Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 1211: Advance Payment (Three updates for monthly passes)

Chapter 1211: Chapter 1211: Advance Payment (Three updates for monthly passes)

The next morning, a Zhengyang native posted a new Weibo. He was a photography enthusiast, and his Weibo not only had screenshots of the idle Weibo from the previous day but also two photos showing construction plans for a park. He even tagged the Zhengyang Daily.

"Filling the lake to build villas in the park, and it’s actually for soliciting ’talents’? Well done, Greater Zhengyang!"

Feng Jun reposted it immediately, "Checked the video, it’s the right person."

What followed was the work of the online commentators, though it didn’t quite qualify as an organized campaign. It was just a few people reposting on Zhengyang-related websites and forums, with slightly sensational titles like "Zhengyang City’s Imported ’Special Talents’."

Such news didn’t even count as spreading rumors.

The city quickly noticed this negative news. Of course, Zhengyang had its crisis management and tried to have the posts deleted.

However, unfortunately, the most influential Weibo stated that deleting posts was difficult—"We’ve blocked relevant Weibo posts before, but some leaders intervened and said, ’The Huaxia citizens have stood up, no need to fawn and flatter!’"

The city didn’t take it to heart, thinking it was the previous snub that made certain people in the capital unhappy, and they were happy to watch the show.

The public opinion stirred a bit, but it was just that. Michael Ray wasn’t very famous to begin with.

In the afternoon, Sister Hong went to see Elder Yu, "Old man, when would it be convenient for you to make a call?"

Elder Yu smiled and answered, "No need to call, I just got the news five or six minutes ago, that guy booked a ticket back to Merrick."

Sister Hong paused, then snorted disdainfully, "Coward... if you’re brave enough, stay in the capital and don’t leave."

Actually, she didn’t want to let that guy off either, since she was also involved.

"It’s fine if he goes back," Elder Yu said calmly, "Maybe we’ll find out who’s behind him."

Sister Hong thought about it and still felt a bit dissatisfied, "If we don’t make a call... what if he comes back? We should just have the city stop the construction to cut off his hopes."

"He must be scared stiff," Elder Yu understood the mindset well, but seeing Sister Hong’s persistence, he could only smile, "Alright, just in case... Qingzhu, tell your father to make a call."

A call is all it takes, and Yu Zhiyuan stepping in is more than enough.

Sister Hong looked enviously at Yu Qingzhu, always with Feng Jun. She felt that she was quite unambiguous herself, but some people and things are just enviable. Even though she was already cultivating, at the sixth level of refining, when it comes to influence within the system...

In fact, the matter didn’t end there. Soon, the Mai Nation submitted a document to Huaxia, stating that their citizens Tom and Jack went missing in Huaxia. When the incident occurred, they were on a Shinra yacht.

The yacht’s signal last appeared in Huaxia’s Exclusive Economic Zone and then completely disappeared. The Mai Nation hopes to know what happened exactly.

Interestingly, the Mai Nation never acknowledged the Exclusive Economic Zone, not even the twelve-nautical-mile territorial sea. They consider only the three-nautical-mile range as territorial waters; the rest... is just the high seas.

Since the Mai Nation is not a member of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, there’s nothing others can do if they insist on this.

But now that Mai Nation’s people have gone missing, they emphasize that the disappearance location is in the "Huaxia Exclusive Economic Zone," which is just absurd.

After Mai Nation, Shinra also sent a request for collaboration, followed closely by Ni Hong, who also had two people missing here.

Fortunately, Huaxia people excel at Tai Chi. On one hand, they said they would investigate promptly; on the other hand, they curiously asked: What were you doing there?

The Mai Nation and Ni Hong people didn’t give a direct answer, only saying there are so many of our citizens; how can we possibly know what they want to do? But now the key issue is: They’re missing.

Amid this back-and-forth, 320,000 square meters of crude oil from the Jin Province Oil Reserve Base had been transported out, with four out of six storage tanks emptied. Elder Yu contacted Feng Jun again—could the four storage tanks be refilled?

For Feng Jun, filling up four storage tanks was no problem, and he was currently in the Cultivation World, at the White Pebble Beach location.

But he didn’t intend to indulge people’s whims—just because you tell me to act doesn’t mean I will; that’s not right.

Now it’s four storage tanks; it doesn’t matter if I fill them up once, but next time, would only two tanks need to be filled? Then the time after, perhaps just one?

The money had been received, directly transferred to his bank account. The specific amount need not be mentioned; he didn’t care. Elder Yu wouldn’t give more—it was only billions anyway. The bank hadn’t even bothered with a harassing call, clearly acknowledging that this person was not to be harassed.

So he expressed to Elder Yu: Why do you want me to refill when there are still two full storage tanks left?

Elder Yu understood his concerns—it’s always good to have some rules when doing things.

