Chapter 98: Payment First for the Goods

The scene returns to the day of the new product launch.

Far away in the headquarters of the Soren family in Western Europe, John Soren, who had once seen the future of Fuyun Technology Group and therefore spent a great sum to secure distribution rights for both Western Europe and Africa, had in barely a year gained tremendous leverage by holding in his hands the authority over AIDS medicines in those two regions.

With the Soren family already deeply rooted in Western countries, the profits they had reaped over the past year were beyond counting. Many national leaders had even had no choice but to come pleading to the Soren family, hoping to win a larger share of the AIDS treatment drugs for their own countries.

Naturally, the Soren family’s business dealings with various nations had become far smoother as well. Its wealth had grown markedly in just one year, and John Soren, one of the younger generation of the family, had risen through the fierce internal competition to become a formidable contender, pressing hard against William, who held first place.

Since Fuyun Technology Group was holding a new product launch, John Soren, as the agent for both Western Europe and Africa, had naturally received an invitation. He took it very seriously and dispatched his most capable assistant to China.

By then it was already past two in the morning, and John Soren had not slept at all, waiting for news from China.

“I wonder what else Li Fu will be able to unveil this time. Most likely it will still be something for treating a disease. Biotechnology really is a money machine. Fuyun Technology Group sells at a factory price of ten thousand dollars, and the cost probably doesn’t even amount to a few dollars. Looks like our family should increase investment in this area in the future.”

Staring at the beautiful starry sky outside, John Soren kept thinking. As someone determined to take over the power of the Soren family, he naturally had to consider the family’s future with care.

In 2018, because the family handled AIDS drugs for Western Europe and Africa, what the Soren family had obtained was by no means limited to the apparent profit margin. Many African countries, in order to secure those medicines, had no choice but to open up mineral resources and other assets that had previously been absolutely closed to outsiders.

The Soren family’s investments across the African continent had flourished everywhere, while in its Western European stronghold, the family had been shrewd enough not to make much profit on the drugs, but instead gained an excellent reputation, which had greatly helped its development across the countries of Western Europe.

For that reason, John Soren was full of anticipation for Fuyun Technology Group’s new release.

A soft beep sounded from the computer beside him. John Soren immediately straightened, hurried over to check his email, and found a message just sent back from China.

Without hesitation, he opened it at once and read carefully from beginning to end.

“Third Eye? A product that lets the blind regain their sight. Not bad at all, though the market is a little too small.”

At first glance, John Soren could not help feeling slightly disappointed. Third Eye was indeed an excellent product, and in fact its uses could be very broad, but its audience was not large. Compared with AIDS medication, it fell far short, and it would not be of much help to him.

“A virtual machine? It can directly connect the brain to the internet and control everything with thought alone. Incredible. A groundbreaking technological product?”

Just as he had been feeling somewhat let down, the moment the virtual machine appeared, John Soren’s eyes suddenly lit up. Then his whole body nearly leapt with excitement.

“Haha, fantastic!”

He quickly grasped just how powerful and frightening the virtual machine truly was, and what a terrifying impact it was about to bring. In the future, phones and computers would really merge into one, and all existing phone and computer companies would be swept aside by history’s tide because of the virtual machine’s arrival.

John’s main rival, William, who oversaw the family’s electronics business, had long dominated the other competitors thanks to the rapid growth and rise of the electronics industry in recent years. And now, John seemed already to see William’s defeat.

“Right, transfer the money to Fuyun Technology Group immediately. The more the better. This virtual machine isn’t like a biological drug. Once the production line starts running, they can make as many as they want. And unlike phones, this is something everyone needs. The market is unimaginably huge. Western Europe and Africa alone have nearly two billion people. Haha, I don’t even need to mention anything else. Just the margin on resale is enough to keep us comfortably fed.”

“Fuyun Technology Group follows a strict pay-first, ship-later policy. Whoever transfers the money first gets the goods first. Looks like I should find time to make another trip East.”

As if thinking of something, John Soren quickly picked up his phone and called his secretary.

“How much money do we still have in Fuyun Technology Group’s account?”

“Less than one billion dollars.”

“How much capital can the company account currently mobilize?”

“About five billion dollars.”

“Transfer all five billion to Fuyun Technology Group immediately.”

“All five billion?”

