Chapter 143: Courtesy Demands Reciprocity

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This was indeed an opportunity for Twin Gods Village to rise.

But the village no longer needed poverty-alleviation funds like these.

The profits earned at this Canton Fair alone had already exceeded twenty million dollars.

According to the contract signed by Zhang Tianfeng and the village chief, Lu Ling, Twin Gods Village would receive ten million dollars as well. Converted into the domestic currency, that was nearly eighty million. Even after taxes, they would still have tens of millions left.

They could use it to build roads. Better yet, the entire village could be relocated, allowing its people access to superior education and medical care.

Their goal had already been achieved. Anything more would merely be icing on the cake. Why not leave these conditions to the remote regions that needed them more?

Zhang Tianfeng felt there was still considerable room for negotiation.

After a moment of thought, he said, “Director Liu, let me discuss this with Yunqian’s family first. Can we talk about it afterward?”

“No problem. You have my number. Once you’ve reached an agreement, just give me a call.”

As he spoke, Liu Yueguang leaned back in his chair and continued, “The only unfortunate part is Alex. If that fellow had signed the contract, your sales might have surpassed one hundred million dollars.”

“Just thinking about such an achievement gets my blood boiling.”

That man was no good at all. After his true nature had been exposed, he had simply packed up and left, causing all of Zhang Tianfeng’s carefully laid plans for him to come to nothing.

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

The instant Liu Yueguang finished speaking, the door to the conference room was pushed open. Wang Tiancai said, “Boss, that foreigner is here. He says he wants to discuss business with you.”

“Which foreigner?”

“The one who inspected our factory the first time. He’s outside right now and insists on seeing you.”

“Boss Zhang, do your best. If you can break one hundred million, I’ll even polish your shoes for you.”

“All right. I’ll give it a try.”

It seemed the plan he had devised for Alex had not been wasted after all.

……

An hour later, in the office of Bluewind Toy Factory, Zhang Tianfeng looked at Alex, who had clearly traveled a long way.

“Sir, what have you been up to?”

“I went back home and took care of a few things.”

“Why did you come back?”

Alex raised his head and said slowly, “I’ve decided that I need to fight for the exclusive distribution rights to this product.”

Zhang Tianfeng nodded. “I’m very fond of working with your company, but the contract will have to be revised until both sides find the terms acceptable.”

Alex shook his head. “The contract cannot be changed. The exclusive distribution rights must be given to me, and all the contracts you previously signed with the other foreign delegates must be voided.”

Well, this foreigner certainly had some nerve—coming into someone else’s home to bully them. Was he really not afraid of being struck down with a hammer?

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Tianfeng said, “Mr. Alex, can you tell me where you get your confidence?”

“Since you’ve been to America, you should know that my country places great importance on intellectual property rights.”

“Of course I know.”

Great importance? It was practically excessive.

If I didn’t have the memories of my previous life, I really might have fallen for your trick.

“For a foreign product to enter America, it must first pass customs inspection. It could encounter rough seas and suffer a shipwreck, or a sudden change in weather could cause a plane to crash….”

“Mr. Alex, just say what you mean. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

“I merely want you to understand how much it costs to ship your products overseas.”

“I understand that better than you do.”

In the 1990s, relations between the Eastern and Western nations were still enjoying something of a honeymoon. The domestic economy had only just begun to develop, while the leader of the Western world seemed willing to help lift the Eastern dragon to its feet, offering many measures that had little practical value but provided a certain degree of convenience.

Trade imports and exports were one example.

It was relatively easy for domestic goods to be exported to the United States. All one needed was an export certificate, a buyer in America, and products that met American manufacturing standards.

Then there were import duties, shipping fees, losses from defective goods, risk expenses, employee wages, and countless other costs, including many hidden expenditures that could not be openly discussed.

If a product sold for one hundred dollars, the manufacturer would be doing well to make a profit of five dollars.

Alex tapped the table. “Since you know the costs are so high, you should understand one more thing.”