So he explained that Feng Jun’s crude oil was of excellent quality, and Jin Province indeed faced some transportation issues. After this refill of four storage tanks, the place would be sealed and become a real reserve base.

Feng Jun understood but was a bit confused: So the next time you buy crude oil will be a long time from now?

Elder Yu immediately clarified, saying Feng Jun misunderstood. The next purchase might be for another reserve base, but more likely, they’ll give him a few tankers to fill.

Feng Jun expressed confusion again: I asked before. Using tankers comes with a lot of restrictions.

Elder Yu stated they were communicating about this. Ultimately, as long as the Yu Family abstained from entering the crude oil processing and refined oil sales sectors, these matters weren’t difficult to negotiate; it merely required some time.

In short, he was eager for Feng Jun to refill crude oil, partly to show strength—if he wished, there would be endless amounts of crude oil, and transportation wouldn’t be an issue. So... why would he need to renege on other aspects?

While refining oil and selling refined products are profitable, is selling crude oil really less so?

Looking at the luxurious lives of those wealthy folks from the Gulf, one can see the profits of selling crude oil.

Feng Jun finally understood, and he thought Elder Yu wasn’t wrong in doing so—everyone was showing their strength. If they could strive for cooperation through consensus, Elder Yu could secure optimal terms, and the likelihood of Feng Jun getting discovered while transporting crude oil would also significantly decrease.

However, he still proposed one condition, "In the future, pay upfront; after all, I am quite reliable in doing business."

He no longer cared about money, but for the same reason, he didn’t want to indulge people—once someone also thought he shouldn’t care about money, perhaps next time or the time after, he’d face delayed payments.

If he refused to accept delayed payment, others might think he was money-minded.

Unfortunately, there are many people with peculiar thinking in the world. Examples of small favors turning into great enmity are commonplace—once you’re wealthy, you should accommodate others; otherwise, you’re considered merciless.

Sure enough, when he made this request, even Elder Yu was a bit surprised, "Upfront payment... don’t you think I’d owe you money? You’re already so wealthy, not short on working capital, and this is a national need—is there really a need to be so calculating?"

Feng Jun smiled, "Old man, to be honest, I’m just worried if everyone thinks like you... I’d feel disheartened."

"Understood," the old man immediately grasped it, "You’re worried about accumulating more and more debt, making it hard to settle in the end?"

He was both amused and exasperated, "Your vision is really limited—this concerns national energy security construction. Who dares to owe you?"

Feng Jun took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and slowly asked, "Old man, how long has it been since you were on the grassroots level?"

"What does that mean?" Elder Yu asked angrily, "Are you saying I’m out of touch?"

Feng Jun took another puff, not answering, just looking at him calmly.

Elder Yu also looked at him, and after a long time, sighed, "Ah, this too... forget it; that’s just how the overall environment is, not your issue."

Feng Jun replied frankly, "Old man, you may be different, but since it’s business... it’s best to be upfront about the ugly truths."

"Hmph," Elder Yu grunted dismissively, "I’ve already told you, as long as you accept Huaxia currency, money won’t be an issue. And you, after studying business management... forget it; I’ll arrange for the payment."

The payment was incredibly swift; ten billion in advance was transferred to the account that same afternoon.

As Elder Yu put it, since you play by the rules, I’ll do the same. Large transactions with full advance payment aren’t feasible; we’ll give an advance, and full payment upon delivery.

Even this rule, Feng Jun found unappealing—he wasn’t in a hurry to sell; they were in a hurry to buy!

Do you know what a seller’s market is? Didn’t you say that Huaxia currency wouldn’t be a problem?

However, the old man’s rule wasn’t entirely wrong, and they had their reasons for this payment method.

In fact, Feng Jun knew in his heart that Elder Yu was slightly upset, which is why he intentionally made the payment this way to make him feel uncomfortable.

He didn’t hold it against the old man-child; after all, in life, you just have to go with the flow.

So after receiving the advance payment, he entered the mobile phone dimension once again.

White Pebble Beach now had eight oil wells, producing around 150,000 to 160,000 square meters of crude oil daily. Du Wentian stated that if the storage for crude oil wasn’t yet constructed, with the current eighty people, he had the confidence to drill twenty oil wells.

Feng Jun thought he was getting a bit carried away and suggested a maximum of ten oil wells would be reasonable, "Eight people per well, two per shift, totaling four shifts, with one shift on break—that’s relatively balanced."

"Breaks for what?" Du Wentian found it unnecessary, "Three shifts are sufficient... actually, two shifts could work, isn’t enough for them to sleep half the day?"

Feng Jun was speechless, ah, after all, in the early stages of the industrial revolution, many factories operated on sixteen-hour workdays.

Du Wentian didn’t take it seriously, "If something sudden comes up, just block the well with a rock, and that’s it."

(Three updates, end of the month, has anyone noticed a new monthly ticket?)