Chapter 85 Magic Machine Business Union
Three days later, Hank Wilson left Banta City.
In these three days, he had meetings with many companies of Banta City.
According to Xu Yi’s suggestion, Wilson reached a preliminary agreement with the companies that produced magic machines, including the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. He was prepared to open a magic machine shop that would sell all different brands of magic machines that included the Frestech Brand.
This agreement was not only beneficial to the rather small magic machine companies, that allowed them to gain a stable distribution channel. Even to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce that was currently the largest magic machine company, it also brought great benefits.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce was lacking distribution channels the most right now, so the Walmart Chamber of Commerce taking the initiative to partner with them was what they wished for.
The reason for pulling in the other companies, the main concern was making the Walmart Chamber of Commerce give up on getting first rights to supplies.
Also for this deal, chairman Rank had specially formed a Banta City Magic Machine Business Union, which would be an association for all the companies related to magic machines in Banta City. If the Walmart Chamber of Commerce wanted to do business with the entire Banta City magic machine industry like this, they could just go through the union.
Because the sales of Magic Fans for the other companies were good in other places of the Lampuri Kingdom, there were many companies that had given up on making magic machines in Banta City that regained their hope. Adding in the fact that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was selling the technology for the Magic Kettle, there were many companies that rejoined the magic machine industry.
In the small Banta City, other than the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there were already twenty three magic machine companies! This also included powerful companies like the Sarank Chamber of Commerce and the Falcao Chamber of Commerce.
This was just the companies producing magic machines, there were also other companies that were related to magic machines. For example, the sixty seven small companies that made components or Cantona’s farmer company that used agricultural magic machines to help people harvest their crops…...
With all these companies added together, they numbered over a hundred!
This proposal from chairman Rank obtained the support of most of the over a hundred companies, so once the Magic Machine Business Union was formed, their scale almost surpassed the Business Union.
Although this Magic Machine Business Union only managed matters related to magic machines and it didn’t have the same influence as the Business Union, it was still a large group in Banta City’s business world, so its influence wasn’t weak.
Once the association was formed, naturally they had to pick a president to represent them. As for candidates, other than Xu Yi who had recommended chairman Rank, the rest of the company representatives had all recommended Xu Yi.
This was actually quite natural.
The magic machine industry can be considered something made by Xu Yi and since this association dealt in magic machines, it meant that he couldn’t avoid this responsibility.
So Xu Yi didn’t make any excuses and took the role of president.
As soon as he became the president, Xu Yi immediately raised motions.
First, he announced an industry standard.
This standard affected all aspects, since there was a safety standard and a production standard. Whether it was the companies making magic machines or the small companies that were just making parts, it affected them to a certain extent.
The companies that joined the Magic Machine Business Union found that if they were to follow the industry standard that Xu Yi had announced, the factories under them would have to make quite a large change to meet these standards.
Even though the association had just formed and it wasn’t convenient for people to refute Xu Yi, it didn’t mean that there weren’t veiled criticisms.
However Xu Yi didn’t care about them at all, he just took out another set of standards to explain. Then he announced that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be selling magic machine technology to the large companies that joined the Magic Machine Business Union, as well as adopting the patent method of selling like with the Magic Kettle. As long as they joined the association, they could buy it. ｂｅ𝚍𝚗ｏｖｅ𝚕．𝚗𝚎𝚝
After this announcement, the objections in the association all disappeared and every company showed their intention of buying.
When the Frestech Chamber of Commerce sold the Magic Kettle technology, there were many companies that had made Magic Kettles of quite outstanding quality. It was greatly welcomed whether it was Banta City or the other cities, so many companies had earned a large amount from them.
After tasting this sweetness, when these companies heard that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was selling their technology, naturally they wouldn’t give it up.
Because Xu Yi announced this, not only did all the companies in the Magic Machine Business Union fill with excitement, even those companies who had chosen not to join the Magic Machine Business Union began to regret it, as they all began requesting to join the Magic Machine Business Union.
In just a short time, Xu Yi’s prestige in the Banta City’s magic machine industry surged again. So when he took the position as the president of the Magic Machine Business Union, no one questioned him.
“Are you using carrot and stick here?” Still was panting a little since she had been jogging, as she asked Xu Yi this with a smile.
Right now the sun was rising from the east, the bright sunlight fell onto Still’s face that had a slight blush since they had been jogging, making her seem even more charming.
Behind her ear, there beads of sweat dripping down her face and her slender neck. She was simply like a flower that was covered in dew in the morning at this moment.
Xu Yi looked over and was instantly stunned.
Before this, because Still went to Anvilmar City to attend a jewelry conference held by the Sarank Chamber of Commerce, she hadn’t been in Banta City.
