She glanced at the calendar on her desk. The Autumn Festival was approaching. Could Elyette be planning to give a drone to each of his employees as a gift? Mike headed back to the office and called Chad using the intercom.
Chad picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“It‘s me.”
Chad glanced at the caller identification and responded in a cold tone, “You need anything?”
“Careful with your tone, or we might not be selling you the drones,” Mike threatened.
Chad scowled and retorted, “Get over yourselves! Who wants your drones?”
Mike paused for a moment. “Your boss, of course! We received an order from your purchasing department, or is it a scam?”
Chad took a deep breath. “So you are saying that my boss instructed the purchasing department to put in an order for drones?”
“Yeah! Didn‘t you know? Haha, and here I thought your boss trusted and confided in you. Looks like you aren’t worth that much,” Mike said sarcastically, before hanging up.
Provoked, Chad immediately went to verify the matter with Elyette.
Elyette looked up from the computer screen and said, “We always distribute gifts to our employees every Autumn Festival, and for this year, it is going to be drones. Do you have a problem with it?”
Chad was defeated, and he shook his head frantically. “No! I‘m just a bit surprised.”
“It was decided last night,” Elyette continued casually, “Though I‘m no longer in contact with Averie, the products her company produces aren‘t bad.” He would never forget how he had been chased by the drone, and how he had gotten drenched when he had gone to her house a few days ago.
Technology advanced with the passing of time, so he thought of sharing the products with his employees as well. “Oh… Mike called me just now and I wasn‘t all that polite… I‘m not sure if that‘s going to affect the order,” Chad said in frustration. “I should go call him back.”
Half an hour later, Chad and the manager of the purchasing department headed directly to Tate Industries for further discussion.
Averie and Mike welcomed them into the meeting room.
“You want the drones for the Autumn Festival? Five thousand is too large an order, and I’m afraid that we will not be able to fulfill it in such a short period of time,” Mike said. “Well, it‘s
not that nothing can be done if you absolutely have to have five thousand by then_”
Chad could not stand Mike’s arrogance.
“Who exactly is the client here?! We are! So why are we taking this from him? It’s not like Tate Industries is the only place selling drones in this country!” he thought.
“How many can you produce by then?” Chad asked seriously. “We will take what you can produce, and purchase the rest from a different company.”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “Haha, is that what your boss says?”
The manager of the purchasing department leaned toward Chad and whispered, “Mr. Rayner, please adjust your attitude. Our boss only wants the drone from Tate Industries.” Chad picked up the glass and took a sip of water.
“If you insist on getting five thousand units,” Mike continued, “then we shall move some stock from some of our overseas branches, but the price will no longer remain at nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety–nine dollars per unit. We will need to raise the price.”
Chad could feel the blood rushing to his head at Mike‘s words.
“Shut up for a moment! I need to call my boss!” Chad turned on his phone and called Elyette.
Averie picked up the glass and took a sip of water.
Mike was right. The factories under them did not have the scale to manufacture five thousand drones at such short notice. If they were to move stock from overseas, they would need to take into consideration the cost of taxes and transportation. More importantly, the drones would fetch a higher price overseas than they would locally.
Chad was having a hard time accepting those terms as he believed that customers were supposed to be gods.
Chad suppressed his anger and explained the situation to Elyette.
“Chad,” Elyette said coldly, “do you think I don‘t have the money to buy her drones?”
“Mr. Foster, that’s not what I mean… I just think that they are bullying us!” Chad said in a low voice.
Averie tapped her fingers on the table and signaled Chad to pass her the phone. Chad readjusted his spectacles and said, “Mr. Foster, Miss Tate would like to speak to you.”
Over on the other end of the line, Elyette fell into silence.
Chad handed the phone over to Averie awkwardly, and she set it on the table after putting it on speaker.
“Hello, Mr. Foster.”
Mike tried to suppress his laughter at how formal Averie sounded, while Chad did not say a word.
On the other end, Elyette greeted her with a more formal tone, “Hello, Miss. Tate.”
Averie was stunned.
Mike picked up his glass to take a sip of water; Chad did the same but realized his glass was already empty.
“I feel the need to explain to you that we are not trying to give you a hard time,” Averie readjusted her emotions and explained the situation in a steady tone. “We have already established our factories not too long ago, but we don‘t have sufficient equipment and manpower. According to the current situation, it is true that we won‘t be able to fulfill your order. However, we can assure you that we can have a number of drones shipped over from abroad, but our products are sold at a much higher price in the international market.”
Chad calmed down at Averie‘s explanation. Though she said the same thing as Mike, Chad simply found it more irritating to listen to Mike.
“But because this is our first bulk order in this country, I can sell you the units that we move from overseas at the same selling price as the ones here,” Averie continued.
Mike was shocked. “Why are we giving Elyette a discount?”
Chad, on the other hand, felt relieved.
“This is how you show good faith!” he thought.
Meanwhile, Elyette’s emotionless voice came through the phone once again. “I don’t like discounted products.”
Everyone in the meeting room was stunned, knowing perfectly well that Elyette meant to say that he had the money and that giving him a discount was just as bad as looking down at him.
Mike immediately started clapping. “By the way, let me brief you on the payment process. Fifty percent of the total payment will be charged ahead as downpayment; the remaining balance is to be paid three days after the products have been handed over to you.”
Chad could not accept it. “What you are asking as downpayment is too high an amount!”
“Yeah,” the manager of the purchasing department agreed. “Thirty percent would have been considered extremely high, and you are asking for fifty!”
“Send over the bill. We will pay it in full right away,” said Elyette.
Both Chad and the manager of the purchasing department were rendered speechless.
“If this is how Mr. Foster feels, there wasn’t even the need to send us over! It’s obvious that he ‘s just trying to send Averie money… Oh!” The two thought to themselves, “That’s it! Mr. Foster wants to send Averie money, worrying that her company might go bankrupt without any orders. How thoughtful!”
After the contract was signed, Averie proposed to treat them to dinner.
Chad was not in the mood and wanted to leave, but the manager of the purchasing department took Averie up on her offer.
“Why the long face, Mr. Rayner? You are definitely not going to regret buying our drones,” Mike comforted him. “You will know once you get them. The battery lifespan of our products ranks at the very top of the global market, and our Al system is also what sets our products apart from other brands—”
Chad raised his hand and interrupted Mike‘s bragging. “Let‘s just go eat!”
Meanwhile, in the Sterling Group, Ben had just heard that Elyette was about to spend a billion on Tate Industries‘ products.
“Elyette, do you really want those drones, or are you just looking for an excuse to send Averie money?” Ben could not read Elyette. “Didn‘t you two break all ties? When we were drinking the day before, you even said that you were never going to look for her ever again.”
“Why didn’t you question me when I distributed electronics like laptops and smartphones the years before?” Elyette asked.
Ben nodded. “I guess Averie’s drones really are that good then.”
“Do you think that the sales report of Alpha Technologies was forged or something?” Suddenly, the phone on the table started ringing. Elyette took one look at the caller identification and instantly picked up the phone. Taking the hint, Ben left with his coffee mug in hand.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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