Chapter 980: Hitting the Bullseye in One Shot
Wen Xinya c.o.c.ked her head sideways to look at Si Yiyan.
Si Yiyan said smilingly, “Duke Moville, you’ve really overestimated Lucifer. We may be powerful, but we’re not powerful enough to go against all the firearms business owners in Russia. As a Chinese organization, we’ve braved through all odds and been through hundreds of years of hards.h.i.+p. It takes more than just violence to get to where we are today.” He pointed at his head and continued, “It also takes brains!”
Duke Moville sipped the tea brewed by the young girl, only to find that it was yellowish and did not taste pure enough. In fact, it had a complicated and bitter taste. He looked up at Si Yiyan who had not been touching the tea, and immediately lost the interest in drinking it.
Previously, he thought that the tea brewed by her tasted good. However, after tasting something better, he felt that this one paled in comparison.
Si Yiyan continued, “The firearms business is indeed very tempting and the attractive profits are highly coveted. However, Lucifer can’t monopolize the market and save nothing for others. It’s not mine or Lucifer’s style to suffer major damage over an attractive business deal.”
In order to maintain a neutral and extraordinary position in Russia, Lucifer definitely had to stay out of the power struggles between the aristocrats. Otherwise, Lucifer would end up being embroiled in a complicated Russian political warfare. Once it did, they would suffer a destructive double blow. That… was something that he had realized when he agreed to give the Ivanov Family 70% of the firearms business that he owned in order to come to a truce.
Having understood what he meant, Duke Moville frowned and remained silent while stroking the serpent’s eyes.
Si Yiyan knew that he had gotten the idea. However, he had to make things clear since he had already brought it up. “As a foreign organization, Lucifer has a strong foundation in Russia, but as a friendly foreigner, I still have to maintain a cordial relations.h.i.+p with the Russian aristocrats. I have to prioritize win-win situations and avoid harming the interests of others for the sake of earning money.”
He was just trying to say that he was not willing to compete with the firearms business owners for a slice of the pie.
He made his refusal sound reasonable. Even Duke Moville said in astonishment, “Rex, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking thoroughly.”
Wen Xinya smiled and said, “Duke Moville, you have no idea how much emphasis we Chinese place on personal relations.h.i.+ps and ethics. No matter what we do, we make it a point to stick to the bottom line. We’ll never do anything to anger the public.”
Wen Xinya’s words were much more tactful than Si Yiyan’s.
Previously, Si Yiyan had mentioned to her about Russia’s situation as well as the hierarchy amongst the aristocrats. He also explained to her that the downfall of the Moville Family was partly caused by Duke Moville’s overbearing dominance and tyranny. He often offended everyone with his actions.
Duke Moville smiled and said, “Well said, Miss Bella.”
Si Yiyan remained silent with a smile.
The atmosphere became a little tense.
Wen Xinya continued, “Since you don’t want to be involved in a conflict, you’ve s.h.i.+fted your attention onto the raw materials market so as to establish a win-win cooperation with the aristocratic families. It’s no wonder that you have been praised by the government and became an esteemed friend of the Russians.”
Even Mr. Wei stopped fiddling with the chessboard and shot Wen Xinya a glance.
Duke Moville tightened his grip on the cane. Her words had completely undermined his suggestion. Since Si Yiyan had made it clear that he was doing everything for the sake of his country’s interests, Duke Moville would seem as if he was sacrificing the interests of his country by suggesting that Si Yiyan get back into the firearms industry.
Si Yiyan smiled and asked, “Are you giving me a compliment?”
Shaking her head, Wen Xinya answered, “I’m just thinking about what else we can do to make a living in Russia. It really is tough to make money these days. I wonder what else is there we can do apart from firearms.”
As an industrial country, most of the industries apart from the firearms one were controlled by major aristocrats and the government. Hence, it was difficult to earn money in Russia. Firearms were far too sensitive and important to a foreign organization, and if they could not dominate the market, they would be undermined by others.
Si Yiyan had put in painstaking effort into dominating the Russian firearms raw materials industry. He used the 30% of firearms businesses that he owned to aid the Ivanov Family, who held 40% of the firearms industry, so as to expand his raw material supply and attract the attention of more firearms business owners. By the time they realized, Lucifer had already expanded.
Si Yiyan was the most scheming person she knew, and his grand plan caught her by surprise.
Si Yiyan laughed and said, “That’s not right. We have more land than citizens here in Russia, and that means that we have plenty of resources. You have no idea how rich Russia is in terms of water and plantations, all of which are full of minerals. There is also plenty of iron, manganese, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, t.i.tanium, and chromium mines. These resources have helped the nation prosper.”
Extremely fascinated, Wen Xinya said, “These resources are mandatory for a country to develop. It’s no wonder Russia is known as the nation of war.”
Si Yiyan answered, “Many of these resources are being controlled by major families who are wealthy and powerful.”
He then glanced at Duke Moville.
Wen Xinya finally understood what Si Yiyan meant. His goal was the rich mineral resources owned by Duke Moville. He was indeed… very ambitious.
The fact that Si Yiyan could own 60% of the raw materials industry meant that he was in charge of numerous mineral mines and resources, as well as cutting-edge processing technologies.
Pretending to be curious, Wen Xinya glanced at Duke Moville and asked, “Duke Moville, do you also own plenty of mines?”
Duke Moville tightened and loosened his grip on the snake continuously, overwhelmed with an ominous feeling, though he did not show his emotions. Wen Xinya’s words and Si Yiyan’s stand made him feel like escaping.
He said in a shaky voice, “When the Moville Family was at the peak of success, we indeed owned numerous of such resources.” He sighed and continued with a regretful expression, “However, we’ve already lost most of our power…”
Although he did not finish his sentence, he had already expressed his intentions.
Wen Xinya was rather amused by the two of them beating around the bush, because Si Yiyan would always be the dominant one. She could not help but take pity on Duke Moville.
Duke Moville’s only resort was to suck it up and burn a hole in his pocket now that Si Yiyan was eying the rights to his mines.
Si Yiyan had always been reserved but shrewd, and would hit the bullseye once he launched a rare attack.
Duke Moville was just making the last struggle before doom!