Business

Xiahou Aotian stared at the man behind the massive desk as if confronting a formidable adversary. He tucked in his arrogant chin, focused his imperious gaze, and straightened his slouching spine. He had to admit that today, he, Xiahou Aotian, had met a truly powerful rival. A study opulent as an imperial palace, furniture exuding the aura of immense wealth at every turn, a carpet unimaginably soft, and desserts and expensive drinks set out on the desk that looked delectable at a glance. In terms of money, Xiahou Aotian had lost, completely and thoroughly vanquished. In terms of looks, he considered himself exceptional—handsome features, sword-like brows, starry eyes. Without a speck of makeup, he was leagues ahead of those idol heartthrobs fawned over by legions of screaming fans. Yet seeing this man up close, Xiahou Aotian lost confidence in his appearance for the first time. The flawless, handsome face before him seemed a masterpiece hand-carved by God Himself. In terms of bearing, the man sat beside an exorbitant desk fit for the Oval Office, clad in an impeccably tailored white suit, with a portrait of himself taking up half the wall behind him. It truly lived up to the old saying: *Pretentiousness is like the wind, ever at your side.* "What a Money Prince!" Xiahou Aotian let out a sigh. "Giving me a show of strength the moment we meet... I, Xiahou Aotian, admit defeat. For now, there is indeed a minuscule, negligible gap between us. But do not get cocky. As the saying goes, never look down on a young man for being poor! The last demigod who dared bully me is already locked away in the ancestral home, reflecting in secluded penance. "Now, let's talk business. Regrettably for you, I won't be intimidated." Watching the youth opposite him, Fu Qingyang's eyes flickered with a hint of bewilderment and confusion. Incomprehensible chunibyo antics, unreasonable arrogance, self-hypnotic pride... Under his Insight, all of these thoughts and emotions were laid bare. Yet precisely because they were genuine, Fu Qingyang found them surreal. In that single instant just now, he had seen fury, fighting spirit, excitement, humiliation, and defiance play across Xiahou Aotian's face and eyes... He had merely greeted the young man, yet the youth had internally staged an emotional drama spanning at least forty episodes. *Can such an oddball truly exist in this world?* Fu Qingyang's gaze shifted slightly, suppressing his bewilderment and confusion while maintaining his aloof demeanor. He spoke: "Yuanshi Tianzun told me that you obtained a secret manual of mechanics in Mohist Mechanist City—one filled with blueprints for numerous mechanical creations." Xiahou Aotian looked at Zhang Yuanqing, who was standing beside the desk, and snapped, "How could you betray me? We're in the same guild!" "How is this betrayal? This is collaboration! You have the core technology right now, but you lack funds. You need financing!" Zhang Yuanqing made a welcoming gesture toward Fu Qingyang. "Our Money Prince here is willing to be your angel investor." Xiahou Aotian scrutinized the two of them with utter distrust. After a moment's thought, he asked suspiciously, "Did you two station three hundred axemen outside the study, ready to charge in and butcher me the second a dropped cup gives the signal?" "No, no, there are no axemen outside—only slender-waisted, long-legged, pretty bunny girls," Zhang Yuanqing replied. "Pah, sheer decadent extravagance!" Xiahou Aotian was so envious his cells were practically undergoing plasmolysis. "Once you finalize this deal with Money Prince, you can enjoy that kind of decadent extravagance too," Zhang Yuanqing smoothly followed up. Upon hearing this, Xiahou Aotian rubbed his chin in anticipation. "I don't want bunny girls. I want mature, alluring older sisters in garter stockings." The corner of Fu Qingyang's mouth twitched slightly. He said coldly, "My study is not the place for you to discuss your frivolous fantasies." He fixed a calm gaze on Xiahou Aotian. "We can collaborate. You be the manufacturer, and I will be the distributor. I will provide the raw materials needed to craft the mechanisms; your sole responsibility will be processing and production. I will handle the sales, and I must be the exclusive distributor. You are not to take on any other distributors, nor may you leak the secret manual of mechanics to anyone—including the Xiahou family." Xiahou Aotian shrugged. "Too late. I've already leaked the mechanics manual to the Xiahou family." "What?" Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. Fu Qingyang, however, remained composed. "How much did you leak?" "As expected of a Scout, that didn't rattle you at all." Xiahou Aotian tilted his chin up. "I cleared my debt to the family using a single blueprint for the lowest-grade puppet. It obviously wasn't worth a hundred and fifty million, but Great-Uncle said he was willing to pay a premium. Plainly speaking, they want the subsequent blueprints, and I personally lean toward selling them to the family." Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly interjected, "Are you out of your mind? How can you be as muddle-headed as Elder Sun? How could the family's development possibly be more important than the guild's?" Xiahou Aotian scoffed. "Of course the family's development is more important!" *This guy actually has some self-awareness for once...* Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but frown. Admittedly, the family's development truly was more important than the guild's, even if Xiahou Aotian wasn't favored by his family elders. The nature of Spirit Realm prominent families dictated that any blood-related clansman would receive protection and benefits. As long as one wasn't a total incompetent, no matter how disliked they were, the family would delegate power once their strength reached a certain level. As things stood, Return of the Dead wasn't influential enough to compete with that. Ignoring Xiahou Aotian's remark, Fu Qingyang calmly outlined his plan. "I intend to establish a company under the name of the 'Return of the Dead' guild. Acting as the head of that company, I will negotiate partnerships with Taiyi Sect and the Five Elements Alliance to become the mechanical weapons supplier for both official organizations. "Once our official partnerships stabilize, I will expand the business to other Spirit Realm prominent families and government-backed civilian organizations. In the future, they will all procure their supplies from us. As for profits, we'll split them sixty-forty. Forty percent for you, sixty percent for me." Fu Qingyang looked at the young scion. "Now, coming back to the question: is the family's development more important, or the guild's?" Xiahou Aotian's voice rang out loud and resolute. "The guild's development is more important!" The offer was simply too generous; Xiahou Aotian had no choice but to yield. He had neither money nor resources. His only options were selling the secret manual to his family for a lump sum or, like Fu Qingyang, founding a company under the family's name. Even then, he would at best be the CEO, with zero chance of holding forty percent of the equity. With so many family businesses in existence, not a single individual held over ten percent of the shares—not even the family head himself. Fu Qingyang nodded in satisfaction. "I have already purchased the villa next door to serve as the mechanical manufacturing workshop. You are now the head of the facility. Soon, I will arrange for a group of Scholars to report to you. You will oversee them, and non-core components will be delegated to them for production." At that point, Fu Qingyang added pointedly, "As the protagonist, you need a team and underlings. This will be the first step for you, Xiahou Aotian, to make a name for yourself and stand alongside Lu Ban and Mozi." The devastating impact of those words was on par with Guan Ya saying to Zhang Yuanqing, *Master, this humble concubine will take in a new concubine for you every month from now on.* Xiahou Aotian's eyes instantly lit up, blazing with excitement and fervor. "Pleasure doing business with you!" "A pleasure doing business with you." *** Once Xiahou Aotian was sent off, Fu Qingyang turned to Zhang Yuanqing. "Regarding his forty percent, I will stipulate in the contract that five percent serves as operating funds for your guild. However, I won't mention that now. Once he has settled in, I will tell him that sweat equity alone won't suffice; he must drain his savings to invest in the production of the first batch of mechanical weapons. "Once the sunk cost accumulates to a certain point, I will dilute his shares. Having a single person hold forty percent isn't conducive to the company's long-term growth. What do you think would be an appropriate figure to reduce it to?" "Thirty percent," Zhang Yuanqing replied. "Any less and he'll revolt, and he'll be impossible for me to appease." Fu Qingyang nodded and added, "I will transfer ten percent of the shares to you as a gift. You may invite people you trust to buy in—such as that prospective mother-in-law of yours, even if nothing is set in stone yet. Her business hasn't been doing well in recent years." *How much will a ten percent stake be worth in the future?!* Zhang Yuanqing bowed in deep reverence. "Thank you, Boss!" *** Carrying a backpack and hauling a suitcase, Li Chunfeng quietly stepped out of his room. On the living room sofa, two beauties—one older, one younger—sat in hot pants sharing snacks. Both looked over in astonishment. Xie Lingxi asked in surprise, "Li Chunfeng, are you quitting?" Queen looked over as well, her expression bewildered and reluctant. As a Scholar, Li Chunfeng played an irreplaceable role in the team: jamming enemy signals during missions, pinpointing hostile positions, disrupting surveillance feeds, and serving as the squad's steadfast backbone. In daily life, he could fix computers, repair air conditioners, replace light bulbs, and mend washing machines, not to mention bypassing the firewall to capture intriguing overseas intelligence. Aside from being unable to fight, he was virtually an all-around executive assistant. *A single Scholar rivaling an entire crew.* "I'm not quitting, just being temporarily reassigned." Li Chunfeng pointed outside. "Elder Fu bought the big villa behind ours and plans to convert it into a mechanical weapons workshop. I've been transferred there." "Isn't that basically the same as quitting?" Xie Lingxi knitted her delicate brows. "Does that mean you won't be on our squad anymore?" "When there are no missions, I'll be tightening screws over there. When missions come up, I'll still deploy with you guys," Li Chunfeng explained. Queen and Xie Lingxi stared in shock. "That's insane! That won't do—isn't he just working you like a draft animal?" Hearing that, Li Chunfeng's expression grew conflicted before finally settling into resignation. In a hollow voice, he said, "I was going to refuse at first. It doesn't suit my life rhythm at all and will drag my quality of life down to the gutter. But Elder Fu said he'd add a zero to the end of my salary... He simply offered too much."