to notice. As soon as he sat down, he eagerly said, "Mr. Zhang, I'm here to bring you wealth. There is a significant issue with how you are managing the whitening sweet potatoes. Their value is far more than just 200 yuan."

"Their appearance is miraculous. They should be a luxury, a precious gem that ordinary people can only look up to. I believe we can cooperate. We have the best channels to reach high-end women, and we can sell the whitening sweet potatoes at the highest prices quickly, allowing you to earn more money!"

Zhang Lin smiled. "Mr. Myster, do you really think I can't make more money by selling the sweet potatoes at a lower price than by selling them as a luxury item?"

"You clearly don’t understand my product, and making money is one thing, but doing something meaningful while making money is what truly matters. So, you’re wasting your time."

Zhang Lin knew that the other party couldn’t comprehend the potential of the whitening sweet potatoes. With the +1 growth speed attribute, the sweet potatoes could mature in just a third of the usual time. Once he promoted them throughout You City, even at a price of 200 yuan, he could achieve high sales volumes and profits, far surpassing what he would make by selling them as luxury items.

After all, the number of so-called high-end women was limited compared to the vast majority of the population. And not only would he make money, but he would also create jobs and an entire industry chain, providing significant hidden benefits. People from capitalist countries like Mysteria might not understand the importance of such contributions to the people.

Besides, the other party confidently rambled on without any real understanding, looking like a mere clown in Zhang Lin’s eyes.

Mysteria’s face turned sour after hearing Zhang Lin’s decisive refusal, his expression almost comical. He finally said, "Zhang, you’re only talking about your domestic situation. You haven’t considered the international market, especially our beautiful country’s market. You should know that without a powerful group company’s cooperation, your product will never enter the international market. This is a fact, and it will happen."

"Ha ha ha ha ha." Zhang Lin couldn’t help but laugh.

When persuasion failed, it was time for threats.

It was true that many domestic companies wanted to enter the international market and often had to beg and plead to collaborate with Western capital groups.

In other words, they paid protection fees and even acted like dogs to achieve their goals. Some unscrupulous companies even sold national identity information for profit, like those companies that were repeatedly fined by the authorities.

Zhang Lin suppressed his laughter. "Mr. Mysteria, you seem to have misunderstood the situation. I have no intention of promoting these sweet potatoes internationally because I don’t want foreigners to eat such good things!"

There was a saying: "Without desire, one is strong." He didn’t care for their market, so how could they limit him? And it wasn’t that he couldn’t sell these good things; it was that foreigners couldn’t buy them.

Especially the special Sunlight Roses, which could be cultivated with a +1 season immunity and -1 environmental factor impact. The significance of this was immense, potentially allowing them to grow in poor soil or even in deserts.

The so-called beautiful country already had 31% of its land covered by deserts. When the time came, and they came begging, he would see if he would help them.

What international market?

Mysteria’s face turned even uglier. This young man was impossible to reason with. His voice grew cold, "Zhang, let me tell you one more thing. Our group company is very familiar with the three major agricultural research centers in the beautiful country. If we want them to crack something, it shouldn’t be too difficult, but we don’t want to waste research funds."

This was a clear threat, implying that if Zhang Lin didn’t agree to cooperate, they would find someone to crack his product, and they would use the three major agricultural research centers in the beautiful country to do it.

"Meiying, please show these two out!" Zhang Lin, hearing the threat, had no intention of speaking with them any further.

Typical behavior from the beautiful country—start with false pretenses of help, and when that doesn’t work, resort to threats. If it were another country, they might have resorted to outright theft.

What a joke.

Using the three major agricultural research centers as a threat.

The products from his system couldn’t even be grown from seedlings outside. To plant them, he had to first cultivate the seedlings on his farm.

And if the system’s products were so easy to crack, why couldn’t domestic research institutions do it? By then, the whitening sweet potatoes would be everywhere, and the other party wouldn’t be able to make money from them domestically.

Not to mention their whitening products and injections, which belonged in the trash.

Thinking about how his whitening sweet potatoes had already affected their stock prices, he decided it was time to announce the whitening sweet potato promotion plan.

The news of large-scale promotion in You City and the incredibly fast growth rate of the sweet potatoes would likely cause their stock prices to plummet even further.

