The person who stepped down from the car was immediately recognized by Song Heping as someone who definitely had Chinese descent.
His hair was black...
The features of his face slightly bore European traits, but also had several Chinese characteristics, giving a vaguely familiar feeling.
Clearly, he was of mixed heritage.
Besides that, a pair of black-framed glasses sat on his nose, adding a scholarly air to his overall appearance.
"Ferrari! My dear friend!"
The cook enthusiastically greeted him, hugging him and giving him two kisses of honor.
Lao Gui pushed the cook away and said, "You've been drinking, right? The smell is so strong!"
The cook, unbothered, said, "Come on, let's have a few drinks together."
As he spoke, he pulled Ferrari to the table and made him sit down.
"Let me introduce you all, this is Hann Ferrari, he is a senior commissioner of the Illiguo Joint Security Committee, a PhD in Political Economy, and now he is specifically in charge of our team's company establishment and administrative business. Simply put, he's joined us!"
Afterwards, he introduced Ferrari to the other members, including Song Heping.
When he got to Song Heping, Ferrari's eyes slightly lit up.
"Chinese descent?"
"From China."
"Oh! Fellow countryman!"
He actually blurted out a phrase in Chinese that left Song Heping staring in astonishment.
"You speak Chinese?"
"Of course!" Ferrari said proudly, "I'm one-quarter Chinese! A China-German joint venture!"
His Chinese had a bit of an accent, but it wasn't unpleasant to hear.
"I thought you were Italian just by hearing your name!" White Bear muttered from the side.
To everyone's surprise, that comment noticeably upset Ferrari.
"No! I am not Italian! Who is Italian? Your entire family is Italian!" Ferrari said with disdain.
Everyone paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.
It seemed that Ferrari held quite a grudge against the events of World War II.
"I was wondering why you looked so familiar; you're from the United Security Council!" White Bear said. "Isn't the United Security Council good? High salary, relaxing, plenty of perks, why did you leave?"
White Bear's question was the question in everyone's mind.
If the cook wasn't exaggerating, Ferrari, being a PhD in Political Economy, would have earned a salary definitely above 20,000 US dollars per month while working at the United Security Council.
Although it might not compare to the lucrative payments of a mercenary, but being a staff within the organization ensured a stable income regardless of circumstances, not to mention the United Security Council was a very profitable place to be; anyone there with a little bit of authority wasn't living just on a fixed salary.
That was no joke.
Currently, there are three committees in Illiguo with the greatest power.
First is the Illiguo Provisional Commission, also known as the temporary government. They are made up of influential local tribes or former high-ranking officials who have defected to the US Army, and they will control Illiguo's official power structure in the future.
Next is the Illiguo Project Management Committee. This committee is responsible for reconstruction efforts and consists of representatives from the United States, Britain, and other countries along with local representatives, covering energy projects, urban construction, etc.
In reality, it's a venue for distribution of profits since all those investing and reconstructing are enterprises and tycoons from the United States, Britain, or other coalition countries, where most of the manipulating and profiteering happens.
Last is the Illiguo Security Joint Committee. This committee, consisting of 25 people, might appear to represent local interests on the surface, but in reality, Americans have inserted many of their own senior commissioners and advisors to monitor and check these local leaders to prevent them from having thoughts of rebellion.
This United Security Council is responsible for security matters in Illiguo; past forces like the ISF, ICDC including the police forces fall under their jurisdiction. All arrangements for armed forces, their equipment provisioning, purchases, etc., are managed by the United Security Council.
In these operations, just the military equipment procurement is enough to make people drool. Those who work there, nobody believes their hands are clean, not even if you're a gentleman. Local powers will drag you down into the mire with them to corrupt together.
Ferrari, being a high-level commissioner who indeed possessed significant power, had inexplicably chosen to switch from light to dark, utterly irrational.
"Hmph!"
Ferrari seemed to have utter contempt for White Bear's question.
He grabbed a cup, filled it to the brim, and drank it all in one go without even bothering to cut the meat.
Just as everyone was admiring his capacity for alcohol, he suddenly began to cough violently.
"Cough, cough, cough—cough, cough, cough—"
Ferrari's face turned red from coughing, and it took him a long time to speak.
"Cook... how strong is this alcohol..."
"77 degrees..."
"Suka! Isn't it over forty degrees?"
"Who told you vodka is only over forty degrees?"
The cook laughed, bending over backward.
