48 I take the deal

"Are you alright?"

Seeing the baldy collapsed and Naruto came over, Wanqiu Xia hooked her finger over her lips and her eyeballs wandered on his body, checking for any possible injuries.

Naruto threw a cheeky smile, he waved his hand, "not a single scratch."

"Your sleeve!" She held her mouth, that clash happened while the baldy's back within her sight thus she failed to see the entire process. Naruto also put his right hand inside his pants' pocket, making her unable to spot it in the beginning.

"Ah..." Naruto let out a soft breath, "I ruined another cloth."

Wanqiu Xia tilted her head, then she peered at the fallen baldy, "Naruto, is he..."

"Dead?" Naruto cut her talking while he chuckled.

Her finger shivered, hitting against her monte carlo lips, her pair of thick eyebrows ascended.

Naruto shook his head as he kept strolling, he raised his hand and placed it on her head, "Why would I do that, all the more here?" Then he ruffled her silky hair.

"Ah, stop messing my hair!" She whisked his hand, glaring at him while combed her thread of raven line.

Naruto laughed, his pearl-like white teeth were exposed, "then stop acting cute like that, it's unbearable for me not to tease you."

She lowered her hands as frown pulled her face down, she mumbled: "Who's acting cute, I'm clearly worried..."

"Well, don't be. He just fainted with a small internal injury, a whole day rest and one complex vitamin soup will bounce him back on his feet," Naruto shrugged, his lips formed one side curve, "his young master couldn't be so cheap, right?"

"What the fuck is happening here?!"

From behind him, someone's roaring voice reverberated in the room, Wanqiu Xia's face turned pale not just from the deafening tone, but also the owner's hideous face which resembled a demon uprising from hell.

"Speak of the devil..." Naruto turned halfway, he crossed his arms and glanced at the person.

Young Master Chen stood at the entrance with gnashing teeth and veiny eyes. He let out a low growl like a dog infected with a cow disease, his body akin to two legs volcanic lava. On the other hand, the beautiful yet cold Xue Lin stayed beside him, her face looked pale and her eyes gazed downward, she's not even reacting to the bull outburst beside her.

"What is this?! What is this?! Why my bodyguard passed out on the floor?! Someone better come and explain it to me!" His head tilted upward and his mouth roared.

"Y-Young master..." One of the goons dragged his feet toward him, called out weakly, his hand held his stomach, "elder brother... defeated by him." He pointed his trembling finger at the blonde far ahead.

Young Master Chen's face changed but not for the better, in fact, it has gotten worse.

"You?! It's you again?!"

Naruto ignored Young Master Chen heated eyes, his eyes glued to the beauty beside him who showed no reaction whatsoever toward her surrounding. Gears inside his mind rotated and started grinding to each other, conjecturing the cause of her behavior.

At this time, as if felt the gaze he set on her, Xue Lin raised her pair of black eyes. Even though distance separated them apart, meters beyond their reaching arm, inches went their stretching leg. But four eyes traveled without barrier, meeting as if they're within a hair's breath. Thousand of seconds for a mouth need to speak, but less than a second for eyes to feel.

"That's it, I'm going to call the cops!" Young Master Chen wickedly grinned, his hand reached out for his pocket, "I don't care about your identity, with my connection you will never see the lights again!" He brought out a phone and opened his contact list.

Wanqiu Xia's getting paler, she looked at Naruto but noticed the blondie instead showed lack of reaction, her thick eyebrows snapped together while blood brimmed inside her, she pulled his upper sleeve, "Hey! What's wrong with you?! He's going to call the authority, you have to leave now, or they'll throw you in a jail!"

Naruto broke from his trance, he turned his face at her then turned it again toward Young Master Chen, then he waved his head, "it's fine, he wouldn't have the chance."

"Yi?" She puckered her eyebrow.

Young Master Chen found his target and tapped the interface with his thumb.

"I take the deal," before he managed to make the call, Xue Lin who stood beside him and silent for the entire time, interrupted him.

"Um?" The white suit man glanced at her with wrinkled brow.

"I said I take the deal," The buxom woman faintly smiled.

"What deal?"

