Chapter 156:Irreplaceability

"Good news! Tell me the good news!"

If young Bass hadn't made it clear that there was still good news before speaking, Old Bass would have suspected that his family was cursed, having produced a black sheep waiting to aggravate him to death and take over the family business prematurely.

"The good news is this!"

"Black sheep!"

Old Bass, infuriated, flung his pipe across the room...

"Father... Why are you so temperamental!"

Ten seconds later, rubbing his sore arm, young Bass picked up the pipe from the floor, looking aggrieved. As he gently placed the battered pipe back on the table in front of Old Bass, he explained with a hint of reproach:

"The way Carter is doing things now, I reckon those two million will soon be gone. Opening new stores and establishing a supply chain are all cash-burning endeavors. Launching these projects simultaneously will inevitably deplete his cash flow! When he runs out of cash, no matter how large his plate is, what's the point?"

"Hey, kid, you've grown up! I'm proud of you, but... Do you think this is our chance? Planning to strike while he doesn't have enough cash flow, especially when these industries haven't begun generating profits, when there's no cash flow back in? Going after his Forest Bank or Blake Bank?"

Realizing he misunderstood his son, Old Bass looked a bit embarrassed, but to maintain his father's dignity, he didn't apologize. Instead, he looked at young Bass with a serious expression.

"Yeah, isn't this an opportunity? Dad, there are plenty of instances of David facing Goliath. Many seemingly powerful companies have their weaknesses! Especially someone like Carter... Suddenly rich, a kid not even 18 yet, it's normal for him to be a bit reckless."

Young Bass nodded, acknowledging his thoughts. In his view, with such a large sum of money, even if they didn't expand the bank, investing in other industries should be done cautiously, step by step...

Who would do something like this, opening a bunch of stores and expecting to establish the entire supply chain? Trying to get fat with one bite, aren't they afraid of choking themselves to death?

"Don't underestimate anyone! Especially when we don't know the opponent's cards!"

Tapping the table heavily with his fingers, Old Bass's expression changed from serious to stern:

"We haven't even figured out where he got the two million from, so we mustn't act rashly! Otherwise, when you make your move, who knows where he'll find another large sum of cash..."

"I understand, Dad! I'm just saying, this is an opportunity! We should continue to keep an eye out, like hunters waiting for prey to reveal its vulnerability! In the meantime, I'll keep investigating the source of the two million!"

"Good! Let's go with your plan! If you can pull this off, I can confidently hand over Bass Bank to you..."

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While the Bass father and son were in harmony, Carter was sitting in his office, staring blankly at the calendar on the wall.

It was already March!

Time really seemed to weaken when one was busy.

Looking at the pile of unfinished homework on the desk, Carter felt extremely exhausted. The price of gold had dropped by over $145, and the Hunter family seemed to be nearing the end...

Julian had finished tying up loose ends at work and formally submitted his resignation, waiting to fly solo after approval...

With changes happening all around him, Carter felt like he was back to where he was last year, seemingly unable to accomplish anything.

Of course, that wasn't entirely accurate. At least Forest Bank had basically returned to normal operation, with some cash flowing back in, although more was going out than coming in. But at least there were no more major issues.

Paterson even called to praise him for this, but Carter couldn't feel happy about it. Because unemployment in Pearson City was still rising, and his proposal was still being hotly debated...

Almost every day, Robbing was calling, inquiring about the mortgage loan for the shops. After all, balancing interests was important! Especially when it involved multiple parties, if you couldn't balance their interests, you couldn't get things done, let alone sustain them.

But without Montgomery in place, without providing detailed cost breakdowns, Carter couldn't give Robbing a definite answer. Even the purchase of refrigerated vehicles was stuck because he didn't know the specific demand volume...

What's more frustrating was that even though the project's progress was at a standstill, troubles didn't diminish...

"Carter, the advertising agency has sent over the HT logo templates. Which one do you prefer?"

Taking the documents handed over by Goodman, Carter perked up and flipped them open.

The first logo was very traditional, a cartoonish depiction of a corn tortilla without much character; the second one was a colorful Havana Tacos with artistic lettering, with a somewhat hazy abstract street scene in the background; the third one was a somewhat Starbucks-like depiction of a goddess, more concrete in shape. It was probably a sketch template of a Cuban girl...

Wait a minute... Starbucks?!

Jotting down the name Starbucks, Carter handed the paper with the third logo to Goodman:

"Let's go with this one, but have them revise it. Don't make it too realistic. This type of logo is also more expensive to make, but if it's done in line art, it should be clear it's a Cuban girl."

"Okay, I'll take care of it. By the way, Coca-Cola has responded. If the original juice can achieve a sales volume of one million cups annually, the price can be discounted by ten percent, and eight percent for ten million cups, at the lowest. Can you accept it? Or do we really want to go this big all at once? If you want to purchase at an eight percent discount in advance, you'll need to pay a substantial deposit. If the sales volume meets the standard after a year, the full amount will be refunded, but if it doesn't..."

"Let's not rush to reply. Let's wait for Mr. Giness to come and see the cost accounting. If things go smoothly, achieving a sales volume of ten million cups a year shouldn't be difficult."

Running his hand through his hair, Carter finally understood why people always said in his previous life that one's salary didn't depend on how much value they could bring, but on their irreplaceability! Just like now, without a supply chain talent in his hands, he couldn't move forward with the project. All aspects of coordination couldn't advance even a step...

After four days of anticipation, Montgomery finally arrived!

And this guy wasted no time. Arriving in Douglas in the morning, he headed to Pearson in the afternoon, recruited about a dozen assistants on the spot, and left in his car that evening...

Five days passed...

"Mr. Blake, here's the cost estimate I've prepared. Take a look!"