Chapter 64: Not Only Did He Reject Me, He Even Wanted Me to Work for Him

This left Liu Yi completely flabbergasted.

He couldn't fathom for the life of him why, the moment the call connected, Hodge Tai on the other end would address him so matter-of-factly as "President Liu."

This made no sense!

Clearly, he was the one who had spent days conducting a covert investigation, feeling completely confident after mastering all of Hodge Tai's information before making the call.

How did it turn out now as if Hodge Tai was the one who had completely mastered his information?

However...

Old ginger is indeed more pungent. After hesitating for just two seconds, Liu Yi reacted immediately.

He wasn't going to dance to Hodge Tai's tune. Regardless of whether Hodge Tai calling him "President Liu" was a coincidence or not, he was definitely not going to admit it.

"My surname is not Liu!"

Liu Yi denied it very decisively, thus initiating the very first conversation of their lives.

"Oh! Then you've dialed the wrong number."

Hodge Tai didn't indulge him at all and hung up the phone right then and there.

"Damn it!"

Hearing the beeping sound of the disconnected call, Liu Yi instantly flew into a rage.

Does whether my surname is Liu have anything to do with dialing the wrong number?

You just hung up on me on purpose!!!

That bearded foreigner last time hung up on me the same way.

What is wrong with all these people?

Does communication not cost anything?

Does communication not require a moment to gather one's emotions?

Can you just hang up on others so casually, completely unaware of how much psychological damage it causes?

Anger aside, Liu Yi still gritted his teeth and redialed the number.

"Hello! Hello to the President Liu who is not President Liu!"

As soon as Hodge Tai opened his mouth, his words were infuriating enough to make someone drop dead.

Liu Yi forced himself to smile and replied, "Student Hodge, I'm curious. Do you really know me? Or did you just happen to guess a surname at random?

Do you know who I am? Or perhaps, do you even know what I want with you?"

When asking these questions, Liu Yi actually felt a bit flustered himself.

After all, all the information he had retrieved indicated that Hodge Tai was nothing more than a high school student with thoroughly ordinary family background.

The only eye-catching points were the Bitcoin pizza transaction he had completed and filling out his college applications to snatch a bargain admission to Peking University.

Right! There was also the Peking University academic prodigy lecture. At this point, Liu Yi still couldn't tell whether Hodge Tai had completely dominated that lecture or if it had been proposed by the Chang family in Jian'an City.

If Hodge Tai had indeed accomplished and profited from all that entirely by himself, then the commercial talent he displayed would be enough to make even Liu Yi acknowledge and covet him.

Yet even so, all of this indicated that Hodge Tai's family background and cognitive boundaries were entirely normal.

Among all of Hodge Tai's social circles and cognitive networks, Liu Yi hadn't found a single trace of any connection to himself or Wowowa.com.

This was also why he had found it so bizarre over the past few days that Hodge Tai would suddenly go out and purchase the domain name 55.com.

Unless, Hodge Tai possessed even deeper data and intelligence that he had completely failed to unearth.

And now...

A single "Hello, President Liu" rendered all of Liu Yi's previous judgments about Hodge Tai completely invalid.

"The weasel wishing the chicken a Happy New Year—President Liu, you've probably investigated all eight generations of my ancestors.

Taking the initiative to seek out a high school student like me surely isn't just to congratulate me on getting into Peking University, right?"

Although Hodge Tai did not answer directly, he had actually given Liu Yi the answer.

Moreover, the implication hidden in his words made Liu Yi's heart turn cold.

The connections he used were extremely reliable and covert.

Yet even so, was he still discovered by Hodge Tai?

Could it even be that Hodge Tai had investigated him in reverse along that very thread?

To be able to follow such a covert trail and find out that the person behind the scenes was himself—

Was this kind of clout something that an ordinarily backgrounded Hodge Tai could mobilize and possess?

Even the local tyrant Chang family, who had the best relations with him, couldn't possibly reach this far!

Because of these words, Liu Yi confirmed once again in his heart that Hodge Tai definitely possessed a background he couldn't dig up.

With that, he completely cast aside his previous disdain.

The naive high school student he had assumed he could easily manipulate and effortlessly control with a few sweet perks turned out to be a thousand-year-old fox who had attained enlightenment.

However, Liu Yi was no pushover either. Since things had come to this, he could dispense with the beating around the bush and cut straight to the chase:

"Student Hodge, I am indeed a weasel, but I'm a weasel whose chicken was stolen by you.

The chicken I raised with such painstaking effort, just as it was getting plump and ready to be slaughtered for a meal, was poached by you first.

What do you suggest I do?"

"How about... you raise another chicken?"

Hodge Tai said with a smile.

Liu Yi gripped his phone tightly in anger, grinding his teeth as he said:

"If it were you, would you be willing to make wedding garments for someone else for nothing?

Tell me, Student Hodge, how much money will it take for you to resell the 55.com domain name to me?"

During business negotiations, the person who loses patience and brings up the price first often falls into a passive and weaker position.

Liu Yi was also pressed for time because Wowowa.com was about to undergo another round of financing soon.

Seeing him take the initiative to ask for the price, Hodge Tai didn't play any riddles with him and stated his price directly:

"A flat price, giving you a discount: three million dollars!"

"What? Why don't you just go rob a bank?

You just bought it for two hundred thousand euros a few days ago, and you're turning around and selling it to me for three million dollars?"

Though he was protesting angrily on the outside, Liu Yi was even more terrified on the inside.

Because the price figure mentioned by Hodge Tai was entirely too damn precise.

His original plan with Huang Zifeng, the vice president of Wowowa.com, was for him to initially quote five million, after which Huang Zifeng would successfully negotiate a discount and secure 55.com for three million dollars.

That way, he would make money on his end, and Huang Zifeng would also earn credit for cutting the price, saving costs for the company.

Yet this amount was only known to him and Huang Zifeng.

How did Hodge Tai find out?

Could it be that Huang Zifeng wanted to play both ends against the middle?

No, no, no! He had no reason to do that. Besides, if he really wanted to cut Liu Yi out and swallow it all alone, there was no need at all to let Hodge Tai offer this price to him.

Yet this still didn't make sense!

Why would Hodge Tai lock in the price of three million dollars right off the bat? Was it really just a coincidence?

"President Liu, please note! I didn't say I was selling this domain name to you for three million dollars; I said I am selling it to Wowowa.com for three million dollars.

If President Liu also wants to make a little pocket money by middle-man-ing and skimming some fat off the top, that will depend entirely on your own capability.

I am only collecting three million dollars. If you can make Wowowa.com acquire the domain name at a higher price than this, consider the excess as your commission!"

As soon as these words were spoken, no matter how good Liu Yi's temper was, he couldn't hold back his urge to curse.

Was this Hodge Tai really only eighteen years old?

On this entire phone call, not only had he failed to gain any advantage or obtain any useful information, but he hadn't achieved a single objective either.

Instead, amidst the other party's casual laughter, not only had his refusal to sell the domain name been reaffirmed, but he was even practically being asked to work as an errand boy for him.