He was selling the large patch of grass he had just cleared specifically for this purpose, but if it were for anything else… well, that was another matter.
"I'll discuss it with Pra tomorrow and let you know," Jiang Hai said with a smile upon hearing Cheryl Lee's words.
Cheryl Lee didn't mind his request. After finishing her business, she turned and went back to sleep.
Watching her graceful figure, Jiang Hai felt a surge of frustration, but his body was weak. He finally gave in with a wry smile. After a few drinks, he returned to his room and fell asleep, embracing Cheryl Lee.
The next morning, Jiang Hai stopped Pra Walton on her way to work and explained Cheryl Lee's request from the previous night. Upon hearing him, Pra Walton suggested that he might try contacting Nan Gaoli. Jiang Hai's grass needed to be sold, but it couldn't be sold solely to Dufamen and Luke Shawn.
Expanding the pool of buyers was a wise move.
However, Jiang Hai had to remain cautious. The business world was a battlefield, and relationships between nations were inherently unequal. Many of these buyers were ungrateful. If he wanted to engage them, preparation was essential.
After listening to Pra Walton's advice, Jiang Hai called Qi Li and Moses Adams.
The three discussed the situation over the phone and agreed that Jiang Hai could investigate while simultaneously addressing potential buyers. At least in name, handling these buyers himself would save a great deal of trouble.
He then considered using a strategy similar to typical sellers: gathering interested parties together and directly allocating shares of the forage. Most importantly, bringing them together would allow him to raise the price and minimize effort.
To be honest, Jiang Hai loathed politicians and professional businesspeople. Conversing with them was a chore. While intelligent, he disliked unnecessary thinking and idle chatter. Dealing with them directly was the most efficient approach.
Having made his decision, Jiang Hai discussed it with Pra Walton. She agreed that while this method wouldn't maximize profits, it would certainly save him trouble and was a sound idea.
Satisfied, Jiang Hai called Moses Adams and instructed him to handle the matter.
As for timing, he chose the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, so that after concluding the business, he could return to the manor to celebrate the holiday.
Jiang Hai was the kind of man who acted on his ideas. He called Moses Adams, who recognized the opportunity to build connections with major powers. Jiang Hai then booked the top floor of the Boston Harbor Hotel, including a banquet hall. For this alone, he spent over three million U.S. dollars.
But Jiang Hai didn't care. The fortune he was about to create far outweighed three million dollars. Was it three hundred million this time? No—three billion! One-thousandth of the cost was nothing to him.
After finalizing the plan and securing the hotel, Moses Adams began making calls. The first was to Dufamen.
When Dufamen learned that Jiang Hai intended to distribute the grass directly, he resented his own guards and the islanders even more. If not for them, Jiang Hai's pasture would have been his exclusive domain.
With the expanded ranch, Jiang Hai could have earned not just fifty billion, but one hundred billion U.S. dollars.
Consider this: Dubai's GDP in 2012 was $86.7 billion. This year, Jiang Hai alone had earned $50 billion. He had boosted Dubai's economy by nearly 30%. If not for those underlings and islanders, it could have been even more. In Dubai, they were kings—paying taxes was irrelevant.
After covering the costs of buying grass and paying workers, the rest was pure profit.
Now, all of that potential was gone. Dufamen knew this wasn't Jiang Hai's fault—it was his own—and had to swallow his anger. Still, he was the first to accept Jiang Hai's invitation.
Next, Moses Adams called Luke Shawn. After a long conversation, Luke Shawn agreed to attend. He understood that a private deal was no longer an option; a visit to Jiang Hai was inevitable.
Jiang Hai also asked Cheryl Lee to gauge Nan Gaoli's intentions. The Nan Gaoli representatives initially wanted a private discussion, but upon realizing Jiang Hai planned a public allocation, they held back. Their current relationship was tense, yet they remained determined to secure his forage.
Numerous others received invitations as well. Some prepared to attend, while others, driven by ulterior motives, withdrew once they learned Jiang Hai wasn't revealing his secrets and was solely selling grass.
Attendees came from the United States, Australia, and Europe. According to Moses Adams's calculations, roughly a dozen companies or factions decided to attend, excluding small landowners or farmers. Typically, attendees represented a region, a country, or a faction—such as Dufamen, Luke Shawn, and Nan Gaoli.
Six Americans were on the list, but only three were prominent: Luke Shawn, representing Texas; Archie Oldison-Emerson, a large landowner from California; and John Malone, the largest landowner in the United States, with 2.2 million acres. The elder Malone didn't attend himself; his son represented Montana.
Even so, the influence these individuals wielded far surpassed that of retail investors.
On Moses Adams's list, these three were considered Tier 1 clients. Also Tier 1 were Dufamen and the South Korean government, though they weren't categorized as such because they represented countries rather than individuals.
In truth, at Jiang Hai's level of wealth, those representing countries were often the poorest. A nation may earn a lot, but it also spends a lot. South Korea, for example, wasn't particularly developed. Its GDP relied heavily on the Samsung Group, which, of course, didn't pay ordinary taxes. Among these buyers, Nan Gaoli should have been the most embarrassed.