Watching the old man leave, Tina opened her arms and said while sighing, "Lisheng, I've heard old man Rudolph's comment about you. If you weren't so stubborn and were willing to accept my 10,000 dollars gift or even loan, we would've completed the deal."
"I'm sorry Tina, I can accept your help but I can't accept you feeding me. That's an unbreakable rule."
"What …
Oh, forget it. Okay, you're a man of principle who won't accept money from a girl. That's actually great, at least you're much better than some of my previous boyfriends.
I shouldn't blame you for that, we can talk to someone else if we can't make the deal with old man Rudolph.
If it doesn't work out, I'll ask my dad for help to see if there's any slaughtering industry among the big companies he's selling. I'll sell them to you. "
"Thank you, Tina," Zhang Lisheng thanked her sincerely. He then took out a roll of US dollars from his pocket and said after counting, "I have about 600 US dollars in cash in my pocket. I'll treat you to a big meal tonight as a reward."
"For an ordinary high school student, you're really a rich man."
"I have to thank the owner of Dan Souza Butcher Shop for the high salary and my mom for sponsoring me this morning."
"Oh, you have a generous boss and a great mom.
600 dollars is enough for us to have a double lobster buffet at Hilton. What are we waiting for now? "Tina pulled Zhang Lisheng up and walked to the bar entrance with a smile on her face.
The duo left the bar and drove back to New York as the village drunkards whistled and said their goodbyes.
The sky was already dark. After exiting the town, there were no more cars on the remote road. The lights of the SUV shone straight into the endless darkness without any obstruction, dispersing and disappearing.
The desolation around made Tina a little nervous. She said softly while gripping the steering wheel, "I didn't feel it during the day but the villages outside of New York are as desolate as Australia at night. There's no kangaroos jumping on the road …"
'Ding dong dong, ding dong dong …' a wind chime came from the car all of a sudden as she was saying that.
Tina's body jolted and took a few deep breaths. Looking at the car phone's screen that automatically lit up, she said in a self-deprecating manner, "Oh, I can't believe I'm scared by my car phone's ringtone. This is so funny.
10 … this number seems a little familiar … "He picked up the call.
At that moment, Rudolph's old and depressed voice came from the car phone, "Alright, Ms. Tina, you guys win. Don't wait for me to change my mind, come to me now." He hung up the phone after saying that.
"Did you hear that? Did you hear that, Lisheng?" The surrender of her negotiator made Tina throw her fear to the back of her head. She shouted excitedly, "It's a success! My first independent business has succeeded!
Wow, this feeling was too wonderful. Just when they thought they had failed, the situation suddenly changed 180 degrees. This was too dramatic.
No wonder my dad always said, 'The most interesting thing in the world is to have a battle of wits with others at the negotiation table, because until the very last moment, you will never know who will win or lose' … "
She screamed and stepped on the accelerator. She passed through the dark impatiently and drove towards Rudolph Slaughterhouse. She was talking non-stop along the way, not giving Zhang Lisheng a chance to interrupt at all.
The SUV sped through the crossroad and soon arrived at the metal gate of Rudolph Slaughterhouse.
The metal gate was wide open. There seemed to be a thin layer of fog lingering in the dark factory as the headlight shone.
A little light came from the factory on the far right in the fog. It seemed like that was the house that Rudolph lived in.
Zhang Lisheng had an inexplicable sense of uneasiness when he looked at the bean-sized light from far away. He touched the backpack on his back out of habit and calmed down.
The wizard power in Zhang Lisheng's body had more than doubled compared to when he first came to America from his persistent cultivation of the secret method and the few gangsters who were tortured to death in Queens. It was much easier for him to control Mountoad now.
He did not care even if he encountered any danger.
Meanwhile, Tina was carried away by the victory. She only slowed down a little when she saw the metal gate was wide open. She drove into the factory and arrived at the lit factory directly.
The sound of the car driving spread far away in the quiet night. Someone pushed the door open softly just when the SUV arrived at the factory.
"You guys really came, Ms. Tina, Mr. Lisheng," The person who opened the door was Rudolph. The old man's face was blurry under the dim yellow light. He said in an excited tone that could not be suppressed, "Come in quickly, I've prepared the contract."
"It's a wise decision for you to make a deal with us, Mr. Rudolph.
We'll pay through our online account right after you sign the contract, "Tina walked out of the SUV and said pretending to be experienced.
"That's great," Rudolph mumbled softly and opened the door.
Looking through the door, it was a living room that was separated with simple planks.
There was only a dirty fabric sofa and two old leather sofas that did not match in the living room. There was also a wooden table.
