Chapter 274 - 253: Baguda is Stunned! More Profitable Than a Hanging Offense

Chapter 274: Chapter 253: Baguda is Stunned! More Profitable Than a Hanging Offense

A capital offense?

If Lu Feng knew what they were thinking, he wouldn’t even bother explaining.

The people who party at bars and order expensive foreign liquor—do you think they care about this little bit of money?

They don’t even care if the alcohol is real or fake.

What they care about are the girls.

The alcohol is just to get the party started. As long as it can get the girls drunk, it’s good alcohol.

So, what crime is there to speak of?

These people don’t care themselves, so who has the time to police it?

Unless someone actually files a report, the authorities would only reluctantly take a look.

Lu Feng added, "Baguda, when the time comes, we can also raise the procurement price for the raw materials. Increasing it by five or even ten times is no problem. Let everyone earn more. It’d be great if everyone could buy a car and build a house. That would show that our Xuanfeng Alliance is prospering."

These words made Baguda’s blood boil with excitement.

He could just imagine what a huge change it would bring to people’s lives if this was truly implemented!

This was something he had never even dared to dream of before.

Was His Excellency the Governor really going to make such a huge play with just a wave of his hand?

He was certain that if this could be carried out, the people would tear apart anyone in the entire Xuanfeng Alliance who dared to oppose them.

Or rather, if anyone dared to speak ill of the Governor, impulsive citizens would probably teach them a lesson.

The common people are just that simple: they’ll support whoever helps them live a better life.

If you just try to fool the people, treat them like idiots, and offer them no real benefits, you’re doomed to fail sooner or later.

But Baguda also knew that to implement His Excellency the Governor’s plans, one thing was essential: the Dream-Returning Wine deal had to be secured. And sales had to be explosive.

However, he still had a concern, and asked, "His Excellency the Governor, is there a chance the formula for this wine could be reverse-engineered? I’ve heard that most famous international liquors are more or less the same because their formulas have been cracked by competitors to some extent."

Lu Feng laughed at this. "Don’t worry. As long as our own formula isn’t leaked, no one will be able to crack it. I’ll tell Hong Xi to pay close attention to this matter."

You have to understand, in the game world, this wine’s formula was only created after a Special Element Analyzer appeared. It took the most famous family of brewers six years using that instrument to figure out the recipe with the special elements.

And that Special Element Analyzer, according to the game’s timeline, is a technology from 20 years in the future of the real world.

So, without that kind of instrument, it would be a miracle if any of those international liquor companies could reverse-engineer it.

"That’s good to hear." Hearing this, Baguda finally relaxed and left.

He was eager to close a deal with the liquor distributors right away, but His Excellency the Governor had said they needed to keep them hanging first. So, he could only restrain himself. The next day, he sent people to investigate the situation with those distribution bosses.

Louis and the other liquor company bosses were already getting extremely anxious. It wasn’t just them, but also the other invited guests.

Normally, after the banquet hosted by Xuanfeng Bank ended and the first commemorative Xuanfeng Bank cards were distributed, these people should have left.

But they didn’t leave. Instead, they were all over Wind Capital, asking about the Dream-Returning Wine. Some wanted to buy a few bottles to take back with them, while others saw a business opportunity and wanted to become distributors for this wine.

This wine had clearly just appeared. Its effects were magical, and the market potential was enormous. If even they had enjoyed it so much, becoming completely captivated, then others would be no different. This wine would sell itself. Securing the distribution rights was like getting a license to print money.

When Louis and the others heard this news, they naturally grew even more anxious.

Among the guests invited by Xuanfeng Bank, there was no shortage of powerful people.

If these people also started competing, especially for the regions they wanted to represent, it would be a huge problem.

Finally, Baguda once again had someone notify Louis and the other liquor distribution company bosses to come and negotiate about the Dream-Returning Wine.

This time, many of the other invited guests came along as well.

These guests had been invited in the first place because they were wealthy.

They had also recognized the market potential of Dream-Returning Wine and naturally had the same idea as Louis and his group.

Of course, Master Kai, Yang Ming, and Ah Pao were also invited.

Furthermore, only these three had come from Dragon Country.

When they were all gathered in the reception hall, Louis and the others looked at Yang Ming’s trio with a bit of envy.

After all, that was a market of 1.4 billion people.

The profits to be made from Dream-Returning Wine in that market would be immense.

Yet, only these three people from Dragon Country had shown up, and they seemed to be working together. There was no competition at all.

Louis even had a thought: ’It would be great if I could also get the distribution contract for Dragon Country.’

Ah Pao and Yang Ming were getting excited. After all, this was the first time they had ever been involved in such a massive deal.

To get a stake in the business, Master Kai had already promised to front all the money for the first shipment of inventory.

This would allow them to roll out Dream-Returning Wine much faster.

Once everyone had arrived, Baguda entered the reception hall with his translator, Hadona. He sat down in the host’s seat and looked at Louis and the others with a smile. "Everyone arrived quite quickly. I assume you are all very optimistic about our Dream-Returning Wine!"

