Chapter 541

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Chen Zhongguo's visit abroad was carefully designed.

First, diplomacy was a field the Chen family patriarch was familiar with, and he had many friends. Second, former leaders visiting abroad had precedents to follow, so it would not raise legal questions. Third, visiting abroad would inevitably be accompanied by numerous journalist interviews, which had an excellent effect on increasing exposure.

These interview reports would then leak at least two pieces of information: Chen Zhongguo's health, and that Chen Zhongguo still had the ability to handle administration.

This was a counterattack battle; if fought well, it could refute all elements of Chen Zhongguo stepping down. He did not need to return to any specific work post; as long as he could continue to exert influence, it would be enough.

Given the Chen family's current momentum, in three to five years, or seven to eight years, they could certainly promote one or two powerful figures.

The more Xi Rong thought about it, the more frightening it became; subconsciously she went to pour water, her thumb slid straight into the cup rim, scalded for two seconds before she came to, and let out a sharp cry.

The teahouse boss was watching from the counter; hearing the sound, he ran over immediately, saw the situation, and smiled: "Boss Xi, what are you staring at? Wait a moment, I'll have Little Pockmark get you some pills."

He gave a look, and the latter scurried out nimbly.

Xi Rong hummed and said "It's nothing," while the boss leaned over and smiled: "Burns are troublesome; let me rinse it with cool water, then apply some medicine, guaranteed not to hurt anymore."

While speaking, his eyes quietly swept over the newspaper. This person wanted to see if there was any news that would move customers; if it was about the stock market or futures, who knows, he might make a profit.

Xi Rong didn't care at all, closing his eyes and letting him do as he wished.

After a while, greasy medicine was applied to his finger, but the newspaper's chrysanthemum was not exposed; the boss left disappointedly.

Xi Rong opened his eyes and smiled, took out his mobile phone, and pressed a string of familiar numbers.

Two rings sounded, and a heavy "Hello" came from the other side.

"Old Xiao, still at the Publicity Department?"

"Where else could I run to?" A string of hearty laughter, as if he were truly very sunny.

Xi Rong naturally knew this was a facade; "propagate" was a synonym for lying; if he wasn't even good at the classic hearty laugh, how vulgar an official would he be?

Laughing along twice, Xi Rong invited: "I'm seated at the teahouse; do you have time to come out and sit?"

"Oh, today doesn't seem very convenient."

"What about dinner?"

"Hard to say."

"You always have to eat dinner; I have plenty of time, shall I wait for you?"

"No, no, I'll find you later?"

By this point in the conversation, Xi Rong more or less understood; he said a couple of sentences, hung up, and dialed another number.

This time, facing an old friend, he got straight to the point: "Has Old Xiao taken a side?"

The other party hesitated for a while before saying: "The Xiao family has recently intended to get close to the Chen family; as for the rest, I can't say much."

Xi Rong waited patiently; hearing this, his face turned cold and he asked: "Wasn't the Xiao family strictly neutral?"

"Sigh, the Xiao family patriarch is long gone; how could they guard neutrality for a lifetime? The Chen family does things quite properly; I've heard many people have made a fortune; to be honest, we also have to wait and see. One thing is one thing; actually, didn't the Xi family also submit to the Chen family?"

Xi Rong gave an embarrassed smile and said: "We were forced."

"I've heard; just make the pretense real; speaking of which, your position and the Xiao family's position are still decent."

"No matter how good the position, you can't make money on the periphery." Xi Rong was full of bitterness. The tonnage he bought on the black market averaged over ten thousand yuan per kilogram; 1 ton was 10 million yuan. In the early core of the Chen Clan, each family and faction had over a thousand tons; although not all could be cashed out, that also meant future profits of tens of billions, so they had made a fortune.

But for a miscellaneous group like the Xi family that joined later, being able to go to the West Continent was something to thank heaven and earth for.

The other party chuckled twice and said: "Making money is secondary; health is most important. Moreover, I heard they seem to have relaxed some restrictions."

"What restrictions?"

"Probably something like tonnage; as for exactly how they're relaxed, I don't understand. Is your sister-in-law's health still okay?"

"Fine." Xi Rong replied perfunctorily with a couple of sentences, hung up the phone in frustration, and thought to himself: These grandsons must have defected because there were benefits.

Thinking of this, he left two tea bills, hurried downstairs, and rushed toward Jiangning again.

Jiangbei Wharf was indeed exceptionally prosperous.

Factions from all over the country had sent people here to observe work, genuinely raising the status of Jiangbei Wharf by more than three levels.

