Although he was a world-class tycoon, Cook didn't have as many airplanes as Zhang nglong, who could eat the freshest, top-level ingredients from all over the world every day. He really couldn't provide the items Wang Cai wanted to eat.
Fortunately, his estate did have quite a bit of high-quality beef, foie gras, and many vintage wines, which just about managed to appease Wang Cai.
After a satisfying al, Wang Cai directly found a tree and climbed up in a couple of moves to take a nap on top.
"Mr. Zhang, it..."
"It's fine, don't worry about him. He likes to do this when he's full. Just let him be."
"Alright, let's go inside then."
"Sure."
...
Though Cook's island wasn't very large, the holiday estate was exquisitely built with all facilities fully equipped, which clearly took a lot of effort.
At the very front of the estate, there was a huge lawn where three dogs, two cats, one alpaca, and a tiger rushed towards Cook as he approached.
"Haha! Stop it, we have guests today!" Cook petted the animals' heads.
"Mr. Cook's pets are extraordinary. He even has a tiger," Zhang nglong noted as he watched the white tiger. Probably only such super-rich individuals could own such wild animals.
I wonder how many servants it eats in a al.
"Her na is Bodi. I bought her for 5 million US dollars from a wildlife smuggler. Raised from a cub, she's been tad and has a very good temperant!"
"This German Shepherd here is a retired military dog. I bought her at an auction for 1.25 million US dollars."
"And this cat, she's a leopard cat, very rare with heterochromatic eyes. I even had a long dispute with Bezos over her, but in the end, I managed to buy her, haha."
Cook introduced his pets, each one pricy and unique in its own right, but strangely, all the cats and dogs he owned were females.
"After feeding them, rember to take them for a walk," Cook instructed.
"Rest assured, Mr. Cook!" the servant replied respectfully.
...
The dining area was a fully transparent restaurant. Though it was very sunny outside, it didn't feel hot or glaring at all inside. Coupled with the endless sea outside, it was indeed quite pleasant.
Four people were seated, and the designated host imdiately poured them so red wine.
"Mr. Zhang has honored us with his presence today. Let
toast to Mr. Zhang first," Cook said, his face glowing as he raised his glass.
"Mr. Cook is too kind. I'm also honored to receive your invitation."
Both of them symbolically took a couple of sips, and the atmosphere instantly lightened up.
"Mr. Zhang, I'm sure you can guess why I invited you here," Cook said.
"I can probably guess," Zhang nglong laughed. "It's about the workers, right? I'm really sorry, I didn't know those companies had taken orders from Mr. Cook."
Zhang nglong explained, "As you know, our gaming market is booming right now, but due to insufficient preparation in the early stages, our VR devices simply couldn't keep up with the demand. Therefore, we need a significant boost in production capacity imdiately to produce a batch of devices, which is why we turned to our Huaxia factories."
"You also know that I have always been a conscientious entrepreneur. Those workers had already been working overti for over a month. Their ntal and emotional state was poor, and I was worried that this situation might affect their work efficiency and enthusiasm. That's why I thought about giving them a month off."
"You can really spin a tale! If I didn't know what kind of person you, Zhang nglong, are, I might have believed you!" Listening to Zhang nglong's excuses, Cook really felt that there was no one else in the world with a thicker skin than Zhang nglong.
Saying that the equipnt is in urgent need of production is one thing, saying you want to give the workers a holiday is another; don't these two statents sound inherently contradictory?
If you want to exact revenge, just say it outright. We are all adults here; there's no need for such pretense.
"Mr. Zhang, as you know, our Cashew Company has just released its latest product, and we have already received a large number of orders. If there's a problem in the supply chain at this ti, it could have a severe impact on us."
"Ah, that's really unfortunate," Zhang nglong hurriedly said, "I actually hadn't noticed that. My fault, my fault, I'll punish myself with three drinks!"
A $200,000 bottle of red wine, Zhang nglong finished in no ti, which made Cook ache—not for the money, but because with such vintage wine, once a bottle is gone, it's gone.
This thing is red wine, which needs to be savored, not beer; who drinks it like that?
"This is my fault!" said Zhang nglong, "Lately, our gars have been pushing us hard, and the listing of our ga on your company's platform has also been delayed. I've been a bit overwheld lately and mishandled so things, I hope Mr. Cook doesn't take it to heart."
Zhang nglong's words sounded self-critical, but Cook clearly understood that Zhang nglong ant if you had smoothly allowed Operation Thunder Strike onto the Cashew store, none of this would have happened.
"Mr. Zhang, I know you have grievances about this," Cook said with a troubled expression, "You might see that our Cashew Company is large, but this ti we also faced considerable pressure with dozens of top-level gaming companies jointly boycotting your Huaxia gas. It's been a real headache for us."
"How about this!" Cook made a determined appearance, "I'll handle the pressure from this side. I'll arrange for Operation Thunder Strike to be listed as soon as possible, placing it in the fastest way to our market and giving you the best promotional spot!"
"I heard from Ma and Ding that you're asking for 80% in tech fees, isn't that a bit too high? Other companies only charge 30% or even 15% for their tech services, right?"
"Mr. Zhang, let
be frank, the price was just to scare off Wang Cai and Tengxun by making it tough for them. The 15% tech service fee is our discount for small businesses. We're not supposed to offer people like you such a discount, but since Mr. Zhang is straightforward, I am willing to list Operation Thunder Strike for a 15% tech service fee."
"Oh?" Zhang nglong was sowhat surprised; Cook was so easy to talk to? Even if they opened up the listing, and he wasn't being overcharged, he had estimated that he would still need to pay a 30% tech service fee, but now it was just 15%, which was really strange.
"Mr. Cook, just say whatever demands you have."
"Hahaha, I dare not make demands, I just hope that we can both achieve a win-win through cooperation," Cook handed over a contract to Zhang nglong, "Mr. Zhang, you might want to take a look first."
"You want to be the Arican general distributor for Operation Thunder Strike?" Zhang nglong now understood why Cook was willing to offer such favorable terms.
"You want 70%?" Zhang nglong sneered coldly, that's quite a big appetite!
Indeed, companies like Tengxun, being distributors, split revenue with video ga developers 70:30 because they are large and influential enough to demand such sums.
Though Cashew Company is a massive entity, honestly, if Zhang nglong wanted to promote the ga in Arica, it wouldn't be difficult; he could just buy a video ga company and start the promotion. As long as there's money, he could make the ga famous by sheer financial force.
"Mr. Cook, isn't asking for 70% a bit overly ambitious?"
"Mr. Zhang, I think it's not too much at all," Cook laughed, "I know that Mr. Zhang is very wealthy, but this is Arica, not Huaxia, and our Cashew has the best channels and the strongest team. Isn't there a saying in Huaxia, even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake? If you promote on your own, you may face pressures from all sides."
"For example, from major Arican ga manufacturers, even from governntal bodies. After all, if your ga enters Arica, it will definitely have a serious impact on our gaming industry, and the top-level people won't turn a blind eye, while we can perfectly solve these issues."
"I understand," Zhang nglong nodded. Cook's last two sentences—one was flattering him saying his gas were good, the other was threatening him, implying that if he tried to promote gas in Arica without their help, he would find it very difficult."
The atmosphere at the dinner suddenly beca tense.
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