The negotiations with Zhou Qiming went very smoothly.
Something like this had happened before.
There was once a man who had gone to prison on charges of drug use.
In prison, he regretted it every day.
He blamed himself for having made the wrong choice.
When he was released, he resolved never to do drugs again.
Determined to quit, he went down to the countryside and lived raising cattle.
And so he spent several years without drugs.
The withdrawal was unbearably hard,
and every single day was painful, but somehow, he endured.
Then one day, a junkie he had known in the past came to visit.
The story went that the moment that junkie pulled out a stick, he thrust the stick in without hesitation.
The instant he saw the stick, he could not hold himself back.
Everything he had endured and withstood for years became meaningless, but he could not resist it.
That was the fate of junkies.
A destiny in which, whenever temptation came, they could not overcome it.
That was the life of junkies.
Zhou Qiming was no different.
Zhou Qiming was a junkie too.
No matter how much he denied it, his mind was fiercely craving Ascend.
Because he wanted to feel the thrill Ascend gave him, he had no choice but to become a meek lamb on his own.
“But, mister. There are a few additional conditions... can you accept them?”
“What are they?”
“I think I’ll have to take part of the distribution rights for Ascend.”
“Huh?”
“You know, the people who were distributing it before. We can’t just suddenly let them starve to death.”
“That’s true.”
“Twenty percent. I’ll take exactly twenty percent. You can handle the rest however you want. In return, you take care of the permits and all that.”
The reason I said twenty percent was to take care of the thug bastards who had been distributing Ascend before.
Han Lin had risked his life to give me information like that, and the others must have been pretty nervous because of Ascend too, so shouldn’t I compensate them for that?
They were thugs who had staked their lives on Ascend back when Ascend was nothing.
Now that Ascend was going into official distribution, I couldn’t just leave out the people who had been distributing it before.
If I did that, I’d be the thug.
So I set aside a twenty percent share for them to distribute.
And I decided to keep leaving the route between the Philippines and China to Jason.
I didn’t like strangers coming and going.
And Jason had to make a living too.
Jason had more than a few people he needed to take responsibility for.
This part was also agreed upon readily, without any issue.
To be honest, moving Ascend within China seemed like it would also make quite a lot of money, so I had considered asking for that too, but Zhou Qiming needed to have some source of money if he was going to work hard, didn’t he?
I decided to hand that over to Zhou Qiming.
“Twenty percent? If it’s twenty percent, that’s no problem.”
“In exchange, I’ll lower the price. I’m going to bring it down from the current fifty yuan per piece to twenty yuan.”
If you take something, you need to give something too.
I lowered the price far more than expected.
It was a sixty percent discount.
Since we were lowering the retail price by sixty percent, the price we actually supplied it at would be much lower.
Even so, I cut the price drastically.
Even when I had originally sold Ascend, I had repeatedly insisted that they not let it exceed fifty yuan.
It was precisely to lower the barrier to entry.
People had to try it to know it was good, and only after knowing that would they keep buying it.
Back then, there was danger pay involved, so we had to charge around fifty yuan, but now there was no such risk.
It had become a government-recognized recreational product.
It now stood shoulder to shoulder with cigarettes, energy drinks, functional foods, and the like.
So we needed to lower the price and let more people use it.
In economics, this was called a penetration pricing strategy.
The quantity that should have been handed out as samples.
The money that should have gone out as marketing costs was instead being earned as profit.
Right now, it was like I was selling samples for money.
Once they used it, they could not quit.
As long as they put it in their mouths just once, from then on they would crave it unconditionally.
That was Ascend.
Right now it was forty yuan, but later, they would have no choice but to open their wallets even at four hundred yuan.
So price was not important right now.
What mattered was getting even one more person to try it.
Of course, forty yuan was still a price that left more than enough profit.
At my words, Zhou Qiming was extremely pleased.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m not doing this to make money. Money isn’t important to me.”
“Then?”
“I’m doing this to help realize China’s dream.”
Zhou Qiming looked at me with a deeply moved expression.
He looked at me with the eyes of someone gazing upon a great hero of China.
This bastard hasn’t even taken the drug yet, and it’s already taking effect?
Does Ascend work just by looking at it?
“Thank you. You truly are China’s heart and its flame. Because of you, our China will be able to burn again. Let’s achieve the world’s greatest China together.”
I brushed off Zhou Qiming’s words with an ambiguous smile.
The world’s greatest China?
Would that be possible?
I thought it would be difficult.
In any case, the negotiations ended earlier than expected.
It was not as if I had presented extraordinary conditions, and Zhou Qiming also accepted all of those conditions without refusing.
In truth, even if I had demanded harsher conditions, Zhou Qiming would have accepted them all.
