Sister Wang had been secretly thrilled, but Xu Yuan's words made her stiffen.
"Hehe... what money could I possibly be making? Honestly, at twenty-five percent off, the company isn't making anything selling to you..."
Why did that sound so familiar to Xu Yuan?
Then he thought about it. Oh, right, he had said it himself that morning.
Saying the exact same thing as me-how could you not be making money? How could you be a good person?
"Auntie Wang, save that line for outsiders. You think I wouldn't know whether you're making money off this?"
Xu Yuan wore an expression that said he had seen through everything. "Let me guess. Your company probably offered fifty percent off, but you only gave me twenty-five percent off. You're planning to pocket that twenty-five-percent difference, right?"
"Pfft!"
Sister Wang spluttered again. "What fifty percent? It was only thirty percent! Don't talk nonsense, you brat!"
"Oh? So it was thirty percent off. That's still quite a profit for you, Sister Wang. A hundred and fifty or sixty thousand." Xu Yuan gave her a half-smile.
"You tricked me?"
"Yep."
"You..."
Furious, Sister Wang turned an angry look on Zhang Yaying. "You certainly raised a fine son!"
Zhang Yaying smiled apologetically. "Calm down, Sister Wang. Calm down."
Sister Wang snorted, composed herself, and looked back at Xu Yuan. "How much do you want?"
"A hundred thousand!" Xu Yuan showed no restraint whatsoever.
"What? A hundred thousand!" Sister Wang had only just calmed down, and now she exploded again!
"Don't get worked up. Let me break it down for you."
Xu Yuan was all smiles. "First, I spotted this business opportunity. Second, I secured the orders. Your role was to ask the company for a price, right?"
"In other words, however much you get, it's basically money you picked up off the ground. Honestly, Auntie Wang, if you hadn't looked after my mom all these years, I wouldn't even leave you sixty thousand. I'd have taken the orders straight to your company myself!"
"Wouldn't you say that makes sense?"
Sister Wang had looked thoroughly dissatisfied, but after hearing Xu Yuan's words, she suddenly felt that even taking sixty thousand seemed rather undeserved.
But on second thought, something felt wrong.
Of course it was wrong.
Without her part in it, Xu Yuan would actually have had a hard time pulling this deal off.
First, without her confirming the discount, Xu Yuan couldn't even have gotten started.
And honestly, if Xu Yuan had gone to ask himself, the company might not have given a damn about a student.
Second, with her asking, the discount would definitely be better than what Xu Yuan could get himself.
She had her own connections at the company. Even without deliberately negotiating the price, they would offer a relatively bigger discount out of consideration for her.
But Xu Yuan had no reason to spell any of that out.
Doing something that hurt himself to benefit someone else wasn't his style.
"A hundred thousand is too much. I'll give you half at most!"
Although Sister Wang couldn't clearly sum up her own contribution, a woman's intuition told her that giving this brat Xu Yuan a hundred thousand would definitely leave her shortchanged!
"Deal. Eighty thousand, then!"
Xu Yuan nodded immediately. He had asked for a hundred thousand precisely so they could haggle.
He had originally figured getting fifty thousand would be about right. Eighty thousand-a win!
"Bring some people and deliver the leather armor to the martial arts base at ten tomorrow morning, Auntie Wang. I'll tell my classmates to have their money ready in a bit," Xu Yuan said.
Seeing how readily Xu Yuan agreed, Sister Wang knew she had offered too much.
But things had already reached this point, and she couldn't very well go back on her word. All she could do was marvel at how good that brat Xu Yuan was at sweet-talking people.
And now she strongly suspected that the discount Xu Yuan had offered his classmates probably wasn't twenty-five percent!
After sitting at Xu Yuan's home for another ten minutes or so, Sister Wang said goodbye and left.
Zhang Yaying saw Sister Wang downstairs. When she returned, she didn't ask how much Xu Yuan would make this time, only asking with concern, "Yuanzi, have you had dinner? If not, I'll heat up some food for you."
"Not yet. Thanks, Mom."
Xu Yuan's thumbs tapped rapidly across his phone screen as he answered without looking up.
He was telling the classmates who had paid deposits to prepare the remaining payment so they could complete the transaction first thing tomorrow morning.
Xu Kexin came over, glanced at Xu Yuan's phone screen, then looked away and asked quietly, "Xu Yuan, did you make a lot of money?"
"A fair bit. Why? Want your big brother to buy you something?"
Although he was a gold-devouring beast himself now, if Xu Kexin had any wishes that money could fulfill, he could still satisfy them.
"No, I don't need anything. I want you to buy Mom some new clothes. All her clothes are old. Buy her a few new ones, and I'll pay you back later!"
Xu Kexin paused, then added, "I can also beat you up a few fewer times!"
The first part had tugged at Xu Yuan's heart, but when he heard that last line, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching.
The good news: his little sister was sweet and sensible.
The bad news: his little sister thought about pounding him every day.
"Sure, sure, I'll buy them tomorrow!"
"Good. Tell me how much they cost after you buy them tomorrow. I'll keep track and pay you back later!" the little girl said haughtily.
While the siblings whispered together, Zhang Yaying soon emerged from the kitchen carrying the reheated dishes.
Xu Yuan swiftly finished the battle, took a shower, and returned to his room.
With the big business settled, it was time to discuss the small business.
Opening the group chat labeled [Leeks], Xu Yuan sent out a group payment request without another word.
[Xu Yuan: @everyone, twenty each for the entry fee. Pay up. Anyone who hasn't paid in five minutes gets kicked.]
The moment the message went out, the group erupted in a chorus of "mother" curses.
But cursing was cursing. Those who actually wanted to challenge Xu Yuan still obediently paid.
Not much. A modest thousand in profit from that round.
[Xu Yuan: All right, the bystanders have all been kicked. Now let's get down to business.]
[Xu Yuan: Anyone who wants to challenge me, name your price. I'll pick whoever bids highest.]
Meanwhile, Fatty, who had made an alt account to lurk in the group, stared at this scene, completely stunned.
He had never even considered that you could play it like this.
"Brother Yuan really does have a good head on his shoulders!"
The group erupted too.
[Zhang Chao: Shit, that's actually an option?]
[Wang Sanshui: Badass! It had to be you!]
[Yang Xiaoyu: Damn it, your heart is definitely black. I don't believe you didn't make money selling us leather armor.]
[Yang Xiaoyu has been muted.]
[Xu Yuan: This is a legitimate auction. Don't spout nonsense unrelated to this auction.]
Everyone in the group: "..."
[Wang Yuan: This method is fair enough, but don't get carried away, everyone. Even if you beat Xu Yuan in a challenge, you only get one week of use. After that week, you might not be able to hold on to the cultivation room. I bid two thousand!]
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Who was this guy? Was he trying to block his road to riches?
Don't get carried away? If you don't get carried away, how am I supposed to make money?
[Xu Yuan: Classmate Wang has a point, but that only applies to classmates at Skin Tempering Fourth Stage. For those at Skin-Polishing Fifth Stage, especially anyone about to break through to Skin Tempering Sixth Stage, securing my cultivation room will put you ahead of everyone else!]
[Xu Yuan: Just imagine. If you break through to Skin Tempering Sixth Stage within a week, could the others still be a match for you? Who knows, my cultivation room might be yours for the next four months!]
After sending that message, Xu Yuan closed the group chat and opened his conversation with Fatty.
[Xu Yuan: Fatty, use your alt to bid. Say, "Xu Yuan makes a good point. I bid ten thousand!"]