Chapter 464: For Our Friendship
Translator: _Min_Editor: Rundi
Just as Jiang Chen was working on his dinner, a blonde beauty suddenly sat across from him.
Without raising his head, Jiang Chen knew who it was.
"How did you know I was eating here?"
"You definitely didn't notice that the Russian embassy is on the next street, and how eye-catching your Lamborghini is parked on the side of the road." Natasha grinned and asked the waiter to bring her a bowl of rice.
"I remember that Russians live off of bread, are you okay with eating rice?" Jiang Chen glanced at the bowl in front of her.
"No worries. Before I came here to work, I learned about the culture." Showing off, Natasha picked up the chopsticks and spun them between her fingers.
[Would ordinary people play with chopsticks before they eat?] Jiang Chen mocked in his mind.
"Is there something you need?" Jiang Chen was direct.
"Nothing in particular, can I not just ask you to treat me?" Natasha also asked the waiter to bring two bottles of beer.
"Are you not afraid of getting a beer belly?' Jiang Chen joked.
"Are you caring about my body?" Natasha giggled.
Jiang Chen looked away.
[This girl is seducing me again.]
"Also, could you let me play with your virtual reality helmet?"
Jiang Chen let out a sigh.
"Didn't you say you just want me to treat you?"
"Can we not talk about this topic as friends?" Natasha took a gulp of beer.
"Of course, once the Phantom is officially released, I will gift you one personally."
Seeing that Jiang Chen wasn't planning to disclose any information, Natasha sighed.
"Okay, the Kremlin wants me to learn more about how advanced your virtual reality technology is… Don't be mistaken, the only reason I ask this is that we are somewhat disconnected from the world in this area. But even if I ask, you won't tell me right?"
"That's right." To Natasha straightforwardness, Jiang Chen was extremely pleased.
Natasha rolled her eyes as she picked up a piece of meat and sent to her red lips. With every movement, it looked seductive. So Jiang Chen's choice was to not look at her to avoid being distracted.
"What about the nutrient supply?" Natasha continued to ask.
"Nutrient supply? Kremlin would be interested in nutrient supply?" Jiang Chen laughed out.
"Precisely speaking, the Ministry of Defense and Department of Aerospace are both interested. Because we tried your nutrient supply, although it is not filling, we surprisingly discovered that we wouldn't po-"
"Ahem, we are eating." Jiang Chen coughed to remind her.
Natasha immediately realized and changed her wordings.
"Mhmm… You don't produce any waste."
Jiang Chen glanced at her and continued to work on the delicacies on his plate.
"So?"
"We want to work with you to develop a nutrient supply that's convenient to carry, capable of maintaining people's energy, and won't po-, produce waste in critical times." Natasha put down her chopsticks, put an elbow on the table, and smiled at Jiang Chen.
"A nutrient supply that's convenient to carry, and would allow the soldiers to obtain enough calories without the need to number two in critical times?" Jiang Chen put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"And astronauts. With nutrient supply as food, we could save space and remove the waste disposal unit." Seeing Jiang Chen was done, Natasha directly began to talk business.
"To be honest, we already developed this, so we don't need to work with you," Jiang Chen sighed, "But I personally have a cautious attitude to the military necessities market. This thing is just like poop, it is hard to wash off after you get it on your hands."
"It is only military necessities and not a tool for killing, you don't need to be so sensitive." Natasha sighed, "Just like a tech company, Google, they still design robotic dogs for the UA army for transportation."
When he heard Natasha's words, he fell into silence.
After a long pause, Jiang Chen asked.
"How are you planning to partner up?"
"Three plans. First, sell your technology to us, and promise that it won't be released to a third party. We'll purchase it at one hundred million USD."
"Too low, I don't want to sell it."
Other than too low, the organic boiler that's used in manufacturing of the nutrient supply possessed too many advanced technologies. Just with a particle filter inside, it is something that current technology cannot achieve. The recipe for the nutrient supply itself is not expensive; the expensiveness comes from the technology used to produce it.
Natasha was not surprised by Jiang Chen's response. She put up a second finger.
"Second, we'll give you the policy to build a plant in our country. We have a wealth of labor resources and a raw materials market."
"I'm only planning to build the nutrient supply plant on Ange Island. After so many things have happened, I don't feel very safe. You know," Jiang Chen said emotionlessly.
Natasha gave Jiang Chen a hard stare. She took a deep breath before extending out her third finger.
"Three, you produce, we import."
"The military type?"
"Of course." Natasha nodded.
Jiang Chen was silent.
"Could I know how much you're ordering?"
"20 million per month."
20 million per month? If it were not for the fact that the nutrient supply in the modern world pursued low calories, the cost would be much lower. The nutrient supply now must be produced with DH seaweed, but if the wasteland nutrient supply was manufactured, any fruit and vegetable could be used as the ingredient to produce nutrient supply above A grade.
And the cost of fruit and meat was meager for Xin, a near significant farm product exporting country.
"What kind of price could you accept?" Jiang Chen asked.
"3 USD per nutrient supply." Natasha proposed in anxiousness.
The average food cost for a Russian soldier per day is 351 Rubles which is equivalent to 4.6 USD. Based on the consideration that the nutrient supply could replace regular dietary needs, if the nutrient supply is not high in cost, it is no longer a burden for the Russian military to replace food as it could decrease military spending in that area. And due to the ease of storage of nutrient supply, to use military supply as a strategic supply for storage, it could also save a big chunk of the budget.
But based on the nutrient supply's current price of 6.1 USD per nutrient supply, they could not afford it.
So when Natasha proposed the price point, she was very anxious as she feared that Jiang Chen would consider their price point too low and disagree with the proposal outright.
Too low?
Jiang Chen thought it was high.
Jiang Chen calculated in his head. A normal nutrient supply had a cost 1 USD, much lower than the improved nutrient supply. Would the profit of 2 USD per nutrient supply be too greedy?
Especially since it was effortless to increase the production of this nutrient supply; there was no need to expand DH seaweed's farm area. It could also be produced with normal vegetables and even the leftovers from restaurants.
Jiang Chen glanced at Natasha, seeing how tense she looked, she was afraid that he would reject.
[Since you don't think it is expensive, I will sell it to you.]
Jiang Chen coughed and pretended to be serious.
"Although it is lower than what I expected, based on our friendly relationship… deal."
A charming smile immediately appeared on Natasha' face, she clearly looked relieved.
"Thank you for your generosity, I wish the best of luck to both of us."
"No need." The tip of Jiang Chen's mouth carved up.
Natasha slightly raised her eyebrows, puzzled at Jiang Chen's expression.
The faint smile on his face made her feel like she was tricked, but she couldn't tell where she got tricked.