God of Illusions

Chapter 223: How Do You Fancy a Partnership?

Translated by: pokka

Editor: Reckeva

Even a debt of one penny was able to trouble a hero, and this 700 billion was extremely tricky to solve. What made this worse was the fact that this 700 billion was in Amethyst Coins, the highest grade of currency of the continent, above gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins.

In other words, the present Zhuang Ming was in quite a predicament. What should he do now? It was precisely at such a juncture that a crafty smirk formed on Bai Xiaofei’s face.

Finally! The moment I have been waiting for is here!

“Deputy President Zhuang, if my guess is correct, you don’t have anything left to offer, right? If so, are you interested in listening to a proposal of mine?” Bai Xiaofei said, and to the side, Fang Ye’s eyes lit up. Although he had no idea what Bai Xiaofei was trying to do, as a merchant’s son and Bai Xiaofei’s classmate, he could already smell the scent of money in the air.

Zhuang Ming blanked out then frowned. He asked, “Proposal? What do you mean?”

Being in his position, he had only paid attention to some aspects of Bai Xiaofei and had no information about Bai Xiaofei’s talent in business. Thus, he lacked knowledge of Bai Xiaofei’s business acuity. This lack in knowledge was why he was completely at a reactive position when dealing with Bai Xiaofei.

“Looks like Deputy President Zhuang hasn’t been staying on top of things. Are you familiar with the term Blossom Ticket?”

It doesn’t matter if you can’t think of it. I can slowly guide you. But if you don’t even know what Blossom Ticket is, I will have no choice but to mock you.

Fortunately, Zhuang Ming’s lack of knowledge wasn’t that severe.

“Do you mean you are proposing a partnership between us?” A look of realization surfaced on Zhuang Ming’s face as he recalled the recent major event that had happened in the academy.

Ten different stores had suddenly grown in power, each emerging as a new force to be reckoned with. They had been mainly relying on the Blossom Tickets to forcefully surpass all the other stores doing similar types of business to them, and there were signs that these stores were all going to become the tyrant of their respective industry soon.

After some investigation, they found that the Blossom Tickets originated from the Blossom Ranking. But the information Zhuang Ming had only indicated that Bai Xiaofei was merely one of the participants in that business endeavor. But now that he thought about it, the information he had obtained had been somewhat inaccurate.

“Conversing with a smart person is always a pleasant experience. Why don’t we sit down and have a proper talk?” Bai Xiaofei said as he gestured for the others to sit. Zhuang Ming was momentarily stunned before he told the waitress to leave. He then sat down on the sofa opposite Bai Xiaofei.

“So you have been expecting that I wouldn’t be able to pay the debt?” Zhuang Ming asked. This was something he did not dare believe. As for Feng Wuhen, a curious look appeared on his face when he heard the question. This was a rare chance to gain more understanding of Bai Xiaofei.

“How is that possible? Even if I am a godly fortune teller, I won’t be able to know that in advance. Before this, I had only expected that the four trillion would be hard to get. The partnership with you is something I came up with when you offered to pay the debt with those items.”

Bai Xiaofei had no intention of hiding anything. Since he had decided to work with Zhuang Ming, revealing his capability would help secure him more bargaining chips. After all, the more capable he was, the more serious the other party would take him. That was crucial in a cooperative relationship.

Sure enough, after Bai Xiaofei said that, Zhuang Ming was astonished. Although this wasn’t something Bai Xiaofei had planned beforehand, coming up with it on the spot was already a considerably impressive feat. One ought to know that Bai Xiaofei was only a sixteen-year-old youth.

“What a talented youth. Looks like I am indeed getting old,” Zhuang Ming lamented while shaking his head. “Sure, I will listen. I am now interested in your proposal. What do you suggest? Are you offering us the Blossom Tickets as well?”

From this, it was clear merchants were indeed shameless. What choice did Zhuang Ming have apart from “being interested” in Bai Xiaofei’s proposal? Could he even pay the debt?

“No. Although the Blossom Ticket is a very good marketing tool, it is still not fast enough. Besides, I have already promised the ten bosses that there won’t be an eleventh store with Blossom Tickets in the academy,” Bai Xiaofei said with a smile. With those words, he was able to keep his promise and say something even more shocking: the Blossom Ticket was considered slow! That could only mean that he had something even better to offer!

“Oh? Do you have a new product to offer?” Zhuang Ming asked, astonishment surfacing on his face again. He had a feeling he couldn’t even keep up with Bai Xiaofei’s line of thought anymore.

“Deputy President Zhuang, you are managing a branch of Babel Merchant House. What else do we need? Everything we need is right here!” Bai Xiaofei said with a smile on his face. His words stunned both Zhuang Ming and Feng Wuhen. As for Fang Ye, his mind had been completely blank from a long time ago. For the current Fang Ye, not to mention Bai Xiaofei, even keeping up with the thought process of people like Zhuang Ming and Feng Wuhen was extremely difficult.

“You mean gambling?” Zhuang Ming wasn’t a deputy president for nothing. With a slight hint, he was able to guess what Bai Xiaofei was proposing. To the side, Feng Wuhen was hit by the same realization. Of course, Fang Ye was still in complete confusion.

“That’s right. Gambling. No other business can make a profit as fast as gambling,” said Bai Xiaofei. Zhuang Ming broke out in cold sweat.

Sure, gambling business is easy money, but after a freak like you appeared in Starnet Academy, I won’t dare try to open other new bets anymore. I have no intention of being slaughtered by you.

“But we need to have something we can host a bet for. After all, in Starnet Academy, we can’t open an actual casino business and can only hold bets for specific events.” Zhuang Ming had indeed thought of opening a proper casino in the academy, but due to the pressure exerted by the academy, this business idea was killed in its infancy.

“That is why I call this a partnership. I will create the avenues in which you can offer services, and you will share the profit with me. This is a win-win situation.”

When Bai Xiaofei finally spoke his actual proposal, a look of realization hit Fang Ye.

Zhuang Ming couldn’t keep calm, and he stood up in shock, exclaiming, “Avenues to offer betting services? Are you really able to provide that?”

In his original plan, a long time would be required to settle the debt with Bai Xiaofei. But if they could offer more betting services, the time required would be greatly shortened. In other words, his and Old Tong’s danger period would be greatly shortened.

“If I can’t, why would I be sitting here talking to you?” Bai Xiaofei asked. The confidence he displayed turned Zhuang Ming’s shock into joy, but the joy was quickly replaced by worry – worry over the split of profits. Cooperating with Bai Xiaofei was the equivalent of handing his lifeline to Bai Xiaofei. And from what he currently understood of Bai Xiaofei, he would not be able to easily get his lifeline back once handed out.

“How do you propose we share the profit?” Zhuang Ming asked anxiously.

“I am not greedy. Fifty-fifty.”

Indeed, Bai Xiaofei did not “disappoint”.