The more he thought about it, the more exhilarated he felt.

He detested being threatened.

For this foreigner to come up to him and issue threats, Zhang Lin’s temper certainly wasn’t the best.

"Please, both of you," Zhong Miaoying said with a smile, following her boss’s instructions.

Xu Shengyang looked extremely embarrassed.

Mister, on the other hand, was seething with anger as he stormed out of the office.

Outside the office center, a crowd of tourists had gathered, eager to learn the outcome of the negotiations between Mister and Liyuan Farm.

As Mister left the office, he began to curse, "Fk, fk, that damned yellow-skinned pig. How could he be so ungrateful? He’s made a decision he’ll regret."

His outburst was captured on camera by the tourists, who seemed to understand that the negotiations had fallen through and Liyuan Farm had not agreed to the foreigner’s terms.

Zhong Miaoying, seeing the crowd of female tourists, explained, "The foreigner was given a stern lecture by our boss. There’s no intention to raise the price of the sweet potatoes. Everyone, please don’t gather here anymore."

This statement confirmed the outcome for the tourists, and they couldn’t help but feel excited. They immediately shared the news online, with videos of Mister’s outburst at the beginning, mocking him.

- "The foreigner was too confident; Liyuan Farm didn’t agree to his terms!"

- "Liyuan Farm has no intention of raising the price of the sweet potatoes; the foreigner is furious!"

- "The foreigner is furious..."

When this news spread online, countless women who had been following the situation were elated. Many commented under the videos, "Long live Liyuan Farm."

At least because of the whitening sweet potatoes, many women subconsciously developed a favorable view of Liyuan Farm.

Liu Xian, who had been closely monitoring the situation, quickly learned the outcome and the positive sentiment towards Liyuan Farm among the women online. This was public opinion.

Even if this positive sentiment would fade once the whitening sweet potatoes became a common product, for a long time, Liyuan Farm wouldn’t have to worry about customer flow, and You City wouldn’t have to worry either.

Liu Xian finally smiled and said to Zhao Han, "You were right. If President Zhang could be so easily swayed by a foreigner, he wouldn’t have built such a successful business."

Zhao Han, however, was watching a video and said, "Liu Xian, look at this video. It seems Liyuan Farm can’t avoid being praised this time."

Liu Xian looked at the video with curiosity. It was posted by a popular influencer named Ruo Ruo, and it had already made it to the trending topics, all about Liyuan Farm.

He opened the video and heard Ruo Ruo’s voice: "I’m sure everyone has heard about the whitening sweet potatoes. Mister’s attempt to negotiate with Lilyuan Farm failed, which means Liyuan Farm didn’t agree to sell the sweet potatoes as a luxury item."

"There’s one thing we can’t deny: Liyuan Farm could have made a lot more money by selling the sweet potatoes as a luxury item, even if they raised the price. But Liyuan Farm rejected Mister, choosing not to pursue greater profits and instead sticking to a more accessible route. This is not a decision that just anyone could make."

"So, I think that many ordinary women, including myself, should be grateful to Liyuan Farm. At least we can continue to use this product."

"On the other hand, I’m also curious why Liyuan Farm, knowing they could make more money, chose to go the accessible route. To make more money this way, they would need to grow a lot more sweet potatoes, far more than if they were selling them as a luxury item."

"Later, I realized that to grow more sweet potatoes, they would need more farm workers. The more sweet potatoes they grow, the more sales channels they would need, and more employees along the entire supply chain. This would create more jobs."

"In the current job market, where employment is difficult, this is a choice that only a socially responsible company would make. Such socially responsible companies are truly valuable in today’s society."

"I don’t know if Liyuan Farm is as I imagine, but in my heart, when they chose not to prioritize profit, rejected the offer from the Aifeng Group, and continued to keep the sweet potatoes accessible, Liyuan Farm is exactly the kind of company I believe in."

Ruo Ruo’s video went viral, and the praise for Liyuan Farm as a socially responsible company resonated deeply with many women.

"Social responsibility, huh!" Liu Xian, after watching the video, instructed Zhao Han, "Go tell them to have the official accounts of You City and all its departments like and comment on Ruo Ruo’s video."

"Huh??" Zhao Han was taken aback by the instruction.

He knew what this meant.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end