Chapter 1580: Chapter 1580: Spirit Stone Mine Once Again
Dou Jiahui casually sat down next to Feng Jun and reached for a cherry tomato, tossing it into his mouth.
He chewed and smiled as he answered, “The lighting market isn’t doing well this year. Some manufacturers, knowing my good relationship with you, are willing to supply at a low price, even lower than your price… No matter how much you purchase, you’re just a big customer. I’m a channel partner. Giving you a low price would disrupt the market, but giving it to me is quite normal.”
“That’s fine,” Feng Jun nodded with a smile, intentionally backing up Dou Jiahui. “The volume I’m consuming is steadily increasing. This year, I’ll at least leave you five thousand in volume, so go ahead with confidence.”
Given their relationship, Feng wouldn’t even mention the priority for the same conditions; he’s not averse to paying a bit more—since Jiahui can’t cultivate with him, a bit of financial support isn’t a problem.
However, the city official who saw this scene had his eyes light up, “Young man, how should I address you?”
Dou Jiahui had heard that this person was a government official when he came in, so he respectfully introduced himself—unlike Feng Jun, he needed to make a living in this small patch of land, so respecting the local official was necessary.
The official, having learned that his lights had even made it into government procurement, smiled and said, “So it’s no outsider here, Boss Feng’s classmate, all talented people. Xiao Dou, I have a suggestion, why not consider setting up the lighting factory in Yuyuan?”
“The production costs here are too high,” Dou Jiahui shook his head. “Over there, they’ve already formed a scale effect with very comprehensive supporting manufacturers. If producing in Yuyuan, labor costs might be lower, but other costs would rise.”
The city official nodded upon hearing this, “That’s something I’ve heard too. But even if they’re ahead, we can catch up. We should first solve the issue of having something, and then gradually develop and grow.”
“That’s not quite realistic,” Dou Jiahui shook his head, candidly stating, “Once you’re a step behind, you’re always behind. It’s hard to catch up with scale and leading effects; you only realize the gap by actually doing it.”
“The city can provide significant support, offering policies and funds,” the official smiled, then glanced at Feng Jun, “With your classmate, a big boss, backing you in sales, what are you worried about?”
Dou Jiahui, however, still shook his head bluntly. He was acutely aware of the deep waters involved, “I’m a channel partner, not a manufacturer.”
The nearby secretary of the official spoke up, “President Dou, the official is doing this for your own good.”
“Forget it,” the city official waved dismissively, speaking nonchalantly, “Everyone has their own ambitions. But Xiao Dou, I still hope you’ll consider it. The foundation of the manufacturing industry in Yuyuan is very weak, and this is something the city intends to focus on.”
“Relying solely on real estate won’t make the country strong. We must have a manufacturing industry, and the city is very determined.”
“Then you’d better be prepared to lose money,” Dou Jiahui remained unmoved, “you’ll need to lose money for at least five years.”
The official nodded without hesitation, “The city can accept that—tax exemptions, loans, even land resources can be negotiated.”
Dou Jiahui’s expression changed slightly. In fact, as long as there were land resources, he wasn’t afraid of losing money—if he couldn’t sell lights, he could still build houses to sell. However, he finally shook his head, “If the city has such determination, it might as well do it itself.”
“Doing it ourselves doesn’t work,” the official hesitated, but still shook his head with a bitter smile, “To be honest, some highly competitive industries aren’t suitable for state-owned enterprises. They can’t easily enhance market competitiveness through quality control… quality control is a shortcoming.”
This was spoken quite directly, and it’s indeed a fact.
Yet he had more candid words, “Take WeChat, for instance. How much market share did China Mobile’s Feixin hold back then? WeChat could only promote through the ‘people nearby’ feature, but as soon as the leadership at China Mobile changed, Feixin was done for. It wasn’t defeated by WeChat; it committed suicide…”
Feng Jun felt that this official had some audacity, at least daring to speak this way; he had some ideas in his head.
However, he wouldn’t comment on it—that was Dou Jiahui’s business.
After pondering for a while, Dou Jiahui answered, “I’m truly just a channel partner, and doing business is about making money…”
“The city can provide you with support funds,” the official offered very directly, “it’s meant for you to lose, and you don’t have to repay it.”
The more straightforward his offer, the less Dou Jiahui dared to agree. He couldn’t understand the risks involved here, but he knew that they were counting on Feng Jun to vouch for him—would a city official offer money in such a scenario?
So he cautiously replied, “I’m really not familiar with manufacturing. The city can consider supporting others. If the quality and price are similar, as a channel partner, I can help promote, like selling to Feng Jun.”
“Supporting others,” the official smiled bitterly, not saying more.
During the meal, Feng Jun quietly asked Dou Jiahui a few questions, curious about why he didn’t accept the official’s offer.
