The size and complexities of the universe had far outstripped the limits of human imagination. Xia Fei’s description of what was out there had filled the three others with curiosity and yearning, but it was a pity that none of them had the opportunity to enter the mysterious sea of stars and experience those things for themselves. All they could do was imagine the wonders of the universe through Xia Fei’s words.
“How’s the company operations going right now?” Xia Fei asked.
Charlie excitedly responded, “At the moment, the scope of Quantum Holdings’ business is stuck at purchasing technology from other planets and investing in other business sectors through shares. Right now, we’ve successfully acquired the computer giant IBM, energy giant Mobil, car manufacturer General Motors, industrial manufacturing giant Siemens, and a few others. Essentially, we’ve gained absolute control over eleven companies.”
Xia Fei nodded. Quantum Holdings was how he named his company. Andre and the others had been taking charge of it these past six months. It was already a wondrous achievement on their part to get such good results in such a short time. After all, those established companies had a great influence on Earth, each like immense and lush trees. Attempting to uproot them completely was hardly an easy task.
“Also, while we are Earth’s main suppliers of certain goods, our presence in interstellar trade is practically zero.” Charlie shrugged as he concluded his report.
“That’s fine. Let’s first establish our base of production. This time, I’ve brought Sarah and Allen to help break grounds on the next phase of our company operations; they are experienced spaceship pilots and can greatly help us nurture our very own pool of spaceship pilots, forming a transport fleet of ours,” Xia Fei said.
Xia Fei’s idea was to turn Earth into a processing base; purchasing mineral resources from extraterrestrial planets and processing them before selling the finished products everywhere in the Alliance. After all, Earth had cheap human labor right now, and the production cost would be much lower than the other planets within the Alliance.
Making a play for the interstellar trade, an efficient transport fleet would be essential, and that was the next important step that Quantum Holdings would be taking.
Wu Long was apparently very excited as well. “That’s great! If we’re really going to establish a spaceship flight school, I’ll be the first to sign up.”
Xia Fei chuckled. “Brother Wu, no matter how you put it, you’re the safety supervisor, the head of the product department, and vice-chairman of the board of directors. Your status isn’t the same as before. I’m afraid that being a pilot for a transport fleet isn’t suitable for you.”
Wu Long sighed, wistfully saying, “I’m almost bored to death stuck in the office all day. If only I could fly all around the universe like you, how awesome would such a life be?”
Wu Long was a hillbilly at heart, and expecting him to bury his head in an office to deal with matters was torture. However, he was very loyal. He viewed his promise back then to help Xia Fei manage the company as a sort of contract, and he would never go against it no matter what; as such, he had been patiently working overtime just to process the endless mountain of documents and files every day.
“Brother Wu, hang in there a bit more. Once we find suitable people to replace you, I’ll let you take on any role you want,” consoled Xia Fei.
Wu Long’s eyes shone as he burst into raucous laughter. “Actually, I’m just venting my frustrations. When my mother learned that I’m now the vice-chairman of Quantum Holdings, she could not be any happier. She hated my tendency to run around to unknown places all day long and has long been awaiting me to settle down for a peaceful life.
“In fact, she’s been nagging at me to invite you over for dinner, letting you have a taste of her best dish, osmanthus chicken. Why don’t you come over with me and do that tomorrow?”
“I do indeed wish to have a taste of your mother’s cooking. Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so maybe next time,” Xia Fei regretfully declined.
“So soon!” They were all dumbfounded. “You’ve only just arrived, yet you’re heading off again? Why don’t you stay for a few more days?”
Xia Fei smiled. “I’m at ease knowing that you guys are at the helm of our company. Besides, we can still use the interplanetary internet to communicate if necessary.”
Charlie gave this matter some thought. “Forming our own fleet is, of course, a great idea, but all those freighters you speak of will need someone to maintain them, and our company funds are already stretched currently, so I’m afraid that we don’t have enough to purchase even one large freighter.”
“I’ve already thought about this problem.” Xia Fei lit a Hongtashan before he resumed speaking. “I’ve made some good friends in the warship graveyard, and we can purchase several freighters at a fair price from them. We will first establish a small transport fleet, and as for its maintenance, I already have someone in mind. I’ll be carrying out everything tomorrow.”
The person Xia Fei was talking about was none other than Old Porter’s apprentice, Boateng. His loyalty had left a deep impression on Xia Fei. Both his skills and character were impeccable in his eyes; it was only that the man was far too loyal to Old Porter, so attempting to poach him to his company would not be an easy task. Xia Fei would need to spend some time and effort on it.
“How much capital does the company still need?” Xia Fei asked.
Charlie very quickly calculated the sum in his head. Having already tapped into his mathematics special ability, he was very sensitive to such calculations and was even faster than some computers when dealing with numbers.
“Presently, the company still has dozens of projects lined up, all of which involve the advanced technology introductions, that are in the discussion table, and they are all critical to replace the more energy-consuming and highly pollutant products on the market.”
Xia Fei waved his hand to interrupt Charlie. “The reason I gave you three key positions in the company is that I have absolute faith in you all. I have no need for details; just give me the number.”
Charlie was touched when he heard Xia Fei’s words. Andre and Wu Long could feel their body warming as well. Xia Fei’s trust in them involuntarily gave rise to a strong sense of pride in themselves.
“The ideal figures amount to 93,150,000 star coins, enough for us to properly tackle every detail. If not, we can temporarily place a portion of these projects on hold, resuming them once we have enough cash at a later date,” Charlie said.
