Chapter 739 Negotiation
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The light in the reception room was a little dim, with only a few candles flickering on the wall, emitting a faint glow.
In a wooden chair in the room sat a beautiful woman, Miss Blanchett.
She was wearing an exquisite aristocratic dress embroidered with intricate patterns, with gold and silver threads interwoven together, sparkling with dazzling light, highlighting her noble status.
She was holding a small porcelain cup in her hand and sipping the tea in it gently with an elegant and calm movement.
The decoration in the reception room is equally luxurious and simple, with several oil paintings on the wall depicting the prosperous scenes of the manor in the past.
Although the picture has faded a bit, it still allows people to feel its former glory.
The flames in the fireplace jumped and crackled, adding a bit of vitality to the quiet reception room.
Accompanied by a gentle knock on the door, the door of the room slowly opened, and Xavier walked into the room with a smile on his face, followed closely by Shao Yun.
They walked together to a sofa in front of an exquisite coffee table and sat down facing Miss Blanchett who was sitting on a wooden chair.
After Xavier sat down, he leaned forward slightly and said in a very polite manner: "Hello, Miss Blanchett."
Miss Blanchett slowly put down the teacup in her hand, then looked up and responded with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Xavier."
Xavier was well aware of the importance of this meeting, after all, he had something to ask of Miss Blanchett.
Therefore, his attitude was particularly humble, and he continued: "Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. It really makes me feel extremely honored."
Miss Blanchett smiled, a smile that was neither overly enthusiastic nor indifferent, just the right amount of elegance and confidence.
"I should be the one feeling honored. In Fontaine today, the title of nobility may not be as useful as it is for you, the Yingying director. So, you don't have to be so polite."
Xavier couldn't help but smile awkwardly after hearing what Miss Blanchett said.
He quickly said, "Haha, you're too kind. By the way, the person next to me is..."
At this time, Miss Blanchett turned her eyes to Shao Yun. She looked at him carefully and then said, "I know this gentleman. We met once at the Salon de Caronde."
When Shao Yun heard the noble girl mention the banquet at the Carendais Salon, he didn't have many memories of that banquet in his mind.
So he shook his head frankly and said, "Really? Sorry, my memory of that party is a bit vague."
Miss Blanchett noticed that Shao Yun didn't seem to remember her, but she didn't get angry or annoyed.
After all, a lot of time has passed, and Fontaine today is very different from what it was more than five hundred years ago.
Besides, her family wasn't as powerful as it used to be, so there was no point in getting angry.
Miss Blanchett showed good manners and grace, and she understood that Shao Yun might have forgotten her for various reasons.
So, she cleverly responded: "I can understand that. After all, your wife is a peerless beauty. It is naturally difficult for an ordinary girl like me to be remembered by you."
When Shao Yun heard Miss Blanchett's praise for Ying, he couldn't help but feel proud.
He smiled and nodded, saying, "Oh...indeed, there were indeed a lot of people who invited me to dance that day."
Xavier, who was standing by, saw that Miss Blanchett knew Shao Yun, so he skipped the tedious introduction and said directly: "Ms. Blanchett, Mr. Shao Yun is now my investor."
When Miss Blanchett heard that Shao Yun was Xavier's investor, she couldn't help but grumble in her heart.
"I see. No wonder he behaved so differently at the dance."
Then, her eyes wandered over Shao Yun, as if trying to get a glimpse of the wealth and status behind him.
"Investor..." Miss Blanchett whispered softly, revealing a hint of surprise and admiration in her voice, "Sure enough, I noticed that you were different at the ball."
"Your demeanor and elegance are incomparable to ordinary people." She paused, then continued, "You are indeed a wealthy businessman who hides his wealth..."
When Shao Yun heard what Miss Blanchett said, he gave an elusive smile.
He didn't care about Miss Blanchett's comments and just responded calmly: "I am a wealthy businessman? Are you sure?"
Miss Blanchett nodded and said confidently, "Of course I am sure. The temperament exuded by a wealthy businessman in his every move cannot be concealed by a few ordinary clothes."
Her eyes fell on Shao Yun's clothes (summer sharpshooter suit). Although it was not luxurious, it had a unique feeling. It was hard to describe it, but it could only be described as a sense of oppression from the powerful and wealthy.
"Although my family is no longer prosperous," Miss Blanchett continued, "I still have a certain degree of confidence in my observation and judgment of people."
"I believe in my own judgment. You are definitely a powerful and wealthy businessman."
Shao Yun couldn't help but find it a little funny when he saw Miss Blanchett so confidently confirming her identity.
He thought to himself: "This little girl has too little experience and is so self-righteous. She can conclude that I am a wealthy businessman based on this observation? No wonder her family has fallen on hard times."