"The deal you agreed to it if that man succeeds to withstand your bodyguard attack, you will forget everything that happened here."

Shock decorated his entire face, he failed to anticipate Xue Lin would remember about the deal he did not even take into serious account, at that time, he just wanted his bodyguard to beat the hell out of that blondie, then he dropped the deal afterward. He just needed a reason for Xue Lin not to against him.

"That's unfair! You took the deal after the result was out! That's not how it works!" He stomped his foot on the floor. His pair of eyes glared at her like a tiger readied to pounce a deer.

"It's because you never give me the chance to approve it, also you never state the deal no longer stand, and never set any term that cancel out the deal."

"Then the deal it's off!"

"Young Master Chen, you're a credible businessman, how could you just drop a deal that I just agreed upon it without any proper reason or telling me before? Remember your family reputation," Xue Lin sighed then looked at him with concern in her eyes.

He twitched his eyes, born within a big prestige family came with a gift and burden, their name allowed you to live your life like a prince, praise raised right and left, women flocked around you like a group of chick, but in the same time, your freedom not within your grasped because every action you took only for the sake of family and it's impossible for you to act without affecting your family's name.

He clenched his phone without care for its fate, "but we don't know what happen, the content in the deal was he survived five moves without losing his ground, what if somewhere within those five, he fell?!"

Xue Lin eyebrows tensed, she's not around when the fighting happened thus her confidence decrease a bit.

"Yes, yes! Young master, that guy indeed fell!" The goon beside them nodded like pecking bird.

"See Xue Lin?" Young Master Chen laughed as if tried to release all of his anger, "even though my bodyguard knocked out, that bastard still lose in the end."

"He's not telling us in detail whether he fell within the range of 5 or not," Xue Lin said without battling eyes.

His muscle face tensed as he looked at the man whose face twisted, "Of...of course he did!"

"At which move he fell?" She stared at him with icy eyes.

The man shivered as he held his stomach, but then he sneered, "It's the third move."

"Lies!"

Wanqiu Xia moved four steps with her eyebrows drew together, "He's lying!"

"Bitch shut up!" The man glared at her with vicious eyes. The grey dress woman unaffected by his threat, she pointed her finger at the baldy, "That man stumbled my client at the seventh move!" Then she looked at Xue Lin with a smile, then she told her everything she saw. Xue Lin nodded in appreciation, the way Wanqiu Xia explained it to her as if she showed her the actual fight and she stood there, watching.

"How about that Young Master Chen? Do you still want to stall?" Xue Lin glanced at him with a rare smirked on her lips.

"Humph, who knows what she said is the truth! She could be covering for him!" Of course, he not just going to give up, he determined to put that blondie in a trouble.

"I'm not! President, please believe me!"

"Wanqiu, I believe you."

"Who can promote your statement?!"

Wanqiu Xia bit her lips as she unable to counter his word, it's true that no matter what you said, it will be nulled if no one backed it up. Xue Lin sighed in exasperation, this problem grew longer than she intended.

"I support... Chief Wanqiu's word..."

At this moment, someone rose her hand despite her timid appearance, they looked at her and found out it was the front desk lady. But what startled them next that people one by one rose their hand, supporting Wanqiu Xia's statement.

"Yeah, me too!"

"That's what I saw!"

"Chief Wanqiu spoke the truth!"

These people hesitated before because they fear to incur Young Master Chen wrath. They preferred losing their job than being kidnapped out of nowhere then got disposed to the sewer. No one here unfamiliar with how these big family's work. Every person here wasn't a naive three-years-old kid who thought their wealth came from a wishful thinking or money tree. But the act of bravery that timid looking girl, who always worked behind the counter showed somehow making an inspiration out of them.

Wanqiu Xia swept her eyes on these people with a dazed expression. She lost her way to form any word since she never expects support from these people. Then her head shook by the light pressure on it, she raised her hand and touched foreign skin on her crown.

"You're really awesome," a magnetic bewitching voice entered her canal, passed by the eardrum to her hair cells, processing them into electrical signals that branded her brain. Her eyes shivered as she grasped the man's hand. It's firm also warm.

