Chapter 23: Tenfold Profits

After the plane from New York landed at Havana Airport, there were hotel-provided cars waiting along the runway. As soon as the passengers got off the plane, drivers approached to assist with luggage. It's certain that the hotels providing cars to drive into the airport wouldn't be cheap.

However, Li Yi'an wasn't concerned about the hotel's price. When in unfamiliar territory, staying at a high-end hotel was never wrong.

At least safety wouldn't be an issue.

When the car arrived at the National Hotel, Li Yi'an found that he had even less to worry about. The hotel was not only located near the bustling downtown area but also, judging by its luxurious style, a typical luxury hotel.

Indeed, the National Hotel in Havana was not only luxurious but also mostly owned by Cuban elites and American tycoons. It was precisely because of this that their cars could drive onto the airport runway. However, this had little to do with Li Yi'an. After settling into the National Hotel, Li Yi'an took a car to the embassy.

The so-called embassy was actually a small building. In fact, even this building was donated by local overseas Chinese. Before the outbreak of the war, the Cuban ambassadorship was always held by the ambassador to the United States. After the war, in order to raise funds from overseas Chinese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a dedicated ambassador. Since taking office in Cuba, Li Dijun's daily task was to raise donations. After all, for the country facing fiscal collapse, Cuba, with tens of thousands of overseas Chinese, had become the most important source of overseas remittances and donations.

As usual, while he was racking his brains on how to raise donations, visitors came to visit. It was none other than Li Yi'an.

"Junior Li Yi'an pays respects to Ambassador Li."

Because of Li Guoren's relationship, Li Yi'an naturally paid his respects as a junior.

"Junior need not be polite. Before you came, Guoren sent a telegram. I didn't expect you to come so soon. Did you fly here?"

Nowadays, anyone who could afford a ticket costing hundreds of dollars was definitely wealthy.

Should he try to gain favor with him?

However, he was his nephew's friend. Besides, he couldn't immediately ask for donations.

"Yes, after all, there's a lot of fighting at sea now, so taking a plane is more convenient."

"You're Guoren's friend. Any help you need while you're here, your uncle will definitely help. But, wise nephew..."

Pausing for a moment, he said.

"In wartime, it's not like peacetime. If you want to trade in Cuba now, you must have a ship. Although Cuba's sea routes haven't been cut off, commercial ships are in high demand. Those ships are either controlled by American companies or..."

Before Li Dijun finished, Li Yi'an said.

"To tell you the truth, Uncle Li, among the people I know, some can help me solve some transportation problems. Well, it's not much, but I can transport about ten thousand tons a month."

"What! Ten thousand tons!"

Li Dijun suddenly stood up, looking excitedly at Li Yi'an.

"Is this true?"

"Yes, at least four or five thousand tons are possible."

"That's good, that's good..."

Excitedly rubbing his hands, Li Dijun asked directly.

"I wonder if wise nephew is interested in transporting sugar?"

"Sugar... This... "

Seeing that Li Yi'an seemed a little embarrassed, Li Dijun said.

"I'm afraid wise nephew doesn't know. The most lucrative business in Cuba right now is sugar."

He continued to explain.

"Wise nephew should know that sugar is the backbone of Cuba's economy. Nearly eighty or ninety percent of Cuban agriculture is focused on sugar cultivation. Since the outbreak of the war, sugar supplies have been cut off from places like Hawaii and the Philippines, causing sugar prices to skyrocket to 20 cents per kilogram. Therefore, sugar production has been increasing continuously, with the current annual output being no less than 7.3 million tons!"

"Wait, what's the current price of sugar?"

Li Yi'an asked, somewhat surprised.

"20 cents per kilogram, possibly slightly lower."

Li Dijun continued.

"In the past, almost all of Cuba's sugar industry was controlled by Americans, making it difficult for outsiders to enter. Since the outbreak of the war, due to the soaring sugar prices, in order to stimulate Cuba's official encouragement of the sugar industry, some Chinese merchants have begun to get involved in the sugar industry. However, American companies have used their monopoly on shipping to demand that Chinese merchants sell sugar to them at low prices. Currently, Chinese merchants investing in the sugar industry are all suffering. If wise nephew has a ship, it would be perfect for helping our compatriots in their urgent need!"

Of course, if this ambassador could help his compatriots solve this problem, he could also openly solicit donations. After all, the domestic war was in full swing, and donations were urgently needed from all sectors.

20 cents per kilogram!

One kilogram was approximately 2.2 pounds, which was roughly 10 cents per pound.

How much was a pound in the United States?

55 cents!

It could reach $1 on the black market!

Wasn't this a tenfold profit!

How did that saying go? When capitalists see a 100% profit, they would risk being hanged.

But this was 1000%!

Because Li Yi'an was only concerned about calculating the profits from sugar, Li Dijun, seeing him silent, hurriedly said.

"Wise nephew, is there anything troubling you?"

"Troubling..."

After thinking for a moment, Li Yi'an said.

"For the sake of my compatriots, there's nothing troubling!"

In one sentence, Li Dijun became excited and repeatedly said.

"Wise nephew is righteous, wise nephew is righteous. I wonder where wise nephew is staying now. Tomorrow I will bring several overseas Chinese merchants to visit wise nephew."

After saying that, Li Dijun asked about his place of residence. When he learned that he was staying at the National Hotel, he looked at him with some changes in his eyes. There was no way around it. As everyone knew, the National Hotel was... expensive!

Indeed, it was very expensive. A steak cost $5, and nowadays, a dollar wasn't just paper, it was a greenback!

However, compared to some places where fried rice cost $698, it could only be said that Cubans were not black enough.

Although the price wasn't cheap, the service was excellent.

Different from the various restrictions in the United States, in Havana, there were no restrictions. As long as you had money, you could enjoy everything, even when the American allies were scrimping and saving, American beef was still being shipped to Cuba in boatloads. There was no way around it; Cubans needed to eat meat, and, of course, drink alcohol.

American beef, French wine, and unfortunately, there were no British waiters, otherwise, it would be a service from the three major powers.