HLM -Chapter 1316 Everyone Has Their Own Plans

Wang Bo had long thought about using the Northern Agricultural Grains model to sell the meat products produced by the ranch, but it was very difficult. It required an enormous network of connections and commercial channels, and the promotional costs were also extremely high.

For the Northern Agricultural Grains Group, however, these were minor issues. They lacked neither connections nor channels, nor money—what they truly lacked were genuinely high-quality agricultural products.

In fact, even if Wang Bo hadn’t invited him, Ye Qipeng would have come to Sunset Town again. He wanted to expand the scope of cooperation with Sunset Ranch; pork alone no longer satisfied him.

Sitting on the large balcony of the floating house, turning his head slightly allowed one to see the vast, rolling lake. Just as Wang Bo was about to speak, Ye Qipeng made a quieting gesture and fixed his gaze outside.

Following his line of sight, Wang Bo saw the sun sinking behind the western mountains. Golden-red sunlight gently spilled across the lake’s surface. Some dragon-spined fish and lungfish surfaced to breathe, waves rolled, and fish scales shimmered—together forming a beautiful scene of motion and stillness.

Seeing the fish, ospreys and flocks of blue ducks swam over and dove to hunt. Startled, some fish disappeared while others leapt out of the water. In an instant, the lake surface became lively and bustling.

Meanwhile, several flocks of birds returning late glided easily through the sky. From time to time, a few wild birds flew out of the forest on the mountains. As they crossed paths in the air, looking up from below, it felt as if they momentarily merged into one.

When the fish vanished and the birds returned to their nests, Ye Qipeng let out a long breath and sat back down, saying leisurely:

“Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence,
Leisurely I glimpse the southern mountain.
The mountain air is lovely at dusk,
Birds fly back together.”

Wang Bo laughed. “So President Ye is a cultured man after all.”

Ye Qipeng waved his hand. “I was a bit artistic when I was young. Now I’m old. But anyone who saw that scene just now would feel the same way. That’s not being cultured—it’s a feeling that comes straight from the heart.”

Na Qingyang chimed in cooperatively, “Yes. A few days ago we went mountain climbing to pick mushrooms, and when we came down in the evening, we saw a similar scene. Back then, Mayor Wang had almost the same reaction. What he said was, ‘The setting sun flies together with a lone wild duck; autumn waters share the same hue as the endless sky.’”

Wang Bo had photos from that moment on his phone. He took them out and showed Ye Qipeng, saying, “President Ye and I are kindred spirits. If you’d seen that scene back then, you’d have thought the same as I did.”

The scenery in the photo was even more beautiful than what they saw now—clouds and mist winding around, with the graceful silhouettes of black cranes drifting among them. What they saw now was a beautiful view; what was in the photo looked like a scene from the immortals’ realm.

Ye Qipeng exclaimed, “Yes, truly—‘the setting sun flies together with a lone wild duck; autumn waters share the same hue as the endless sky’! Little Wang, could you send me this photo? My phone could really use a new wallpaper.”

That was easy enough. Wang Bo sent the photo to Ye Qipeng. His assistant, Mr. Lang, laughed and said, “President Ye, shouldn’t we be paying a copyright fee for this? If this photo were sent to Reuters, the BBC, or the Associated Press, it would definitely win this year’s Best Photography Award.”

Wang Bo waved his hands repeatedly. “Mr. Lang is joking. I didn’t know President Ye liked this kind of photo, otherwise I’d have sent it to you long ago. How about this—along with the pork, I’ll also send you some beautiful scenery photos from time to time.”

Ye Qipeng pondered for a moment. “That would be great. But it would be even better if you could also send some beef, mutton, and chicken, duck, and goose meat along with them.”

Wang Bo said, “That’s no problem at all. If you like them, I’ll send you more.”

Ye Qipeng smiled. “This wouldn’t be just a little more. It would have to be an extra eight or nine hundred tons every month.”

Hearing this, Wang Bo and Na Qingyang exchanged a glance and immediately understood his meaning. The conversation was about to shift to the main topic—they were starting to talk business.

After giving it some thought, Wang Bo shook his head. “President Ye, I’m afraid that won’t work. We’ve signed agreements with several agricultural exporters. Beef, mutton, and poultry all have to be supplied to them first.”

Assistant Lang said, “We understand. But those contracts should be expiring soon, right? And according to our information, your agreements are only for the Oceania market. They don’t affect the Asian market.”

Wang Bo shook his head again. “Yes, your information is correct. But even our pork cooperation still has issues. Expanding the scale of cooperation rashly probably wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Mr. Lang said, “But haven’t we always cooperated quite happily on pork?”

Na Qingyang poured iced coffee for the two of them and said, “We have been cooperating, but I wouldn’t call it happy. To be honest, gentlemen, your channel fees are too high.”

Mr. Lang opened his iPad and said, “You can take a look at what we’ve invested to promote Sunset Ranch. Once you’ve seen it all, you’ll know that a 40% channel fee really isn’t high.”

Did Wang Bo really have the time to study their promotional proposals and expense reports? Faking such documents was easy, unless he hired one of the Big Four accounting firms to conduct a detailed audit.

The differences between the two sides became clear, and neither was willing to give in. Wang Bo did not want to sell beef and mutton through such high channel fees, while Ye Qipeng was unwilling to lower them.

Seeing this, Mr. Lang laughed and said, “This is something we can sort out slowly. With such beautiful scenery in front of us, arguing about business really spoils the mood, doesn’t it?”

Na Qingyang said, “Mr. Lang is right. Oh, by the way, Mayor Wang mentioned that President Ye is a firearms enthusiast? Your shooting skills must be impressive, President Ye. Our town just opened a shooting range recently—if you’re interested, how about going to check it out tomorrow?”

Hearing that Sunset Town had a shooting range, Ye Qipeng’s eyes lit up. “That’s great. How about this—let’s talk business at the shooting range tomorrow. Today, we’ll only talk about scenery and pleasure, not business. How does that sound?”

Wang Bo was, of course, happy to agree. After that, they chatted casually, while Na Qingyang went off to contact Kobe to prepare dinner.

Ye Qipeng truly had an extraordinary passion for shooting ranges. Early the next morning, he contacted Wang Bo to go take a look.

Wang Bo brought Bowen, Uncle Bing, and Li Xing along to accompany him. All of them were shooting experts and could definitely ensure that Ye Qipeng had a great time.

It was still early, but there were already tourists at the shooting range—clearly, Ye Qipeng wasn’t the only firearms enthusiast around.

Seeing the scale of the range, Ye Qipeng exclaimed, “This place is huge. Back home, aside from military ranges, I’ve never seen a civilian one of this size. Little Wang, how much did it cost to set up a shooting range like this?”

Wang Bo replied, “Most of the money goes into the electric equipment. I spent less than five hundred thousand to get this running. Later on, I’m planning to open a gun shop as well. If I do that, the cost will be higher—probably over a million.”

“So big? Then how about the income?” Ye Qipeng asked with great interest.

For pistol and rifle ranges, the main sources of profit came from lane rentals, firearm rentals, and ammunition sales.