America: My Time

Chapter 159 Fear
Chapter 159 Fear

Exporting spare parts is something not every company can do; exports mean foreign exchange! I don't think Vice Minister Liu's words were just casual remarks, so he presented his plan and a win-win solution.

"Mr. John attaches great importance to sales. Bentley Group completed its sales layout in the United States not long after its establishment. Is there another reason for this?" As the Consul General in San Francisco, he naturally knew some of John's situation in the United States. The Bentley Group 4S store incident caused quite a stir, and now he suddenly learned that Bentley Group controlled an auto parts sales company in the United States, which made him somewhat suspicious!

"Sales are very important. Bentley Group doesn't want to be controlled by others, whether upstream or downstream. Car production requires many suppliers, but key components need to be in our own hands. Most of the parts suppliers in the United States were spun off from the major car giants, which is one of the reasons why Bentley is unwilling to build a factory in the United States! Labor costs in Europe are too high and not suitable. Asia has the lowest labor costs, so it is the most suitable."

Among the many companies relocating from the US, many have chosen Asia. Bentley Motors Group, wanting to grow and expand, naturally needs its own complete supply chain—a supply chain not controlled by others. We don't want to be held hostage at crucial moments. If there are no issues with investment here, I personally would like to invest in clothing, food, and other light industrial products as a supplier for the Southern Company! Controlling the Southern Company would provide an enormous supply for the entire 7-Eleven convenience store chain. Establishing several reliable production bases in China would also be highly beneficial for 7-Eleven's development!
Although this wasn't a formal negotiation, with everyone showing sincerity, there were naturally no obstacles. If it weren't for the fact that he was being watched by a group of old guys, John wouldn't be under so much pressure. Those bastards were all waiting for him to make a mistake. In this situation, he had to be extremely careful to avoid any bigger surprises. Hong Kong Telecom had just dealt him a blow at a crucial moment; if he hadn't reacted quickly enough, he would have suffered heavy losses.

After the meeting concluded, the details were quickly reported. John's investment was not a problem, and naturally, there would be no problem on the Chinese side either! In fact, John was overthinking it. Since China had invited him, it would naturally have shown the utmost sincerity. Such boldness is something that leaders have never lacked!
When John was in China, the Hong Kong Telecom scandal broke out, which had a huge impact on the United States. A terrifying storm was brewing, and everyone was waiting for John's companies to react and for the media group to explode!
Wall Street was also in turmoil at this time. Their thoughts were very different from those of the outside world. Those old guys finally had some different opinions, not only for John, but also for Morgan.

"Gentlemen, have we made a mistake? We have always underestimated Morgan, thinking that Morgan was aiming for the listing of Game World and Dream World. In fact, we were all wrong. Their goal is not that, but John himself. Look at how much profit John's companies have brought to Morgan. In just one year, Morgan has gained so much from John. Now Morgan has accepted a large number of acquisition offers!"

“That’s right. We really underestimated Morgan. We thought everything Morgan did was within our calculations. In fact, we were the fools, the ones being calculated. I’m afraid those bastards Morgan are secretly overjoyed. Their annual income is several times that of us. I was wondering why that bastard was so protective of John. It was all for this moment.”

"What's the use of bringing this up? Everything has already happened. It's our fault for not discovering it in the first place. If we had discovered it earlier, if we had noticed it before they plotted against John, things wouldn't be like this now. It's too late to regret it now. Even if we want to ease tensions, that kid won't give us the acquisition offer unless you want to block Morgan's acquisition. If you have that idea, I won't participate. I don't want to bear Morgan's wrath!"

"Stop them? No, we never had such an idea. If you're not as skilled as others, you'll be beaten. We don't have Morgan's vision, so it's our own fault. We can't cut off someone's livelihood. If we can stop Morgan, why can't Morgan stop us? If a major war breaks out, none of us will benefit!"

"Since we don't want to stop Morgan, and we can't ease tensions, what's the point of saying all this?"

"Gentlemen, do you think we can use the Englishman to dig a big hole for John, forcing him to release the game world ahead of schedule? Wouldn't that give us an opportunity?"

