Chapter 243: Transaction (2)
Second floor.
After packing up his stuff, Zheng Yunhui was about to leave when he saw Liu Hong entering the room. He wasn't surprised to see Liu Hong.
But he frowned when he saw Xia Huyou.
"Brother Yunhui!" Xia Huyou had a warm smile on his face as he said, "Don't worry about me. The Xia Family is the number one family of Great Xia. If you want to do business, I am naturally your best option."
"Xia Huyou, why are you getting involved in this?" Zheng Yunhui rolled his eyes, "You have been a little bastard since you were a kid. You're just like your second granduncle."
Xia Huyou smiled, "Brother Yunhui, you are too prejudiced against me. Also, my granduncle is a good man. Who doesn't know about his impeccable moral standing?"
"Cough, cough." Liu Hong coughed and said, "Yunhui, we already reached an agreement previously. You have even received the down payment. And I have the rest of the payment with me. As the strongest of your generation in the Zheng Family, your word is still worth something, right?"
Xia Huyou said, "When it comes to business, everything needs to be handled in accordance with the contract. As per your agreement, how much is the down payment? And how much do you need to compensate for breaking the contract? The Xia Family will take on the payment! Brother Yunhui, you won't lose a single cent by dealing with us!"
Liu Hong glanced at Xia Huyou and asked, "Xia Huyou, are you in charge of the Xia Trade Company already?"
Xia Huyou smiled, "No. But I have enough authority to take charge of a small transaction like this."
Small transaction!
Liu Hong caught on to that term. And when he recalled the so-called second granduncle Zheng Yunhui mentioned earlier...
The Xia Family was very big. They had a lot of members. Liu Hong wasn't very familiar with the Xia Family. He only knew that Xia Huyou was from the Xia Family, but he didn't know Xia Huyou's exact identity.
But after this interaction, he started suspecting Xia Huyou's identity. Second granduncle...Ranked second among his siblings...and someone from the Xia Family. Marquis Xia?
And Xia Huyou was from Xia Chan's generation. Was he Marquis Xia's grandnephew? How many nephews did Marquis Xia have? There were a lot of them. The most famous of them all was Xia Longwu, his direct nephew. The other nephews were all from the branch families.
"He can't be the prefect's son, right?"
A certain idea ose in Liu Hong's mind. That shouldn't be the case, right? He knew that the prefect had a son, but he had never seen that person before. An individual at the level of Xia Longwu was too far away from Liu Hong.
Even in the academy, only those Mountainsea experts would be privy to information like that. Maybe some of the senior Cloudbreach experts would know as well. As for someone like him who had been in the academy for less than 10 years, he was unqualified to learn more about the personal affairs of those top experts.
He was suspicious, but he didn't ask anything. He looked at Zheng Yunhui and said, "Yes, contracts are important when doing business. But Yunhui, you are no businessman. You are someone who will grow into a strong cultivator in the future. A strong cultivator must be firm with their words instead of being indecisive and changing their minds all the time. That will only harm your faith in yourself and ruin your path to the top.
"Furthermore, after selling it to the Xia Family, they would definitely mass produce the blood essence and spread them everywhere. Elder Hong will definitely learn of this. It will be different if you sell it to us. We will only perform our own research secretly. Our main goal isn't profit. That will give you more time to get ready for the backlash from Elder Hong..."
Xia Huyou smiled, "You must not be serious. So what if you research it in secret? Do you think this will stay secret? Furthermore, Su Yu is the one who has leaked the formula. That has nothing to do with Yunhui. Thus, he naturally has to maximize the profit he can gain from this. Brother Yunhui, the Xia Family is willing to offer you 10,000 merit points on top of whatever Assistant Liu is offering you."
Yes. Being rich gave him a lot of confidence in this negotiation. He didn't even need to ask about Liu Hong's offer. He could directly add 10,000 merit points on top. Liu Hong was rather speechless. The Xia Family was too rich. If they really competed in terms of money, the single character faction wouldn't be a match.
He was about to speak when he frowned. Some other people had arrived.
A few mysterious individuals appeared in the room. One of them spoke with a hoarse voice, 'We're interested in buying the data as well. How about this? We'll compete fairly. The one capable of offering a higher price can get it."
Liu Hong coldly asked, "Who are you? Why don't you dare to show your face? We're inside the academy! Do you want me to report you to the guards?"
One of the mysterious visitors said, "Liu Hong, don't forget that this isn't an auction. This is a black market transaction. As for our identities, as long as we aren't from the Myriad Race Cult, why do you care who we are?"
A different person said, "I'm from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy. We're interested in the data as well. As for who I am, there is no need for you to know."
Liu Hong's face fell. He looked at Zheng Yunhui and sternly said, "You will be in great trouble if you sell it to the wrong person. I reminded you of this before."
Zheng Yunhui looked at the newcomers. He was somewhat speechless. He said, "I don't remember notifying so many people. I intend to sell this off in secret. But with so many of you here, is this still a secret? If Elder Hong or the principal ends up attracted, are you guys going to compensate me for my loss?"
He was feeling very gloomy as well. Why were there so many people? Liu Hong did not say anything. He was partly at fault for this. But he naturally couldn't admit that or Zhou Pingsheng wouldn't spare him.
Zheng Yunhui looked at the newcomers and said, "Those who are hiding their faces can forget about this. I'm not selling to you guys. I don't dare to sell to you guys. I'm not stupid. If something bad happens as a result, are you going to take responsibility on my behalf? I would rather earn less. You may leave."
