Take It or Leave It!

Traveling to Suzhou from Jiangbei required just a little over eight hours through public transportation. Although he could have shortened the duration by at least half had he traveled by car, Xi Chen wasn't the prominent business conglomerate under the Zhang Family anymore – he was a villager's boy. A villager's boy who once held a grand total of twenty thousand RMB to his name before encountering the heavenly bowl.

Suzhou's internal design wasn't unlike that of Jiangbei, except the majority of the buildings in the former belonged to the commercial sector and not residential and public works. As such, where a single-family home or a low-rising condo may have existed in Jiangbei, they were replaced with towering skyscrapers hosting influential corporations, or high-rise apartments that bleed their customers to death. Aside from the drastic difference in building height, the two areas didn't appear that different from first glance.

Of course, the quality of the materials and influence building these corporations were of completely different levels. At its peak economic output, Suzhou could equate to a second-tier city throughout the entire nation, whilst Jiangbei struggled to not plummet to a fifth-tier provincial area.

Suzhou's status as a grand economic power was cemented by the presence of the nation's jewelry conglomerates. Tianming controlled the northern sector, Fuming dominated the west, Liuzhen to the south, and GK Industries controlled the east. The first three corporations divided their influence across Suzhou's market of jade, gemstones, and diamonds, whereas GK stood solely as an international bargaining chip by the Western nations.

Just about every billboard and flashing outdoors display hanging from the towering buildings exhibited a gorgeous, beautiful, or cute woman, their necks, ears, and fingers generously adorned with luscious, elegant accessories made of precious materials. According to several rumors flown across Bilibili and Baidu, there were a grand total of three display boards that hosted pictures of men; the overwhelming majority of advertisements relied on prominent and budding actresses and female online influencers, and the grandest of them all blared eye-catching, beautiful pictures of the A-list pin-up model, Jiang Xiulan.

…well, the information of her popularity was lost on Xi Chen. When he finally stepped off the public train and toured through the nostalgic streets, he felt his eyes blinded by the sharp contrast of the brilliant illumination of the glamourous display boards and the darkening night skies. Compared to Jiangbei's slightly reserved atmosphere filled with students and employees overwhelmed with their work, Suzhou was a loud conundrum of excitement; charming and exquisite women excitedly shopping with elegant and luxurious accessories dangling from their wrists and ears –

"Sorry to bother you. Mister, can you please help me?"

Xi Chen's thoughts were thrown astray as someone ran into his chest with both arms outstretched, wrapping his body into a tight hug. From the pitiful voice and the two swells of softness gently massaging his torso, a beautiful woman seemed to have run into his arms, but the absurdity as well as abrupt manner of her actions caused the youth's brows to gradually sink. Soon enough, there was a furious shout from afar as a young man soared through the streets to halt before Xi Chen and the young girl.

"Hanying, what are you doing!?" the young man scowled and stomped with his right foot.

"Let go, we're going home! How can you cling to strangers – do you believe that I don't know what you're trying to do?"

"Chu Xiang, I told you I don't love you and won't marry you! I already have a boyfriend and was waiting for him to arrive, so please choose someone else!"

The young girl retorted with a fierce shout, and her body quivered in a mixture of angst and panic. The pleasant and mind-numbing sensation spread across his torso, and when Xi Chen noticed that the young man��s expression continued to worsen the more the young girl clung and trembled, his lips couldn't help but heave a sigh.

Both were bound to be students in university given their appearance, and as such the classic response would be –

"Wen Hanying, our families were bound by a marriage agreement between our grandparents before we were born! Just give up, it's not as if I won't treat you well? Are you worried about me finding another woman after we marry – because that won't happen –"

"Look, can't you kids leave uninvolved people out of your squabbles? Young lady, hurry up and let me go," Xi Chen interrupted with a brusque tone.

"I need to report to my boss, and you're delaying me with such baseless squabbles. Go mope in front of someone else!"

"Huh?"

The rude response caused Wen Hanying to loosen the tight vice of her arms, and Xi Chen quickly freed his bound arms. The youth ignored the agape and befuddled expressions of the young girl and young man as he quickly strode into the depths of the street, spewing irritated comments to his left and right.

