Chapter 31: Future

"How much capital have you prepared?"

"Should I provide you with some funding?" Huang Feiyang asked, pausing for a moment.

"We have prepared five million each!"

"No need!" Chen Xiruo and Yang Yiyi spoke in unison, without a moment's hesitation.

"In that case, why not start a trading company?" Huang Feiyang said slowly after a brief moment of reflection.

He had his reasons for making this suggestion. With China on the verge of joining the World Trade Organization, the coming years would undoubtedly be a golden era for trade. In his previous life, how many merchants had made a fortune during this very window of time?

More importantly, given the family backgrounds and personal connections of the two women, they would never have to worry about anyone giving their company a hard time. This destined their venture to be far smoother than other trading companies.

"A trading company?" Chen Xiruo and Yang Yiyi exchanged a glance, instinctively.

"Alright!" They both nodded in agreement.

Subsequently, the three began to discuss the operational details of the trading company.

***

The next day, Wall Street, New York, United States.

A financial firm named Future was quietly registered and opened for business. The company was structured through cross-holdings and contractual control by several offshore entities under Huang's International Investment, with an initial capital injection of 100 million US dollars.

The CEO was none other than Jess, the former short-selling giant who had recently joined Huang Feiyang’s team.

Future’s office was located in a property owned by Jess himself. As for staff, he had scouted many suitable candidates through headhunting firms while simultaneously recruiting some elite members from his former company ahead of time.

Standing by the office window, gazing at the cityscape of Wall Street, a smile appeared on Jess's face.

"I never imagined that I, Jess, would return to Wall Street in my lifetime," he murmured, a flash of fiery intensity appearing in his eyes.

He felt a profound sense of gratitude toward Huang Feiyang. It was this young man who had given him a second chance—and granted him such immense authority. From now on, he could once again flex his muscles on Wall Street. The mere thought filled him with excitement.

***

After holding a brief meeting, Jess called George to give a short report on the status of Future. After all, strictly speaking, Future was now a subsidiary of Huang's International Investment.

"Buddy!" George said with a chuckle after listening. "Work hard! Don't let the boss down."

"Of course," Jess replied firmly with a smile.

"George, I’d like to ask you a question," Jess said after a long silence.

"Oh? Go ahead," George replied after a pause.

"I'm curious: why did you choose to work for the boss in the first place? Logically speaking, with your skills and network, you should have had many better options. At the beginning, his company didn't seem to have much of a future, did it?"

Jess couldn't help but voice the doubts he had been harboring. He was truly curious and somewhat perplexed.

"Actually, I didn't think that much at the beginning," George replied leisurely after a moment of silence. "I just came to China with the intention of relaxing and taking a vacation. You should know that I’ve always been very interested in Chinese culture. Who would have guessed that the boss was a business genius? In less than half a year, he built the prototype of a massive commercial empire."

George took a deep breath. As he spoke, his tone was filled with emotion and a sense of good fortune. Indeed, he felt very lucky to have joined Huang Feiyang’s ranks. Building a vast commercial empire under Huang Feiyang gave him a great sense of accomplishment. As for the annual salary, that was merely the icing on the cake. He had earned enough for retirement years ago, which was why he had been "whimsical" enough to come to mainland China.

Yes, in the eyes of his friends, family, and even himself, his decision to easily accept Huang Feiyang’s offer and move to Guangzhou had been a bit impulsive. However, the generous salary Huang offered had silenced any criticism. It had also provided him with the perfect excuse to visit the Chinese mainland, a place he had always been deeply interested in.

"You really are lucky," Jess finally managed to say.

"You're even luckier!" George laughed heartily at Jess's comment.

"Why do you say that?" Jess asked, stunned.

"You'll find out in time!" George said with a mysterious smile, offering no further explanation.

If Jess knew that the boss himself was a financial prodigy, he would surely be shocked. Thinking of this, George felt a sense of amusement.

After chatting a while longer, the two hung up. Immediately after, George called Huang Feiyang to report on the situation at Future.

"Jess is that efficient? He just arrived in the US and already has the company up and running?" Huang Feiyang sounded genuinely surprised after hearing the report.

"He had a property on Wall Street, so he used that as the office. Plus, he had already reached out to some of his old subordinates to join Future, which is why he was so efficient," George explained.

"I see!" Huang Feiyang’s expression instantly shifted to one of realization. "By the way, have you started patent licensing negotiations with the major mobile phone manufacturers?"

Changing the subject, Huang Feiyang asked about a matter he was particularly concerned about. This was crucial for his next stage of development. Before proceeding, he needed to secure a large number of mobile phone patent licenses.

"Our team has already begun negotiations with them. It’s going quite smoothly! They value our three mobile phone patents very highly; if they could, they would likely be itching to produce similar phones immediately," George said, laughing.

The feeling of having the major mobile phone manufacturers in his pocket felt exhilarating. At the same time, he felt sincere admiration for Huang Feiyang’s foresight. Before they even started producing phones, Huang had instructed the FY Technology team to register a large number of design and architecture patents around the world. As it turned out, those were now coming in handy. Without those patents, the mobile phone giants would likely have shown a completely different face. George knew this all too well. As the saying goes, competitors are enemies; who would want another company to come and carve up the cake?