The Mafia Empire
Chapter 46: Chapter 46 First Taste Of Fortune

In this world, there was only a man, a glass of wine, and the lonely moonlight. Completely absorbed in his own world, the liquor in the glass dwindled until even the last drop was tipped into his mouth.

Exhaling a breath laced with alcohol, his melancholy gaze slowly lifted from the empty glass until it fell on the bartender's face. "Was this bottle just opened?" Gorn asked. The bartender nodded. "First Love" was quite popular among middle-aged patrons, but younger people couldn't yet appreciate the drink's bitter, solitary taste.

Gorn was the first customer of the night with such "taste," so the bottle was opened just for him.

Seeing the bartender's confirmation, Gorn smiled. "Give me the whole bottle, and refill my glass when I've finished."

Gorn didn't ask about the price, and the bartender didn't offer it either. The customers at Wild Rose Bar wouldn't feel any pain from buying a bottle of wine, nor would they struggle to pay.

The price of a full bottle was set at twenty-two dollars for about 750 milliliters, enough for slightly more than four glasses, each priced at six dollars. Buying a whole bottle for twenty-two was a standard and widely accepted sales concept.

Love?

He chuckled softly, shaking his head while humming the tune and sipping his drink. In his world, he was utterly alone.

...

The quiet rollout of "First Love" didn't meet with any setbacks. Its steady sales reassured the risk taking merchants. If "First Love" made them confident that they wouldn't be stuck with unsold stock, "Snow Elf" made them nearly laugh out loud with delight.

Young people loved the icy-cool taste of "Snow Elf." On its first night at Dynamic Zone Bar, which catered primarily to younger crowds, they sold two entire crates!

And that was without any major word of mouth promotion or wall advertisements. A shining golden road had already appeared before the eyes of many bar owners.

Meanwhile, Julian sat calmly in the conference room on the second floor of 117 Queen's Avenue.

It was a house he had rented, three stories in total, costing 320 dollars a month. Initially, Graf had thought renting just one floor would be enough, but Julian didn't follow his advice. After all, Graf's brain was all muscle, and it would've been difficult to explain to him why renting all three floors was necessary.

At that moment, in front of Julian at the large table, Graf and Dave stood by the window smoking, but their attention was focused on Julian. Five girls were counting money. Small metal boxes were opened, and rolls of cash popped out. The girls, excited yet slightly nervous, stacked the money by denomination and counted carefully.

When the last coin was picked up by a girl's delicate hand and dropped into a cup with a clear clink, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Graf walked over to Julian, nervously gripping the back of Julian's chair.

Julian sat with his legs crossed, showing no signs of anxiety. He already had a good idea of how much had been sold and how much money they would have today.

He looked at the girl to his right and asked, "How much in total?"

...

Just like when Julian received the fruit wine from the supplier, he only paid a tenth of the deposit.

The bars also didn't pay the full amount but followed the rules Julian entrusted to Graf. They paid a minimum deposit of 30%.

Julian wasn't worried that anyone would dare to default, unless they no longer wanted to sell this unique, high proof fruit wine. If they defaulted, Julian had ways to recover the money, with both principal and interest.

Capital has never been noble. It involves not only ugly exploitation and oppression but also brutal competition and suppression. Competition can be civilized or savage.

When the girl, with trembling lips, announced the day's earnings, Graf clutched his chest, and the cigarette Dave had just lit fell from his hand.

After rounding off the minor digits, the total was 19,600. Julian was quite satisfied with this figure. Although it fell 400 short of breaking the 20,000 mark, it was already an impressive sales result. And this was just 30% of the deposit. Once this batch of goods was sold out, they would collect a total of about 66,000!

This was a step forward, and the future looked promising!

Clutching his chest, Graf asked, "Julian, does this mean... does this mean I can get several thousand dollars?"

Julian gave him a glance and turned to Dave, saying, "Explain it to this fool, and then tell him how much he'll actually get." Of course, this money couldn't be counted as pure profit. After deducting the costs, various necessary expenses, and reserves, the net profit was around 15,000. Graf would take 40%, which was 6,000 dollars, and the rest belonged to Julian.

However, Julian didn't plan to distribute the profits as they currently stood. It wasn't because he was greedy or uncomfortable with Graf taking so much. Nor was he trying to covet Graf's share. In any enterprise, company, or even a small organization that wants to grow and develop healthily, profits cannot be concentrated in the hands of just one or two people.

These profits must be distributed and shared.

There was a saying he found very true. In a dream, a business mogul once discussed this with the head of a consumer brand, and what the brand leader said stuck with Julian.

"When wealth is concentrated, people scatter. When wealth is distributed, people gather."

The principle is simple. As Julian understood it, if you try to take more for yourself, you inevitably harm those who aren't equipped to resist risks, forcing them to leave. Whether running a business or any organization, it needs people and the help of people to succeed.

Nothing can be accomplished without people.

It's not that things can't be done alone, but without trusted people, success becomes near impossible. Thus, wealth must be shared to attract and keep these people.