183: Chapter 182: Clever Trading

He hadn't thought of a temporary solution for the lack of money; he'd need tens of billions of us dollars, an amount he could only scrape together if he sold all the gold in his space. Regardless, there was no immediate rush. He could start the industrial layout with simpler tasks. Leveraging the detection capabilities of the Super Industrial Mother Machine, he wouldn't need to invest too much capital into mining enterprises. Acquiring a mature mining company would achieve his goal. Since a mining company's primary assets are its minerals, owning more minerals would naturally cause the company's value to appreciate. Once the company gained some fame, he could then legitimately sell off some mineral resources in the name of the mining company to continuously cash out large sums of money. From there, he could keep expanding and gradually extend into downstream industries.

After leaving the city government, Cao Xiao instructed Zhang Qiling to fly to the headquarters of the Provincial Tobacco Group. He had been eyeing yellow crane tower 1916 cigarettes for a long time, and the only place they could be bought was the Provincial Tobacco Group's headquarters. Since he was free now, he decided to head over and pick some up. He had actually considered using the Super Industrial Mother Machine to process a type of non-addictive, harmless cigarette. However, without those harmful substances, cigarettes became bland and tasteless; without the addiction, smoking lost its point, so that idea was unrealistic. Nevertheless, minimizing the harmful components as much as possible while improving the flavor was achievable. He had already asked Chen Huaiyu to help contact and order a batch of high-quality tobacco leaves. Since it wasn't harvest season yet, it would take some time for the goods to arrive.

The helicopter landed in an open area near the tobacco group. Considering he would be carrying cigarettes shortly, Cao Xiao had Zhang Qiling accompany him. Familiar with the way, he arrived at the tobacco company lobby and showed his military ID to the service desk staff, stating he wanted to see their boss. The staff member politely took Cao Xiao's ID. Knowing Cao Xiao was from a department of the Central Military Commission, they didn't show excessive enthusiasm but didn't dare slight him either. After making a call for instructions and receiving approval, they had someone lead the two of them up the elevator.

Cigarettes are harmful products and cannot be advertised, so most tobacco companies aren't very famous. However, our country implements a tobacco monopoly, and the profits from cigarettes are immense. The strength of any tobacco company is not to be underestimated, especially this tobacco group, which ranks among the top in the country and is well-known globally. Thus, as a Major staff officer, Cao Xiao might not have even met the boss of the tobacco group if he weren't from the Central Military Commission.

In fact, the person Cao Xiao was meeting now was just a Vice President, a middle-aged woman around forty years old.

"Staff Officer Cao, hello! Please have a seat. May I ask what official business brings you here from so far away?" This Vice President, surnamed He, stood up and warmly greeted Cao Xiao to sit down as he entered the office.

Cao Xiao frowned slightly upon hearing this; she had likely misunderstood his intent. Her tone was too direct and formal. Fortunately, he had come prepared and replied in a similarly formal manner, "Vice President He, hello! I'm a local. I'm not here on official business today, but rather to buy something. I hope you can make it convenient for me!"

Hearing that Cao Xiao was here to buy cigarettes, Vice President He's warmth faded quite a bit. She said flatly to Cao Xiao, "Oh! Does Staff Officer Cao want the Collector's Edition 1916? My apologies, the subordinates don't know the rules. I'll have someone bring a carton over at a twenty percent discount on the original price as an apology to you."

Cao Xiao could naturally hear that Vice President He's words were somewhat insulting, but this was a normal situation and not worth getting angry over. He continued to smile and said, "Your staff is very enthusiastic, but the quantity I want to buy is quite large. They probably can't make that decision, so I had to take the liberty of bothering you, Vice President He!"

A flash of disgust crossed Vice President He's face before vanishing. She stood up and said apologetically to Cao Xiao, "I'm sorry, Staff Officer Cao. Our group produces very few Collector's Edition 1916s each year. The new tobacco leaves haven't been harvested and processed yet, so there's basically no stock in the warehouse. Please understand! If there's nothing else, I'll have someone take you to get your goods."

Cao Xiao knew she viewed him as a self-important, greedy person; her words were essentially seeing him out. She was already saving him face by not being overtly rude. If he hadn't come prepared, he would have bought a few packs at most today given his status. He had no intention of getting up to leave. He took a piece of paper from his shoulder bag and handed it to Vice President He, saying, "I like the 1916 very much, and I know your difficulties. Before coming here today, I specifically went to find many friends to help. Now, Vice President He doesn't need to be in a difficult position."

