Yesterday, Bai Xiaosheng and his team visited four companies, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, and reached cooperation intentions with three of them, which was quite fruitful. They were just waiting to arrange the signing today. The contact information given at those companies was naturally not Bai Xiaosheng’s; Lin Weiwei was responsible for two, and Lei Ying was responsible for two.

As a result, unexpectedly early this morning, those potential partners called Lin Weiwei, and the cooperation was terminated.

After listening to Lin Weiwei’s report of this bad news, Bai Xiaosheng looked at Lei Ying.

Although Lei Ying had not yet mentioned any issues with the cooperation, his expression was notably the same.

"The two companies I was responsible for also just called, and they have similarly backed out."

As expected, Lei Ying’s answer was almost exactly as Bai Xiaosheng had guessed.

"Why?" Bai Xiaosheng asked the two of them.

Their cooperation was clearly mutually favored, suddenly stopping like this wouldn’t be without reason.

"I asked, but they didn’t say anything." Lin Weiwei replied.

"It’s the same on my side; they directly hung up the phone." Lei Ying added.

Hearing them say this, Bai Xiaosheng frowned instantly, "Didn’t say anything..."

Seeing Bai Xiaosheng deep in thought, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying whispered to each other.

"This matter happened too suddenly, it feels like someone is interfering..."

"I wonder if the cooperation between other members of the business group and those companies has been affected..."

As they were speaking, they saw Bai Xiaosheng standing up.

"Rather than guessing randomly, we might as well ask someone directly." Bai Xiaosheng said, "I’ll go see Director Hou!"

While Bai Xiaosheng was heading out, his expression was uncertain, and he murmured quietly, "I hope it’s not related to that person!"

...

When Bai Xiaosheng arrived at Hou Yuncheng’s temporary office, the other party was about to leave. Seeing Bai Xiaosheng come to find him, Hou Yuncheng joked with a smile that time is money for Bai Xiaosheng, and running here instead of discussing big business deals could lose him a lot of business opportunities.

"Director Hou, I have something to discuss!"

Bai Xiaosheng’s slightly serious words immediately made Hou Yuncheng realize that what Bai Xiaosheng was dealing with was no trivial matter.

Hou Yuncheng immediately had his secretary postpone his travel plans and took Bai Xiaosheng back to his office, closing the door to talk.

Bai Xiaosheng told Hou Yuncheng about his situation while also inquiring whether there were any abnormalities in the cooperation of other members of the business group.

"Is that so? I’ll have someone ask immediately!" Hou Yuncheng did not hesitate and immediately called in his secretary, instructing him to contact others for inquiries.

After giving the instructions, Hou Yuncheng told Bai Xiaosheng, "Don’t worry, let’s wait for a while."

Bai Xiaosheng naturally nodded.

It took less than ten minutes before Hou Yuncheng’s secretary came to report that there were no anomalies in the cooperation between the three mentioned companies and other members of the business group.

"It seems that I am indeed the target." Bai Xiaosheng was mentally prepared, "I suspect it’s Mr. Brown!"

As someone new to this African land, the only friction Bai Xiaosheng had was with Mr. Brown, no one else.

"In that case, I’ll immediately discuss with Moribido City, asking them to inquire with those companies. Don’t make wild guesses for now." Hou Yuncheng sternly said.

Since Bai Xiaosheng was part of the business group he led out here, he had to protect his interests and couldn’t allow anyone to arbitrarily disrupt cooperation!

Hou Yuncheng was a practical man, and he picked up his phone to contact relevant individuals immediately after speaking.

Bai Xiaosheng waited quietly by the side.

Lin Weiwei, Lei Ying, and the companies could choose not to respond to inquiries, but if Director Hou engaged through the concern of the Moribido City government, they would naturally get an answer.

With Hou Yuncheng’s intervention, feedback came quickly.

In less than half an hour, Hou Yuncheng put down his phone and told Bai Xiaosheng, "The response from the Moribido City government is that those companies received more favorable cooperation terms, which led to the termination of cooperation with you. And the ones offering better conditions are not just one company; those that seized the opportunity all belong to one group — Zhenbei Group."

"Sheng, I’m afraid you were right." Hou Yuncheng said in a low voice, "To mobilize so many Zhenbei Group companies to rush out here, it must be the person in charge of your group here, that Mr. Brown!"

Indeed, it was him! Bai Xiaosheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had obtained confirmation.

"Regarding this matter, why don’t I further negotiate with the Moribido City government?" Hou Yuncheng said solemnly.

Bai Xiaosheng was one of the members of his group, and he needed to protect his interests.

Moreover, Bai Xiaosheng had previously either won praise for his efforts in Naliya or meticulously crafted a proposal for rare earth enterprise development, both significant contributions.

He couldn’t just watch Bai Xiaosheng face trouble without doing anything!

"Director Hou, I think we should leave this matter as it is."

Bai Xiaosheng smiled and said to Hou Yuncheng, "I am already very grateful that you helped me identify where the problem lies. There’s no need to approach the city government over this; it would ultimately be fruitless since the government can’t force their enterprises to give up better terms to cooperate with us. Forced cooperation will only lead to a myriad of problems later on, and it may lead to criticism against you!"

Bai Xiaosheng made a reasonable point, and Hou Yuncheng felt a bit stifled.

"Indeed, this isn’t something that negotiations can simply solve." Ultimately, Director Hou sighed softly, frowning at Bai Xiaosheng, "But what are you going to do?"

With this question, Bai Xiaosheng instead smiled.

"Our Mr. Brown, once again, has won a round, so I will give him a step. He’s gained both face and the inner satisfaction, and that bit of resentment in his heart should dissipate. That’s also a good thing; it prevents future grudges from accumulating." Bai Xiaosheng said calmly.