Chapter 787
When William was abroad, he was very good at power and strategy.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems of China, The Art of War, had been read to him when he was a boy.
He would often play his opponents to the hilt.
This trick of driving the wolf to swallow the tiger was also a trick he used to use.
William had actually infiltrated some small and medium-sized enterprises through the power of the Nicholas family before he arrived.
He used acquisition or bullying to take these SMEs into his pocket.
These SMEs are the wolves.
He would next use all-out tactics to drive these wolves to pounce on and bite the tiger that was the Lingxiao Group!
When the time was right, he could simply take the Lingxiao Group into his hands!
William smiled elegantly.
The smile was full of confidence.
He was sure of himself.
"Humans are herd animals."
"Whether it's an animal, or a human, they all have one characteristic, selfishness!"
"Usually each forms a small group, and between these small groups, there will be some conflicts over food and mates."
"There will also be big fights over power."
As William was talking, Hou Rui Ming kept his eyes on him closely.
He looked into William's eyes with a look of admiration among them.
Such a look would have made any man feel uncomfortable looking at him.
It was even creepy.
But William enjoyed such a gaze.
He raised the glass of red wine in his hand and clinked it with Hou Rui Ming.
"But there is another characteristic of all herd animals, and that is xenophobia."
"When there are no external enemies, there are large and small fights within the herd animals."
"But as soon as an external enemy appears, they become incredibly united."
"A herd at this time of year is very difficult to break down."
In William's view, being a highly intelligent invader and predator.
The first thing he had to do was to disguise himself.
If the Nicholas family set up their own group as soon as they arrived at Heaven's Gate.
Then confront the local syndicate forces.
Then it would inevitably cause these local groups to join forces, prompting them to become more united.
Take down the Lingxiao Group first, so that he will have a layer of camouflage.
Then William will divide them from within.
One by one, like these forces, all in his hands!
That's how he's always managed to get to the top!
Never met any opposition!
No disadvantage!
"So, it had to be divided from within."
With that said, William used his fork, gently sticking a thin slice of Spanish ham into his mouth before putting it in with a look of enjoyment.
William looked at the blond foreign chef and smiled, "Carter, this time I will be holding a New World Culinary Competition at Heaven's Gate in the name of the International Association of Chefs' Unions."
"Come and participate too, with your level, you will be able to win the championship with ease."
There was something in William's words, and Carter nodded with a smile as he listened.
However, Carter still put on a modest face.
After all, this was the Hou family's territory.
"Dear Sir, if it were abroad, I would definitely be confident of getting the title."
"But not necessarily in China."
"After all, there are many capable people in China, and Chinese cuisine is also world renowned."
"Carter, that's modest of you!"
"The Chinese have a unique resource, but they don't know what food means at all."
"It's just a bunch of monkeys who are not yet enlightened and are bragging about themselves."
Having said that, William turned his head to look at Hou Ruiming and smiled, "Ming, what do you think?"
Hou Ruiming smiled, "You're right about everything."
At this time, the secretary walked in with a cautious pace.
"Boss, the schedule and venue for the cooking competition have been set."
Chapter 788
William asked the secretary, "Are there many people signed up for this one?"
There were more than two thousand people who had signed up, and it also included the entire Gyeonggi region.
"Those who have signed up for this cooking competition are in addition to some famous chefs."
"As you instructed before, we also got some of the housewives to participate."
William smiled and nodded, to show the fairness of our competition.
And also to show the diversity of this competition.
Ordinary housewives are definitely going to come in.
These people, though, are just cannon fodder.
They exist only as accompaniment.
To outsiders, the so-called cooking competition was just a means for him to cover up.
The main reason for holding this cooking competition was to focus the attention of the common people.
During the cook-off, he will let the media make a lot of noise about it.
Then, take this opportunity to pounce on the Lingxiao Group!
Thinking of this, William asked, "Did you get that secret recipe from the Beauty of the Orient Company?"
"We've poached three senior personnel from inside the Beauty of the Orient Company."
"At the same time, there are two factory technicians who have followed Zhao Kun for more than ten years."
"They have the core information of Oriental Beauty cosmetics."
"Only, these people have a huge appetite."
"They know that we need the secret formula now."
"So, the price was set at a level that was unacceptable to ordinary people."
William smiled faintly, a hint of contempt and disdain flashing inside his eyes.
"Tell me about it, I'd like to know how these monkeys who don't know what they're doing are asking for a price?"
The secretary paused, then said, "They stole six secret recipes from inside the Beauty of the East Company."
"For each secret recipe, the asking price is twenty million dollars."
Hearing this, Hou Ruiming cursed angrily, "These group of guys, are they crazy for money?"
"A broken secret recipe dares to sell for such a high price!"
Compared to the emotional Hou Ruiming, William was smiling.
"Don't get excited yet, in your Chinese 36 stratagems, there is a trick called inviting the king into the jar."
"This move has another expression, called catching a turtle in a jar."
"You have to catch this turtle now by casting this 'bait'."
"The six secret recipes combined are only a small sum of 12,000,000, I'll pay for this!"
Hearing William say this, Hou Ruiming's face changed slightly.
He thought that William was disliking himself, so he hurriedly spoke up and said.
"No, no. It's in our territory now, how can I let you pay for it?"
"It's not that I'm upset about the small amount of money, it's that I think these people are going too far."
"But since everything is in your plan, then I must cooperate with you."
When Hou Ruiming said the word "cooperate", he deliberately raised his eyebrows.
The two of them were making eyes at each other, and the secretary next to him had a chill!
William said to his secretary, "Take this money and go to those people immediately."
"As soon as the secret formula is verified, put the factory into production!"
The secretary froze for a moment, then said, "Mr. William, we don't have a relevant chemical factory in Tianmen."
William let out a loud laugh, "Do you think we, the Nicholas family, would send our elites into a country without any preparation, like those low-end, incompetent little families?"