Special District 9

Coco had already drunk nearly 250ml of white wine right from the start, but it didn’t show on her face at all. Seeing how forthright she was, Qin Yu would have felt embarrassed if he didn’t accompany her. So, both he and Old Cat also poured three cups and returned the three toasts. As Qi Lin was unable to drink, he could only sit and watch from the side.

After having their fill of wine and food, the group was satisfied and slightly intoxicated. With a smile, Qin Yu asked, “Coco, what’s your full name?”

“My full name is Yu Jinnian,” Coco replied as she wiped off the oil from her red lips.

Qin Yu was a little surprised. “That sounds like a boy’s name.”

“Sounds not bad, but it seems a little awkward for a lady’s name,” Old Cat remarked. “It feels a little too aggressive.”

“Like you know shit.” Coco rolled her eyes. “‘Jin’ was used to describe beautiful jade in the past. In a name, it gives off a pure yet grand vibe. There’s a good connotation to it.”

“He isn’t cultured, there’s no need to bother too much about his words,” Qi Lin advised.

“I can tell that he’s an illiterate,” Coco nodded in agreement.

“I think that the name is quite compatible with you,” Qin Yu remarked as he looked at Coco. “You’re more competent than most men.”

“You’re flattering me.” Coco shook her head. “I’m just taking on my father’s business.”

“Aren’t there any guys in your family?” Old Cat asked.

“There are,” Coco replied as she picked up a piece of lamb meat. With a bright smile, she said, “But they aren’t as good as me.”

The three guys in the room fell silent.

Coco added on mischievously, “I’m kidding. I have two older brothers, but they are in charge of other things.”

Qin Yu looked at Coco for a moment before suddenly asking, “May I visit the factory where you produce your medicine to take a look?”

Coco replied without any hesitation at all, “Of course not.”

“Why?”

“Your customer tier isn’t high enough. Besides, I still don’t have complete trust in you, so how can I bring you over to our factory?” Coco replied.

“Then how can I ascertain the quality of the medicine?” Qin Yu asked.

Coco replied with an impassive voice, “After you trade with us a few times, you’ll come to learn that my name, Yu Jinnian, is the best guarantee of quality.”

“I can’t just take your word for it,” Qin Yu said with a wry smile. “Why don’t we do this instead? Instead of bringing me to your factory, for the second batch of goods, I’ll pay you a portion of the money first. After everything has been cleared out, I’ll pay the rest of the bill. How does that sound?”

“Hahaha! I thought that you looked humble and honest, but it seems like you are quite a shrewd one, huh?” Coco laughed heartily. With large clear eyes, she asked, “Are you facing some financial pressures at the moment? You’re worried that you might stockpile too much and incur losses beyond what you can cope with, so you thought of using visiting our factory as an excuse to make this request?”

Qin Yu was choked by her words for a long while before he finally continued on shamelessly, “I think that this is the best way to guarantee our interest.”

Coco’s chopsticks paused for a moment as she replied, “The deposit must be 50% of the total sum before I can release the goods to you.”

“Why don’t we talk this over…” Qin Yu still wanted to negotiate this matter with her.

“Don’t go too far. I have already given you very advantageous terms over here,” Coco replied sharply.

Seeing that the negotiations had broken down, Qin Yu could only nod his head and say, “Or else, why don’t you give me a slight discount on the goods then? As you know, there is the Yuan Family in Songjiang, and the Li Family might be setting foot into the market soon too. If we aren’t able to maintain price competitiveness for the goods, it’ll be hard for us to compete with them.”

“That won’t do. We’ll go by the previous prices. My prices are already very low in the market,” Coco rejected once more.

With a slight frown, Qin Yu tried to reason this matter once more, “The circumstances have changed since. Back then, when Ah Long was still working together with you, there weren’t that many competitors in the market, and there was no fallout with the Yuan Family and the other powers either. Think about it, if we aren’t able to stand our ground in Songjiang, not only will you be losing out on potential profit, the ones who would benefit are your rivals.”

Coco stared at Qin Yu for a moment before commenting, “You really are a sly man.”

“Give us a discount, will you? We are determined to make this work as well,” Old Cat interjected. “To be frank with you, those who are in this trade will have to tap into a wide network of connections in order to gain clearance from the officials. The amount that we can take in the end will just be a small fraction of it all.”

“I don’t think the way you distribute your profit has anything to do with me?” Coco said. “My prices are already low as they are. I can’t afford to go any lower.”

“I’m sure that you wouldn’t want to see the Yuan Family and the Li Family eating up your market share as well,” Qin Yu said as he took out an e-cigarette. “We’ll have to clear the path first so as to build up our customer base. It might cost us quite a bit in the earlier phases, but the returns will be tremendous.”

Coco looked on as those two ran their mouths relentlessly, trying to convince her. An inconspicuous smile formed on her lips, but she didn’t say a word at all.

“Don’t seduce me! We are talking real business here! Why do you keep shooting flirtatious glances at me?” Old Cat exclaimed.

“Heh,” Coco chuckled to herself. “The fact that we are sitting here and discussing this amicably means that you have already accepted the prices of my goods, isn’t that so?”

Qin Yu was stunned to hear these words.

“Don’t use Songjiang’s market as an excuse for this. None of us are fools over here. I don’t deny that our Yu Family is in a competitive relationship with those two, but it’s just a matter of fighting over distribution of the market share. However, the same can’t be said about you guys. You are relying on my medicine route for survival, isn’t that so?” Coco pointed out shrewdly.

Qin Yu felt a headache coming over him. It was really hard to negotiate with this lady. She was simply too sharp and meticulous.

“We are having this meal because all of us hope to do this well. I’m not the type who sets the prices and expects others to accept them, but you can’t go overboard with your requests either,” Coco said.

She contemplated for a moment before continuing on, “Let’s each take a step back. Under the guarantee that my company is able to meet its minimum profit target, I can reduce the prices of our medicine by 10%. The caveat is that you must order goods worth at least 200,000 Asian Dollars from us every month. Any less than that, and I’ll charge you by the previous prices.”

Those words made Old Cat fly into a state of agitation. He exclaimed, “Aren’t you asking for a little too much? You’re asking us to wrestle with the other rivals and snatch their share of the market over!”

“You’re the one who said that you’ll be able to secure the market if I sell my goods to you at a discounted rate. If you can’t do at least this much, why should I lower my prices for you?” Coco asked with a smile.

Old Cat was at a loss for words for a long while before he raised a thumbs up to her and said, “If you were a man, you would have long destroyed the Li Family by now.”

Coco sipped on her white wine before replying imposingly, “It’s only a matter of time before the Li Family is eliminated.”

This negotiation left Qin Yu with a feeling of admiration for Coco. At the same time, he also felt much more reassured about the partnership too.

Initially, he thought that even though Coco was extremely intelligent, she would have been disadvantaged in the underground world, which was mostly dominated by men.

But after coming into contact with her, Qin Yu realized that despite her young appearance and her eccentricity, she was truly an excellent negotiator. She was someone who could chat leisurely and joke around like a close friend on the dining table, but once it was time to get down to business, she wouldn’t lose to anyone at all. She had a clear train of thought that allowed her to cut right through loads of bullshit from the other person and strengthen her own position.

After talking things through, the dinner finally came to an end. Qin Yu was just about to return to his room to arrange for the handover of Li Tong when Coco suddenly stopped him, saying, “There’s a request I need to ask of you.”

“Sorry, I only sell my expertise, not my body. That’s my bottom line,” Qin Yu replied with a smile.