My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 636 - 404 Change_2

Chapter 636: Chapter 404 Change_2

Not to mention the relationship between Mr. Hu and Changqing Biological, it seems that Baiyeji and Secretary Hong are already naturally opposed to the Xu Group!

Secretary Hong, the Xu Group...

These are absolute heavyweights in both political and commercial circles; who would have thought that not long ago, I, Hu Yifei, was still bickering with "a dog" on the internet, and now my opponents have leaped to this level with a three-level jump?

Thinking about it, I do feel a tremendous pressure...

However...

When I think back to the master’s words still ringing in my ears, "One may rise to take their place," a surge of pride wells up in my heart.

"Ha! The Xu Group? Secretary Hong has the Xu Group, but we in Hu City can also have Baiyeji!" Hu Yifei proudly declared.

"This..." Secretary Li was rendered speechless.

Do you really think Baiyeji can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Xu Group?

Considering the current disparities in size between the two, should I say you’re overly confident in yourself or just naive...

Secretary Li patted Hu Yifei’s shoulder and smiled.

"Haha! Good! Youngsters should have that kind of spirit! Don’t worry, if you need any help, just come to your Uncle Li!"

"Really? That’s perfect because there is something I’d like help with from Uncle Li."

"Uh..." Secretary Li was startled.

"What help?"

"It’s like this, our company has developed a new cloud-based ERP system, so I’d like Uncle Li to keep an eye out for any government or corporate procurement that might need such a system."

"Oh, I see..."

So it’s about drumming up business...

Secretary Li shot Hu Yifei a somewhat skeptical look.

You couldn’t possibly be thinking...

Although you’ve just made a great contribution, and leadership sent me to escort you, this is beyond my authority...

Once Hu Yifei saw his reaction, he immediately realized there had been a misunderstanding and quickly said,

"Uncle Li, please don’t overthink it. I’m only looking for relevant project information.

The product developed by our company’s tech department is absolutely top-notch!

Given a fair chance, without any underhanded tactics, we are definitely No.1 in the industry!"

Secretary Li scrutinized the expression on Hu Yifei’s face, trying to determine whether his words had a hidden meaning or were truly sincere.

"I’m actually quite curious now as to how excellent a product it must be for you to have such confidence."

"How excellent..."

Recalling his own experience using the system at work, Hu Yifei chuckled.

"It’s definitely irresistibly excellent!"

"Er..."

Having heard Hu Yifei’s words, there was naturally no reason for Secretary Li to refuse.

"Alright, I’ll send you a list of governmental and corporate procurement needs compiled by the city later. Whether it works out is up to you.

By the way, what’s the name of your product?"

"Tianshu... Tianshu ERP!"

...

Norway, Cyprus.

A Nordic man with a pipe in his mouth sat in his executive chair, frowning slightly as he looked at a message handed over by his subordinate.

John Frederiksen entered a shipping broker firm initially and started his own business at 27.

During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, he risked transporting oil to earn substantial profits, providing him with his "first pot of gold."

Now, he’s the world’s largest oil tanker owner, with over 70 oil tankers. He primarily operates in the shipping and logistics industry and is honored as Norway’s "ship king."

He ranked 129th on the Forbes World’s Billionaires List in 2018!

"Bin City Shipyard has resumed operations? Are you sure about this message?"

"It has been confirmed, the message is accurate!"

"Oh? Wasn’t there talk of them having a funding shortfall of over two billion? How did they raise the money in such a short time?"

"It’s said that a company named Baiyeji invested a total of 30 billion RMB to purchase those eight oil tankers," reported the subordinate.

"Hmm? 30 billion?"

John’s brow furrowed upon hearing that someone else bought 8 oil tankers for a high price of 30 billion.

Although the original contract was worth 60 billion, the fact that they got it with only 30 billion now seems high, considering the current market for new oil tanker construction.

Whoever dares take it on can certainly be called a warrior!

