ALL NOVEL Chapter 13 - The People of the Dragon Kingdom are Very Wealthy.
Chapter 13: The People of the Dragon Kingdom are Very Wealthy.
A warehouse?
On his way back home, Fang Jian rubbed his chin, feeling a slight headache. He originally planned to rent a warehouse in the outskirts and transfer the contents from the space house there. However, upon further consideration, he realized his mistake.
In China, renting a few storage facilities to store 5,000 tons of goods for a month wouldn’t be too costly. Compared to the total transaction amount, it would be a negligible expense. However, if someone were to inquire about the origin of these goods…
Fang Jian believed that certain authorities would easily uncover this. Well, it seemed he would have to put in some extra effort. When he returned home that evening, Fang Jian began contacting ocean freighters. After working in Mali for many years, he still had some connections.
Abidjan, situated in West Africa, is a renowned port city and was formerly the capital of Côte d’Ivoire.
Abidjan accounted for over one-fifth of the country’s population. It served as the political, economic, and cultural hub of the Ivory Coast and as a transshipment port for neighboring countries’ goods.
The port of Abidjan had an annual handling capacity exceeding ten million tons, particularly in container throughput, making it the top port in West Africa. It exported coffee, cocoa, bananas, timber, and minerals while importing petroleum, grain, general merchandise, machinery, and more.
Fang Jian contacted his old friend in Mali, Babouli, who was a local engaged in foreign trade, with gold being just a small part of his business. Fang Jian requested him to help him arrange a 10,000-ton ocean tanker to order 5,000 tons of cement from Abidjan and transport it to the domestic port of Zhoushan.
The reason for requiring a large tanker was that commercial cargo ships for long-distance transportation were typically of at least a ten-thousand-ton class. Upon hearing this request, the person on the other end seemed somewhat puzzled.
Cement? Wasn’t it readily available everywhere? Why go through the trouble of shipping it from West Africa to Asia?
The transportation costs alone would likely exceed the purchase cost by a significant margin. However, this was a request from a longtime friend in a cooperative relationship, and the other party promptly made the payment. Therefore, Babouli immediately agreed.
For outsiders, purchasing and arranging the shipment of 5,000 tons of goods would be challenging. But it was just a routine order for someone well-versed in the foreign trade industry. While the quantity of goods was substantial, the value…
It was truly the tiniest order imaginable. The port workers must have been astonished to see such a small order.
“Are the people from the Dragon Kingdom crazy? Why are they buying cement?”
“Yeah, how much does this cement cost? The shipping costs alone must be several times, no, dozens of times more expensive than the goods themselves.”
Several customs officials exchanged glances, all sensing something was off. Typically, cement, even if shipped by cargo, would use bulk cargo ships, mostly for river transportation. Bringing some very common cement from West Africa to the Dragon Kingdom.
Anyone who would see that would find it quite suspicious. Moreover, the transportation requirements for this batch of goods are extremely peculiar. Placing cement bags in containers makes sense, but each container wasn’t filled. It left a large space.
This went beyond a simple waste of money. As a result, customs officials conducted thorough inspections and tests without delay. All containers were opened, and randomly selected bags were tested, confirming they contained nothing but cement.
After a three-day delay, the officials at the port of Abidjan reluctantly gave clearance. They had no choice. The goods had undergone the most rigorous inspections, and the conclusion was clear: they were indeed cement, the ordinary kind that cost a few hundred yuan per ton.
So, their conclusion was…
Damn it, people from the Dragon Kingdom are too rich and wasteful. The minds of the wealthy are different from those of ordinary people.