CHAPTER 105: BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Chapter 105: Business Proposal

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"A business proposal?"

The sheet in his hand was a message from one of the Pavilion’s masters, and in short, it said they wanted to discuss business with him.

He had a rough idea who this person might be, but he couldn’t see why they would try to sign some sort of cooperation agreement with him.

Although he used the services provided by the Pavilion, it was true that with his current level he could easily move to his own premises and transfer his business there, reducing the share of profits he had to give the Pavilion and gaining more freedom in how to manage his affairs.

He had already thought about this problem and was already considering when and where to do it, but it seemed his plans might be about to change.

In a well furnished reception room, a man was sitting comfortably in a single armchair, sipping a steaming cup of tea.

He was Huì Chéng, the instructor who had conducted the engravers’ exam Zhu Rong had taken some time ago, and also the person who had informed the Pavilion’s master and made sure all necessary measures were taken to protect his identity from other organizations.

The Pavilion Master had been very clear on the importance of this boy, especially because of the master behind him.

Maintaining good relations with Zhu Rong would inevitably earn the goodwill of that mysterious expert, so he made it his job to keep the relationship stable.

At first, he did it only because of Zhu Rong’s master and his latent talent, but later it became more about the results Zhu Rong achieved.

Even he, a master engraver himself, had to admit he was impressed by the other party’s production capacity.

And if that wasn’t enough, the subsequent members Zhu Rong registered under his business surprised him even more .

Not only because they were elves, a proud and highly skilled race that rarely worked under anyone, especially someone not of their own race, but also because each one of them was highly promising, and the results from the activities they undertook after joining confirmed this.

By now, they were almost in the Top 30 brands in the Lushan Province capital in terms of profit.

It could have been considered a high ranking if one took into account the level of the other organizations, which were much larger than them and had had many years to establish their influence and reputation,

but it wasnt that strange when you consider the profits they were making with their current scale of operations, not to mention the remarkably short time in which they had gained their reputation which did not even exceed two months.

Not to mention that their rate of profit growth kept rising every week, to the point where they were climbing the rankings by one or two places each week.

He was sure that at this pace, it wouldn’t be long before they reached the Top 10 most popular brands.

Before that happened, he wanted to secure a good partnership with them.

That was why he had invited Zhu Rong here.

At this moment, Zhu Rong who also took a sip of the hot tea he’d been given, set the cup down, and said,

"Master Huì, I asume you didn’t invite me here just to drink tea, did you?" he said calmly, as if he was just having a casual chat with an acquaintance rather than a business meeting.

It was clear he wasn’t nervous, a rare attitude for someone so young.

"Hahaha, Mr. Zhu, it seems you want me to get straight to the point.

Very well, you might already have an idea why I invited you today," he said, setting down his tea and switching into business mode.

Zhu Rong said nothing and waited for him to continue.

"You see, given your excellent performance and the prestige your brand has been gaining recently, the Pavilion has considered making a business proposal with you, one that could benefit both sides," he said, sliding a sheet toward him with the details.

"For your current level, the fee you have to pay the Pavilion is 15%, mainly because you use the Pavilion’s services."

"But it’s clear that at your current level, you can do without those services and could move your business elsewhere and continue on your own."

"That’s normal, and in the long term it’s certainly more advantageous. But it’s also true that such a move wouldn’t be immediate, and during the transition your activity could slow down. So, the Pavilion has decided that, considering your excellent results and your future potential, we could help you at the start in exchange for mutual benefits," he explained, going into more detail about what they offered.

Basically, they had decided to help him transfer his operations to ready to use premises in exchange for a percentage of his business.

They would help him get operational in a short time so that production and revenue wouldn’t be affected.

In return, they would only want a share of his company.

Of course, there were other details about the help and benefits they would provide, but this was the most important point, as it was directly tied to the future of his brand.

Currently, he owned 100% of his brand, with only a small percentage of the forging department in Old Han’s hands, something Old Han had initially tried to refuse after receiving his first cycle of insights from Zhu Rong, but eventually accepted under Zhu Rong’s persuasion.

If it had been anyone else, he would never have given away such a large share of one of his branches.

At most, they would have just found a way to keep someone like Old Han under control.

But Zhu Rong had his own business philosophy, and he knew that alone he couldn’t bring his brand very far.

He needed multiple pillars to support it and make it prosper in the future.

He knew Old Han had the ability to become a great smith one day, and if he tied the business to him from the very beginning, in the future Old Han wouldn’t see it as just a job but as something he was part of and wanted to see thrive.

That was for the forging department.

For the other two, Zhu Rong owned all the shares and held 100% of the brand under which those departments operated.

The importance of a brand was much greater than that of a single department, especially at higher levels.

It’s not just a business symbol for people, it’s also a guarantee of quality.

If the products are bad, the brand will be seen as a mark of poor quality; if they’re good, the brand’s reputation will rise in consumers’ eyes.

That would inevitably boost the popularity of all companies under that brand, so its importance was far from small.

Now Huì Chéng was essentially negotiating to get a piece of that pie, and while Zhu Rong was interested in the proposal, he had no intention of giving away much.

He was ready to argue to bring down the share as much as possible, but to his surprise, nothing of that happened, because the other party decided to ask for only 5%.

’Eh? Did I hear that right?’ Zhu Rong seriously doubted his own ears and wondered for a moment if it was 50% instead.

Just to be sure, he asked,

"I think I misheard, did you say you only want 5% of my company’s shares?"

Huì Chéng, understanding his surprise, replied,

"You heard right. After an internal discussion, the Pavilion decided that in exchange for the benefits we’ll provide, we only want 5% of your company’s shares.

What do you think? That’s a pretty good offer for you, isn’t it?" he said with a calm smile, as if he hadn’t just said something unbelievable.

Five percent?

The Pavilion, the most influential organization in the trade and secondary profession management sector, only wanted 5% of his small business?

No matter how much potential they might have, that concerned the future, and the future is by nature uncertain.

They weren’t nearly big enough for someone like the pavillion to be so accommodatingand.

Although surprised, it didn’t take him long to reach a few speculations, and soon he understood why.

’Looks like they’re trying to win over my "master", ’ he thought.

He knew how important a Grandmaster’s reputation was in the empire, so after giving it some thought, he wasn’t surprised by their offer.

Sure, it could have been higher, but it seemed the other side had decided to show "him" some goodwill.

He was certain that this proposal hadn’t come from the Pavilion’s elder.

He knew those arrogant and greedy people too well to believe they’d let such a big slice of cake slip by them.

Grandmaster or not, giving away 5% when the business was still at the start wasn’t their style.

It was obvious the decision had been made by someone higher up, maybe one of the Pavilion’s three Grandmasters, or, more absurd still, the Pavilion Master herself.

’Seems that woman has caught wind of something,’ he thought, getting lost in his thoughts for a moment.

Very few had ever seen the Pavilion Master, and even fewer knew anything about her.

After he had reached the rank of Master in his past life, he’d had the chance to interact with her and got to know her a little better,

Well, better than most people, anyway.

That was because she had been his second master, and the last master he had accepted wholeheartedly to learn from in his previous life.