The second day of the bazaar became even livelier with Song Han and Ma Qian becoming the center of attention due their childish negotiations. Few friends were made over the short period of time while more enemies were established. These hot-blooded young men really didn’t know when to tone it down a little, especially Song Han, who would curse people to death.
Lin Yang went to work, although hesitatingly, at one of the Cen’s business warehouse, but this would be the second time where he would arrive seeing Pi Pi being criticized again by her parents.
“How could you just send money without confirming who they really are! You’re such a fool. This is the fourth time a stranger fooled you into transferring money.”
“It’s not my fault mom! My assistants only told me someone needed our payment.”
“Yes, and they advised you to wait a bit further for confirmation.”
“……why are you always blaming me? I’m always trying my hardest. Your golden son who’s supposed to help me, only sits there quietly and plays all the time without any responsibilities.”
“Don’t talk about your brother. We’re talking about you. We’ve already told you, if you have too much pressure then we’ll put you somewhere easier. I gave you an important position because you said you could do it. I even gave you veteran assistants and managers to advice you with the business dealings, but you always find a way to screw it up.”
Pi Pi couldn’t stand listening any further, feeling hurt and unfairly blamed, she hurriedly left with Lin Yang following her to keep her company.
“Lin Yang, can you help me look at these reports and tell me what you think about it?”
“Don’t you have an accountant to look at your reports?”
“Yeah, but I want you to look at it also, so that you can learn it.”
Lin Yang was frowning a bit. He was confused on why he ended up doing a job that was completely different than a bodyguard position, and to make it worse, he has been working till late at night. Li On came by just in time again to meet Pi Pi.
“Sister, I have good news. We can definitely make this business happen. You just need to ask your dad for the connection, and we have a good chance of getting a new contract.”
“Alright, I’ll ask my dad about it later on.”
Li On left with the usual smile on his face. Just when Lin Yang was about to leave as well, Pi Pi stopped him to ask more questions.
“Lin Yang, what do you think about Li On.”
“Hmmm, young and ambitious.”
“That’s right, but a bit too ambitious I think.”
“How so?”
“…..Some of the methods he uses are too shrewd, and it seems like he only needs me because of my dad’s connections.”
“Well, based on my own observation and personal experience, he’s using you and your dad’s connections to get what he wants. I don’t see him loyal to your family or anyone else for that matter. ”
“Well…you’re right but there is nothing I can do about it.”
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“What do you mean?”
“Well….I don’t know.”
“You’ve admitted that he is using you. Your own brother said the same thing, but I don’t understand why you guys are not doing anything about it. The guy has too many schemes. When you continue to play with fire, eventually you’ll get burned.”
“Well, we’ve recently gave him a 30% share on one of our business initiatives. It used to be 15%. There was another guy, his friend, who owned the other 15% because he was the one who proposed this business idea in the first place, and he knows the inside and out of the business. My brother was suppose to manage this business with them, but some disagreements happened. The other guy said my brother was not contributing anything to the business. Using this perfect chance of conflict, Li On said this guy has been using part of our assets for leisure.”
“Isn’t Li On doing the same thing? So how did he gain 30% share?”
“Well…yes, he’s using our assets as well. I don’t know…….the other guy agreed to leave the business, so Li On demanded 30% since he learned some of the business operations overtime, but he's still not as skilled as his friend's. My brother, to no one’s surprise, also didn’t bother to learn about the business.”
“Oh, so you mean Li On can get contracts with other businesses?”
“No, the business still depends on my dad’s connection for these new contracts.”
“Then why do you give him 30% share? You could’ve just hired a new manager to manage the business since it still relies on your dad’s connections.”
“….I don’t want to talk about it anymore. So……you should learn this report so you can help me.”
Answering Lin Yang's questions made Pi Pi uncomfortable, because it felt like an interrogation. She was used to having her assistants sucking up to her and boosting her ego. Lin Yang was also perplexed with the way she and her brother managed things. He thought to himself to stay one more day to decide whether he should continue working here or not. He didn’t want to be used and become a scapegoat for her mistakes later on.
That night, Pi Pi’s younger brother asked Lin Yang to stay late to help out again, but this time it was suggested by Li On, which pissed him off even more. Nevertheless, he worked late again.
The next morning would turn out to be the most exciting and the last day of the bazaar. By now, everyone knew how notorious Song Han and Ma Qian was, some wanted to challenge them for fun, and others could only negotiate helplessly, giving up on the treasure items. A rare occurence happened where Song Han nor Ma Qian was not the instigator of the conflict. One elder, who came from a noble family, wanted to force them to sell one of the weapons at a really low price for his young master.
“No can do, I can’t sell this weapon to you,” Ma Qian said.
“Young brat, this should be an honor for you to have the Zhao family to purchase this weapon from you. You have no idea the connections we have all over the kingdom. I’m taking this and this is what you will receive. This is for your own good!” the elder said.
“No! You might as well steal it from me. I’ve never seen such an elder that is as despicable as you. I won’ t sell this unless you’re willing to pay 140,000 zoids. That’s a very fair price. You can even ask the appraiser.”
“Kid! You’re asking for trouble. I’m going to give you an advise so you can live longer. You better accept the Zhao family’s proposal, otherwise, you never know what will happen to you in the future.”
The elder tried to grab the weapon even without paying this time, but Ma Qian held the elder’s hand firmly without letting go. Song Han took the weapon away to avoid any further negotiations. He really tried his hardest from controlling his filthy mouth, because Ye Tian had warned him to be more careful the night before.
Boom!
The elder and the rest of the family, including the young master who was smirking arrogantly, increased their aura in an effort to intimidate Ma Qian and Song Han, but to their surprise, neither backed down. A fight was about to break out until Wang Rong came just in time to stop this conflict.
“Zhao family, please remember this is the bazaar held by the alliance guild. If anyone of you causes a big scene, you already know what will happen to you all,” Wang Rong sternly warned.
“Pscchhh, you’re lucky this time kid,” the elder said, then walked off with the other family members.
“Thanks for the help, Wang Rong!”
“No need for thanks. I wasn’t trying to protect any of you. It’s just that family is known to be a bit excessive with their behavior. Be more careful of them from now on. They’ll keep an eye on you.”
After this event, the bazaar ended smoothly. Ma Qian and Song Han returned to their cave in a great mood, because they made quite a bit of zoids at the bazaar, and couldn’t wait to spend some of it as a reward of their hard work. Lin Yang, on the other hand, came home with a bad mood again, which was even worse than the previous day.