Cooperation Reached, Teasing Ya Fei

After leaving the Jia Lie Family, Xiao Jin did not return to the Xiao Family. Instead, he continued toward the Mite'er Auction House. After all, he had yet to accomplish the purpose of his outing.

Upon arriving at the Mite'er Auction House, Ya Fei personally came out to welcome Xiao Jin. Glancing at Xiao Jin's hand and the Storage Ring on his finger, Ya Fei's smile grew a little brighter.

"Little Brother Xiao Jin, I thought you weren't coming to see your sister today. You've made your sister miss you terribly, you know?" Ya Fei smiled as she looked at Xiao Jin, while discreetly casting a glance at the Earth Demon Kui behind him.

"Sister Ya Fei, you seem even prettier after just one day apart." Xiao Jin teased her.

"This stinky brat only knows how to tease his sister." Ya Fei was quite pleased inwardly. After all, what woman did not want to hear others praise her beauty?

"I'm only telling the truth. Sister Ya Fei, you know me—I'm the most honest person around. I've never lied." Xiao Jin spoke shamelessly.

"Is that so? Your sister doesn't believe you." After saying that, Ya Fei gave Xiao Jin a strange look. Her gaze made Xiao Jin's scalp tingle.

Has my identity been exposed? Impossible. With my superb acting skills, Sister Ya Fei couldn't possibly have seen through me. Xiao Jin thought confidently. He then carefully went over everything he had said to Ya Fei yesterday, and only after finding no flaws did he smile and say to her,

"That is because Sister Ya Fei doesn't know me well enough yet. I believe that once you understand me better, you won't doubt me anymore."

Ya Fei's pretty face reddened. "As if I want to understand you. You brat have become more and more glib after just one day. You're teasing your sister again. Didn't you go into seclusion to break through yesterday? Did you succeed?" Ya Fei looked at Xiao Jin meaningfully.

Xiao Jin said with a bitter smile, "How could it be so easy? I failed yesterday." His dejected appearance made Ya Fei inwardly amused. Go on, keep pretending. Ya Fei thought blandly.

"All right, let's talk inside." Ya Fei led Xiao Jin into the reception room and instructed the maid behind her, "Brew the best tea and bring it over." Only after the maid left to carry out the order did Ya Fei turn her gaze to Xiao Jin.

"Little Brother, your teacher really went to a lot of trouble yesterday. As expected of a Sixth-grade Alchemist—he actually refined a fifth-grade pill so quickly."

Ya Fei's face was full of amazement. After all, high-grade pills often took a long time to refine. Without Heavenly Flames or high-grade beast flames, taking two or three days to refine a fifth-grade pill was perfectly normal. Yet Xiao Jin had taken only about half a day. His alchemy prowess was evident.

A trace of pride appeared on Xiao Jin's face. "Of course. Just look whose teacher he is." Watching the smug Xiao Jin, Ya Fei, who had long since seen through his true identity, secretly laughed inwardly. Let's see how long you can keep pretending.

"So, Little Brother, what brings you to Mite'er to see your sister today?" After speaking, she looked at Xiao Jin expectantly. As for Xiao Jin's purpose in coming to see her, she roughly knew what it was. But she deliberately did not bring it up, intending to make Xiao Jin raise it first so she could demand some benefits.

"To be honest, I came to the Mite'er Auction House today to cooperate with Mite'er. Sister already knows that my teacher is a Sixth-grade Alchemist. My teacher will be participating in a very prestigious auction some time from now.

"So, he is in great need of gold coins. And since my teacher is not from the Jia Ma Empire, he knows very little about the Jia Ma Empire's experts. I heard that your Mite'er Auction House has branches throughout the country, so my teacher hopes that the Mite'er Auction House can contact those experts.

"Find out what pills they need refined. Once the medicinal ingredients are collected, my teacher will refine them. After the refining is complete, Mite'er will deliver the pills to them. That is the general plan. We can discuss the details later. What does Sister Ya Fei think of this cooperation?"

Xiao Jin looked at Ya Fei expectantly. He very much hoped that Ya Fei would agree. Although he could conceal his identity and refine pills for the Jia Ma Empire's experts to earn gold coins, that would waste far too much time.

Those experts of the Jia Ma Empire were scattered throughout the entire empire. If he had to contact them one by one himself, it would take far too long.

Of course, he could also reveal his identity as a Sixth-grade Alchemist and attract experts from the entire Jia Ma Empire to seek him out for pill refinement.

However, he was unknown in the Jia Ma Empire. Not everyone would necessarily believe him and come to him for pills, which would only create more trouble. It would be better to cooperate with the Mite'er Auction House from the start.

Although he would have to give up a portion of the profits, Mite'er's reputation in the Jia Ma Empire made them far more trustworthy than a Sixth-grade Alchemist who had suddenly appeared in the empire.

Ya Fei was overjoyed inwardly, but she pretended to consider it for a while before agreeing. "All right. But while we may be close, business interests must still be made clear. What benefits can Mite'er gain from this?" Ya Fei asked calmly. The moment business was mentioned, she became serious as well.

"Sister Ya Fei, tell me your terms," Xiao Jin said calmly.

"We do not need you to give up much. For every five customers we bring to the old gentleman, he will refine one pill for our Mite'er Auction House. How about that? Naturally, we will prepare the medicinal ingredients ourselves." Ya Fei opened her mouth like a lion.

Xiao Jin was somewhat displeased. This cooperation was extremely beneficial to both sides. Xiao Jin would gain gold coins, while Mite'er would gain the friendship and favors of those experts. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, yet Ya Fei was still making demands. One should not underestimate such favors.

On the Dou Qi Continent, people generally placed great importance on favors. Put simply, if a Dou Emperor expert owed Xiao Jin a favor, then when Xiao Jin needed to call in that favor and asked the Dou Emperor to do something for him, as long as it was not a certain death situation, that Dou Emperor would generally not refuse.

Of course, there were exceptions—those who did not value promises to begin with. Such people generally did not have very good character.

"Twenty," Xiao Jin began bargaining with Ya Fei.

"Eight." Ya Fei answered decisively.

"Ten. That is my bottom line." Xiao Jin gritted his teeth.

"Deal. Little Brother Xiao Jin, you truly have courage." Ya Fei smugly extended her hand, preparing to shake Xiao Jin's.

Damn it, this woman is far too shrewd. As expected of the woman I've set my sights on. Xiao Jin thought through gritted teeth. For the first time, Xiao Jin felt that women were better off not being too clever—except for his own woman, of course.

"Little Brother, you aren't going to be this petty, are you? Business is business. Don't be angry with your sister," Ya Fei said with a faint smile as she looked at the youth before her, her tone full of teasing.

Suddenly, Xiao Jin broke into a smile and reached out to tightly grasp Ya Fei's soft, boneless little hand, pulling her directly into his arms. Ya Fei was startled; she had not expected Xiao Jin to be so bold.

Just as she was about to break free, Xiao Jin pressed his face to her ear and said, "Sister Ya Fei is truly naughty. But your little brother is not one to suffer losses either. Since I'm no match for Sister Ya Fei in business, I'll just take my advantage back physically."

With that, he lightly smacked Ya Fei's shapely rear, then fled from the auction house like the wind. Only after looking at the youth who had already escaped did Ya Fei come back to her senses.

She had not expected Xiao Jin to make such a bold move. In her momentary daze, Xiao Jin had already escaped from the auction house.

Ya Fei's pretty face flushed red, half with anger and half with embarrassment. "Stinky brat, you'd better not appear before your sister again, or I'll make you pay," Ya Fei said viciously.