Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 517 A Large Order of Fifty-Eight Million Lighthouse Dollars
Kong Yanbin thought he had misheard. In his mind, the people of the United States would never compromise their principles.

Moreover, Kong Yanbin could recognize the voice; it belonged to Colin Chalod, one of the leaders of the Stonemasons' Guild.

Although Chalodeh has always appeared to be the most easygoing and approachable among the seven chief ministers, don't mistake him for a genuinely kind and gentle person. It's all an illusion, a carefully crafted persona.

In fact, it was no accident that the seven leaders were these few people. Each of them had so much sin and evil on their hands that even they probably couldn't say for sure.

There are even rumors that Cherold was actually much more ruthless than Dickinson, who seemed difficult to get along with.

Furthermore, Chai Luode usually doesn't offer his opinions immediately; he's always the one who makes the final decision. The fact that he gave instructions so quickly shocked Kong Yanbin.

Not to mention Kong Yanbin, even Guise and Concabock were astonished.

Catherine, who had been drinking tea, stopped what she was doing and also realized that this was unusual.

Kong Yanbin couldn't help but ask, "Should we accept his suggestion? Or should we try to lower the price?"

Chalode remained silent.

At this moment, another voice said, "Of course we have to lower the price. We need to pay the minimum cost and not let the other party make too much profit."

Kong Yanbin was dumbfounded.

Judging from the tone of that voice, this matter really needs to be discussed further, and it must be discussed in the direction of cooperation; it cannot be allowed to fall apart.

Whose voice is this?
Can't hear it.

It couldn't possibly be Cherold or Dickinson. Could it be another member of the leadership team?

But whoever it is, the other party must be of a very high status, belonging to the top of the top.

What could Kong Yanbin say? He could only agree.

Kong Yanbin couldn't help but ask again, "They want to add ten million US dollars. How much do we need to lower the price?"

Zakhar Burke couldn't help but say, "His asking price is too high. Give him a million more at most!"

What if he disagrees?

"I disagree, if you don't agree then..."

Zakabak was at a loss for words. If he disagreed, did that mean they shouldn't talk at all?
But Chalode has already spoken.

At this point, Guss said, "I think we should reduce the pressure as much as possible, without setting a target. Dr. Kong can decide based on the situation."

Kong Yanbin's expression was helpless; it was as if he hadn't said anything at all, and he still had no idea.

The video call has ended.

Gus breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't say much, he could still feel a strong sense of tension and pressure, which was caused by those big shots.

Although we cannot see their faces, and we do not even know who they are except for Chalode, we can still feel their power, which is a very magical feeling.

Gus was a big shot, but in front of those people, he felt like a primary school student; even the phrase "a small fry compared to a big fish" was insufficient to describe him.

Catherine poured her father a cup of tea, which Gus drank in one gulp. He then asked, "Catherine, what do you think?"

Catherine shook her head: "Daddy, those big shots seem to know things we don't. Am I right?"

Gus nodded: "That's true. I feel the same way. They seem very eager to push forward with the cooperation with Tenglong Island."

Catherine asked, "Boss Hu is asking for an extra ten million, Daddy. That's no small sum. Should we agree?"

"So you think Mr. Hu won't accept a lower price?"

"Based on my understanding of him, once he brings something up, it means it's a done deal and there's little room for further discussion."

Gus glanced at Catherine: "Heh, Catherine, you seem to know Boss Hu quite well."

"So-so, I only know a little about him, Daddy. You know, I've met him more often than you have."

Gus smiled: "Okay, I understand, Catherine, I know your situation."

Meanwhile, in Central, Hong Kong Island, at Tai Wo Building.

On the 35th floor of the building, in the office of Jiangshan Group, Kong Yanbin was filled with anxiety.

Kong Yanbin never expected that this would be such a difficult task, especially since it was also poisonous to him.

Kong Yanbin originally thought that he was in a superior position by bringing his team, and that he could negotiate with his head held high.

Kong Yanbin's opinion is quite normal. After all, the other party is just a private company in Hong Kong, China. In Kong Yanbin's view, they are insignificant, just a small fry, and he can easily take them down.

To put it more bluntly, Kong Yanbin believes that when facing such a weak negotiating opponent, only one side has the right to make demands, while the other side can only do two things: first, listen, and second, nod in acceptance. There is no other option.

