Translator: Abyssruler Editor: Lucas
The display stand of KING Universal Space Tech Corporation was set in the main conference hall. The organizers from the Solar System had given this new and rising high-tech firm a key position when it came to publicity. As a top physicist who was willing to stay in the Solar System and contribute to the Solar System, Xiao Fei was able to ask for that little something from the officials.
Many businesses came and made enquiries. The whole Milky Way was very concerned with this project. They had accumulated enough in theory, and what was left was to turn this theory into a more practical and usable “product”. To put it simply, theories were equivalents of hardware in a computer, like the processing chips and motherboards. Meanwhile, practical, usable products, were software like the operating system and applications. Without theory, there would be no use, and without the software, the theories were worthless.
At the display stand, Yan Xiaosu explained KING Corp.’s philosophy non-stop to the inquiring companies while seeking partnerships.
But there was a lot of talk and no action. Their concern was one thing, but when it came to money, everybody smiled and made excuses. It was rumoured in the business world that the two financial giants, CT and Margate, had laid eyes on the executive rights of KING. Nobody knew what steps they had taken exactly, but these giants always got what they wanted, and offending them for a little bit of profit was unwarranted.
But some of those who had ideas and dared to make an investment also shook their heads and left upon probing further into the conditions. How was it logical to ask people to invest but refusing to give them real shares, and only allowing them to receive a certain percentage of profits from a particular aspect of the project? What if the project failed? What they saw in the project was not the software, but the theoretical “hardware”!
Everybody knew that putting theories to practical use required countless trials, and they may undergo countless failures. There were only so few chances of success.
It was evident that the two giants had laid a trap right from the beginning. Now KING was in the hands of CT and Margate.
Yan Xiaosu was in charge of the whole thing. The entire morning had passed very quickly. For lunch, the organizers of the summit had booked the dining halls of a few luxury hotels nearby to allow their friends who had come from faraway places feel like home.
Yan Xiaosu had his lunch in the dining hall of the Orwell Hotel, the hotel nearest to the summit venue. He was thirsty from talking the entire morning. Yan Xiaosu asked for a large cup of cola with extra ice.
Because this dining hall was closest to the summit, the hall filled up very quickly. Even then, people continued to stream in.
“Oh, brother! Why are there so many people?”
Yan Xiaosu had just sat down when he heard a shrill voice pierce through the air.
Yan Xiaosu’s face froze. He turned around. That’s right. It wasn’t anyone else but An Mei’s outrageous mother. Beside her was a smiling young man who looked at the very most 25 or 26 years old. He heard the young man speak. “Heh. Aunty, sorry you have to go through this. The main point of coming here is not to dine, but to do business.”
“You have to have space even if it’s doing business. There’s not even a single seat…. Eh? Ha. The one person who doesn’t deserve a seat has gotten a seat.”
She had caught sight of Yan Xiaosu. Mother An’s tongue was as vicious as always
“Oh? And who’s that?”
“Heh. You may have heard from An Mei. It’s the young master of Little Fortune Star.”
“Little Fortune Star?”
“Oh, I forgot that you just returned from Arbiter. It’s nothing. They produce tissue paper.” Mother An was all smiley. The young man with her was Zuo Zongyun. His family was in the gemstones industry, and they had business all over the Milky Way. They even had a branch in Aslan. The Aslanian style jewelry in the Solar System pretty much all came from Zuo Family Jewels. They were rather influential. Most importantly, the gemstone business alone sounded classy. Plus, the man fell in love with her daughter at first sight.
That is An Mei’s ex-boyfriend?
Zuo Zongyun smirked and walked to Yan Xiaosu’s seat. Zuo Zongyun put his hand out. “Hi, just wanted to get to know you. Zuo Zongyun. I’ve just come back from Arbiter. You’re Yan Xiaosu, aren’t you? I’ve heard about you from An Mei.”
“Zongyun, what’s there to get to know this person for?”
Mother An was furious at the Yan family for many reasons. She felt that she was fortunate to have raised some conditions back then, or her daughter would have been tricked and cheated. What KING Corporation? Their funds had long been sealed by CT and Margate. If that went on, they would go bankrupt sooner or later.
