There’s a song that says love is like flying a kite – being too tight or too loose with a man won’t work.

Too tight and he’ll suffocate, causing the relationship to crash and burn.

Too loose and he’ll break free like a kite, blown away by the wind never to return.

Xia Xiaolan remained neutral about this view of relationships, but she felt that business negotiations were truly like flying a kite.

The wind direction is fickle, and the kite’s string must be alternately tightened and loosened, never remaining constant.

When two people want to buy something, naturally the seller has the upper hand.

But when both buyers indicate their intention to withdraw, the seller becomes anxious.

Be sincere in cooperation, but negotiate prices down – this was Xia Xiaolan’s advice.

Thanks to her information causing their competitor Du Zhaoqi to withdraw, Deng Changxing now especially trusted her. He ignored Song Zhicheng’s opinion and firmly supported Xia Xiaolan’s suggestion to negotiate the price down.

Since they were going to negotiate down, they had to play the part completely. At the hotel, Deng Changxing checked out of all their rooms, making a show of packing up to leave New York. Sure enough, Elmer couldn’t hold out – at 10 AM the next day, he called to invite Xia Xiaolan’s group back to the company for another discussion.

Discussion?

A discussion meant price negotiations.

Deng Changxing didn’t put on airs. The four of them left their luggage at the hotel front desk and went to meet Elmer.

Both sides engaged in a tug of war – Elmer wouldn’t agree to reduce the production line price by $500,000.

How about $450,000?

$400,000?

They kept testing Elmer’s bottom line.

When they got down to $300,000, Xia Xiaolan felt the timing was right and gave Deng Changxing a signal. He then refused to budge any further.

Elmer became very angry:

“This is too much! This behavior is destroying our friendship!”

Mr. Elmer looked as pitiful as a 200-pound child.

His tone suggested “bunnies are so cute, how could you eat them?” Xia Xiaolan agreed bunnies were cute indeed – so cute that they needed extra chili and cilantro to taste better!

They held firm at $8.4 million.

They even stayed for lunch at Elmer’s company.

By 2 PM, while grumbling that Chinese people were clever devils, Elmer finally gave in.

The most business-savvy people were Jews, it had nothing to do with Chinese people.

Deng Changxing happily shook hands with Elmer: “Let’s draft the contract then. Our delegation has already hired lawyers from A&G.”

Elmer had already figured out that the Chinese delegation’s threat to leave was just to pressure him – look, as soon as he agreed to lower the price, it turned out they had lawyers ready.

But as Zhou Cheng had guessed, after losing Du Zhaoqi, Elmer didn’t have many options – he had to sell the production line.

At $8.4 million, Elmer’s company still made a profit.

For Deng Changxing, they had saved $300,000 in foreign exchange!

How many cloth shoes would they need to export to earn $300,000?

Leaving Elmer’s company, Director Deng showed rare generosity:

“Xiao Xia, you need to return to Ithaca for final exams, right? Perfect timing – let’s have a good dinner tonight to thank you for your hard work these past few days!”

The iron rooster was willing to part with a feather – Xia Xiaolan was pleasantly surprised.

“Director Deng, dinner isn’t necessary…”

Deng Changxing waved his hand, “How can we skip dinner? Thanks to your excellent performance, we not only bought the production line but also saved $300,000 in foreign exchange. Of course, Xiao Zhou also deserves credit – his righteous action steadied things with Mr. Elmer, giving us time to work things out back home…”

Deng Changxing was in high spirits, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t interrupt him.

After he finished, Zhou Cheng spoke up: “Sir, considering how Xiaolan has been running around for our delegation these past two days, and she has final exams tomorrow but is still here in New York – she’s almost delayed her affairs. I was wondering if I could request a few days off?”

It would take about two days to finalize the contract, and then Deng Changxing and Song Zhicheng would rejoin the main delegation. Zhou Cheng didn’t want to go.

Deng Changxing was surprised, then advised earnestly:

“Young people in love are passionate, but work must come first… How about this – I’ll give you five more days off, is that enough?”

Zhou Cheng arrived in America on April 15th and was scheduled to return with the delegation on May 15th.

It was now May 7th – with five more days off until the 12th, he would still need time to rejoin the delegation and complete the final itinerary, otherwise, he’d have to return alone – something absolutely against regulations that Deng Changxing would never allow Zhou Cheng to do.

Zhou Cheng understood this himself.

Director Deng had already given him a very generous accommodation!

Knowing when to stop, he sincerely thanked Director Deng.

In the end, Deng Changxing insisted on paying for dinner. The meal for four cost less than $40, yet Director Deng was in such pain he was sucking air through his teeth. When Xia Xiaolan offered to pay, Deng Changxing wouldn’t allow it.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know what to say.

She truly respected modest officials like Deng Changxing!

Driving back to Ithaca that night, alone with Zhou Cheng, she finally asked:

“You’ve been abroad for a month, spending all your time with me. Will there be issues when we return?”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t worried about much, except for petty people causing trouble, like reporting Zhou Cheng when they got back.

“Why do you think I came abroad? Just focus on your exams. Aren’t Aunt Liu and Grandma Yu arriving soon? I’ll get them settled in properly. You take your exams first, and I’ll take them to San Francisco!”

So that’s why he requested time off.

If she hadn’t been driving, she would have jumped up to kiss Zhou Cheng.

Her Chengzi was always like this, thinking of everything for her.

Love needs passion, but it can’t be dramatic separations and reunions every moment. In quieter times, what made Xia Xiaolan feel loved, besides companionship, was Zhou Cheng’s gestures to help shoulder her burdens.

What makes a partner?

Besides hormonal attraction, it’s taking care of each other!

…

Knock knock knock.

Not too hard, not too soft, with a rhythmic pattern – it had to be Butler Allen.

“Come in.”

Allen knew he was working and wouldn’t disturb him without something important. No matter – Harold had been wanting to take a break anyway and hear what news Allen brought.

“Sir, the Chinese delegation has concluded the production line import agreement.”

Allen thought Mr. Harold would be rather disappointed. From his understanding of his employer, Harold had been waiting for Zhou Cheng to come begging for help – but he waited in vain, as the Chinese delegation had somehow closed the deal themselves.

Harold indeed looked up:

“Did they raise the price?”

Rather pay more money than come ask for his help, all for that intangible self-respect.

Harold found Zhou Cheng’s pride quite laughable.

Butler Allen shook his head: “No, sir. As far as I know, the final transaction price was $8.4 million, actually $300,000 lower than the initial offer.”

No price increase, but instead successfully negotiated down?

Was Allen telling some kind of joke, or had he underestimated the value of his face – Elmer had accepted the $8.4 million prize.

How absurd!

Harold sneered, “Must be her help.”

What kind of ability is it to rely on a woman?

Butler Allen silently sighed. Mr. Zhou could risk his life-fighting gunmen for Miss Xia, so what was strange about Miss Xia helping Mr. Zhou’s delegation negotiate business?

They were lovers after all.