Chapter 132: A Sneak Attack, Disregarding Martial Virtue

Under the hazy night, a faint rumbling sound emerged. Huang Xinhai saw that Shangguan Town looked like a massive construction site; under the illumination of countless large floodlights, various construction machinery and vehicles were constantly moving through it.

Looking at the scene before him, even though the project had only just begun construction, Huang Xinhai could already vaguely imagine what the Torch Group would look like once completed. An annual shipment volume exceeding one billion was truly no joke; the scale of Xinhai Lighter Company, compared to the Torch Group, was really just like playing house.

The scale of the Torch Group, along with the full lighter industry chain being built, was truly no joke!

Unknowingly, Huang Xinhai stood on a small hillside, watching the scene below. After a full half-hour, several figures appeared beside him, their expressions much like Huang Xinhai's. There were even a few people whom Huang Xinhai could clearly sense were his own peers; after watching for a long while, they left, looking utterly dejected.

Returning to his car, Huang Xinhai was also thinking about where he and Xinhai Lighter Company would go from here. In terms of cost, not to mention domestic lighter companies, even global lighter manufacturers would likely be unable to compete with Torch.

It was hard to say about foreign countries, but Huang Xinhai estimated that in the future, domestic lighter companies would all be "rolled to death" by the Torch Group; no company could withstand the Torch Group's price war!

For the past few days, all the hotels and guesthouses in the entire Pingyang area had been packed to the brim. Huang Xinhai had finally managed to find a private residence to rest in. The conditions weren't great, but there was hot water to wash his face and soak his feet, and a hot meal to eat. After several days of exhaustion, he finally had a place to rest his feet.

He had been exhausted just a moment ago, but after getting into bed, Huang Xinhai couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that heart-shaking, massive project he had witnessed earlier.

Facing the Torch Group, Huang Xinhai truly couldn't think of how to compete. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how to resist.

In a daze, just as he was about to fall asleep, Huang Xinhai suddenly woke up, and then a thought popped into his mind: Why must he think about competing with the Torch Group? It's good to enjoy the shade under a big tree. If Xinhai were to defect to the Torch Group, what would happen?!

Once this thought appeared, it wouldn't leave Huang Xinhai's mind. If he could affiliate with the Torch Group, even if he let the Torch Group take a stake, or shared a portion of the revenue with the Torch Group, so what? Being able to use the Torch Group's industry chain would give Xinhai's lighters a greater cost advantage. Perhaps they could even follow them to go overseas. Even if Torch were overbearing, it couldn't possibly swallow the entire world's lighter market; there would always be an opportunity for Xinhai!

All sorts of thoughts appeared in Huang Xinhai's mind that night, making him happy one moment and worried the next. He tossed and turned until the middle of the night before falling asleep. Early the next morning, Huang Xinhai, sporting dark circles under his eyes, hurried out again.

After Li Dongling left the Torch Group, he returned to Dongling Gao Ke. As for the Torch Group, Li Dongling had already formulated a plan; with the capabilities of people like Zhang Xiaocheng and Zhou Wenyang, following the plan would be no problem.

The most important things for the Torch Group next were two matters: one was to establish a technical department to research the three technologies and patents Li Dongling had requested; the other was to continue construction day and night to build the Torch Group and all the supporting industry chain facilities. For the time being, it didn't require too much of Li Dongling's attention.

However, just as Li Dongling sat down in his office, Zhang Xiaocheng rushed over in a hurry. Hearing Zhang Xiaocheng's words, Li Dongling was also taken aback, "Someone wants to affiliate with the Torch Group?!"

"It's the Xinhai Lighter Company from Qiantang Province. I heard their scale isn't small. Now, the boss of Xinhai, Huang Xinhai, is still waiting for news in my office."

Zhang Xiaocheng, with red eyes, took a large gulp of water before speaking. He had only dozed for a few hours last night and couldn't sleep; with such a large project at the Torch Group, and millions in funding passing through his hands every day, how could Zhang Xiaocheng sleep?

"Huang Xinhai wants to use the Torch Group's supply chain?!" Li Dongling thought for a moment and asked.

"Yes!"

Zhang Xiaocheng said quite firmly, "Huang Xinhai said he is willing to move Xinhai into the Torch Industrial Park!"

Li Dongling let out a laugh; he felt this Huang Xinhai was a clever person. There weren't many people who dared to show such great resolve. Looking at it now, defecting to the Torch Group was admitting defeat, and moving required paying costs and a price, but looking ahead, it was absolutely advantageous. The day the Torch Group's industry chain was completed would be the day the domestic, and even global, mid-to-low-end lighter industry chain would be reshuffled!

"Agree to Huang Xinhai, and spread the word: whether it's Xinhai or other lighter manufacturing companies, the Torch Group welcomes those who want to move and settle in the Torch Industrial Park, and is willing to provide partial financial support and agree to let them use Torch's industry chain in the future.

But there is one requirement: all lighter manufacturers that move over must join the Lighter Export Association established by the Torch Group!"

Li Dongling looked at Zhang Xiaocheng and said. Hearing this, Zhang Xiaocheng couldn't help but be stunned, "Lighter Export Association?!"