Due to the OPEC’s production cut agreements and the economic crisis, the oil tanker freight market is depressed today, with major shipping companies suffering massive losses this year, including his own company.

Only from his position could he more acutely feel the industry’s harsh winter.

Major global consulting firms almost unanimously predicted that the industry would become increasingly bleak, and the big shipowners internationally were afraid to be caught with oil tankers on their hands, who would dare buy new ships?

As a result, a large number of new ship orders were canceled, and numerous old vessels were scrapped.

The mainstream players in the market were all desperately cutting back on their oil transport capabilities.

Even the ship king, John, dragged 10 of his aging oil tankers to demolition yards to be scrapped.

It was all to reduce operating costs, in preparation to slim down and weather this industry winter.

"Baiyeji? I’ve never heard of it, is it a large domestic shipping company from Country Hua?" John asked with a frown.

"No, according to the registration information, it seems to be an IT company that has just been established."

"An IT company?" Even the experienced ship king was somewhat baffled upon hearing this.

"An IT company, buying what, oil tankers?"

"This... According to the news our people relayed, the other party seems to want to enter the field of autonomous shipping.

Moreover, they have proposed to the shipyard a plan for the automation transformation of the following three half-finished oil tankers."

"Autonomous shipping?"

Well, that truly is in the realm of expertise for an IT company.

However, IT companies around the world, even if they are interested in entering this field, typically collaborate with major shipping companies to reduce financial pressure.

After all, IT companies are generally considered light-asset enterprises; investing 3 billion heavily in oil tankers all at once, what were they thinking?

The ship king was perplexed with questions.

"Right, it is said that a certain high-level executive of Baiyeji seems to have connections with the Country Hua official responsible for the relief project of the Bin City Shipyard.

It’s possible that this is just a well-acted drama by Country Hua to prevent the Bin City Shipyard from going bankrupt."

"Oh?" John nodded his head.

That made sense.

For such state-owned companies, Country Hua would generally go out of its way to bail them out regardless of whether they had been eliminated by the market...

"Boss, we’ve just received a response from Bin City Shipyard, agreeing to return a deposit of 600 million. This is the settlement agreement drafted by both parties.

As long as you sign, we can officially dissolve the contract with Bin City Shipyard."

An employee handed over a document.

John was stunned for a moment, having not anticipated that what he thought would be a protracted lawsuit would turn out to be such an easy reimbursement...

He was momentarily so taken aback.

Coming to his senses, he slowly picked up the pen.

However, he lingered for a long time over the signature line on the document, and the pen did not manage to touch down.

After hesitating for a moment, his expression changed several times, but he was helplessly forced to set the pen back down again.

"Uh... Boss? What’s the matter?" The employee was somewhat confused.

"This Baiyeji, it’s appeared at the wrong time..." He sighed deeply.

"Uh... But Bin City Shipyard has agreed to return the deposit, we don’t have to pay a penny for this order.

Isn’t this another major victory for us?"

John helplessly shook his head.

"That was before, now... there seems to have been a little change..."

"Ah? What change?"

John did not speak.

The so-called prophets are the first to know when the spring river is warmed up; the instantaneous changes of the international situation are often detected only by those standing in his position...

He had dominated the shipping industry for so many years relying on capital operations and a sense of risk.

From the moment he signed the contract with Bin City Shipyard, he had prepared for both scenarios.

Should the market turn sour, he could cancel the order and emerge from the crisis unscathed.

But just in case...

Originally, according to his plan, canceling the order and pushing Bin City Shipyard into difficulty was just a reluctant first step.

And when Bin City Shipyard was on the brink of bankruptcy and had to sell off those 8 oil tankers at a low price...

By finding a third-party company, he could buy back those 8 oil tankers at a third or even lower than the original price...

That way, no matter how the international situation shifted, he would remain in an invincible position!

Alas...

His Plan B... seemed to have been intercepted by someone...