Additional Conditions

Tashigi savored the spicy and delicious chicken, occasionally observing the other customers in the restaurant and the pedestrians passing by outside.

She had lived in Loguetown before, and after seeing so much, she had become accustomed to it.

But when the surrounding environment changed, and she compared things, Tashigi immediately noticed the many shortcomings.

Everyone around her, some wearing a lot, some wearing little, but the material of their clothes was excellent, and many were things she had never seen before.

Moreover, they all had shoes, whether they were leather shoes, sandals, or slippers; in short, no one was barefoot.

In contrast, Loguetown, as the only port connecting the Grand Line to the East Blue, was clearly quite developed economically in the East Blue, yet there were still people everywhere who couldn't afford clothes, and even more who walked and worked barefoot.

Furthermore, Loguetown had refugees and beggars.

But she hadn't seen a single one on her journey.

In Loguetown, only Smoker had a car; others, even the wealthy, traveled at most by carriage or sedan chair.

But here, it seemed that those riding motorcycles were poor, and more people drove comfortable cars that could shield them from wind and rain!

"And this cuisine..." The food in Loguetown was already delicious, but it still couldn't compare to the rich seasonings and diverse cooking methods of Chinese cuisine.

As for Big Plate Chicken, a dish that could become popular throughout China, if it were in Loguetown, it might even win the annual Loguetown Chef Competition!

"No wonder he was so proud when talking about his country!" Tashigi also had a mission; she needed to probe indirectly and gather information about the country behind Zhou Qi, to confirm if it truly existed.

Now, not only did this country exist, but it seemed like a paradise, directly surpassing all countries in Loguetown, and even the entire East Blue!

"Qi-kun, is this the capital of your country?" Tashigi suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Zhou Qi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "No!"

"Then, the second largest city?" Tashigi asked again.

"It's a big city, indeed, but not the second, it's the fourth!" Zhou Qi replied, "What's wrong?"

Tashigi fell silent. Such a prosperous city, and she had only seen a tip of the iceberg, yet it was already more magnificent than the most prosperous royal capital in the East Blue.

And here, it was only the fourth largest city?

She wondered what the first three would be like.

"I understand how you feel, you don't need to be too awestruck!" Zhou Qi, seeing Tashigi's expression, could understand her.

Back then, when he got into university, it was also his first time traveling from a small county town to a big city. The apprehension and awe were indescribable.

Hadn't he slowly adapted?

"This is an open country, an equal country. No one will discriminate against you, and no one will look down on you. As long as you love peace and abide by the law, you are welcome here as a friend!" Zhou Qi said, "Of course, our country still has many shortcomings. For example, whether it's in military, technology, medicine, or even the grain industry, we still have a significant gap with foreign countries. Internally, there are also many flaws that might be censored, but we are always working hard and making progress..."

Tashigi didn't know how to react. Just looking at this one city, it was already a super powerful country. And it wasn't even the world's number one?

"I know you Marines are still wary of me, suspecting my purpose and motives. Actually, my motives are very simple: to contribute to this country and earn some money for myself. That's all..."

He didn't think his words alone could convince Tashigi, but he wasn't in a hurry. There was plenty of time!

After eating, they got the car and got in.

"So comfortable..." Tashigi patted the soft seat.

Zhou Qi smiled. BYD was very good at capitalizing on trends. If they knew Tashigi praised their car, wouldn't they offer millions in advertising fees?

"It's only comfortable when you first sit down, but we're going to be sitting for a long time today, and you'll get tired!" Zhou Qi said, operating his phone, "I've sent you the location!"

"It's quite close, only about twenty minutes!" Zhou Yibing said.

"What a coincidence, but maybe it's not a coincidence. Your district has many large companies; Penguin and Huawei are both here!" Zhou Qi said, "If we have the chance, we'll open a company here too..."

"Most of the companies here are internet companies!" Zhou Yibing said.

"We'll do internet stuff too, artificial intelligence, chip manufacturing, whatever is high-tech!" Zhou Qi said.

Zhou Yibing was speechless, "That sounds a bit too ambitious. And chip manufacturing isn't something you can just decide to do..."

"Anything is possible!" Zhou Qi smiled. Wasn't there Vegapunk? It shouldn't be difficult for him to build a lithography machine!

After all, he was a formidable person who could hand-craft a Gundam!

