Chapter 33 The significance of investing in research
There was an old phrase that said ideals were rich and reality was bone bare.
Xu Yi thought that since he was familiar with his previous world’s industrial history, he could steal resources beforehand. He would buy eight-ten or even more Magic Crystal Mines so that even if the price of Magic Crystals increase in the future, he wouldn’t need to worry about not having enough Magic Crystals just with these mines.
Who would have thought that he would be suddenly hit by the cruelty of reality.
The fact was…..he didn’t have money!
“Sir chairman, there is only around three hundred and sixty one gold coins floating in company. According to my research, the cheapest Magic Crystal Mine in Banta is still costs around three thousand gold coins.” Sebas stated the brutal reality to Xu Yi without any expressions, not caring about how ugly Xu Yi’s face looked right now.
“At least three thousand gold coins?” Xu Yi calmly considered this, “Then based on what you’ve said, it would be at least a month before we considered this again?”
“Sir chairman, we cannot do that.” Sebas shook his head, “Although if everything with the company proceeds smoothly, we will gain a net revenue of over five thousand in a month, sir chairman, a qualified company needs to at least keep some floating capital for ourselves. Otherwise if something happens, it will cause a serious crisis to the company. Other than that, if I may be bold, sir chairman’s investment spending is too much. Just the investment in research is a third of the company’s revenue, this is not how a healthy company spends their money.”
“Oh?” Xu Yi looked at Sebas and said with a smile, “Is this idea from you or from the Lord Viscount?”
Sebas was actually someone recommended by Viscount Leslie.
According to what Viscount Leslie said, although based on his contract with Xu Yi, he didn’t have any decision making power in the company, he did have the right to make suggestions and know everything. So he sent someone to the company, who would act as his representative.
Heinz was very worried about this matter, saying that Viscount Leslie was placing a chess piece inside the company. Even if Viscount Leslie was obedient now, he could affect the decisions of the company through this chess piece and could even gradually control the company.
Xu Yi’s reaction was different from Heinz’s.
Since Viscount Leslie already has a 30% share in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it was a very reasonable request for him to send in a representative. They had no reason to reject him at all.
Not to mention that they needed many things from Viscount Leslie. If they started rejecting Viscount Leslie’s reasonable requests from the beginning, then the cooperation agreement they reached before would be nonexistent.
As for Heinz’s worry that Viscount Leslie would control the Frestech Chamber of Commerce through Sebas, Xu Yi gave a snort of contempt.
Viscount Leslie was a viscount of the kingdom, he was a true noble. He was the highest existence in Banta City other than the City Lord and even because of the backing behind him, his status wasn’t that different from Banta City’s City Lord.
Relatively speaking, even if their Frestech Chamber of Commerce earned quite a bit from these Magic Fans, just based on the power of their company, they weren’t that powerful in Banta City. As for their other aspects, there wasn’t anything powerful about them at all.
For a powerful noble like Viscount Leslie, if he really wanted the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he didn’t need to do anything this troublesome. He had a hundred different ways that were much more direct and simple to swallow the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
So, Xu Yi happily accepted Sebas. When he found out that Sebas had been the financial manager of a company in the past, he gave all of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s finances to him to manage.
The facts proved that Sebas really was an incredible talent. In just two short days, a detailed financial account for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had been prepared. It was properly organized, not like the random bunch of data Xu Yi and Heinz had before.
Heinz was very worried about Sebas handling all of the company’s finances, but Xu Yi was overjoyed. He felt that Viscount Leslie had done a great thing, sending him such an incredible talent.
Of course, there were some times where Xu Yi had misgivings about Viscount Leslie behind Sebas, so he asked this question.
Hearing Xu Yi’s question, Sebas gave a bow, “It’s this subordinate’s idea, it is unrelated to the Lord Viscount.”
Xu Yi said with a nod, “It’s fine, it doesn’t matter whose opinion it is. Sebas, you think that an investment of a third in research is too much? I think it’s too little. This is because the company’s income isn’t high right now, so while a third does sound like a lot, added up it’s only around a thousand gold coins. This research fund is low in my opinion. As the company gains more and more and income, I will continue to invest large amounts into the company’s research fund. Perhaps it’ll be even more than you imagined.”
