The Art of Bargaining

For a fleeting moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Assistant Wang, a top-notch assistant who had served Feng Jinxuan for many years and was accustomed to the cutthroat world of business, had a truly remarkable expression on his face at this moment. Behind his expensive gold-rimmed glasses, the lenses seemed to have developed tiny cracks from shock.

He had seen countless men and women who wanted to climb the social ladder by marrying into the Feng family. Their scripts were all the same: some were pitiful, some were playing hard to get, and some were gentle and virtuous.

But someone like the one in front of us, who treats "marrying for good luck" as a business project and even wants to offer a "strategic cooperation framework agreement," is absolutely unprecedented.

Yu Jinli looked at his petrified expression and secretly felt smug.

Just kidding, who is Yu Jinli? She's a self-employed individual who tenaciously survives in the cracks of capital, an entrepreneur who turns the elusive concept of "luck" into a paid product through her own abilities. Her life motto is: as long as you don't give up, there's always a way to overcome difficulties.

Since fate has arranged such a melodramatic "domineering CEO's forced love" scenario for her, she can't just cry and play the role of a pushover, can she? That would be too unfair to her brain, which is full of business acumen.

If she's going to act, she'll play the female lead who can turn the CEO's assets into her own KPIs.

"Assistant Wang?" Yu Jinli's voice pulled him back to reality from his shock. "Is my suggestion so hard to understand?"

Assistant Wang took a deep breath, quickly regaining his professional demeanor. He adjusted his glasses and said in a deep voice, "Ms. Yu, your idea... is very novel. However, this agreement was personally prepared by President Feng..."

"Stop." Yu Jinli raised her hand, making a pause gesture. "I know this is what your CEO Feng wants, but now, the basis for cooperation has changed."

She held up two fingers and began to analyze clearly: "First, you need me, not the other way around. From an economic perspective, I am the 'supply side,' and you, the feudalists, are the 'demand side.' The supply side has the right to define products and prices; this is the law of the market."

“Second,” she held up a third finger, “what am I offering? My ‘luck,’ my ‘life essence.’ This stuff is much rarer than gold or diamonds. You think you can buy me out for a year with a vague ‘lucky marriage’ agreement? Assistant Wang, do you think this deal is worthwhile?”

A fine bead of sweat appeared on Assistant Wang's forehead. He felt the Nobel Prize medal in his hand was somewhat heavy.

The room next door, which had been temporarily converted into an office.

Feng Jinxuan was leaning back on the sofa, with the huge screen in front of him clearly displaying the real-time monitoring footage of Yu Jinli's hospital room.

He looked at the girl in the oversized hospital gown who, like a queen in the making, had rendered his prized assistant speechless. The sharpness and scrutiny in his eyes were gradually replaced by a hint of interest.

interesting.

That's really interesting.

This girl, like a little fox who had wandered into a wolf pack, not only didn't tremble with fear, but instead tried to talk to the wolf king about cooperation on "sustainable development of grassland ecology".

He picked up the tablet on the table and pulled up the information that Assistant Wang had sent ten minutes earlier.

[Yu Jinli, 23 years old, graduated from the Chinese Department of Yuncheng University. Parents passed away early, leaving behind a huge debt. She has no stable job and owns a registered online store called 'Jinli is Here,' whose main business includes selling lucky charms, online blessings, and exam-preparation well wishes, etc.]

The information is very simple; she is just an ordinary girl struggling to make ends meet.

But her performance was anything but ordinary.

Feng Jinxuan's fingers tapped lightly on the screen, and a smile, which he himself did not notice, flashed in his deep eyes.

He hadn't encountered anything so interesting in a long time.

He pressed the communicator and gave instructions to Assistant Wang on the other end: "Do as she says."

In the hospital room, Assistant Wang heard his boss's concise command through his earpiece, and he was stunned again.

Yu Jinli looked at him and gave him a smug smile that said, "I knew this would happen." "So, did your boss agree?"

Assistant Wang nodded with difficulty: "President Feng has agreed. Ms. Yu, please let me know if you have any specific requirements, and I will record them and forward them to the legal department."

"Okay, that's what we call a cooperative attitude." Yu Jinli cleared her throat and instantly got into the zone.

"First of all, the cooperation period is one year, which is 365 days. My side, that is, myself, as Party A, will provide 'luck support' services to Party B, that is, your General Manager Feng."

"The services include, but are not limited to: daily accompaniment to neutralize the 'negative energy field' of the client; providing 'good luck' in major business activities and negotiation occasions; and providing 'emergency shelter' services in the event of force majeure."

As she spoke, she counted on her fingers like a calculating market vendor, yet her expression was as serious as if she were reciting a UN convention.

"Secondly, there's the obligation of Party B, which is my compensation." Her eyes lit up; this was the key point.

