“You must’ve been very busy lately, Mr. Monty. And yet you’ve taken the time to find out how I’ve been as of late. I’m flattered, truly.”
Leaning against the sofa, Jasper replied. He knew that the call was from Conrad right when the man spoke.
Conrad chuckled on the other end of the line. “Looks like you’ve been attentive to my situation as well, then?”
“Not too different, are we? Though in comparison to the people you sent to follow me, I’d say my attention is hardly worth mentioning.”
Conrad harrumphed at Jasper’s words and spoke, “I heard that you took a trip to Coreana to buy the patent for MP3 players?”
“Didn’t you buy the patent before I could, Mr. Monty? Why would you ask if you already knew?” Jasper spoke calmly with no hint of displeasure in his tone.
Conrad chuckled. “Since you already know that I’m the one with the patented technology, then why would you still dare to manufacture MP3 players in your factory in Reed City? You’re a brave man.”
Jasper replied calmly, “You’ve misunderstood, Mr. Monty. What my factory in Reed City manufactures are merely small trinkets that you would never be interested in, Mr. Monty.
“Why, Mr. Monty? Are you worried about something?” Jasper asked intently.
Conrad’s expression darkened as he replied calmly, “Let’s not beat around the bush, Jasper. We have history between us, and this is far from the end of it. You wanted the patent rights to the MP3 player, so I decided to fight you for it and be one step ahead of you.
“Initially, I had just planned to pose an inconvenience to you. But I’ve realized that the MP3 player could be a very promising product in the country’s market. I’ve got to thank you for your guidance, or I’d never have found such a suitable way to make profits in such a short time.
“I’m the only one allowed to manufacture the MP3 player in the country now, so I suggest you be a little smarter and not think of little tricks. Or I’ll make you pay until you go bankrupt!”
Conrad chuckled before continuing, “You must be so angry, so pissed, so reluctant to give up, hmm? Because even though you found out about it first, I still stole it from you. One step is all it takes. You’ll never catch up to me now. I have the higher ground now, so how are you going to beat me this time?”
Jasper replied calmly, “I don’t really mind putting the entire JW Electronics at risk, Mr. Monty. If I do end up losing all of that, I’ll just treat it as having not earned anything from the aluminum company incident before. Now that I think about it, you were indirectly the one who gave me that money, weren’t you, Mr. Monty?”
“You!’
Fury burst from within Conrad. He had only ever lost once in his life yet this one loss had become a nightmare he could never escape from.
Jasper’s name had become Conrad’s trigger. Conrad only had to think of that man and he would completely lose all his composure.
“Haha!”
Conrad forcibly pushed the anger aside and spoke coldly, “We’ve got a long road ahead of us. So what if you win once? The one with the last word is the true winner, Jasper. You’ve already lost once, what makes you think you can win this time?
“Just you wait. You won’t be able to do anything but watch as I slowly take up all domestic MP3 player market shares. The money should’ve been yours, but you’ll have no way of getting it. All you can do is watch and drool. Of course, perhaps I’ll give you a chance or two to earn money if I’m in a good mood.
“But as to whether that’s good or bad money, that’s not for you to decide! I’ll decide and you’ll take what I give you!”
With that, Conrad hung up the phone.
Despite knowing that he had the upper hand, Conrad could not seem to lift his mood.
He threw the phone aggressively and took the new MP3 player sample from his table. Looking at the silver coating, Conrad asked grimly, “Can this thing be mass-produced yet?”
Valentine replied confidently, “All manufacturing lines have already been installed. It can be mass-produced any time.”
“Good!” Conrad’s mood lightened a little.
“Then begin production. Contact the sales department as well. We can sign contracts with business clients who’ve been requesting it but remember to raise the bar. We’re the country’s first domestic brand for MP3 players. It’s not something any Tom, Dick, or Harry can sell on our behalf.”
Valentine nodded after Conrad finished speaking. “One more question, Mr. Monty. What should we name this MP3 player of ours? And how should we price it?”
“Its name…”
Conrad fell silent for a bit and replied, “Let’s call it Melody. As for its price, it’s selling for 2,000 bucks overseas so there’s no reason for us to sell it at a cheap price. Let’s do 1,800 bucks per MP3 player.”
Conrad then scoffed and fiddled with the sample. “It costs us no more than 500 to 600 bucks to produce, yet we’re selling it easily at 1,800. What a profit.”
“How’s it going with the rights protection materials I had you prepare?”
Valentine smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, Mr. Monty. I’ve already prepared most of it. All we need to do now is for JW Electronics to start manufacturing. We can sue them the moment that happens and we can also request for all the company’s factories to be seized.”
“Good!” Conrad was excited, and his eyes shone with excitement. “I’ve been waiting for this day for too long. Don’t you dare disappoint me, Jasper. Produce your MP3 players as fast as you can.”
“I have a question, Mr. Monty.”
“About that Jasper, the owner of JW Electronics… If he knows that you have the patent rights, why did he still build a factory to manufacture it? Or perhaps he isn’t really planning on manufacturing MP3 players? In that case, won’t all our hard work be for naught?”
Conrad was in a great mood, so he explained patiently, “You don’t know Jasper. We’ve fought before and I can tell you that he’s a very calm man. It’s almost as if he doesn’t really care about anything.
“But it’s people like him who are truly arrogant. He thinks that he’s the strongest of us all. The reason why he doesn’t get calculative with anyone is that he doesn’t even think they’re worth his time.”
Conrad then pointed at his nose and continued, “Even I’m among the group of people he looks down on. So this factory of his is definitely manufacturing MP3 players. There’s no way it can be anything else. Perhaps he thinks he has another trick up his sleeve to counter me.”
At that, Conrad locked his fingers together and put them behind his head before leaning comfortably against the big office chair. Squinting, he looked at the ceiling and spoke calmly, “So this time, I’m going to crush him under my foot without giving him the chance to ever turn the tables!”
