"Let's split it sixty-forty. You take forty percent, and I'll take sixty. We won't go public, and I'll keep providing whatever funding is needed."
Jiang Siming offered a very sincere profit-sharing arrangement.
Old Kobe, however, shook his head repeatedly and rejected it outright.
"I know my Black Mamba best. It's just a small company fooling around on a small scale. You could easily establish your own sportswear brand and let me join. Most likely, you're bringing me in because we're friends and you trust me. That's all."
"I don't think my Black Mamba has enough to attract you. Giving me forty percent would be completely undeserved. If I agreed, my conscience wouldn't let me rest."
Jiang Siming still wanted to persuade him, but Old Kobe stubbornly insisted, "If you insist on splitting it this way, then I won't join."
Jiang Siming was both annoyed and amused. He had not expected this guy to be so principled.
"Then how about this? Seventy-thirty should work, right?"
Old Kobe still shook his head and said, "I think it would be better for you to create your own clothing brand."
Jiang Siming laughed angrily and complained, "I've got quite a temper. You won't even accept shares when I'm giving them to you?"
"There's a saying in Huaxia: a gentleman doesn't accept... whatever it is about food. It means that a person with backbone doesn't eat handouts."
Jiang Siming rolled his eyes and said, "You even know that saying? I really underestimated you."
Jiang Siming paused and considered it briefly before saying, "Then eighty-twenty. I'll take eighty, and you take twenty."
Old Kobe was about to refuse again, but Jiang Siming glared at him and said aggressively, "If you still don't agree, then we're no longer friends. From now on, don't say you know me."