Niu Shilin pondered for a moment.
Gritting his teeth, he nodded reluctantly, ignoring the anxious look from Niu Daihao.
Fifty percent, exactly his bottom line.
Then, Zhu Xiaosuo and Ma Baoying said:
"Patriarch Ma, the Niu family has finished talking. What about you?"
Even the Niu family had conceded thirty percent of their business, so Ma Baoying knew that the Ma family couldn't hold out either.
"We only want the cloth shop and the transportation business on the west side of the county."
"No. Your Ma family's cloth shop already holds fifteen percent of the business in Mountain Chicken County. Adding the transportation business, it exceeds twenty percent. The Zhu, Ma, and Yang families share the remaining fifty percent of Mountain Chicken County's business, and your Ma family can't take twenty percent. So, the Ma family can only take the cloth, understand?"
"Zhu Xiaosuo, don't push it too far!"
Ma Weixin slammed the table and pointed at Zhu Xiaosuo, cursing.
Zhu Xiaosuo couldn't be bothered to glance at her.
He had figured out that Ma Weixin was just brainless.
Her brain was underdeveloped, and her cerebellum was completely undeveloped.
He guessed her aunt never intended to groom her as the head of the family; she was just raised to be useless.
Ma Baoying said:
"Fine. But we want to retain our cloth shop's transportation business, is that too much to ask?"
"Agreed."
Zhu Xiaosuo then turned to Yang Linqiu:
"Friend Yang, the Yang family will proceed as before, still handling the money house and the northern county transportation business, how about it?"
"Agreed."
Yang Linqiu agreed quickly.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the Yang family's business hadn't changed much.
This was under the premise of a nouveau riche like the Zhu family suddenly appearing.
You must know, both the Niu and Ma families had a lot of their business cut away.
The Yang family remained untouched, which was their reward for previously befriending Zhu Xiaosuo.
Zhu Xiaosuo nodded:
"Alright, then I'll talk about the Zhu family's future business. The Zhu family will take over all the medicinal herbs and ironworking business in Mountain Chicken County, the transportation business in the south and west of the county, as well as the entertainment-cultivation business like taverns, teahouses, and brothels. Altogether, this is less than twenty-five percent of Mountain Chicken County's total business, which clearly doesn't match the Zhu family's strength, so I demand to take over all the business in Yellow Dog County as compensation."
"No way! Our Ma family won't agree!"
Ma Baoying immediately spoke up.
The Ma family had three large cloth shops in Yellow Dog County, with profits equivalent to twenty percent of the cloth business in Mountain Chicken County.
The most luxurious Ma family cloth shop on the street of Zhu Xiaosuo's Braised Chicken Feet Shop was just a branch of the three major cloth shops in Yellow Dog County.
If they were all given up, the Ma family would lose a significant income.
However, Niu Shilin and Yang Linqiu didn't echo her sentiments.
The Niu and Yang families didn't have much business in Yellow Dog County.
Now there was no talk of alliances, each was fighting for themselves.
Cutting the Ma family's share to feed the hungry wolf Zhu Xiaosuo was worth it.
Ma Baoying looked pitifully at Zhou Bi, but Zhou Bi didn't respond.
Zhu Xiaosuo said:
"Do the Niu and Yang families agree?"
Niu Shilin, ignoring Ma Baoying's pleading gaze, nodded in agreement.
Yang Linqiu also nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then Elder Zhou will be a witness, and our three families will make an agreement not to interfere with each other's business for five years without permission, to avoid future troubles."
Making an agreement instead of a heart oath was because Zhu Xiaosuo believed he might take over Mountain Chicken County within five years.
Niu Shilin asked:
"An agreement is fine, but why is the term five years?"
Zhu Xiaosuo didn't answer, but Zhou Bi opened his eyes and looked at Zhuang Yun:
"Are you going to capture the traitor in five years?"
"Yes."
Zhou Bi nodded thoughtfully:
"Then let's set it for five years."
With Zhou Bi's word, Niu Shilin didn't ask further.
But Ma Baoying was anxious.
The three families had reached an agreement and were about to make a contract, but the Ma family wasn't included.
And Zhou Bi clearly had no intention of involving the Ma family.
With the Niu family's business settled, his mission was complete, and he would likely leave immediately.
Without Zhou Bi's presence, it would become Zhuang Yun's one-man show.