Yesterday afternoon, Still finally came back from Anvilmar City and immediately came to find Xu Yi before even putting down her luggage.
But when she saw Xu Yi, she was scared by how pale and tired Xu Yi looked.
After asking Vivian, Still knew that not only was Xu Yi working during the day, he was also studying at night, so he made himself this tired. She was immediately angry and without another word, she stole the blueprint in Xu Yi’s hands and forced him to go to sleep.
After Xu Yi slept for two hours, he had dinner with Still. After that, Still stopped him from working and when the sky turned dark, she forced Xu Yi into bed, only leaving after she saw him fall asleep.
So this morning, Xu Yi woke up much earlier because of how early he went to sleep.
When he was thinking about using this chance to have a run since it was still this early, Still arrived at his door while wearing a set of exercise clothes.
Seeing that Xu Yi was out of bed, Still threw the exercise clothes that she had prepared to him and had him change. Then she pulled him out of the house and began jogging together.
Still wasn’t that in shape and she didn’t have a habit of running. She had done all of this for Xu Yi, so not long after they ran out of Banta City’s city gates, she was already panting and covered in sweat.
But when her appearance fell into Xu Yi’s eyes, it revealed a kind of beauty that mesmerized him.
Not hearing Xu Yi respond, Still looked over in confusion and saw Xu Yi staring at her in a daze. Her face was covered in a blush again, but her heart was very happy as she asked, “Do I look good?”
“Ah?” Xu Yi was stunned as he came back to his senses. He immediately nodded and said with a smile, “Very good. Still, do you know that I’ve had a dream before that there would be a beautiful girl jogging with me in the morning each day? Then I would have the motivation to keep up with my morning jobs. I never thought that on ear….Un, this never happened before in the past, but now I’m so happy that my heart is about to jump out.”
Still broke out in laughter, but because she hadn’t caught her breath yet from running, she broke out in coughs.
When she finally calmed down, she glared at Xu Yi, “You don’t need to be this exaggerated, right? Isn’t it easy if you want to run with a beauty, I’ll come with you every day then. If you’re not satisfied, you can also drag along Vivian. I can see that her body isn’t good either, she also needs to exercise.”
Xu Yi laughed, “Of course that’s good. With the company of a beauty, a boring thing like jogging will become interesting and it’s easier to maintain this habit. But Still, to have me get up this early, I also have to sleep early. Without you supervising me, I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep early. Could it be that you’ll come and watch me sleep every night as well?”
Still was stunned before her face turned red. She didn’t respond to Xu Yi at all, as she sped up and ran past him, running into the distance.
Xu Yi was confused and wanted to call out to Still to ask why she’s running so fast, but he quickly reacted.
When he asked his last question, it was too easy for people to misunderstand, no wonder Still’s reaction was suddenly this strange.
But Xu Yi thought about it and couldn’t help smiling.
As long as he could marry Still, this question wouldn’t be a mistake and it would be natural.
Looking at Still who had run far away, Xu Yi laughed. He forcefully stepped off and moved faster, as he quickly chased her.
This slow morning job had turned into a quick race because they kept chasing each other.
The two were far from Banta City and were about to leave its borders, but they took a circle and arrived at the river to the north.
The river was still being improved, but the banks had completely changed, with two large patches of grass on either side.
The two had been running fast for a long time, so they were panting.
Seeing that Still wasn’t slowing down, Xu Yi slowly stopped and shouted to Still, “St….Still, stop…..Stop, I…..I can’t run anymore.”
Still slowed down and slowly stopped.
She turned to look at Xu Yi bent over and panting. Still came over with a smile and patted Xu Yi’s back as she proudly said, “What, you can’t catch me?”
Xu Yi looked up. Because of the angle, the first thing he saw was Still’s two peaks trembling from her gasping for air.
No matter how calm Xu Yi’s heart was, he couldn’t stop it from skipping a beat at this moment.
Although he suppressed his urge to grab them, he couldn’t stop his desires. He suddenly stood up and opened his arms, tightly holding Still.
“Caught you!” Xu Yi loudly shouted.
Still was scared before she couldn’t help revealing a smile.
“You’re a cheat.”
“How could one not be a cheat when chasing girls?”
Xu Yi hugged Still and felt Still’s two tall peaks pressed against his chest, which made his throat even more parched.Seeing the blush on Xu Yi’s face, feeling the heat and power that came from Xu Yi hugging her, and smelling the breath that came out of Xu Yi’s nose, Still seemed to sense something. She stopped laughing and her face turned red with shyness, but she didn’t lower her head like any other girl, rather she raised it and moved her lips towards Xu Yi’s lips.
Xu Yi naturally lowered his head without any reservations.