Xue Lin chuckled, it's a joyous day for her company, even when bitter greeted her at the entrance.

"I guess this is my win then, right Young Master Chen?"

(***)

After the conflict resided, Xue Lin told Wanqiu Xia to bring Naruto into her office before she went ahead. Despite enraged by the entire situation, Young Master Chen no longer had other choices besides yielded and carried his bodyguard away.

Standing on the elevator, Naruto leaned his back against the wall with Wanqiu Xia stood in his right.

"I wonder what President wants," she crossed her arms and looked at the elevator indicator.

"Maybe she wants to invite me drinking a tea," Naruto said with closed eyes.

"Get out! She's a busy person!" She nudged him with her back.

"Busy person do busy activities," Naruto shrugged, "and drinking tea is one of them."

"How come?" She startled and glanced at him.

"Well, because the activity itself required a ceremony that some people considered as a sacred ritual. They portraited the essence of the ceremony as the act that reflected life, its fundamental lies in the humility of the guest, appreciating one brief moment, and art of balance from your surrounding area."

"Wow, I never know such a thing," she stared curiously.

"Of course since people nowadays can enjoy tea at any place and any time, thus the tradition no longer held except in tea houses."

"I thought tea house serve drink just like a coffee house," she twirled her lock near her ear, then it picked a chuckle tune, her eyes swiftly glared at him, "hey, don't mock me! it's not my fault they don't specify their services!"

"Hey it's alright, I'm not fond of them myself," Naruto raised his hand in surrender which received a snort from her.

The elevator arrived at the 23-rd floor and its gate slid open. Wanqiu Xia got out first while Naruto followed in tail. A room painted in cream welcomed his sight with white patterned ceramic under his feet, simple decoration of two couch and one thin rounded table between them on his right, and slightly further ahead on his left, a chest-high desk with a pretty glasses-woman behind it.

"Chief Wanqiu, how may I be of your services?" She said as soon as they arrived.

"Hi, the president wanted me to bring this gentleman to her office," Wanqiu Xia presented her hand toward Naruto.

The woman nodded, "go ahead, chief. President told me to let you in as soon as possible."

Wanqiu Xia smiled and minced to her right, Naruto bowed his head toward the woman before strolled along. She pulled the left handle of the wide transparent door and stayed herself, she glanced at him with curled lips, "men first."

"How cute," Naruto rolled his eyes as he stepped forward, she giggled while she walked in and closed the door behind. They strolled in a corridor with a lot of jewelry put on displayed inside glass of casket at their right and left; Aquamarine, Jade, Lapis Lazuli, Moonstone, Tourmaline, and other. Some also came in a form of ornament like broch or necklaces, crafted by their own company. The word "replica" mingled in the name tag among several of them.

They paused in front of a white door then Wanqiu Xia knocked on it.

"Come in," soft yet clear voice registered into their ears, Wanqiu Xia opened the door carefully as if she tried to sneak her way in, she let Naruto once again enter it first.

In the room with its floor covered in a black carpet, Xue Lin occupied a seat behind a silverish desk with a cream painted cupboard held a row of documents and worked items, separating her from full-sized windows that twice her height. Her slender fingers compiled a stack of papers while her eyes wandered on them.

"President, I bring Mr. Naruto as you requested."

Xue Lin paused then glanced at their direction, beaming her lips, she said: "Thank you Wanqiu, today you did a remarkable job, expecting a bonus by the end of the month."

Wanqiu Xia eyes brightened, she bowed her figure, "Thank you, president!"

Xue Lin waved her hand then glanced at Naruto, the four eyes met again, communicating the unspeakable word that no one knows. She closed her eyes as she chuckled, "Now, Wanqiu, can you give us some time alone? We have something to discuss."

"Oh, certainly!" She nodded like a pecking bird, "Would you like me to prepare any drink?"

"I'm not thirsty," Xue Lin waved her head, "you may ask him."

She turned her head, "Naruto, how about you?"

"A coffee might be nice,"

"Hot? Cold?"

"Hot."

"One hot coffee is coming~" She strode to the outside of the room. Looking at the door that closed behind her, he shook his head, "she's one cheerful bird."

