"My apologies for making you witness such a spectacle."
The Patriarch of the Zhu family offered a helpless smile to Zhou Yu and the Patriarch of the Xie family. His smile held a hint of bitterness.
Before Zhu Changming arrived, the Zhu family patriarch could still negotiate terms with the Xie family. After all, to outsiders, the Zhu family should have appeared united. But now, Zhu Changming's appearance had not only revealed Zhou Yu, a late-stage Houtian realm martial artist, but also showed the Xie family that the Zhu family was not as solid as it seemed. This meant that any cooperation between the Xie and Zhu families carried the risk of breaking apart. Being seasoned strategists themselves, the Zhu family patriarch knew without asking that the Xie family patriarch would definitely try to drive down the price now.
"No matter, every family has its own troubles," the Xie family patriarch said with a chuckle. In reality, the Xie family wasn't entirely peaceful either, as Xie Er Bo's earlier situation had proven. However, today, the Zhu family had exposed its weakness, so it was no wonder the Xie family patriarch was sharpening his knives.
After some pleasantries, the Xie family patriarch got straight to the point: "Old brother, as you can see, our Xie family martial artists aren't unable to step up. That display just now made me doubt the strength of the Zhu family."
A smart person never finishes their sentence. The rest was for the Zhu family patriarch to ponder. Undeniably, cooperation between the Zhu and Xie families would maximize their profits. Therefore, the Zhu family was unlikely to switch their allegiance to the Shi family. This was the Xie family's bargaining chip.
Now, facing the reality, the Zhu family patriarch frowned and said, "Rest assured, Zhu Changming has been expelled from the Zhu family. Our cooperation will have no other issues now."
The Xie family patriarch expressed doubt. He asked sincerely, "We haven't even officially clashed with the Shi family yet, and this kind of trouble has surfaced. What if we do clash? Today it's Zhu Changming, tomorrow it could be Zhu Duanming. It's hard to say! If the Zhu family is this unstable, is it really reasonable to demand such high profits?"
He remembered that before the Xie family patriarch had known Zhou Yu's strength, the six-four split he had negotiated with the Zhu family was already a huge concession. Now that Zhou Yu's strength was known, why should the Xie family give up so much profit?
The Zhu family patriarch knew he couldn't escape this predicament, no matter what. He sighed and asked, "Then, in the Xie family patriarch's opinion, how should we divide it?" He was furious now, immensely angry. He no longer even used the familiar address of "old brother" and directly addressed the Xie family patriarch by name.
The Xie family patriarch didn't mind. He smiled and held up three fingers.
"Three-seven? No, that's too little!" The Zhu family patriarch took a deep breath. Before, they could get six shares. Now, after all their hard work and involvement in this conflict, they would only get three shares of the profit, a halving of their previous take. The Zhu family wasn't foolish! Under no circumstances could they agree to this.
The Xie family patriarch, having anticipated their refusal, smiled mysteriously and asked, "Then, in the Zhu family patriarch's opinion, what is the most suitable division?" Generally, a fifty-fifty split would be ideal. But the Zhu family patriarch knew that the Xie family patriarch would never agree to that.
After a moment of deliberation, the Zhu family patriarch carefully proposed, "How about this, I won't beat around the bush with you. The Zhu family takes forty percent, how does that sound?" The primary purpose of participating in this dispute was to prevent one family from becoming too powerful after swallowing the other, thus creating a dangerous enemy. Therefore, forty percent was the Zhu family patriarch's bottom line.
The Zhu family patriarch had expected the Xie family to haggle further. To his surprise, the Xie family patriarch immediately agreed, "Alright, forty percent it is." "We are close, so I'll let you have this profit!" With that, the Xie family patriarch put on a pained expression, leaving the Zhu family patriarch momentarily stunned.
Once the daze wore off, the Zhu family patriarch immediately realized that forty percent was far from the Xie family patriarch's bottom line. By agreeing so readily, the Xie family had made a huge profit. The Zhu family patriarch gritted his teeth and replied, "You're too kind, thank you for looking out for us, my brother." His words were filled with suppressed anger. But no matter how angry he was, he could only swallow his pride. This was a condition he himself had proposed!
After they quickly signed the contract, the Xie family patriarch said with lingering satisfaction, "Thank you for taking care of us, old brother. The food today was delicious as well. Let's get together again sometime!" The Zhu family patriarch desperately wanted the Xie family patriarch to leave, unable to bear the sight of that old fox's face any longer. So, he quickly said, "You're welcome, my brother. Travel slowly on your way back. The Zhu family's doors are always open whenever you wish to visit!" With that, the Zhu family patriarch wasted no time in having the doorman retrieve the Xie family's car, eager to send the offending Xie family patriarch away as quickly as possible.
As the group got into the car, Xie Yu, who had been holding back laughter the entire time, finally couldn't contain himself. In the back seat, he guffawed, tears streaming down his face. He grabbed the Xie family patriarch's arm and said, "Dad, did you see Uncle Zhu's contorted face just now? Hahaha, he must have never expected your psychological price!"
The Xie family patriarch smacked his lips, glanced at Zhou Yu, and exclaimed, "We really have to thank Doctor Zhou for his help. He earned us an extra twenty percent of the profit!" If the Zhu family patriarch hadn't been so preoccupied with the matter of Zhu Changming earlier, he wouldn't have been so easily trapped by the Xie family patriarch. The Xie family did have Zhou Yu, who was at least a late-stage Houtian realm martial artist. But the problem was, Zhou Yu was only here to help and, strictly speaking, wasn't even a member of the Xie family! Therefore, the Zhu family patriarch agreeing to only take forty percent was indeed a huge loss! In the end, most of the effort would still come from the Zhu family's martial artists. The Xie family patriarch couldn't help but feel grateful, thinking that Zhu Changming was probably a mole, sent to assist them!
"By the way, Doctor Zhou, what is your cultivation realm?" Xie Yu turned to Zhou Yu and asked curiously. He had heard the people from the Zhu family mention that Elder Qin's realm was peak late-stage Houtian! And Zhou Yu had defeated him so easily. Did this mean Zhou Yu's realm was at least peak late-stage Houtian, or perhaps even higher, possibly in the Huajin realm? Thinking this, Xie Yu's gaze became more fervent, and he looked at Zhou Yu as if he were a prize.
Zhou Yu couldn't help but shudder. He then turned his head and said, "Why do you need to know so much? As long as I can defeat the opponent, that's enough." Despite Zhou Yu's words, Xie Yu was still incredibly curious. If Zhou Yu were truly in the Huajin realm, he could be considered a peerless genius, the kind that only hidden families could nurture. Could it be...
"Alright, now that we have finalized our cooperation with the Zhu family, everyone can relax," Zhou Yu changed the subject. "We still need to be careful with the company, not to push the Shi family too hard, but also not to let them have too much leisure." Even though the Shi family had already launched various attacks on the companies under the Xie family's banner, the Xie family was not to be trifled with. They could easily handle these attacks. Their inaction was simply because they were too lazy to bother.