Chapter 2852 — Preparing to Close the Net

"But the profit margin is enormous! A single carton of these cigarettes costs about ten thousand to bring in, and I turn around and sell it for over twenty thousand. We brought in two thousand cartons this time—turn them over and that's a two hundred percent profit!" Little Pure said. "We put in thirty million, including the money to grease the palms of the gangs and snakeheads when we smuggled them in. Selling this shipment will bring in over fifty million—more than twenty million in profit!"

"A few cartons won't make or break that. Leave me ten... no, twenty cartons!" Liu Tianli had assumed the cigarettes must be frightfully expensive, but hearing the price, they were not especially costly after all. He breathed a sigh of relief and asked for a few more while he was at it.

"Twenty cartons... I'll do my best. Ten should be doable; twenty depends on how things go!" Little Pure hesitated a moment, then said, "By the way, President Liu, let's split the profits fifty-fifty. That's about thirteen million each. Shall I wire it into your company's account?"

"Oh? Just this one deal? You won't be doing any more after this?" Liu Tianli was taken aback and asked. The profit was deeply tempting. He was a conservative man by nature—good at holding on to what he had, but not so good at building something new—so now that such an opportunity had come along, naturally he did not want to let it slip.

Besides, the cigarettes had already become a necessity of his daily life. Without them, Liu Tianli could scarcely imagine how he would endure. So deep down, he hoped this business would continue.

"One border crossing, and the money for greasing the snakeheads is already enormous. This time we leaned on connections; next time they'll likely demand twenty or thirty million before they'll even help us run a boat. That would leave hardly any profit worth speaking of. I'm thinking we do it once and call it quits." President Lang spoke with the air of one baiting a hook. "After all, our capital is limited—just this much. Another round of wrangling wouldn't be worth the trouble!"

"I see..." Liu Tianli did not understand the finer details of smuggling. He had always run legitimate businesses; even his imports went through official, proper customs channels. He had never sought out snakeheads to run a smuggling boat. So when President Lang said this, he believed him. Still, Liu Tianli was not quite willing to let it go: "Then should we increase the size of each shipment? Or perhaps talk to those gang snakeheads again?"

"Well... it's not that it couldn't be done. For one thing, I'd worry about tying up too much of President Liu's capital. For another, I'd worry that President Liu might feel this business isn't quite aboveboard and beneath his notice," President Lang said.

"The capital side we can look into. As for the business—with profits this large, how could it possibly be beneath my notice?" Liu Tianli said. "How about this, President Lang: where are you? I'll come to you and we can discuss it in detail."

"I'm at the hotel. Better yet, I'll bring Little Cui to your company and we'll talk it over there—and drop off the cigarettes along the way," Little Pure said.

"Very well, then. I'll be at the company awaiting your honored arrival, President Lang," Liu Tianli said hurriedly.

Half an hour later, Little Pure arrived at Liu Tianli's company with the hypnotist in tow, and Liu Tianli of course received them warmly in the reception room.

"President Lang, you really are something. A single run of business, and in just a few days it's brought in profits this high!" Liu Tianli was no stranger to big money, but to earn so much in just a few days—the sheer speed of it was not to be underestimated.

"Haha, not at all, not at all. It was a mere trifle on my part. If President Liu hadn't put up the capital and supported it so generously, I couldn't have earned this money either!" Little Pure waved a hand and laughed. "Still, there's no reason we couldn't keep on investing—"

"Exactly. The more President Liu invests, the greater the return. If President Liu invested, say, several hundred million, the returns would be even larger!" Cui Mianshi put in, seizing the moment.

"True enough. Then let's invest five hundred million—here's hoping we earn even more!" Liu Tianli had no idea what came over him. Suddenly a powerful urge to invest surged through his mind, and without thinking, he blurted it out.

"That works. Then let's sign another contract and keep this business going," Little Pure said.

"Good, no problem. I'll start raising the funds in the next couple of days!" Since Liu Tianli's company had become an agent for Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals, it hadn't earned much, but its cash flow was quite strong. Back when Wei Zhao had treated Liu Zhenhu, the Liu family had struggled to scrape together a hundred million in cash—but now, five hundred million was no great difficulty!

Most of it was the funds for purchasing medicinal materials on behalf of Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals and payments collected from product agents, but an occasional diversion was still possible. After all, Wei Zhao trusted the Liu family deeply and had never once audited the accounts, so Liu Tianli still had plenty of room to maneuver.

"The contract is the same as last time—we just need to change the numbers," Cui Mianshi said, pulling a contract from his briefcase and handing it to Liu Tianli.

Liu Tianli nodded and skimmed the contract. The terms were identical to the previous one, with no differences whatsoever—only the investment amount was left blank and needed to be filled in. "No problem. I'll sign it right now and then help you raise the funds!"

Since the two sides had already worked together several times, Liu Tianli had not the slightest suspicion and signed the contract outright.

Over the next few days, Liu Tianli began raising funds for Little Pure, diverting the company's funds earmarked for purchasing medicinal materials for Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals and a portion of the client payments, then wiring them to President Lang's account.

With the cigarettes in hand, Liu Tianli lived quite comfortably in the days that followed, puffing away at his pipe every day and fantasizing about that five hundred million suddenly turning into a billion. Then who would dare doubt that he lacked the ability to break new ground?

Yet before two days had passed, Little Pure's call came through once again.

"President Liu, it's me," Little Pure said.

"President Lang, what's the matter? How's the organization of our goods coming along?" Liu Tianli asked.

"The goods are mostly organized, but there's something else I'd like to discuss with you. How about we go big this time and do a major one?" Little Pure asked.

"Go big? What do you mean? How big?" Liu Tianli was startled and asked.

"How about this—Little Cui and I will come over and we'll talk it all over at your company!" Little Pure said.

"Very well, then. I'll be at the company awaiting your honored arrival, President Lang," Liu Tianli said hurriedly.

This time, Little Pure and Cui Mianshi came very quickly indeed—less than twenty minutes after the call ended, they were already in the reception room of Liu Tianli's company.