“No problem. I’ll be transferring two hundred million star coins to the company account in just a while. I’ll bear the cost of the freighters myself and won’t be touching the company’s liquid funds,” Xia Fei said. “Furthermore, I have a personal bank account that gains interest every month. Though it isn’t much, every bit counts; I’ll leave this account for the company to manage in case of emergencies.”
Xia Fei’s account currently held 1.04 billion star coins, so it was no problem taking out a few hundred million to completely cover the cost of company operations. Besides, the company’s current form was like that of a little chick; one day, when it grew up and was finally capable of laying eggs, the investment he had made would not be lost.
As for that bank account that Xia Fei had mentioned; those were the income he got from the poems. Now that the storm his poems had created in the star region passed, the monthly income from its sales were steadily decreasing. A few millions of star coins were nothing to Xia Fei at the moment, so he figured that it was better to just leave that for the company to manage.
The three men were slightly taken aback by this development. Xia Fei actually spoke of two hundred million star coins with much ease, so it seemed that his net worth might be much higher than what they had expected.
“Two hundred million star coins is a lot; the company has no need for that much yet,” Andre very cautiously said.
Xia Fei was unperturbed by this. “The most important thing a company needs is sufficient liquid funds. Do your jobs well and don’t worry about the resulting expenditure. As long as you’re spending it in the right avenues, we’ll most definitely be able to earn it all back.”
Andre seemed to have thought of something, so he somewhat hesitantly raised it. “Xia Fei, the Federation President Pandev has mentioned many times that he wishes to have a meeting with you. Plus, he has intentions of acquiring Quantum Holdings’ equity under the name of the Earth Federation. I feel that since the company is under the Federation’s rule, it might do us good to consider his suggestion.”
Xia Fei shook his head. “What do we have to see him for? I have no interest in politicians. As for the matter of acquiring the company’s equity, you can go ahead and reject it, too. I have my ideas regarding the company’s development, and having more shareholders will just become more restrictions; I have no wish to explain every action I take to a host of shareholders. That will be far too troublesome.
“So what if Quantum Holdings is under Federation’s rules? We’re running business lawfully and reasonably, paying tax as per regulation, here. There’s no need for us to mind those politicians. Honestly, judging from the performance of the federal government so far, they are hardly satisfactory. Especially considering that it has been over three years since we joined the Pan-Human Alliance, Earth is still hardly developed from what our beginning.”
What Xia Fei had said was a fact. The current federal government was being run by obstinate conservatives who were scared and unsettled by the extraterrestrial civilization. All they cared about was protecting their wealth and status, seemingly unconcerned that there were actually plenty of crises to capitalize on in the Pan-Human Alliance.
Regarding Earth, what was most important should be a reckless pursuit to develop their strength. The universe was a realistic place, and lacking in strength meant they would have no right to speak. As a native Earthling, Xia Fei was absolutely disappointed by the Earth Federation’s present rate of development.
Wu Long coldly harrumphed. “Those politicians only know how to flap their lips and mislead the masses, not even taking any actual action at all. At present, the entire Federation has yet to have their own warship, yet they actually claimed that the federal defense capabilities have greatly improved in their reports. The military budget remains the same every year, but where’s their combat strength? Are they really planning to depend only on soldiers who use rifles to do battle during wartimes?”
Xia Fei patted Wu Long’s shoulder. “Forget it. There’s no use getting all frustrated here. Why don’t we just focus on making sure that we can do with what’s right in front of us?”
Charlie agreed. “That’s right. The matter we’re dealing with is far more important than all Earth politics. The next stage of our company’s development will have us entering a period of strategic expansion. Right now, the products we can produce aren’t many, and most are just obsolete trinkets. We won’t be able to bring back massive profits even if we can sell them to other planets. What we urgently need right now is a competitive product of our own to build our own brand.”
Xia Fei voiced his opinion. “Let’s not be too hasty on this just yet. Even though our products are low-end, there will always be a market for them as long as they’re cheap enough. What we need now is to acquire a firm foothold. We can focus on industrial upgrades after we’ve carved a name for us on the market.”
The four discussed for a long time and decided that they would establish a spaceship pilot school and a logistics reserve center near the federal interstellar spaceport.
The federal spaceport covered a large area, and many of its facilities are in an idle state. Building their flight school and logistics reserve center nearby would greatly reduce costs and construction periods.
The teaching would of course be handled by Sarah and Allen, and after Xia Fei returned with the first batch of industrial ships, they could immediately begin forming their transport fleet.
Early the next morning, Xia Fei set off for the warship graveyard. Having delegated everything on Earth to Andre and the others to be busy with, Xia Fei was more than happy to walk away from it.
Sarah and Allen very readily agreed to help Xia Fei with the formation of the transport fleet. In their eyes, being able to get out of the Wild Star Region alive was already a very fortunate turn of events. Though Earth was a very low-level civilization, it was like heaven compared to the barren Wild Star Region, and at the very least, there was no need for them to worry about making a living.
Two days later, Vampire slowly landed in Old Porter’s factory over at the warship graveyard, but only Boateng and a handful of mechanics came out to receive him.
“Hmm? Why isn’t Uncle Porter here?” Xia Fei smiled, casually handing over the gifts he had prepared for these men.
Boateng sighed, pulling out a letter and handing it to Xia Fei. “Take a look for yourself.”