Sebas hesitated for a moment before saying with knit brows, “Sir chairman, I don’t understand why you would do something like this. The sales volume of the Magic Fans is very good right now and the prospects are also very good, so you don’t need to invest that much money into research. Although I also agree that in order to seize the market, it is necessary to continue developing the Magic Fan, do we need to be in such a rush? Other than that, sir chairman, a lot of money you invested into research…...doesn’t seem to be related to the Magic Fan, right?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile as he thought that Sebas has finally asked the real question in his heart, which should also be Viscount Leslie’s question.
This question really wasn’t easy for Xu Yi to answer, since based on the facts, more than half of what he invested into research wasn’t related to research on the Magic Fan.
For example, with Master Lanus’ dwarf tribe, he invested five hundred gold coins a month. At the same time, after receiving so many dwarven craftsmen, Xu Yi invested another two hundred gold coins into them, which also kept increasing.
Other than that, there was only Still in his newly built magic research lab, but he had already invested over a hundred gold coins.
This added up to a giant amount of close to a thousand, which on the surface indeed seemed like it wasn’t related to the Magic Fan.
Moreover, the results from this research wouldn’t be seen for a long time. Even if Xu Yi wanted to explain that this research was closely related to the establishment of an industrial system in the future, no one on the continent would be able to understand what he meant.
“Sebas, let me ask you something. Do you think our company’s Magic Fans are selling well?” Xu Yi thought about it and asked this question back.
“That true locally.” Sebas had clearly already researched this matter and replied without any hesitation, “Compared to the expensive large scale Frost Array, the Magic Fan that only costs two gold coins should be widely accepted by the families that can’t install large scale Frost Arrays and suffer during the summer. Not to mention the consumption of the Magic Fan is low, it would cost less than ten silver coins a month to use it, which is affordable for the families who buy it. So for these families, while the Magic Fan’s effects are less than the large scale Frost Array, it does satisfy their needs. So after seeing the Magic Fan being released, these family will buy it without any hesitation, therefore there are large sales for the Magic Fan.”
“That’s right.” Xu Yi nodded in praise, “Then let me ask you something else. Are the Magic Fans hard to make?”
“They shouldn’t be hard.” Sebas shook his head, “The Magic Fan hasn’t been out for long and there are already replicas, but since they are inferior to our company’s products, they haven’t had a large impact on us. Moreover, sir chairman used a brilliant method at the time and helped the company smoothly pass through that crisis.”
After saying this, a look of admiration appeared in Sebas’ eyes as he looked at Xu Yi.
Xu Yi had proposed the idea of the “brand” during this fake product event, which filled Sebas’ heart with admiration.
Before being sent here by Viscount Leslie, Sebas had done some research on the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. He was surprised to find that after the fake product event, the sales of the Frestech Magic Fans actually didn’t drop. Moreover, when many people wanted to buy a Magic Fan, they first thing they asked was if it was from the Frestech Brand. If it wasn’t, they directly said they wouldn’t buy it. This caused those small workshops making fake Magic Fans give up this idea.
Although there were some fellows that wanted to carve the Frestech Brand on their Magic Fans, but Xu Yi took out the exclusive sales clause. This meant that the Frestech Magic Fan was only sold in a single shop in Banta City and everything else was a fake product.
This completely cut off the livelihood of living off counterfeit products, creating a monopoly inside and outside Banta City for the Frestech Magic Fans.
“Since they aren’t hard to make, that means it is very hard for us to stop people from making Magic Fans.”
After he said this, a helpless look appeared on Xu Yi’s face. This world didn’t have any patent protection laws, so even if he invented the Magic Fan, he didn’t have the corresponding protective measures. This meant that if others wanted to make it, it was no effort for them at all.
“Although there is no problem for us in Banta City, in other cities, no one knows about the Frestech Brand. So in those places, we have no advantages at all. You should know that less than a hundred kilometers away in Saltan City, there is already another Magic Fan factory and they have similarly good sales numbers in Saltan City.”
Chapter 34 Picturesque beauty
“So, sir chairman, I suggest we open the market in the other cities as soon as possible. I have already investigated this, the Saltan City factory’s Magic Fans cannot compare to the quality of our Frestech Magic Fans. I believe that as long as we start selling in Saltan City, we will definitely steal back the market.” Sebas said with a serious expression.
“He, he, we certainly will steal it back, but we can’t rush this. After all, Saltan City is someone else’s territory. Our product is perfect, but if we rush over there, it won’t be as easy to steal back the territory. Right now, I’m waiting for a good opportunity. This chance is actually related to the questions you were asking.”
Sebas was stunned. He was dragged around by Xu Yi for a while and almost forgot the questions he asked before, but he never thought Xu Yi would drag them out again.
