Chapter 318: Profit Comes First

Li Xian had never met Huang Yingxiong before. However, in his impression, this orphan, despite his rebellious nature, should at least appear as someone with a certain refinement.

But the person before him was hard to believe as a product of such a background.

With his wide-shouldered Pierre Cardin wool suit, short and stocky physique, slicked-back hair with a heavy layer of gel, and oversized gemstone rings, he looked more like a coal mine boss from a decade later than a contemporary entrepreneur.

When Li Xian's extended hand stopped, Huang Yingxiong laughed heartily without a trace of embarrassment. Instead, he stepped forward and grabbed Li Xian's hand, which was about to be withdrawn.

"Mr. Li, let's find a place to talk?"

Examining this legendary orphan in front of him, Li Xian slowly pulled his hand back.

"Mr. Huang, right? If it weren't for yesterday's incident, we might have been able to sit down and chat. But now, what should we talk about? The environment of the detention center, or the experience of being suddenly dragged from a dining table to the provincial capital?"

"Ah!" Huang Yingxiong waved his robust hand dismissively, saying, "Brother, don't be so petty. I know there might have been some misunderstandings between us before, but as they say, 'No fight, no acquaintance.' Isn't this fate?"

With a grin, he patted Li Xian on the chest, "Give me a chance to chat!"

Huang Yingxiong had also had a rough night.

Around ten o'clock last night, he received a call from Zhang Wanhé, informing him not only that Sun Weimin and the rumored new leader of the State-owned Enterprises Reform in the Three Eastern Provinces had come to the inspection office to bail Li Xian out but also that he had been suspended from his position and Xu Chaoyang had sued him in front of these two.

Sun Weimin was already frightening enough, and the rumored leader made Huang Yingxiong even more apprehensive.

The entire first half of the night was spent answering continuous phone calls, thoroughly investigating Li Xian's background and leaving him in great doubt.

Li Xian's background seemed clean and straightforward, without any significant connections.

After much thought, he reached out to Lai Yunhao, Sun Weimin's chief secretary. Upon learning the details and that Secretary Sun had no intention of making a major fuss over the matter, Huang Yingxiong's anxiety eased.

Following Lai Yunhao's advice, he decided to come and mend fences with Li Xian, trying to turn things around.

But clearly, Li Xian had no intention of letting things go.

Seeing Huang Yingxiong's enthusiastic demeanor, Li Xian smiled disdainfully and moved closer to the coal boss-like Huang.

"Chat? Chat, my foot."

As Huang Yingxiong's face turned a dark red, Li Xian smirked and walked towards the hotel stairs.

"Stop."

Just as he took a few steps out, a voice filled with anger came from behind.

"Mr. Li, as the saying goes, 'Harmony creates wealth.' Do you understand this principle?" Huang Yingxiong, having lost his previous warmth, now spoke with a stern tone.

"And if I don't understand?" Li Xian turned around, glancing at Huang Yingxiong with clenched fists, and asked.

"Then it's a pity." Huang Yingxiong chuckled awkwardly, "I did some investigation on Mr. Li yesterday and found out that you don't have a place to stay or a vehicle in Ice City. I specifically prepared a house and a car for you. But now, it seems I can't offer them."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian's pupils contracted.

He didn't believe that the offer was genuine. Regardless of whether the house and car were real, this clearly indicated that his background had been thoroughly investigated.

After all, if they knew where he had property and where he didn't, it meant that all of his public information was likely already in their hands.

It felt like someone he didn't know suddenly came up to him and told him his toilet was terrible.

This invasive feeling made Li Xian very uncomfortable.

"Oh."

Suppressing a surge of anger, Li Xian nodded, "Since Mr. Huang has this intention, whether the car and house are sent or not, I should reciprocate. Later, please inform the front desk of the address. My company has a health product that's quite good. It's good for the heart and brain, specifically treating… crooked hearts and foolish minds."

With that, Li Xian walked away, ignoring Huang Yingxiong.

---

In reality, the issue between Li Xian and Huang Yingxiong was no longer just a personal grudge.

Li Xian's interest in the forest development project wasn't a sudden whim for revenge. The so-called "cutting off financial resources and killing parents" was more of a heated remark.

Calmly speaking, the project came at the perfect time for Li Xian. More than revenge, it was the fundamental reason for the irreconcilable conflict between him and Huang Yingxiong.

As November approached, Xinbei Paper and the sanitary napkin factory frequently contacted Li Xian, urging him to consider merging the two or forming a group for his enterprises.

Both factories had grown significantly;

Xinbei Company, after more than a year of acquisitions, now had seven branches in Longjiang. Meanwhile, Hengyuan Company had continuously followed a model of "profit—expand capacity—continue to profit—continue to expand capacity," expanding Honghua Sanitary Napkin Factory into a large factory with seventeen production lines. Their daily output had increased from less than 800,000 to 3 million pieces, and the product quality rate had improved from 70% to 85%.

With the increasing capacity of both sections, constraints on business operations, transportation, and especially raw material supply were becoming apparent.

Sanitary paper and sanitary napkins are two products under the same category, with paper pulp as their core raw material.

The quality of the paper pulp determines the performance of the product. The supply of paper pulp, beyond the production line, determines capacity. Currently, the Sina Paper Pulp Base exists, but it still uses the old model of supplying snow flakes from broken wood factories and purchasing additional snow flakes.

In the early stages of the paper industry, this supply chain was sufficient. However, now, the paper pulp made from mixed wood flakes has become problematic in both material quality and quantity.

According to Xu Chaoyang's description of the forest development project, the rights to timber, undergrowth, wildlife, and mineral resources would play a decisive role in Li Xian's paper, health products, and even liquor businesses.

When profit is at stake, nothing else matters.

At 1:30 PM.

Li Xian arrived at the provincial office as scheduled.

The provincial office building was not easy to enter, with armed police stationed at the entrance. Without a work pass, Li Xian called Lai Yunhao and learned that Sun Weimin had just arrived and had an urgent meeting, causing a delay. He was left waiting at the provincial office's front gate.

At this moment, a Nissan Bluebird happened to pass by.

The person sitting in the back seat saw Li Xian at the provincial office gate and suddenly tapped the driver's seat, saying, "Stop."

As Li Xian, bored and lost in thought about the project, stood at the gate, a man in a black woolen coat, holding an unlit cigarette, walked up to him.

"Hello, young man. Can I borrow a light?"