"Say, what…" As Lin Fang was taken aback, staring at her in surprise, but before he finished that sentence, Li Liu bounced back and dragged her onto the floor. "C'mon, what are you chit-chatting for. Look where you are."
"Ah, wai…" Lin Fang was left behind. He reached out to Zhi Yan's hand in reflex, but he missed it as Li Liu dragged her away.
Taking shots one after another, Lin Fang watched Li Liu and Zhi Yan swaying against each other; both seemed to be in their own world.
"The more I see them, the more I feel like Li Liu had feelings for Zhi Yan. But why does she have to kiss me and that hug earlier… Damn, this bothers me so much… I need to talk with her and get some clarity on the matter."
As he gulped down a couple of more shots, just in time, his phone buzzed. He held it up like a lifeline. "Hmm? He's here?"
He slipped out to the quieter hallway, answering the call.
"Lin Fang?" the voice said. "It's Shang Wei."
"Yes, I'm here. Where are you?"
"Private Room 3, second floor. Just ask the staff, they'll lead you."
A few minutes later, Lin Fang entered the reserved lounge.
Shang Wei sat at a low table, dressed sharply and exuding . There was a beauty in his arms, but her attention seemed to be more on the smartphone in her hands.
She barely gave a glance when Lin Fang entered the room and calmly sat across the client, trying not to show nervousness on his face at all.
"Drink?" Shang Wei offered.
"Thanks," Lin Fang replied, accepting the glass.
Shang Wei leaned back and became slightly serious as he casually folded his hands. "Owner Lin, I'm not the type to go roundabouts. So, let me get to the point. I'm an intermediary with connections to various top 3% individuals and entities. And I believe you have a business with potential. So, here's what I propose: I want to purchase fifty percent of your business—your store, your breeding pens, your stock, whatever you've built. I wish to form a partnership with your company."
Lin Fang blinked. "Fifty percent?"
"You can name the price," Shang Wei smiled. "As long as within reason, we can negotiate and come to a compromise."
Lin Fang stared blankly at Shang Wei for a second, registering his words. In the end, he replied. "Wait… I don't own any store or breeding ground. I'm just a small-time seller. I buy eggs wholesale from a client, whose identity I cannot reveal due to confidentiality, and sell them through NovaMart. That's all. It's just a digital company.
Shang Wei blinked, clearly taken aback by his response. "You don't? What about the business card? It seemed like a legit address."
Lin Fang shook his head firmly, "I closed it down and shifted to cloud storage instead."
Shang Wei went silent for a few seconds, and even the beauty in his arms couldn't help but look at Lin Fang in surprise.
After thinking a bit, Shang Wei raised his eyes to meet Lin Fang's again. "Then, how about a mutual partnership? I won't buy into your nonexistent company," he smiled faintly, "but instead, I'll become your exclusive distributor and intermediary."
Lin Fang raised an eyebrow. "Please explain."
Shang Wei nodded. "With my network, I can sell your products not only across Northern Yan, but to cities and states across the entire Zhongguo Continent. Unlike NovaMart, which—no offense—charges ridiculous service fees, I can give your eggs and pet supplies premium shelf space. Real stores. And Guaranteed exposure."
Lin Fang stayed silent, listening carefully.
"More importantly," Shang Wei added, "you'll get paid upfront. I'll handle packaging, shipping, logistics, and after-sales. You just provide the stock and I'll take care of the rest. In return, I'll take a 20% commission from each sale. Simple."
He took a sip of his drink, then leaned back. "You might think that NovaMart charges you less, but if you partner with me, you'll earn ten times more than what you do now. It will be just clean and efficient profit."
There was a moment of silence.
Lin Fang tapped his fingers on the table, processing what the other party said. "And what if one day, the supply stops? I mean, I only know one client. And I doubt I can keep up with massive demand…"
Shang Wei smiled. "Then let me worry about the demand. If you can't supply, I won't push. If you get new inventory, let me know. I'll only scale the network according to what you can handle."
Lin Fang leaned back at last, eyes narrowing slightly as he swirled the drink in his glass. "Alright, your words half-convinced me. But there was something else that needed answering to convince the other half."
Taking a pause, he asked, "How can I trust you?"
Shang Wei blinked, then gave a small laugh. "I expected that question." He gestured smoothly. "We'll form a contract—obviously. One with every term clearly written."
Lin Fang shook his head slowly. "A contract's only good within a single country. You said you'd be selling across all of Zhongguo. What's stopping someone from breaking the agreement in another province or country, where our laws don't mean much?"
Shang Wei's smile faded a touch. "You're sharper than I expected."
"Then what do you have in mind?" he asked, watching Lin Fang closely now. "You didn't reject me. You didn't call it ridiculous. And you didn't say you didn't need the partnership. That tells me you are still interested…"
Lin Fang let out a faint breath, chuckling to himself. "You're not wrong."
He leaned forward now, voice dropping just enough to feel deliberate. "To be a reliable partner—especially in this business, first and foremost, one must prove their financial strength. If you say your network is that wide, prove it."
"How? Want to check my bank account or something?" As Shang Wei smirked, Lin Fang answered. "Right now, I have as you have seen on the website, I have 50 Direwolf eggs of each variant. A total of 300 eggs. Every single one of them has a King Tier potential."
Shang Wei's brows rose in realization. "You mean…"
Lin Fang's next set of words confirmed his speculation at once. The monster egg seller said, "Do you have the financial strength to buy all of them, whether by yourself or through your clients, in one go? Even if you were able to buy half of them, I would be comfortable forming a partnership with you. So, what do you think?"
Shang Wei's brows rose slightly. Staring at Lin Fang for just two seconds, the buyer made a counteroffer right away as if he was prepared beforehand. "I need a discounted price for a bulk order. I'll buy 200 of them, 50 Direwolf Eggs of Light, Fire, Shadow, and Thunder attributes, each at 30,000 credits, which will be totaled to 6,000,000 credits."
"I can buy everything tomorrow by 8 o'clock," Shang Wei's tone now firmer and his gaze sharper. "Name your place. It will be a single transaction."
"Six million…" Lin Fang repeated with his eyes widened, leaning slightly forward. "All in one go?"