“Yes. All of it.”

After hanging up, John Soren frowned slightly. The division he managed did not account for a very large share of the family business, and only five billion dollars could be used from his side.

“Five billion dollars is still too little. It looks like I’ll have to apply to the family for special funds. With the virtual machine priced at ten thousand dollars, five billion dollars would only secure five hundred thousand units. By then, it probably wouldn’t even be enough for a small country, let alone the entire Western Europe and Africa region. Even with limited allocations, I’d still need at least several million units to barely handle demand. It seems I’ll need to request at least another twenty billion dollars from the family.”

With a quick calculation, John Soren had already made up his mind. After dealing with Fuyun Technology Group for nearly a year, he knew its rules all too well. If you wanted goods, you paid in advance. The more you paid, the more they shipped. It was as simple as that.

Yet precisely because the rule was so simple, John Soren and the other agents around the world had no choice but to obey it, and every one of them tried to transfer as much money as possible to Fuyun Technology Group.

There was no helping it. Fuyun Technology Group was selling monopolized high technology, with no rival anywhere in the world. Besides, the more goods you got, the more you could earn by reselling them at once. These businessmen had calculated the matter very clearly. Of course, the money could be kept in their own hands for wealth management, investment, and so on, but it was absolutely not as profitable as taking delivery of the goods and selling them on.

This realization was not John Soren’s alone. The agents across all eight major regions of the world understood Fuyun Technology Group’s rules perfectly well, and they had all sent people to attend the company’s new product launch. When they saw the virtual machine appear, the very first thing that came to each of their minds was to transfer money into Fuyun Technology Group’s account.

In Meijiang County, Jiangnan Province, China, at the headquarters building of Fuyun Technology Group in the Fuyun Technology Industrial Park of Sanjiang Town, CFO Zhong Yun had set aside his work and was waiting specially in the company’s funds management center.

Although Fuyun Technology Group was immensely profitable, with monthly revenue of over twenty billion dollars and equally staggering operating profits, even that could not withstand Li Fu pouring vast sums of money into one field after another. Not to mention anything else, the Fuyun Technology Research Institute in Yuanzhong Town alone had already absorbed several tens of billions, and that was only the beginning. The investments to come seemed even more like a bottomless pit.

The high-standard research laboratories were being built by the country’s top engineering construction companies, and that price was naturally far from cheap. It was extremely expensive. Then there were all sorts of advanced scientific research equipment, instruments, and so on, all of them equally costly. The total investment in the Fuyun Technology Research Institute would undoubtedly run into many hundreds of billions.

Beyond that, every other investment was likewise enormous. Each month, the company’s funds were actually rather tight. As the person in charge of finance, Zhong Yun spent his days counting every penny, striving to keep the company’s capital flowing while constantly fearing that Li Fu might suddenly decide to enter yet another industry.

“Mr. Zhong, the European and African agents have transferred two hundred million dollars; the North American agent has transferred two hundred million dollars...”

As Zhong Yun watched the product launch, he also listened to the reports from below. Once Third Eye was unveiled, the various agents began wiring money, though clearly they were not very interested in Third Eye, since the amounts were not large.

“The European and African agents have transferred five billion dollars; the North American agent has transferred five billion dollars; the East Asian agent has transferred two billion dollars... As of midnight, we have received more than twenty billion dollars in total.”

When the launch event unveiled the virtual machine, one huge transfer after another rapidly poured into Fuyun Technology Group’s account. Less than twenty minutes after the virtual machine’s release, a staggering twenty billion dollars had already been credited.

“Twenty billion dollars? That’s a bit little.”

Zhong Yun frowned slightly. This was somewhat different from what he had expected.

Yet as soon as the words left his mouth, several voices rang out.

“Mr. Zhong, we have just received another payment of twenty billion dollars from the Western Europe and Africa region agents.”

“Mr. Zhong, the North America region agent has just sent another twenty billion dollars.”

“...”

That afternoon, Zhong Yun was all smiles. Holding a set of figures in his hand, he saw that on December 1st, the world’s eight major agents had successively transferred a total of nearly one hundred billion dollars into Fuyun Technology Group’s account, and preorders for the virtual machine on the official website had already reached five hundred thousand units.

P.S. Please bookmark, click, and recommend.