The Mafia Empire

Switching to a larger checkbook, Wood wrote a check for six thousand and tossed it to Colt. "This is the deposit. Do you really think I\'ve never done business myself?"

Colt smiled obsequiously, not daring to argue. He took the check, flicked it with his fingers, and happily tucked it into his pocket. At the same time, he stepped out into the hallway, pulling on a cord. On the other d, behind the bar, a bell rang. Every time Colt pulled the cord, the bell would chime, signaling the bar staff to come over.

Before long, a short young man hurried over, wiping his hands on a towel. "Mr. Colt!"

"Find any Guar out on the street and tell them to inform Graf that Wild Rose Bar needs one hundred cases of alcohol. I\'ll provide ough of a deposit." Colt pulled two fifty-ct coins from his pocket, placing one in the young man\'s hand. "This is your tip for running the errand." He th placed the other coin into the young man\'s hand as well. "This is for the Guar.

They won\'t run errands for you for nothing. Got it?"

The young man nodded excitedly, clutching the coins as he ran out the door.

Most of the Guars lived on King\'s Avue, which wasn\'t far from here. Despite the grand name, King\'s Avue was no rich district but rather a slum, where the city\'s poorest residts lived. Those who lived in the slums knew most of their neighbors, at least by reputation.

In contrast, the wealthy residts of neighborhoods like Malt Gard oft didn\'t ev know how many people lived across the street from them.

The richer you were, the colder you became—a universal truth in all parts of the world.

The young man quickly found a Guar, offering him twty cts. "Please tell Graf that Wild Rose Bar needs one hundred cases of alcohol."

Wh Graf heard from a snot-nosed child, barely sev or eight years old, that Wild Rose Bar needed a hundred cases of alcohol, he had a strange feeling, as though someone might be trying to trick him. After asking a few questions, he learned that an adult had paid the child five cts to deliver the message. Fortunately, the kid had some sse of duty. Otherwise...

One hundred cases were no small order, worth nearly sixte thousand dollars. Graf was puzzled, as he had only delivered fifty cases rectly. Had they really sold out in just three or four days? Something didn\'t seem right.

...

"Wild Rose ordered so much stock at once, I think there might be a problem."

Graf stood beside Julian and voiced his thoughts. He had checked, and the alcohol was delivered three days ago. In just three days, fifty cases of alcohol were sold? That\'s way too fast! Maybe the ormous profits from selling high-proof bootleg liquor were making Graf, a big guy as sturdy as a bear, feel nervous.

Julian had his own perspective on Graf\'s concerns.

First of all, it\'s not accurate to say fifty cases of alcohol were sold in just three days. That\'s a misconception. No expericed merchant would wait until their invtory is completely depleted before thinking about restocking, so the Wild Rose Bar should still have some stock left. In the business world, there\'s a well known but unspok rule: wh invtory drops to 30%, it\'s time to restock.

This means the Wild Rose Bar probably still has about a doz cases of alcohol.

Secondly, Graf made another mistake. The fifty cases of alcohol were actually split into two differt categories, so it\'s more accurate to say there were twty-five cases of each, making fifty in total. Based on differt customer preferces, the sales volumes of each category could vary. If each type sold about a doz cases in three days, while exaggerated, it\'s not impossible.

That\'s a thirty or forty bottles a day per type. Calculating five servings per bottle, that\'s less than two hundred servings.

Julian wasn\'t sure how many customers the Wild Rose Bar hosted daily, but if we assume each customer drank two servings, and two hundred customers chose their drinks, the restocking demand wouldn\'t be that surprising.

While these numbers might seem a bit exaggerated, it\'s not impossible. Besides selling drinks by the glass to customers on-site, the bar also sells bottles for customers to take home. If someone really liked "First Love" or "Snow Elf," they might buy a bottle or two to drink at home or purchase several bottles for a party.

With that in mind, the Wild Rose Bar\'s sales figures don\'t seem unreasonable, and there\'s nothing particularly suspicious going on. At most, it means the bar\'s positioning is excellt, and both types of alcohol have a broad appeal among its customers.

After explaining this to the muscle bound giant Graf, Julian st him off to handle the delivery. Julian believed that as the new flavors of high-proof fruit liquor continued to sell and resonate with customers, the supply would only increase. This meant buying a truck needed to be prioritized. After all, they couldn\'t expect the guys to carry two cases each and run to make the delivery, right?

Ev using carts or horse-drawn wagons would carry risks.

Julian thought for a momt and knocked on the bell at the corner of his desk. The sharp sound pierced through the air, and the office door immediately oped. Over the past three days, a simple rovation of the first floor of No. 7 had giv it a slightly more commercial feel.

Dave pushed the door op and stuck his head in, "Boss?"