Under the shade trees outside the warehouse was the liveliest. Xi Rong squeezed over and saw an abrupt electronic screen with a string of numbers on it.

"November 17th tonnage 2..." Xi Rong calculated and hurriedly asked the person beside him: "Is this selling futures?"

"It's warehouse positions. If you're not prepared, Li Renchao wouldn't let you pass." This person saw Xi Rong was older and answered quite seriously. Those who hung around near Jiangbei Wharf—who knew how many connections they had behind them.

"Selling warehouse positions is allowed now?"

"Self-transaction; they didn't say it's not allowed."

From the beginning, there had been quota transactions within the Chen Clan, just without specific cash hooks. Judging by the current situation, the only currency for open sales was cash.

Not saying it's not allowed meant the Channel Committee hadn't made up its mind yet.

Xi Rong quickly calculated the cash in his hand, took a bidding device under the electronic screen, and prepared to make a move.

This kind of transaction that could be canceled at any time—those who acted early wouldn't lose out, those who acted late would regret it. His demand for channel tonnage was great, just like most families without quotas; no matter how much money was spent, they could always think of a way to earn it back.

If it was cheaper than the black market price, it would also count as a small profit.

In the blink of an eye, another piece of information appeared: "November 11th tonnage 1, starting price 8 million."

Xi Rong without hesitation bid 9 million.

His hand had just left the bidding device when the electronic screen popped up a price tag of 10 million. That was the ordinary black market price.

Xi Rong looked around, not knowing who was bidding.

"11 million." He pressed down hard.

12 million jumped up quickly, then 15 million and 20 million numbers.

Xi Rong put his hand down.

20 million?

He could take it out, but it would hurt his sinews and move his bones a bit.

Moreover, at such a price, never mind making money, even breaking even would be too difficult.

"In November, I still won't need 1 ton of tonnage." Xi Rong could only comfort himself like this.

The bidding finally stopped at 25 million.

Xi Rong wiped a handful of sweat, thinking: If this continues, the gap between the Chen Clan core families with tonnage and the ordinary families without tonnage will only grow wider.

Precisely this kind of thing has nowhere to appeal. Xi Rong believed there would certainly be peripheral families wanting to fight their way into the core family circle.

"December 5th, tonnage 6."

New information popped up on the electronic screen again.

The futures warehouse one month later focused on having more tonnage.

Xi Rong couldn't take out that much money, so he swayed with feigned ease, and heard someone ask: "How did these tonnages end up remaining?"

He immediately pricked up his ears.

An old man answered listlessly: "It's tonnage brushed down from Li Renchao's side — things like each transport's overweight equipment cannot exceed how much, etc. — those registered late, the brushed-down tonnage is hard to handle, so they simply sell it off in scattered lots."

Each family's tonnage allocation is handled by the Channel Committee, but the material allocation sequence is Li Renchao's responsibility. Sometimes, to snatch transport of a piece of equipment, one must spend money to exchange for a front position; if one's own tonnage hasn't been exchanged, it can also be sold for money.

This Channel Efficiency Official Li Renchao holds the most direct power second only to Chen Yi and the Channel Committee — a typical case of low rank but heavy authority. To fulfill his duties, the only thing Li Renchao can do is rely on Chen Yi, so that the latter, while carrying out his will, frees up time.

Xi Rong had done Navy logistics; standing outside the warehouse and roughly estimating, he could detect that the Channel's efficiency had increased — this showed Li Renchao's position was secure, and exchanges would likely continue.

"Need to get some more money." Xi Rong thought secretly: Sell all the family's houses, wonder if that can get 50 million, plus bring some funds?

While he was carefully calculating accounts, the final transaction price flashed on the electronic screen: 122 million yuan. Average price 20 million per ton — it had finally lowered a bit.

Quite a few people clicked their tongues in secret; Xi Rong also thought: Chen Yi transports about 50,000 tons of materials every month — if all were valued, one truly wouldn't know how to calculate it.

Jin Douna was doing the same arithmetic problem.

She took out a little notebook with great interest, drawing zeros on it, and said with a laugh: "If there really is this much money, our Gold Bond reserves would have to be more than anyone's."

"Use tonnage as reserves?" Gao Qiu, who had just returned from Xijing to assume the post of Jiangning Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman, had a face full of surprise and delight.

Chen Yi interrupted his delusion, saying: "The West Continent and Gold Bonds are two different matters; they cannot be mixed together."