“Sir chairman, the research you invested in are not related to the Magic Fan at all.”
Xu Yi extended the index finger on his right hand and shook it, “No, no, no. Sebas, in this industrial system, there isn’t a single research that isn’t related to another aspect. Although the Magic Fan seems simple, it involves quite a few things. Right now it seems like the research I’ve invested in aren’t that related to the Magic Fan, but after results appear for this research, you will find that it is greatly related to the Magic Fan. Every single one of these studies could create a heaven shaking giant change to the Magic Fan. Not to mention…...who told you that my Frestech Chamber of Commerce only produces Magic Fans?”
Sebas’ eyes couldn’t help opening wide. Based on what Xu Yi said, could it be he was actually inventing new products?
He still had things to ask, but Xu Yi didn’t give him that chance. He stood up and pointed outside, “Alright, let’s go outside and take a look. After this long, Still should be finished with her matter.”
Sebas couldn’t only helplessly follow behind Xu Yi.
While walking, Sebas digested the words Xu Yi had just said.
“Industrial system? What is that? It seems like it’s something important based on what he said. Other than that, what was the new product he mentioned? Could it also create a stir like the Magic Fan? The Lord Viscount should be very interested in this, I…..”
Xu Yi and Sebas were talking in an inner room and once they left the room, they came to a very large hall.
In the center of the hall at this time, Still was currently standing still. Opposite of her, there was a Magic Fan placed parallel to her, currently blowing refreshing cold wind onto her face.
This Magic Fan was clearly different from the Frestech Magic Fan from before. The structure was much more refined and it was a bit smaller compared to before, making it look more sleek.
This was the official second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan that had been developed.
Still opposite the Magic Fan was wearing a white dress today. With the cool wind, Still’s golden hair slightly danced in the wind, matching her skirt that kept fluttering in the wind, making her look very elegant.
Still was already very beautiful and now that she was dressed up like this, she became even more charming. Looking from the side, she was simply dazzling. So beautiful that people couldn’t look directly at her.
Hearing footsteps coming from behind, Still turned around to look at Xu Yi. She threw out a smile at him that actually made Xu Yi’s heart skip a beat.
“He, if this fellow was placed on earth, she would have become a star, right?” Xu Yi secretly thought.
He made a hand gesture to Still and after signaling to her to focus, Xu Yi went to a corner of the hall.
To Still’s side was an artist and on the giant canvas in front of him right now, there was a drawing that was almost finished.
“Un, the picture is quite good!” Xu Yi took a look and immediately praised it.
Other than a complete drawing of Still and the Magic Fan, there was also a background of an open field. This painting was very well done, manifesting Still’s appearance and charm decisively, letting those who looked at it unable to look away.
Xu Yi stood beside the artist for a while. When the artist finished the final stroke, he let out a sigh of relief, as his spirited expression was immediately replaced with a look of incomparable exhaustion. It could be seen that he spent quite a bit of energy on this drawing.
“Master Anlios, it’s been hard on you.” Xu Yi raised a cup of prepared cold drink and handed it over.
Master Anlios only noticed Xu Yi. He took the cold drink and revealed a confident smile. He pointed at the painting and asked, “Chairman Xu Yi, what do you think?”
Xu Yi gave him a thumbs up without holding anything back, “It’s very good. Master Anlios really is the best artists in our Banta City, this painting is simply perfect.”
Of course it was perfect, Xu Yi had spent a sky high price of an entire fifty gold coins on this artist. If the painting wasn’t drawn properly, then Xu Yi’s fifty gold coins would have been wasted.
Master Anlios gave a loud laugh, “Chairman Xu Yi, actually this painting could be this outstanding was mainly because of Young Miss Still. I have only drawn her beauty onto paper. Don’t you feel that if Young Miss Still were to just stand there, she would be like a painting?”
Xu Yi looked over to see Still walking over and he gave a soft nod, “This point, I really couldn’t agree with you more.”
Master Anlios and Xu Yi looked at each other and broke out in tacit laughter at the same time.
“Hey, Xu Yi, what are you guys discussing? You’re laughing this happily.” Still came over and asked this.”
“Master Anlios is praising your beauty.” Xu Yi said with a smile.
“Many thanks for Master Anlios’ praise.” Still revealed a sweet smile to Master Anlios before turning to Xu Yi to ask, “Then what about you? Do you think I’m beautiful?”
Xu Yi couldn’t help giving a bitter smile, as he thought that little girls really loved being beautiful.