By then, the Ma family might not even get the cloth shop business in Mountain Chicken County.
She had no choice but to grit her teeth and say:
"We... the Ma family also agrees to the five-year contract."
Zhu Xiaosuo's further extortion plan was seen through by Ma Baoying, and he sighed:
"The Ma family head still understands the pros and cons."
After the contract was made, Zhou Bi signed as a witness and left.
The four cultivators had no intention of exchanging pleasantries, each needing to attend to their own family matters, so they went their separate ways.
Zhuang Yun, summoned by the Immortal Sect, returned there directly after the negotiation.
"Patriarch Yang, please stay."
Zhu Xiaosuo called out to Yang Linqiu and Yang Shuru.
Only the three of them remained.
"Two friends, I have some matters I'd like to discuss with you."
This was also something Zhu Xiaosuo had discussed with Zhuang Yun before the negotiation.
At the negotiation table, they had to seize as much business as possible.
But the Zhu family was too small to handle many businesses.
For example, in ironworking, the Zhu family had no mineral resources.
So, after taking on the business, to turn it into profit, they needed to find other families to cooperate with.
Zhuang Yun wanted to approach the Niu family.
Because the Niu family suffered a great loss in this negotiation and urgently needed replenishment, partnering with them could allow for significant leverage.
If Zhu Xiaosuo found the Niu family too disagreeable, he could approach the Ma family.
The Ma family didn't have strong backing, and their cloth business had been heavily bitten by the Zhu family, making them easy to manipulate.
Zhu Xiaosuo disagreed.
He believed the Niu family was arrogant, and the Ma family was petty.
Arrogance leads to trouble, and pettiness leads to internal strife.
The Yang family, not competing or fighting, was dignified like the Zhu family.
Cooperating with dignified people made for easy discussions and amicable separations.
Long-term cooperation was worth a try.
As the head of the Zhu family, he couldn't just focus on five-year interests like Zhuang Yun.
So Zhu Xiaosuo settled on the Yang family.
Zhuang Yun didn't have much objection to this.
After all, Zhu Xiaosuo was his financial backer now.
As long as Zhu Xiaosuo provided enough spirit stones to ensure he could break through to the Tenth Layer of the Rebirth Stage, Zhuang Yun was willing to compromise on other matters.
The two reached an agreement.
However, the reason Zhu Xiaosuo gave Zhuang Yun for choosing the Yang family was only superficial.
On a deeper level, among the Niu, Ma, and Yang families, only the Yang family had the potential to become a reliable ally for Zhu Xiaosuo.
Find the original at "pawread.com".
When Zhuang Yun and Zhu Xiaosuo had a falling out, only the Yang family didn't excessively kick him while he was down.
This indicated that, compared to interests, the Yang family valued Zhu Xiaosuo as a person.
Reciprocating kindness, many things were understood without words.
"Patriarch Zhu just dominated the negotiation table, leaving both my aunt and me in awe. Now that you're looking for us, you wouldn't be asking the Yang family to give up business again, would you?"
Zhu Xiaosuo chuckled:
"Patriarch Yang, you have a sense of humor. On the contrary, I'm here to discuss business with the Yang family."
"Oh? What insights does Patriarch Zhu have?"
"The Zhu family is responsible for the transportation business in the west and south of the county and the ironworking business. We hope to collaborate with the Yang family."
The revenue from these two businesses combined was more than the Yang family's current business.
Yang Linqiu was naturally interested.
"Collaborate? How do we collaborate?"
"For the transportation business, we lack manpower. For the ironworking business, we lack mineral resources. We can collaborate on these two, sharing profits based on contribution."
"Patriarch Zhu, though I may not have your natural talent, I know there's no such thing as a free lunch. What do you want?"
"I don't want anything. These businesses are too much for the Zhu family to handle now, so we must collaborate with one of the three families. When I was down, the Yang family always showed restraint. Now that I'm on the rise, naturally, I'll consider the Yang family first for good opportunities."
In the latter part, Zhu Xiaosuo no longer spoke from the perspective of the Zhu family but represented himself.
He was sending a message to the Yang family's two daughters: I remember your help.
Now that I've turned things around, I won't forget past kindness.
"Since Patriarch Zhu says so, our Yang family is immensely grateful."
"Alright, I'll leave the remaining details to Yang Qiyi from the Yang family and Zhu Qigao to discuss."
"Patriarch Zhu, you're too kind."