Chapter 1746

Jaime had his thoughts on this.

In the Schulz family’s opinion, Machi had two advantages compared to Yahiko. Firstly, he was willing to destroy and get rid of the Ito family, and secondly, he was willing to reduce his shared profit margin to twenty-five percent.

Hence, when facing Yahiko, Jaime felt that Yahiko would have to be on par with Machi on the first point, and he would have to offer an even better proposal than Machi on the second point.

The first point was to get rid of the Ito family. This was already a very extreme request.

No matter whether they were asking the Takahashi family to get rid of the Ito family, or vice versa, as long as one of those families was gotten rid of, then it would simply be perfect.

Therefore, even if Yahiko were also willing to join forces with him to get rid of the Takahashi family, he would only be on equal footing with Machi based on this point.

This way, unless Yahiko would give them a few more favorable terms than Machi on the second point, there would be no need for the Schulz family to consider the Ito family.

This was the reason why Jaime offered Yahiko a twenty percent stake in the shared profit-margin. If Yahiko were to agree to his proposal, he would convince him to join forces with the Schulz family to get rid of the Takahashi family. In that case, he would have already gained another five percent interest for the Schulz family.

However, Yahiko could no longer control and hold back his emotions as soon as he heard about the profit-sharing margin’s twenty percent stake.

He was furious and frustrated, and he secretly thought to himself:

‘I am asking for a thirty-five percent stake in the profit-sharing margin, and you are actually countering my offer… around twenty percent? Moreover, you will not consider any offer that is more than a twenty percent stake. There is no room for bargaining at all. Isn’t this way too much?!’

‘Not just that, you will be taking advantage of my domestic port, and I will be allowing a foreign capital investor like you to come in and make money. And even when it comes to that, you only offer me a twenty percent stake in the profit-sharing margin? Aren’t you taking too much advantage of the weaker party then?’

As he thought about this, Yahiko could feel the rage rising within him.

He then looked at Jaime and replied coldly, “Mr. Schulz, don’t you think that offering only twenty percent is a little too much? I admit that the Schulz family is indeed very strong and powerful, and you do possess many ocean shipping businesses. However, it’s not right of you to exploit me like this, right?”

Jaime replied thoughtfully, “Mr. Ito, we are not trying to exploit you, but our family is definitely in a position that has way more advantage at this point. Japan’s economy is currently declining, and it is challenging for you to continue doing business at this stage. The only way for you to continue making money is for you to collaborate and work together with us.”

After a long pause, he continued.

“Although a twenty-percent stake might seem low, what seems small will amount to a huge number once the business starts. If we can make ten billion dollars a year, then the Ito family will get two billion. What's the concept of two billion dollars? As of now, I believe that the Ito's couldn’t possibly make that much profit within a year.”

Yahiko shook his head, retorting, “We cannot calculate things in this manner, Mr. Schulz. If I proceed with this business on my own, I might not make an annual profit of ten billion dollars, but it would not be a huge issue to make more than one billion dollars. If I work a little harder, I might even achieve at least two to three billion dollars then. If we observed this matter from this point of view, wouldn’t I be making a loss then?”

Sophie suddenly spoke in an arrogant tone, “Mr. Ito, you said that you might be able to achieve a profit of two to three billion dollars if you worked a little harder. However, in my opinion, that is simply impossible.”

Yahiko frowned before asking, “Why would it be impossible? The Ito family is one of the top families in Japan!”

Sophie smiled, replying with a little coercion, “To be honest with you, if the Schulz family is not ready to involve themselves in this business, then it might be possible for you to have the opportunity to make that much profit. However, since the Schulz family is already prepared to enter the market now, then it will certainly be impossible for you to grow your business to such a large scale as long as the Schulz family is around. Moreover, it might even be possible that they will not allow you to venture into this business at all.”

Yahiko’s pride took a hard fall this time around.

He did not expect that Sophie, who had not spoken much at all, would be so direct the moment she opened her mouth to speak!

One could even say that she barely gave any face to Yahiko at all!

Yahiko, overwhelmed, instantly felt a burst of anger and discontent. He gritted his teeth, replying coldly, “If that is the case, then I think that there is no need for us to continue with this discussion. The Ito family will operate this business on its own! When that time comes, the Schulz family can just watch and see how well I am going to develop and grow my business!”

Sophie showed a slight smile. “Mr. Ito, I wish you good luck then!”