"Mr. Eric Long, long time no see," a cold voice came through from the other end of the phone.
Eric allowed the glimmer of a smile to show on his face. "Do you have something to say to me?" he asked.
"Kind of..." Aaron answered, standing in front of the window of the CEO's office on the top floor of Leng's Corporations and steadily staring down at the urban landscape of QY Island, all the way to the seaside where land met the sea. "I've always paid my dues by helping the people who treat me well and exacting revenge on those who hurt me. Dragon Empire Group has helped me, and of course I remember your generosity. For that, I am grateful to you."
The phone call from Aaron was quite a surprise for Eric, but what he said on the phone surprised Eric even more. Perhaps, he wasn't expecting this because Aaron was a close friend of Brian's, not his. However, the real reason why Dragon Empire Group had agreed to open an amusement park in QY Island was because it was a lucrative location. Sometimes the line that separated, right from wrong, advantageous or disadvantageous, was ambiguous and difficult to ascertain. However, when considering the situation in QY Island then, by agreeing to open an amusement park there, Dragon Empire Group had rescued Aaron from an extremely undesirable situation.
At any case, the current situation at Dragon Empire Group was far from stable compared to what it had been, due to the crash of the stock market and the global financial crisis. If Aaron stood forward to give him a helping hand right now, his help would play an important role in helping them gain control over the situation, even though it would be impossible to solve all of the problems Dragon Empire Group was facing. On the contrary, it was important to note that, if Aaron were to make a mistake, the Leng's Corporations would risk getting involved in the crisis. In other words, it was quite risky for Aaron to offer help at the moment, but surely he was well aware of it. Nevertheless, Aaron made a conscious decision to give Eric a call on his own accord, which obviously went beyond paying a debt of gratitude, as he had put it.
However, Eric was a shrewd businessman who was clearly good at grasping every possible opportunity he was given. Now that an opportunity was in front of him, missing it was not something he would do.
Both men knew that Eric was not at liberty to discuss the details concerned with Aaron through the phone. Aaron's purpose of making this call was only to give Eric a shot in the arm first, so that the latter would feel at ease. He then would fly to T City in the noon to flesh out the necessary details with Eric.
In fact, in his own way, Aaron was an opportunist too. When Dragon Empire Group had been excelling at the highest level, they hadn't paid much attention to the Leng's Corporations. At that time, every subsidiary company of Dragon Empire Group had been able to beat the Leng's Corporations as a group. However, things had changed drastically for both companies since then. The Leng's Corporations had been growing steadily under the leadership of Aaron, while Dragon Empire Group got involved in one of the biggest financial crisis in the company's history. While other companies were caught up with their own affairs, the Leng's Corporations' generosity would be viewed as timely lifeline, which was as valuable as sending charcoal in a snowy winter. Dragon Empire Group would always remember their magnanimity and in the future, would return the favor if they would be in need.
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