Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 679, Section 269: One Misfortune After Another

March 23rd is an inauspicious day as it is the day of the year's calamity. It is not suitable for important events!

After entering March, Mei Feng felt that her luck was starting to run out. In the drama on Luzon Island, although she managed to escape, she was also imprisoned for three days by Juan's father. She was only released after things were cleared up.

The Sanchez family retaliated fiercely, then fell silent, reaching an agreement with various forces, and Luzon returned to peace once again.

The family lost an important member, but it wasn't a big problem. There were still more than twenty such direct descendants. Old Sanchez had more than ten concubines, and each of them had given him a child.

Juan, the unlucky fellow, is dead. His children are still in elementary school. His legal wife can only take over the legal business, which isn't very profitable. The underworld business isn't something a pampered young lady or a rich wife can handle.

The person who took over this time was Juan's younger sister.

But it seems that the two had a very ordinary relationship. Miss Ana did not show any sadness on her face, but had a genuine smile on her face. She did not look like someone who had lost her own brother, but rather like someone who had won the lottery.

Miss Ana gave Meifeng a diamond necklace, discussed the transaction process, profit sharing, and the key aspects she needed to control, and then decided to let Meifeng go.

The bodyguards sent by old Sanchez didn't react at all, and Mei Feng could also tell that Miss Ana was very favored.

There's a saying among Hong Kong's wealthy families that perfectly describes the family relationships: the father is the boss, the mother is the father, and the wet nurse is the biological mother.

Mei Feng hadn't had a chance to rest for more than a few days after returning from Luzon when her henchmen came knocking on her door, bringing bad news.

"Sister Feng, we lost two ships in international waters this month. Seven vans transporting goods from the highway to Manila were blocked by the police. All seven vans were filled with fake cigarettes."

“Our partners in Manila are angry, but they are willing to give us a chance.”

"We've already placed an order with a factory in Kowloon Walled City. They should be packing the boxes now, and the ship will be on board tonight. This time, we won't stop at Luzon Island; we'll go straight to Manila."

Tiancai, the henchman in charge of the cigarettes, handed a piece of paper to Meifeng behind the desk, waiting nervously for the boss to speak.

Meifeng took the white paper and found that it showed the losses: seven vans, which were seven shipping containers, each of which could hold 24750 cartons of cigarettes.

These rat cigarettes are all counterfeit Hongwan cigarettes. The wholesale price of one carton is HK$40. The tobacco is imported from Cuba and Zimbabwe. A ton of dried tobacco leaves costs only US$500.

One ton of dried tobacco leaves can produce 300,000 cigarettes. This is because the industry in Kowloon Walled City is not up to par and the level of assembly line processing is not good. In North America, a cigarette factory can produce 500,000 to 800,000 cigarettes from one ton of dried tobacco leaves.

This kind of rat cigarette has a terrible taste; it leaves your mouth bitter after smoking it. It contains a lot of flavoring and magnesium. At its worst, the pipe looks full, but you can only take five puffs.

Moreover, the processing plants in Kowloon Walled City used cheap industrial flavorings, which are very harmful to health. Therefore, local Hong Kongers rarely smoked them; only South Asians and locals would buy them because they were cheap.

But tobacco companies pay heavy taxes; eight out of ten yuan of a pack of cheap cigarettes is tax.

Therefore, hookah, which traveled across the ocean, became very popular.

Cigarettes in the Philippines are more than twice as expensive as those in Malaysia and Singapore. Hong Kong, as an Asian financial center and a hub for contraband, happens to cover the countries along the Strait of Malacca route.

The shisha and rat tobacco business, from Luzon to Manila, is now completely monopolized by Chinese.

Even with low costs, losing tens of thousands of items and millions of yuan in payment, plus shipping costs, means the loss is at least two million yuan.

Mei Feng finished her mental calculations and felt a headache coming on, but she couldn't lose her composure in front of her henchmen. The more she failed, the more she had to hold on and not panic!

"Boss, our cargo ship bound for Mokpo Port has also run into trouble. South Korean customs has seized the entire shipment, and our customs clearance documents are also in problem. South Korean customs has already shut down four foreign trade companies that were responsible for covering it up."

"The two brothers who were in charge of the foreign trade company ran away and may never be able to go back."

"The person is currently hiding in international waters, waiting for the company to pay them a resettlement allowance."

Bad news doesn't come alone; it comes one after another.

The henchman in charge of pork offal, frozen pork belly, and frozen beef also told Mei-feng some bad news: the frozen meat shipped to South Korea had also run into problems.

Upon hearing that there were problems with South Korea's frozen goods, Mei-feng took out her computer, pressed a few buttons, and saw a long string of zeros displayed on the small screen. Her expression turned extremely grim.

Making a profit through unconventional methods can be lucrative, but if something goes wrong, you can lose both your initial investment and the goods.

The buyer has paid a 60% deposit. If they don't receive the goods, they won't resort to legal action. Instead, they'll send someone over to ask how to resolve the matter.