As for how to achieve his goals, it would depend on how much influence he could develop in the One Piece world.

"By the way, do you want to play some music? Let's test the sound system..." Zhou Yibing said.

"Go ahead..."

A moment later, a desolate singing voice filled the air.

"Since you left..."

Fenghua Building, the eleventh floor.

Zhou Qi hadn't expected Linlang Consulting to be so large, occupying three entire floors!

Considering that several companies he had worked at before only occupied an office within a single floor of an office building.

"Hello, General Manager Zhou!" Zhou Qi met Yan Yun in the reception room. She was about 1.65 meters tall, with long, straight black hair and a round face. When she smiled, two deep nasolabial folds appeared.

She had the typical appearance of a Guangxi person.

She wore a white shirt and a small suit jacket on top, and a silver-gray pencil skirt on the bottom, revealing her healthy, tanned calves.

She couldn't be called beautiful, but she had the aura of a professional woman.

"Hello!" Zhou Qi felt a bit undignified. After all, he had come wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, with slippers on his feet.

This is how a shut-in is at home.

However, he had money in his card, so he wasn't worried.

"I'm sorry to trouble you to come all the way up here!" Yan Yun said. "It's like this, our company still has some procedures to go through, and we also need to verify your capital situation. Furthermore, I need to explain some details about Baofeng to you in detail!"

"Capital verification? Can I use my bank text message?" Zhou Qi showed the text message he had received from the bank earlier.

"That won't do..." Yan Yun smiled. She had known Zhou Qi wasn't professional for a long time and could only patiently explain, "You need to provide a bank account, or transfer the money into a dedicated capital verification account. We won't check your specific funds, we will only confirm with the bank. The entire process is carried out by certified public accountants with capital verification qualifications, which is legal and legitimate. You can also send someone to monitor the entire process to ensure the safety of your funds."

Zhou Qi understood. After all, it was a business worth over two hundred million. They had to see if he actually had that much money, otherwise, if they worked hard for nothing because he didn't have the money, wouldn't that be making a fool of them!

"Brother Bing?" Zhou Qi handed over the bank card. "You go?"

"Sure!" Zhou Yibing took the bank card and left with the professional staff.

Yan Yun took out another document and said, "It's like this, if you want to buy Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory, there is some additional information here that you need to understand!"

"What information?" Zhou Qi frowned. "Didn't you say there wouldn't be any extra matters?"

"Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory is, after all, the largest pharmaceutical factory in Bingxing Town, and it receives quite a lot of attention..." Yan Yun smiled awkwardly.

Actually, she didn't know about these additional clauses before. After they notified the other party that someone was buying the factory, these clauses were sent over temporarily.

She was also annoyed, but there was nothing she could do. She was just a salesperson and couldn't decide much.

"The first is that Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory currently has 450 employees, and the town government hopes that you can retain 70% of them and not lay off a large number..." Yan Yun said.

"That's only reasonable!" Zhou Qi nodded. "This is not a problem."

"Second, Baofeng Pharmaceutical and Nanan City Third People's Hospital are joint research units. Doctors from the Third People's Hospital have the qualification to use Baofeng's various experimental equipment, of course, not for free..." Yan Yun added.

"This..." Zhou Qi touched his chin. "What if I form my own research team? Would I still have to let them use it first?"

"You don't need to worry about this. The contract period is five years. The laboratory has been built for three years, and the contract will expire in two years or so!" Yan Yun explained. "Also, our lawyers have reviewed the contract, and it states that the research team from Nanan City Third People's Hospital can use the laboratory on the premise of not delaying Baofeng Pharmaceutical's normal research progress. In other words, if you don't want them to use it, you can simply refuse by saying you need to use it yourself!"

"I see!" Zhou Qi nodded. This was quite good.

"However, I suggest you don't do that, because the Third Hospital is the best hospital in Nanan City. Your employees' physical examinations, medical treatments, disaster, and accident injury handling all depend on this hospital. However, they don't have many research projects. According to Baofeng's report, last year, the total working hours of the entire laboratory were only 869 hours, averaging 2.3 hours per day..."

"En!" Zhou Qi nodded. "Then this is also not a problem."

