Chapter 139: She Has Money, Is She Afraid She Can’t Spend It?
After breakfast, they set off for the appointed location.
They had arranged to meet Zelda at a high-end café right next to the auction house under construction. The auction house was already nearly complete.
Just from the outside, it was more than twice the size of the one on Blue Star.
Bai Zhi sized up the building and estimated, "The construction costs alone must be over a billion, right?"
Hu Yan shook his head slightly. "Six or seven hundred million should be enough."
Bai Zhi was surprised by how cheap it was. She had originally estimated it would cost at least a billion, if not more, never imagining it would be less than half that amount.
However, she soon discovered that constructing a building here was completely different from modern times. It didn’t require massive amounts of manual labor, long periods of time, or layers of exploitation.
The cost of labor was low because it was mostly done by intelligently controlled robots. Once the parameters were set on a central computer, the robots could work day and night. Combined with more advanced materials, a building of this size could be completed in just a few days of round-the-clock work.
In other words, construction had probably started right around the time she first arrived on the Main Star, and now it was already almost finished.
Bai Zhi watched the scene before her in shock, unable to believe that this had been built in just a few days.
’If this were the modern era, a few days would barely be enough to lay the foundation. You might not even finish digging it.’
Bai Zhi watched in amazement as a section not far from her, which had barely been touched just a few minutes ago, shot up rapidly.
’HISS— This speed is incredible!!’
The speed was so fast it made Bai Zhi gasp. No wonder they could erect such a massive structure in a matter of days.
Just then, Zelda’s voice came from behind them. "You’re already here?"
Bai Zhi turned around and saw two other men standing beside Zelda: one who appeared to be a rather old gentleman, and another who was much younger.
When the old man saw Hu Yan, his face lit up with excitement. Although Zelda had already told him about Hu Yan’s return, seeing him in person still stirred him.
But having lived for half a century, even his excitement wasn’t as overt as a young man’s.
Zelda hadn’t expected Hu Yan to be there as well. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and say, "What’s this? Afraid I’m going to swindle your little female?"
Hu Yan heard his teasing. The phrase "your little female" actually put him in a pretty good mood. He grunted in agreement. "I am a little worried, so I came to back her up."
Zelda: "..."
He was just making a casual remark, but Hu Yan actually took him seriously and agreed!
’Is that the kind of person I, Zelda, am in Hu Yan’s eyes?!’
’He really would ditch his bros for a girl!!’
Zelda gritted his teeth in frustration. "Hu Yan, you’ve really got some nerve!"
Seeing this, Bai Zhi quickly said, "That’s not what he meant. I was a little nervous, so I asked him to come with me."
Zelda glanced at Hu Yan, who was suppressing a smile and probably gloating internally. "You don’t have to make excuses for him. I know what he’s like. If I got angry for real, I’d have been mad to death by now."
He then asked, "Do you want to take another look at the construction, or should we go inside and sign the contract first before looking around?"
They could look at the construction anytime, but their main purpose for coming today was to sign the contract.
So, Bai Zhi said, "Let’s sign the contract first."
They entered a small private room in the café. The room wasn’t large, perhaps only five or six square meters, but it was tastefully decorated and clearly intended for business discussions.
After they were all seated, Zelda briefly introduced the two men he had brought with him to Bai Zhi and her group. One was about sixty years old and an elder of the Sel Family; the other was a lawyer.
Because this was no small matter, it naturally required consultation with others. Thus, a relatively authoritative elder had been sent as a representative to accompany Zelda. This was, one, to show the importance they placed on this matter, and two, to have someone on hand to discuss any issues that might arise.
After the introductions, Zelda didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
He said with a serious expression, "Hu Yan told me this morning that you plan to invest 800 million Star Coins, plus contribute your personal services as a Purification Master, in exchange for a forty-nine percent stake."
Bai Zhi also nodded seriously. "Correct."
"We held a meeting this morning. The total investment for this auction house is about three billion. From purchasing the land to construction, we’ve already spent nearly one billion. An auction house needs to procure a large number of valuable items for auction, and many of these might be unpurified items. Having you join us as an SS-level Purification Master would be like giving a tiger wings. However, at the same time, we aren’t exactly short on your Star Coins. But because you are an exceptionally rare SS-level Purification Master, we are very keen to have you on board. Therefore, we are willing to offer you a forty percent stake to join us. If you agree, we can sign the papers immediately."
Zelda showed no signs of going easy on her because of their private relationship; in fact, his terms could be considered quite harsh.
Hearing Zelda’s words, Hu Yan frowned slightly. He gave Bai Zhi a worried glance before turning his gaze to Zelda.
Zelda didn’t look at him, but he couldn’t help but make a few small, fidgety movements.
Bai Zhi nodded. She didn’t become nervous or worry that the deal would fall through because of his words. On the contrary, she had calmed down after entering the room.
She calmly met his gaze. "I understand your position. But for forty percent, I could just open my own auction house. I happen to own a rather large shopping mall that I haven’t decided what to do with yet. The status of an SS-level Purification Master is quite useful, you know. When the time comes and Hu Yan’s identity is revealed, I imagine I could attract plenty of investors. Besides, I’m not exactly short on Star Coins myself. I could easily open one on my own. It’s just that Hu Yan mentioned you were planning to open an auction house, and I happened to feel I had a bit too much money and wanted to make an investment."
’Investing in you was a matter of convenience.’
’If she didn’t invest, she could still open her own and compete directly with the Sel Family.’
With that one speech, Bai Zhi instantly turned the tables, seizing the initiative from Zelda and putting him on the defensive.
Her words not only shocked Zelda and the men he brought with him, but even surprised Hu Yan, who was already in on her plan.
Yue Junxiao and the others were even more astounded. They never expected that when Bai Zhi said she was rich, she meant rich enough to own a large shopping mall on the Main Star and to speak with such extravagance, claiming she wasn’t short on Star Coins.
’In a negotiation, what matters is the element of surprise, a single winning move—especially since Zelda had no idea what cards she was holding.’
’Besides, as long as she spent that one billion, she would have a shopping mall worth ten billion. So, it wasn’t exactly a lie.’
’On top of that, Hu Yan’s words had given her some inspiration. She could invest in other things; it didn’t have to be an auction house. With this realization, Bai Zhi no longer cared whether today’s deal succeeded or failed.’
’She had money. Was she afraid she wouldn’t be able to spend it?’