I Live on the Land in Global Games
Chapter 167 - 166: Parting on Bad Terms

Chapter 167: Chapter 166: Parting on Bad Terms

At this moment, Mu Ying had just helped Li Luoxia and her group settle in their lodging and was coming downstairs, planning to show them around the territory when she spotted a handsome guy being graciously escorted in.

Undeniably, his face was handsome, albeit his frame was somewhat frail and he wasn’t particularly tall.

Shi Yin, a not yet mature werewolf, was considerably taller than him in human form.

Zhou Hongfei recognized Mu Ying immediately; her hair and eye color were quite distinct and widely known on the forums. He waved with a smile, his tone familiar, "Mu Ying!"

"Do you know him?" Li Luoxia pouted.

Mu Ying looked at the quality of the man’s robe and the intricate silver patterns on it, deduced that he was wealthy, and formed some guesses, yet conjectures were merely conjectures and obviously not certainties, so she shook her head, "I don’t know him."

"Ha, although this is our first meeting, I’ve been wanting to meet you. Let me introduce myself, I am Zhou Hongfei, the Lord of Feihong Town. You’ve seen the messages I posted on the forum, right? It was me. This is my gift for you," Zhou Hongfei said as he presented a small gift box.

"Mu Ying from Qingshan Town," Mu Ying emphasized coldly, repeating ’Qingshan Town’, "You can keep your gift. If you’ve got any good ideas, just contribute more in taxes to the territory."

She sensed that this man had a particularly thick skin, and being too polite might lead to misunderstandings, so she didn’t show him any warmth.

Zhou Hongfei looked distressed, "Mu Ying, won’t you even accept this small gift at our first meeting?"

"Sister Mu, compared to him, I must have been far more negligent. I never even thought of bringing a gift," Li Luoxia sighed and spoke somewhat plaintively.

"Nah, don’t worry about that. Don’t you know me? The more money you spend in Qingshan Town, the happier I am," Mu Ying knew she was trying to help her out.

Only then did Zhou Hongfei shift his gaze to the person standing next to Mu Ying. Compared to Mu Ying’s fresh, natural, slightly youthful yet mysteriously attractive beauty, this person sported darker skin and a curvaceous figure, also looking like a mature, charming beauty.

His eyes sparkled slightly, "And who might this be?"

"Let me introduce myself, Li Luoxia from Luoxia Town," Li Luoxia coughed lightly, curious to see the reaction on this man’s face.

The others were also curious, all staring at Zhou Hongfei’s face, afraid to miss any slight expression.

Zhou Hongfei’s mind raced, finally realizing that things were slipping from his control, "What is happening here?"

"Qingshan Town and Luoxia Village just inaugurated a long-distance Transmission Array," Mu Ying said expressionlessly.

Zhou Hongfei’s face was a picture of agony, as if he had been wounded, "But didn’t we agree on the forum? How could you go and...?"

Mu Ying was utterly confused, "Agree? Agree on what?"

"Well, nevermind..." Zhou Hongfei seemed to lament how difficult it was for him to concede.

Mu Ying was irritated, "Huh? I never agreed to set up the Transmission Array with Feihong Town first. The shares of the Transmission Array between Qingshan Town and Luoxia Village are currently entirely with Qingshan Town. Luoxia Village, after catching up and covering half of the construction costs, will then share equally. No other territory besides Luoxia Village would agree to these terms, so naturally, they were my first choice."

Zhou Hongfei, upon hearing this, found himself at a loss for words, even regretting not having thought of this himself earlier.

Originally, he had thought Qingshan Town had more potential, its lord being young and pretty, much better than the married, child-bearing lord of Luoxia Village. Young and pretty meant potentially easier to manipulate, but he hadn’t considered that Li Luoxia was also attractive, and having a lower Territory Level had its advantages, yielding significant benefits.

But now with both women in Qingshan Town, he found an opening to strategize, "I suppose, Mu Ying, you might be short of funds to cover half the costs of the Transmission Array right now. How about I cover all the expenses? Of course, regarding the share, I won’t let you be at a disadvantage. Let’s split it 20/80."

Mu Ying: "..."

She had thought his eager demeanor might extend to a generous 50/50 split.

"Twenty-eighty? You mean twenty for you, eighty for me?"

Zhou Hongfei’s expression stiffened slightly, "You must be joking..."

"How is that not letting me suffer a loss? We in Qingshan Town will eventually raise the money over time, and by waiting a bit longer, we could at least split fifty-fifty, but rushing into this now means we’ll only ever get 20 percent, which is a huge loss," Mu Ying stated bluntly. "For the time being, Qingshan Town can’t afford to build another Long-distance Transmission Array, but we’re also not in a rush to build one. So, we can afford to wait. If Feihong Town doesn’t mind, after some time when we have saved enough money, we can activate the transmission array and split the profits fifty-fifty, or like with Luoxia Village, you initially cover the full cost, and once we reimburse half the expenses, we split fifty-fifty."

"This..." Zhou Hongfei was slightly reluctant, considering that Qingshan Town had already received full financing from Luoxia Village, "I’ll think about it."

He thought to himself, if this trip went well and he managed to charm Mu Ying, then wouldn’t the share simply be a matter of transferring from one hand to the other?

Mu Ying didn’t say more, being fine with either outcome. Qingshan Town wasn’t obligated to establish transmission arrays with every territory with a Main Territory.

Qingshan Town was different from Luoxia Village; the former had the conditions to establish transmission arrays and had many options.

She then said to Jiu San, "Please see to our guest."

"You go ahead with your duties, I’ll take Sister Li and the others around," she said, not waiting for Zhou Hongfei’s response before walking out with the Luoxia Team.

Zhou Hongfei said gently, "Sounds good."

"Ah, Lord Zhou’s control over his expressions, just one word, impressive!"

"That’s two words!"

The spectators, having seen their fill of the excitement, slowly dispersed.

Zhou Hongfei returned to his guest room, closed the door, and his amiable smile vanished instantly, angrily sweeping the tea set from the table.

Outside the door, Jiu San, who hadn’t yet walked far, mentally calculated, "How much is a tea set? I’ve been at this inn for so long, and have grown quite fond of this tea set, tripling its price isn’t too unreasonable, right?"

"Hmph, go to the territory and collect as much information about Mu Ying as possible, no matter what it is, I want to know everything about her," Zhou Hongfei instructed.

The guards accepted the order and left.

However, they soon returned.

"Lord, no one else will tell us unless we pay them."

With a clang, Zhou Hongfei kicked the leg of the table and threw a pouch of money on the floor, "They’re all damn money-grubbers, take it!"

"Yes," the guards exited again.

Zhou Hongfei took a deep breath, still feeling frustrated, and thought bitterly about how he would deal with Mu Ying.

The more he thought about it, the more relieved he felt.

He needed to keep his composure, charm her first, make her deeply attached to him, and then he would proceed with his next moves.

Then, he would be the actual controller of two territories, and even had hope for influencing Li Luoxia.

As such a handsome guy, being nice to them, how could they not be smitten?

He was the chosen one.

Women are emotional creatures, and once their hearts are touched, they are much easier to deceive.