There was a laptop with a printing function on the wooden table, a few pens that were scattered around and a document that looked like it was just stapled.
"Mr. Rudolph, can I have a look at the document?" Tina walked to the wooden table quickly after entering the house and asked while pointing at the document.
"Of course, Ms. Tina."
Tina picked up the document while smiling. She said in satisfaction after looking through it carefully, "The terms of this document are reasonable, there's nothing wrong with it. The contract will come into effect as soon as both parties sign it.
Lisheng, stop wasting time. Come over and have a look. You can sign it if you have no objections. "
"Alright," Zhang Lisheng said and walked to Tina. Zhang Lisheng said and walked to Tina's side. He took the document and signed 'Lisheng Zhang' on each page without even looking at it.
Tina said to Rudolph loudly seeing Zhang Lisheng signing his name, "It's your turn now, Mr. Rudolph. Our deal is done after you sign your name on the signature."
"Lisheng, use Mr. Rudolph's computer to log into your online account at United Bank and get ready for the transfer. I'll inform you to transfer the money as soon as he signs."
"Alright." Zhang Lisheng fiddled with the laptop on the wooden table as he spoke. Soon, he realized he could not log into the internet at all.
At the same time when Zhang Lisheng was operating the computer, Rudolph chuckled softly and walked to the wooden table in strong steps. He picked up the pen and signed his name on the contract.
Seeing Rudolph's quick action, Tina subconsciously felt something was off but she could not react to it at the moment.
The timing did not allow her to think too much. Tina picked up the contract from the wooden table and said loudly after looking at it again, "Okay, Lisheng, you can transfer the money to Mr. Rudolph now.
Mr. Rudolph, may I know your bank account number … "
"I can't log into the internet on this computer," Zhang Lisheng spoke all of a sudden at that moment.
Tina was stunned and took out her phone immediately. She said to Rudolph, "Don't worry, Mr. Rudolph, my phone has an online payment function too. Your money won't be missing a single cent, it'll be … Oh, why is there no signal on my phone?
Why is there no signal on my phone, Mr. Rudolph?
We didn't mean to delay the payment, Mr. Rudolph … "
"It's alright, young lady. Of course, I believe that you guys didn't mean to delay the payment.
Don't overthink, since we've completed the deal, we should celebrate with a glass of champagne. Wait for me, I'll get the champagne and glasses right now. "
Seeing that Rudolph did not seem to be in a rush to pay but instead walked into the house to get the red wine out of nowhere, Tina said in shock, "There's no need for that, Mr. Rudolph. It's too late now, I need to drive back to New York City. We'll just …"
However, Rudolph walked into the other cubicle in the factory quickly as if he did not hear Tina's rejection at all.
Even Tina who was not sensitive to danger calmed down from the excitement of completing the first deal in her life on her own. She said, "Lisheng, I think something's not right."
"Is that so?" Zhang Lisheng walked to Tina and took the contract from her hand who was nervous in the beginning. He said after looking at it, "Tina, this is magical to me.
I'm just signing my name and such a big piece of land and the factory machines on it belong to me forever?! "
"It's not free, you'll have to pay $105,000 for this and you'll have to pay taxes during the operation period.
But I think since we've lost contact with the outside world, we might as well leave first and transfer the money to Mr. Rudolph tomorrow. What do you think, Lisheng? "Tina said while looking at the endless night outside of the opened door.
"Sure," Zhang Lisheng nodded, not bothered at all. He folded the contract and put it in his pocket.
The moonlight happened to be covered by dark clouds when the duo walked out of the factory. Just when they were going to get into the car in the dark, a deep voice came from the back of the car all of a sudden, "Young sir, young lady, you guys haven't paid me yet, where are you going?"
"Ah …" Tina screamed from the sudden voice. Subsequently, she saw a flashlight coming from the back of the car and shone on her face.
With the help of the light, she saw it was Rudolph standing at the back of the car with his mouth moving. She gulped and asked in a trembling voice, "Rudolph, Mr. Rudolph, didn't … didn't you go into the house? Why … why are you here all of a sudden …"
Rudolph held the flashlight in his left hand while his right hand pinched a hard walnut like a pair of pliers. He rubbed off the skin and put the nut into his mouth. A smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he said softly while chewing, "There's more than one door in the factory.
I've already had a glass of champagne and I'm having my dessert now. Of course, I have to watch you guys carefully as tonight's main course. "
"I'm sorry, w-what did you say, Mr. Rudolph?"
"I said, we'll have a wonderful night," Rudolph said slowly as the smile at the corner of his lips grew. It turned into a ferocious smile that covered his face.
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