You Can't Make the Decision, So What the Hell Are You Saying?

"What do you want?" Lin Qi broke off another piece of the pastry and put it in his mouth.

Mishe Haye smiled with a seemingly reserved expression. "It's not about what I want, it's about what our people want!"

He licked his lips as he said this, "Mr. Lin Qi, the market environment in the Bayer Federation is much more open than ours. Have you ever encountered any swindlers in your business dealings?"

Lin Qi nodded. "I've encountered that before."

In the Bayer Federation, financial fraud cases related to business are rampant and becoming increasingly difficult to detect, especially those involving banks.

Bounced checks, counterfeit promissory notes, and various crimes exploiting loopholes in the system—it's safe to say that no one knows better than these fraudsters where the loopholes in Federal law lie, and no one knows better than them what problems exist in the bank's rules and regulations.

According to Lin Qi's conversation with Qiao Geliman, the total amount of bounced checks and check fraud encountered by Gold Exchange last year exceeded 4.6 million. This is just Gold Exchange; the Empire has Big Six Banks and many regional small banks. In reality, people encounter far more fraud than they get from newspapers or from their imagination.

Mishe Haye's smile held a deeper meaning. "We've also encountered..." His tone shifted abruptly after saying this, carrying a hint of regret, before becoming more forceful. "We've encountered many swindlers who, under the guise of investment, come here to cheat us out of food, drink, and money. They promised us many bright futures, but they betrayed our hopes for development and the aspirations of the people."

"Tragedies should not be repeated. What you need to do is very simple, Mr. Lin Qi. You just need to deposit some money in the bank we designate, and people will believe that you are different from those swindlers before!"

Mishe Haye picked up the cup and took a large gulp of the cloyingly sweet tea. A few seconds later, he put the cup down, picked up a handkerchief to wipe the remaining water from his lips, and casually patted it down. "Of course, this is just my suggestion..."

He looked at Lin Qi with a blank expression on his face, but his eyes were churning with something.

It's a feeling that's hard to describe. It's not as easily noticeable as a direct visual phenomenon. It's more like... metaphysics. We know that the eyes can't actually make any movements, let alone have any color, but people can really perceive some emotions or things in the other person's heart through eye contact and changes in their eyes.

Lin Qi looked at him and asked, "Is this protection money?"

"Protection money?" Mishe Haye's voice suddenly rose, and he raised his eyebrows as if he were genuinely surprised. "Of course not, why would you think that?"

"We will not touch the money you have in our bank. Only you have the right to use it. We do this simply to tell people that you are a real investor, that your money is in place—at least part of it is in place—and that this money will not leave with you when you leave. That's all!"

"You can see it as a gentleman's contract, or as a guarantee, but it is definitely not protection money. We never extort merchants, Nagaril is a civilized country!"

Lin Qi maintained his smile and nodded in agreement. He put the broken pieces of pastry back on the plate, clapped his hands, and asked, "How much?"

Mishe Haye licked his lips again, whether it was because the tea residue on his lips was evaporating and leaving only sticky sugar syrup, or because he felt thirsty after eating and drinking so much sweet stuff, he licked his lips once more, which was actually a very impolite behavior.

In the Federal, the ladies standing at a distance would cover their mouths in astonishment and direct others in disbelief, "Look at that guy, he's so rude."

"One hundred million Galil, or the equivalent in Federal Sol," Mishe Haye demanded outright, adding, "If you deposit Federal Sol, we can offer a partial discount."

Nagaril doesn't have much foreign exchange reserves, but its ruling class engages in a lot of transnational spending. If they exchanged their currency at the official exchange Exchange Rate, they wouldn't suffer too much of a loss. However, the problem is that no international bank is willing to exchange currency for others at the exchange rate proposed by Nagaril itself. Everything fluctuates according to the market.

Mishe Haye was well aware of this, which is why he suggested that foreign exchange deposits could be reduced, which essentially means cutting off the difference between the official Exchange Rate and the real Exchange Rate.

"About..." Lin Qi frowned and did some mental calculations, "1,130,000 Federal Sol!"

Mishe Haye looked at Lin Qi with some surprise. He had thought that Lin Qi would refuse outright, and then he would tell Lin Qi that if Lin Qi refused their request, then Lin Qi would be restricted from leaving the country.

Despite having some bodyguards with Lin Qi, and these men carrying guns, there were only about forty of them. Even if each of them could take on a hundred Nagaril warriors, it would still only take four thousand soldiers to subdue them.

