The efficiency with which Mrs. Brown operated had to be commended. Before her daughter had even reached the Miller's restaurant for her 'tuitions', she already had her staff negotiating a contract with Mrs. Miller.
And these generally cold-hearted negotiators who would squeeze out every single percentage of profit that they could from their opponents, were currently 'begging' to throw money away.
Why? Because Mrs. Brown had said, the worse the deal was for them, the greater their bonus.
Was there an easier task in this world than to throw away money?
Unfortunately, the woman in front of them was shockingly unreasonable.
If it wasn't for his colleagues being nearby, the middle-aged 'negotiator' would have already started kowtowing to Mrs. Miller.
'Lady, are you a saint or something? Why do you reject money being thrown your way?'
"Rest assured, Mrs. Miller. Like I said, all the staffing, upkeep as well as production needs will be fulfilled by us for you. You will have a managerial role, making sure the quality of the products is up to your standards. And even if there are any issues down the road, you can reach out to us to handle it."
The heroine's mother hesitated a little before shaking her head nervously.
"B-But, isn't the compensation a little—"
Crystal's mother had wanted to say 'too much', but the negotiator cut her off hurriedly.
"Please don't worry. How about two hundred and fifty thousand, then? As for the split percentage, how about we increase to 85%?"
The heroine's mother couldn't help but almost faint. How is that salary low? That's two hundred thousand dollars per month! Not even five-star hotel managers get that much.
And to give her 80% profits when her only 'investment' would be the building?
And he was bending over backwards to make it worse???
"N-No, please, it's not that I'm dissatisfied with the conditions. Just… Ugh, just give me a minute."
It was all too absurd! She couldn't help but feel like it was all a scam. Worried, she could only hand the contract over to her daughter to take a look.
Maybe her genius daughter can figure out the catch.
But no matter how many times Crystal helped her mother looked through the contract, she couldn't find any fault at all.
At this moment, Dixie finally arrived for her 'classes', and the heroine breathed a sigh of relief. It was better to just clear her doubts directly before getting into something like this.
"Hold on, mom, I'll be right back."
"U-Uhm, okay."
Mrs. Miller tried to avoid the negotiator's creepily pitiful 'puppy dog' eyes.
How can there be such a good deal in this world?
She's not signing anything until she's sure she's not giving this place up! It was all they had, after all. She had even risked everything to keep it away from those thugs, so how could she just stupidly sign it over by being careless?
Dixie sneered as the blonde girl dragged her to a corner of the restaurant.
"T-These are your company's people, right?"
Dixie shook her head. "Not mine. My mom's."
Crystal took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. Calm, she had to be calm!
To be honest, the deal was good. Too good, in fact. And that was the problem.
In business terms, it made absolutely no sense. If they agreed to these terms, the ones putting in the most investment would barely be taking a thin slice of the profits, while her mother enjoyed most of it without putting in any effort at all.
In the corporate world, no one would be stupid enough to offer them a deal like this. Perhaps the heroine would have understood what was going on if it came from Emilia's family. After all, the girl was reckless and followed her heart, and her family treasured her like a pearl.
Throwing a few million dollars away to help out a friend in need? It certainly made sense if Emilia was the one doing it.
However, the company they were signing it with happened to belong to Dixie's family. And to compare the White Deer corporation to Brown's confectioneries would be like comparing a boulder to a mountain. She highly doubted a few million dollars were peanuts to someone like Dixie.
More importantly, if there was one thing Crystal could absolutely be sure of, then it was that Dixie did not have any 'affection' for herself. At best, she treated her like a colleague, and at worst, she showed some minor aversion.
In either case, there's no way she would show her so much 'favor' out of nowhere.
So her next thought had been, of course, that Emilia had put her up to the task. That was the only way for this thing to make sense.
"Did Emilia put you up to this?"
Dixie snorted. "Are you living in some fantasy world? Do you think my princess would have me suffer a loss for someone like you?"
The dark haired girl felt some satisfaction as she took in the heroine's dumbfounded expression.
It's not like she was lying. Emilia had made it clear to her that she was not allowed to make this investment if it would turn out to be a net loss. In that case, she would figure out another way to help Crystal out.
"Emily did ask me to help, but that was only if my mother determined this business would bring us profit. So you don't need to be 'grateful' to me or anything. We're not making a loss, just offering you more favorable terms."
Crystal sighed.
'I knew it. Who else could it be? But for Emilia to do things in such a roundabout way, she must think I have a really fragile ego…'
And the heroine had to admit that perhaps Emilia actually had the right idea. Although this was still very much a 'charity' from Emilia, she didn't directly throw money at her, she just recommended her to a friend.
Although the difference was subtle on the surface, it helped her preserve a lot of dignity. To her, it was like the difference between someone offering to give her money versus someone offering to give her a job.
Dixie rolled her eyes at the heroine's reluctant expression.
"Aren't class A students supposed to be really smart? Why're you being so hypocritical about it, then? Just accept it. In the future, when you've made it big, offer me a favorable deal in return, and we'll call it even."
The heroine's expression cleared up as she smiled. Her impression of Dixie went up a notch as she realized how straightforward and direct this girl was. Just like Emilia.
Truly, birds of a feather flock together.
"You're right."
And so, Crystal convinced her mother to sign the contract, making the formidable-looking negotiator shed tears of emotion.
Although he didn't know all the behind-the-scenes details, Mrs. Brown had let it slip that the White Deer corporation's youngest daughter was involved in this somehow. The worse the deal was for them, the more 'indebted' the other side must feel!
Not to mention he would be getting a big fat 80 thousand dollars of bonus just by getting them to agree on an 80 percent split! That's four months of his salary for barely any effort!
'This has been the greatest trade deal in the history of trade deals, ever!'