“Of course I also agreed.” Xu Yi replied in a very serious voice, “Is there anyone who dares say you aren’t beautiful? Tell me and I’ll dig out their eyes! It would by no use to them anyway!”
Still laughed before softly hitting Xu Yi, “You’re too exaggerated.”
She said this, but the expression on her face clearly demonstrated the joy in her heart.
Xu Yi looked at the painting again before suddenly saying to Still, “Still, I have a strong premonition that you’ll become famous soon and you’ll be very famous. Do you feel any pressure?”
“Why?” Still asked in surprise, “Isn’t it just doing what you said, making an advertisement? Why would I become famous?”
Xu Yi revealed a smile. This was the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan’s first advertisement, they were prepared to go all out in spreading this. With Still’s appearance and aura, it would be strange if she didn’t become famous.
They discussed a few things before Master Anlios and Sebas left to pay the remunerations, while also beginning to start planning for the advertisement, leaving Xu Yi and Still alone. They looked at each other and Xu Yi made a gesture to let Still go first.
“Beautiful Young Miss Still, can I have the honour to ask you out to lunch?”
Still deliberately made her face stern, “I’m sorry, this mister, I normally don’t accept other people’s invitations to a meal, unless that person is a handsome uncle.”
Xu Yi’s eyes opened wide in surprise and he pointed at himself, “Charming uncle? Isn’t that me?”
Still couldn’t keep a straight face and laughed while saying, “You finally recognized that you are an uncle? Then this handsome uncle, can I ask what you are treating me to?”
“Un…...How about a bowl of noodles that are as fresh as you?”
“Damn, how could a bowl of noodles be fresh? And it’s the same as me?”
“Ha, you don’t understand this. The noodles are very slender, gentle while firm and bouncy……”
…...
Smiling while they talked, Xu Yi and Still found a nearby small restaurant and found a familiar place to sit in.
Because they had been working in the past few days, the two had been frequently eating together. They had come to this little restaurant several times, so they were already familiar with it.
“That’s right, Xu Yi, the matter I mentioned to you last time, did you consider it?” When they had just sat down, Still asked this question.
“That matter?” Xu Yi was stunned before suddenly remembering it, “Oh, you’re talking about your classmates, right? Didn’t I say last time that I welcome them very much? Could it be that you were waiting for my response and hadn’t contacted them yet?”
Still had suddenly discussed this with Xu Yi last time. Although she had graduated from the Lampuri Royal Magic Academy already, she had always kept a good relationship with her many classmates. Now that these classmates knew that Still was working in Xu Yi’s magic research lab and was specially studying the Magic Arrays inside the magic machinery, there were several people who expressed their interest. They asked if Xu Yi was willing to accept them.
Xu Yi naturally welcomed them, they were the talents that he had been having headaches over, especially in terms of Magic Array. Other than him, there was almost no one helping him.
After Still came, she had shared quite a bit of work with him, but Still was just a single person and was far from being enough.
Now that Still’s classmates were coming over, Xu Yi was naturally very happy.
“Of course not, I’ve already contacted them and three people want to come, but…..” Still paused, seeming a bit embarrassed, “They wanted me to ask you, what kind of treatment will you give them……”
“Treatment?” Xu Yi looked at the somewhat awkward Still and suddenly smiled, “Still, I haven’t even seen them yet and don’t know what kind of strength they have, so what kind of treatment should I give them?”
“I also understand that, but…...can you give them a minimum promise? Otherwise, if they come this far and you give them something they aren’t satisfied with, wouldn’t they have come for nothing?” Still had a bit of expectation as she looked at Xu Yi, “Look, you started with fifteen gold coins with me, you can’t give them any less, right?”
“Un…..It’s like this. Still, contact those three again, tell them that I am inviting them over with my status as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman. I will cover their expenses, including their travel expenses, their lodgings, as well as any other expenses. They will all be covered by my Frestech Chamber of Commerce. If both sides are satisfied, then we can attempt it for a month and their salary during this month will be ten cold coins. If both sides are satisfied after the probationary period, then they will be official researchers of the research facility, having the same salary as you, fifteen gold coins. If they produce any results with their research, the company will offer special awards. As for how much they receive, it will depend on their achievement. What do you think?”
Still nodded, “Very good, let’s just do this. I’ll write a letter to them in a while.”
Xu Yi revealed a smile and said a few words before he suddenly looked at the entrance to the restaurant, causing him to knit his brows.