Chapter 166: Chapter 108: The Conspiracy Strikes_2
Yan Fei pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Let’s see if we can also buy the land around this unfinished building.”
Lu Pingping immediately asked, “What are you planning to do? Build a new building on the nearby land?”
Yan Fei replied, “We only need this one building for the headquarters. I want to buy the land next to it to build our new food processing factory there.”
Lu Pingping, curious, asked, “Isn’t our food processing factory operating very well? Why do you suddenly want to build a brand-new food processing factory here? The land here is not affordable, and it’s such a waste to use it for a food factory.”
Yan Fei sighed and said, “I’ve recently received some information that the land our current factory producing weight loss cookies is on is leased from someone else, and its right to use might very likely be reclaimed by the township.”
Lu Pingping was shocked and quickly asked, “Our food processing factory has a formal contract signed with the township, and there are still three years left on the contract, meaning we can use this plot of land for another three years. How can they reclaim the land now?”
Yan Fei said, “Our food processing factory is making too much money, and the employee benefits are good. Farmers in the nearby townships all want to work at the factory. The workers who previously worked at the factory had left the company because the previous owner had ceased production, but seeing the food factory thrive under our acquisition, they wanted to work for us again. However, after an assessment, we found that they did not qualify and thus rejected them. These people are all local to the townships and have thus become dissatisfied, putting pressure on the townships to reclaim the land from the food factory as a form of revenge.”
Lu Pingping was aware of this, as the decision was indeed made by her. She just did not expect these people to hold such a grudge and apply pressure on the township to reclaim the land, aiming to undermine them.
Yan Fei continued, “But these people don’t have that much power. Even if they shout themselves hoarse, they won’t achieve their goal. Actually, behind them, there hides a group with hidden agendas. This group, having missed out on jumping aboard the rapid success of our weight loss cookies, wants to take our company down, or use this situation to blackmail us into letting them forcibly invest in our company. In short, their aim is to get a piece of the action. And it’s precisely because of their involvement that the township is under immense pressure. Although they haven’t taken a stance yet, it may not be long before they compromise and take action against our food factory’s land.”
Lu Pingping said, “Even so, the township can’t just tear up the agreement and force us to leave, right?”
Yan Fei, feeling somewhat frustrated, said, “I’ve already investigated this. The previous owner of the food factory used improper means to obtain the land-use rights, including bribing township officials. Now, the official who accepted the bribes has been caught. In other words, the way we acquired this land is illegal, and the other party has tangible evidence. As long as the township uses this as an excuse to void our signed contract, we don’t have much of a choice. Legally speaking, we are at fault.”
Having weathered many storms, Lu Pingping quickly grasped Yan Fei’s meaning but felt a sense of injustice. These people did not assist her when she was just starting, yet now that the fruit ripens, they dare to reach out and pluck it. She said, “How did you find out about this?”
Yan Fei, of course, did not have such influence to learn so quickly that someone was targeting him. It was when he let the Auxiliary Brain download materials from the Internet that it collected a vast amount of information concerning incidents happening around Shanghai. Using its powerful filtering capabilities, the Auxiliary Brain sifted out information related to “Dream Technology” and “Yan Fei.” After analyzing it, he came to this conclusion.
Though this group specifically targeting Yan Fei didn’t intentionally show themselves, they left trails during their online exchanges. The Auxiliary Brain couldn’t access their confidential information, but even with the publicly available information on the Internet, Yan Fei had identified this faction’s existence and the crisis he faced. That was why he wanted to take precautionary measures well in advance.
However, Yan Fei couldn’t reveal the Auxiliary Brain’s role to Lu Pingping. He said, “Have you forgotten who developed this product? These research institutions might focus on scientific research, but they wield considerable power and have their own channels of information. They had already uncovered these people’s conspiracies. They can’t directly confront these individuals due to other reasons, so they told me to be prepared.”
Nothing is more feared in the world than being caught off guard. If, during the high sales season for Dream Foods’ weight loss cookies, the land of the food processing factory gets reclaimed by the township, causing production to halt, it could have a massive impact on Dream Foods. Not only would they lose a significant market share, but they would also have to compensate agents and consumers for breach of contract. If such a situation arises, it would seriously hurt Dream Technology.