Birthday and Preparing to Make a Run for It
Regardless of Gefra Emperor's loss of temper and his outburst in the Ruler's Hall, Lin Qi celebrated his birthday.
On October 10th, he turned twenty-two.
He didn't celebrate his birthday on October 10th last year. He wasn't used to it, or rather, he had gotten used to not celebrating his birthday before he came into this world.
Celebrating your birthday in that kind of place is actually a form of torture, because you can never truly escape that cage. Every birthday is a reminder that some people are killing off another year of their lives in this way.
Therefore, people there generally don't celebrate birthdays, which is different from the common, widespread small-scale regional houses.
In those small, ordinary rooms, people celebrate birthdays. In some friendly places, birthday parties are even organized to give everyone some fun, with talent shows and other lively activities.
Because they will eventually be able to go out and gain their freedom, and each birthday means they are one step closer to freedom.
But in Lin Qi's place, an American birthday brings him one step closer to the grave.
This also meant that after Lin Qi arrived here, he didn't really care whether it was his birthday or not.
This time, he didn't want to celebrate his birthday either, it was meaningless, but he still couldn't escape because Sai Weiruila caught up with him and came to celebrate his birthday.
Before realizing it was his birthday, Lin Qi had just finished a salon with some local, foreign and domestic businessmen.
It sounds a bit complicated, but it's basically a group of anxious businessmen and a group of somewhat excited businessmen gathered together to discuss the upcoming market and competition.
Lin Qi had previously stated that the United Development Company would not be like Preton Merchant House, which rigidly allocated everything.
The Federal is still a country that cares about its reputation. Even if they desperately want to do this and have actually done so through other means, they will not say it out loud, much less admit it.
Let the market decide everything, and no longer let institutions like Preton Merchant House monopolize the market. This is the most correct form of justice.
In the past, everyone's annual business activities, the amount of business they conducted, and the amount of money they earned were all strictly controlled. These people only needed to assign a few subordinates to handle ordinary daily tasks, and they could simply wait for the money to come in.
But things are different now. Lin Qi has opened up the market, and he himself will not monopolize market share, which makes the market competition even more intense.
The competition between local, foreign, and Federal merchants will be like a bloody war with no rules. The first thing people will face is a price war, and the war will escalate rapidly.
Lin Qi was the sole referee in this war, so this meeting, in a sense, was equivalent to him setting the rules and then pulling the Starting Pistol.
He doesn't care about these local businesses right now, but he cares a lot about the local market. After all, it's a market of two or three hundred million people. Once these people become wealthy, their spending potential will make the entire Federal government take notice.
This is also part of his, or rather the United Development Company's, plan: they will provide these Nagaril People with suitable jobs and wages, squeezing the value out of their labor.
Then, by selling services and goods, they could recoup a large portion of it—perfect! Lost in thought, Lin Qi walked forward, and just as the door to the room opened, he was suddenly startled by cheers.
"Happy Birthday," a greeting that should bring joy, left him feeling somewhat amused and exasperated.
Fortunately, he had seen many big events, and this change was still within his psychological capacity to cope. He quietly loosened his fist and immediately showed an incredulous smile on his face.
Standing closest to him, Sai Weiruila blushed, holding something in her hand... probably a hat; the Federal people had many ritualistic behaviors.
For example, during festivals, different menus are arranged for different festivals, and even the place where to eat is very particular.
Take gangs for example. The fights between gang members are actually quite ritualistic. How to kill someone and what to do afterward are all traceable. Veteran police officers can get first-hand case information from the scene of a gang fight at a glance.
Of course, this also includes birthday parties, where wearing a pointed, colorful hat has become a "ritual" and an indispensable part of birthday parties.
Sai Weiruila didn't notice the helplessness behind Lin Qi's surprised expression. She helped Lin Qi put on his hat and pulled him into the room.
When Lin Qi entered the room, he saw the Provincial Governor Drag, who had changed into a Federal uniform, and he immediately felt much better.
"I didn't know you were coming..." Lin Qi said softly, standing in front of a birthday cake taller than a person.
