Chapter 35 Discussing cooperation
Four people came into the restaurant. The one walking in the front was an obese middle aged man that could be described as round. The three people following him was unexpected by Xu Yi. It was actually Cimirot, Rem, and Wella.
What amazed Xu Yi was Cimirot’s attitude.
Because this fellow was ranked second in terms of magic power in the lab, he had always acted very arrogantly, but now in front of this chubby middle aged man, he kept bowing and flattering him with a smile on his face. Although he didn’t act like a servant, he put himself in a very low position that was completely different from the impression he normally gave Xu Yi.
As for Rem behind him, although his attitude wasn’t as clear as Cimirot’s, he did reveal a flattering tone to the middle aged man. He wasn’t as loud and careless as he normally was in the laboratory.
Wella still maintained her normal cold appearance. Xu Yi could even see a trace of disdain on her face.
It was unknown if she disdained this middle aged man, or if it was Cimirot and Rem.
Still saw Xu Yi’s strange reaction and turned to look at the entrance, also being stunned.
This small restaurant wasn’t big and Xu Yi and Still weren’t sitting that far away from the entrance. When the two of them saw Cimirot’s group of four, Wella bringing up the rear also noticed them.
“Xu Yi, Still, what are you guys doing here?” Wella asked in a surprised voice.
Cimirot had been trying to convince the middle aged man to change places for lunch, but hearing Wella suddenly mention Xu Yi and Still’s name, he was instantly stunned.
He looked over and saw Xu Yi and Still sitting across from each other at a table, with no one else around them. His face sunk a bit.
This damn Xu Yi! What was he doing? He was actually having lunch with Young Miss Still in this kind of place alone? Damn!
“Hey, Wella, why did you come here?” Xu Yi raised his hand to greet Wella and Rem, while also ignoring Cimirot, “This place is a bit away from the Magic Tower, you wouldn’t have run all the way here for lunch, right?”
Wella looked at Rem and he replied with an awkward smile, “We…..are here with a guest.”
“Guest?” Xu Yi looked over the middle aged man and found that there was a sharp aura coming from him, not seeming like a magician at all, “This should be a guest for the Magic Tower, right? Can you introduce me to him?”
“Of course we can introduce you, but Xu Yi, do you think you’re qualified?” Cimirot cut in and said with a cold smile, “Let me tell you, this is chairman Farsak from Saltan City. Chairman Farsak has one of the biggest companies in Saltan City, it’s not something a certain small company can compare to.” After saying this, Cimirot deliberately looked at Xu Yi with a clear meaning in his eyes, “Xu Yi, if you want to be introduced, you have to have magic power at my level at least.”
Hearing Cimirot’s response and seeing his arrogant appearance, looking down on him, Xu Yi was not angry at all, rather he found it a bit funny.
This fellow kept saying that he was chasing Still and now in front of her, he made this kind of bad move. Does he hope that Still will like him because he knows this large company’s chairman?
As expected, Still gave a soft snort and her face sunk as she said, “Is a big company’s chairman that amazing? Who is stronger between him and my grandfather? Cimirot, you shouldn’t boast about your magic power in front of Xu Yi! Let me tell you, he has just studied magic for a shorter time than you. As long as you give him enough time, he will definitely be stronger than you!”
Cimirot never would have thought that Still would impolitely refute him like this in front of everyone and would stand up for Xu Yi without any hesitation.
Thinking about the fact that these two were having lunch alone, Cimirot’s heart was filled with depression. His eyes looking at Xu Yi became incomparably sharp.
Xu Yi smiled as he matched his gaze, not looking away at all. There was even a taunting look in his eyes.
“Cimirot, whether I have the qualification to know sir chairman Farsak should be up to chairman Farsak and not you, right?”
Cimirot gave a strong snort, “You think a noble person like chairman Farsak will waste time with a small person like you who hasn’t even passed the Magicians Guild’s certification test?” After saying this, he turned to the chubby middle aged man and changed his expression. He had an inviting look as he said, “Chairman Farsak, let’s change places to have lunch, staying here will ruin the mood. There are still many good restaurants in our Banta City, it won’t be late if we go now.”
It was like chairman Farsak didn’t hear what Cimirot said. He looked over Xu Yi several times before asking in front of everyone’s doubtful gazes, “May I ask…...Are you mister Xu Yi from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce?”
When he said this, everyone was stunned.
Based on this, the incomparably noble chairman Farsak as described by Cimirot actually knew Xu Yi?”
Xu Yi was also a bit surprised, but he said with a smile, “That’s right, I am Xu Yi. Does chairman Farsak know me?”
