God of Illusions

After everyone was seated, the ninth round began. This was when the Thousand Aroma Restaurant’s boss saw what “madness” truly meant. A seemingly meaningless cooperative right had its price artificially inflated until it reached ten billion by the time the bidding concluded. Even after paying this price, the winner still had a smug smile on his face. What he had seen was far more than his brain could handle... After thinking about it for a while, he stood up.

“Before you start the final round, I have a question.”

The Thousand Aroma Restaurant’s boss solemnly stared straight at Bai Xiaofei.

“I am the boss of Thousand Aroma Restaurant, Lu Lingyun. You can call me Boss Xie. To be honest, the Thousand Aroma Restaurant isn’t any less capable than the Hundred Flavor House. This can be confirmed by anyone with a basic knowledge of the continent.”

Lu Lingyun introduced himself confidently before pausing to take a deep breath.

“Despite this, my restaurant has fallen behind in the Starnet Academy and we are currently in a rather awkward position. I will be honest. If we still fail to still fail to turn things around in half a year, the Starnet Academy branch will most probably close down. I myself will also be punished by the main branch for failing to manage the business properly. Therefore, my question for you is this: Are you capable of helping me solve this problem?”

If the Thousand Aroma Restaurant's boss had asked a mere sixteen-year-old youngster this question anywhere else, he would have been considered an idiot. But this was not the case here. After all, everyone here knew what Bai Xiaofei was capable of.

Even if they had not known him previously, this auction had made him known to them.

“Let me ask you a question as well. How much profit do you need to pay the main branch every month?”

Lu Lingyun blanked out momentarily. He had not expected to be asked this. However, it did not take him long to regain his calm.

“Starnet Academy is a very special place. Our branch here was only opened for the sake of marketing our branding, which is why I do not need to pay the main branch anything. I have full authority over what we make here.”

The moment Lu Lingyun finished his explanation, Bai Xiaofei smiled.

“Feel free to bid then. If you can attain the final right, I will make your wish come true.”

He said this with such certainty that everyone was shocked. 

Where on earth did this amazing confidence come from?

Everyone was curious, yet nobody said anything. Yun Jingshuang slammed his hammer down, starting the bid for the final right.

“20 billion!”

No matter what, Lu Lingyun was the boss of the Thousand Aroma Restaurant. His first bid was already enough to make everyone gasp in shock. As a matter of fact, 20 billion was already more than most of the people's net worth there. With such a bid, there was no suspense to this round. Yun Jingshuang called out twice without getting any other bids. Finally, he slammed his hammer down and concluded the final round.

“Thank you everyone for your support. Even if you did not manage to get anything from this auction, our friendship still remains. Should an opportunity arise in the future, I would be delighted to work with everyone again. Hopefully, fellow bosses will not turn me down when that time comes.”

Bai Xiaofei spoke politely as the dispirited bosses left the auction hall one after another. Only the ten bosses who had managed to obtain a cooperative right remained. The time had come to see if the money they had spent was worth it.

After they signed the contract, Yun Jingshuang took out 600 Blossom Tickets and sold them to the remaining six bosses at the same price as the four bosses earlier. 

“In the future, I will supply everyone with 100 Blossom Tickets per week. I hope everyone can make use of these tickets properly and not waste the high membership fees you have paid. Trust me, this thing is definitely worth much more than what you can imagine.”

The bosses nodded repeatedly with a smile on their faces. They then left hurriedly, clearly impatient to start preparing their business plans.

While Xie Guangyun and the other three bosses had come up with good ideas on how to make use of the Blossom Tickets, their ideas would not be able to maximize what everyone could gain from this cooperative right. All of them had all spent a huge sum of money to obtain the cooperative rights. If they couldn’t make a return of capital on this, it would be a huge loss for them…

Everyone left, leaving only Bai Xiaofei, Yun Jingshuang, and Lu Lingyun in the huge room.

“I'll get straight to the point. If you agree to the conditions I am about to list, I will bring your business back from the dead. It's even possible to bring down the Hundred Flavor House. If you can’t agree to these conditions, well, I can only wish you good luck.”

Bai Xiaofei's blunt words stunned Lu Lingyun.

“What do you mean? Are you trying to tell me that I spent twenty billion for nothing? That is the entire liquid fund I had on hand! After giving you all the money I have on me, this is what you have to say?”

Lu Lingyun had never been this agitated before. He had initially believed that this was a turning point for him, but now it no longer seemed to be the case.

“The twenty billion you spent is just the key to unlock the door. Did you really think you can buy a foundation within the Starnet Academy with only twenty billion? Don’t forget that your opponent is the Hundred Flavor House, known as the best restaurant in Starnet Academy.”

Bai Xiaofei sneered. Although he was speaking to an elder like Lu Lingyun, he did not lessen the disdain in his tone.

“Fine. Say it then.” Lu Lingyun clenched his teeth and gritted out. He had no choice at this point.

“Firstly, I want a forty percent share of your branch. In short, I want forty percent of your net profit.”

The moment Bai Xiaofei said this, Lu Lingyun stood up. “Preposterous! Absolutely impossible!”

“If that’s the case, we have nothing to discuss. Please leave.”

Bai Xiaofei reclined on the sofa and immediately invited him to leave. Lu Lingyun stood stewing in anger for a while, but ultimately sat back down again.

“Continue!” Lu Lingyun had remained for the same reason as before: he was out of options.

“Secondly, during the early phase of our cooperation, the entire Thousand Aroma Restaurant must take orders from me. No matter what I want them to do, they have to obey. If there is any issue with correspondence, I will leave immediately.”

The second condition was extremely harsh. However, Lu Lingyun did not react as intensely this time. Nevertheless, his expression was still as ugly as someone who had swallowed a housefly.

“Anything else?” Lu Lingyun glared at Bai Xiaofei, his voice shaking from anger.

“There is nothing else for now. But I’ll be setting aside a third condition so I can raise it up in the future when needed.”

Having said that, Bai Xiaofei smiled and stretched out his right hand.

“Happy to work with you.”

 Bai Xiaofei stood up with Lu Lingyun staring at him. Lu Lingyun truly did not want to shake Bai Xiaofei’s hand, yet he still did so in the end. Sometimes, a person would find themselves in a situation where death would be better than living. Lu Lingyun would be in such a situation if he were to simply leave the Starnet Academy like this. His decades of hard work would have all been for nothing.

“Don’t worry. You will be thankful that you made this decision in the future. This is definitely a smart choice you've made.”

Bai Xiaofei sat down and his attitude went through a complete shift. At the same time, Yun Jingshuang took out the contract they had prepared at the last minute.

“Sign this then. We'll be a family after that.”

Lu Lingyun looked at Bai Xiaofei’s smiling face. He had a feeling that he had just boarded a pirate ship. Unfortunately, his present predicament was like a thirst that needed to be quenched even if it meant drinking poison. He had no choice but to endure as he was already running out of time.

“Done. Boss Xie, we can now talk about the Thousand Aroma Restaurant’s transformation plan.”

After receiving Lu Lingyun’s signed contract, Bai Xiaofei spoke in a relieved manner. Lu Lingyun's eyes widened with shock.

“Transformation?!”