Chapter 3267 — Discussing Business

"So that's how it is. Still, there really isn't anywhere around here I could recommend to you—at most you could wander the neighborhood and take in the local customs." The proprietress spoke with a hint of regret.

"By the way, what's that big red building across the street for?" Wei Zhao asked casually. "Seems like there's traffic in and out of it from early morning."

"Oh, you mean the Red Conch Group!" the proprietress said. "That's the biggest trading company in town—it covers just about every trade in the whole town. Even the raw materials for little shops like ours all come from the Red Conch Group! It's also the biggest import-export firm in these parts, so people are delivering goods, hauling goods, and negotiating deals there around the clock."

"I see." Wei Zhao nodded in sudden understanding, though a doubt stirred in his heart. By the look of it, the Red Conch Group appeared on the surface to be a company with no shadowy interests at all. They had disguised themselves rather well—actually doing this kind of everyday trade.

Only, Wei Zhao didn't believe the Red Conch Group did no underworld business whatsoever. Perhaps all this was mere cover. The closer to the headquarters one got, the more one had to watch one's step—otherwise, for a huge group to have no legitimate business at all, it would be a wonder if that didn't rouse suspicion.

And this kind of import-export trade was perfectly suited to money laundering. On the shipper's side, so long as they were one's own people too, one could report the purchase price low—a loss here, a gain there—and save oneself a great deal of trouble.

This, however, brought Wei Zhao enormous difficulty in investigating the building. With people coming and going through the group at all hours, there was no way for him to slip in secretly; he could only go in disguised as someone there to discuss business. But that way, it would be very hard to get anywhere near a core office area like the general manager's office.

And to keep these legitimate businessmen from straying into those areas, there would certainly be plenty of security guards on patrol. After all, these things that couldn't stand the light of day were not for such people to see—so if Wei Zhao wanted to reach those key areas, he would have to think of something.

Originally, Wei Zhao had thought he could wrap this up in a single day. Now it was going to take some effort.

"What's the matter, young man—you want to do business with the Red Conch Group too?" The proprietress had caught the hope in Wei Zhao's eyes and asked offhandedly. In truth, that look in his eyes was feigned; naturally it was impossible for Wei Zhao to truly wear his feelings on his face.

"That's right. To be honest with you, I'm in the trading business myself. My partner actually gets his goods from the Red Conch Group, and when I buy from him, I lose a lot of profit, so..." Wei Zhao said with deliberate embarrassment.

"Ha, I knew it—how could a young man like you not know about the Red Conch Group? So you're here to work an angle." The proprietress took it lightly, thinking she had seen through Wei Zhao's secret. She merely smiled and said, "Actually, the Red Conch Group's threshold for doing business is very low. If you've got money in hand, you can go negotiate. Take restaurants like ours—each of us doesn't need much goods, but several of us pooled together make a customer of no small size, and we can buy directly from the Red Conch Group!"

"Oh? No one needs to introduce me?" Wei Zhao asked, slightly taken aback.

"No need." The proprietress waved her hand. "Young man, just go straight there. There's a reception desk at the entrance of their company. State your business, and they'll introduce you to the relevant person in charge."

"Is that so? Then thank you very much. I'll go take a look right now!" After hearing the proprietress out, Wei Zhao said with a polite smile.

"It's no big thing. Off you go, young man!" the proprietress said indifferently.

Wei Zhao paid for his meal, left the little restaurant, and headed for the Red Conch Group. Sure enough, there was a reception desk on the ground floor of the Red Conch Group building, and inside it quite a few merchants were inquiring about one thing or another. The moment Wei Zhao stepped through the door, someone greeted him.

"What kind of business are you looking to do, boss?" a staff member asked politely.

"Seafood," Wei Zhao said. This was an idea that had occurred to him only after he spotted several vehicles transporting seafood—by the look of it, seafood was one of the Red Conch Group's main lines of business.

"How should I address you, sir?" The staff member nodded without the least surprise and asked.

"My surname is Yi. Yi Ling."

Wei Zhao said.

"Oh, very good, Mr. Yi." The staff member didn't much care about Wei Zhao's name; it was only for the register. "Mr. Yi, roughly what volume of goods do you need each month?"

"About thirty million euros' worth," Wei Zhao said.

The figure Wei Zhao quoted was not especially large, but it was certainly not small either. The staff member's eyes lit up. They were all bottom-rung employees who knew nothing at all of the company's true inner workings—but their manager had already briefed them: for customers with large order volumes, the price could be discounted as appropriate, so long as the monthly cash flow they brought in reached a certain figure.

Of course, to these staff members it looked like small profits and quick turnover, but the company's actual aim was simple: to launder money. The more cash flow they drew in, the better—it made things easier for them to maneuver.

"Sir, a customer of your caliber can meet the account manager directly!" The staff member quickly filled out a slip for Wei Zhao and then told him, "Go now to the account manager's office on the second floor and see Manager Crick. He will be your business manager from here on."

"All right, thank you." Wei Zhao nodded, took the slip, and turned out of the reception room. So far everything had gone very smoothly; Wei Zhao had successfully cleared the first gate. What came next was how to get the account manager to take him to see the general manager.

Still, on reflection, that would be somewhat difficult. The money-laundering side of the business, he guessed, topped out at the level of the business manager—at most he might meet the head of the business department. As for the general manager, he would almost certainly never get to see him.

But Wei Zhao could only take things one step at a time. After all, who couldn't talk big? Wei Zhao would first sketch out a few grand prospects, and then it was simply a question of whether the other side took the bait.

Wei Zhao stood at the door of the business manager's office, pondered for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked in. At once a man with a close-cropped head came up to meet him and said with a smile, "Sir, my name is Crick. Are you looking for me?"

"Yes. I'm Yi Ling, manager of the procurement department for the Bofon family's hotels. I've come this time to discuss a business partnership with your company. Our Bofon family's hotels in this area are planning to change seafood suppliers, and so someone recommended the Red Conch Group to me." The Bofon family Wei Zhao spoke of was a tremendously powerful arms-dealing family here in Europe, with many other ventures under its wing as well—and the hotel business was one of them.