97: Chapter 97 Established

October 19th, Panyu, Guangzhou. The car departed from the hotel, crossed the Panyu Bridge, and headed south for over forty minutes. The scenery on both sides of the road shifted from high-rise buildings to industrial plants, and then from plants to farmland.

Banana leaves gleamed with an oily green in the morning light, and occasionally, one or two grey farmers' houses would peek out from behind the groves, with quilts hanging out to dry on the balconies.

Chairman Wang Shunyi leaned against the car window, flipping through the park materials Li Zhi had given him yesterday. After reading a few pages, he closed them. Everything written in the materials was positive; the negatives would never make it into a PPT.

Li Zhi sat in the passenger seat with his back straight and his hands on his knees, looking like he was waiting for a guest in his own living room. He had changed into a white Polo shirt today, and his collar was free of sweat stains. He turned sideways to introduce the park's history to Chairman Wang Shunyi. It had been built seven or eight years ago, and at first, no companies were willing to come; even with cheap land prices, no one showed interest.

Later, Master Kong arrived, then Uni-President, followed by dozens of enterprises in the supply chain. Now, anyone wanting to get in had to wait in line, and land prices had tripled or quadrupled. He spoke of these things in a flat tone, as if he were discussing today's weather.

The car stopped at a crossroad. Li Zhi pointed to an empty plot of land to the front right, saying that this was the second site they had looked at yesterday. The ground had already been leveled, stakes were driven in around the perimeter, and white lines marked the boundaries.

In the distance, workers were laying down a sidewalk, their orange vests standing out against the grey-white construction site. Chairman Wang Shunyi got out of the car, his leather shoes making a crunching sound on the gravel road.

This time, he wasn't standing in the middle of the plot alone smoking a cigarette. Park Min-ji also got out of the car, wearing flat shoes and her hair tied in a ponytail.

She walked to the center of the plot, turned around once, and then crouched down to grab a handful of soil. The earth was very dry and leaked through her fingers. She stood up, brushed the dust off her hands, and drew several lines on the ground with the tip of her toe.

"The factory building should face North-South, with the production lines laid out East-West. Raw materials enter from the East, and finished products exit from the West—this provides the shortest logistics flow. The depth of this plot is sufficient to accommodate two instant noodle lines plus one bibimbap line. The rice wine line can be placed in phase two."

What she said was essentially consistent with what Chairman Wang Shunyi had in mind, but she went into much greater detail.

Li Zhi listened from the side without interrupting. Only after she finished did he speak up, asking, "Is this Miss Park a factory planner?"

"No, she's a numbers person."

Li Zhi smiled and didn't ask further.

After finishing with the second plot, Li Zhi said there were two more to see. Chairman Wang Shunyi said there was no need; this was the one. Li Zhi took a document from his bag—the park's standard investment agreement, with over twenty pages of densely printed clauses.

He said the price could follow the discount plan discussed yesterday, but they would first need an investment proposal from the Chairman's side. Chairman Wang Shunyi took the document and flipped through it without looking closely. Kim Sang-woo and the legal team would review these terms.

Back in the car, Li Zhi took a phone call, keeping his voice very low. After hanging up, he turned around and said the district leaders wanted to meet the Chairman at the park's Management Committee office. No food, no alcohol—just a simple chat.

Chairman Wang Shunyi glanced at his watch; it was 10:20. He said he would meet them.

The Management Committee building was at the park's East Gate, a six-story grey building with a sign hanging at the entrance that read: 'Guangzhou Panyu Food Industry Park Management Committee'.

The leader was surnamed Liang, in his early fifties, wearing a dark blue jacket. He spoke with a Cantonese accent, but his Mandarin was understandable. While shaking hands, Leader Liang said, "We welcome South Korean companies to invest. Panyu's business environment has ranked first in Guangzhou for several consecutive years."

Li Zhi added from the side, "Shunyi Foods is a leading enterprise in the South Korean instant noodle industry. The project's investment amount is expected to be around 400 million RMB, with a land area of 50,000 square meters. The investment intensity per mu has reached the highest level in the district."

Leader Liang nodded as he listened, finally saying to Chairman Wang Shunyi,

"If you have any difficulties, come directly to me. Li Zhi has my mobile number."

The entire process took less than twenty minutes, crisp and efficient.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Kim Sang-woo came to Chairman Wang Shunyi with a printed draft of the Letter of Intent for his signature.

The draft was based on the conditions discussed with Li Zhi that morning; the land price, tax incentives, construction cycle, and production start date were all clearly listed.

Chairman Wang Shunyi read it from beginning to end and changed three numbers, adjusting the total investment from 400 million to 420 million, and the headcount from 300 to 350.

"Send it back to me once it's revised. A digital version is fine."

He handed the draft back to Kim Sang-woo and stood up.

"Are the tickets to Sanya for tomorrow booked?"

"They're booked. Tomorrow at 10:00 AM, a direct flight from Guangzhou to Sanya."

Park Min-ji had already changed into a floral print dress, her hair was down, and she was wearing sandals. She sat on the sofa flipping through a travel magazine, opened to a page showing the beach at Yalong Bay, where the water was very blue and the sand very white.

"This book is a free magazine I picked up from the hotel lobby. I'm just browsing."

"Sanya's beaches look better than they do in magazines. The photos in the magazines are over-edited; the colors are distorted."

"Have you been to Sanya?"

"I haven't, but I've seen photos. Photos of the seaside don't need editing; editing them only makes them look fake."

She closed the magazine and went into the bathroom. The faucet was turned on, and the sound of rushing water followed.

She was in there for a long time. When she came out, water droplets were still dripping from her hair, her face was free of makeup, and her skin was very pale.

Chairman Wang Shunyi was sitting on the sofa looking at his phone; when he saw her come out, he put it down. She walked to the window and pulled open the curtains.

The Canton Tower was already lit up, alternating between purple and pink, with the light beam from the spire slowly sweeping across the night sky. Her wet hair clung to the back of her neck, and water droplets trickled down from the strands.

"What time do we leave tomorrow?"

"Eight-thirty. Kim Sang-woo will pick us up at the hotel."

She nodded and began drying her hair with a towel, but after a few wipes, she stopped.

"When do you plan to start construction on this Guangzhou project?"

"Sign the contract before the end of the year. Start construction after the New Year. Be in production by the end of next year."

"And the Wuhan Warehouse?"

"Advancing simultaneously. Kim Sang-woo is already in negotiations; we sign next month."

She finished drying her hair and draped the towel over the back of a chair. The lights on the Canton Tower changed colors, from pink to blue, and then from blue to green.

She stood by the window and watched for a long while before turning around to say, "Goodnight."

Chairman Wang Shunyi turned off his phone. The air conditioning vent hissed softly.

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Outside the window, some of the lights on the Canton Tower went out at midnight, leaving only the spire lit, its beam slowly drawing circles on the clouds.

An hour later, he rolled over and closed his eyes. Sanya tomorrow. The tickets had been booked by Kim Young-jun in business class. Park Min-ji would be by the window, and he would be by the aisle. The middle seat was empty.