That evening, Lin Chen arrived at Xu Group to pick up Xu Mengyao.
"Wife, what are you thinking about?"
"Why do you look so worried?"
He wrapped his arms around her and asked.
"We'll talk in the car."
Xu Mengyao replied.
The two got into the car. Lin Chen started the engine and headed toward her parents' house to pick up Lin Xiaoqian.
"Wife, what's wrong?" Lin Chen asked.
Xu Mengyao frowned slightly.
"Honey, do you remember Tianhe Group?"
Lin Chen nodded.
"Of course. The company Pan Jia and the others established together. Are they targeting your company?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"They snatched one of our major contracts. It was a very large order, and now our drone business is under tremendous pressure."
"If we stop the production lines, the workers won't have any work. But if we keep producing, our inventory will pile up, and we may have to slash prices just to clear stock."
"Honey, we may have to postpone our trip to Yili. I need to focus on solving our drone sales problem first."
Lin Chen asked, "Isn't this something your subordinates are supposed to handle?"
Xu Mengyao nodded.
"Normally, yes. But such a huge gap appeared all of a sudden, so I may have to step in personally."
"I'll have to visit some of our major clients."
"How big is the gap?" Lin Chen asked.
"One hundred thousand drones."
She rubbed her temples.
"Our production lines can manufacture about five thousand drones a day at full capacity. To maintain normal operations, we need to produce at least two thousand a day."
"Tianhe Group obviously came prepared. They caught us completely off guard."
"It's also possible that the customer intended to cancel the order from the very beginning. Even if they pay the penalty for breaching the contract, it isn't much."
Lin Chen asked, "What's the profit per drone?"
Xu Mengyao replied,
"Our gross margin when selling to retailers is about thirty percent. Retailers still have their own operating costs, so their actual profit is probably under ten percent."
"Drone profits used to be much higher, but the market has become extremely competitive."
Lin Chen smiled.
"Wife, don't worry anymore."
"Produce fifty thousand of the drone model I asked you to make. The production cost is around two thousand yuan each, right? I'll buy them for three thousand yuan apiece."
Xu Mengyao froze.
A moment later, she shook her head.
"Honey, that's not okay."
"Buying them yourself may ease the company's pressure temporarily, but purchasing so many drones serves no real purpose."
"You can't possibly need that many for research."
Lin Chen laughed.
"They're not for my own use."
"I'm buying them so I can resell them."
"Is three thousand yuan per unit acceptable?"
"You didn't deliberately quote me a low price, did you?"
Xu Mengyao replied,
"Three thousand yuan each is perfectly fine."
"And with such a large order, the production cost can be reduced even further."
"The gross margin would probably exceed thirty-five percent."
"Honey... you're not lying to me?"
Lin Chen shook his head.
"Of course not."
"The buyer is Prince Hayel from the Camel Kingdom. He likes my drones and is willing to pay this price."
He held up one finger.
Xu Mengyao looked surprised.
"Ten thousand yuan each? Including your control system, that's still a pretty good price."
"Ten thousand U.S. dollars each."
Lin Chen corrected.
"Hiss!"
Xu Mengyao couldn't believe it.
The drone itself only cost about two thousand yuan to manufacture. Even including the control system, the total cost was no more than four thousand yuan.
Yet it could be sold to the Camel Kingdom for ten thousand U.S. dollars each?
"Honey," Lin Chen continued, "outside shareholders own nearly half of Xu Group. If I bought them at that selling price, our family would actually be taking a loss."
"So what do you think about three thousand yuan per drone?"
Xu Mengyao nodded.
"That's a fair price."
"The main reason those drones can sell for that much is your control system. That's what they're really interested in."
"The drone itself isn't worth nearly that much."
Lin Chen asked,
"Your shortfall is one hundred thousand drones. Will an order for fifty thousand be enough to relieve the pressure?"
Xu Mengyao nodded.
"Definitely."
"Unless the buyer needs them urgently, the production lines won't operate at full capacity. Normally, we only produce around three thousand units a day."
"We still have some smaller orders. Combined with this fifty-thousand-unit order, it'll keep the company going for quite a while."
Lin Chen smiled.
"Good. Then it's settled."
"So we don't have to postpone our trip to Yili anymore, right?"
Xu Mengyao nodded happily.
"Mhm."
"Thank you, honey."
Not far from Xu Group...
Inside Tianhe Group's president's office, Pan Jia wore a faint smile.
She served as Tianhe Group's vice president, while Zheng Qingshan was the president.
Pan Jia's husband's family owned 30% of the company, the Zheng family owned 40%, and the Witt Family—backing Edmund—held the remaining 30%.
"President Zheng, I'm afraid Xu Group won't have an easy time getting through this crisis."
Pan Jia chuckled.
"Xu Mengyao is supposed to fly to Yili tomorrow to take wedding photos. I wonder if she'll still be in the mood after this little surprise."
Zheng Qingshan said calmly,
"Vice President Pan, undermining competitors is part of business."
"But we shouldn't let personal emotions influence our decisions."
"Everything we do must be for the company's development."
Pan Jia nodded.
"Isn't that why you're here to keep things under control?"
"I'll handle the dirty tricks, and you'll make sure the company runs smoothly."
"Our first goal is to swallow up Xu Group's drone division."
Zheng Qingshan smiled faintly.
"As soon as their production lines stop, immediately spread negative news about them."
"If the factories shut down, people will assume there are production problems. Future customers will think twice before buying from them."
"We need to drag them into a vicious cycle."
Pan Jia smiled and nodded.
"No problem."
"I'll make sure the news spreads internationally."
"I'll ruin all of their overseas business while I'm at it."
"And if they don't stop production?" she asked.
Zheng Qingshan smiled.
"Then their inventory will continue piling up."
"We'll keep stealing their customers, increasing their stock pressure until they're forced into a corner."
"I actually hope Xu Mengyao still goes ahead with her wedding photo trip."
"If she neglects the company because of personal matters, we'll have another angle to attack her."
Pan Jia nodded.
If Xu Mengyao personally visited important clients, someone of her status might still be able to resolve the crisis. Even Xu Guofeng stepping in might not be as effective.
After all, the drone business had been built by Xu Mengyao herself.
Pan Jia and the others had deliberately chosen this timing to strike.
About an hour later, Lin Chen and Xu Mengyao arrived at the Xu residence.
Xu Guofeng had also just returned.
He had been out of town handling business and had only just gotten back to Shanghai.
"Mengyao, I've already heard about the drone orders being stolen."
"Don't worry about the company."
"Go to Yili with Lin Chen, enjoy yourselves, and take your wedding photos."
"I'll handle everything here."
He called Xu Mengyao into the study and said.
However, Xu Mengyao looked completely relaxed.
"Dad, it's already been resolved."
"My husband placed an order for fifty thousand drones."
Xu Guofeng was stunned.
"Does that really help?"
"He has no use for that many drones."
Xu Mengyao smiled.
"Dad, I'll let him explain it to you."
"Alright."
She went outside to call Lin Chen in while she stayed behind to play games with Lin Xiaoqian.
Lin Chen then explained the whole situation to Xu Guofeng.
Xu Guofeng frowned thoughtfully.
"Why would Prince Hayel buy so many?"
"If he just wanted to reserve a dinner appointment with you, he wouldn't spend hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars."
"The oil tycoons are rich, but they aren't fools."
"In the past, they spent huge sums buying those 'fire sticks' (weapons), but those weapons protected their peace for decades."
Lin Chen replied,
"He was attacked today..."
He didn't tell Xu Mengyao about the sniper attack, but there was no issue discussing it with Xu Guofeng.
-----------------------
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