Chapter 13 – Meat, Money, and Mistakes
The cheese plant had been running for only two months when a new disaster hit.
Manager Zhao barged into Li Ming's office carrying a butcher's invoice like it was a death certificate.
"Boss, we've got a problem."
Li Ming didn't look up from the ledger. "If it's bread, cheese, or sauce, just staple the complaint to the wall and I'll deal with it on Mondays."
"It's meat," Zhao said grimly. "Our beef supplier just doubled prices overnight. Pork too. Chicken deliveries are… well, they're not arriving at all."
Li Ming's head snapped up. "How? Why?"
"Word on the street is your 'friends' from the big fast food chains have been locking down contracts with the major suppliers. They're offering higher rates, exclusive deals. We're being squeezed out."
For most businessmen, this would mean finding a new supplier, eating the cost, or cutting menu items.
For Li Ming, it meant something much more dangerous:
"If we can't buy meat," he said slowly, "we'll just… make meat."
Zhao blinked. "You mean raise cows?"
"No," Li Ming said, "we'll open a small meat processing plant. Buy from farmers directly. We'll handle the cutting, packaging, and delivery ourselves. Just for our restaurants. Nothing more."
The "small plant" ended up being a sprawling facility with stainless-steel cutting lines, walk-in freezers the size of classrooms, and a fleet of refrigerated trucks "for efficiency."
And because the trucks already visited every city in the province for bread, cheese, and sauce, it was "only logical" to load them with meat as well.
Within weeks, Li Ming's restaurants were serving fresher, cheaper meat than any competitor—accidentally creating a closed-loop supply chain for pizza, pasta, and meat dishes without meaning to.
But while the factory was under construction, Li Ming had another "genius" money-losing idea:
They were planning to open ten more branches across the province.
Zhao suggested renting properties as usual.
Li Ming shook his head.
"No, no, no. Renting is too safe. I want to burn cash fast—let's buy the buildings outright. Especially in the busy areas."
"Boss, that'll cost a fortune."
"Exactly."
By the end of the year, Li Ming owned five prime properties and fifteen rented locations, all under the restaurant brand. The accountants were horrified at the capital outlay; Li Ming was thrilled.
What he didn't know—what nobody knew—was that property prices in those "busy areas" were about to enter a slow, unstoppable climb over the next decade.