"Monthly salary, 200,000 yuan, after tax. It will be deposited into my account on the first of each month. If it is overdue for one day, a late payment fee of 10% will be charged."

"I must pay the highest level of social insurance and housing fund; I want to be responsible for my retirement."

"Accommodation and meals included. The accommodation standard cannot be lower than a five-star hotel executive suite, and the catering standard... let's refer to a Michelin three-star restaurant, I'm not picky about food."

"The year-end bonus will be calculated as 0.01% of the company's annual net profit. Don't think it's too much; I'm providing core technical support."

“The most important point,” she emphasized, “is personal accident insurance, with a coverage of one hundred million. The beneficiary is my best friend, Lin Feifei, and her phone number is 138…”

Assistant Wang's hand, which had been writing furiously, froze in mid-air. He looked up at Yu Jinli, then quickly looked down again, beginning to feel the Nobel Prize medal getting a little too hot to handle.

He strongly suspected that the girl wasn't there to bring good luck, but rather to provide targeted poverty alleviation.

"Any more questions?" Yu Jinli blinked, looking completely innocent.

“…No, that’s all.” Assistant Wang wiped his sweat. “I will convey your request in full. If there’s nothing else, Ms. Yu, please get some rest. I will come to pick you up tomorrow morning to complete the discharge procedures.”

After saying that, he left the ward quickly, as if fleeing.

Watching his retreating figure, Yu Jinli finally couldn't help but laugh so hard she was shaking all over in bed.

She won the first round.

Turning a passive "selling out" into an active "cooperation" feels great!

She was in a great mood, and even felt that her pitiful bit of luck had become a little more active. The countdown on her wrist didn't seem so glaring anymore.

Life is just about closing one door and opening another... a window leading to the CEO's house.

...

The next morning, Yu Jinli, "escorted" by a stretch Lincoln, officially moved into Feng Jinxuan's mansion located on the top of Yuncheng Mountain.

The mansion was so big it didn't feel like a home; it was more like a small museum, decorated in a minimalist style that screamed "expensive" in every single pixel.

No wonder my house isn't decorated like that; it feels cold and lifeless. Comrade Yu Jinli nodded in complete agreement.

After leading her to a bedroom on the second floor that was larger than the entire apartment she had previously rented, Assistant Wang respectfully took his leave.

Yu Jinli rolled around twice on the six-figure velvet bed, feeling like she had reached the pinnacle of her life.

Although it was a time-limited event, it was still a peak performance.

She took a shower, changed into the brand-new dress that Assistant Wang had prepared for her, and then began to inspect her new "office".

Before she knew it, she had reached the door of the study on the third floor. The door wasn't closed properly, leaving a crack.

Curious, she peeked out and saw a tall, imposing man standing with his back to her in front of a row of enormous bookshelves, seemingly searching for something. His simple white shirt and black trousers accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and even from behind, he exuded a cold, unapproachable aura. Aside from that cursed loner, there probably wasn't another living person in this enormous, haunted mansion.

Just then, he seemed to have found his target and reached for a book on the top shelf.

Yu Jinli's heart jumped.

Because in her field of vision, next to that book, in another compartment, a heavy bronze ornament was beginning to sway precariously due to some slight vibration.

"Watch out!" she blurted out.

Before he could finish speaking, the bronze ornament had already lost its balance and was crashing straight down toward Feng Jinxuan's head!

Feng Jinxuan seemed to sense the danger as well, and suddenly looked up, but it was too late to dodge.

Yu Jinli's mind went blank, and she subconsciously wanted to use her meager luck to save him.

However, an even stranger thing happened.

At the other end of the study, an apple in a fruit bowl suddenly rolled off the table as if it had been kicked. It traced an eerie arc on the smooth floor, striking the base of the bookshelf precisely and without deviation.

The bookshelf suddenly shook.

The bronze ornament that was about to hit Feng Jinxuan's head was also affected by the sway, changing its trajectory. It grazed his shoulder and crashed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

The black hair remained unharmed even after being completely sealed.

He stood there, slowly turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning, shooting straight at Yu Jinli at the door.

Yu Jinli was also staring at him in disbelief.

She was certain that what had just happened wasn't her doing. Her reserves of luck were simply insufficient to accomplish such a difficult "remote rescue."

That was... his own luck?

No, that's not right. How could a cursed lone star have such luck?

She looked at Feng Jinxuan, and Feng Jinxuan looked at her.

Both of them had a hint of inquiry and... something hard to explain in their eyes.

He looked at her, and the pure scrutiny in his eyes, which had previously regarded her as a "valid sample," subtly shifted. If before she was merely an "antidote" that could alter the instrument's data, now she had become a vibrant unknown capable of triggering a "real-world miracle." His gaze, once coldly inquisitive, now held a more complex, intense interest in some kind of out-of-control phenomenon.