Chapter 263: The Deputy Minister

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Argyll, who didn’t have the right to speak, definitely wouldn’t say anything about this batch of crossbows. Moreover, the quality of these crossbows was too good to raise any doubts from the public.

“Brother Chen, my buddy, I have requested the Commerce of Chamber of the Kingdom to buy us a lot of silver coins from the orcs. It is expected that these valuable metals will be carried back again in five days. Do you think it is…”

“What are you trying to say?” Chen Fan turned around doubtfully, and gave him a glance. “Please say it to me directly!”

“Oh, haha…” Argyll showed a moment of rare hesitation. “I remembered that you once said that you could get more powerful weapons to sell. But now, do you think it is…”

“This….um….yes, I did say that before!” said Chen Fan,while pinching his forehead between his eyebrows and making the eel unload the last batch of metals from the boat. “Every step is a process, so keep in mind that you must go step by step very carefully. The reason why I don’t sell powerful weapons here, is because there is this restriction in my city. Moreover, these weapons are extremely rare, meaning that I will need a lot of time for to find a proper market for it.”

Argyll smiled reluctantly at Chen Fan’s words, despite his doubts regarding the honesty held within them. The loading and unloading continued until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. As soon as they agreed to hold the second transaction here in five days, Argyll hopped into his hovercraft and left in a hurry.

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Looking at the pile of shiny silver in the cave, Chen Fan laughed like a thief who had successfully committed a heist. There was no more profitable trade in this world than this trade! What made it even more ridiculous, was that this trade could only be done by Chen Fan himself!

Now that the valuable palladium and gold had been acquired, the next stage was to trade them for money. Upon getting the items, Chen Fan gave Zhang Xueyang a call, as he was the person who had ordered Chen Fan to retrieve the palladium in the first place.

‘Wow! How did you manage to make it in this short while? Are you coming by aircraft?’ Zhang Xueyang was shocked, when he picked up the call and heard the news from Chen Fan. “It is a thousand miles away from South Africa to his place, and then it takes ten and a half days for an average cargo ship to reach here! I’ll contact the customer for you first. Please go to the tea house, where we met last time. I’ll tell you the overall situation once I get there!”

Half an hour later, Chen Fan arrived at the tea house in Caiyi Street with his Maybach 62s Zeppelin. He then ordered the most expensive tea available from the waiter, while he was waiting for the arrival of Zhang Xueyang.

“Wow, buddy! You really do know how to enjoy yourself here,” said Zhang Xueyang, as he caught the fragrant smell of the tea as he entered the room. He sniffed a few nosefuls of the fragrant air, then took a cup of tea from Chen Fan’s table and drank it.

“Buddy! Can’t we just drink a bit, while having this conversation here?” said Zhang Xueyang, looking horribly drunk. Chen Fan quickly grabbed the tea pot and held it to his chest.

“Chen, my buddy! Do you know how much the price a gram of palladium has risen recently in the market?” said Zhang Xueyang, as he sat down. “It takes only five days for the price to rise from two hundred to two hundred and thirty, which means that its price is rising even faster than petroleum’s! If this situation continues, it would be impossible for us to survive the days.”

“It’s not possible for the price to keep on rising like this, right?”

“Well, it is not possible on paper, because the country will not simply look on and do nothing, at least not when the entire high-tech industry is being disrupted, since it is the very root of the country!”

Zhang Xueyang took a sip of the sweet tea, then turned his face to Chen Fan. “Have you settled your previous case with the police?”

“Nope!” said Chen Fan, as he pinched his eyebrows. “It has been a long while since they last came to me. As long as I do not go to the airport or register for a hotel using my name, I should be fine.”

For Chen Fan’s case, it was possible to write it off the books. Ma Rongtao had a conversation with him about this all before. As long as he surrendered himself to the Public Security Bureau, he would be able to apply for a release for medical treatment.

Zhang Xueyang deepened his voice and spoke mysteriously, “The client that I introduced to you could help you in settling the case in the Public Security Bureau, which is a piece of cake for them.”

“How simple is that for them?”

“As simple as reciting your ABC’s! You don’t even need to go to the Public Security Bureau!”

Chen Fan blinked his eyes, showing his doubt. Even Ma Rongtao, who was the richest man, had some difficulties in settling his affairs. Is this Zhang Xueyang a secretary of the municipal party committee, who could somehow get it done with only a few words?

“Actually, this customer that I’ve contacted is from the military!” Zhang Xueyang whispered to Chen Fan. “Do you remember the last time, when I told you that my family took over the parts of the TianHai Aircraft Manufacturing? It was with help from the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Military Supplies department of the TianHai Naval District. This person had some relative relationships with my family. He often brought in some military parts for our foundry. A few days ago, I requested that my father make a call to him to ask if he could get in touch with any supplier, who could provide a large amount of metal palladium. He told us that, if the price offered was reasonable, he was definitely up for this deal, and that he would supply us with as much palladium as we want.”

“No way…” Chen Fan shook his head upon hearing this. “If the military found out that I am the one who is supplying them with such a huge amount of palladium, they would definitely suspect my identity. Instead of helping me solve my case, they would probably have me arrested or brought to jail!”

“Do you think that the military is like a landlord from the old society? Or have you just been reading too much sci-fi?” said Zhang Xueyang, rolling his eyes. “Apart from the harsh requirement of the products itself, the Military Procurement department is the best customer you could have. They will pay us the money right after the products pass the inspection. Have you ever noticed that all of the military regions are building their own supplement bidding websites? A lot of companies were trying to squeeze into this business, because once they manage to enter the market, it symbolizes that their company provides the best products among the competitors in the same industry.”

He continued, excited. “As for the investigation or imprisonment you mentioned, it is simply nonsense. It is not even illegal to import military supplies from an overseas country. Therefore, do you think that there is a need for some James Bond to exist in this business? It is a direct harmony internationally, as within the Military Procurement Department,no idiots are allowed! They understand that nothing done forcibly is going to be agreeable. They see it simply that, you can provide the items they need, therefore, there is no reason for them to ruin their channel of obtaining strategic metals by arresting you!”

“Furthermore, whether your background is clean or not, they wouldn’t care about it. You tell me, how many rich man are actually clean? Also, how many officials nowadays are innocent? They only recognize or care about their political achievements and strategic metals. If you could manage to provide a huge amount of strategic metals for them abroad, they would treat you like a king.”

Chen Fan was somewhat satisfied by this reasoning. “I can somehow agree with that, but when you talk about dealing with the military, I am still in a slight state of turmoil. After all, there are more than a hundred tons of palladium in my hands, and if they were to be transferred into cash, it is enough to build a freeway!”

“The holding assets, which are owned by the King of Beverage, Zong Qinghou, are more than enough to build ten freeways, and he is still living well” said Zhang Xueyang, while slamming his forehead with his palm. “How about we take it slowly? Let’s try to sell them a few tons first, just to test the waters.”