Chapter 3267 — Discussing Business
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"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.