Chapter 157: A Unique Charm of Its Own

Xiao Wu was still hesitating, but Lin Ze picked up the kettle of plain water and refilled the coffee in his cup.

"Sister Zitan, you really have to admit, this unique way of drinking the Su Group's latest newly-bred coffee is quite interesting."

"From extra-strong to regular, and then you can taste the aroma within the coffee beans just like drinking tea. Who do you suppose came up with this method?"

Su Zitan glanced at Lin Ze sideways. "What do you care who came up with it? Anyway, this is just how rich people drink it nowadays! I'm talking about serious business here, stop getting sidetracked!"

"Oh, oh..." Lin Ze nodded.

"Mhm." Xiao Wu took a sip of the coffee in his cup. "It certainly has a distinct flavor of its own."

"Let's get straight to the point."

"Based on my calculations from your previous collaborations with other factories, the profit margin was probably only two points. So in our collaboration, I want eight points!"

"Eight?" Su Zitan widened her eyes. "Isn't that a bit too excessive? After deducting other investments, if you take eight points, we won't make a single penny on our end."

"Director Su, you're only in an emergency right now. Once you weather this crisis, you'll still go back to collaborating with the big factories, and I'll still end up selling my factory anyway." Xiao Wu shrugged. "Since this is a one-time transaction, a slightly higher price is only natural, wouldn't you say?"

At that moment, Lin Ze's phone rang.

He took out his phone, glanced at it, and immediately answered.

"Ah, Director Li? Ah, yes, yes, what is it? Our collaboration can continue? Alright, understood, five points is five points!"

After saying these words, Lin Ze hung up the phone and shook his head. "Well, your eight points are simply too much. I'm afraid we won't be able to cooperate this time after all."

"Indeed, if things over there have recovered..." Su Zitan and Lin Ze exchanged glances.

Both of them stood up at the same time.

"Then we shall take our leave, Director Wu."

A brief panic flashed through Xiao Wu's heart, but it was quickly replaced by calm.

He finished half his coffee in one gulp, poured some plain water into it, and stirred it evenly.

The coffee spoon clinked crisply against the ceramic cup.

Xiao Wu sat there as steady as an old dog.

Soon, Lin Ze and Su Zitan, who had walked halfway away, came to a halt.

The two of them turned around.

At that moment, a victor's smile played at the corners of Xiao Wu's mouth.

If anyone were truly looking to work with them, there was no way his boss wouldn't have texted him.

Besides, with his boss pressing down on them, how could anyone possibly resume collaborating with them?

"Ah, you saw right through us, didn't you? How about this, give us a sincere price. Eight points is truly impossible. If we don't work with you, you probably won't find anyone else willing to give you this much before you sell the factory."

Lin Ze sighed, showing signs of yielding to him.

Looking at the two people sitting across the table, completely played in the palm of his hand, Xiao Wu let out a disdainful snort.

"Fine, since it's come to this: six points. Not a single fraction of a point lower. If you try to bargain any further, I'm calling the whole thing off on my end."

Lin Ze looked at Su Zitan, a trace of joy flashing in his eyes.

"Alright, six points it is. Let's go sign the contract right now!"

In the end, Xiao Wu raised it by another zero point five, making it six point five points.

Lin Ze and Su Zitan held their noses and agreed to the price.

After parting ways with Xiao Wu, Su Zitan drove away with Lin Ze, getting further and further away.

Finding a street corner, the two could no longer hold it in. They parked the car in a suitable spot and burst out laughing.

"Awesome! We really played out the whole act for him. I wonder how big of a loss Zhou Tiesheng is going to take this time." Lin Ze laughed until he was a bit thirsty, unscrewing a bottle of water and taking a couple of gulps.

"Human favors are used up one by one. Zhou Tiesheng managed to grow his business this large, so he shouldn't be a complete fool. Would he really burn through so many favors just because he got scolded a couple of times?"

Su Zitan muttered with a hint of perplexity.

"Who knows? Maybe it's because he just fell in love. People in love are always a bit foolish."

Lin Ze also shook his hand.

...

The show was finally coming to its finale.

Unlike the previous episodes, which were entirely pre-recorded, this final showdown would be broadcast completely live.

If any contestant ran into trouble during their performance, it would be thoroughly exposed in the live broadcast.

Though they claimed contestants would be revived based on voting results, the fans of Xiao Wei and A Guang certainly couldn't match those of Li Xiyan and Chen Nan.

Furthermore, Xiao Wei and A Guang knew full well that participating in the finals with their own skill level would probably just be embarrassing themselves.

They had long since placed their bets on Panda.

Some people even put up a leaderboard online, filled with well-reasoned analyses that garnered a high number of likes and attention.

And the person behind it all was none other than Jiang Dasheng, a music critic who secretly operated as a die-hard fan of Lin Ze.

In this music critic's analysis, the only figures worth mentioning right now, apart from Lin Ze, were this somewhat round-figured Panda whose strength should not be underestimated.

Concepts like the Four Great Joys in Life might be extremely difficult for mainstream singers, but for a traditional-style circle singer like Panda, while perhaps not completely effortless, it was certainly nowhere near as difficult as it would be for pop singers.

...

On Friday, whether finishing school or getting off work, everyone returned home and finally tuned in to the eagerly awaited finale of *Super Singer-Songwriter*!

As soon as it opened, everyone saw everyone gathered together in the familiar studio.

[Wrapping up the show with flowers!]

[I really don't want the show to end! Is it just me, or is this show a bit too short? Keep running it, do a dozen more seasons!]

[The budget was tight when this show first started, and it was planned this way from the design stage. Didn't you notice there were even internet singers filling the numbers at the beginning?]

In the large lounge, the director pulled up Jiang Dasheng's prediction list.

"Here is a prediction I saw posted online by a recently popular music critic. It has won the approval of many viewers, though it naturally comes with some controversy."

"So how about this, let's play a little game before the competition starts."

The staff handed a board to each person. The names of the seven individuals were printed on them, with a blank space left behind each name.

"Everyone can write your predicted rankings behind these names, and then we'll compare them with this music critic's prediction."

Hearing that they were going to play this game, everyone immediately felt the urge to kick the director.

Why play such a game for no reason?

Isn't this just asking to offend people?

Who gets ranked first, and who gets ranked last?

If you rank Lin Ze first, wouldn't that offend Elder Shi?

However, the boards were already in their hands, and it was a live broadcast. How could they refuse to fill them out?

Everyone had no choice but to bite the bullet and write. Just as everyone was pondering how to rank things reasonably, Lin Ze didn't say a word, his pen flying across the board as he finished writing in one stroke.

The camera moved behind Lin Ze, revealing what was written on his board...