Over on the other end of the line, Elliot fell into silence.
Chad handed the phone over to Avery 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 Avery sounded, while Chad did not say a word.
On the other end, Elliot greeted her with a more formal tone, “Hello, Miss. Tate.”
Avery 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,” Avery 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 Avery‘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,” Avery continued.
Mike was shocked. “Why are we giving Elliot a discount?”
Chad, on the other hand, felt relieved.
“This is how you show good faith!” he thought.
Meanwhile, Elliot’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 Elliot 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 Elliot.
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 Avery money... Oh!” The two thought to themselves, “That’s it! Mr. Foster wants to send
Avery money, worrying that her company might go bankrupt without any orders. How thoughtful!”
After the contract was signed, Avery proposed to treat them to dinner.
,
Chad was not in the mood and wanted to leave, but the manager of the purchasing department took
Avery 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 Elliot was about to spend a billion on Tate
Industries‘ products.
“Elliot, do you really want those drones, or are you just looking for an excuse to send Avery money?” Ben
could not read Elliot. “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?” Elliot asked.
Ben nodded. “I guess Avery’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. Elliot took one look at the caller identification and instantly picked up
the phone. Taking the hint, Ben left with his coffee mug in hand.
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