Li Dongling poured him another glass of water, "Not just Xinhai Company; in the future, domestic lighter companies must join the Lighter Export Association established by Torch. The Lighter Export Association will uniformly set the prices, quotas, legal affairs, transportation, insurance, etc., for mainland lighter exports. If any lighter company is unwilling to join, then... we will roll it to death!"

Domestic manufacturers have always liked to engage in price wars. Originally, there was nothing wrong with this; for newcomers wanting to snatch the market from predecessors, a price war is the most direct and simple, brutal method.

But many manufacturers, after killing off foreign opponents, start "internal rolling" among themselves. For the sake of a foreign order, they fight until their brains are almost out, and in the end, it becomes: the quality of products sold abroad is better than domestic ones, and the price is cheaper than domestic ones; the more they sell, the more they lose.

For products with low value-added profit like lighters, internal strife is even more taboo. If they cannot uniformly set export prices, they will just roll themselves to death.

Li Dongling did not want domestic lighters to work hard all year to supply over 70% of global demand, only to end up selling them at cabbage prices, with the total profit not even matching that of a single company like Zippo.

Why is it that Japanese lighters sold domestically can increase tenfold, but when domestic ones are sold there, they become cabbage prices? Li Dongling hoped that the domestic lighter industry, led by the Torch Group, after destroying the lighter industries of Japan, Korea, and Europe, could also increase its returns, instead of becoming cabbage-priced trinkets after export, just like steel and various home appliances and clothing in his past life.

"Not just the Lighter Export Association; in the future, the Torch Group must also set new global lighter standards!"

Li Dongling said to Zhang Xiaocheng. The latter felt dizzy until the moment he left Dongling Gao Ke; Li Dongling had opened a door for him that he had never thought of before.

After Zhang Xiaocheng left, Li Dongling rubbed his temples. The Torch Group's road ahead would likely be a long one. Not only did they have to fight against that group of foreign lighter companies, but they also had to clean up the domestic "two-five boys" (traitors) with soft knees; otherwise, the domestic lighter industry would forever be cabbage-priced trinkets, working for foreigners for nothing!

Huang Xinhai, having received Zhang Xiaocheng's agreement, immediately returned to prepare for the matter of moving Xinhai over. Other companies that heard the news also began to prepare to move over one after another, affiliating themselves under the Torch Group.

And subsequently, rumors spread throughout the lighter industry that Torch was going to establish a Mainland Lighter Export Association. Once the news came out, it shook the entire lighter industry.

Quite a few lighter manufacturers were very dissatisfied. In the past, they could cooperate with whichever foreign company they wanted. If they joined this lousy association, in the future, which country they sold to, at what price they sold, and even how much they exported overseas, would all be decided by the Torch Group. That made them too passive, and there was a chorus of voices cursing the Torch Group for being too overbearing.

But when Huang Xinhai heard this news, he became even more firm in his thinking. Xinhai did export lighters overseas; he knew how difficult this line of work was and how fiercely they rolled among themselves. Many times, there was clearly profit, but once they rolled among themselves, the profit disappeared. With this Lighter Export Association, the lion's share would certainly be earned by the Torch Group, but companies like Xinhai could also drink some soup, so they wouldn't end up losing money just to make noise.

There were not a few who had the same thoughts as Huang Xinhai. For a time, many lighter companies announced their move to the Torch Industrial Park, and various lighter supporting parts companies also began to pour into Torch. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Torch had already gained momentum!

"We have established a 'Wanjia Foundation' in Singapore, and have set up accounts in places like Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. This time, the Wanjia Foundation, in conjunction with the Ning Family Trading Company, is acquiring the French Brandt Appliances!"

In the office, Hu Zi, who was in charge of finance, said to Li Dongling. He was originally a master of manipulating accounts. This time, the Wanjia Foundation was established through the Hong Kong Dongling Gao Ke Company, and many shell companies were set up to invest in the Wanjia Foundation. No one could easily find Dongling Gao Ke through the Wanjia Foundation.

If the acquisition could be successful, Brandt Appliances would be renamed Wanjia Appliance City, and Wanjia Appliance City would officially enter the European appliance retail market!

Li Dongling nodded, "What about the acquisition operator?"

For this acquisition, people from Dongling Gao Ke could not directly come forward to participate. Once the appliance retailers in Europe knew that Dongling Gao Ke was building its own sales channels, they would likely immediately break with Dongling Gao Ke and no longer sell Dongling Gao Ke's products.

This was just like how the computer industry treated Microsoft. If Microsoft dared to announce the launch of its own brand of computers, it would likely be targeted instantly. Of course, in his past life, Microsoft still broke through the computer industry's blockade against it by boiling the frog in warm water.

Dongling Gao Ke was the same. Once Wanjia Appliance City had enough sales outlets in Europe and overseas, and had many sales channels, Dongling Gao Ke could tear off its mask and announce that Wanjia was Dongling Gao Ke's. By then, whether it would be targeted or isolated would already be of no consequence to Dongling Gao Ke.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 133 =====