Fang Shuwen lightly tapped a finger on the tabletop:
"A must?"
"A priority, at least?"
Xu Zhiyin rephrased her request.
Fang Shuwen smiled.
"Acceptable."
This could hardly be considered a condition.
Strictly speaking, in addition to the silver owed to the seller and the brokerage fee earned by the Golden Bell Tower, he would also take a thirty-percent cut.
Who would refuse such generous terms?
"Third…"
Xu Zhiyin glanced at Fang Shuwen.
"In the future, if the Golden Bell Tower should find itself in need, could we ask you… to offer your protection?
"You know as well as I do that with this thirty-percent cut, a large amount of silver from the Golden Bell Tower will be going into your hands every year.
"Although someone of your stature might not think much of this silver, it is a fortune nonetheless. If the Golden Bell Tower were to accidentally provoke some powerful figure in the future—one we couldn't handle ourselves…
