Wu noticed there was a phone number on the delivery invoice slip, he wasn't sure if it was Chi's number so he tried to dial the number.
'Hello?' A hoarse voice traveled into his ear.
Wu felt uneasy, 'It's really you?'
A 'hm' could be heard from the other side.
'Can you borrow me some money?'
Chi replied, 'How much?'
'$200k... If you don't have that much, you don't need to borrow me that much, I'll return you someday later.'
'Your account?'
Wu was secretly surprised. He didn't expect Chi would agree to lend him money so easily. Anything that involves money wasn't just about treating each other as brothers, it needs to have mutual respect and trust.
'Why do you need money?'
'I want to buy some more snakes. I went back to ask a few days ago, the boss said the hatchlings have no problem, it's because of the change of season. They recently had a new batch, rare morphs and farmed, there wouldn't be many problems or risks with this batch.'
Chi immediately hung up.
After a while, he got a text message, he really did transfer the money.
Shuai asked, 'He didn't stop you?'
Wu shook his head, 'He didn't say anything.'
'How confident are you? Who knows if he don't care about you, or he wanted to trick you, you'll suffer a great loss then.'
Wu didn't know why he trusted Chi so much, he didn't feel as secure when he carried the brick to meet Yue Yue. Chi snatched his love away, he made things difficult for him, Wu was taking risks on this unpredictable gamble...But Wu had this feeling of winning the gamble.
'100%.'
After saying that, he left with his hands clasped into fists.
Upon arrival at the Wang's breeding centre, his 'friendly' boss came out with a smile on his face.
'I've prepared the 2000 snakes you wanted. They're all adult snakes, they weigh at least 1kg each, I sold them to you because we're friends. You're a special case amongst the apprentices that I've taught, I saw the past me in you, it's not going to be easy to start a business yourself!'
Wu simply smiled, 'Let's foot the bill.'
'Don't you need to take a look at the snakes?' The boss asked.
Wu thought, there's no need for me to see, you must've taken out the gall baldder.
'I trust you the most!'
The boss laughed, he hooked an arm around Wu's neck and went inside.
'These water snakes are so heavy, the market sells one at $180. You're my student, I won't earn profit from you. One for $110, total of $220k for 2000 snakes.'
Wu said apologhetically, 'I only have $200k. I'll buy 100 less then.'
The boss stomped hard on the ground, he slammed the desk and said, 'Let it be $200k, you can take all of them! Just take that I sponsored the $20k to start your business.'
Wu shook his hand gratefully.
'Thank you so much.'
'There's no need for that!' He said selflessly, 'Just don't forget me when you're successful in the future.'
'How could I?' Wu smiled pretentiously.
I wouldn't forget about you my life, even after I die!
....
Three days after, Chi paid the centre a visit.
He came here before for the investigation so he knew the boss. The boss heard that Chi was visitng, he didn't dare to show disrespect so he rushed from the trade market back to the centre.
'Master Chi, let me tell you! I run a small business here, I couldn't afford to keep those precious snakes of yours, I couldn't even afford the terrariums...'
Chi stopped him, 'I'm not here to check on you, I'm here to sell you some snakes.'
'Sell snakes...' He forced a smile, 'Well, just right I need some snakes now. If you have it now, it'll spare me a trip to the market.'
'1000 bamboo snakes, 2000 water snakes.'
Then, Chi ordered his people to bring out the snakes from his car. He opened the first box, the 1000 bamboo snakes that he had said, was the initial 200 snakes that the boss had sold to Wu. Just this time, they were dead and chopped up into 1000 pieces, placed in the box in an orderly manner.
The rest of the boxes were all the adult water snakes, they weigh the same as yesterday, just that they emptied out their gall baldders.
The boss took a look and his face was flushed white.
'Let's negotiate the price.' Chi said.
The boss was flustered, 'There's no need for that, Master Chi you name your price.'
Chi was being rather polite, 'How could I? We're talking about business here, it has to be fair and we have to play by the rules.'
'That's, that's...' he was stuttering.
'The bamboos are rather small, the market sells $60 for one; The adult water snakes, according to the market value is $180 for one. Mr. Wang, I'm not being ridiculous, am I?'
He forced out the word from his throat unwilling, 'No.'
That's a total of $420k. I've heard that you're encouraging younsters to start up business, you even gave them $20k discount. To show my appreciation to you, I'll give you $20k discount for you too. Let's round it up.'