The burden of becoming a shield for a beautiful girl relied strictly on circumstantial conditions. In such a prosperous area as Suzhou, it was highly likely that either party was a treasured scion or princess of an influential local family, and becoming the wedge between those families' rage was not something a commoner could withstand, nor a villager's boy. Even more so since Xi Chen had come to Suzhou to engage in business with such influential families.

Pissing off the Young Master of a family in the evening then meeting with his father or grandparent at night to engage in business – not a good combination.

"I was a shield for the Zhang Family, and look at all of the suffering and flogging my family went through," Xi Chen clicked his tongue in disappointment, and resisted the urge to spit at the ground.

"She'll ask for protection and justice, and then once your worth is all expended, she'll toss you to the streets for the ravenous dogs to feast, and not turn a second glance… hmph!"

The youth cleared his thoughts with a gentle pat to his cheeks, and faced the double glass doors towering before him. There, standing in a hundred and three floors of glory, was Tianming Incorporated's main headquarters. Well, perhaps not its headquarters for research, development, and production of its golden legacy, but it was the primary hub of the logistics.

It was a massive office building shaped in the oblique form of a twisted arch, and a third of the offices – reserved for the general staff and executives – were shaped into a massive horizontal teardrop that stretched beyond the initial tower. Xi Chen shrugged, and entered without causing too much presence. in any corporation the size of Tianming, there were bound to be hundreds of employees engaging in night shifts – for the stock market exchange was exceedingly volatile.

He passed through the initial, automated barrier with a swipe of the identification card presented by the elderly man, then sat at a nearby public sofa with the briefcase resting across his lap. The receptionists paid him little attention aside from a cautious, initial glance, before they returned to their boring work of playing games, swiping across Weibo, or fangirling over the next male idol – all whilst concealing their actions from their supposedly oblivious manager.

The youth snorted in disinterest, and retrieved his phone, and opened the messenger app. Once he had accustomed his eyes to the overbearing Great Wall of text smileys and emoticons sent by the old man, Xi Chen prepared his message.

Old man – new business deal.

It was quickly responded with an animated emoji of an elderly man dressed in Taoist robes, tilting his head with a question mark floating above his head. The artwork that was clearly designed to be used amongst children caused the youth to glare at the impressive and indomitable decoration of Tianming's main reception hall, with its grand ceiling suspended an eye-whopping eight meters in the air, then lower his evaluation of Mu Yun by another notch. Xi Chen tapped his chin with his index finger, then chose to send the picture he had prepared earlier in the day of a spherical piece of dark blue, translucent jade – the diameter matching that of an young man's palm.

It was quickly responded with a short English acronym accompanied by a nefarious ':)' – name your price.

Xi Chen ignored the elderly man's attempts of acting cute and directly threw out his demand – to be reserved a slot in Suzhou's quarterly meeting between the province's four kings of jewelry. Of course, it wasn't requesting for a lucrative position or title whilst he was present, just receiving access into the venue was all he required.

If he couldn't encounter those lucrative offals at the convention, he had to rely on huge amounts of money to arrange an individual meeting. But if he was given the chance, then the carefully packed stones in his briefcase would then conduct negotiations…

The youth received his answer from the nonchalant Mu Yun – not enough. The entry price had risen to 50 million RMB.

Xi Chen frowned at the lack of an emoticon or smiley, then tapped on the phone screen with his thumb. There, he sent the pictures of an equally massive jadestone with a dark green lustre with a golden core at its center, and a large chunk of topaz. It didn't take long for Mu Yun to bring the discussion at a close, for all he sent was an infuriating ';)'.

"… is that an affirmative or plausible?" the youth scowled, and rubbed the back of his head with his palm.

"This is what happens when the elderly get introduced and corrupted by modern communication, it's impossible to understand –"

"Understand what? What we old things, ready to die, are trying to say to you quick-minded youths?"

A peal of laughter broke across Xi Chen's thoughts, and his head snapped from glaring at his phone towards the center of the inner hall. There, ignoring the astonished and frightened stares of the seated receptionists, an elderly Mu Yun waved his phone as he walked across towards the surprised youth.

"You stupid brat, I knew you had more! Since you were so confident to send pictures of them clasped in your hand, surely they're in your bag here, ah?" the elderly man sighed and sat besides Xi Chen, then released a hearty burp.

"Here – a business deal as you asked. Give me three, and I'll engage you to my beautiful Yu-er. Five, and you'll be married on the spot. Take it or leave it!"