“Once a product has been patented in America, if an identical product appears overseas and is exported to the United States, not only will all the goods be confiscated, but the manufacturer will also lose its eligibility to conduct business there.”

“Oh, so this is where you were waiting for me.”

Leaning back in his chair, Zhang Tianfeng asked, “Don’t tell me you spent those few days back home doing nothing but this.”

“What else would I have been doing?” Alex replied with a smile.

If Zhang Tianfeng had agreed earlier, Alex could still have earned some profit. It would have depended on Alex’s mood, but at least there would have been money to make.

After being rejected, however, Alex suddenly felt that the people of this country were detestable.

They were being offered a chance to make money, yet they refused it? They even wanted more favorable terms.

They depended on America for their livelihood. What right did they have to make demands?

On the very day he was rejected, Alex had bought the nearest flight back to America and submitted the toys Zhang Tianfeng had given him to the patent office.

Since the patent application process took so long, he had returned by plane as soon as he saw that the application had entered the review stage. He feared that the Canton Fair would end before he could find Zhang Tianfeng again.

Fortunately, everything had worked out in time.

Now he would make this ungrateful Chinese man experience the power of the Americans.

“I’ve applied to patent all your products as intellectual property belonging exclusively to my company. You have only one choice now: become my supplier.”

“I’m a very reasonable man. As long as you cooperate obediently, I guarantee that you’ll make enough money.”

“Later, if you want to immigrate to America, I can even provide the necessary documents and help ease your burden.”

“Not everyone longs to go to America.”

“But most of the people I’ve met do.”

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At that time, many people genuinely wanted to leave the country. Some had become so desperate that they were practically insane with longing.

There were people who traveled abroad and deliberately abandoned their tour groups before tearing up their passports. Others became foreign men’s mistresses and endured every humiliation imaginable, all for the sake of obtaining the right to immigrate.

Everyone had the right to choose their own path. Zhang Tianfeng could not dispute that, but he also had the right to decide the course of his own life.

“Is there a second choice?”

Alex’s expression turned cold. He barked, “The second choice is for you to go bankrupt. I’ll poach every one of your employees and leave you with nothing.”

“What if I add this to the equation?”

Zhang Tianfeng took a sheet of paper from his drawer and slapped it onto the table.

“The patent application? How did you get this?”

Alex looked as though he had seen Satan himself. His eyes widened so far they nearly bulged from their sockets.

“I had it the very night I met you.”

Other people might not understand the character of foreigners, but Zhang Tianfeng understood them perfectly.

After learning that Tang Tianxiong had connections overseas, he had begun preparing to apply for the patents—before he had even met Alex.

By the time those preparations were complete, Alex had appeared as well. Zhang Tianfeng had handled both the investigation into Alex’s identity and the patent applications at the same time.

His purpose was to guard against villains, not gentlemen.

He had never expected to strike Alex directly in his weakest point.

“Impossible! This is impossible! How could you have moved so quickly?”

Alex still refused to believe it. He seemed almost deranged, muttering one incoherent phrase after another.

“I originally thought we could become good friends. But now, I think we can only become enemies.”

“And since we’re enemies, I’ll have to let you taste my fury.”

With that, Zhang Tianfeng picked up his phone and made a call.

Ten minutes later, after receiving a response, he hung up and said with a broad smile, “Mr. Alex, you can now place an international call to your wife and ask her what happened to your company.”

Suspicious but uncertain, Alex picked up the phone and called home.

After speaking with his wife, who was an ocean away, the phone slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor.

He looked at Zhang Tianfeng and forced out a bitter smile.

“M-Mr. Zhang, was this really necessary? There’s a saying in your country: Don’t drive someone into a corner.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never been a very obedient person. Whenever my elders told me something, I listened—and then promptly forgot it.”

“Mr. Alex, you’re not a child anymore. You should know exactly what you need to do next.”

“I understand, Boss. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

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