When the two were about to kiss, there was an angry roar that came from beside the river.
“Xu Yi, you bastard! Even if I die and turn into a spirit, I won’t let you off!”
Chapter 86 Danger of the river
Xu Yi and Still were surprised at the same time, turning in the direction the sound came from.
Xu Yi was very annoyed. He had a good atmosphere with Still just now, he was about to get a morning kiss, but this fellow had disrupted him.
And this fellow couldn’t scold anyone else, he had to scold him by name. How could he take it?
Xu Yi let go of Still and walked over to the source of the sound with a frown.
He really wanted to see which fellow was this blind.
Who would have thought that when he walked over, there would be a “putong” sound like something had fallen into the water.
Xu Yi was shocked, as he turned to look at Still who was also shocked as they both shouted “this is bad”. Without caring anymore, they used the Floating Wind Spell and flew over the river.
When the two flew over the river and looked down, they found that in the broad river, there was something that was floating down it.
While floating, that person was actually calling out for help.
Seeing this, Xu Yi couldn’t help feeling angry and finding it funny.
All people who tried to commit suicide really were impulsive and when it came to death, they would regret it.
Xu Yi gave a sigh and shook his head, as he flew down. He grabbed the back of that person’s clothes and pulled him out of the river.
He dropped that person on the side of the river. That person rolled on the ground several times and vomited out several mouthfuls of water before calming down.
When he finally caught his breath, he looked up at Still and Xu Yi in front of him as he kept thanking them, “Many thanks for saving my life, do you live around here? What are you called? I’ll come and thank you.”
Xu Yi looked over this person and found that while he looked quite sorry from being soaked in the water, this person’s clothes showed that he didn’t come from a poor background. Also based on his actions and words that were very proper, he didn’t seem like someone who would jump into the river because they were poor.
Then he remembered that this fellow had scolded him before jumping in. Xu Yi found this funny as he asked, “You were scolding me like that before and now you don’t recognize me? Then again, not mentioning being able to recognize me, you can’t even recognize Still?”
Still didn’t have time to react to Xu Yi’s praise. She bent down and looked at that person as she coldly asked, “Why did you scold Xu Yi? How has he offended you?”
That person looked at Still in a daze before looking up at Xu Yi. Because the two of them had their backs to the sun, he wasn’t able to recognize them. Now that he had changed his angle, he instantly recognized the two of them.
Xu Yi wasn’t wrong at all. As someone from Banta City, it was fine for him to not recognize Xu Yi, but it was impossible for him not to recognize Still.
After he recognized the two of them, it was like that person had been shocked. With his hands on the ground, he pushed himself back several meters.
When Xu Yi and Still both had strange expressions and wanted to keep questioning him, he suddenly jumped up from the ground and pointed at Xu Yi as he shouted, “Xu Yi! You are Xu Yi! You bastard! Give me back my ships!”
Xu Yi was even more confused. Looking at this person that was clearly angry, but didn’t dare approach him out of what seemed to be fear, he couldn’t help asking, “Hey, I don’t even know who you are, how can I return your ships? Then again, I don’t know anything about your ships to begin with, so what can I return?”
Still looked at that person with knitted brows for a bit before suddenly clapping her hands and saying, “Oh, I remember now. You seem to be the Porter Chamber of Commerce’s chairman. You’re called…..You’re called Porter what again?”
“Cimila Porter.” That person clearly never thought that Still would recognize him, so he was a bit surprised. The anger on his face faded as he said with a bitter smile, “I never thought that after becoming like this, young miss Still would still recognize me. That’s right, I am the Porter Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, but the Porter Chamber of Commerce…..no longer exists.”
Xu Yi looked at Still, hinting to her to talk to this Cimila Porter first.
Still gave a nod and thought for a bit before asking Cimila Porter, “Chairman Porter, I remember that the last time I met you was at the banquet held by the Sarank Chamber of Commerce. If my memories aren’t wrong, your Porter Chamber of Commerce mainly deals in water transportation, right?”
“Young miss Still truly has a shocking memory.” Cimila Porter praised, “That’s right, our Porter Chamber of Commerce mainly deals in water transportation, but now…..” After saying this, Cimila Porter looked at Xu Yi with a look filled with hatred, “.....But because of chairman Xu, our company couldn’t get any business and was forced out of business. My beloved fleet was also sold off and they might have already been turned into boards by now.”
Xu Yi knit his brows and couldn’t help asking, “Chairman Porter, your company being forced out of business, how is this related to me?”
“How is it not!” When replying to Still’s questions, this Cimila Porter was still calm, but when he heard what Xu Yi said, he immediately exploded. He said in a loud voice, “If it wasn’t for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce building that damn road and if it wasn’t for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce regulating upriver, how could our company not have any business? How could it have been closed? It was all because of you! You dare say it isn’t related to you?”