“That official is unreliable,” Dou Jiahui’s reason was a bit surprising, but he had his own views, “Today, it’s about creating a livable home, vigorously developing real estate, building an oxygen bar city. Tomorrow, it will be a smart town, and the day after, it’s manufacturing… Feels like the kind of person who says one thing to one person and another thing to another.”
Feng Jun laughed at this, “Jiahui, you’re something, keeping up with the government narrative and knowing everything now.”
“I’ve been involved in government procurement,” Dou Jiahui answered casually, “so you have to understand all this, don’t you?”
“Then let it be,” Feng Jun smiled nonchalantly, “I thought this guy seemed like he wanted to do something practical. If you were to start a lighting processing plant, I’d definitely support with larger orders.”
“Manufacturing… Of course I want to get into that,” Dou Jiahui confided.
“To say nothing else, when we make money, we also want to give back to our hometown. The key problem is that we really can’t compete, especially with overseas orders decreasing and many companies returning to compete for the market. The economic downturn is indeed quite stressful.”
Feng Jun laughed again, “I thought you were not confident about the local officials. If you’re worried about this, I can back you up.”
He wasn’t just bragging when he said this now. A mere Yuyuan local government leader wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
“That guy… might not be entirely unreliable,” Dou Jiahui had a clear view now, “When you are part of the system, everyone has their way of talking to people and talking to ghosts.”
He paused for a moment and then looked at Feng Jun, “Ultimately, it’s about the market. How big a market can you secure?”
I can provide an entire realm’s market! Feng Jun chuckled, “Just handle it as you see fit. As long as you want to do it, I will unconditionally support you… once you make a decision, remember to let me know.”
Dou Jiahui pondered over it…
On the afternoon of the first day of the lunar new year, Feng Jun took the Zhang Family Sisters back to Luohua. Gazi said he wanted to stay home for a couple of days.
After returning, Elder Feng wanted to go to Australia again, but the sisters complained about the jet lag and dragged him into practicing yoga with them the whole night.
Fortunately, he had been eating simple meals in Australia for quite some time, so he didn’t feel any pressure.
The Zhang Family Sisters actually wanted to go to Australia with him, but it was New Year. Not going home was already audacious enough, and if they couldn’t be reached via mobile phones or WeChat, even friends, let alone family, would complain.
So early on the second day, it was Feng Jun who went alone to Australia, bringing Sofia along for diving again.
This time he didn’t actually have to bring her, but a few days ago, searching for the Earth Vein in the deep sea was really boring, and having someone to talk to was nice—as she would also complain if he didn’t bring her along.
He spent five days with her underwater, and they encountered a vast coral reef.
The coral reef spanned tens of square kilometers, getting smaller as it went upwards, and grew to about seven or eight hundred meters from the sea surface.
Where there are coral reefs, there are naturally schools of fish. There were quite a few fish here, and after observing for a while, Feng Jun couldn’t help feeling weird—how could it be a place where three Earth Veins converged?
He felt there was something to be done here, so he told Sofia, “Stay in the Flying Boat, I’m going to take a look.”
Sofia looked at him pitifully, “Can’t you take me along?”
“No,” Feng Jun shook his head decisively, “unless you’re willing to enter the Spirit Beast Bag… But forget it, the Spirit Beast Bag isn’t very safe.”
He thought that in case of danger, he could escape to the mobile phone realm, but bringing her made things more complicated.
If it weren’t for his last words, Sofia would have stayed put, but hearing him say that, she decided, “Then put me in the Spirit Beast Bag. Staying alone in the deep sea… feels scary.”
Feng Jun put her into the Spirit Beast Bag and started investigating the surroundings. After a while, he sensed something was off, and directly used fossilization to start excavating the coral reef.
This was actually quite unenvironmentally friendly. If any environmental organizations got wind of this, they’d definitely roast the perpetrator to the point of doubting life.
But Feng Jun didn’t care about that. It wasn’t his to begin with, so he didn’t feel bad spoiling it.
After digging down about a thousand meters, he didn’t feel anything, so he moved to another spot to continue.
When he moved to the third spot, he hardened his heart and kept digging down, reaching about four thousand meters, where he finally found a great surprise—a hint of Spiritual Energy!
It was worth it; in that moment, everything was worth it. Who would have thought a Spirit Stone Mine could be found in the depths of the ocean?
Currently, there was no concrete evidence to show it was a Spirit Stone Mine below, but Feng Jun’s intuition told him—it definitely was a Spirit Stone Mine!
So he didn’t wait any longer and started digging. This was not a domestic Spirit Stone Mine, so he didn’t have to consider saving it for future generations.
Mines like these should be dug while you can; if you’re too polite, it’ll only benefit others.
He began to dig eagerly downward while, more than ten nautical miles away, there was a research ship passing by. Someone on board noticed, “Hey, the sonar display looks a bit strange.”
(Updated, calling for monthly tickets, 101 is overwhelmed, feeling unloved…)