Chapter 118: Jingkun Gets Emptied Out

Chen Mo's words made Jingkun pause, then he gave a sheepish laugh.

"So you've already thought of it, Mo. Then I won't get involved. A few million — I don't even care about that little bit of money."

That was what he said, but Jingkun's heart still twitched.

A few million — that was money earned from a legitimate business. With the Category III films his little movie company produced, he couldn't earn that much in years.

Besides, he was the Dragon Head — how could he compete with his subordinates for business!

Moreover, Chen Mo had come to bring him business.

"Let's talk about the videodisc factory instead! Mo, how do you plan to cooperate?"

"This videodisc factory will require roughly seventy million in investment. How about the two of us go half and half?" Chen Mo probed in a low voice.

"That much?" Jingkun was startled.

Just now he had only been focused on the factory's profits and hadn't realized it would require this much investment.

"I spent over twenty million just on buying the land. Construction has already started on the factory, and that's at least a few million more.

After that, I still need to buy equipment, build clean rooms, train workers, and purchase raw materials — all of that costs money.

It's just that my own funds aren't enough, otherwise I'd have done it myself."

Chen Mo shook his head and sighed as he spoke, his tone full of reluctance and regret.

Looking at Chen Mo like this, Jingkun picked up the documents again and began reading.

This time he read with particular care.

"But this investment is too much, and it'll take over two years to recoup the cost. Is this business really reliable?"

When it actually came to putting up money, Jingkun started feeling uncertain again.

Thirty-five million was not a small sum to Jingkun.

Although trafficking powder had earned Jingkun a lot of money these past few years, it was all illicit money that couldn't see the light of day.

What Chen Mo wanted was clean money.

Jingkun had always been reluctant to pay the fees for laundering money, instead using his own movie company and construction team to launder it — a very slow process.

The funds in his accounts right now were only a few tens of millions.

Thirty-five million would nearly empty him out.

"Don't worry, Brother Kun. As long as your funds are in place, within a month I can get the equipment brought back. In four months at most, the factory can go into production."

"Think about it — one disc can hold ten songs. With so many songs on Gangdao, a complete set is at least dozens of discs. Once I sell thousands of karaoke machines across Gangdao, that's over a hundred thousand discs sold. Laser videodiscs break easily, so we can probably sell several hundred thousand a year.

Even if we only make a hundred dollars per disc, that's tens of millions a year."

"And that's a conservative estimate. Who knows, by then the business might be even better than I'm saying."

Chen Mo painted the pie big and round, constantly stirring Jingkun's restless heart.

After a fierce internal struggle, Jingkun ultimately agreed.

It was only a few tens of millions — worst case, he'd find a money-laundering outfit and wash the dirty money he had on hand.

He'd treat it as investing fifty million in dirty money to get a golden goose that kept laying eggs.

Thinking of it this way, Jingkun suddenly felt that a thirty-five million investment didn't seem like that much anymore.

"Leave me your account number. I'll transfer the money to you later."

Chen Mo was overjoyed: "Great, then I'll have someone deliver the contract to Brother Kun in a few days."

The land had been won from Liu Yaozu's hands, and now with Jingkun's thirty-five million, Chen Mo basically wouldn't have to spend a single cent of his own to get the entire factory up and running.

After finishing their business talk, Chen Mo couldn't help asking Jingkun: "Brother Kun, you're the Dragon Head of our Great Prosperity now — can you put a stop to the powder business?"

To be honest, although Jingkun was a ruthless and vindictive person, his capacity for tolerance definitely exceeded Jiang Tiansheng's.

If Jingkun could give up the powder business, Chen Mo was still willing to let Jingkun keep sitting in the Dragon Head's seat.

Perhaps because he had just reached a cooperation with Chen Mo, Jingkun felt considerably closer to Chen Mo and was willing to share some honest thoughts with him.

"Mo, don't say that anymore. At the end of the day, being in this world is all about money. So many triad societies on Gangdao are trafficking powder — it's not just our Great Prosperity.

I know you don't like that stuff. Honestly, I don't like it either, but you have to do it whether you like it or not. You can do business and make money, but can everyone in a triad society do business and make money?

When you're in the underworld, you can't always do as you please."

"Brother Kun, going forward we'll be doing business together and making plenty of money. Why do you need to stay in this line? It's not me speaking harshly as your younger brother, but people who traffic powder never end up well.

The Chaozhou Gang back then dominated Gangdao all on their own — now only a handful of stragglers are left.

A few years ago, Dongxing's Dragon Head was even driven out of Gangdao, and now they can only hole up in the countryside.

With so many cautionary tales, you need to learn from their lessons!"

"I know all of what you're saying. You think I don't want to shut down the powder business? I can't! This business involves too many people from top to bottom. Once you're on the pirate ship, you can only go all the way — there's no way out!"

As the old saying goes, kind words can't persuade a ghost that's destined to die.

Perhaps Jingkun had his difficulties, but since Jingkun could no longer turn back, Chen Mo stopped pressing the matter.

Fortunately, although Jingkun had become Dragon Head, he hadn't dragged the rest of Great Prosperity into trafficking powder, so it didn't affect Chen Mo much.

Chen Mo could only take advantage of the time Jingkun was in power to develop his own forces more quickly.

Returning to the bar, Chen Mo called for Jimi and Gao Jin.

"Jimi, how are the preparations for going to Yinghuaguo?"

Jimi nodded: "Everything's ready, Mo Ge."

"Good. In the next couple of days, thirty-five million in funds will be transferred into the account. Once the money arrives, you can set off.

This time you're going to Yinghuaguo — besides purchasing the disc production equipment we need, you also have to secure the exclusive distribution rights for karaoke on Gangdao.

But relying on you alone might not be enough to close this deal. It's best to cooperate with the gangs over in Yinghuaguo."

"Ah Jin, go find Li Jie and get a few men to go to Yinghuaguo with Jimi. The cooperation with the Yinghuaguo gangs will still depend on you."

The Gangdao exclusive distribution rights for karaoke was no small deal. A greenhorn like Jimi going over there — the Pioneer company probably wouldn't even give him the time of day.

The best way is to borrow the name of Great Prosperity and cooperate with the Yinghuaguo gang, letting them step forward to talk.

The Yinghuaguo gang differs from the Gangdao Triad Society; in both political and economic fields, they will get involved.

Many gang bosses behind the scenes might be politicians on the news, or bosses of some conglomerate.

Chen Mo originally planned to go himself, but the Ni Family matter isn't over yet; Chen Mo needs to keep watching the Ni Family, ready to act at any moment, basically can't leave Gangdao.

This matter can only be left to Gao Jin.

Otherwise, only let Jimi go deal with the Yinghuaguo gang; he'd probably get bullied to death.

"Mo Ge, if I go to Yinghuaguo, do we need to find someone to take over the Triad Society's affairs here?"

"No need, I'll keep an eye on it myself; just a bit more tired."

Once Gao Jin leaves, many Triad Society matters can only be done by myself. At least while Gao Jin is away, Chen Mo can't slack off.

Especially now, it just so happens that the Ni Family is in internal turmoil; before, Gao Jin had arranged people to watch them, but now I have to do it myself.