Chapter 312: Negotiations and Schemes
by xennovel“Difficulty? Mr. Li, I know it’s tough—that’s why I came to see if we could negotiate?”
Hearing this, Peter immediately spoke up.
Li Yan’s reaction was well within expectations. As the president of the chamber for Long Kingdom Internet Technology Company, he naturally had to look out for his own interests.
“Negotiate? You just mentioned that the Tech Expo has its own rules.”
Li Yan raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry! Once everything goes as planned, your efforts won’t be in vain. Besides, we even registered a joint venture for this Tech Expo.”
Peter, who had earned the title of Vice President at Sk Corp, wasn’t one to take things lightly. He immediately produced a bank card from his briefcase.
He understood the importance of adapting to local customs.
And in Long Kingdom, this procedure was essential when doing business.
“This…”
Li Yan ran his fingers through his hair.
The bank card was predominantly gold and black. As the boss of a top internet giant in Long Kingdom, he was quite familiar with these—a black gold card issued by a neutral nation’s bank, with no PIN and a minimum deposit of 5 million M gold.
“Mr. Li, this is the fee for speaking on our behalf. If things work out, there’s much more in store.”
Peter quickly added.
“Since you’re so genuine, Mr. Peter, I’m not ungrateful. I can help with the application—though I can’t guarantee success!”
After feigning deep thought for a moment, Li Yan finally said,
“All right! All right! I really appreciate it.”
“But as I said, no guarantees.”
“Mm!”
With that, after another ten minutes of feigned cordiality, the two left the hotel and got into their respective cars.
Peter then pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Hello! Sir, the goods have been delivered!”
“Received?”
Moments later, a voice came through the line.
“Received!”
“As long as it’s received, that’s what counts. In Long Kingdom, as long as the businessmen get paid, deals usually go through! I originally thought Li Yan would ask for a fortune, but it turned out to be easy—a little sum was enough.”
“Sir, at first Li Yan did try to decline a bit.”
“Never mind! Now that it’s settled, make sure to promote it well. Our products must ride on this Tech Expo to conquer the Long Kingdom market.”
“Mm!”
Little did anyone know, as Peter was reporting to his boss, Li Yan’s smug smile told a different story. Seated in the back of his car was a man in his fifties.
“Old Ma, you wouldn’t believe how close I came to laughing out loud!”
While speaking, Li Yan couldn’t help but glance back.
“How much did you give him?”
The man chuckled in reply.
“It was the minimum standard—5 million.”
Then, turning around,
Li Yan fished the black card out of his briefcase.
“5 million? If you mention the difficulties, perhaps you could get even more.”
The man took a quick look at the black card and handed it back.
“I wouldn’t dare! I’m really afraid that pushing further might scare off this foreign guy. It’s not every day you find a sucker willing to foot the bill.”
Li Yan waved his hand dismissively.
“Exactly! These companies should also get a taste of Mingsha City’s methods—then we’ll see how cocky they become.”
The man nodded in agreement.
“If it weren’t for the heavy workload at the company, I’d have loved to contact a few more foreign tech companies. If we all go down together, how can our Long Kingdom tech firms shoulder all this pressure?”
After a pause, Li Yan continued,
“Taking the initiative won’t work; these foreign tech companies aren’t fools. That would be too obvious and cause issues. But if they come to us willingly, we have to pull them in.”
“Mm!”
Days turned into nights, and before anyone knew it, a month had passed.
During that month, nothing major occurred. The only topic stirring heated discussions online was the security at the City Gate of Mingsha City. Most people were in favor of it.
Nothing more.
It was simply that everyone despised tourists who ignored others’ feelings. If tourists overexploited Mingsha Fudi, what then for future visitors? Although many netizens argued that breaking tree branches was harmless—a simple way to pray for luck—Mingsha City’s extreme reaction was deemed overblown by most.
Still, tourists continued to flock to Mingsha City every day.
Moreover, ever since the new rule was implemented, branch-breaking incidents had noticeably declined.
Of course, quite a few people still secretly tried the Zhu You Technique.
At 10 AM on an entertainment forum,
“I have to say, a day without any drama in Mingsha City feels a bit odd.”
One netizen commented.
“Exactly!”
“I really love Mingsha City now. As soon as something happens, the entertainment world erupts with scandals—it’s simply thrilling.”
“Stop scaring the entertainment world already!”
“I’m not scaring them; these are the facts. Too bad the Tech Expo in Long Kingdom doesn’t start until September 15. Otherwise, the entertainment world would already be trembling.”
“Just wait! No other destination has this kind of pull. Blink and mid-September will be here.”
While many netizens continued their lively chatter, a new post suddenly caught the public’s attention.
“Extra! Extra! Just in—internal news reveals that on May 15, Haofang Culture’s new movie, ‘A Chinese Ghost Story,’ will hit theaters.”
The moment this post appeared, the forum exploded with activity.
“A movie?”
“Are you sure? There wasn’t any buzz about it before.”
Moreover, most were skeptical.
“I’m certain. Haofang Culture’s official website just made an announcement. If you don’t believe it, go check it out for yourself.”
The poster immediately replied,
“Then go have a look!”
In front of their computers, many netizens quickly navigated to Haofang Culture’s official website.
A few minutes later, the forum buzzed again as netizens returned. “Oh my gosh, this is thrilling! Earlier they said Mingsha City was quiet, and we might have to wait until mid-September for big news. Instead, a new project just landed.”
“Who wouldn’t be excited!”
“Even better, this movie was shot in the Xianxia Zone of Mingsha City—and just from the title, you know it’s a ghost story.”
“Ghost story?”
“Absolutely. ‘Ghost Story’ says it all.”
“Heh, so does that mean the Xianxia Zone in Mingsha City has yet another exciting spot?”
Perhaps it was Mingsha City’s longstanding reputation, or maybe netizens felt the entertainment world had been a bit dull lately—the discussion grew increasingly animated.
And unlike other cultural companies launching new films, netizens weren’t too concerned about the quality of the movie—the focus was entirely on the filming location.
“Of course! And this time, it’s different. Haofang Culture’s official website clearly stated that once the movie is released, the film’s locations in Mingsha City will be open to the public.”
“What do you think? Will the scenes be mystical?”
At that moment,
another netizen added a comment.