Chapter 577 - 377: Li Wei Is Not Very Broad-Minded

Chapter 577: Chapter 377: Li Wei Is Not Very Broad-Minded

After pushing the door open, Li Wei didn’t spot anyone right away. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the flag of the United States Marine Corps.

Below the flag hung a densely packed row of medals and commendation certificates.

William Stone stood up from behind his desk.

He wasn’t tall—looking to be only around 1.75 meters, half a head shorter than Li Wei—but his shoulders were incredibly broad. His facial features were sharp, set in a strong, square jaw. Deep nasolabial folds made him look quite menacing when he wasn’t smiling.

"Mr. Li Wei," he said, walking over with an outstretched hand. "I’ve heard a great deal about you."

Li Wei noticed two bottles of LW sports drinks on Stone’s desk. One was already open, half-empty.

"General, this is LW’s Chief Operating Officer, Jin Heon. This is our Chief Counsel, Arthur, our Financial Advisor, Mark, and our Family Advisor, Don Quixote," Li Wei introduced them one by one.

Brigadier General Stone shook hands with each of them before everyone took a seat around the sofas.

"Tell me about your sports drink." William Stone glanced at the group. "Who wants to start?"

"General," Jin Heon began, opening the folder she had brought along. "I’ve prepared a complete product portfolio for the LW sports drink. If you permit, I’d like to start with the practical efficacy data from law enforcement agencies."

Stone gave a slight nod.

Clearing her throat, Jin Heon pulled the first report from her folder.

"LW beverages currently cover sixty percent of police departments in medium to large cities...

"This is the blind-test data conducted on athletes by our third-party Vito laboratory...

"And this is the FDA certification letter issued for LW in April of this year..."

Jin Heon kept speaking, and Stone kept nodding.

However, Jin Heon’s heart was sinking.

William Stone hadn’t asked a single question. He wasn’t thinking about anything she was presenting.

It made her feel like she was reading a textbook aloud in an empty classroom, with a teacher sitting at the judge’s panel—not genuinely listening, but simply waiting for the mandatory procedure to end.

She placed the final summary report in front of Stone, finishing the rest of her presentation off-script.

"That concludes the general overview of LW," she said. "If the General has any... questions, please feel free to ask."

By the end, she felt her own voice sounding hollow.

"Hmm..." Stone hummed. "A wonderful presentation, Ms... Jin, was it?"

He glanced at Li Wei before suddenly adding, "Actually, the Defense Logistics Agency’s current supplier for functional supplement beverages is a company called Pioneer Nutrition Technology.

"This company has been cooperating with the military for over fifteen years." He gave Jin Heon a look.

Jin Heon did a quick mental search but realized she had never heard of the name. In the commercial market of functional beverages, this company practically didn’t exist.

No advertisements, no retail channels, no social media accounts. It was like a ghost, yet it had thrived within the military procurement system for fifteen years.

Suddenly, the five days she spent preparing these documents felt utterly meaningless.

"Mr. Li Wei," Brigadier General Stone said, his gaze shifting to Li Wei. "If it’s convenient, I’d like to speak with you alone for a few minutes."

"Of course," Li Wei replied, gesturing to the rest of his team.

Don Quixote was the first to stand up. Exchanging an "as expected" look with Mark and Arthur, he led the way out.

Jin Heon stood up last. Closing her folder and suppressing the urge to sigh, she turned and followed the others out the door.

After the door closed, Brigadier General Stone’s posture didn’t change, but his speaking style became much more casual—and far more direct.

"That COO of yours is quite good," Stone said, leaning back in his chair. "Well-prepared, clear presentation."

"But?" Li Wei prompted.

"But I’ve already seen all that material. And to be honest, I don’t really care about it," Stone said, pointing to the half-empty bottle of LW on his desk. "Flynn sent this to me personally. I also had someone buy a few cases and handed them out to the people in my department. Everyone gave it great reviews.

"Personally, I think soldiers should be drinking two bottles of this a day. With five days of training a week, it’s more than enough to boost their training results by a huge margin."

"Then the main purpose of you inviting us here today is..." Li Wei asked.

"Flynn and I served in the trenches together. When he spoke up on your behalf, I was curious, so I wasn’t going to refuse," Stone explained. "And to tell you the truth, his praises were spot on. Your product is way better than Pioneer’s. I’ve been drinking that crap for over a decade, and I’m practically sick of it.

"However, Pioneer’s board of directors includes two retired major generals. Their former CEO is now a senior advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

"Across this entire supply chain—from procurement officers to auditors, all the way to the Logistics Command—the annual ’consulting fees’ alone amount to a hundred million."

Li Wei remained silent.

"If you want in," Stone said, looking him in the eye, "they won’t let you in for free."

"So, what’s the percentage?" Li Wei asked.

"Seventy percent, minimum," Stone stated. "Non-negotiable. And that’s already doing Robert Flynn a favor."

Li Wei’s brow twitched, but he didn’t speak immediately.

"I know that number looks ugly," Brigadier General Stone said, leaning back against the sofa. "But I can guarantee you that the military’s procurement system won’t order anything less than two hundred million bottles a year.

"The purchasing price can go up to fifteen dollars a bottle, and what’s your cost? Even after taking out seventy percent, your remaining thirty percent is still a considerable figure, whether in dividends or valuation. You won’t be losing out."

Li Wei remained silent for a few seconds.