"Are you crazy? Do you think the British are so easily fooled? And do you really think that bastard John won't have any countermeasures? Don't forget how Warner Bros. failed, and look at Disney—it was in complete chaos. That bastard went straight to Tokyo and confronted Disneyland head-on. And now you want to provoke him again? Do you think we're in enough trouble already, or do you think the British are a bunch of fools? Once that bastard retaliates, the British will be crying!"

"Tell me, do you know anything about this kid's counterattack that made the British cry?"

"I said your reaction was too slow. You've forgotten about Bentley Motors. That kid acquired the British car brand, formed Bentley Group, and is expanding like crazy. At this time, the British are deliberately provoking that bastard. What else can he do?"

"Withdrawal of investment? You mean Bentley Group is withdrawing its investment? That's insane! The impact will be terrible!" "Impact? Do you think that brat will be afraid because he controls the media group? Even if there is an impact, it's only against the British. It might not be as simple as withdrawing investment. This kid might just relocate Bentley Motors Group. If that happens, what do you think the British will do?"

"Relocating an automotive group? You must be joking. If relocating an automotive company were easy, GM and Ford would have done it long ago. Who would stay in the US? It's a huge cost. Are you sure that kid can do it?"

"Sigh, you still don't understand the true situation of the Bentley Motors Group. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a group with several car brands; it's not that big. Relocating isn't as difficult as you think, and if you do, the impact will be extremely negative. The reputation of the British will be ruined. My information is that the kid has already abandoned the acquisition of the British car brand Leyland Trucks and canceled the construction of Bentley's European manufacturing center."

"Is it necessary for Bentley to build a European manufacturing center? Is it necessary for a brand that relies on handcrafting luxury cars to build such a manufacturing center?"

“It’s necessary. You all know that Bentley has its own R&D department in the United States, and they have already developed new cars, mid-range brand cars, and even luxury cars. The luxury cars have completed the test vehicles and passed the approval of that kid’s security company. They were even secretly transported to the Middle East and gained the approval of those tycoons. So Bentley has opened up the market in the Middle East. Do you think it’s necessary for them to establish a manufacturing center in Europe?”

It has to be said that these old guys are really amazing. They even know the biggest secrets within the Bentley Group. It seems that these old guys have really made a change, and even a company like Bentley Motors is keeping a close eye on them.

"If that's the case, it's indeed necessary. But this will cause a lot of trouble for the British. Didn't they investigate Bentley Motors properly before taking action? Didn't they study how bad John's character is? They acted rashly, causing such serious consequences for a small company like Hong Kong Telecom!"

"This isn't just a small-time issue with Hong Kong Telecom; our Wall Street counterparts are also involved. It's not entirely the British targeting just that bastard John; our Wall Street colleagues are also involved. It's just that this time they've chosen the wrong opponent. These bastards' arrogance is utterly delusional. If that bastard John hadn't built up his think tank, his massive secretarial team, and his financial oversight, their plan might have succeeded. They could have bought time and delivered a fatal blow to Bell Labs. Now, that's impossible!"

"What does this have to do with Bell Labs?"

"Hong Kong Telecom has been brought under Bell Labs. It's not just us who have ideas about Dream World and that system; many more people on Wall Street have ideas, and they've even started taking action. However, this also causes us trouble. At Bell Labs, we've always been the villains, and we can't rule out that those bastards might want to use us as a shield!"

"Damn it, who's doing this? Daring to use us as a shield?" Upon hearing these words, some of the old guys were furious. This was outrageous! They were always the ones scheming against others, who dared to scheme against them and use them, these old guys, as a shield?

"Alright, if anyone has any thoughts on this issue, they can investigate it themselves. There are no secrets on Wall Street if you're willing to put your mind to it. Right now, our focus isn't on this issue, but on how to resolve our current predicament. As long as we don't take action, no matter how many schemes those bastards have, they're all worthless and will only end up failing. John isn't stupid either; he won't place all the blame on us before investigating. Besides, with Morgan around, there's even more opportunity for communication!"

(End of this chapter)