Hearing Xu Yi’s response, chairman Farsak burst out in laughter. He reached his hands out to Xu Yi and said in a very polite voice, “Although I haven’t met you before, I have heard of chairman Xu’s fame and have long known about you. Actually I won’t hide anything, but for my trip to Banta City this time, other than a small matter, the most important matter was to have a proper talk with chairman Xu. I wonder if chairman Xu…..” After saying this, chairman Farsak paused and looked at Still to the side, “I wonder if you have time now, may I invite you to some afternoon tea?”
Chairman Farsak was actually this polite and respectful to Xu Yi, it stunned everyone to the side.
Still, Rem, and Wella looked over Xu Yi and chairman Farsak without stopping, as their eyes filled with curiosity.
Cimirot’s face was the same colour as the dirt. He never would have thought that this chairman Farsak with his large backing would suddenly be this polite to this normal looking Xu Yi.
This was simply giving him a resounding slap to the face!
Moreover, it was in front of Still!
“Chairman Farsak is too polite. I wonder, what do you wish to discuss with me?” Xu Yi was not in a rush to agree, he first asked this question.
“He, he, it’s just to discuss a cooperation. I think chairman Xu will definitely be interested.” Chairman Farsak replied.
“Oh?” Xu Yi looked at chairman Farsak in surprise. He considered it before saying to Still, “Still, it seems like I’m busy and can’t stay with you.”
Still uncaringly waved her hand, “Business is more important, go.”
Xu Yi nodded. He smiled at Rem and Wella after standing up and then he left with chairman Farsak.
When the left, chairman Farsak didn’t even say a word to Cimirot’s group of three.
Still looked at the stunned Cimirot and gave a cold laugh. Then she looked at Rem and Wella, giving them a nod to say goodbye before leaving.
Rem and Wella looked at each other and both gave a sigh before leaving. They left Cimirot in the little restaurant by himself with a face that was like dying embers.
After leaving the little restaurant, chairman Farsak and Xu Yi found a quiet cafe. As soon as they sat down, chairman Farsak said, “Chairman Xu, it’s truly hard to see you. Time is precious, so I’ll be direct. The target of the cooperation I wanted to discuss with you is related to the Magic Fan.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile. The Frestech Chamber of Commerce only had the Magic Fan as a product, so if one was to discuss a cooperation, of course it would be related to the Magic Fan.
“I wonder, what kind of cooperation does chairman Farsak wish to pursue? If you wish to buy large amounts of Magic Fans to take back to Saltan City to sell, that is very easy. Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has already formed a complete production line, so you just need to directly buy from there.” Xu Yi said.
Chairman Farsak shook his head, “Of course it isn’t that simple. If it was like this, would I even need to look for you?”
Xu Yi nodded, “Alright, then please tell me what you have in mind chairman Farsak.”
“It’s like this.” Chairman Farsak gave a soft cough, seeming like he was organizing his thoughts, “If we buy large amounts of Magic Fans from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to resell, although we would earn quite a bit, this is very inefficient. This is because the losses on the road are quite severe and to me, these losses don’t outweigh the gains at all. Therefore, after considering it, I hope to cooperate with your company to directly open up a Magic Fan factory in our Saltan City.”
Xu Yi slightly raised one brow. This chairman Farsak actually thinks in longer terms than normal merchants.
Although this method was quite troublesome, as long as it could be smoothly finished, it was something that was done once and there would be much more profit there.
“Chairman Farsak, if I’m not wrong, your Saltan City already has a company that is producing Magic Fans. Of course, that is not our Frestech Brand Magic Fans. But according to what I know, this company already has a monopoly on selling Magic Fans in Saltan City. How can you ensure that establishing a Magic Fan factory in Saltan City will let us sell our product?” Xu Yi asked.
Chairman Farsak’s chubby face revealed a smile that seemed quite gentle, “If we were to produce the same Magic Fans, of course we couldn’t. But if it’s the Frestech Brand and it was a new generation Frestech Brand Magic Fan, I think there won’t be any problems.”
Chapter 36
A first class company sets the standard
Heinz looked at the fatty looking around the workshop and became curious.
“Hey, Xu Yi, what is this fellow doing? Why are you letting him wander around the workshop? Wouldn’t we lose all our secrets like this?” Seeing the fatty even wanting to try out the Magic Thread Rolling Machine, Heinz finally couldn’t help asking Xu Yi.
“Secret?” Xu Yi looked at Heinz pretending to be surprised, “What secrets?”
