Wei Family's Proposal (1)

According to Old Gao, the Wei family's previous patriarch, Wei Hong, Miss Jing's grandfather, had a prestigious past. He was once a disciple of the Crimson Cloud Sect, a sect subordinate to the esteemed Flaming Mountain Sect.

He was a disciple of the alchemy hall in the Crimson Cloud Sect where honed his skills in alchemy and rose to prominence. This expertise later helped him establish himself as a highly respected alchemist in Gale City. Upon returning from the sect, his skills with alchemy made the Wei family gradually become a pillar of the city's economy.

The Wei family's influence stemmed from controlling several major businesses that dealt with herbs, medicinal pills, and other alchemical products. In this domain, they held second place only to the Misty Medicine Pavilion in Gale City. Additionally, the Wei family also has close ties with the very same pavilion, which further solidified their position.

As time went on, the once-vigorous patriarch, Wei Hong, passed his prime and began to show his age. His cultivation stagnated, and the lack of a suitable successor left him as the sole figure of authority among the Wei family.

The current patriarch's cultivation was not significant, leaving Miss Jing as the closest thing to a successor they possessed. Although she had, younger siblings and cousins, she held the most influence among the younger generations of the Wei family.

Upon further asking, old Gao delved deeper, sharing rumors that swirled through the city. Apparently, a handful of the Wei family's alchemists had recently defected to the Han family, which caused a significant blow that put a strain on their conditions. 

Liu Feng, despite maintaining distance from the specifics of Zhang Yan's family affairs, possessed some understanding of their overall situation. Based on this knowledge, he understood the Zhang family's current struggles. With this new information about the Wei family, a plan began to formulate in his mind. Perhaps, he thought, there might be a way to take advantage of this situation.

***

A sudden knock on the giant mahogany door interrupted Miss Jing and Zhang Yan's conversation. Miss Jing caught in the middle of her sentence, furrowed her brow momentarily before Zhang Yan said, "Enter."

As the door creaked open, Butler Wei hesitated before speaking. "Master Zhang," he announced with a slight bow, "Young Master Liu Feng has arrived and requests an audience."

Miss Jing was momentarily caught off guard at the mention of Liu Feng. News of his arrival was unexpected, yet not entirely surprising. They knew of Liu Feng, the mysterious cultivator who had saved the Gale City and emerged as the Zhang family's benefactor. Thanks to him, the Zhangs had managed to reclaim their family estate.

One of Miss Jing's reasons for this sudden visit to the Zhang manor had a secret motive – to meet this mysterious Liu Feng. Perhaps, she thought, he could be swayed to switch sides and because of that, she wanted Zhnag Yan to accept her proposals quickly. This would give her an advantage over the Zhang Family and she was sure, after that, it would be easy to pull this mysterious cultivator to their side. After all, the Wei family could surely offer more than whatever the Zhangs had promised him. With their extensive connections, any rising cultivator would be eager to collaborate with them.

News of Liu Feng asking for an audience surprised Zhang Yan. While Liu Feng typically avoided meddling in the Zhang family's affairs, he offered his help whenever needed. 'Why would Boss interrupt this meeting?', Zhang Yan wondered.

"Please, show him in," Zhang Yan instructed the butler.

"As you wish, Master Zhang," the butler replied before departing.

Lady Jing's lips pursed into a frown. To her, Zhang Yan extending the sudden invitation, without acknowledging her presence, felt dismissive. She could brush it off considering his youth, but she was not just anyone, she was a direct descendant of the Wei Family. Her social standing far outweighed that of the entire Zhang Family nowadays. However, considering her potential gain of an alliance with this young cultivator easily outweighed her momentary annoyance.

Moments later, the door creaked open again, and Liu Feng entered the room in his simple yet elegant black and white robes.

"Miss Jing," Zhang Yan formally introduced, "this is Master Liu Feng, the savior of the Zhang family and benefactor of Gale City."

He turned to Liu Feng. "And Master Liu Feng, this is Miss Jing from the Wei family."

Liu Feng shifted his gaze to the lady in red, "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Jing," he greeted with a nod. "I've heard so much about your family."

"The pleasure is mine, Young Master Liu," Miss Jing replied with a polite nod. "Your reputation precedes you."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Miss Jing, to steer the conversation back on course, cleared her throat.

"Well, Young Master Zhang," she began, returning her gaze to him, "as we were discussing before, the Wei family has prepared to extend a helping hand to your family considering our family's past friendship. This will be a golden opportunity to restore some of Zhang's former glory."

Zhang Yan was silent. The sudden offer, no doubt, sounded too good to be true but he did not have many choices now.

"is it??," Liu Feng interjected, his voice laced with a hint of amusement. "I wouldn't want to miss out on such an opportunity. Perhaps Miss Jing would be kind enough to elaborate on this offer?"

Despite the annoyance bubbling beneath the surface, Lady Jing forced a smile. "Of course," she replied, her voice strained. "As you may be aware, the Wei family has a network of stores in different locations throughout the city. We believe a partnership between our families could prove mutually beneficial. In particular, the Zhang family could regain some of their former influence with this arrangement."

"That is so well thought of the Wei Family", Liu Feng continued, "However, before we discuss further, perhaps having a clearer understanding of the partnership would be better, wouldn't you agree, Master Zhang?"

Understanding Liu Feng's intention, Zhang Yan simply offered a nod.

Lady Jing, her patience waning, sighed audibly. "The offer is straightforward," she explained. "We propose that the Zhang family manage some of our shops within the city. This would provide an opportunity to rebuild the Zhang family and re-establish their presence."

"Our families enjoyed a positive relationship in the past, and I have come here with the hope of rekindling that friendship. There may have been misunderstandings in the past, due to the the actions of the Chen family but this proposal is a gesture of goodwill from us."

Liu Feng, although knew not much about managing business and forming a business partnership, he was sure, this was not such a thing. The Wei Family's intention was clear. In the name of the partnership, they would offer some meager amount and control the Zhang Family financially.

On the surface, it looked like the Wei Family had nothing to gain from this partnership and it was out of pure benevolence that they approached Zhang Yan, but Liu Feng was certain, that was not the case.

From his conversation with Old Gao, it did not look like the Wei Family's condition was reliable right now. It was quite the opposite actually, it seemed like the Han Family and Wei Families were involved in some sort of cold war, and pulling the Zhang Family into that would mess things up and then he had to get involved.

'It is very likely that they are looking for someone who is backing the Zhangs, and logically that would be me. So they want the powerful cultivator that saved the city to pull into their side.', Liu Feng connected the dots.

"And how would the profits be shared?" thinking about it for some time, Liu Feng inquired.

"The store is already quite profitable," Lady Jing continued, "and we would naturally continue to supply the necessary inventory for the shop. We believe a five percent share of the total sales to the Zhang family would be a considerable amount, obviously with any operational expenses deducted from that amount."

"Five percent of the sales," Liu Feng continued, "With the Wei family deducting the expenses? That's...interesting...but..."

Zhang Yan was disappointed. This meager amount of share left a very small amount of profit.

Before Zhang Yan could voice his concerns, Liu Feng said, "...but let me propose..."

The offer sounded ridiculous even to Liu Feng, and with this, he was certain of this assumption. A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes, as he thought of something ridiculous.

Miss Jing's smiling expression faltered when Liu Feng calmly continued, "Seventy percent of all profits from the store, and the Wei family will be covering all operational costs."

'Will it be too much?? I mean obviously, it is too much but this is xianxia after all and this is how you negotiate', in his sane mind, Liu Feng knew the amount was too much to be agreed upon, but he was certain, he was holding the upper hand in this negotiation.