Chapter 342
Jiang Chen stuffed the phone back into his pocket and returned to the living room.
“Who just called?”
“Uh, a friend,” Jiang Chen nonchalantly replied and sat back down beside her.
Seeing that Jiang Chen wasn’t planning to explain, Xia Shiyu only glared at him suspiciously before she stopped persisting on the question and picked up the documents on the table.
She cleared her throat and put on a stern face before she began to explain the documents to Jiang Chen.
“The paper documents contain information on the bidders, mostly about the specifications and bidding price. As to the design project and project visualization, they are all on my computer, and we can take a look later. But before we start, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” Jiang Chen laughed.
If it a question he could answer, he would facepalm answer. If It were not appropriate for her to know now, he would remain silent.
“Future Technology currently has good profitability. We just managed to gain our footsteps in the web space, why did we all the sudden expand into the tourism real estate market?” Xia Shiyu pushed up the glasses on her nose and asked with an undertone.
From an investor’s perspective, Future Technology has a bright future. Its return would be far higher than building infrastructure in a small country on the Pacifics to revitalize the tourism industry there.
“Because I believe in the future of Pannu Islands’ tourism, as well as Xin’s growth prospect, Xin’s plan to pay partially with land and sea developments also fits my interest.”
For construction such as the expansion of airports, roads, hospitals, because these projects were none not-for-profit, Xin’s government won’t make Jiang Chen work for free. Because the Xin government didn’t have the money and was unable to access loans from international banks, they could only repay Jiang Chen in the form of land and ocean development rights. Based on the consideration that once the infrastructure was built, the land price would appreciate substantially. From a business’s point of view, there was a lot to gain, only that…
“But is it worth it to take on billions in debt for these of high-risk projects that could not generate profit in a short period? Right now Future Technology is currently working hard to expand its global market. It is in a rapid growth phase. The establishment of subsidiaries, talent acquisition, all these need money. If the cash flow is broken, its consequence would be severe.”
She looked at Jiang Chen with a stern face and gave him a hard question to answer.
It was a problem.
It was rather embarrassing because Xia Shiyu was the one who took care of the company for him. Not including the current operation of the business, he didn’t even manage to meet all the board members as the president. Although they had drunk together before, after such a long time, he has almost forgotten all of their names.
Of course, Jiang Chen was not to blame for his short memory, he was a man that lived in two worlds after all.
As he heard the question, he scratched his chin and began to deliberate.
“How much does Future Technology need to expand its operation?”
“Currently it is in the process of establishing subsidiaries in Australia, North America, Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. This includes the construction of the subsidiary headquarter and hiring and training employees with an estimated cost of eight hundred million USD.”
“Eight hundred million USD? That’s not a lot.” Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows.
Seeing that the company’s president had no sense of money, Xia Shiyu was exasperated and began to educate Jiang Chen about the fundamentals.
“We are a tech company and the majority of our income is attributable to Future 1.0 and <New Era>. Although we have formed an absolute advantage in terms of technical capability, with the rapid shift in technology, no one can guarantee we can maintain the technological edge. Imagine this, if a replacement product for Future 1.0 was introduced on the market. Even if it could only do one out of the functions we currently offer, such as accelerated hardware, battery saving, or smart control and even if it was inferior compared to Future 1.0 if it was free, would people still be willing to pay for our VIP service?”
“By that time, we would have to decrease our VIP charge, or even change the paid service into free service. If we lose Future 1.0 as a revenue channel, without exaggeration, Future Technology may turn from being profitable to losing money.”
Xia Shiyu warned Jiang Chen with sternness.
The reason why she said so much was so that Jiang Chen wouldn’t be blinded by Future Technology’s current high profitability and sign a multi-billion deal without processing things in his head.
Without a doubt, from the company’s expansion perspective, Xia Shiyu had the right foresight. But Jiang Chen saw further compared to her since his perspective was not limited to the small Future Technology.
“Revenue channel? I will take care of that, you can just take care of the operation…” Jiang Chen held his chin as he vaguely replied.
