Chapter 3267 — Discussing Business
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"It's no big thing. Off you go, young man!" the proprietress said indifferently.
Wei Zhao paid for his meal, left the little restaurant, and headed for the Red Conch Group. Sure enough, there was a reception desk on the ground floor of the Red Conch Group building, and inside it quite a few merchants were inquiring about one thing or another. The moment Wei Zhao stepped through the door, someone greeted him.
"What kind of business are you looking to do, boss?" a staff member asked politely.
"Seafood," Wei Zhao said. This was an idea that had occurred to him only after he spotted several vehicles transporting seafood—by the look of it, seafood was one of the Red Conch Group's main lines of business.
"How should I address you, sir?" The staff member nodded without the least surprise and asked.
"My surname is Yi. Yi Ling."
Wei Zhao said.
"Oh, very good, Mr. Yi." The staff member didn't much care about Wei Zhao's name; it was only for the register. "Mr. Yi, roughly what volume of goods do you need each month?"
"About thirty million euros' worth," Wei Zhao said.
The figure Wei Zhao quoted was not especially large, but it was certainly not small either. The staff member's eyes lit up. They were all bottom-rung employees who knew nothing at all of the company's true inner workings—but their manager had already briefed them: for customers with large order volumes, the price could be discounted as appropriate, so long as the monthly cash flow they brought in reached a certain figure.
Of course, to these staff members it looked like small profits and quick turnover, but the company's actual aim was simple: to launder money. The more cash flow they drew in, the better—it made things easier for them to maneuver.
"Sir, a customer of your caliber can meet the account manager directly!" The staff member quickly filled out a slip for Wei Zhao and then told him, "Go now to the account manager's office on the second floor and see Manager Crick. He will be your business manager from here on."
"All right, thank you." Wei Zhao nodded, took the slip, and turned out of the reception room. So far everything had gone very smoothly; Wei Zhao had successfully cleared the first gate. What came next was how to get the account manager to take him to see the general manager.
Still, on reflection, that would be somewhat difficult. The money-laundering side of the business, he guessed, topped out at the level of the business manager—at most he might meet the head of the business department. As for the general manager, he would almost certainly never get to see him.
But Wei Zhao could only take things one step at a time. After all, who couldn't talk big? Wei Zhao would first sketch out a few grand prospects, and then it was simply a question of whether the other side took the bait.
Wei Zhao stood at the door of the business manager's office, pondered for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked in. At once a man with a close-cropped head came up to meet him and said with a smile, "Sir, my name is Crick. Are you looking for me?"
"Yes. I'm Yi Ling, manager of the procurement department for the Bofon family's hotels. I've come this time to discuss a business partnership with your company. Our Bofon family's hotels in this area are planning to change seafood suppliers, and so someone recommended the Red Conch Group to me." The Bofon family Wei Zhao spoke of was a tremendously powerful arms-dealing family here in Europe, with many other ventures under its wing as well—and the hotel business was one of them.