"20 cartons of cigarettes?"
In a bar in Little Italy, adjacent to Chinatown, Anastasia looked at the guest in front of him, and asked again with a Cuban cigar in his mouth.
"Are you sure how many you want?"
"20 cartons of cigarettes, maybe more."
After leaving Coville's watch shop, George, who had several thousand dollars in his pocket, said directly.
"Mr. Anastasia, if the cooperation is pleasant, I may need more cigarettes next time. Of course, you have to guarantee the supply."
"Of course there is no problem with the supply. In New York, only we can provide enough cigarettes, Lucky Strike, Camel, everything!"
Anastasia looked at this guy in disbelief and asked.
"But are you sure you want so many?"
The reason why he asked this was because he knew very well that most of the crew members only carried cigarettes, and at most they carried fifty or sixty cartons, plus dozens of pounds of coffee beans and other goods.
But this guy asked for twenty cartons. Five thousand cartons of cigarettes is not a lot. After all, a smuggling ship can carry hundreds of cartons of cigarettes.
"Sir, I'm sure."
"In that case, you need to understand that each box of cigarettes needs to be sold with 100 pounds of coffee beans. This is the industry practice. If you feel that you can't accept this price, just say that you are sorry..."
Why sell coffee beans together?
Because the government lifted the control of coffee beans a month ago, the Gambino family, who had just shipped a ship of Colombian coffee beans from Cuba, lost a lot of money. In order to deal with those coffee beans as soon as possible, each box of cigarettes will be sold with some.
Coffee beans... are also in short supply in London!
As a businessman, George certainly would not refuse the money that came to his door, and immediately agreed: "Of course, but we need to talk about the price!"
Then, George said directly.
"As we all know, your cigarettes are shipped from Cuba by boat. There is no regulation on cigarettes there. In addition, you are purchasing in bulk, so the price must be cheaper than in the United States. For our future cooperation, I hope you can give me a suitable price!"
"Haha, okay, for long-term cooperation."
Anastasia said readily.
"I will give you the market price. I mean the price in ordinary stores. What do you think?"
It doesn't float up!
Hearing this, George was naturally happy in his heart and agreed immediately.
"Believe me, Mr. Anastasia, this deal is just the beginning of our cooperation. We will definitely continue to cooperate in the future and will never let you regret it."
"God bless us, we can continue to cooperate!"
When the two held their hands tightly together, Zhu Yihai, who was sitting next to them, had a strange look between his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words were not spoken yet.
Now the deal has been reached.
It's too late to say anything.
After the two sides agreed on the delivery method, George left Little Italy. Seeing Zhu Yihai looking like he was about to say something, George asked.
"From the bar to now, you seem to have something to say?"
"Mr. Li..."
After hesitating for a while, Zhu Yihai still told everything he knew.
"In fact, maybe we can negotiate a lower price just now. The price they gave you can at least double the profit."
Through Zhu Yihai's explanation, George finally figured out where the cigarettes came from. It may be Cuba or Mexico. American cigarettes dominate the tobacco markets of the two countries.
After the outbreak of the war, even though the United States implemented strict rationing controls on tobacco, exports to South American countries did not decrease. On the one hand, American tobacco companies were afraid of losing the market, and on the other hand, they wanted to win over South American countries. Even under the premise of implementing a quota system at home, the United States still maintained trade with South American countries.
This was also the time of Prohibition, so the black states that smuggled spirits from the Bahamas, Cuba and other places saw an opportunity. Like the Prohibition era, they used small boats to transport various materials including tobacco to the United States, thereby making huge profits.
"... Because there is no tobacco tax, those cigarettes are at least half cheaper than in the United States. If they are given to you at the market price, their profit will be at least doubled."
After explaining, Zhu Yihai said apologetically.
"I'm sorry that I didn't remind you before I went, and you lost a lot of money. I'm really sorry."
Is this business a loss?
George didn't think so. According to the system's "reward and punishment" rule, he would definitely deduct experience points for a loss-making business, but now the system has not deducted it, which means he didn't suffer any loss. And from George's point of view, he didn't suffer any loss.
"It's not a loss."
George smiled.
"Since everyone knows that buying cigarettes from Cuba has more than double the profit, why does Chinatown still buy from Little Italy?"
"So what if we know? We can't ship them in. Trafficking in illegal cigarettes is like smuggling liquor during the Prohibition period. Not only do we need shipping, but we also need to bribe the customs, police and many officials. We can bribe the police in Chinatown. As long as we give them money, they will turn a blind eye. But outside Chinatown, we don't even know who to give the money to."
In a word, it means that once you leave Chinatown, you have no connection. Why did the Irish, Germans and Italians in the underworld do the smuggling of liquor during the Prohibition period, but there was no Chinese community doing this business? According to the nature of the Chinese people, if it is a profitable business, they must touch it. The reason for not touching it is because... It doesn't matter. Some businesses can't be done just because you want to.
"So, channels!"
George said with a smile.
"Those Italians can earn double the profit because they opened up that channel, so they can earn double the profit."
Looking at Zhu Yihai, although he didn't see the key behind it, he was able to remind him, which showed that this person was quite honest. This business will continue in the future, and this person can be used.
Looking at the time, George said.
"It's getting late now, do you have any familiar restaurants to recommend? I haven't eaten Chinese food for a long time, and my mouth is full of gluttony."