Ferrari finally recovered and said, "If I had to work with those vermin at the United Security Council, I'd rather mix with you guys."
His attitude was extremely determined, like a master who looked down on mundane people.
Song Heping guessed that Ferrari must have received some unfair treatment at the United Security Council, which was why he preferred to resign and join the small mercenary team "Musician" rather than stay in the comfort zone of the council.
"Let's talk business," the cook regained the topic: "You know why I invited you to join us, share your thoughts on setting up a company?"
Ferrari said, "Setting up a company is too simple... Before that, I want to ask, Cook, what kind of company do you really want to establish?"
The cook's expression stiffened, then he said, "I think... like a security company... providing life safety guarantees for employers."
There was nothing wrong with this idea.
After all, the team had gained fame this time by taking on and successfully completing Angel's security task.
Sticking to what one knows best is never a mistake.
More so, nowadays in Illigo, the ten to twenty thousand mercenaries mostly take on such jobs.
"No ambition!"
What the cook received was Ferrari's merciless scorn.
"Cook, I thought you were somebody, but it turns out you are short-sighted, just like those vermin at the United Security Council. What a disappointment..."
While speaking, Ferrari shook his head, his face indeed full of disappointment.
The cook got scolded by Ferrari and felt unable to save face, "I understand all that, why would I need you then?"
Ferrari said, "Cook, even if you're now rolling in the mud at the bottom of a well, don't forget to look up at the sky. You want my advice, fine, here it is: don't use the name of a security company, it's so LOW."
"If you left this matter to me, first off, I'd set up a small offshore fund in a place like Viking or the Cayman Islands..."
"Wait a minute!" the cook's face turned green: "A fund?! You think I am a businessman?! I do the work of dodging bullets, and you want me to deal with a fund?!"
"Can't you let me finish?!" Ferrari also got angry, and he slammed his glass down on the table: "If you won't listen to me, find someone else who is more capable!"
The cook had to concede, "Okay, go on."
Ferrari continued, "The benefits of setting up an investment fund are to facilitate taking on jobs in the future.
Think about it, Cook, the 'Musician' team is still small, and most of your jobs are subcontracted from large companies, but have you ever thought about the future when you grow bigger, start taking jobs independently, even some huge contracts, and the money involved is quite sensitive, cannot be received through legitimate channels, or requires paying a high amount of taxes, what will you do?"
Everyone was stunned.
Song Heping thought, Ferrari was really thinking far ahead.
Of course, currently, with a total of only six people in "Musician," Ferrari's words sounded like a pipe dream, just like a dishwasher in a restaurant kitchen suddenly hearing someone tell him to plan for a future where he might become the owner of a five-star hotel,
That's either genius or madness.
The cook was completely shocked by Ferrari, and perhaps didn't know what to say, he could only nod, unable to utter a word.
Ferrari continued, "So, to avoid taxes and launder money, you must register an offshore fund. Then comes the main body of your company, which can hold shares through the fund. As for shareholders, you can find several, we sitting here can all be initial shareholders..."
"But the name can't be too mundane, what a security company? Sounds as unprofessional as hotel security. Just a name alone would restrict your business, do you want to be just a bodyguard company, only taking PSD tasks all your life?"
"Then... what name should we use?"
The cook looked much more humble.
"Just call it 'Defense Consulting Firm, Musician International Defense Consulting Company.' Ferrari said, "This name is most suitable, the concept of defense is very broad, covering everything you can think of, even the arms trade..."
That day, the few people sitting around the table listened to the new member, who would be the future office director, Ferrari, talk nonstop for an entire hour — in reality, Ferrari was now basically taking the role of an office director.
The cook had mentioned, Ferrari was brought in to handle paperwork, immigration processes, arrange plane tickets, acquire transit permits, and set up PMC companies, among other tasks.
At last, after Ferrari had finished discussing setting up the company, he turned to ask the cook, "How will my salary be calculated? How much per month?"
At that moment, everyone was still immersed in the grand vision they had just lifted off into. Ferrari's query abruptly pulled everyone's ambitious aspirations back from the clouds to the stark realities of everyday life.
Indeed.
People need to eat.
Those who haven't had their fill can't afford to discuss ideals.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem—"
This time, it was the cook who started coughing violently.
After the coughing, he asked Ferrari, "So do you want a fixed salary, or do you want a commission?"
Upon hearing this, Ferrari laughed, "Kids make choices, adults want it all. I want both a base salary and a commission!"