Xu Yi was very confused, “I still don’t understand, building the road and regulating the river, how is it related to your Porter Chamber of Commerce not being able to get any business?”
Cimila Porter glared at Xu Yi and found that this wasn’t the right way to keep talking to him, so he took two deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.
“You really think it’s not related, chairman Xu?” Cimila Porter gave a cold laugh, “Let me tell you, it’s very much related! Before your Frestech Chamber of Commerce built that damn road, whether it was cargo or people, it was much faster to travel on the river than on the road and you could transport more at once. So before, almost half of the cargo in Banta City was transported by our Porter Chamber of Commerce. Then after you built that damn road, everyone found that it was faster to travel by land and they could directly transport it to places, so they didn’t need to use ships. Like this, naturally there were less companies that chose to ship with our company.”
“This isn’t right, river transport can transport bulk cargo and this isn’t something that land transport can match yet.” Xu Yi said in a confused voice.
“Bulk?” Cimila Porter gave another cold laugh, “Did you forget the other reason I mentioned?”
“Controlling the river?” How is that related?”
“Of course it’s related.” Cimila Porter pointed at the river flowing beside them and said, “Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is controlling the upstream at the northwest side of the Falling Rain Forest. You’ve corrected the flow of the river, but the sediment is no longer stuck in the Falling Rain Forest, but rather has flowed to Banta City. Look closely at the river, can’t you see that it’s much muddier compared to last year?”
Xu Yi and Still looked at the river at the same time. Xu Yi still hadn’t found a problem, but Still said with a nod, “Un…..I wouldn’t have noticed it if you hadn’t mentioned it. Compared to when I was younger, the river doesn’t seem as clean.”
Cimila Porter gave a loud laugh, “Ha, chairman Xu, have you found the problem? Now that the sediment from upriver has flowed to Banta City, it doesn’t just make the river muddier. Let me tell you, I have sailed these waters for several decades, so I’m very familiar with these matters. I can guarantee that in less than a few years, the river level will rise because of the sediment. When that time comes, there only needs to be a single storm for there to be a flood. I’ve heard that you’ve started something called the bank project, turning the two banks into a flower garden. Ha! Flower garden? When the flood comes, this place is more likely to turn into a graveyard!”
Xu Yi was silent for a bit as he walked over the river. He reached out a hand and used his magic, gathering a current out of the water and creating a ball of water in the air.
Xu Yi and Still both looked up at this two meter wide giant ball of water and found that the colour of the water was quite muddy. The ball of water had stopped flowing because it was controlled by Xu Yi, so naturally there was a layer of silt that formed at the bottom of the river.
The two looked at each other and saw the worry in the other person’s eyes.
Although Cimila Porter was just saying things to scare people, based on the water situation of the river, this was indeed something to consider.
The technology level of the Sines Continent wasn’t high and the hydraulic engineering level wasn’t high. No matter where a flood occurred before, the consequences were all very dire.
The river hadn’t ever flooded before, so the people of Banta City never considered this problem, but looking at it now, this was a problem that was right in front of their faces.
Xu Yi turned to look at Cimila Porter and gave a nod to him before saying with a serious face, “Thank you.”
Cimila Porter was stunned. He never thought that even though he was using such malicious words with Xu Yi, Xu Yi would actually give him sincere gratitude.
“Thank me for what?”
“Thank you for noticing the change with the river and telling me about these possible grave outcomes.” Xu Yi said, “Although this can’t be considered me or the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s responsibility, it is related to me, so I have to take responsibility. So I want to thank you. If it wasn’t for you bringing my attention to this matter, I’m afraid it would have already been too late when a problem occurred.”
Seeing Xu Yi’s serious expression, Cimila Porter’s expression changed several times. After a while, he became depressed and waved his hand as he said with a sigh, “Forget it, our company being shut down is all because my ability isn’t good enough, it can’t be blamed on you. It was wrong for me to scold you like that, please don’t take it to heart.”
Xu Yi shook his head with a faint smile, “It’s a small matter. But chairman Porter, what are you planning to do now?”
“Me?” Cimila Porter gave a bitter laugh, “I don’t even have a fleet and the company’s closed, what can I do? I don’t even have the courage to kill myself, so I’ll just find some work and feed myself while waiting for death.”
“That is not certain.” Xu Yi revealed a confident smile, “Chairman Porter, if you believe in me, I have some work that is very suited to you. I dare to guarantee that it won’t take much time before everyone focuses on the river. When that time comes, I can help you build a new fleet. Are you…..willing to believe in me?”