The penalty for breach of contract and the compensation will not be less than a fraction of what was expected. The source of income that was supposed to be profitable has been wiped out by selling everything, and even that won't be enough to cover the hole.

"Boss."

The henchman standing near the door quickly spoke up, trying to take the opportunity to deliver the bad news.

"Big boss! What big boss! You bunch of good-for-nothings, all you talk about is bad news, you're utterly useless! Your mothers might as well have given birth to a piece of char siu instead of you!"

As one bad news after another reached Mei Feng's ears, she completely lost her composure. Unable to maintain her bossy demeanor, she went berserk, picked up the computer on the table, and smashed it at her henchmen.

"Get out! All of you, get out of here!" After her outburst, Mei Feng weakly told her henchmen to get out and stop bothering her.

The henchmen slunk away. One of them, who had wanted to speak, was angrily interrupted by his boss. He could only put the written report on Mei-Feng's desk and leave with his head down.

Sitting in her office chair, Meifeng picked up a lighter from the table, fiddled with it for a few moments, and then, unable to resist, opened a drawer, took out an unopened box of Dunhill cigarettes, deftly tore open the outer packaging, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

We lost money throughout March, and now it's hard to calculate the accounts.

As she exhaled a puff of smoke, Meifeng calmed down and began to think about how to explain things to the old man.

The old man's temper is getting weirder and weirder, and he's becoming more and more ruthless in his actions. This old hag has lost all face.

A country has its laws, and a family has its rules!
This is a tough hurdle for me to overcome!

Thinking of this, Meifeng stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray to see where she could patch up the hole.

Professor J's pork!
Mei Feng did not sell Professor J's Blue Blood, but hid it away. Since she couldn't find a suitable buyer, she put it aside for the time being. Professor A was already in jail, so no one would be able to develop Blue Blood. Professor J was focused on selling Fire Phoenix, and it seemed that he had not been able to obtain Professor A's improved technology.

Without the recipe, you can't make blue blood.

The big bosses don't want Professor A to die, because they want to get their hands on the formula. Whoever gets it will become the new drug kingpin.

Mei Feng didn't have such grand ambitions, nor did she want to get involved in the trouble. She only wanted to use the three tons of blue blood she had to plug the holes in her accounts.

"Dang Dang Dang"

Just as Meifeng was considering who to sell her blue blood to, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Meifeng sat up straight, calmed her bad mood, and let the scoundrel outside the door come in.

The person who came in was the company secretary. Mei Feng was ostensibly the owner of a yacht rental company, which had legitimate business operations. However, this company was a branch office, while the head office was in Mauritius, and the yachts she owned were registered in Panama.

"Boss, Mr. Mai has arrived, but he didn't have an appointment today. I've already told him, but he insists on seeing you."

"Sister Meifeng, your secretary said you're in a meeting? What's going on? Are you trying to outsmart the air, discussing company development with the air?"

"Is this some kind of joke?!"

Mai Tou barged into Mei Feng's office, deliberately stood in the center, looked around, and when he didn't see anyone in the meeting, he started making sarcastic remarks.

"Go pour me a full cup of tea and cancel all my subsequent appointments."

Even if Mei-Feng had everyone in the company hold a steaming cup of tea to send off the guest, she still couldn't get rid of Mai-Tou, that plague.

Since she couldn't get rid of him, she could only deal with him carefully, because Mai Tou had come to settle scores with her this time.

"sit!"

"Coming without permission is the act of a thief! Since you've become a thief, you certainly don't care about the lies your secretary tells."

When Meifeng saw her secretary bring in a cup of tea and place it on the coffee table, she waved her hand, signaling the secretary to leave.

“I informed her! But Sister Meifeng never replied to my messages. When I learned that you were back, I rushed over to see you. I didn’t find it as shocking as the rumors said. You are sitting here perfectly fine, instead of making excuses.”

Mai Tou plopped down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and glared at Mei Feng with a hostile expression, his words dripping with barbs.

"This vacation in Luzon was just a minor incident, nothing to worry about, and no need for you, a celebrity, to concern yourself with it."

“I heard that the old man had another son, this time a boy, which has finally fulfilled the old man’s long-cherished wish.”

Mei-Feng gritted her teeth as she spoke. Now that the boy was born, the other girls had to take a backseat. How could she not hate him?
Sitting opposite her, Mai Tou immediately noticed that something was wrong with Mei Feng and said with a smile, "What happened yesterday is what happened today. If your stomach is not cooperating, you can't blame anyone else."

"I'm not here for the old man this time; I'm here on behalf of the Nanmen Group."

“Sister Meifeng, I entrusted the goods to you to transport because you said your route was safe. But as soon as the goods arrived in Luzon Island, they were seized. I didn’t get a single penny back from the four containers of goods. Don’t you have to give me an explanation?”

Mai Tou sneered and changed the subject, demanding an explanation from Mei Feng.

Making money through shady means often involves facing many challenges and setbacks.

But since Mai Tou has paid the premium, even if Mei Feng doesn't fully compensate him, she'll still have to give him a portion of the compensation to make up for his losses.

(End of this chapter)