After Hadona translated, Louis and the others began to voice their positions one after another.

"Mr. Baguda, this is the first time we’ve encountered such a fine liquor as Dream-Returning Wine. Our company is very eager to become a distributor."

"Mr. Baguda, I am certain this wine will take the world by storm. Our company has the largest distribution network..."

"Mr. Baguda, please believe in our capabilities, our distribution channels..."

"..."

One by one, they all stated their cases, as if afraid they would lose the distribution rights for Dream-Returning Wine if they were too slow.

Baguda waved his hand, silencing the crowd. Then he said, "Everyone, since you all want to be distributors for our Dream-Returning Wine, let’s discuss the issue of price."

"Our Dream-Returning Wine comes in three tiers: standard, premium, and collector’s edition."

"However, for now, we are only releasing the standard and premium Dream-Returning Wine. The tentative wholesale price for a 700ml bottle of standard Dream-Returning Wine is 5,000 Xuanfeng Coins, and 30,000 Xuanfeng Coins for the premium version. Of course, the price is negotiable, and we can arrive at a final price together."

He was deliberately leaving some room for negotiation.

After all, to him, the price set by the Governor was truly high.

The cost was basically negligible; it was almost pure profit. He felt it was too ruthless, too vicious. His conscience couldn’t take it, and he was afraid the distributors wouldn’t agree.

That was why he added that last part.

"What? That price is so low? That’s way too cheap!" Ah Pao exclaimed in disbelief upon hearing Baguda’s words.

His outburst immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Hadona quickly translated his words.

"Too... low?!?!" Baguda was stunned.

He had been worried he’d set the price too high, but who would have thought that the guy from Dragon Country would complain it was too low right off the bat?

Ah Pao immediately said, "Mr. Baguda, you’ve set the price too low. It’ll be hard for us to sell it! It should be at least double that, right? Otherwise, compared to all that other trashy foreign liquor, it’ll have no class at all."

He wasn’t just talking nonsense.

After all, in the nightclub scene, a 700ml bottle of some foreign liquors already sells for 2,000, 3,000, or even 5,000.

A wine as magical as Dream-Returning Wine can’t possibly be sold for less than those, can it?

The standard version should retail for at least 2,000 or 3,000. Otherwise, it has no prestige at all! Are you looking down on us distributors? With such a low wholesale price, we’d feel guilty jacking up the retail price to where it needs to be!

Baguda was even more shocked by Ah Pao’s words. ’Double it? Doesn’t that mean a single bottle of the standard wine would be 10,000 Xuanfeng Coins? The shipment we originally calculated to sell for 500,000 Xuanfeng Coins would now fetch 1,000,000!’

’The cost is 55,000, which means the profit would be 945,000.’

’Is the liquor business in Dragon Country always like a capital offense?’

’No wonder the Governor said he wanted to give the exclusive Dragon Country distribution rights to these three.’

Baguda smiled brightly at Ah Pao’s trio and said, "Gentlemen, you are the sole distributors for Dream-Returning Wine in Dragon Country. We will naturally consider your words very carefully."

This statement stunned Louis and the others.

’The sole distributors for Dragon Country?’

’He just gave it to the three of them like that?’

’Was it just because they offered 10,000 Xuanfeng Coins for the standard wine?’

They had no idea that the Dragon Country distribution rights had been decided internally. They assumed this was the reason.

’Otherwise, why would he deliberately mention the price and then say it was up for discussion?’

’Wasn’t it all just to get them to bid?’

Thinking of this, Louis immediately declared, "Mr. Baguda, a wine as magical as this Dream-Returning Wine... a wholesale price of 10,000 Xuanfeng Coins is too low! I think 15,000 Xuanfeng Coins is more like it."

As soon as Louis finished speaking, the others seemed to catch on. The boss of another international distribution company immediately said, "Mr. Baguda, if you’re willing to give the distribution rights for Europe to our company, we’re willing to pay 20,000 Xuanfeng Coins for the standard Dream-Returning Wine."

A third company chimed in, "Our company is also willing to pay 20,000 Xuanfeng Coins for the standard Dream-Returning Wine!"

A fourth...

A fifth...

"????" Baguda stared at the bosses of the liquor distribution companies, who were all bidding against each other. His mouth hung open, and for a moment, he was completely bewildered.

He’d thought his own price was too high, but who knew these people would one-up each other, all complaining his price was too low and offering even higher bids.

’20,000 Xuanfeng Coins for the standard Dream-Returning Wine?’

’That’s 2,000,000 Xuanfeng Coins in sales! With a cost of 55,000, how terrifying is that profit margin?’

’The Xuanfeng Alliance just wanted to sell some wine. How did this turn into something that feels even more cutthroat than the most profitable capital offense?’

’Or have these people gone mad?’

’Or is it that I just don’t understand business at all? Is that why I can’t keep up with their pace?’