Jia Xi had not been having a good time these days – no, it should be said he had been having a very bad time. He had already been in Thunderhawk City for over half a month, but he still had not met either Rocky or Aileen, a situation that was driving him to the brink of desperation.
He had come to Thunderhawk City this time on behalf of the Azure Commerce Guild to conduct business, but how was he supposed to negotiate a deal when he couldn’t even meet anyone!
So these days had left him extremely anxious, and he had even stopped staying on the merchant ship, moving directly into the residential area of Thunderhawk City in order to be more accessible.
After moving into Thunderhawk City, he practically ran to the City Lord’s Mansion every day, using every possible means in hopes of seeing Rocky as soon as possible.
Over the course of half a month, he had been to the City Lord’s Mansion more than a dozen times. His previous pride had long vanished under such torment. Making Rocky look bad, Aileen – none of those mattered to him anymore. Now he only had one thing on his mind, and that was to meet Rocky as soon as possible, conclude the trade, and then he never wanted to come to Thunderhawk City again.
Alas, he could not even achieve this, as neither Rocky nor Aileen would see him. Even though he ran to the City Lord’s Mansion every day, each time he would be politely taken to the City Lord’s Hall, where after waiting for two to three hours, someone would come to tell him that the City Lord did not have time and asked him to return the next day.
This lack of audience was driving Jia Xi mad, and let’s not forget that he had not come alone this time, he was accompanied by no less than five ships full of grain!
For every extra day Jia Xi stayed in Thunderhawk City, the grain on the merchant ships would also need to be stored for an additional day. While it is true that grains can be stored for a very long time, they can’t last nearly as long in the dark, damp hold of a ship.
If stored for a short time it would be fine, but should it be too long and the grain begins to mold and spoil, then there would be real trouble!
Thus, he was burning with impatience yet had no solution.
In fact, with Jia Xi’s intelligence, he may not have realized it at first, but by now he had generally figured it out; he could guess that Rocky and Aileen were deliberately avoiding him and dragging their feet in not meeting him, and the reason was certainly due to the last trade deal.
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In the initial days, although Jia Xi understood what was happening, he was still not ready to give up; he still wanted to stand up to Rocky, believing that as long as Rocky needed the grain in his possession, he would ultimately compromise, and Jia Xi would be the one to emerge victorious.
But now he had changed his mind; he simply could not afford to wait any longer.
After being ignored so many times, Jia Xi had completely given in; he had finally understood one thing, that he truly could not compete with the City Lord of Sky City, and he had genuinely relented.
Once he had relented, Jia Xi’s mind became more agile, and he soon turned to Voss.
Voss and the Azure Commerce Guild had quite a good relationship.
The reason the Azure Commerce Guild began doing business with Thunderhawk City was largely due to Voss’s efforts as a liaison, and given that Voss had also once served as the finance officer within Thunderhawk City, Jia Xi felt that if he could get Voss to pass on a message or make an introduction, he would definitely be able to meet Rocky.
And what pleased him to no end was that when he sought out Voss and explained his purpose, Voss readily agreed, promising that he would talk to Aileen!
This delighted Jia Xi immensely! In his view, as long as he could meet Aileen, then everything would become much easier. So he not only thanked Voss profusely but also presented him with a generous gift, then returned home filled with expectation to wait for news.
As for Voss, who had accepted a generous gift, he indeed kept his word and really did have a talk with Aileen.
“Grandpa, didn’t you say you wouldn’t interfere with my affairs? Why have you gotten involved again? Tell me, did you accept a gift from that man?”
Seeing that Voss had actually brought up Jia Xi, Aileen puffed up with anger.
Leaving Jia Xi to fend for himself was a deliberate choice by her and Rocky, meant to discipline the Overseer and make him realize who truly ruled over Thunderhawk City. So, regarding her grandfather’s words, Aileen shook her head as vigorously as a rattle-drum, firmly disagreeing.
“Aileen, you should meet with Jia Xi,” Voss insisted.
With a faint smile on his face, Voss explained to Aileen in a kindly manner, “You and the City Lord have been neglecting this matter for too long, which is really not good. What if you drive people to desperation, and they end up leaving once and for all? How would you handle that?”
“So, you should listen to Grandpa’s advice, go meet with Jia Xi, appease him properly, and let him calm down. Doing this will bring only benefits and no disadvantages.”
Having said that, Voss looked at Aileen, noticing that she was looking at him with a face full of surprise.
It was not until a good while later that Aileen finally spoke:
“Grandpa, you’re the craftiest.”
Giving Voss a thumbs up, Aileen had clearly understood what her grandfather meant.
“Nonsense!”
With his eyes wide, Voss put on an angry face, but Aileen was not the least bit scared. She quickly bounced away toward the exit, calling back, “I got it, I’ll see Jia Xi tomorrow.”
“There’s no need to rush. Wait three days before you meet him.”
Watching Aileen bounce away, Voss shook his head and reminded her.
Three days later, just as she had said, Aileen did indeed go to meet with Jia Xi.
Upon seeing that Aileen had finally come, Jia Xi was overjoyed. The arrogance he had shown last time was gone, and he quickly apologized to Aileen right after meeting her, saying that he had offended her during the last encounter with the City Lord and that he hadn’t wanted to, but it was the Chamber of Commerce’s orders, and so on. In short, he said a lot of things to ingratiate himself.
Of course, Aileen was well aware of such tricks. After all, how could one believe the words that come so easily from a merchant’s mouth? However, she did not call him out on it. In fact, she did not show the slightest displeasure towards Jia Xi, but instead spoke to him earnestly.
“Overseer Jia Xi, to be frank, the City Lord has been very dissatisfied after the last transaction, and he has not just once but multiple times requested that I seek cooperation with other Chambers of Commerce,” Aileen said, her face a picture of helplessness.
“So, if it were not for me and Grandpa pleading on your behalf in front of the City Lord, this deal might not have happened at all.”
“Yes, yes, I understand. I am very grateful to the senior Voss and to Miss Aileen. I will certainly remember this favor, but regarding the current situation…”
Like Aileen before him, Jia Xi did not believe a word she said, but he verbally agreed to everything nonetheless.
“Let’s do this, I’ll go speak with the City Lord.”
As if she had made a great resolution, Aileen stood up while she spoke and then looked at Jia Xi, “Overseer Jia Xi, please wait here. I’ll go see the City Lord right now, but you can’t behave as you did last time. Otherwise, I really won’t be able to help.”
“Good, good, Miss Aileen, rest assured, I know what I should do.”
Seeing that Aileen was going to see Rocky right away, Jia Xi quickly thanked her, and a weight lifted from his heart. At this point, he didn’t ask for anything more, just to finish this transaction as soon as possible would be a blessing.