Chapter 69: Sc.u.mbagKaerton stared at Su Ye for a long time. He slowly lowered his head and clenched his fists tightly.
The bulging veins on his arms undulated like snakes.
Su Ye did not expect Kaerton"s reaction to be so huge. He suddenly remembered some rumors about Kaerton and the agreement between the two of them.
Outside the door, Hark also gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly.
After a while, Kaerton raised his head and looked at Su Ye. His eyes were slightly red. He said, “Your straw theory is very good.”
“Hence, we must avoid it from happening as best as we can. The further we"re away from the n.o.bles, the better we"ll be,” Su Ye said.
“What if we can"t avoid it?”
“Even if it"s just a straw, it can still hurt the n.o.bles if it"s stuck in their eyes. It"ll be so close that they can probably see the soul hanging at the end of the straw,” Su Ye said slowly.
Kaerton beamed and responded, “Now I finally understand why I liked you from the very beginning.” His eyes twinkled with madness.
“In our previous agreement, didn"t you want me to gouge out one of my eyes?” asked Su Ye as he revealed a similar kind of smile.
Kaerton pointed at his own heart and said, “It was because he gouged out my heart!”
Su Ye smiled slightly and said, “Since I have promised you, I"ll willingly stab the straw in that eye. Of course, that"ll only happen if there is a chance.”
“The chance will come…” Kaerton muttered to himself. No one knew what he was thinking.
After a long while, Su Ye instructed, “Sell all the a.s.sets that you"re willing to let go and find a way to rent a silver mine. It doesn"t have to be too big. A big silver mine is too much for you to suppress.”
Kaerton nodded slightly. Only now did he understand why Su Ye had used the word “suppress” from the beginning.
Only when the weight of one"s entire body was laid down could it be called suppression.
If the business failed because they could not suppress all the threats, they would not be able to survive too.
“Don"t worry. This world is changing,” Kaerton whispered.
“Huh? Did you get any news?” Su Ye asked.
“Nothing,” Kaerton said hurriedly.
Su Ye couldn"t ask Kaerton more about it since he had denied it. Su Ye said, “Get ready as soon as possible. Regarding the collaboration with Plato Academy, I will discuss it with Niedern in detail. As for the n.o.bles, our partner should be at least the heir of a Heroic Family. We need to be cautious about the DemiG.o.d Families. I"m afraid that they"ll eat us alive.”
Kaerton quickly regained his composure. He nodded and commented, “Niedern is a trustworthy man.”
Su Ye suddenly recalled Niedern"s comment about Kaerton.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Maester came in with a tray. He smiled and said, “Su Ye, try my honey cheese, puffs, and fruits. Of course, there"s salad, the dish that will never be absent on the table.”
Throughout the entire process – Maester entering the room, handing the puffs to Su Ye, bidding farewell to Su Ye, and exiting – Kaerton watched everything in a daze.
From the beginning to the end, it was as though Maester had not noticed Kaerton at all.
Seeing that Su Ye was eating grapes happily, Kaerton really wanted to flip the table.
Who was the boss here?
“Why aren"t you eating?” Su Ye asked, puzzled.
“Hehe,” Kaerton snickered and then grabbed some honey cheese.
Su Ye pondered for a while and said, “Since the n.o.bles in Athens care only about their own benefits, I"ll collaborate with Plato Academy for all my business. At least that"s what"s going to happen before I become a Legend. At the very least, the reputation of mages is better than that of n.o.bles. Of course, we need qualified merchants, and you are the best choice right now. At the same time, we need to find a n.o.ble who is reliable and powerful enough. Therefore, we need to use a shareholding system for our business.”
“A shareholding system?” Kaerton asked.
Su Ye briefly explained about the concept and concluded, “In short, we can join hands to form a chamber of commerce. I"ll provide the ideas and funding. Plato Academy will be responsible for processing. You"ll be responsible for managing the business, and the n.o.ble we find will be responsible for holding off other n.o.bles.”
“What about the percentage of the shares?” Kaerton asked.
“Plato Academy will take at least 30% and the n.o.ble will take no less than 20%. I"ll take no less than 40%,” Su Ye said.
“Only 10% for me?” Kaerton"s tone was displeased.
Su Ye smiled slightly and said, “If the business is well-managed, I"ll gradually give up some of the shares. At that time, you can buy it from me.”
Kaerton lowered his head and did not say anything.
Su Ye convinced him by saying, “Think about it from another angle. You are equal to half a n.o.ble, or one-third of Plato Academy. Do you feel that you are at a disadvantage?”
Kaerton retorted, “In that case, you"re equal to two n.o.bles. Or do you think that you"re more important than Plato Academy?”
“At least, for the salad dressing, I have contributed ten times more than you, Mr. Kaerton,” replied Su Ye.
Whatever grumble that Kaerton had was immediately dispelled.
Su Ye closed his eyes, reached his right hand to the back of his waist, then opened his eyes and took out a coin bag from behind his waist.
After a month, Su Ye had successfully mastered the ability to quickly enter and exit the Wasteland s.p.a.ce to retrieve items.
“Oh right, I want to exchange a hundred Gold Eagles with you,” Su Ye said.
“Why? Did your money come from an illegal source? Hark, help me get a bag of Gold Eagles.” Kaerton took the coins from Su Ye and examined them. There was nothing special about them.
Soon, Hark came in with a bag of Golden Eagles.
Su Ye picked up the new coin bag, stood up and said, “The sooner you find a suitable partner, the sooner we can start making money.”
Kaerton asked with a grin, “Do you have any gourmet recipes? Sell it to me at a cheaper price.”
“We"ll talk after you"ve acquired 2,000 Golden Eagles.” Su Ye turned around and left, leaving Kaerton behind with a helpless expression.
When he returned home, the first thing Su Ye did was to enter the Wasteland s.p.a.ce and sacrifice the 100 Gold Eagles that he had just obtained.
The altar devoured the white mist that came from the gold coins and remained motionless.
Neither white light nor a Talent Spirit appeared.
Su Ye kicked the altar hard.
“As expected, it won"t work.”
Su Ye abandoned his initial idea and decided to work hard in order to earn money for the altar.
Su Ye stared at the altar and muttered, “I hope you"ll treat me better in the future, sc.u.mbag!”
Su Ye glanced at the altar and returned to his bedroom. Instead of studying, he used a magic book to do his monthly reflection.
First, he listed out the important people he met and the important events he went through for the entire month based on his recollection and reading his diary.
Then, he utilized the life curve to plot out the events that made him happy. This made him realize that he had to do more of these happy things in the future, such as mastering magic, making money, or beating Hutton.
Then, he focused on the painful events, such as being humiliated by Lawrence or being ridiculed by his cla.s.smates, and used the ORID model to reflect on them.
First, he wrote down what he had discovered. Then, he elicited how he felt. Next, he a.n.a.lyzed the reasons and implications behind the event. Finally, he came up with concrete steps to change his future.
However, this method of reflection was excruciating. Almost every time, it was equivalent to reopening his own wound and thoroughly cleaning it. No one could endure such a pain for a long time.
Therefore, after using this model to reflect on his major pitfalls, Su Ye would switch to the easier KPT method of reflection. First, he looked for areas that he should keep doing during the learning process. Next, he identified the problematic areas that needed improvement. Finally, he looked for things he could try to do to achieve changes.