Stone’s math was flawless. Two hundred million bottles at fifteen dollars each meant an annual cash flow of three billion dollars. Even with just thirty percent, that was nine hundred million. Furthermore, a military procurement endorsement would easily triple LW’s valuation, if not more.

However, giving up seventy percent meant losing total control of the company. It would reduce him from being the emperor of his own company to merely being its corporate slave.

That was entirely unacceptable to him.

"Sooner or later, I will trample all of you underfoot," Li Wei thought. He was not a magnanimous man.

"General," Li Wei said, standing up with a smile. "Thank you for your honesty, and thank you for this opportunity to meet."

Brigadier General William Stone stood up as well, seemingly unsurprised by Li Wei’s reaction.

"I need time to consider the seventy percent figure," Li Wei said, shaking his hand. "But to be frank, I currently cannot accept it."

"I understand." Stone’s tone held no trace of pressure. "Flynn told me you were a young man with principles. He wasn’t wrong."

He walked Li Wei to the door.

"My door is always open to you, Mr. Li Wei," he said. "If you change your mind, contact me anytime."

Li Wei nodded and pushed the door open.

Once outside, Li Wei saw that while the sergeant was still waiting by the door, Don Quixote and the rest of the team were gone.

"Where are the others?" Li Wei asked.

"At the designated smoking area outside the main gates," the sergeant replied. "Smoking is prohibited inside the Pentagon."

Li Wei nodded and allowed the sergeant to escort him out of the building.

The sunlight outside the Pentagon’s main entrance was a bit blinding.

Li Wei felt like he still hadn’t fully processed what just happened. Openly discussing how to embezzle state assets right inside the Pentagon—the surreal, magical realism of the United States truly felt absurd to him sometimes.

The smoking area was situated under a semi-open awning next to the visitor parking lot. Three or four people in military uniforms and suits were standing there, puffing away.

Don Quixote was standing near the edge, a Marlboro pinched between his fingers, chatting enthusiastically with an officer in a Navy service uniform.

"No, no, no, I had a buddy who participated in that training program," Don Quixote said, blowing out a mouthful of smoke. "It was twelve and a half miles, not thirteen. You’re remembering it wrong."

"Hey." Li Wei walked over and gestured to Don Quixote.

Upon seeing Li Wei, Don Quixote took one last drag, crushed his cigarette out, and waved at the officer. "We’ll chat next time, brother. I’ve got to go."

"Sure thing!" The officer pulled out a business card and handed it over. "Let’s exchange contacts. Next time you’re in Washington, we’ll grab a drink—bring your buddy along too!"

Smiling, Don Quixote took the card, shoved it into his pocket, and started walking toward the gate with Li Wei.

Mark and Arthur quickly caught up with them.

"Since when did you have a friend in the military?" Li Wei asked casually.

"Ah, I made it up." Don Quixote waved the business card in his hand. "Strangers the first time, friends the second. Isn’t that how you get to know people?"

The group hailed a cab. The car left the Pentagon, drove down Washington Boulevard for about ten minutes, and stopped by an open lawn near the National Mall.

In May, the National Mall in Washington D.C. didn’t have too many tourists. Around the Washington Monument in the distance, a few people in tracksuits were jogging on the grass, and a group of students sat huddled on the steps, eating sandwiches.

Li Wei relayed Brigadier General Stone’s words verbatim—Pioneer Technology, the fifteen-year monopoly, the revolving-door relationships of the supply chain, the demand for a seventy percent stake, and the two hundred million bottle order volume.

"Just as I expected," Don Quixote said. "Though seventy percent is a lot more ruthless than I thought. I figured they’d only want fifty."

"People from Pioneer Technology probably want a hand in it too," Arthur noted. "After all, they’ll want their cut."

"So, what do we do now?" Li Wei asked.

"We won’t be able to solve this in the short term," Don Quixote said, shaking his head. "It’s a very solid alliance of interests. You’d need leverage much more powerful than theirs to even make a dent."

"What kind of leverage?"

"A senator, or high-level officials from the Department of Defense." Don Quixote gazed at the distant monument. "But that path is completely different from the one we’re on now. It’s a whole other circle."

"An unfamiliar circle. We can’t even get in touch with people at that level," Mark sighed. "The military procurement system is one of the most closed-off ecosystems in America. For outsiders to squeeze in, it’s harder than going public."

"Going public at least has SEC rules you can follow," Arthur said. "The rules at the Pentagon entirely depend on the mood of the people in charge."

"But if we really could break in, it’d be incredible," Mark mused. "Two hundred million bottles a year, priced at fifteen USD each—that’s three times the market rate. Our annual profit could approach 2.6 billion USD."

"Yeah, plus we wouldn’t have to advertise or worry about market fluctuations," Li Wei chimed in casually. "The problem is, we can’t get in... By the way, where’s Jin Heon?"

The three men exchanged glances.

"Xiaojin didn’t seem to be in a very good mood after she came out," Don Quixote said. "I asked her if she wanted to wait for you with us, and she said she needed to go spend some money to blow off some steam."

"Jin Heon isn’t the type to spend money recklessly," Li Wei remarked.

"Then beats me," Don Quixote said, shaking his head. "Just give her a call."

Li Wei took out his phone. Dialing her number, he said, "She probably took a hit to her confidence. You three go find a place to eat first. We’ll meet at the airport after dinner tonight and head back to New York."