vrcanaries Chapter 441 Taking the Bait
Chapter 441 Taking the Bait
Ten days after the false information was spread, Liu Chuanzhi received that phone call.
The call was from Shenzhen. The caller's surname was Wu, and he was Wu Shipeng, the vice president of Hualian Technology. His voice sounded strained on the receiver, as if he were being choked.
"Mr. Liu, there's been some activity from Xinghuo."
Liu Chuanzhi was flipping through the day's newspaper in his office when he heard this. He threw the newspaper on the table, leaned back in his chair, and the chair creaked.
"What happened?"
"Our people have been stationed in Jinan for a whole week," Wu Shipeng said quickly, with almost no pauses between each word. "At the Xinghuo R&D Center, the lights were on until 2 or 3 a.m. every day last month, but starting this week, everyone leaves before 10 p.m. The cafeteria also said that the number of overtime meal orders for their R&D department has decreased by nearly 70%."
"That's all?"
"Also, they held a general meeting in their conference room number three last Friday, which was personally chaired by Ling Yun. The people who came out all looked grim. Some people said they heard Ling Yun slamming his fist on the table and yelling at people, and he even announced some kind of disciplinary decision on the spot. Our people didn't find out exactly who was punished, but someone was definitely fired."
Liu Chuanzhi picked up the fountain pen on the table and twirled it between his fingers. The pen cap had the Yixiang logo printed on it, but half of the gold lettering had been worn away.
"Who did Zhao Hu take away?" he asked.
Wu Shipeng paused for a moment. "How did you know it was Zhao Hu—"
"Because I understand Ling Yun," Liu Chuanzhi interrupted him, "when he investigates this kind of thing, he won't call the police; he'll use his own people. Zhao Hu is his henchman for the dirty work. If you don't even know what Zhao Hu is doing, your people are just wasting their time in Jinan."
The sound of turning pages came from the other end of the phone. After a few seconds, Wu Shipeng said, "Zhao Hu has indeed been investigating people these past few days. Our people saw him bringing several people in and out of the R&D center several times. Once, he even called an employee out of his office and locked him in that small conference room on the first floor for more than two hours. The door was closed, so we couldn't hear what they were saying, but when that person came out, his legs were shaking."
Liu Chuanzhi put the pen back on the table. "What about the chip?" he asked.
"Well..." Wu Shipeng lowered his voice even further, "There's been no news from Liu Jun yet. But I heard through other channels that after the first batch of StarCore chips came back, the test data wasn't good. The power consumption was much higher than the design value, and the yield was also poor. Lingyun has already ordered the suspension of new project development for the chip team and transferred everyone to the supply chain."
"Where is the source of this information?"
"We obtained an internal product planning document from StarPhone. It shows that the release date of StarPhone has been pushed back from January next year to the end of next year, followed by a question mark."
"We need to expedite Liu Jun's situation," he said slowly, as if sifting beans one by one through a sieve. "His word is the most accurate right now; Ling Yun hasn't suspected him yet. Have him find a way to confirm one thing—whether the Star Core chips are still usable. If they are, then all the stockpiled chips are just scrap metal. If they aren't—"
He paused, then said, "Then Xinghuo's phone is really gone."
Wu Shipeng agreed. Before hanging up, he asked again, "Mr. Liu, when will the second payment for Mr. Gu's money arrive? And what about the rent and staff expenses in Shenzhen…?"
"Tomorrow," Liu Chuanzhi said, "I'll have the finance department transfer it."
After hanging up the phone, Liu Chuanzhi stood there for a while. He picked up the teacup on the table to take a sip, only to find it empty. He slammed the cup down heavily on the tea tray, the porcelain cup hitting the clay tea tray.
He paced back and forth in front of the window twice, then picked up the phone and dialed an internal number.
"Marketing department? Have your Director Wu come over here."
When Director Wu arrived, he brought a report showing the sales data of Yixiang's MP3 products in major electronics markets across the country for the past week. He placed the report on Liu Chuanzhi's desk, but Liu Chuanzhi didn't look at it; he only asked him one question.
Are Spark MP3 players still selling well in the market?