"Oh? Deputy Director Wu of the Municipal Bureau? Then we can add one more carton." After reading the contents of the paper, Vice President He showed no surprise. She finished speaking and stared intently at Cao Xiao.

"Are they all twenty percent off? Then what about this one?" Cao Xiao pulled out another piece.

"Fine! Deputy Director Liao? Then that's three cartons! Please!" Vice President He looked at Cao Xiao with some surprise and made a gesture for him to leave.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Vice President He! I have more here!" Cao Xiao sat comfortably on the sofa, pulled out another piece, and looked at Vice President He with a smile.

"Uh, Director Liu? Four cartons then! Surely that's all of them now?" Vice President He was choked up. She lowered her hand and stared at Cao Xiao with a strange expression, wanting to see if he would pull out any more.

"Vice President He, Director Liu is a member of the Municipal Committee. That should be at least three cartons! And at a thirty percent discount! Don't you think?" Cao Xiao couldn't help but laugh as he said this; the scene of using other people's identities to haggle was truly ridiculous.

"Cough, cough! Fine! Staff Officer Cao, we really don't have much stock. I can't give you any more. How about I save two cartons for you when this year's new cigarettes are produced?" Vice President He felt a bit bitter. One couldn't show favoritism in business; gifts had to be allocated based on the person. Now that someone was using logic against her, she couldn't refute it. Fearing Cao Xiao would pull out even more slips, she resorted to playing the sympathy card.

"Vice President He, it's not that I'm making it hard for you, but I still have more here! You can't show favoritism, or the other leaders will have something to say. Do you really not want to look?" Cao Xiao directly pulled out a stack and held them before Vice President He's eyes.

"Ah...! This... impossible! No, not even one carton left! The leaders couldn't possibly be like this!" Vice President He took them hesitantly. The more slips she saw, the more alarmed she became. Five directors, and every member of the Huanghe City Municipal Committee, including Chairman Zhang Ruikang, were listed. There were also six members of the Provincial Committee, including Provincial Chairman Hu and Commander Niu of the Provincial Military Region! If she followed her previous allocation method, a director got at least two cartons, a municipal committee member got three, and the municipal chairman had to at least double that. A whole case of fifty cartons might not even be enough for the eight directors and over ten municipal committee members. Provincial committee members started at six cartons, but they had authorized the slips and applied their personal seals; she felt even six cartons was too few. Calculating it this way, that was another case or more. Altogether, it wouldn't be less than three cases. Since even the Municipal Bureau's deputy director got a discount, it wouldn't make sense not to give the provincial leaders half off. Furthermore, she didn't dare decide whether to charge them or not. The money was a small matter—the selling price of 150 cartons of Collector's Edition 1916 was less than 1.3 million, which was nothing to the wealthy tobacco company—but she couldn't just give them away for free. The value of a single carton could constitute a bribery charge; heaven knew what each leader was thinking. The key was that there really weren't many cases left in the warehouse. If she gave them to Cao Xiao, what would she do if someone else came with a slip? Moreover, she couldn't believe the authenticity of these slips. One or two would be fine, but over twenty leaders authorizing one person simultaneously—nearly all the provincial and municipal leaders were included, yet she had never even heard of someone like Cao Xiao. This was too strange, so she began to question the authenticity of the slips.

"Haha! Don't get excited, Vice President He. You can have someone verify the handwriting and seals immediately. If you're still not satisfied, I have the private phone numbers of all these leaders here. You can call them one by one to confirm!" Cao Xiao laughed triumphantly.

"My apologies, I'll have someone verify them. Secretary Wang, come in for a moment." Vice President He looked conflicted; doing this seemed disrespectful to the leaders, but this was a major matter. If she were scammed, it would be a huge joke. So, she gritted her teeth and decided to have someone verify their authenticity.

"Be my guest!"

Cao Xiao leaned back on the sofa and waited patiently.

About fifteen minutes later, Secretary Wang returned to the office, followed by another Executive Vice President surnamed Zhou. After entering, Secretary Wang whispered into Vice President He's ear. That Executive Vice President Zhou also nodded to Vice President He. Only then did Vice President He say to Cao Xiao with a distressed face, "Staff Officer Cao, you can take four cases of goods. Please convey the regards of our Tobacco Group to the leaders. Let's go, I'll personally take you to the warehouse to collect the goods!"

"Don't be in a rush! I have quite a few more here; I'll take them all at once. These are purchase commissions from big shots in various fields. I couldn't help it; my friends were too supportive!" Cao Xiao, as if possessed, pulled out another stack. It looked like there were at least nearly a hundred of them.