"But it's really hard to tell for myself, and since Xavier said I'm his investor, it's inevitable that I'll make a wrong inference... No, what am I thinking? Is this the point?"
However, Shao Yun did not express his thoughts. He just smiled politely and said, "Not bad..."
Seeing that Shao Yun didn't seem very interested in this topic, Miss Blanchett stopped talking and naturally changed the subject to the next one.
"By the way, what do you want to see me about?"
Seeing that they were finally getting down to business, Xavier said directly, "It's like this, we are shooting a movie and we need a suitable scene to show the background and atmosphere of the story."
"After much investigation and comparison, we found that your manor is very suitable for our needs, so we would like to discuss with you whether we can rent this manor for filming?"
When Blanchett heard that the other party wanted to rent her family's estate to shoot a movie, she couldn't help but feel an instinctive resistance in her heart.
After all, this manor is her family's important and final property, carrying a lot of family history and memories.
However, she thought about it again. The family's current economic situation is indeed not optimistic. It is already strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and it exists in name only. If she can earn some extra income by renting out the manor, it may be able to alleviate the current predicament.
Despite this, Blanchett decided not to let the other party see that she was eager for the deal, so as not to be in a passive position in the negotiations.
So, she pretended to be embarrassed and said hesitantly: "Rent my manor? This..."
Seeing this, Xavier hurriedly explained: "Yes, please rest assured that you will not suffer any loss if you pay the rent according to the market price. Moreover, during the filming process..."
However, Blanchett had no intention of listening to Xavier's assurances. She interrupted him and asked directly, "How much?"
Xavier obviously did not expect Blanchett to ask the price so directly. He was stunned for a moment, his brain was slow and he was a little at a loss.
"what?"
Miss Blanchett smiled and repeated the question.
"I would like to ask Mr. Xavier, how much do you want to pay to rent my family's manor?"
Xavier was secretly delighted. He didn't expect things to go so smoothly, but how much money did it cost...
So, he quickly turned to Shao Yun for help, as if to say, it's your turn, Shao Yun, but I don't know how much I should pay.
Shao Yun felt Xavier's gaze and thought for a moment.
Finally, he decided to put the question back to Miss Blanchett, so he asked: "Excuse me, miss, what are your expectations?"
Miss Blanchett pushed the question back to Shao Yun and replied, "This... is for you to rent, not for me to rent out in a hurry."
Seeing this, Shao Yun realized that the other party was also not clear about the specific rental price.
After a brief thought, he said decisively: "Well, how about 10 million Mora?"
When Miss Blanchett heard this figure, she could not help feeling a surge of excitement.
She almost stood up, but tried hard to suppress her joy.
She took a deep breath, kept her voice steady, and said seriously, "Deal, I'll tell the housekeeper and the servants to tidy up the house immediately."
Shao Yun caught the excitement in Miss Blanchett's words and realized that he might have suffered a loss in the negotiation. Although he didn't care about Mora, he still felt a little awkward...
So he quickly adjusted his strategy, immediately changed the subject, interrupted Miss Blanchett and added: "I haven't finished yet, why are you in such a hurry?"
When Miss Blanchett heard Shao Yun's words, she realized that she had lost her composure just now. She smiled apologetically and nodded, saying, "Oh, sorry, I am being rude. Please continue."
Seeing this, Shao Yun rolled his eyes and secretly thought about his next strategy.
Since the price of 10 million Mora has been set and cannot be changed, he must find a way to make the other party feel that he is difficult to deal with in other aspects.
So he made a new request.
"The scenes we were going to shoot involved gunfire, that was unavoidable."
"And the firing of the rifle will definitely cause a certain degree of damage to the house, so the 10 million Mora includes maintenance funds." Shao Yun said slowly.
When Miss Blanchett heard the words "maintenance funds," her face changed slightly.
She began to calculate, if the cost of repairs was deducted, how much Mora would be left in the end?
Shao Yun saw through Miss Blanchett's thoughts and said casually, "How about it, do you think this price is reasonable? If it is reasonable, we will make a deal."
Miss Blanchett gritted her teeth and made up her mind.
After all, the family really has no other source of income now, and these 10 million Mora are too attractive to her.
"Of course, no problem. I will immediately ask the housekeeper to move the valuables out of the house. After all, some things are priceless."
Xavier felt relieved when he saw that he had finally managed to rent a venue to film the ending.
Just then, Miss Blanchett made another request.
"But I hope you won't make the house too messy when setting the scene."
"After all, this is my house. If you make it too messy and it becomes uninhabitable, I have the right to file a complaint with the court..."
Xavier agreed without thinking: "Of course, that makes sense."
In fact, Shao Yun had no intention of really blowing up the house. He just didn't want the other party to think that she had taken advantage of him.
So, when Shao Yun heard Miss Blanchett's request, he nodded and agreed like Xavier.
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