Half an hour later, after a simple breakfast Jasper had Julian drive him to ICBS’ Waterhoof City branch’s conference room.
Vita met Jasper outside the conference room.
“How is it? Did I miss anything?” Jasper asked.
Vita quickly replied, “You’re just in time. The conference starts in five minutes.”
“The higher-ups sent a survey team to attend this conference. The main objective of today is to confirm the access policy. I’ve already sorted your ideas and handed them over, so they might ask you a few more questions about it.”
Jasper nodded. He was about to push open the door and enter when Vita lowered his voice and said, “Prince is inside too.”
Jasper arched his brow slightly. “He doesn’t have an online payment company not any relevant experience. What’s he doing inside?”
Vita smiled wryly and replied, “We can’t decline him because of his status. Soha’s vice president’s also inside with him.”
Jasper nodded. He pushed open the conference room door and walked in.
There were not too many people in the conference room, just five to six, but everyone looked stern.
Jasper immediately attracted everyone’s gaze once he entered the room.
Sitting on the left of the conference table was Prince. The man tinkered with the earring on his earlobe and
looked at Jasper neither dark nor brightly. Then, he sneered.
The middle-aged man sitting at the head of the table was very polite as he took the initiative to walk up and shake Jasper’s hand.
“Hello, Mr. Laine. I’m the leader of the survey team, Barnaby Wilcher. You can call me Mr. Wilcher.”
Jasper smiled and shook Mr. Wilcher’s hand. “Mr. Wilcher, please survey to your heart’s content.”
Barnaby laughed out loud and replied, “It’s our job. Well then, let’s begin the conference.”
Under Barnaby’s lead, Jasper sat on his right, coincidentally right opposite Prince.
The conference was about to begin when Prince suddenly said casually, “Wait. Before the conference starts, I have something to say.
“Since there’s no set policy for online payment yet, I think all running businesses should temporarily be put on hold. Only after the policy’s issued should the company be re-reviewed, after which qualifications and licenses can be distributed.”
Everyone looked at Jasper after hearing this.
Even an idiot could tell that Prince was targeting Jasper alone with his words.
This was because Jasper was the only person in the country officially operating an online payment system. Jasper would be forced to suffer a huge loss by putting his online payment system on hold until the policy was enforced, his company’s qualifications were re-reviewed, and a license was distributed to him.
Jasper was expressionless when he replied calmly, “Well then, Mr. Chavez, I wonder if you eat by injecting food into your stomach and waiting for it to digest before you take it out to chew?”
Muffled snorts were heard from the other attendees. They could not help but laugh at the response.
Even Mr. Wilcher, who was hosting the meeting, showed a tint of mirth on the corner of his lips.
Prince was the only one with a pitch-black expression. He stared at Jasper and asked, “What did you say, Jasper?”
“Don’t you know understand what I said?” Jasper asked back.
This conference had been a fight between him and Prince to begin with, and Jasper would not lose.
Admitting defeat meant that there would be a slight change to the policy in the future. One that might result in a huge attack against his properties.
Because of this, Jasper was fully prepared to face off against Prince, both from a logical and emotional perspective.
“Online payment is a concept I first proposed, and with the central bank and the government’s support, it’s proven to be a viable option to adopt. I have no qualms about sharing the fruit of my hard work with you since I had never decided to act illegally and monopolize the country’s market.”
“But this is still a survey conference, after all, one that will decide the policy framework of the online payment industry in the future. So what are you trying to do by requesting that I close my operating platform right off the bat?”
“My partnership is recognized by ICBS, the central bank, and the government. I will change according to the official policy when it’s issued in the future, but I will not put a halt to my business until then.”
Jasper’s words were well-founded and reasonable.
Even Mr. Wilcher nodded slightly in approval.
However, there was no way Prince would give up so easily when he had the intention to cause trouble for Jasper.
“You make it sound so nice, but I heard rumors long ago that your online payment has a turnover of tens of millions everyday. Who knows if you’ve done anything illegal? Would you dare to pull out all your data for us to audit?”
The atmosphere in the conference room changed at that.
Prince did not stop there.
“Do you know how much wealth is involved in a turnover of tens of millions? Do you know how much dirty money you can earn with even a slightly underhanded trick?”
“You think that just because you claim that there’s nothing’s wrong that there won’t be a problem at all?”
“You want to prove your innocence? Sure. The best way to do so would be to share your data with the public and let us investigate it thoroughly.”
Jasper glanced at Prince’s prideful expression and replied calmly, “So you want to investigate me. What happens if there’s nothing wrong, then?”
Prince snorted. “Shouldn’t that be the given? You’d be in grave trouble if there was something wrong. What do you mean, ‘what then’?”
“So you mean I have to immediately reveal all my data to the public and let you flip through all my important trade secrets as you wish. However, if there’s no problem, you’ll just up and leave matter-of-factly, correct?”
Prince grinned. “Exactly. That’s correct. Why, do you not dare to do so?”
“It’s not that I don’t dare.”
Jasper shook his head.
“I’m just really curious how you can be so arrogant.”
“Following your logic, it means that I can enter your house and start digging around. If I find nothing I want, then I’ll just walk out self-righteously. If I find something, then I’ll confiscate it and your entire house. What difference is that from a common bandit?”
“Not to mention that neither of us have any say in whether there’s anything wrong with it or not. All my companies have performed their tax duties and cooperated with tax auditing businesses. There’s never been any problem when it comes to us and paying taxes.”
“But according to what you said, are you telling me that your authority is above the tax department? Or perhaps you think that everyone in the tax department is useless and are not as skilled as you.”
“You want to investigate? Sure. I can open all my data to the public. But what about Clear Seas Industrial’s data? Can I investigate that as well?”
Prince’s expression darkened with every word. Once he heard the last part about investigating Clear Seas’ data, Prince exploded in fury like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“Who the f*ck do you think you are? How dare you propose investigating Clear Seas Industrial’s accounts? Who gave you the right to say something so treacherous?!”
In comparison to Prince’s fury, Jasper looked much more laid-back. He nodded calmly and said, “Exactly. You just voiced out exactly what I wanted to say.”
Prince narrowed his eyes and glared at Jasper. The conflict between the two seemed even more incendiary than ever before.
