The Art of Dividing the Cake!

Wu Kefan was the first to agree to the profit-sharing quota An Wuyang had allocated to him.

An Wuyang then turned to Zhou Xiang. "Xiang Ge, you're putting up the capital. I'm offering you five percent of the net profit as well. What do you think?"

Zhou Xiang quickly calculated the return rate. They'd need to front ten million US dollars for the goods, then pocket at least ten million Xia Guo yuan in net profit. At first glance, it didn't seem all that impressive?

But that ten million US dollars would be returned in full, plus they'd get at least ten million Xia Guo yuan in net profit. That meant using over sixty million Xia Guo yuan to earn ten million in less than a month. This deal was solid!

"I'll take it on my dad's behalf!" Zhou Xiang answered firmly.

This time, Zhou Xiang didn't hedge his bets.

He knew full well how replaceable he was. A mere ten million US dollars? If the Shengqing Commercial Bank wasn't interested, plenty of others would be.

After all, it was a fifteen percent net profit return, and the capital was tied up for less than a month. Who wouldn't jump at that?

No way!

There'd be a line of people fighting to join, maybe even undercutting each other.

So Zhou Xiang didn't hesitate to accept the profit-sharing plan on his father's behalf.

An Wuyang then looked at Zhu Guanghao, Sun Kairui, and Xu Haoran. He emphasized, "Regarding this operation, I only care about the result, not the process."

"I just want the result to be flawless!" An Wuyang drove his point home.

"I'm willing to give you fifty percent of the net profit to split among yourselves. How you divide it internally is up to you." An Wuyang carved out a big chunk of the pie and handed it to the three of them, letting them sort it out.

After all, An Wuyang hadn't yet grown into a towering tree. He still needed others to shield him from the wind and rain. So he left the thankless task of dividing the spoils to Zhu Guanghao and the others.

If An Wuyang had to split it himself, how would he do it?

By their status?

If that were the case, Zhu Guanghao, as the son of the Shengqing Public Security Bureau, would get the biggest share.

Sun Kairui, as the son of the First Deputy Director, would naturally come second.

Then Xu Haoran, the son of the Shengqing Customs Second Deputy Director, would get the least.

But even if the hierarchy was clear, what about the exact amounts?

Twenty percent for Zhu Guanghao?

Fifteen percent for Sun Kairui?

Only ten percent for Xu Haoran?

If he went with that plan, An Wuyang would only need to give away forty-five percent.

But the problem was, wouldn't the three of them have objections?

Even if Zhu Guanghao got twenty percent, he'd still eye the forty-five percent An Wuyang kept.

Sun Kairui would wonder why Zhu Guanghao got more.

Xu Haoran would resent only getting ten percent.

Human hearts were too complicated!

An Wuyang couldn't guarantee that the conflict over the pie wouldn't blow up. So he'd rather cut out a big piece first, handing over a full fifty percent of the profit directly to Zhu Guanghao and the others, letting them figure out the distribution themselves.

This way, the conflict shifted from An Wuyang to the internal dynamics of the three. More importantly, by giving away fifty percent at once, it looked like he'd given up more than the forty percent he had left.

He handled this brilliantly.

Being willing to share the spoils and divide the pie was the only way to win people over and form an alliance of interests to protect himself.

If An Wuyang tried to go it alone, just getting that batch of precious e-waste through customs would be a massive problem.

Even if he managed to get it in and extract the gold, selling that gold legally and legitimately would become another headache.

Only by sharing the profits like he was doing now, pulling in the relevant players, and forming an interest alliance could he truly pocket the gains instead of sitting on a paper valuation.

Faced with the fifty percent net profit An Wuyang had thrown out, Zhu Guanghao, Sun Kairui, and Xu Haoran all took a deep breath.

They'd originally thought ten percent net profit would be generous of An Wuyang. They were already planning how to negotiate for more, even considering how to subtly make him realize their importance without being awkward.

But who knew An Wuyang would just slice off half the pie for them to split?

This...

Wasn't that a bit too big a move?

Zhu Guanghao took a deep breath. "No wonder you're the heir of the Wugengtian Group, the one who offered the 2N+2 severance package. Wuyang Xiongdi, you've got some real guts!"

"My dad always said, if everyone makes money together, everyone's happy!" An Wuyang replied with a smile.

That was the truth!

What good ever came from hogging everything?

A wise man once said: Have more friends, fewer enemies.

If you're surrounded by enemies, you can't take a single step forward.

"Wuyang Xiongdi, give the kitchen a call and tell them to hurry up with the food. Let's celebrate a successful partnership." Zhu Guanghao gestured.

An Wuyang smiled back. "Sure thing, Guanghao Ge."

"By the way, brothers, want some drinks?" An Wuyang added.

Zhu Guanghao declined. "We all drove here, and we've got things to discuss back home tonight. Let's stick to soft drinks for now, and once we're done with our business, we'll celebrate together. How about that?"

An Wuyang readily agreed. "Sure!"

"Right, right, right. None of us are drinking today, since we all have things to take care of when we get back." Sun Kairui chimed in.

An Wuyang immediately called Yang Jing. He first said to serve the food right away, then added that they wouldn't be drinking and to just bring up soft drinks.

Yang Jing caught An Wuyang's subtext—no drinking meant he didn't need to help entertain guests—so he didn't come back to the private room. Instead, he directly told the kitchen to start serving.

As dish after dish was brought up, and with the profit distribution already settled beforehand, the banquet truly achieved a harmonious host-guest atmosphere.

By just past eight thirty in the evening, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and they all took their leave one after another.

Each of them was eager to get home, because they still had to discuss the details of this cooperation. With so much profit at stake, how could they not be anxious?

After everyone had left, Yang Jing casually asked, "Wuyang Ge, did the dinner meeting go through?"

An Wuyang laughed and scolded, "Stop prying into these things!"

"Heh heh." Yang Jing grinned and scratched his head.

"There's something else." An Wuyang hinted. "You go apply for a pharmaceutical business license, and then come to our Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group to apply as one of our drug distributors."

"Wuyang Ge, can you elaborate?" Yang Jing hesitated.