Director Wu was taken aback. "They're selling well. Their mid-to-high-end 512MB model is even out of stock in some places—"
"I'm not asking about MP3 players," Liu Chuanzhi interrupted, raising his hand. "I'm asking about components. Screens, chips, batteries. Has anyone been shipping them in large quantities lately?"
Director Wu glanced at the report. "I can't tell from the data, but someone in the Pearl River Delta said last week that Xinghuo's purchasing staff were looking for second-tier suppliers to cooperate with. They used to only use first-tier products. Some second-tier factories heard about this and offered very high prices, which Xinghuo accepted without haggling."
"Because we bought up all the top-tier goods," Liu Chuanzhi said, "they had no choice."
Director Wu didn't dare to respond.
Liu Chuanzhi walked around from behind the desk and stood in front of Director Wu. He was half a head shorter than Director Wu, but when he looked up at people, his gaze was directed from above his glasses, like a gunman aiming from behind the sights.
"Starting next week," he said, "we'll place another order for mobile phone components. Tell your people not to haggle over the price, as long as we can secure the goods. Long-term contracts are fine, and the deposit can be higher."
"Mr. Liu," Director Wu choked for a moment, "we haven't sold this batch of goods we have yet..."
"Then let's just pile them up in the warehouse for now," Liu Chuanzhi said, walking over to the tea tray and picking up the empty cup, twirling it in his hand. "Once Xinghuo's phone is delayed, the price of these goods will double. Whoever has the goods will have the pricing power then."
He spoke faster and faster, his voice growing lower and lower, the last word almost squeezed out through gritted teeth: "I've been putting up with Ling Yun for two years. Do you know how I've spent these past two years?"
Director Wu shook his head, then quickly nodded.
"You don't understand," Liu Chuanzhi said, putting his cup on the tea tray. "You can leave now."
After Director Wu left, Liu Chuanzhi sat alone in his office, flipping through the sales report without really looking at it. He picked up the phone, then put it down again. Finally, he dialed a number, this time quickly, as if afraid he might hesitate.
The person who answered the phone picked it up after only one ring.
"Mr. Gu," Liu Chuanzhi said, "I've already confirmed with Xinghuo, the news is true. Their chips have a major problem, and the phone service will be delayed by at least a year."
Gu Gorden's voice came from the other end of the phone, still that overly clear Mandarin, each syllable crisp and clean, as if it had been produced on an assembly line. "Very good, Mr. Liu. My partner and I anticipated this. What are your plans regarding the supply chain?"
"I plan to make additional purchases to lock in all the mobile phone parts that can be found on the market."
"Where's the funding?"
"This is where I need your help," Liu Chuanzhi said, switching the microphone to his other hand. "The first batch of money is already used up. I need a second batch, fifty million yuan."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. Liu Chuanzhi could hear the sound of keyboards clicking, a printer whirring, and someone saying some data in English.
“Okay,” Goulden said, “but this time we need some collateral.”
"What kind of guarantee?"
"The land in Nanjing owned by Yixiang Group."
Liu Chuanzhi's fingers tightened around the microphone. "You checked my accounts."
"In business, you always need to understand your clients' basic situation," Gu Gorden's voice was flat and smooth, like a polished piece of marble. "Of course, you can refuse. Then what about my funds—"
"I agree," Liu Chuanzhi said. "When will the money arrive?"
"Before 3 PM tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Liu Chuanzhi placed the receiver back on the landline, his movements so gentle it was as if he were handling something fragile. He stared at the landline for a while, then turned his head away. The sunlight outside the window had moved away, and the facade of the building across the street had darkened, leaving only a hazy, gray reflection.
He suddenly remembered what Director Wu had just said—"Xinghuo's purchasing staff are looking everywhere for second-tier suppliers, and they've accepted the offers without even haggling over the prices."
No bargaining.
Liu Chuanzhi tapped his fingers twice on the table.
Ling Yun is the kind of person who never fails to haggle. Back in the day, he could negotiate the price of a used computer from 9,000 to 7,500, until the shopkeeper finally told him not to come back. How could someone like that not haggle when buying spare parts?
He picked up the phone to call Wu Shipeng, but hung up halfway through dialing.
"Suspicious," he said to himself, "suspicious."
He took his hand off the phone, picked up the sales report on the table, and forced himself to read it. After reading only two pages, his gaze drifted back to the window.