Zhou Qiming’s gaze did not leave Ascend even once.
I took Ascend out of my pocket and gave it to Zhou Qiming.
It was a large enough quantity that one could easily have found it strange to say it came from my pocket,
but Zhou Qiming, whose mind had been completely stolen by Ascend, had no doubts whatsoever and simply looked at Ascend with delight.
*****
Han Lin of Yeonggyeseon received a call from Alex telling him to prepare an Ascend store.
- A... a store?
“Yeah. We finished talking with the government. They said we can sell it officially.”
- Really?
“Yeah. They said they’ll issue the permit, so sell it.”
- It’s still hard to believe. This is...
“They say it’s not a drug. Apparently, that’s what the ingredients say. So you can sell it legally.”
Han Lin could predict the profits that would come from continuing to distribute Ascend.
It was not that he was trying to calculate them; it was like an old habit.
Calculating how much money he could make with this.
Once the calculation was over, words of gratitude came out of Han Lin’s mouth first.
- Thank you so much.
“No need to thank me. You gave me a lot of information all this time. It helped a lot.”
- If I hear any news in the future, I’ll contact you right away.
“Good.”
- I’ll make the store big and flashy too.
“Ah! As for the store, there’s a separate design. So just proceed according to that.”
- Even a design. You’re truly amazing, hyungnim. I’ll serve you as my hyungnim from now on too.
“Forget it. I’ll see you later.”
.
.
.
The first official Ascend store opened in Beijing.
It was the shop Han Lin opened.
At first, he had planned to open it in Guangzhou, but he decided on Beijing because he judged that opening it in the capital would be a little more symbolic.
A small shop of less than five pyeong.
Aside from one modest showcase, there was nothing inside.
The empty space was filled with bright light.
That was how the design draft Alex had given him was.
The shop must not exceed ten pyeong at most.
There must be only one showcase for the product.
The salespeople must have as neat an appearance as possible and wear the designated uniforms.
The illumination in the shop must exceed one thousand lux.
Perhaps because of the illumination exceeding one thousand lux, the Ascend store shone especially brightly.
In front of that store, a long line of people waiting to buy Ascend stretched out.
“Give me twenty Ascend pills.”
“Give me fifty Ascend pills.”
“One hundred. You said if I buy a hundred, you give me ten more, right?”
“Really? Then I’ll take a hundred too.”
“Me too... Give me a hundred too.”
The people who had been suffering from Ascend withdrawal for a while welcomed the official sale of Ascend, and unlike typical Chinese people, they lined up properly.
In truth, there were people who tried to cut in line, but it was different from usual.
If they cut in and forced their way in, they felt sharp gazes that made it seem like they might really get beaten or hurt.
They had no choice but to stand in line obediently.
But as time passed.
The more Ascend sold, the line did not shrink; it only grew longer.
Starting with Beijing, Ascend stores began opening all over China’s major cities.
Shining brightly.
.
.
.
Early in the morning, Han Lin was preparing to open the store.
The first thing he had to do was manage the inventory.
He had to manage it carefully so that there would never be a shortage of Ascend.
It was the most important task.
He was checking the inventory from the morning when the public security officers burst in.
Han Lin was startled.
Public security officers?
Were they here for a crackdown?
They said we had permission.
Was I deceived?
Just as he thought he might be arrested like this and vanish as dew upon the execution ground,
“Is this the first store?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if this is Ascend Store Number One.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“You’re doing well. I hope you keep operating cleanly like this in the future too. If you have any difficulties, contact us.”
“Pardon?”
“The Beijing Public Security Bureau chief specifically and repeatedly told us to pay special attention to this place.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
“Then I’ll be going now. If anything happens, contact this number.”
The public security officer handed him a business card.
Han Lin had met many public security officers because of work, but this was his first time seeing one so kind and gentle.
The very fact that such a public security officer existed felt far too unfamiliar and special.
A good child deserved a reward.
A kind public security officer also deserved an appropriate reward.
Han Lin brought over several packs of Ascend, each containing ten pills, and discreetly handed them to the officer.
After checking the Ascend, the public security officer looked satisfied.
“I didn’t do this for that.”
“Of course I know. This is just from the heart.”
“Then I really will be going. If anything happens, contact me right away. I’ll make sure to tell them to pay special attention to patrolling this place.”
“Thank you.”
And with that, the public security officer left.
A public security officer like that.
He had never heard of one, nor seen one in his life.
Han Lin thought it had been a good thing that he had begged Alex to accept him.
Working together with Alex made him feel as if everything was going well.
As expected, it had been the right choice to attach himself to a strong man.
Han Lin praised himself for kneeling back then.
******
The construction of Unity Town was proceeding smoothly.
