Chapter 35: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 35: Negotiating Conditions
“Alright, what are your conditions?”
“First, remove the shackles from us.”
“Impossible.”
Before Captain Sun could respond, bailiff Qian decisively refused, "This is a requirement from above, all prisoners must wear shackles."
Ignoring him, Chen Xue looked at Captain Sun.
Captain Sun hesitated for a moment but didn't outright refuse, "I need to see if this business is worth cooperating with first. If it is, agreeing to this condition isn't out of the question."
For him, it was just a verbal agreement. If he wanted to back out later, he could claim he never said such a thing; they didn't have any evidence anyway.
More importantly, he wanted to extract from her what this so-called "business without capital" was all about.
Feeling the recording pen in her sleeve working, Chen Xue continued, "Second, we need some freedom. For example, when you go into town to buy supplies, we want to go too."
"Agreed!"
This condition wasn't unreasonable, and Captain Sun didn't mind, "Can we talk about it now?"
"And..."
"Don't push it."
Bailiff Qian interrupted Chen Xue, "Your demands are already plenty. If you want to cooperate, show some sincerity. Otherwise, we have ways to deal with you."
Chen Xue shrugged, "I just wanted to discuss how we split the profits."
Upon hearing this, Captain Sun became interested, "What do we need to contribute to this cooperation? Capital?"
"Not necessary!" Chen Xue shook her head, "You don't need to invest any capital. Just put in some effort."
"Oh?" Captain Sun furrowed his brows, but then quickly relaxed, "Then let's do a 60-40 split, with us taking the larger share."
"No way!" Chen Xue immediately rejected without hesitation, "It's going to be 64, we get six, you get four."
"Not happening!" bailiff Qian sneered, "Since you came to us, it shows you can't do this business without us. How about this, we get 70, you get 30."
Ignoring bailiff Qian, Chen Xue continued to look at Captain Sun, "What do you think? You don't need to invest capital, and you're taking the lion's share. Isn't that unfair?"
Captain Sun fell silent. In reality, he wasn't too concerned about the profit split; he just wanted to know how this business would operate. Once he knew that, he could bypass the Chen family and run it himself, keeping all the profits.
"50-50!" Captain Sun finally spoke up, "I've agreed to your other conditions already. 50-50 is the best I can offer."
"Alright!"
Chen Xue wasn't too concerned about the profit split. After all, appearing reasonable wouldn't make them believe.
"Can we talk about how this business will operate now?"
Looking around, Chen Xue saw Captain Sun's understanding gaze. He then instructed bailiff Qian to move the other prisoners and his men farther away, ensuring they couldn't eavesdrop.
"This business is very simple," Chen Xue began, "As we travel along the exile route, we'll pass through many forests and wilderness areas where we can find various herbs. We just need to pick them, transport them to the southern wilderness, and sell them. It's a lucrative venture..."
Captain Sun's eyes lit up at first, but then he furrowed his brows, "Is that it? I thought it was something more complicated."
"Let's not talk about the lack of time and manpower we have," Chen Xue explained, "Many herbs are unfamiliar to us, and not all of them fetch high prices in the south..."
"Those are not problems." Chen Xue smiled; she had considered all these situations long ago. What mattered was how many herbs they could harvest along the way. This way, she could store them in her space and exchange them for contribution points.
She knew her individual strength was limited, so she enlisted Captain Sun's help, leveraging his strength.
"In addition, I have several doctors with me. They can identify the herbs, which ones are valuable, and which ones sell well."
"Oh?"
Captain Sun was surprised; he had never seen doctors among the exiled.
If that was the case, there was a real opportunity. After all, picking herbs didn't require capital from them.
"Furthermore, with so many people in the exiled group, as long as we tell them which herbs to pick, it won't take much time to collect them."
"Oh!"
Captain Sun's eyes brightened. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before. As a bailiff captain, he had absolute power over the exiles.
So, instructing them to pick herbs wasn't a problem; the prisoners wouldn't dare to resist. They didn't need capital, and they would make money by just sitting around.
Most importantly, they needed to control the doctors.
So, he began to ask for more details, intending to sideline the Chen family.
Chen Xue also guessed Captain Sun's intentions but continued to explain in detail. However, at a crucial moment, she requested that they remove the shackles.
Captain Sun hesitated for a moment, fearing that if they removed the shackles, the Chen family might try to escape. But he realized that even if they did, they wouldn't get far, and trying to escape would only hasten their deaths.
So, he agreed but requested that it be done by Xu Tian. Although he was puzzled, Xu Tian happily agreed when he heard he would be helping remove the shackles from Master Chen.
However, when Xu Tian helped Chen Xue remove the shackles, he felt confused. The shackles on Chen Xue seemed as light as paper.
This was clearly abnormal!
PS: Thanks to the lovely little one for the reward, Happy New Year.
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