"Free access below the third floor." He set the badge back on the table and tapped the tabletop twice with his fingers. "Full access to the materials repository and archives too. The old man's being pretty generous."
Elena had already pulled the contract in front of herself. Her charcoal pencil traveled from the first clause to the last, stopping three times along the way.
"Clause Four has a problem."
Su Li tilted his head at her.
"The words 'priority supply' are too vague." Elena drew a line beneath that passage with her charcoal pencil. "There's no stated price benchmark. Today, they might prioritize supplying you with a chunk of refined steel; tomorrow, they raise the unit price by thirty percent, and you'll still have to thank them for giving you priority."
Su Li leaned back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head.
Elena had already written a line of small print in the blank space beside it: "Priority at the same price; the benchmark price shall be the Merchant Association's publicly listed price for the month of signing, with fluctuations not exceeding ten percent."
"And Clause Seven—the settlement period for consignment channels says 'settled quarterly.'" She looked up at Su Li. "They only pay once every three months. In the meantime, they can stockpile your goods, resell them for the difference, and you won't even see a shadow of it."
"What should it be changed to?"
"Monthly settlement. Payment for the previous month's goods must be cleared before the fifteenth of every month. For overdue payments, a late fee of three thousandths per day will be charged."
Su Li watched her write the final character, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Elonore stood beside the stone table, both hands twisting around her belt until her knuckles turned