Seeing Xi Mengfan about to get into his stride, Xu Yi cut him off. "Brother Xi, we can discuss that later. We're on the same side, so I'm leaving you in charge of selling these quotas. You can take a ten-percent cut."
He had a pretty good idea why Xi Mengfan was so keen: he wanted to seize this opportunity to put himself in the position of coordinator.
It was certainly a clever way to get things done without anyone noticing, but Xu Yi wasn't buying it.
He could let Xi Mengfan find the people. He knew that whoever they were, they wouldn't be wholeheartedly on his side.
As for the job of selling the quotas, he was handing it to Xi Mengfan simply because he wasn't sure what this poaching opportunity was worth, or how much wealth an elder had.
When it came to squeezing people for money, better to leave it to a professional.
He wasn't worried that Xi Mengfan would pull a fast one.
More precisely, he trusted that after all their dealings, Xi Mengfan wouldn't make such a rookie mistake.
After giving Xi Mengfan his instructions, Xu Yi brought the conversation to a close and stepped out through a side door behind the curtain. Before him was a pavilion suspended beyond the sky. He strode inside, took out his wine gourd, and began to drink slowly.
Before long, there was movement on Xi Mengfan's end: an Elder Wu had been summoned.
The negotiations went so smoothly that it took Xu Yi by surprise. Elder Wu's asking price also came in far below what he'd expected, and Xu Yi was deeply moved by his own foresight.
Elder Wu didn't even try to bargain. He agreed on the spot.
After Elder Wu left, Elder Ma came. Elder Ma