Showing His True Colors

The freedom Yu Mingyuan gave Su Tianyu at work, and the care he lavished on him in his personal life, had already gone far beyond what a normal boss would offer. It left Su Tianyu feeling more than a little uneasy.

If this working relationship had nothing to do with the Su Family, Su Tianyu could certainly have waited patiently for Yu Mingyuan to show his true colors and tell him what he wanted. But the situation was different. Su Tianyu was just a lone nobody. He had ability, but there was nowhere in this company to demonstrate it, and he had very little else to offer. If Yu Mingyuan treated him this well, he had to be after the Su Family.

Su Tianyu certainly couldn't keep cashing in on the Su Family's value, eating and drinking with Yu Mingyuan every day like some clueless idiot. Once that debt of favors grew too large, it would be hard to repay.

Left with no other choice, Su Tianyu came up with a strategy: stop trying altogether.

You're giving me special treatment, aren't you? Then I'll push my luck as far as it'll go!

For five days straight, Su Tianyu not only arrived late, left early, and frequently skipped work, but also barely spent any time at the company during the day. His phone was either switched off or went unanswered. Even Yu Mingyuan couldn't get hold of him.

And sure enough, it worked. Yu Mingyuan thought Su Tianyu no longer wanted the job and intended to resign, so he sent him a message telling him he absolutely had to come to the office the next day for a talk.

Early the next morning, Su Tianyu arrived at the company at the usual starting time and walked into Yu Mingyuan's office with a grin. "Mingyuan."

"Heh, getting to see you isn't easy." Yu Mingyuan glanced at him. "Come on, sit down."

"Sure." Su Tianyu dropped casually into a chair.

"What have you been busy with these past few days? Why haven't I seen you around?" Yu Mingyuan asked quietly from behind his desk.

"There wasn't much for me to do here, and a few friends of mine happened to come back to Dragon City. We've been getting together these past few days." Su Tianyu offered an offhand excuse.

"Tianyu, the company has only just been established..." Yu Mingyuan still wanted to keep things vague in his conversation with Dog Six.

"Mingyuan, I've been thinking it over these past few days. Out of everyone in this company, I'm the only one with nothing to do. Staying here really makes me uncomfortable. Those friends of mine who came back happen to want to start something too, so... how about I hand in my resignation?" Su Tianyu said, looking troubled.

The two looked at each other, and Yu Mingyuan suddenly broke into a grin. "Heh, playing games with me?"

"Mingyuan, which one of us is playing games with the other?!" Su Tianyu shot back, picking up right where he had left off.

Yu Mingyuan paused, then pointed at Su Tianyu. "Ah, I was planning to wait until the company settled down before talking to you, but you... you're way too impatient."

"It's not that I'm impatient. You've made me too nervous." Su Tianyu smiled. "For a while, I thought you wanted to sleep with me."

"Hahaha!" Yu Mingyuan laughed. "That frame of yours couldn't handle my gun."

"Then what is it, exactly? You've got to tell me so I can do a better job for you!" Su Tianyu pressed.

Yu Mingyuan picked up his teacup, considered his words for a while, then said, "Actually, I made you the general manager's assistant because I really did see your ability..."

"Oh, give it a rest. Skip the buildup. All I do here every day is drink tea and sleep. What ability could I possibly show?" Su Tianyu waved a hand. "Let's get straight to the substance."

Looking at Su Tianyu, Yu Mingyuan suddenly pulled open his desk drawer and took out two packs of cigarettes. "Recognize these?"

"Sure. Dajiu cigarettes, an old brand from the former District Nine." Puzzled, Su Tianyu asked, "What about them?"

"Do you know how much a pack sells for in Dragon City?" Yu Mingyuan asked.

"Eleven bucks a pack, I think."

"And do you know how much it sells for in the Chinese District?" Yu Mingyuan asked again.

"How would I know that? I haven't been to the Chinese District for as long as I can remember." Su Tianyu shook his head.

"Three fifty."

"...!" Su Tianyu didn't respond immediately.

Holding the cigarette pack, Yu Mingyuan said quietly, "For cigarettes priced above fifty bucks a carton, import duties, consumption tax, and fixed-rate tax add up to roughly fifty percent of the purchase price. Then transport, wholesale, and retail each take their cut. By the time these cigarettes reach the sales counter, their cost is nearly three times what it is back home."

Su Tianyu listened silently.

"Most people in Dragon City are ethnic Chinese. A lot of our habits aren't going to change, especially when it comes to cigarettes and alcohol. We prefer the taste of home." Yu Mingyuan patiently continued, "You know that most cigarettes overseas use blended tobacco, while we're used to flue-cured tobacco. It's the same with alcohol. Over here, it's mostly foreign spirits, red wine, grape wine, and the like. They don't quite suit our tastes."

Su Tianyu had already guessed what Yu Mingyuan was going to say next, and immediately asked, "If the tastes are different, why not just produce our own?"

Yu Mingyuan looked at Su Tianyu, his eyes lighting up. "You really are smart."

"Heh, stop buttering me up." Su Tianyu said quietly, "Dragon City has a fair amount of land. Producing our own and becoming self-sufficient shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Self-sufficiency isn't a problem. Tax revenue is." Yu Mingyuan went straight to the heart of it. "Whether before Year Zero or now, import taxes on tobacco and alcohol have always been high. And since our tastes are so Eastern, the annual tax revenue from this trade is far beyond anything you can imagine. Forget the present for a moment. Look at the years before Year Zero. When didn't tobacco tax revenues run into the trillions? They could match military spending! If we became self-sufficient, Dragon City and District One would lose the import taxes on these products. Do you understand what I mean?"

Su Tianyu caught on immediately. "Got it."

"Dragon City has its own tobacco company, but only the authorities can operate it. At our level, we can't get a slice of that enormous pie yet. But they do a lousy job anyway. Their products are poor, so they aren't competitive. Right now, Dragon City still relies mainly on imports for tobacco and alcohol." Yu Mingyuan looked at Su Tianyu excitedly and lowered his voice. "I have channels to source the goods. Your Su Family's workers are all over Zhannan District. They can handle delivery and sales. If you're willing, the goods come in by sea and get distributed the moment they hit land. Just think what kind of future that could give us."

Su Tianyu blinked. "I doubt my second uncle would go for it. Isn't this just smuggling? It's illegal...!"

"No, you've got it wrong. This isn't smuggling. These are special goods brought in through special-supply channels, with written authorization. It's hard to explain in a sentence or two, so don't rush to judgment." Yu Mingyuan glanced down at his watch. "Tell you what, come out with me and meet a few people. Then you'll understand."

"All right." Su Tianyu nodded.

About half an hour later, inside a quiet teahouse in Zhannan District.

Yu Mingyuan sat at the head of the table and waited a while before smiling at Su Tianyu. "Someone you know will be here soon."

Su Tianyu paused, then immediately guessed who it was.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, the private room's door opened, and a familiar figure walked in.