“Nonsense, of course it is production line of the Magic Fans, that is the secret of our company!” Heinz anxiously said, “If these things were disclosed to others, wouldn’t people be able to make the same generation Variable Speed Magic Fans as us soon!”
“Heinz, you’re too worried.” Xu Yi patted Heinz’s shoulder and signaled to him to calm down. He pointed at the slaves who were currently busy in the workshop making Magic Fans, “Look, there are so many people in the workshop, do you think there is still any secret?”
“How could that be the same, those are our employees!” Heinz narrowed his eyes, “Then again, they are the slaves from Viscount Leslie. Even if they have ten times their courage, they still wouldn’t dare reveal these inside matters.”
“The problem is that these things will be revealed eventually, isn’t that right?” Xu Yi gave a shrug and said with a relaxed look, “Then again, I never planned on keeping these things secret because they aren’t important at all.”
“How are they not important!” Heinz couldn’t help waving his hands, “Even if they can’t be kept secret in the end, they have to be kept secret for a while. We can earn more profit because we had a bit more opportunity than other people, isn’t that important?”
Xu Yi gave a shrug, as he thought that it was too much effort explaining to a petty fellow like Heinz, he simply would not understand. He went over to chairman Farsak who was preparing to operate the Magic Thread Rolling Machine.
“Hey, chairman Farsak, operating this machine is quite dangerous. I advise you not to attempt it so easily.”
Chairman Farsak looked over and gave Xu Yi a laugh, “Relax, I already observed from the side for quite some time now, there is no problem.”
Seeing how excited he was, Xu Yi couldn’t put a damper on it. He watched from the side and if anything went wrong, he could pull him away.
Although chairman Farsak seemed quite chubby, he was actually quite nimble. After just watching from the side for a while, he became quite good at operating the Magic Thread Rolling Machine. Very soon, he finished making a screw bolt.
After seeing the incomparably fine thread on the finished screw bolt, chairman Farsak couldn’t help sighing in praise.
“Great! This is truly great! Chairman Xu, although this is a small thing, if a blacksmith were to make this, it would take him an entire day just to make this thing! But with this machine, it was made in less than a minute! This is simply incredible!”
Xu Yi laughed. You have never experienced the might of the high tech machines on earth, otherwise your chin would have fallen off in shock already.
“Chairman Farsak, after you have finished observing our workshop, what do you think?” Xu Yi asked with a smile.
Hearing this question, chairman Farsak fell silent for some time. After turning his head to look around the workshop for a while, he finally said with a sigh, “Chairman Xu, I have to say, your workshop has truly broadened my horizons. I thought that building a Magic Fan was a very complicated matter, but after seeing your workshop, I’ve found that making a Magic Fan is actually this simple. They are just some employees without any special skills and they can assemble the Magic Fans with such ease. To be honest, I never thought that a small workshop like yours would have such a high efficiency. Let me guess, your workshop should be able to make around three hundred Magic Fans each day, right?”
Xu Yi gave him a thumbs up, “Chairman Farsak truly has sharp eyes. That’s right, this workshop can produce three hundred Magic Fans each day. Of course, that is for the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan. As for the first generation Magic Fan, because of problems with its design, the output is not as high.”
Xu Yi didn’t tell him that the workshop’s opening hours were strictly kept to eight hours each day. If they were to work overtime, it wasn’t a problem for them to make five hundred Magic Fans each day.
Only Xu Yi had a high requirement for quality, so Xu Yi strictly controlled productions. He didn’t force them to do empty work to meet numbers.
Chairman Farsak looked at the machines being used at full speed by the slaves and said in a thoughtful voice, “Chairman Xu, if I was to speak the truth, the core of your workshop should be these machines, right?”
Xu Yi nodded with a faint smile, “Chairman Farsak, your eyes are truly sharp. How about it? What do you feel about these machines?”
“Feel?” Chairman Farsak suddenly revealed a bitter smile, “Chairman Xu, before coming here, I was very confident in reaching a cooperation with you. I even thought that you would obediently agree because there were only benefits and no downside for you. But after seeing these machines, I’ve found that our positions have suddenly changed. I’ll admit, you have completely taken the initiative now. To be honest, I don’t like this feeling at all.”
Xu Yi laughed, “Chairman Farsak, you are just too modest. Since we have agreed to cooperate, there is no up or down side, there is no initiative. Cooperation is everyone achieving their goal and letting both sides win, don’t you think so?”