The girl's face flushed slightly. "I read a book that said people should strive for their own happiness, so I came here. I feel that you are my happiness."
This blatant confession caught Lin Qi off guard. Had Wo Delike made a mistake? Why was this girl sent here?
In fact, Lin Qi and Wo Delike share the same view: he is unlikely to marry Sai Weiruila, and Wo Delike would not allow him to do so.
For Lin Qi, the woman was too dominant—not in terms of Sai Weiruila's attitude in life and work, but in terms of her family background and interpersonal relationships, which far exceeded Lin Qi's, and therefore would not be of any help to Lin Qi.
Because of their relationship, Lin Qi's own development may be restricted. When people do business with Lin Qi, they will pay more attention to the attitude of Sai Weiruila and the capital forces behind her, and consider whether doing so will have negative consequences, so they simply bypass Lin Qi.
Any growth or progress Lin Qi makes will be seen as a result of his relationship with and help from Sai Weiruila, which is undoubtedly fatal to him personally and his business.
Unless he can grow to the point where people can overlook his background and origins before the two get married—which is unlikely in the short term and would take at least a decade—this is destined to be a fruitless love affair.
Perhaps this was why Wo Delike had sent her over? Because he knew the outcome? In any case, being valued is still a happy thing. Lin Qi whispered "thank you" and then cut the cake.
Just a few hundred meters away, Simon had just returned home.
The salon they organized this time made his already low spirits even more depressed.
At the meeting, Lin Qi stated that he would not interfere in the competition between businessmen, but he would not allow any malicious competition to occur.
He spoke of what he considered to be cutthroat competition, but in Simon's view, Lin Qi was simply preventing people from violating some local laws and possibly Federal laws, or rather, he was actually suppressing local foreign businessmen like Simon.
Because they have been here longer and are more familiar with the local society and its various aspects, if someone were to resort to criminal acts to attack a competitor, it would undoubtedly be someone like Simon, who has deep local connections.
Lin Qi established rules to regulate local foreign businessmen, but failed to regulate malicious competitive practices such as runs and bidding wars.
These are the two situations that almost all businessmen fear most, whether it's the former or the latter.
There are many ways to cause a product shortage, the most common being returns. Don't think that the concept of returns doesn't exist in this era. As long as customers feel that the product is not good, they can request a refund.
Whether or not to refund may be a choice for the merchant, but if not refunding leads to a dispute, the merchant will bear the consequences.
But if someone returns the item, and another person buys it and returns it, does he still need to restock? If he doesn't restock, he has nothing to sell.
Purchasing goods and returning them will cause inventory buildup and tie up a lot of his capital.
Not to mention the even more terrifying bidding wars here. Price wars can wipe out merchants' fortunes. During the Preton Merchant House era, they directly set standard prices, or protective prices, to ensure the interests of every distributor. This is how they managed to get everyone to support the Preton Merchant House. Now all of that is gone.
The Federal merchants have a greater advantage than them; they are no match for Federal at all. Perhaps leaving now is the best decision they can make.
He frowned and went into his study, summoning his butler. "Find out the value of all my properties, land, factories, and shops..."
He tried to make his words sound casual, but the butler still sensed something was off. After a moment's hesitation, the butler tentatively asked, "Master, are you planning to leave?"
"Leave?" Simon laughed. "Of course not. I met some Federal merchants at the salon this afternoon. These people are very arrogant. I've decided to teach them a lesson and let them know that even without the Preton Merchant House, we are still half the owners here!"
These were very assertive remarks, but they didn't convince the butler that it was all true.
As he was pondering how to further dispel the suspicion on the housekeeper's face, Simon's gaze inadvertently fell upon his son by the edge of the yard, chatting with a young man through a low wall of plants.
He frowned, but quickly relaxed. He had no intention of taking the child and his mother with him; he only intended to leave alone.
Not long after, the butler came out of the study and ran into the young master, who had just finished chatting. The young master immediately noticed the worry on the butler's face.
As a good child who strives to prove himself, he is also very meticulous and observant.
He walked over to the butler and asked softly, "Grandpa Butler, what's wrong? You seem to be troubled by something."