But now Kong Yanbin is feeling more and more pressure. The roles have been completely reversed, and he is now the one on the defensive. It's really outrageous.

Kong Yanbin didn't want to talk, but he was stuck here and couldn't leave even if he wanted to, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue the talks.

At this moment, Li Chenyu asked in a low voice, "Professor, what do we do now?"

Kong Yanbin glanced at Zhang Rui and the others sitting opposite him. The other party clearly didn't care about anything, didn't say a word, just sat there drinking coffee, occasionally checking his phone, obviously looking at some unimportant apps.

Kong Yanbin was furious, but he couldn't vent his anger.

He checked the time; it was 10 a.m., still a bit early. It seemed he still had to do something.

All Kong Yanbin could do was try his best to lower the price.

Kong Yanbin cursed inwardly, feeling extremely humiliated.

He's back to show off his power, not to beg for cooperation!
Meanwhile, Hu Jiangshan took a break from his busy schedule and went to Hu Mingqian and Eva's place for coffee.

Mills has now returned to his own company, but Gibson is still there.

Wherever Eva is, Gibson is there too, stuck to her like glue.

Hu Mingqian asked curiously, "Brother, weren't you in a meeting? Were you discussing a collaboration?"

"Yes, let's talk about cooperation."

"Then now..."

Hu Jiangshan smiled slightly: "Now that we've reached a crucial point, I'll leave first so they can have a proper discussion and then tell me the result."

Hu Mingqian and the others became even more curious: "Brother, did you make some rather demanding requests?"

"It's not that high, it's just a matter of getting the other party to add a little more money."

Hu Mingqian and Eva exchanged a glance, clearly wanting to know more.

Just as Hu Mingqian was about to ask another question, Hu Jiangshan's phone rang.

It was Zhang Rui who called.

Hu Jiangshan pressed the answer button: "Hello, Dr. Zhang, what are they saying?"

"Boss, they want to discuss the terms again."

"Oh, tell them they're okay with small cuts, but big cuts are out of the question."

“…Huh? What?”

Hu Jiangshan quickly explained, "We can offer a little discount, but if you want a significant price reduction, forget it."

Zhang Rui responded and hung up. Just a few minutes later, the phone rang again.

Zhang Rui said the other party agreed and that they could have a proper discussion, so Hu Jiangshan got up and went back.

At this moment, Eva said, "Your brother looks very strong; he seems to have the upper hand."

Hu Mingqian nodded: "Most likely, otherwise my brother wouldn't be so calm."

Eva said, "I wonder how much more money your brother will ask for?"

"That's definitely not a small amount. The other party is from the United States, so it must be a big deal."

Gibson couldn't help but say, "That's not necessarily true. You might not know, but people in the United States can be quite stingy too."

Eva glanced at Gibson: "Aren't you from the United States?"

Gibson was taken aback at first, then forced himself to say, "Yes, that's why I understand the people of the United States best!"

Hu Mingqian was speechless for a moment. Gibson was really something else. In order to diss others, he even insulted himself. She had to admire his thought process.

Hu Mingqian looked outside and said, "I wonder when there will be a result. I really want to know how the final talks went."

About an hour later, someone came out.

There were quite a few people, including many foreigners, who were clearly from the United States.

These people didn't have many expressions on their faces, so it was impossible to tell how the conversation was going.

Then, I saw Hu Jiangshan walking and talking with someone. The other person was quite old, around fifty years old, and had a Chinese face.

The expressions on both sides were quite interesting.

Hu Jiangshan was smiling, but the other person's expression was not good at all; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as "ashen-faced".

Hu Jiangshan said, "Dr. Kong, that's settled for today. If there are no problems, we can choose a time to sign the contract."

The man referred to as "Dr. Kong" still looked displeased and responded with a sullen voice.

Hu Jiangshan said, "Dr. Kong, I've arranged a restaurant. Shall we have a simple lunch together?"

"No need, Mr. Hu, we have other things to do, goodbye."

With that, Dr. Kong left with a large group of people.

Hu Mingqian, Eva, and Gibson could all see each other clearly through the glass partition.

Judging from Dr. Kong's expression, the conversation seemed to have gone poorly, but judging from Hu Jiangshan's expression, the conclusion was completely opposite; the conversation seemed to have gone very smoothly.

What a bizarre situation!

Hu Jiangshan spoke a few words to the other employees of his company, then went into the meeting room.