This time, except for Cao Xiao, the eyes of the three people present went blank. No one reached out to take them. Vice President He was speechless. Vice President Zhou snapped out of it, and without even looking at the things in Cao Xiao's hand, he said bitterly with a long face, "Staff Officer Cao, you're not here to buy things; this is just straight-up robbery! You're not leaving us any stock at all. The Collector's Edition 1916 isn't just common cabbage! If we calculate it this way, more than half of this year's and next year's new stock will be gone!"

"You can't say that. I'm also helping you solve a problem that's always been a headache. If anyone else comes looking for you, just push it onto me. With so many leaders supporting me, others won't have any complaints. You should be thanking me!" Cao Xiao said shamelessly.

"Fine! We didn't know an honored guest was arriving; we've been negligent! It's lunchtime now. I'll set a table outside. Staff Officer Cao, please do us the honor. As for the goods, we can talk while we eat." Vice President Zhou suddenly wiped the distress from his face and became incredibly warm.

Cao Xiao couldn't be more triumphant, but the most important thing now was to get the goods first. He didn't care about eating; if he accidentally slipped up, all his efforts would be for nothing. Thus, he said, "Eating isn't necessary. I have official business to attend to. I'll treat everyone next time I come for goods. How about this: I'll take all the stock in your warehouse and pay the original price. I also want ten cases of the regular 1916—no, thirty cases. When the new stock comes out, you must save it all for me, or I'll have my friends and elders in Beijing write some slips."

"Fine! You can take it all. There are exactly six full cases, twenty-three cartons, and eight packs in the warehouse. For the Purple Gold Edition 1916, we can only give you twenty cases at most. It'll be seven million in total. I'll take you to get the goods right now." Vice President Zhou's heart was bleeding as he spoke—not because of the money, but because he was loath to give up so many cigarettes. After speaking, he stared intently at Cao Xiao, hoping desperately that Cao Xiao couldn't produce that much money, even though he'd only given a discount of less than a million.

Cao Xiao seemed skeptical and said regretfully, "Uh! Only seven million? Do you have any other good stuff not for public sale? We should at least make it ten million! I like round numbers."

Vice President Zhou's face turned green upon hearing this. This was too irritating! Besides, was this about the money? Including Secretary Wang, all three felt the urge to punch someone. At this moment, Vice President He couldn't help but regret everything. If she had known it would turn out like this, she would have been generous and given him two cases when he first arrived to shut him up. Instead, she had followed the old rules and haggled with him, leading to an endless accumulation. She thought that after this, the rule of bringing slips to collect goods would definitely be abolished, and Cao Xiao would be placed on the Tobacco Group's high-alert list to be strictly guarded against.

...

An hour later, Cao Xiao sat in the passenger seat of a small truck, happily humming a song. In one hand, he held an exquisite wooden cigarette box, while the other hand tossed a half-finished cigarette butt out the window. The driver next to him was twitching. Recalling the scene of several usually high-and-mighty presidents respectfully seeing this gentleman off, and then seeing the cigarette in Cao Xiao's hand that cost forty or fifty yuan each, his inner world was crumbling.

Having obtained so many good things that money couldn't buy, his ruse having luckily succeeded, Cao Xiao was naturally incredibly smug. In the short time since getting in the car, he had already smoked five cigarettes, intentionally tossing them after just two puffs. He felt this would quickly calm his excited heart. In reality, he hadn't asked anyone to write slips at all; all the slips were forged by him. Mimicking other people's handwriting and seals was child's play for him. He was exploiting bureaucratic tacit understanding, betting that the Tobacco Group people wouldn't personally verify them. Even if they did, they would choose lower-level officials. The leaders of Huanghe City all knew him and wouldn't expose him over such a small matter. They wouldn't dare ask the provincial leaders at all, because whether the leaders had authorized it or not, they wouldn't admit it and would instead give them a scolding. Thus, it was a catch-22. Afterward, the municipal leaders he was on good terms with and Commander Niu wouldn't mind, but the four provincial leaders he had just had a conflict with would want to hit a wall in frustration when they found out.

Before he even reached home, his phone rang. He pulled it out and was startled to see it was Liao Kai calling. Although he felt a bit guilty, he figured he could settle it by giving Liao Kai a few packs at most, so he answered the call.

"Director Liao, you know? They called you? Alright, alright! I'll have someone send a few packs over to you and Director Liu."