America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 434 Joking and Banter

That evening, when Massim and Cicero appeared before Ernst, Cicero saw that his expression was only somewhat unpleasant, as if he was about to pounce on him and tear him apart.

"Hey, Massim! Long time no see. You still look as energetic as ever, but your complexion... have you encountered something unpleasant lately?" Ernst was not affected by the other party at all, and greeted him with a warm smile. He didn't give Massim a chance to refuse at all and gave him a solid hug with open arms.

Massim didn't raise his hand at all, his whole body radiating resistance.

Ernst's smile was practically overflowing, and after the hug, he patted Ma on the shoulder.

"Judging from your travel-worn appearance, you must not have had dinner yet, right?" Ernst rubbed his hands together, his tone unusually warm. "Today, I'm hosting to show my hospitality."

Ernst's first sentence was nothing special, but his next sentence made Cook want to find a whip and hand it to Massim himself.

"It just so happens that today is the launch of AiTech's new product, and there's still a lot of food left over. Shall we go and try some?" Ernst showed no embarrassment whatsoever, as if this was some kind of incredible perk.

Cook almost blurted out, "How about I pay for this meal?"

They ripped off a nearly $100 million order, and instead of going to a high-end restaurant, they treated the customer to leftovers.

This isn't a one-off deal; all the thermal paper those stores need from now on will have to go through AIT's channels.

Although the profit margin isn't very high and the price is cheap, the sheer number of stores and the large volume of usage make it a reliable source of income.

It's still a robbery-style forced sale; you have no choice but to buy.

You're not going to buy it?

Okay, then from now on, if there are any problems with the equipment in the store, don't even think about contacting AiTech's after-sales service.

In the end, all you'll get is a dismissive "Oh, that's a problem with the printing paper. Go find the manufacturer that sold you the paper. It has nothing to do with our AiTech."

If it's a genuine fault, they'll tamper with it in the background, and you won't be able to find the cause on your machine.

Even if you know perfectly well that it was the flash sale company that did this, but they insist that there's something wrong with your machine, all you can do is get furious and jump up and down.

Cook had no doubt that Ernst was capable of such a wicked scheme, and that he could do it without any psychological burden.

He secretly glanced at Massim's face, and sure enough, the other man's face was so black it could drip ink.

"Ernst, you'd better give me an explanation." Massim's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth, every word carrying a chilling edge. If looks could kill, Ernst would probably be unrecognizable by now.

"Explanation?" Ernst blinked blankly, as if he didn't understand what he was talking about, and then affectionately put his arm around Massim's shoulder, as if the two were really brothers who grew up wearing the same pair of pants.

"You mean the price of the previous order? Hey, you're being too polite! What kind of relationship do we have? Would I rip you off? It's only $980 a set, I don't mind making a little less profit. If you keep being so polite, I might really get angry!"

Cook stood to the side, his lips twitching involuntarily.

"I'm not talking about the price." Massim's voice suddenly rose, his suppressed anger finally showing signs of erupting. "I'm talking about the equipment. Why didn't you tell me sooner that every store needed to add an extra set of equipment?"

Ernst's eyes widened instantly, and his mouth opened for a long time, but he couldn't make a sound, as if there was something wrong with his throat.

With that expression, anyone who didn't know better would think that Massim had said something outrageous.

After a long while, he said with an incredulous look on his face, "I told you before, stores need to send information through the platform to receive orders."

As soon as he finished speaking, he clapped his hands as if he had suddenly realized something. "I thought this was like saying I have to use toilet paper if I need to take a dump. Such basic common sense, I didn't expect you to not understand..."

Upon hearing this, Massim's face darkened even more, and Cook, standing beside him, almost burst out laughing, quickly lowering his head and pretending to straighten his tie.

Ernst immediately put on an apologetic expression, warmly inviting the two to sit down, and then said self-reproachfully, "Oh dear, it's all my fault, I didn't explain it clearly to you. What do we do now? If the store misses orders because of a lack of equipment, it will be a real problem."

His changing expression made anyone who didn't know better think he was the one who had been scammed; he seemed more anxious than anyone else.

Massim just watched him act coldly, probably knowing that there was no way to change the situation.