But An Mei was clearly still angry with her, and she didn’t even attend this summit with Zuo Zongyun.
Zuo Zongyun was definitely the perfect son-in-law in her eyes. That’s why when she saw Yan Xiaosu here, Mother An was full of tens of thousands of complaints and snarls inside.
Yan Xiaosu was very generous. He didn’t feel much. It was weird, but that was all. “Hi.”
Yan Xiaosu had nothing to say to Mother An, so he had automatically filtered the things she said.
Just then, Heaton and Elise walked in and directly headed towards Yan Xiaosu. Following right behind them were Ye Bingwen and Old Yan.
“Yan Xiaosu, please convey our message to your largest shareholder that this is the last chance. After today, we will be filing for arbitration at the court. Needless to say, you should all be aware that given KING’s present situation, there is only one way out. Let us continue to inject more funds, and at the same time, increase our shares. Moreover, given the mess KING is in, we could send professionals to take over the executive rights of the company during arbitration,” Elise said coldly.
Upon hearing that, Mother An, who was standing at the side, scoffed. “Heh. Retribution. Don’t put on airs when you have no real capabilities.”
Zuo Zongyun also smiled and shook his head. He had wanted to stir trouble, but it seemed like there was no need for him to anymore. Given Margate and CT’s sphere of influence, it was a dead end even if there were a hundred Yan Xiaosus.
Yan Xiaosu smiled coolly. “I am sorry. Forget about having your message conveyed. His stance is very clear. Anything that has to do with rights and shares are not on the table. I think we have nothing more to say to one another.”
Heaton squinted his eyes. “Yan Xiaosu, you shouldn’t shoot your mouth off. Are you sure you can speak for him? I’m cautioning you. Going to the arbitration court would be disadvantageous to you in many ways.”
Yan Xiaosu frowned a little. Indeed, CT and Margate had much more experience with arbitration court than them. Plus, the two giants must have made very ample preparations. Sending them a diplomatic note now meant that they were a hundred percent confident in winning the arbitration lawsuit.
“As long as we continue to have funds, the court would not entertain your arbitration request,” Yan Xiaosu replied coldly.
Zuo Zongyun snorted. He was amused by Yan Xiaosu’s joke.
Apart from them, the others surrounding them smiled too. It was clear that Heaton and Elise were doing this deliberately, choosing such a setting to send out a diplomatic note. They wanted to attack their opponents mentally.
Elise grinned. “Who do you think can provide you with funds?”
“Don’t forget the contract we signed. The terms and conditions stated very clearly that there are very stringent requirements for new funding…”
Heaton recounted the old books and had sets and sets of arguments. “Of course, you can choose to execute the stock options. We are willing to fork out the money to buy all your shares. That would be a hefty amount of income for you too.”
The stock options were signed by the funding parties and the research parties, but the decision laid in Wang Zheng’s hands. Of course, they couldn’t execute the contract right now. They had some chances of winning the arbitration. But if they chose to do this, even if they made a bit of money out of it, they would be offering all their hard work and efforts with both hands to these unscrupulous businessmen.
“Heh. Seems like KING is about to change hands.”
“Yes. It’s just nice that Xiao Fei is not around. Letting this fake adult kid talk to these two wily old foxes, they must have given up.”
Tongues were wagging, and voices like that were heard everywhere.
A few representatives of big companies who had expressed interest in investing also frowned and exchanged messages. “CT and Margate are working very closely together this time. They have sworn to get it…”
“Making an announcement in such a setting is very obvious that they are trying to shock people like us who have the capabilities of fighting with them.”
“Why? Are you still interested?”
“Forget it. There are many other profitable projects. Why try to steal food from a tiger’s mouth?”
“OMG and Little Fortune Star are going to be implicated. If this goes on…. It’s still alright for OMG with the Wind God to hold up the fort, but Little Fortune Star may go bankrupt.”
Yan Xiaosu pursed his lips. He was calm. But Father Yan and Ye Bingwen started looking nervous. Negotiations were not held this way. The other party was powerful, so they should’ve been more tactful instead of doing things the way Yan Xiaosu did, rejecting them right away. Doing that without sufficient backing was giving the other party reasons to wage a war!