Although it was not that virtual reality didn’t exist, it still remained in the body sensing motion and visual replication stage. For example, a camera would capture user’s action before it is fed back to the game. The VR glasses would then display it as a three-dimensional image in front of the user. It was incomparable to the virtual reality of the 22nd century, which directly connected the game to the nerve at the back of the person’s neck. As long as you lie in the metal box, the entire head and body muscles would be sleeping, but the person’s conscious would appear in the virtual world.
Without the need for mechanical functions such as vibrations to mimic real feelings, the senses were directly simulated in the brain. There was no need to have a screen because it would be extraneous to form an image on the cornea. The virtual reality equipment from the 22nd century would connect directly to the nerve. By that time, it would no longer be a dream to close your eyes and play the game.
Except the technology differential was too drastic. Jiang Chen himself was uncertain if he should bring the space elevator out or the virtual reality helmet out.
“Okay, then I won’t ask anymore regarding this. But as the president, you should be aware of the company’s operations.”
“Haha, don’t worry.” Jiang Chen laughed confidently.
Funny, there were so many wonderful things in the apocalypse, there was no need to worry about money. But he should think carefully about the next money making product. Perhaps he should ask Yao Yao or Du Yongkang to create a new software? But he didn’t have any ideas yet.
There was artificial intelligence, battery saver, mobile game, what else did smartphones lack?
Just as he was zoning out, he saw a red box under the table.
“What is that?”
Jiang Chen curiously reached for the cookie-sized box, but Xia Shiyu jumped up as if she had her tail stepped on.
She snatched the box away from Jiang Chen’s hand, with a steaming face, she hid the box behind her back.
But the more she tried to hide it, the more curious Jiang Chen became. What thing made the ice mountain standoffish beauty embarrassed like that?
Could it be…
When Jiang Chen thought about it, the way he looked at Xia Shiyu turned lascivious. He narrowed his eyes. He was the only one to blame for being too perverted as he could relate anything to the sensual things in life.
Needless to say, women are sensitive creatures. When she saw Jiang Chen’s abnormal smile, Xia Shiyu first paused for a moment before she realized.
“Get your mind out of the gutter! It’s weightloss tea! Weightloss tea!”
Xia Shiyu in embarrassment threw the box in Jiang Chen’s lap. The red hue made her entire neck turn red and her teeth clenched in anger.
[This bastard, what is he even thinking! Dammit!]
“Weightloss tea? But you are not fat at all.” Jiang Chen looked at Xia Shiyu, confused.
Her waist and legs were both skinny, weightloss, she should gain some weight…
Wait, weightloss tea…
Jiang Chen seemed to have caught onto something. He closed his eyes and repeatedly chewed on the words.
But Xia Shiyu didn’t notice the odd look on Jiang Chen’s face. Her cold face was completely warmed by her blushing expression. She buried her head, not speaking.
[He said that I’m not fat?]
[That means… He is pleased with my body?]
The imagination of a girl in love was certainly wild. Even for a girl like Xia Shiyu with negative EQ could not escape the fate.
“Butt… My butt got a bit bigger.”
With her finger twirling the tip of her hair, she used the decibel that only she could hear herself.
But as she spoke, she was stunned, why did she tell him such embarrassing thing!
With the bright redness of her face that was about to drip down, Xia Shiyu kept her head down, afraid to look at Jiang Chen.
However, Jiang Chen didn’t even notice how awkward she was nor did he hear her murmur.
For an office lady, who worked long hours sitting in a chair, it was normal for her butt to grow some meat. But Xia Shiyu was okay since she was the type that could be blown away by the wind. Though it was still a woman’s tendency to want to be beautiful, especially in front of someone she adored.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen clapped his hands and stood up. This scared Xia Shiyu who’s imagination was running wild.
“Hahahaha! I remember now! Fu*k, how did I forget about that!”
Because of the lack of technical knowledge in this, he never treated it seriously. Now that he has given it some thought, that thing could generate more money than any software, and it would produce a stable stream of revenue.
Xia Shiyu looked at Jiang Chen in bewilderment as he laughed hysterically. She was completely dumbfounded.
She didn’t know what just happened to him.