Hu Jiangshan said to Hu Mingqian and the others, "Alright, are you hungry? Let's go eat."

Hu Mingqian nodded, then couldn't help but ask, "Brother, how did your talk go?"

"Great, the deal is basically done."

Hu Mingqian asked again, "I noticed that old Deng seemed quite unhappy just now. What happened to him?"

Hu Jiangshan laughed. Even Lao Deng said something like that. Hu Mingqian is really ahead of her time.

Hu Jiangshan said, "They wanted more money, so of course they were unhappy. That's why they left without even eating a meal."

In fact, Hu Jiangshan had already anticipated this outcome, so inviting Kong Yanbin to dinner was just a formality and a joke.

With Kong Yanbin's temperament, how could he possibly be in the mood to have dinner with Hu Jiangshan after being tricked by him? That would be worse than death for him.

Therefore, Hu Jiangshan has long understood Chinese people like Kong Yanbin very well, so there has never been anything unexpected about him.

In this respect, these people are quite naive.

Gibson glanced at Hu Jiangshan's smug expression and noticed that Eva's big eyes were always fixed on Hu Jiangshan, which naturally made him feel a little jealous.

Gibson's eyes darted around, and he asked Hu Jiangshan, "Can you tell me how big the deal is this time?"

Hu Mingqian glared at Gibson: "Gibson, that's going too far. This is a trade secret and can't be revealed casually, understand?"

Gibson chuckled: "I was just curious and asking casually. You can't just leave it at that."

Gibson thought to himself, "If I don't say anything, I'm a coward. The amount is too small to be worth mentioning."

Hu Jiangshan waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, it's not a secret. The total amount of this order is fifty-eight million."

Upon hearing this, all three of them were stunned.

Fifty-eight million? That doesn't sound like a small amount!

Hu Mingqian couldn't help but ask, "Brother, is it Lighthouse Yuan?"

"Of course, fifty-eight million Lighthouse Dollars, how about that? Isn't my business doing pretty well?"

“That’s great, that’s amazing. It’s so much easier than my dad negotiating business. He might only make a few million a day, and that’s in Hong Kong dollars.”

Hu Jiangshan waved his hand: "The nature of the businesses is different, so we can't compare them. Okay, let's get ready and go eat."

"Brother, you've made so much money this time, you have to treat me to a good meal!"

"Of course, order whatever you like."

Hu Jiangshan is naturally very happy now. This deal is equivalent to a return of several hundred million yuan, and a large part of the huge investment in building the space launch site has been recovered.

It must be said that aerospace orders are indeed very large; a few major project launches a year can make a fortune.

No wonder the global tech community is so optimistic about commercial spaceflight; it really has a lot of potential.

Of course, the value of commercial space companies cannot be measured by how much money they make; the main focus is on the future prospects of spaceflight and the direction of technological development.

Hu Jiangshan couldn't help but laugh when he thought about Kong Yanbin's expression just now.

Hu Jiangshan demanded an additional ten million Lighthouse Yuan, which Kong Yanbin was naturally unwilling to accept. He wanted to lower the price by half, to fifty-five million Lighthouse Yuan, but Hu Jiangshan stubbornly refused.

Hu Jiangshan had made it very clear at the time that if the other party wanted to send technical personnel to participate in the entire launch process, they would have to pay an extra ten million yuan, otherwise there would be no point in discussing it.

Of course, Hu Jiangshan would still symbolically lower the price. After several rounds of negotiation, he finally gave a discount of two million, so that Kong Yanbin and the others could go back and report.

The matter is basically settled; all that's left is to sign the contract.

Hu Jiangshan wasn't worried about the other party backing out. It was clear that they were eager to innovate and genuinely wanted to reach an agreement. Hu Jiangshan was confident they had them wrapped around his little finger.

Of course, if the other party unexpectedly changes their mind, Hu Jiangshan doesn't care, since he won't lose anything.

Then it was time to relax, and Hu Jiangshan took Hu Mingqian and Eva out for dinner.

Gibson, clearly devastated and emotionally broken, made an excuse to leave.

During the meal, Hu Jiangshan told Hu Mingqian and Eva a lot about Tenglong Island. As soon as the two girls heard that there was a resort on the island, they were very interested and wanted to go and have a look.

Hu Jiangshan readily agreed.

(End of this chapter)