Although there were only three of them, dinner at the City Lord's Manor still lasted more than an hour before finally coming to an end.
After dinner, Xu Yi and Viscount Leslie accepted Count Samo's invitation to sit in a modest reception room. After a little more idle conversation, Count Samo soon turned the discussion toward Xu Yi.
"Chairman Xu, since you had this brat Leslie ask me to meet you, now that you're here, surely you aren't going to stay as quiet as you were at the dinner table?"
Viscount Leslie gave Xu Yi a meaningful look. Xu Yi nodded, gathered his thoughts, and said with a smile, "My lord, this is the first time you've honored me with an audience. I'm a little nervous, so I couldn't help being rather quiet."
Count Samo waved a hand. "That isn't what this brat Leslie said when he told me about you. He said you were a man with plenty of ideas, and judging by your Xinfei Merchant Guild's growth, I believe he was right. You say meeting me makes you nervous? I'm not so sure about that."
Xu Yi smiled again and decided to move past the subject. After a moment's thought, he continued, "Very well. Whether I'm nervous or not, I'll have to stop being nervous now. My lord, naturally, I asked the viscount to arrange this meeting because there's something I need your help with."
"Of course there is. If there weren't, why would you come to see an old man like me? I'm hardly a beautiful woman," Count Samo said with a nod. "Go on, then. What is it? If you've come to ask me to promote your guild's products, like that brat Leslie did, that's out of the question. Bunta City has so many merchant guilds.