“So what you’re saying is, you want to buy an electric company?”
Patrick asked back, looking slightly flustered.
I found Patrick a little strange.
Wasn’t making the board bigger Patrick’s specialty?
Why was he surprised by something like this?
Was the scale too small?
Should I have said we should do electricity for the entire Philippines?
If I told him we should build electrical facilities in Unity Town,
Patrick was the kind of person who would make the board even bigger and say, “How about simply purchasing an electric company?”
It was strange.
Why was he acting like this?
“Have you looked into the Zamboanga electric company?”
“No, I decided we should buy an electric company and came straight here with Simon?”
I answered brightly, and Simon proudly nodded beside me.
After hesitating for a moment, Patrick spoke carefully.
“I understand very well what you mean. The intention is good, too. But I think you should think carefully about purchasing an electric company.”
“Why? Because it’ll be expensive? I have money, you know?”
“No. If it’s just a matter of purchasing it, they’ll probably hand it over dirt cheap.”
“Huh?”
What was that supposed to mean?
They’d hand it over cheaply if I just said I’d buy it?
There was no way.
They were charging so much for electricity.
Money would come rolling in even if they just sat still.
Then the profit must be enormous.
No one easily gives up a pipeline they worked hard to build.
They wouldn’t want to sell a honey pot that kept generating revenue.
And if they did sell it, they’d name an absurdly high price.
That was why I had contacted Sandro as well.
To buy it even a little cheaper.
But Patrick was saying something completely different.
That if I simply said I wanted to buy it, I could purchase it at a low price.
But with Patrick’s explanation that followed, I soon understood.
“Electricity is one of the major infrastructures managed and supervised by our city hall. The president of the electric company comes and practically begs us to buy the company from him.”
“Why? Doesn’t an electric company make good money?”
“No. The losses are severe.”
“Even though the electricity bills are that expensive?”
“You have to consider the unit cost of producing that electricity. Since that cost itself is high, the cost of supplying it has no choice but to be high.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
I had a prejudice that all the guys selling things like this were bad people.
Money-crazed bastards,
bastards blinded by money who would do anything for it.
Bastards so buried in numbers they couldn’t see people.
I had thought they were bastards who lived by sucking the blood of the people of the Philippines, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
The situation was different from what I expected, so I fell into thought.
My goal had been to buy the electric company and lower the expensive electricity rates.
To let the people of Unity Town, the citizens of Zamboanga, use electricity at cheaper rates.
To let them use the many appliances that ran on electricity without worry.
But they said it wasn’t profiteering; the cost itself was high.
When I seemed to hesitate at the unexpected situation, Patrick made one suggestion.
“How about meeting him first and talking? His name is Chairman Magiting, the head of the Zamboanga electric company. I think it would be worthwhile to meet him once.”
.
.
“Good day. I am Magiting.”
Simon and I went to the Zamboanga electric company and met President Magiting.
He was a man who looked to be in his fifties? Or around his sixties.
The suit he wore, complete with a vest, suited him well.
He wasn’t completely white-haired, but he had a lot of gray hair.
It matched his dignified voice well.
His kind eyes left an impression.
There was an elegance of age about him.
“Good day. I’m Alex. And this is Simon.”
“I know Commander Simon well.”
“Pardon? You know me?”
Simon looked flustered.
Simon didn’t know him, but the other party said he knew Simon, so of course he would be flustered.
Seeing that, Magiting spoke with a good-natured expression.
“Is there anyone living here in Zamboanga who doesn’t know Rebel Commander Simon? It is an honor to meet you.”
Only then did Simon seem to relax a little.
Apparently they didn’t know each other personally.
“Then the gentleman here must be the ‘Ruler of the South.’ Seeing how politely Commander Simon treats you.”
“Pardon? What did you say? I’m not that kind of person.”
It was a name I was hearing for the first time.
What was with the tacky ‘Ruler of the South’?
But Simon didn’t deny it.
No, if anything, he seemed to be sending Magiting a look of affirmation.
I was called by a tacky name like that?
No way.
I had a name: Alex.
And on top of that, Simon wasn’t even that polite to me.
Just as I was about to make an excuse, Simon quietly whispered into my ear.
“Some people call you that. So just let it be.”
The nickname “Ruler of the South” was apparently what people in politics and business used to refer to me.
The things happening in the south lately were very different from before.
The rebel war. The Akbayan ng Katarungan party, the Mindanao election, and so on—there was definitely someone behind them.
But they couldn’t pinpoint exactly who that person was.
Ordinary people probably weren’t very interested.
But people in politics and business had apparently been continuously and steadily paying attention.
To them, information was money and a weapon.
So among themselves, they simply called me the Ruler of the South.
After glancing around once, Simon answered cautiously.
“That’s right.”
At Simon’s answer, Magiting’s expression brightened.
“I was worried I might have spoken out of turn without knowing properly, so I’m relieved. I brought it up because if I ever had the chance to meet you, I wanted to express my gratitude.”
“Your gratitude?”
