The Mafia Empire

In response to Julian's sarcasm, Richard's smile remained unchanged on his face. Perhaps it did, but that smile only grew more humble.

He lowered his head, took out a small iron box from his pocket, which contained a pack of ninety eight ct cigarettes, considered the best available in Ternell City. He handed the pack over, and after Julian accepted it, he imitated Mr. Kasma's manner, sniffing under his nose before placing it in his mouth. Richard quickly took out his customized lighter, lit it, and brought it closer.

After taking two puffs and exhaling a cloud of smoke, Julian said with a half smile, "I have already signed a letter of intt with two of them. They offered me a better price and ev promised to customize the shape and label of the liquor I need.

Richard thought seriously, calculating. In fact, glass is not expsive; on the contrary, it is very cheap. Over a hundred years ago, glass was considered a luxury second only to gemstones, controlled by a select few merchants.

However, after the world war began, wh a burning bomb fell on the beach and created a layer of crystal, glass has evolved and developed over the past hundred years to become so inexpsive that it can be overlooked.

Labels are also not costly; you can print five for a pny. Including typesetting and plate costs, the maximum cost for customizing a bottle and label for each bottle of liquor is only a pny increase.

After hesitating and contemplating for about half a minute, he finally spoke up, somewhat cautiously asking, "Is it because of the palty clause?"

Julian nodded. "That's right. There are two letters of intt: one for sev hundred star dollars and one for one thousand star dollars. It's precisely because of these agreemts that I can't continue working with you. After all, these palties are not a small sum, don't you think?

For a momt, Julian's words plunged Richard into confusion.

He understood that if he signed the letter of intt and agreed to the palty clause, and if Julian breached the contract, he would lose one thousand sev hundred dollars at once. However, facing a massive market share right before him made it hard to resist, stirring him up like a cat scratching at his skin.

He considered whether Julian could sell this batch of liquor, but he soon brushed that thought aside.

Ev if he bought it and hid it away without selling, it would only be a business with little profit for Richard. But what if he could sell it?

That would be a big deal, a long term and increasingly larger business!

Either way, he wouldn't lose money; why not take a gamble?

Thinking about how he had spt over a year in this damn rural city, unable to ev cover transportation and daily expses, and how just a step forward meant a massive market and profit, the merchant's nature finally exploded.

Doing business as a merchant is actually quite similar to gambling; you idtify a promising vture, invest, and manage it. Ultimately, aside from the controllable efforts in the middle, the key factor lies in the foresight wh initially choosing the investmt direction.

At this momt, he had made a decision. He bit down hard, discreetly pinching his thigh under the table, almost crying out from the pain. He took a deep breath and sincerely said, "We are frids, Mr. Julian. Let's do it!

Gasping, he looked at Julian, this time truly determined. For a bottle of almond liquor, the Free Federation's liquor trade union and the national commerce departmt would subsidize him two cts. The cost was forty five cts, and transportation would take about three cts, meaning that selling a bottle to Julian would only earn him twelve cts.

He still had to bear the losses incurred during transportation, as well as storage and labor costs.

The net profit for one bottle of liquor was just over nine cts!

The profit from fifty thousand bottles would only amount to five thousand dollars, yet he had to pay a palty of one thousand sev hundred dollars upfront. It was quite painful to consider. But he quickly thought that as long as the sales volume of moonshine brand almond liquor oped up, it would lead to an dless stream of money, more money.

Moreover, he wouldn't need to create the channel, with Julian holding fifty thousand bottles, he would certainly be more eager to expand the channel than Richard himself, which meant he would earn a huge amount.

If almond liquor sales succeeded, he could ev bypass Julian and trade directly with the d retailers.

At that time, the lost profits would not only be made up for at once but could also yield substantial gains!

For the sake of future hopes, what was this little expse now?

It's all in!

With Richard's words, Julian finally displayed a sincere smile, tightly clasping his hands together. He ordered two cups of twty ct fruit wine and raised his glass, "Here's to our terprise shining like the sun, illuminating all things!"

Richard soon left, leaving behind an velope containing one thousand sev hundred dollars. Watching this good man gradually walk away, Julian shrugged and tucked the velope into his pocket.

Graf had be dumbfounded for a while, staring at Julian, completely unaware that the thick soup was dripping onto the g.

What kind of operation was this?

Buying things without paying and still receiving a sum of money first?

Graf felt that the world he knew before must be a fake one. However, what left him ev more unsettled was Julian saying that the other four suppliers would also give him a sum of money.

At that momt, Graf suddly thought selling liquor wasn't that good; he might as well continue playing this miraculous trick. With so many provinces, cities, and towns across the country, perhaps he wouldn't ev have to do anything and would already be worth millions!