Chapter 228: Negotiation
The next day.
Sang Zhe finally met Bai Ming, who had been avoiding him.
She was still wearing that ridiculous frog outfit, sitting in her office with a smile as she greeted Sang Zhe.
“Brother Sang, did you sleep well last night?”
“And what about Sect Leader Hua? Didn’t she come with you?”
Sang Zhe recalled last night when he was dragged into reading comics by Hua Jianglian until the early morning, and he couldn’t help but twitch his mouth.
That girl was still fast asleep in bed.
Feeling sorry for her, he didn’t wake her up.
“Uh, she… she stayed up late last night and hasn’t gotten up this morning. I’ll be fully responsible for the negotiations.”
Seeing Sang Zhe’s peculiar expression, Bai Ming grew more confident, her smile widening.
It seemed… he really didn’t get enough rest.
“Come on, we rarely have time today, so let’s finalize our cooperation quickly.”
Bai Ming lightly snapped her fingers, and the Little Maid immediately brought up a document.
“Our primary cooperation at this stage is the freight delivery aspect.”
Bai Ming continued, “I will pay double the market price for every shipment transported by the Demon Cultivators.”
“However, conversely, we hope the Demon Cult will take full responsibility for the goods in transit. If there are any losses or thefts, the Demon Cult must either recover the goods or compensate accordingly.”
“The trial period for the cooperation is three months. If it goes well, our commerce will be willing to pursue deeper and more diversified cooperation with the Demon Cult, such as low-interest loans, establishing a Demon Cult office, short-term cultivator hiring, etc.”
“All prices will be preferentially above market prices.”
“Brother Sang… what do you think?” Bai Ming said, propping her chin up softly.
It really did sound like a mutually beneficial cooperation.
Not to mention the long term, a shipping fee double the market price was already quite enticing.
The Floating Splendor Commerce had a massive shipping volume, and their transport network spanned the continent. Whichever faction took on this business would rake in profits.
However, Sang Zhe wasn’t in a hurry.
He simply closed his eyes, silently tapping the table with his hand.
As Bai Ming’s expression gradually settled, he finally spoke slowly:
“…Five times.”
“What?”
“Five times the market price for the shipping fee,” Sang Zhe said softly. “And the trial period is only one month.”
“After one month, if we don’t renew the contract, we just part ways amicably.”
“Brother Sang, are you joking with me?” Bai Ming almost laughed in anger. “If it’s five times the market price, why wouldn’t I just hire five times the manpower for shipping? Or are the Demon Cult’s disciples capable of handling five by themselves?”
“Not quite.”
Sang Zhe chuckled softly, “But I believe even at ten times the market price…”
“Brother Bai, you definitely wouldn’t find anyone willing to oppose the Holy Kingdom in the hiring market.”
Upon hearing the Holy Kingdom mentioned, Bai Ming’s expression changed slightly.
Though Sang Zhe could only see that ridiculous frog headpiece, he was sure the person behind it understood his meaning.
“Brother Sang… what do you mean by that?”
“Brother Bai, it’s pointless to keep hiding things,” Sang Zhe slowly shook his head. “In business, honesty is key.”
“But from the very beginning, you concealed that the commerce is currently embroiled in disputes with the Holy Kingdom. You readily expected to drag us, the Demon Cult, down with you.”
“This… isn’t very fair, is it?” He looked at Bai Ming with a half-smile.
Bai Ming remained silent for a long time before suddenly smiling: “It seems Brother Sang is quite thorough in his investigations.”
“Since that’s the case, let’s get straight to the point.”
“Help us get through this confrontation with the Holy Kingdom,” her voice calmed down, “two hundred million top-grade spirit stones.”
“Five hundred million.”
Sang Zhe lazily stretched, “From the moment you nod, the Holy Kingdom won’t gain any advantage over the Floating Splendor Commerce.”
“Three hundred million; even for our commerce, such a huge sum is not easy to circulate—”
“Five hundred million. Not a single coin less.”
Sang Zhe waved his hand.
Bai Ming squinted in silence, seemingly considering the offer.
The price Sang Zhe proposed wasn’t far from her maximum expectation; just a little bit higher.
This was giving her a headache.
In negotiations, the worst thing is having the other side know all your secrets.
At this moment, Sang Zhe’s confident demeanor suggested he understood the Floating Splendor Commerce far beyond her expectations.
After much deliberation, Bai Ming sighed softly, helplessly saying, “Brother Sang, you’ve really posed a big problem for me.”
Upon hearing this, Sang Zhe knew Bai Ming was relenting, and he smiled brightly:
“Don’t worry. The only drawback of expensive things is that they’re expensive.”
“In today’s cultivation world, only our Demon Cult dares to clash with the Holy Kingdom.”
“As long as the boss pays up, we guarantee those folks from the Holy Kingdom will skulk back to their own home.”
“If any goods get stolen after we take over from the Demon Cult, we’ll gladly compensate five times.”
Hearing this, Bai Ming also showed a smile: “Well then, let’s celebrate our cooperation in advance.”
The Little Maid had already poured the wine beforehand; the two exchanged smiles and clinked their cups together.
As they raised their heads, their gazes never left each other, both harboring their own agendas.
Bai Ming knew full well that in this negotiation, she had suffered a hidden loss to Sang Zhe.
But she wasn’t worried.
During the subsequent deep cooperation, as long as she won over Hua Jianglian, a crucial character, she wouldn’t fear that little subordinate going against her.
Sang Zhe felt quite at ease too.
After all, the trial period was only one month.
In that month, he could test the waters with the Holy Kingdom, probing their attitude.
If they weren’t willing to escalate the situation, then he would make a big profit for nothing.
If they really were determined to go all out against the Floating Splendor Commerce…
At the end of the trial period, he could simply find an excuse to bail out.
No matter what, the Demon Cult wouldn’t be at a loss.
After a few rounds of drinks, the two gradually moved from the tense negotiations to casual chit-chat and toasting.
“Speaking of which.”
The tipsy Bai Ming swayed her head and said, “I heard from my subordinates that Brother Sang had a bit of a conflict with one of our authors at Fusa Pavilion yesterday?”
“Oh, it wasn’t really much of a conflict.”
Sang Zhe waved his hand: “Just some clueless person trying to cause trouble.”
“That person claimed all of us in the Demon Cult are illiterate morons and called us idiots. I thought, if he insults us idiots, isn’t he insulting Brother Bai, who collaborates with us too? Who can stand that?”
“Unable to bear it, I made a bet with him on your behalf. I’ll leave it to you to deal with this guy who dared to insult you.”
Bai Ming’s mouth twitched slightly.
Sang Zhe sure knows how to embellish things. It was clear he just wanted her to step in for him.
“Tang Jia Qi Shao is indeed an established author at Fusa Pavilion; it’s a mistake to provoke Brother Sang.”
“But are you really prepared to participate in this author competition?”
Bai Ming teased, “I can help Brother Sang win through backdoors. But if your work turns out to be an eyesore, wouldn’t that just make a laughing stock for the readers?”
“Don’t worry.”
Sang Zhe confidently smiled and said, “I’ve already thought about what to write.”
(Silver award snatched! Another colorful insert earned for the family!)
(Let’s celebrate tonight, three updates! This is the first one!)
(Family, come on and give me some monthly tickets to celebrate!)
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