“Both sides win?” Chairman Farsak’s little eyes pushed in by his fat lit up, “This idea sounds very novel, but it’s actually very reasonable. That’s right, the perfect result of a cooperation is both sides benefitting. But chairman Xu, what kind of cooperation do you think we should have to achieve this effect?”
Xu Yi smiled as he pointed at the machines, “Chairman Farsak, are you interested in buying a few of these machines to take back?”
Chairman Farsak was stunned, “Chairman Xu, you.....You’re meaning is that......You’re actually willing to sell these machines to me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be willing?” Xu Yi spread his hands, “If I didn’t want to sell these machines to you, why would I have brought you here?”
“But these machines.....” Chairman Farsak thought about it and changed the topic, “Alright, since chairman Xu is willing to sell, then of course I’m willing to buy. But chairman Xu, just with these machines, that doesn’t mean we have a cooperation between us, right?”
“Of course, it’s not just machines, it’s also manpower. I believe you won’t have a way of finding workers capable of operating these machines in Saltan City. So, not only will I sell you these machines, I will also help you train your workers and help set up your workshop until it runs as smoothly as this workshop. What do you think about this?”
Chairman Farsak narrowed his eyes and carefully looked over Xu Yi for a while before suddenly saying, “Chairman Xu, you wouldn’t be joking right?”
Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “Would I kid with you at this time?”
Chairman Farsak nodded and after thinking about it for a while, he slowly said, “Chairman Xu, I have to say, this condition is very enticing, I even suspected that you might be tricking me for an instant. Giving this kind of rich condition, I’m afraid the request you have isn’t low. So why don’t you let me hear it.”
“My request......It isn’t considered high, but it isn’t considered low either, it all depends on what chairman Farsak thinks.” Xu Yi replied.
“Oh? There is such a strange request? Chairman Xu, please speak.”
“My request is......”
......
After two days, chairman Farsak finished his discussions with Xu Yi and boarded a horse carriage that was leaving Banta City.
Seeing the horse carriage disappear over the flat horizon, Heinz said with knit brows, “Xu Yi, is this really good? Although we can earn ten gold coins from each Magic Fan he produces, we’re completely giving up Saltan City like this. If we really let this continue, wouldn’t we be suffering a large loss? Not to mention that we are releasing all the technology we currently have on the Magic Fan, wouldn’t there be many other factories that produces the same Magic Fans as us in the future? When the time comes, our space for development will be greatly affected.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile and said while shaking his head, “No, Heinz, you should look a bit further. The Magic Fan is not something hard to imitate, it can’t be kept hidden for too long. We need to be in a dominant position and need to keep inventing or changing our product, that is the foundation of our continued studies. As long as we maintain our advantage in terms of technology, then we will always be at an advantage. I can tell you one thing right now, you have to remember it.”
Heinz looked at Xu Yi with rapt attention. He knew that every time Xu Yi spoke in this tone, it was very important.
“A third rate company makes the product, just like chairman Farsak. Even if he establishes factories, in the end he would be a third rate company who at most produces Magic Fans, he will not have much influence.”
“A second rate company will establish a brand. I have already explained the concept of a brand to you before, but I think you don’t understand it completely even now. You and I have worked together for a long time and you still haven’t understood the concept. On the entire Sines Continent, there wouldn’t be many people who would understand the meaning of a brand. Perhaps they will know about it, but they will not understand the details of it. But this point is something our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has already accomplished. The Frestech Brand is a very trusted brand at least around Banta City, as long as we don’t do anything that will ruin the brand, then this brand will continue existing.”
“The last one is the most important, a first rate company sets the standard. This is the goal we are currently working hard to achieve, only this is a very difficult goal and we need to spend a long time before we reach this goal. But once we achieve it, it could be said that our Frestech Chamber of Commerce can stand on the Sines Continent without collapsing. Chairman Farsak thinks that he bought those magic machines very cheap, but from what I can see, he has already fallen into my standard. Even if chairman Farsak’s current company is stronger than ours, they will be thrown far behind us in the end.”
Heinz looked at Xu Yi, not understanding why he would have such strong confidence.
Based on scale, the first class Farsak Chamber of Commerce in Saltan City was several times bigger than their small Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Not to mention surpassing it, it was hard to even reach it.
Although Heinz didn’t understand what Xu Yi just said, Heinz still understood that it was very powerful. At least it meant that Xu Yi currently had a long term goal in his heart, that meant he wouldn’t act as randomly.
Seeing Xu Yi’s confident look, Heinz’s heart skipped a beat.
“Perhaps that fellow really will make the Frestech Chamber of Commerce one of the best companies on the Sines Continent.”