Chapter 316: Cooperation

Chapter 316 -317: Cooperation

Li Yang nodded repeatedly. “That’s true. It’s not easy for anyone. But what’s the deal with these people? Have they found someone else to work with?”

“I’m not too sure about that either…” Zhou Jianlin had finally found a sympathetic ear, and he perked up immediately. “Those guys didn’t explain it clearly to me. They just said they weren’t supplying anymore. I asked them so many times I was practically on my knees begging, but they just wouldn’t give me a reason. I’m at my wit’s end.”

“So where are they?” Li Yang asked.

“Qishan Mountain!” Zhou Jianlin answered immediately. “We produce medicinal herbs here in Chaling, but most of them are cultivated. The herbs from Qishan Mountain are the only wild ones. To protect this area of wild herbs, the city has forbidden anyone from contracting the land. These guys are the ones who forage for wild herbs on Qishan Mountain…”

Li Yang felt a surge of excitement. “Then do you know which village they’re in?”

Hearing this, Zhou Jianlin gave Li Yang a wary look.

“I don’t mean anything by it…” Li Yang said with a smile. “I only came here today hoping we could work together. How about this? We’ll go find them together and try to get your deal back on track. I’m not asking for much. Afterward, you can just spare some iron thread grass for me. It’s not a lot. To be honest, I’m here looking for a cure. I have a relative who’s gravely ill and desperately needs this herb. It took me a great deal of effort to track you down.”

Hearing this, a look of sympathy crossed Zhou Jianlin’s face. He thought for a moment, then said, “If you’re going to put it that way… alright, then. I can take you to see them. But as for the partnership… I wouldn’t get your hopes up. These people are not to be trifled with.”

“Don’t worry!” Li Yang said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Since we’ll be on their turf, there’s no point talking about who’s trouble and who’s not. Business is just negotiation, isn’t it? Perhaps we can talk things over. If we can make a deal, that’s even better. If we can’t, it’s no big deal. Right?”

Zhou Jianlin wasn’t willing to give up on this deal so easily, either. This was an exclusive business, after all. He’d been the sole distributor for the entire province, and he certainly wasn’t about to give it up willingly now.

“Alright!” He gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s go to Qishan Mountain together and check it out. If we can persuade them, all the better. If we can’t, at least I can find out why they cut me off.”

“There we go!” Li Yang laughed. “Then shall we go together?”

“Alright, I’ll drive!” Zhou Jianlin immediately locked up his shop, and the two of them headed for Qishan Mountain.

As they were leaving, Li Yang called Zhong Lin to let him know he was on his way to Qishan Mountain, then left with Zhou Jianlin.

It was around seven o’clock by the time they arrived at Qishan Mountain.

One of the villages on Qishan Mountain was called Qishan Village. According to Zhou Jianlin, most of the villagers made their living by foraging for herbs. These herbs were all natural; even the ones they cultivated were grown in select spots on the mountain, not in organized plots like on a farm.

“Actually, you can’t say the iron thread grass I get is purely wild-grown…” Zhou Jianlin began to explain. “It grows in really harsh environments, like on sheer cliffs and precipices… People used to die trying to harvest it, so eventually, they got smart. They stopped harvesting it from the cliffs and started bringing it back to cultivate in safer locations. Anyway, iron thread grass is incredibly resilient. As long as it’s on Qishan Mountain, it can survive.”

Li Yang nodded. ‘So that’s how it is,’ he thought. ‘I was wondering how they managed to find iron thread grass here.’

“But there’s still not much iron thread grass to go around. Even with them cultivating it, the yield isn’t very high…” Zhou Jianlin said with a wry smile. “As far as I know, only three families in Qishan Village can grow it. The others can’t. So, those three families are the ones I work with. They usually make deliveries together, then take the money and split it amongst themselves back home.”

As he spoke, they arrived at one of the houses in Qishan Village.

Zhou Jianlin knocked on the door.

The door opened with a CREAK, and a man’s head poked out.

“Chen Quan, you’re home?” Zhou Jianlin’s face lit up when he saw who it was. “It’s me, Zhou Jianlin.”

Chen Quan froze for a moment when he saw Zhou Jianlin. “What are you doing here?”

“Old Chen, what kind of talk is that? We had a good partnership going, and then you suddenly cut off my supply of iron thread grass. What else would I be here for?”

“Go on, get out of here…” Chen Quan said irritably. “I don’t have any iron thread grass. You should just leave. I’m not supplying you anymore.”

“Old Chen, don’t be like this,” Zhou Jianlin said, exasperated. “If you think my price is too low, we can negotiate. There’s no need to be like this.”

“That’s right!” Li Yang chimed in. “Boss Zhou came here in good faith. Whatever the issue is, we can talk it out openly. What do you say?”