Chapter 121: Door-to-Door Sales
After just two days at home, Professor Li couldn’t sit still anymore. He kept urging Zhou You to head back to the provincial capital.
Professor Li selected samples from each type of poultry—chickens, ducks, and geese—from the farm to bring along.
On this trip back to the provincial capital, he also brought Zhou You’s eldest cousin, Zhou Guoqin. In the future, this supply line would rely on him to manage, so now was the time for Professor Li to mentor him, saving Zhou You the headache later.
The three of them drove three vehicles: Zhou You in his own car, Professor Li in his, and Zhou Guoqin in a small truck to haul the goods.
Before leaving, Zhou You called Wang Fangfang and asked her to coordinate with the manager of the Emerald Lake Welcome Hotel, starting with this hotel since they had the longest partnership and the best relationship.
Two hours later, the group arrived directly at the Welcome Hotel. Wang Fangfang had already booked a private room, and the hotel’s Manager Wang was also present.
Manager Wang was quite curious, as he had barely dealt with Zhou You directly—everything had been handled through Wang Ping and Wang Fangfang—but he had heard them mention the major behind-the-scenes shareholder.
Wang Fangfang waited at the hotel entrance. Hearing that Zhou You was bringing family from his hometown this time, she felt uneasy. She didn’t yet know how to present herself to his family or how to introduce herself.
She stood alone at the entrance, glancing down at her shoes, then adjusting her clothes. Today, she had dressed formally in a long skirt.
Her hands fidgeted together as she shifted from standing to pacing, unable to settle.
Her heart pounded nervously, thumping away.
She had only waited a few minutes at the entrance, but it felt like hours had passed. The uncertainty of the unknown judgment was agonizing.
...
From a distance, Zhou You spotted Wang Fangfang in a white dress, paired with white high-heeled sandals, her hair pinned up. He hadn’t expected her to go for the youthful girlfriend look today.
As soon as the group parked, Wang Fangfang rushed over.
“Professor Li, Cousin Guoqin, this is my girlfriend, Wang Fangfang. She’s been handling the swimming pool operations. She made the initial contact with the manager today; you can go into more detail over dinner,” Zhou You said casually, without overthinking it, just naturally introducing her.
Zhou You didn’t think much of it, but Wang Fangfang’s face lit up with joy. Her smile grew sweeter as she stepped forward and linked her arm through his.
“Hello, Professor Li. Hello, Cousin Guoqin. Manager Wang is waiting inside. Let’s head in first—it’s too hot out here,” she said.
Zhou Guoqin was puzzled. He had never heard Zhou You mention a girlfriend before. His parents were always nagging about it at home, but it turned out he had already found someone and just hadn’t brought her home yet.
Still, he didn’t say anything. At thirty, he knew when to speak and when to stay quiet, what to ask and what to leave alone.
Inside the hotel, Wang Fangfang began the introductions: “This is Zhou You, a professor at Luzhou University and the major behind-the-scenes shareholder of our swimming pool.”
Zhou You extended his hand. “I come here to eat and swim all the time, but I’ve never had the chance to visit you, Manager Wang. My apologies.”
“The apology should be mine. The swimming pool has brought a huge influx of traffic to our hotel. Business in every department has improved—it’s much better than when we ran it ourselves,” Manager Wang said sincerely, especially since summer had sent their performance soaring.
“There’s another matter I’d like to trouble you with, Manager Wang. I’ve set up an organic farm back in my hometown—everything is free-range. I’ve enlisted Professor Li from the Agricultural University to oversee it personally. I’d like you to give it a try,” Zhou You said, introducing Professor Li as he spoke.
They exchanged handshakes and pleasantries, and finally, Zhou You introduced his cousin.
Manager Wang now understood the gist of it. After a few seconds of thought, he said, “No big problem. I’ll call in the head of logistics and procurement now. I’m not an expert on this, but with Professor Li overseeing it and you, Boss Zhou, keeping an eye on things, it should be fine. Let’s have logistics and the head chef prepare a few samples first, and we’ll taste them to check the quality.”
With that, he went to make arrangements, and Zhou Guoqin took charge of bringing the samples.
Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse.
On a first meeting, past credentials were key to earning trust.
Seeing the conversation lull slightly, Wang Fangfang said to Manager Wang, “Our Boss Zhou isn’t just a university professor—he’s also an investor with many projects under his belt. Have you seen ‘A Bite of Delicacy,’ Manager Wang?”
“Of course I have. I’m in the food industry, after all. That film was really well made. Did Boss Zhou have a hand in it?” Manager Wang found it hard to believe, given it was a CCTV production—something completely out of reach.
“Yes, and he holds a significant stake. When they were filming on location here, we even visited the set,” she said, pulling out her phone to show photos and videos from that time.
Professor Li was hearing this for the first time too. He only knew Zhou You had money invested in film and TV, but not the specifics of other projects.
“Look, this is the executive director, Director Ren. And this is Old Huang, the food protagonist. He made us some specialty dishes that day,” Wang Fangfang added.
After she said this, Manager Wang’s attitude toward Zhou You shifted. It felt like a halo had been placed over him—he was no longer just someone asking for a favor.
In fact, a hint of vanity crept in, as if Zhou You coming to him was doing him a favor.
“I even wanted to invite them to film our hotel and swimming pool back then, but it didn’t fit, so it fell through,” Wang Fangfang said with a hint of regret.
Manager Wang felt a pang of disappointment and even frustration. “Even if they didn’t film, we could have kept a few photos when they came to eat—that would have been a huge selling point. Look how popular it is now; every place they’ve visited is packed with business.”
Zhou You smiled faintly. “Don’t rush, Manager Wang. There will be plenty of opportunities. I’ve invested in quite a few documentaries and TV shows. We can collaborate more in the future, but we need to find the right positioning. Otherwise, if it doesn’t fit, it could backfire.”
Hearing this, Manager Wang calmed down. The sudden shock was overwhelming—a regular business partner had turned into a big shot overnight, and it took some getting used to.
This was exactly why Zhou You had held back earlier. Without a credible track record or achievements, no one would believe in your strength, no matter how capable you were.
From then on, Manager Wang’s demeanor changed completely.
He listened attentively as Professor Li explained the farming process and unique features.
While they waited, logistics and the head chef finished preparing the dishes and joined them.
Everyone tasted the food. The flavor was far superior to factory-farmed poultry and even better than the free-range chickens they had used before.
Coupled with their ongoing partnership and the potential for more collaboration in the future, Manager Wang made an immediate decision: from now on, all free-range ingredients would be exclusively supplied by them.