“Yes. My gratitude for everything the Ruler of the South has done for us. Just getting rid of those cruel and merciless rebels is something to be grateful for. On top of that, you created large-scale jobs, provided insurance and wages. These days, you’re focusing on expanding infrastructure, aren’t you? It’s truly remarkable. Among ourselves, we praise you greatly, saying you accomplished in an instant what we could never have done even in a hundred years.”
“No…”
Of course, I wasn’t the one who did it.
We all gathered together and did it.
But even if I tried to explain that it wasn’t me, the conversation would only get longer.
At times like this, it was best to just go along with it indirectly.
“Ah… yes…”
“As a citizen of Zamboanga before I am the president of the Zamboanga electric company, I offer you my deepest thanks.”
Magiting expressed his gratitude politely.
“I haven’t done anything that significant, but thank you for looking upon me favorably. Though it’s nothing compared to what you’ve done, Chairman Magiting.”
As the saying goes, gentle words beget gentle words.
Since I had received praise, I had no choice but to respond with praise.
I didn’t know what Magiting had done, but I just said it like that.
“Not at all. The fact that you came here tells me enough. How much you must love the citizens of Zamboanga to come all the way to an electric company. I’m moved just thinking about it.”
“…”
“It was thirty years ago that I founded this company. Back then, this place was truly a mess. I thought electricity was necessary. So I joined forces with others and established an electric company. That was this Zamboanga electric company.”
As if recalling the past, Magiting closed his eyes for a moment.
I saw Magiting as he had been in the past.
Magiting was born in Zamboanga.
But he didn’t make money in Zamboanga.
Zamboanga was that poor.
He went to Manila and worked as a technician at an electrical subcontracting company.
There, he experienced all sorts of construction projects, built up know-how, and started a company with a few others.
The company was a great success.
In particular, after even signing technical outsourcing contracts with overseas construction companies, it grew into an enormous company.
After succeeding, Magiting returned not to Manila, but to Zamboanga.
Because he couldn’t stop thinking about Zamboanga’s poor facilities.
What Magiting was good at was electricity.
He joined forces with others and established the Zamboanga electric company.
With the single-minded determination to supply electricity to the citizens of Zamboanga.
But not a single thing went the way Magiting intended.
First of all, building electrical infrastructure cost an enormous amount of money.
They erected utility poles, installed transformers, and connected power lines.
Each and every one of those things was money.
The government provided subsidies, but they were nowhere near enough.
There were disputes in the process as well.
He didn’t get along with the investors who had come in only looking at money.
They wanted to charge expensive electricity rates.
They wanted to supply electricity only to upper-class areas rather than to every region.
That direction did not align with Magiting’s.
A fight over shares began, and in the end, the investors recovered their principal and left.
The problem started then.
There was far too little money.
They took out bank loans, and Magiting used his own personal assets to keep the company going.
All the money that would have allowed him to live without ever working again vanished into thin air.
As a last resort, he even sold shares in the company he had built to secure funds.
Even so, the situation did not improve at all.
No, it was getting even worse.
They were operating as sparingly and efficiently as possible, but it wasn’t getting better.
The deficit was growing larger every year.
“We are running a deficit every year. A massive one.”
Magiting honestly told us about the situation.
“But even though the electricity rates are that expensive, I don’t quite understand how you’re running a deficit. The money you collect is enormous.”
Magiting nodded as if it were only natural.
“You could think that. If you don’t know the distribution process, that is. In truth, we only distribute electricity; we cannot generate it. We don’t have a power plant. So we have no choice but to buy electricity. Now a few power plants have been built within Mindanao, so the price has at least come down a little, but in the past we had to pull in electricity produced in Luzon. The cost was high, and the amount of power lost along the way was tremendous.”
They didn’t have a power plant?
So they bought all their electricity, and that was expensive?
“Then what about now?”
“It’s still expensive. The amount we purchase it for is about 11 pesos (272 won) per kWh. But the amount we receive from citizens is about 10 pesos (247 won) per kWh.”
“Pardon?”
What was this supposed to mean now?
They were selling it for cheaper than they bought it?
That made no sense…
“It’s hard to understand, isn’t it? I don’t understand myself either. That said, it’s not as if we’re insane and selling it this way. We factored in all the government subsidies and loss compensation here. We’ve also shoved all the fees and such into this as well. In truth, if we do only this, the plus and minus almost balance out.”
“You said you suffer massive deficits every year.”
“Yes. If you look only at the electricity rates, it’s almost zero, but the problem is maintenance. The infrastructure already installed is far too old. We have to replace transformers, distribution lines, and substations, and we have to pay employee salaries. We also have to repair meters and distribution panels so there are no safety accidents… Doing this and that, it costs an enormous amount of money.”
“How were you planning to cover it?”
“To be honest, there is no way. Frankly speaking, raising electricity rates would end it, but then the meaning behind why I founded this company would disappear. Besides, if we raise electricity rates, people will use even less electricity than they do now, and then sales will fall even further.”
After hearing Magiting’s story, I understood the situation.
The cost of the electricity Magiting received was high.