He looked at Xia Huyou and Liu Hong and said, "Let's go somewhere else..."
He had just finished speaking when one of the mysterious individuals released their aura.
Zheng Yunhui was alarmed. But before he could say anything, a voice rang out from outside the room, "Time to leave, guys. This is not a transaction you can afford to get involved in."
That was the middle-aged man from the Xia Family. The person who had released their aura earlier had their face hidden, so nobody was sure if that person's expression had changed. But they did withdraw their aura.
The middle-aged man from the Xia Family smiled and said, "I am not a member of the academy. I am but a simple trader. Therefore, I am not interested in pursuing your identities. But if you don't leave, the experts of the academy might arrive soon."
The self-proclaimed member of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy said, "Xia Xinyi, I have nothing to fear. I'm here for business, not creating trouble. If you want to kick me off, I'll make sure none of you can complete this transaction."
"The academy experts are going to come? So be it. Since we can't get it, nobody can get it!"
The middle-aged man frowned, "Why push it that far? The Wentan Research Center has sealed their research result. Nobody can get the data through any other channels. If the Xia Family obtains it, we will disseminate it widely. Everyone will be able to buy blood essence abilities in the future. With your strength, once the blood essence is available for purchase, it is only a matter of time before you can reverse engineer it.
"If we wait for Hong Tan to release it, either it will be released after his research is complete or it will remain sealed forever. This is our only chance. After obtaining it, we will share it with everyone. The Xia Trade Company focuses only on profit. As long as you have a normal identity and aren't a member of the Myriad Race Cult, you will have no problem buying the blood essence from us. And if you're willing to pay, you might even be able to buy the data from us. Am I wrong?"
Xia Xinyi spoke earnestly, "Between waiting for Hong Tan to complete the research or waiting for us to disseminate the blood essence, which do you think is the better option?"
"..."
They all sank into silence.
Xia Xinyi added, "Of course, it would be an entirely different story for the Myriad Race Cult. There...isn't a cult member here among you guys, right?"
When he said those words, Xia Xinyi's presence changed.
"If there is...then you might not be able to leave today."
The mysterious individuals appeared indifferent. The person from the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy said, "Even if they're here, they won't expose themselves. Everyone here naturally has a proper identity on paper. There is no need to scare us with this excuse. If you want us to leave, it's easy. Give us a copy of the list of materials and a recording of Su Yu's demonstration."
Xia Xinyi frowned, "Don't tell me you haven't recorded the process."
"With you guys present, we can count ourselves lucky for being able to spy even a bit. How can we still record the process? If you can't even agree to such a simple request, none of us shall get anything today."
Xia Xinyi sank into silence. After a while, he tossed a few jade talismans over. After checking the talismans, they hurriedly left. They knew that with the Xia Family and the single character faction here, it was very unlikely that they would be able to get the data.
But with the recording, they could slowly deduce the formula. After the mysterious visitors left, Xia Xinyi looked at Zheng Yunhui.
Zheng Yunhui flashed an awkward smile and said, "Uncle Xinyi..."
"You sure are bold nowadays. You dare to even steal your family's divine blood essence?"
Zheng Yunhui laughed dryly, not saying anything in reply. Inwardly, he thought that how would they be here if he wasn't bold enough? Beside them, Liu Hong was feeling very helpless. It did not look like his plan was going to succeed.
After thinking for a bit, he smiled, "Yunhui, can we have a chat privately?"
Zheng Yunhui thought about it before nodding.
The two walked to the corner. After throwing Xia Yinyi and Xia Huyou a glance, he transmitted his voice, "Stop acting. This is definitely a ploy by both you and Su Yu. Are you really thinking of scamming the Xia Family? Are you not afraid that they would look for you after this?"
Zheng Yunhui's heart thumped. His expression remained the same, but he couldn't control his heartbeat.
Liu Hong continued transmitting his voice confidently, "So is Su Yu trying to scam me or the single character faction?"
"Assistant Liu..." Zheng Yunhui could only speak since he wasn't capable of transmitting his voice, "You must be kidding..."
"I'm not!"
Liu Hong paid close attention to Zheng Yunhui, including his heartbeat. He also paid close attention to Zheng Yunhui's breathing and said, "The two of you are too bold. That was quite good acting from both of you. Even Zhou Pingsheng and Xia Xinyi were fooled. But you can't fool me. In fact, this plan has probably started since the first time you allowed me to overhear your conversation..."
Liu Hong continued focusing on Zheng Yunhui as he continued, "But...you need to know that I've personally witnessed the production of those special blood essence."
"What?"
Zheng Yunhui trembled instinctively. At that exact moment, Liu Hong cursed inwardly. Holy fucking shit!
Damn it! It was really a lie! What an impressive scam!
He was only saying all that as a last minute effort to test Zheng Yunhui. In truth, he was almost convinced that this was not a lie as well. But Zheng Yunhui was not seasoned enough a liar and ended up exposing himself.
"You don't believe me? I have known Bai Feng for so many years. Do you think I've never seen the production process before? Do you think I'm a fool? Scamming the Xia Family is basically courting death. As for me, I'm too poor. What's the point? Your only choice is Zhou Pingsheng. If you agree to ask for a price of 80,000 merit points from them, I can let you keep 40,000 of those."
"You..."
Zheng Yunhui's eyes widened.
Holy fuck!
This fellow was trying to make a killing from this as well! To be precise, this fellow was asking for an even bigger slice of the cake!