Chapter 88: Profiting from Disaster

Swish—

As the words fell, Wu Ya’s heart sank at once.

A middle-aged woman entered the room right after.

Though no longer young, she still possessed a lingering grace and charm. More striking still was the commanding aura about her, one no less imposing than that of any accomplished businessman.

Beside her, Lan Yaoming was instantly made to seem shabby by comparison.

“Huayan, what are you doing here?”

Lan Yaoming looked startled.

He had never told his wife about the trouble at the factory, afraid she would worry.

Yet somehow she had arrived at Wu Ya’s room almost on his heels.

“What am I doing here? If I hadn’t come, Grand Vision would probably have gone under today.”

With a frosty face, Fang Huayan answered him, then stepped past him and walked straight to the sofa.

“Boss Wu, hello. I’m Lan Yaoming’s wife, Fang Huayan.”

After greeting Wu Ya, she inclined herself slightly and sat down.

At the same time, she studied him with a few swift glances.

The look in her eyes changed several times in an instant.

So this was what people meant by youth to be feared. One look and it was clear this young man was sharp and capable. Good thing I came. If we were relying on Yaoming, we’d suffer a terrible loss.

This woman is no simple figure.

Wu Ya also gave Fang Huayan a few measuring looks.

That aura alone marked her as extraordinary.

Had she not become a full-time housewife because of the child, Grand Vision would probably already rank among the best in Haihe Province.

For that reason, Wu Ya took her more seriously.

Even so, his tone remained relaxed.

What he wanted had now been spoken aloud by the lady of the house herself.

That meant there was no need to rush anything.

“Oh? So you’re President Fang? I’ve long heard of your reputation. With your standing, shouldn’t you be at the factory right now, calming the workers? Why come all the way here to talk business with me?”

Wu Ya poured two glasses of water and handed them to the couple.

Though they had ruined his pleasant sleep, he would not neglect basic courtesy.

“Thank you.”

Fang Huayan nodded and accepted the glass.

Lan Yaoming said nothing.

His head hung low, and he remained silent.

“Boss Wu, in barely half a month you’ve taken a tailor’s shop on the verge of collapse and developed it to the point of buying an assembly line. Not only did you work a miracle and bring it back from the dead, you also seized the largest share of the wholesale market. Such ability, such talent for business—it truly puts people of our generation to shame.”

Yet rather than answer Wu Ya directly, Fang Huayan chose to flatter him first—and in the process revealed that she knew his background.

Clearly, when it came to Wu Ya, the proprietor’s wife of Grand Vision had given him far more attention than Lan Yaoming ever had.

She had actually investigated him.

And so she knew that although Wu Ya was young, he was absolutely not to be underestimated.

At the very least, his achievements were beyond anything they could accomplish.

Half a month.

In that short time he had turned a tiny failing shop into the number one business in the market.

And now he had come carrying three hundred thousand to buy an assembly line.

Three hundred thousand.

A tailor’s shop earning three hundred thousand in half a month—just thinking about it was enough to leave one stunned.

Yet this young man had done it.

And once he bought the assembly line and began large-scale manufacturing—

Wu Ya, Boss Wu.

Would not the terror of his future brilliance be plain to foresee?

What she did not know was that the money had been made from bonds.

The tailor’s shop was profitable too, but only to the tune of a few thousand a day.

And even that had to be used as operating capital, or for purchasing cloth.

There was simply no way to draw out such a vast sum from it.

“Oh? President Fang has certainly been diligent. It seems you know my affairs quite clearly?”

Hearing that, even Wu Ya could not help praising her inwardly.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles.

That was true on the battlefield, and no less true in business.

Only by understanding the other party thoroughly and finding where their weakness lay could one seize the vital point in negotiation and take control.

Clearly, Fang Huayan understood this principle well.

Unfortunately, the one she had met was him.

He had no weakness for her to exploit. Even the bond war that had shaken the world was known to only a handful of people.

As for grasping any weakness of his—

She could keep dreaming.

“But President Fang, choosing to reopen negotiations at a moment like this—aren’t you afraid I’ll take the chance to gouge you?”

Wu Ya changed the subject, and his tone sharpened with it.

To jack up pressure and drive down the price—

That was a must.

It was for the sake of protecting his own interests, and also for venting the resentment in his chest.

Who told her husband, Lan Yaoming, to be so blind?

He, Wu Ya, though only able to make a down payment, had still offered extremely favorable terms with collateral in place.