Even so, to ensure smooth distribution, he set the price at a loss.
But as maintenance costs continued to be incurred, a deficit arose.
If he raised the price, consumption would decrease and sales would fall.
If he lowered the price, the cost was too high, so the more they sold, the more they lost.
The more people used, the greater the losses.
It was a situation where he could neither raise nor lower the price.
At that moment, I saw Magiting again.
The suit that had suited him so well was worn and frayed in many places.
His gray hair looked like proof of his anguish.
Magiting looked like a saint.
I asked Magiting carefully.
“If you were to sell the Zamboanga electric company, what sale price would you have in mind?”
“Sale price? I’ve never even considered a sale. As you may know, our debt is quite considerable. The reason I go to Mayor Patrick and plead is that, if not the government, there is nowhere else that could operate a company that only devours money like this.”
“So, the sale price?”
“If you take on the debt, I can give it to you for 0 pesos.”
“Wouldn’t you regret it, after devoting your entire life to this place?”
“I’m satisfied with having worked this much. I liked it better when I lived as an engineer. Being a manager is too exhausting.”
“What do you plan to do in your old age?”
“Well, won’t things work out somehow?”
I was at a loss.
I had never been in a negotiation like this before.
I didn’t know what to do.
I wished Magiting were a bad person.
Then I could treat him however I wanted.
I could curse at him and threaten him.
Then I could slash the price as much as I liked.
I could even take it from him by force.
But he was such a kind and good person that I felt like I had become the bad guy.
Well, I was a bad person.
But there wasn’t even room to negotiate.
He told me to take it for free.
He only asked me to take responsibility for the debt.
I could see that he didn’t want to harm others.
I wasn’t shameless enough to say to a person like that, I won’t take on the debt.
But since he was telling me to take it for free, there were too many things that bothered me.
The debt, infrastructure construction costs, maintenance costs, high raw material prices, labor costs.
It didn’t look like things would improve just because I ran it.
If I took it, it would become a ghost that devoured money.
I would end up shouldering an enormous loss in Magiting’s place.
Most of all, I was not a good person like Magiting.
It wasn’t as if I had some grand conviction or purpose, either.
I was only at the level of, I’ll give it a try, and if it doesn’t work, so be it.
So this was the kind of thing I should just drop.
And yet, strangely, letting it go felt regrettable too.
I could do neither one thing nor the other.
I simply stared at the frayed hem of Magiting’s clothes.
******
Wei Zhonglin had seized power through a coup.
But the chaos continued.
There was no sign of it calming down.
He strengthened censorship and banned protests, but people still gathered and continued demonstrations against Wei Zhonglin.
I had thought all the good Chinese people were dead, but apparently there were still some left.
Wei Zhonglin was holding a meeting with the close aides he had installed.
He was searching for a way to end this chaos.
“Does anyone have a good idea?”
“In times of chaos like this, wouldn’t it be best to create an external enemy?”
“That’s a good idea. A strategy straight out of the Three Kingdoms. Then where should we attack?”
“I think Tibet would be best.”
“Tibet? If we fight them, that’s a civil war. Are you saying we should fight among ourselves?”
“That’s not what I mean. Since they declared independence, I’m saying we should make an example of them. We have to bring Tibet back somehow, don’t we? In that sense…”
“Enough. Drag that bastard out. What kind of nonsense is he spouting? We’re supposed to create an external enemy, so what are we doing starting a civil war?”
At Wei Zhonglin’s words, the man who had spoken was dragged out by Central Guard Bureau agents.
“Other opinions? None? Are you going to handle state affairs this carelessly, this half-heartedly? Do you think I put you on the State Council so you could do a half-assed job?”
“I apologize.”
“We’re thinking right now.”
A considerable amount of time passed, and then someone cautiously offered an opinion.
“What about distributing more Ascend?”
“What?”
“According to the information I gathered, before Minister Zhou Qiming died, he ordered a copy to be made of the Ascend concentrate.”
“And?”
“They say they succeeded in copying the Ascend concentrate.”
“Wahahaha. Really? Minister Zhou Qiming did something great for China before he died.”
“We can lower the manufacturing cost of Ascend by a great deal. Then we have the media report on a massive scale that it will be distributed to the entire population at a very low price. The moment the news spreads, people’s attention will be focused on Ascend. Wouldn’t that be enough?”
Wei Zhonglin’s expression brightened as he listened to the suggestion.
Distributing Ascend to the entire population?
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
“Proceed with it.”
.
.
Meanwhile, the Director of the National Medical Products Administration paced anxiously around the room, unable to stay still.
The newly appointed MSS minister had questioned him so aggressively that he had said they had succeeded, but in truth, that wasn’t the case.
They had made something similar, but it was not perfectly identical.
But because he had been pressed so hard, he had simply said they had succeeded—or, to be precise, that they had come close to succeeding.
And the minister had taken that as success.
He was telling him to draw up a plan for mass production.
At this point, he could no longer say it had only been “close.”
There was no choice but to insist that this was the original Ascend.