At this point, there's no point in worrying about whether it's a rip-off or not; we definitely need to add equipment and pay for it anyway.

However, Massim did not completely give up. He said in a somewhat rogue tone, "Fine, I accept the equipment issue, but I want to invest in AiTech."

In fact, from the moment he got off the plane, Massim received a message from the Boston consortium, telling him that if he had the chance, he should definitely get some shares in ITech.

So Massim had a dark expression on his face from the moment he entered, partly because he was angry about being scammed, and partly because he was paving the way for this whole thing.

First, establish a firm stance; then you'll be better positioned to negotiate terms later.

"No problem." Ernst's answer stunned not only Massim but also Cook; it was incredibly straightforward.

"Although ITech isn't planning on raising funds right now, what kind of relationship do we have? If you want to invest, I'll definitely give you the green light."

"How about this, if you really want to invest, I'll let you have all the Series A funding?"

Seeing Cook's secretary walk in with coffee, Ernst quickly stood up, took the cup himself, and handed it to Massim.

"As for the valuation, I'll give you $400 billion. Isn't that a reasonable price?"

"Pfft—" Massim spat out the coffee he had just drunk, splattering it all over his suit jacket.

"Are you alright?" Ernst quickly grabbed a few tissues, wiping the coffee stains off Massim's suit while turning to Cook's secretary and yelling, "Useless! You can't even make a proper cup of coffee. Are you trying to scald Mr. Massim to death?"

The secretary felt a little wronged. Was the other person spitting it out because of the coffee?

She instinctively turned to look at her boss, Cook, but Cook quickly looked away, his gaze drifting out the window, the meaning clear: there was nothing he could do.

"Ernst, are you kidding me?" Massim's voice was as cold as ice.

"You think I'm kidding you?" Ernst immediately suppressed his anger, his face showing a wronged expression that seemed to say, "How could you think of me like that?" "You know that the overall price-to-earnings ratio on Nasdaq has already soared to around 60, right?"

"I guarantee that AIT's net profit this year will definitely exceed one billion US dollars! Do the math, one billion US dollars in net profit, at a valuation of 40 billion US dollars, the price-to-earnings ratio is less than 400. How can this be called playing you? This is clearly me giving you a discount!"

Massim stared intently at him, his eyes blazing with fury. "You know that's Nasdaq?"

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and continued, "According to Apple's latest financial report, their sales this year are estimated at around $59 billion, with a net profit of approximately $3.1 million. However, Apple's current market capitalization is only $53 billion, and its price-to-earnings ratio is just over 17."

At this point, Massim emphasized, his tone slightly sarcastic: "You're a major shareholder of Apple; I think you should know more about Apple than anyone else."

"You actually compared iTech to Apple?" Ernst's eyes widened even more as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"Apple's net profit margin is only 5%, while Keai Technology's net profit margin can reach over 10%. Can these be compared?"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, "Besides, Apple was facing bankruptcy just a year ago, while KeI Technology? Their first product amazed the world, selling like hotcakes as soon as it hit the market. Can its development potential be compared to Apple's?"

Ernst, like a menopausal old lady, rambled on about the differences between Apple and iTech, completely oblivious to Massim's unpleasant expression.

"Alright." Massim finally couldn't take it anymore and didn't want to watch Ernst continue acting.

"Give me a reasonable price, and in return, I can give you some insider information about Amazon. I'm sure this information will be very important to you."

Seeing that Massim's expression was serious and earnest, and didn't seem to be lying, Ernst finally dropped his playful demeanor and became more serious, though still with a hint of teasing in his voice, "Even if I give you a discount, can you afford that much money?"

The Boston consortium can definitely provide the money.

Let alone financing, even acquiring Ivy Technology wouldn't be a problem.

The key issue is that such a large investment would be too much for the Boston consortium to handle if it were to fail.

If Ernst were to summarize why the Boston Consortium has reached this point, it would be through cowardice.

When they started out selling slaves, they were fearless and ruthless, having nothing to lose.

Now that we have shoes, we're afraid of wearing them out and getting them dirty.

"That's our business. You should give us a price first." Massim was somewhat displeased; Ernst's teasing had clearly angered him.

"I want to know the information you've given me about Amazon before I decide how much that information is worth."