Chapter 63: The Time Traveler (Part Five)
Translator: Kim_Guo Editor: Tehrn
Ever since the high-level management of Shengfeng had fallen apart, Xihuang Industrial had treated Huan differently: Zhang Rong had been catering to his every wish, and even Yu Tingli, who had come from the Huang Family Funds, had become respectful.
In the far-off Brazil, a subsidiary amounted to a separate company. However, if the boss’ son came, different styles could bring about different results.
When hearing that Huang Xuan was going to receive oil at the Port of Santos, Zhang Rong put aside all the work to make sure that the boat could enter the port half a day in advance. During the busy periods, not all the boats were able to anchor or unload. What was worse, Huang Xuan hoped to anchor the boat at the dock he wanted so that it would be more convenient to use the oil.
Zhang Rong met all of Huang Xuan’s demands. By June 20th, Rolin had got 100,000 barrels of light oil, which was equivalent to 5,600 kWh of electricity.
Rolin was very happy. Although he had no emotions, Huang Xuan could sense it through his words.
“Huang Xuan, 15 companies had handed in their applications for the purchase of lumber to us. I have arranged a tender this afternoon. Time for you to deal with it.” Rolin had never used the “us” before. He had also never made a decision on his own. It seemed that his capability had been improved.
“Rolin, has my authority been improved?” Huang Xuan asked.
“Yes.”
“Do we have the same authority now?” Huang Xuan asked again with a smile.
“Mine is level 21 while yours is level 22.”
Huang Xuan pouted. He had forgotten that when the base was upgraded, Rolin’s authority would be elevated too.
While he was chatting casually with Rolin about the legal issues of the agreement, the helicopter arrived at the lumber farm of Capres. Rolin had invited more than 60 people from 15 companies, among whom, the Brazilians were the minority. This was a developing country after all, where the expensive oak wasn’t consumed much.
Modeste had been waiting long on the parking apron. When the helicopter was landing, he didn’t run but looked up, pressed his hair and squinting his eyes against the wind.
Although Huang Xuan had been used to people’s respect, as a teenager, he still cared about people’s attitude to him. He shook hands tightly with Modeste and said with a smile, “President, you didn’t have to wait for me yourself. A guide would have been enough.”
“No, I must. Here is the biggest open storage field in Capres. I should do the introduction for Boss myself.”
“OK.” Although Huang Xuan had already learned everything about this place from Rolin, he was happy with a personal introduction.
Modeste was talkative, passionate, warm, and confident. Their conversation was pleasant.
A smile indicated a good beginning of a negotiation. They came to the lounge outside the field. Most of the people present were Europeans with their agents. There was also a Japanese company and two American companies.
However, Huang Xuan didn’t pay attention to the confident executives. He saw Galatea at once, the girl with fair skin, blonde hair and tempting, rosy lips. She was sitting behind a businessman, wearing a cream-colored suit. She had no sunglasses or bodyguard. Her long eyelashes were blinking, and her blonde hair was flapping near her ears.
Galatea was surprised at seeing Huang Xuan. She opened her mouth and raised her head slightly, with faint happiness.
The Asian teenager had impressed her. She had never imagined that anyone would throw a spring water bottle at a crowd at the airport, which was bold and stupid. Nevertheless, this was also a teenager who could recite poems in Spanish. He even knew the origin of the name “Galatea”. When she had been at his age, she had been crying for memorizing Latin words. What had impressed her most was that he had translated a beautiful poem into Greek, with proper wording and sincere comments, very touching to read.
Galatea thought it was the best love letter she had ever received. If only he had been older. However, she hadn’t met the lively young man anymore in professor Paulino’s class. Just when she was going to look for him, he appeared at the wrong place.
Huang Xuan smiled at her and sat on a chair. By then, everybody had known that this young man was the owner of the valuable lumber. Galatea opened her eyes widely too.
Modeste rubbed his hands and said, “Please allow me to introduce my boss, Mr. Huang Xuan from China, i.e. the owner of the lumber you want to buy.”
After some light claps, Modeste continued, “You have all checked the quality of the lumber. Then please reconfirm your quotation sheet and then hand it to me.”
“Does Mr. Huang Xuan want to make his decision here?” a Belgian businessman asked.
“I want to sell this lumber as soon as possible.”
Rolin had forged the information on the lumber’s place of origin and felling. Most of the trees in Deutschland were privately owned. Although the volume of felling and export had been recorded, most records on their ownerships were incomplete and incorrect. Rolin had guaranteed the legality of the lumber.
No matter how capable Rolin was, Huang Xuan hoped to convert the lumber into notes as soon as possible. In the past week, Rolin had spent 100 million dollars. Huang Xuan’s answer met everyone’s wish. The room got excited. People started to exchange glances. 60,000 square meters of lumber weren’t a lot, but since they were of different qualities and types and the companies had different needs, the competition was still fierce.
The lumber needed to be classified before being sold. Generally speaking, after being grouped by kinds of trees, it was categorized further into three classes according to the texture; three kinds according to the use, which were tree stems, log, and converted lumber. Tree stems referred to the timber that hadn’t been shaped to size and specification after the tree had been felled, skinned, and the branches and twigs had been cut. What Huang Xuan had brought back was all tree stems, among which, the diameter at breast height was above 100 cm. Normally, 70 cm was already first-class.
Ever since he had transported the lumber back, Huang Xuan hadn’t paid much attention to it because he had thought that even if he sold it at the highest price in Europe, which was hundreds of dollars per cubic meter, the total income would be just tens of million. However, when he saw the quotation sheets, he was astonished.
The first quotation sheet Huang Xuan had opened was made by the Greek old man, Kree Minos, whom Galatea had come with, which said, “40,000 cubic meters of oak with a diameter at breast height of above 100 cm, 6,000 dollars per cubic meter.” The total value of the deal would be 200 million dollars. Kree Minos sat there, legs crossed, right hand covering the teacup, eyes squinting, but he had paid all his attention to Huang Xuan and wasn’t relaxed until he saw the expression on his face.
Pfalz Forest had only produced 2,000 cubic meters of oak the month before. The price of the ordinary type had been 650 Euros while that of the one with a diameter at breast height had been up to 2,000 Euros. Even so, his company, Canettes, had been able to buy only 20% of the overall production. He had come to Sao Paulo hastily as soon as he had heard that there were hundreds of thousand cubic meters of oak to sell. Nothing was more meaningful than pursuing profits.
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