Gao Qiu sighed an "Ai." His main work under Chen Yi was presiding over the Gold Bonds, so naturally he strove for resources with all his might.

Jin Douna was secretly pleased. Among today's sold tonnage, some was taken out by Chen Yi. The market is this good — there's no reason not to make money.

Certain families and individuals, out of multiple considerations, are willing to spend such a large sum. But leaving so much tonnage to Chen Yi, his average returns could never reach that much regardless.

Most importantly, to maintain the lead in two regions, he cannot purely transport money-making things.

A forklift not far ahead emitted "bang bang" collision sounds, making the warehouse atmosphere even more noisy.

Mao Li, standing among the West River Association group, instead very enjoyably took a deep breath and said with a laugh: "I grew up in a factory since childhood; back then I had the chance to stay in the factory as a milling worker."

"If you want to be a milling worker, you can go back anytime." One of his competitors, the Lu Sheng Group boss, was quite impatient.

"You haven't been a worker, you don't understand heavy industry's charm." Mao Li rarely sighed with emotion, then instantly smiled: "If there's a chance, I wouldn't do textiles and garment-making either."

"Then that's great."

Chen Yi smiled faintly, leading everyone through two gates.

A Mercedes-Benz train whistled past, instantly making everyone shut their mouths.

Only to see that train as if not wanting its life, fiercely crashing into the blue rippling Subway light curtain, disappearing without a trace...

The Lu Sheng boss said dumbfoundedly: "Materials are transported to the West Continent like this?"

"That's just delivered into the Channel; this is the Channel." Chen Yi pointed at the Magic Subway. Although the latter was portable, Chen Yi didn't intend to move long-distance.

If he were made a porter, once or twice is fine, but he can't be sunk in it year after month — that would be putting the cart before the horse.

Another train crashed into it.

"Our goods, so this is how they're transported out." The West River crowd immediately discussed animatedly.

"In the future, such transport will gradually decrease." Chen Yi's words instantly eliminated the cheerful atmosphere. He paused, then continued: "Taking you to the West Continent is also hoping to find a cheaper transport method; otherwise, this business will sooner or later become a losing proposition. Of course, right now it's still profitable."

Only when he spoke the last sentence did everyone laugh amidst the severity.

Every 30 cars of materials transported uses up 1 locomotive and 30 cars; the so-called Channel tonnage actually doesn't include this "packaging" weight. While transport costs increased massively, transport efficiency naturally also increased a great deal, but besides a few people, no one knows exactly how much it increased.

Before everyone's eyes, it was just one train after another crashing into the Subway, then being dismembered and dragged away on the spot — seeing the back, without Chen Yi saying it, they also felt heartache.

Of course, these dismantled train cars and locomotives, once they reach the West Continent, are still very valuable — however used it's worthwhile — but without the concept of two-region material price difference, consuming thousands of cars per transport is a terrifying thought.

The oppressive atmosphere continued until the next evening.

The inspection group including West River Association first-tier and second-tier affiliated enterprise heads started up again. The Xi father and son mixed in the normal team, instead having the leisure to chat more.

Called chatting, yet what drifted in the carriage was entirely the smell of rotten money — tonnage purchasable only with tens of thousands of yuan per kilogram — although not everyone does this business, thinking about it is still quite nice.

Around Chen Yi was a circle of Martial Arts Hall Students.

In the Jiangning region, students reaching Body Technique Level 8 and Level 9 are increasing daily. If they want to continue improving, they must go to the West Continent's Outer Hall for instruction. This has several benefits: one aspect is the environment is more appropriate, another is instructors are easier to find. Additionally, any student who becomes a Combat Knight is not allowed to return to Jiangning for a short time — this is an invisible risk control.

After all, no matter how powerful the Chen Family's influence, the state machinery or even foreign intelligence agencies always have ways to gather intelligence — restricting their gaze to Body Technique Level 9 has considerable benefits.

Although becoming a Combat Knight has geographical restrictions, most students are still willing to attempt it — this is both the physiological temptation after power increases, and the relaxation after the West Continent's unsealing.

Formerly, students who went to the West Continent were gradually allowed to return, to today being able to come and go freely — this also gave hints to a certain extent.

The Subway arrived.

Xi Tan and Xi Rong left the landing area at the first moment, which made Da Yang, who was observing the recording, a bit strange.

Thousands of people swarmed out from the gate.

Da Yang had to withdraw his gaze and throw his energy into normal work.

... (Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to vote Recommendation Tickets, Monthly Tickets — your support is my greatest motivation.)