Nagaril has little in abundance; the streets are full of worthless, lowly Lowly People. Giving them the opportunity to serve in the army is a gift they are grateful for.

So Mishe Haye never considered that Lin Qi could refuse, or that he couldn't refuse.

But he also hadn't expected Lin Qi to react so calmly. He even calculated the Exchange Rate, which left Mishe Haye a little bewildered.

After a few seconds, he did the math and felt it was about right. Then he nodded. "Yes, your math skills are something you can be proud of!"

"There's nothing to brag about, I can save this money..."

Before Lin Qi could finish speaking, Mishe Haye's face lit up with a smile. This kid was easier to manipulate than he had imagined. He hadn't even uttered a single threatening word before Lin Qi backed down, which meant they could extort more from Lin Qi.

Wealth, technology, and some other things.

But Lin Qi's next sentence made his expression freeze instantly.

He said, "... But if I deposit the money into the bank you designate, what will I get in return?"

Mishe Haye wanted to ask Lin Qi what the sentence meant, why he knew every single word Lin Qi said, but couldn't understand the meaning when they were put together. Looking at Mishe Haye, who seemed to have lost the ability to speak, Lin Qi smiled. A gentle breeze blew, the cool air carrying the fragrance of flowers, stirring the plants in the garden.

The dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves, lingering briefly on Lin Qi's face before Mishe Haye looked away—it was too bright.

The sunlight was blinding, and so was Lin Qi's smile.

"Mr. Mishe Haye, you want me to show my sincerity. I don't think your request is unreasonable, and I am willing to show my sincerity according to your request. So, what about your sincerity?"

Lin Qi leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette. In an instant, the initiative in the conversation shifted between the two. The smoke from the cigarette obscured their vision, and the smile on Lin Qi's face became somewhat strange, a half-smile.

"Sincerity should be shown to both parties, Mr. Mishe Haye, what do you say?"

They're not easy to deal with!

In an instant, the thought popped into Mishe Haye's mind: Lin Qi was a very difficult person to deal with. He had agreed to what could be called a difficult request without hesitation, and now he was suddenly turning the tables on him.

The more difficult he was to make things for Lin Qi, the harder it is for Lin Qi to retaliate now. After all, he had agreed to such an excessive request. If his "sincerity" was not equal, Lin Qi could simply not fulfill his sincerity, since Mishe Haye had behaved so poorly first.

Mishe Haye stared intently at Lin Qi, the damned smoke making him feel like he wasn't seeing Lin Qi clearly, even though they were less than two meters apart.

After a silence of about a minute, Mishe Haye couldn't hold back any longer. As he lost the initiative, the pressure from Lin Qi was mounting, and he was even sweating. So he had no choice but to break the current stalemate and ask Lin Qi directly, "What do you want?"

Lin Qi shrugged. "Sincerity, or rather, the Sole Trade Rights!"

He flicked his cigarette ash, seemingly unconcerned that some ash had fallen on him in the wind. He looked at Mishe Haye, his speech quickening, but his enunciation clear. "Sole Trade Rights, Exclusive Trade Rights, use whichever term you understand."

"I can deposit money. If one million Federal Sol isn't enough, I can deposit two million, three million, or even more. But you must sign an exclusive trade agreement with me. From the date of signing the agreement, for at least twenty years, the export business of Magulana Province and the types of goods I designate can only be operated by me alone. I will set the prices, set the sales rules, and have the right to review, supervise, and dispose of the goods."

He tilted his head slightly. "It's time for you to show your sincerity, Mr. Mishe Haye."

Mishe Haye's temples were already covered in sweat. He took out a handkerchief and wiped it away. He didn't immediately express his opinion. Lin Qi's request was too much, but his request just now was also too much.

If he doesn't agree to these terms, Lin Qi won't deposit the money in the bank; he's trapped in a vicious cycle.

Actually, the reason they had Lin Qi deposit the money was to put a portion of it into their own pockets first. Later, they would find some excuse to turn Lin Qi's "deposit" into "investment margin" and return it to him after all his investment activities were completed.

As long as his investment continues, this money will remain untouched, and Lin Qi may even need to deposit more money into it.

But now, the trouble isn't Lin Qi's trouble anymore; it's Mishe Haye's trouble, and the trouble of those young masters behind him.

"I can't make that decision..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qi immediately stood up, flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand, and brushed the ash off his clothes. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mishe Haye, go find someone who can make decisions to talk to me. Also..." He raised his wrist to glance at his watch, "I have other matters to attend to, so I won't stay here with you any longer!"