All sorts of people flowed into Unity Town.
People we had never expected were filling Unity Town.
I was flustered by how differently things were unfolding from what I had anticipated.
We had planned a town for Kopinos.
But once we actually opened the lid, the situation was completely different.
We had made the town to help families where mothers were raising children alone.
What we had in mind was roughly Kopino + single mother.
But once we actually made contact with them.
Japino + Japino + Kopino + single mother.
Chipino + Japino + Kopino + single mother.
Ameripino + Ameripino + Kopino + Britpino + single mother.
Frenchpino + Italipino + Kopino + Chipino + single mother.
Kopinos were truly only the tip of the iceberg.
Far more children than expected were growing up without fathers,
and their mothers were raising them while practically neglecting them.
It made my head spin.
I remembered what Sandro had said.
That this was not something that could be approached simply.
That this was not merely Korea’s problem.
Only then did I understand what he meant when he said that, to solve this, the Philippines itself had to awaken.
I understood Sandro’s words that unless the Philippines itself made an effort and changed, this problem could not be solved.
So I agonized over it a little.
Could we accept all those people?
Did we have the capacity to take them in?
“We have to accept them unconditionally. People, population, are power. We should be bringing them in even if we have to invite them, so how could we stop people who say they want to come?”
Those were Patrick’s words.
“Is that so?”
“Compared to the costs going in, the benefits we get back are far greater. For now, aside from the school and hospital, we don’t have anything special that costs extra, do we? We absolutely need to bring in more people.”
He was right.
The factories were ours, so it was only right that we build them, and only the school and hospital were currently opened and operating on a temporary basis.
Separate buildings were being constructed.
Even that was receiving a great deal of financial and administrative support from Zamboanga.
Naturally, Zamboanga wanted to increase its population and turn Zamboanga into an even bigger city.
It wanted to break out of being a Large City and become a Metropolis.
Once it became a Metropolis with a population of one million, the culture itself would change.
Zamboanga would be able to exert even greater influence than it did now.
Patrick might be dreaming an even bigger dream than I am.
After all, Patrick was the kind of guy whose specialty was making the board bigger.
I decided I would play properly on the board Patrick had expanded.
******
Daehun Faction’s Seoul office.
Daehun called Geunsu in and quietly broached the subject.
“Geunsu. Take a look at this.”
“What is it, hyungnim?”
Daehun handed Geunsu a tablet.
On it, people’s personal information had been neatly organized.
“A list of bastards who knocked women up in the Philippines and ran.”
“Would you look at these fucking sons of bitches.”
Geunsu, wearing a truly furious expression, couldn’t hold back his anger and immediately spat out a curse.
They abandoned their own children?
To the romantic gangster Jeong Geunsu, that was unthinkable.
Daehun explained in detail to Geunsu what had happened in the Philippines.
He said he had also warned Daeyeon Development.
That if something like this happened even one more time, then no matter what it was, he would cut it off.
“And Alex says he’s going to build a village for those Kopinos.”
“Really? As expected of Alex hyungnim. He’s on a different scale.”
“So, about that.”
“Are we going to donate something too? We should at least lay a few bricks, shouldn’t we?”
“That’ll be done under Daeyeon Development’s name. Instead, don’t you think we have something to do here as well?”
Daehun’s gaze shifted subtly to the list.
Geunsu immediately grasped the situation and answered.
“I’ll collect the child support. We can calculate the interest as compound interest too, can’t we?”
“Go easy. If their bodies get wrecked and they can’t work, that won’t do. They need to earn money.”
“Yes.”
.
.
.
As soon as Geunsu left the room, he checked the list.
The list Chen Zihao had compiled was flawless.
When each person had stayed in the Philippines, from what date to what date.
Who they had met, and where they were living.
Even evidence and photos to support it.
Photos of the children and updates on their current situations.
Even the amount owed in child support when calculated with compound interest had been organized cleanly and thoroughly.
There were even people he knew on the list.
They were punks who strutted around just because they knew a bit of English.
Bastards who smuggled drugs.
Punk-ass hoodlums covered in tattoos from head to toe, walking around in tight luxury clothes that didn’t even fit their bodies.
From Geunsu’s point of view, they were the kind of bastards he didn’t like and wanted to beat to a pulp,
but Daehun had said there had been too many big fights and told him to refrain from fighting for the time being, so he had held back.
He had held back because he’d been told there was no need to bother with petty thugs, but now he thought this had worked out perfectly.
Jeong Geunsu was already thrilled at the thought of using this to crush them.
“Hey. Let’s go.”
“Yes, hyungnim.”
At Geunsu’s words, his subordinates answered vigorously.
They got into their cars and headed to a hotel somewhere in Seoul.