It's better not to offend anyone, especially doctors. Moreover, sponsoring research is a good thing, so he naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Third, there is Nanan Medical College in Nanan City. In the past, Baofeng Pharmaceutical would recruit talent from Nanan Medical College. In addition, Baofeng Pharmaceutical and some departments of Nanan Medical College have signed talent cultivation agreements. The college hopes that these agreements can be maintained!"

"This is also not a problem!" Zhou Qi nodded. He had to recruit people anyway, so where he recruited them from didn't matter!

"By the way, what kind of school is Nanan Medical College? Is it a top-tier university?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Uh, no..."

Zhou Qi was speechless. "A second-tier university? A second-tier medical college, is it reliable?"

Yan Yun was a bit embarrassed. "Well, this school is a vocational college..."

"..." Zhou Qi was speechless. He wasn't discriminating against vocational college students; after all, many people from vocational colleges were shining in various industries.

But this was medicine...

"Alright, this is also not a problem!" A vocational college it is. His Zhou family had very few high school graduates.

If I can cooperate with a vocational college, I won't need you to do any underhanded dealings, but my family members can attend as auditors, right!

Yan Yun nodded. "Then, the third point is that Baofeng still owes the bank a loan of 65 million..."

"Wait!" Zhou Qi was startled. "What do you mean? I have to take over this loan too? This wasn't mentioned when we discussed the price before?"

"This..." Yan Yun quickly said, "The government certainly won't let you suffer losses. They have also provided a replacement plan..."

"What plan?"

"Look, this is the topography of Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory!" Yan Yun handed over a tablet.

"Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory is adjacent to Binghe River. On the other side of the river is a piece of vacant land, totaling 260,000 square meters. Their intention is to sell this piece of land to you, and the 65 million will be considered as the payment for the land!"

Zhou Qi zoomed in on the picture and looked at the land.

The area was vast, covered with withered yellow weeds, and some mottled white patches where nothing grew. It looked like Mother Earth had vitiligo.

"This is not normal land, it's saline-alkali land!" Zhou Qi recognized it.

"It is saline-alkali land, but as long as it's not for planting crops, there's no difference in using it, isn't there?" Yan Yun said. "It just so happens that you need a large area of land for expansion. The price of this land is only 250 yuan/square meter, which is nearly half the normal price!"

"Am I lucky enough to get this kind of good deal?" Zhou Qi asked.

Yan Yun nodded. "This is a good thing for you, and it's also a good thing for them. After all, nowadays, people would rather open factories in Southern Vietnam than here. There aren't many companies willing to take over this piece of land. If they were to carry out saline-alkali land remediation, the cost would be too high, and they simply couldn't afford it. To them, this land is like a chicken rib – useless to eat, but a pity to discard..."

Zhou Qi nodded. The main reason was that real estate wasn't profitable now, and Baofeng Pharmaceutical Factory was in the suburbs. It wasn't suitable for real estate in the wilderness.

Unless they expanded the urban area there, but Nanan City is just a second or third-tier small city with housing prices around eight thousand. Such a large project couldn't be undertaken.

Now that they heard a rich person, no, a big boss, was willing to buy the pharmaceutical factory, it was a natural progression to let it go.

No matter what this boss did with the land, it was true that a large area of saline-alkali land within our jurisdiction had been reduced!

Zhou Qi stroked his chin and flipped through the map again. He felt this deal could be made.

He wasn't afraid of vast tracts of land; he was only afraid of not vast tracts of land.

Others worried about costs and profits when starting a company, but he didn't bother with those. After all, as long as the factory was up and running, it was guaranteed to make money.

Furthermore, taking over the saline-alkali land seemed like being ripped off, but it was actually a way to curry favor with those in power.

Many times, you wouldn't even get the chance to curry favor!

He didn't need any policy concessions, but if they just didn't obstruct him and gave him a few green lights, it would make things so much easier for him!

"No problem, I'll take it!!" Zhou Qi slammed the table. "Anything else?"

"Uh, there's one more request from Luo Baofeng, this is the last one..." Yan Yun said. "He accepts the installment payment proposal, but the first payment must exceed eighty million, and the rest must be paid within two years."

"Okay, so when can we go see the factory?"

"Uh..." Yan Yun had never seen such an impetuous client before. She could only say, "If you're really in a hurry, we can leave as soon as the finance department finishes verifying the capital!"

"Ding dong..." A document appeared in her notifications.

Yan Yun clicked to open it and took a look, then suddenly raised her head. "We can go now!"