Chapter 144: Random Blows Beat the Master

John Cena reached out to shake Boss Han's hand, wearing a warm and approachable smile.

"That's right. Our company is interested in investing in supermarkets. After making tens of millions of dollars from investments in Walmart's supermarket business, we happened to discover your company during our market research, and your performance is quite impressive."

There is a profound art to negotiation.

While making Boss Han feel that he was easy to get along with, Cena was simultaneously using a condescending attitude to indirectly showcase his own strength, while "casually" reminding Boss Han that FunBuy Supermarket was still on a very small scale.

"Thank you for the compliment. FunBuy cannot compare with Walmart; it's just starting out, but its expansion is very rapid."

"Our three operating supermarkets are experiencing booming sales, and the other two are located in densely populated areas. We plan to gradually expand around Los Angeles next. Are you gentlemen looking to invest?"

This was Boss Han's first time dealing with a true "major investor." Recently, many old friends had tried to get him to bring them along to make money, but he had turned them all down.

When dealing with acquaintances, making money could lead to conflicts, and failing to make money was even more likely to spark friction, ultimately ending badly for everyone. Operating under the philosophy of "if they're a friend, don't do business together," he had ended up alienating many former friends who thought that once Boss Han got rich, he turned his back on people and put on airs.

Mr. Cena nodded and replied, "We do have such intentions, but we can only decide after completing our due diligence on your company. Well then, do we have your welcome?"

"Welcome, of course! If the company has money, I can open more stores. You make money, and I make money. We can definitely sit down and talk."

Boss Han's words filled Mr. Cena with a sense of smug triumph. Just as he had thought beforehand, this transaction couldn't be simpler. Even JPMorgan Chase had sought him out to handle covert merger operations—why would he care about such a tiny business?

He then inquired, "There's no rush for now. Yesterday, we visited your other two supermarkets for inspections. Is it true that you haven't purchased insurance for your employees? And that you lack sufficient cash flow?"

Faced with these two crucial questions, Boss Han answered with an awkward tone, "Well... we are in the process of getting insurance for them, and the funds in the company's account are completely sufficient!"

Armed with the insider intelligence provided by Su Mu, who knew FunBuy's situation inside and out, Mr. Cena rattled off numerous weaknesses, shaking his head as he said, "We've already contacted several suppliers, and they told us that you settle payments only once a quarter. As far as I know, this company doesn't have much circulating capital; you're expanding by using the suppliers' money."

"Doing this is simply too dangerous. If you end up in a competition with other supermarkets, your high-priced goods will inevitably plunge you into a severe cash shortage. By then, bankruptcy will be your only outcome, or you'll be forced to sell out cheaply to another company. Just in Los Angeles alone, there are several supermarket brands, Walmart is preparing to open stores here, and the European giant Carrefour is also trying to enter the United States, planning to deploy over a billion dollars to capture a massive share of the American market."

These words were half true and half false. In this era without the internet, verifying the authenticity of such news was extremely difficult. Mr. Cena spun a completely fabricated tale, yet his expression was as convincing as reality.

Currently, Carrefour held a position in Europe comparable to Walmart's in the United States. Boss Han had never even heard of Carrefour and simply assumed it was a massive corporation. Upon learning that Walmart was coming, a sudden wave of panic washed over him.

He still remembered when Su Mu had praised Walmart's marketing model, even mentioning that Walmart used a satellite to help coordinate deliveries.

Boss Han possessed a shred of cleverness, but not enough to amount to much. He completely failed to understand how a satellite could deliver goods, and right now, he was purely operating his supermarkets as oversized convenience stores. Managing three stores simultaneously was already making him run around in a frantic, disorganized mess.

Q·Heilberg had systematically studied business and within just a few months had become Boss Han's right-hand man. Since Su Mu had not briefed Heilberg in advance, Heilberg now asked Mr. Cena, "Since you feel this company has no future, why are you still willing to invest?"

Cena calmly deflected, "I only said they are coming soon, not that they are here yet, right? With our company's professional team and financial backing, perhaps you can capture a small slice of the market. Even if you're eventually acquired by those large chain supermarket corporations, you'll still turn a tidy little profit."

"Now, let me look at your company's books. We anticipate injecting several millions of dollars, so I must review your company's performance to provide an accurate valuation. Would that be convenient?"

"It's right here in my office! The financial report for the first five months of this year was just delivered from the accounting firm today. The future development of my company is bound to be fantastic—I plan to open another twenty stores in the second half of this year!"

Boss Han boasted so wildly that even Heilberg's eyelid twitched. Forget twenty stores; opening even ten more would be immensely difficult. If they failed to secure financing, the capital chain would snap at any moment.

Mr. Cena smiled, leaving the remark unanswered, and followed Boss Han toward his office...

************

It was raining—a heavy, booming thunderstorm.

Inside the Beverly Hills villa, Su Mu sat staring blankly at the television. Yesterday, he and John Cena and the others had arrived in Los Angeles; Miss Blake had not accompanied them.

Lately, Penguin Company had been quite busy. People from all over the United States kept arriving to apply for regional agency rights to sell personal computers distributed by Penguin. Blake had to handle all of these matters personally, and the security deposits alone were rolling in so fast her hands were getting soft.

Back when IBM collected a deposit from Penguin Company, Su Mu was now collecting deposits from primary and secondary agents in turn. IBM had tightened the quotas for general agencies, and every authorized general agency could earn a substantial profit. IBM ate the meat, and they got to sip the broth.

Right now, he cared not a whit about Penguin; his sole worry was that Mr. Cena might fumble the negotiation and fail to reach an agreement with Boss Han, or worse, that Boss Han might see through the ruse. Fearing the worst, he began to oscillate between hope and anxiety.

And true to Murphy's Law, whatever one fears happens.

The moment he heard the telephone ring, he grabbed the receiver immediately and asked anxiously, "Mr. Cena?"

"......Yeah."

Hearing that hesitant and embarrassed tone, Su Mu felt his heart skip a beat. Tense and pressing for answers, he asked, "It failed? He's unwilling to accept financing?"

"He's willing to accept, but... that guy is a lunatic! He opened his mouth and claimed this rundown company is worth thirty million dollars!"

Mr. Cena's tone was filled with sheer disbelief. Remembering that Su Mu was also a shareholder, he added, "Apologies, the company's performance is quite good, but judging by the financial statements, there is no way in hell it's worth thirty million dollars. This isn't the Japanese Yen we're talking about, these are U.S. dollars! I told him we would finance it based on a ten-million-dollar valuation, and he still wouldn't agree. I'll have to think of another way!"

He was clearly beyond furious.

Su Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, concluding that Boss Han was simply employing the standard haggling tactics commonly used by street vendors in Chinatown—quoting an exorbitant price first and then slowly chipping away.

Perhaps Boss Han didn't even know how much FunBuy was truly worth, but now, having seemingly learned from Mr. Cena that the floor was ten million dollars, he was playing a classic, stubborn game of hardball.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Mu instructed, "You guys head back to the hotel to rest first. Dinner is on me. I'll come over to see you tonight, and we'll figure something out..."