Yet not only had Lan Yaoming failed to commit himself to making the deal happen, he had even listened to slander and treated him like a swindler.

Outrageous.

Who was he?

As things stood, he was already firmly the richest man in Suiyan District.

And the richest man in an entire district had been treated as a fraud?

That was an insult to his dignity.

If he did not teach them a lesson, if he did not seize the chance to recover some benefit for himself, how could he possibly live up to the reputation they had smeared?

Yet—

“That’s exactly why I said it. Whatever conditions you have, Boss Wu, just name them.”

Not only did Fang Huayan show not the slightest reluctance, she remained remarkably calm.

It was almost as if she were negotiating on someone else’s behalf.

That made Wu Ya’s estimation of her rise another few degrees.

At a disadvantage, yet neither servile nor overbearing.

Knowing full well he meant to cut deeply, and still she sat composed, graceful, and steady.

There was something in her of the spirit that remains unchanged even when Mount Tai collapses before it.

But in truth, Fang Huayan’s heart was bleeding.

Ever since learning the results of her investigation, her heart had never settled.

Facing this freak of a young man, who had created a miracle at such an age, even her once unstoppable courage seemed to turn hollow.

Selling the assembly line as fast as possible was the only way out of the current crisis.

For there was another urgent matter, one Wu Ya did not yet know about.

The bank loan.

It would come due in the next few days.

If they could not repay it, the factory would be seized.

And at present, the only person who could solve their immediate predicament by buying the equipment was Wu Ya.

So she had no choice but to accept.

She had not the slightest initiative left.

Profiteering from another’s disaster?

Even if he did, she would still have to swallow the blood and heal herself with it.

Otherwise, what they stood to lose would be far more than the profit they had to give up.

“Fine. Then I won’t beat around the bush with you, President Fang. One price only: six hundred thousand.”

Six hundred thousand?

That wasn’t even enough to cover the cost.

At last, Fang Huayan’s expression changed slightly.

“Wu Ya, that’s too ruthless! The cost of those three lines alone was over seven hundred thousand! And you’re offering only six? Isn’t that kicking us when we’re down and taking advantage of our distress?”

Before she could speak, Lan Yaoming at her side could no longer restrain himself.

This boy looked mild enough, but his heart was vicious.

Their current difficulty could be overcome with little more than a hundred thousand.

He could easily have continued with the original terms: a down payment of three hundred thousand, with that factory as collateral.

At worst, the remaining three hundred thousand due in twenty days could be postponed a little.

Would that not already have been generous enough?

But no.

He wanted to squeeze his throat, to slash the price at this critical moment.

It was simply intolerable.

A profiteer. A robber.

A man who pushed his advantage inch by inch.

How could there be such a good bargain in this world?

In just a few days the price had fallen straight from nine hundred thousand to six hundred thousand.

Even a plane didn’t descend that fast.

Yet—

“Shut your mouth!”

Lan Yaoming, his face full of grief and indignation, was suddenly met with his wife’s sharp rebuke.

He jerked his head around and stared at Fang Huayan in disbelief.

But sadly for him, she did not even spare him a glance.

Fool.

Those three assembly lines of yours are indeed state-of-the-art equipment.

And yes, they are worth around a million.

But that is only when everything is normal, when they can be sold under ordinary conditions.

What about now?

The situation is urgent. The company is on the verge of collapse.

Once the workers begin looting and causing trouble, the next thing to come will be the bank demanding repayment.

With the situation this severe, with you already standing at a dead end, what right do you still have to bargain?

Wu Ya need say nothing at all.

He need only sit here, sipping his tea and grinding away the time.

You would collapse on your own.

And you still complain that he is taking advantage of your disaster?

That is entirely your own doing.

You brought it on yourself.

“Boss Wu, isn’t six hundred thousand truly too low a price? As far as I know, you yourself are in urgent need of expanding production, and urgently need this batch of equipment.”

Though Fang Huayan also felt Wu Ya had cut far too hard, business was business, and there was nothing unfair in it.

If she wanted to raise the price of her own goods, then even from a weaker position she had to do her best to find the other side’s soft spot.

And Wu Ya’s weakness lay in one thing:

He was in a hurry as well.

He was desperate to expand production.

After all, a single tailor’s shop had already earned him three hundred thousand a month.

If he moved to assembly-line production instead, would he not soar straight into the heavens?

And that was the basis on which she could bargain with him.

Both sides were in a hurry. Then it only remained to see who could keep their composure longer.

But...