"Well, after what happened today, it's weird if she remains indifferent," Xue Lin picked another paper from the pile.

"I think your bonus gave her a short circuit in the brain," Naruto snickered.

"Or your flirting fried her nerve," her eyes read the paper in her hand.

He raised his shoulder, pretending unfamiliar with her remark, he turned his head and looked at the cold swan in a suit, then he chuckled.

"What?" Xue Lin wrinkled her thin eyebrows.

"I think this our first conversation since met, and it's a banter," Naruto laughed while strolled his way in the room. Xue Lin widened her eyes because up till this moment, their encounter indeed never yield a single word between them, the first time they met ended up with a staring contest without any winner. And their second time ended up with only brushing each other shoulder. Xue Lin stared at him with complicated eyes, she mumbled: "yeah..."

"Maybe that's a good thing..." Naruto halted when he passed many kinds of frames, hanging in the wall. Those pictures showed Xue Lin in a variety of event, including her time in sort of competition, she held a piece of antique with magnifier on her other hand, a pin clasped her pocket with a circular object that displayed big number 4.

"Why is that a good thing?" She wrinkled her brow. Her face somehow felt hot, looking at him admired her notable moment.

"because an introduction is one of the most awkward moments in our life, especially with the opposite gender," Naruto glanced at her and scratched his cheek.

"Really?" She tilted her head, "I don't think I ever had any problem in that."

"Well, that's your genre perk, beauty or not, men literally will deliver themselves to any women they found interesting in particular."

"I'm not sure I follow..." she frowned.

"Alright, name one time you introduced yourself to any men... aaaaany men you ever met."

"Well, there was this senior..."

"Old men did not count," he gazed with a deadpan expression.

"Umm... in school I.."

"Class presentations did not count."

"Hmm, at the family gathering I..."

"Kindred did not count."

Xue Lin dropped her leather black eyes, her cherry lips pouted, her slender hands crossed over her bosom, after a while, she let out a sigh, "alright I give up..."

Naruto laughed as he strolled at nearby sofa, he placed his bottom on it, "men sometimes struggled with their first liner, will it be cheesy word or awkward greet, it's fine if the women found him interesting, if not..." his body shivered for a brief but still caught within Xue Lin sight.

"Pfft.." She held her mouth as she chortled.

"Hey, it's true..." He twitched his lips.

"Sorry, it just..." She calmed herself but the corner of her lips was shivering, "it just... I found it hard to believe someone like you would be terrible at picking up women.."

"Yeah... Once I met this French-looking gal, five-half feet tall, brown smooth hair, and long eyelashes. I shrugged my shoulder and thought to myself, 'eh, why not?' then I approached her, greeting her with a french pickup line I found in a magazine.." Naruto squinted his eyes, while his face turned to his side and moved backward slowly, "she gave this! like 'seriously dude?' kind of expression, so I failed, retreated and looked up for an explanation, and you know what?"

Xue Lin gave him a fixed stared with eager curiosity.

"Turn out what I just said, 'J'ai juste realis ceci, mais vous ressemblez beaucoup mon prochain petit ami' means 'Hi, I just realized this but you look a lot like my next boyfriend'," Naruto palmed his own face.

Xue Lin broke out in the instant, her laughter singing in the closed room of more than twenty-floor building.

"Yeah, my skin turned pale and cold sweats all over my head, I ran to search for that girl to explain everything," Naruto shook his head.

"That's is pure gold, I can't believe you said you're a gay," she held her mouth to prevent the unladylike sound came out anymore.

"What worst was I had no idea how to explain it to her in my language, thus I spend times with my hand doing various gestures while turned out in the end, she understood English just fine," he declined his head. Xue Lin body trembled with her bosomy front jiggled along. She turned her body away from him to calm herself and relieved her emotion.

Naruto smiled as he looked at her chair's back, what he said of course not true, in fact, he understood French very well. The image of a woman with blonde woven hair and innocent face entered his mind. She drew something in the ground with a branch, then pointing it while spoke in her language, she smacked that branch into his head if he pronounces it wrong.

The door toward the room opened, Wanqiu XIa came in with a plate on her hands, a smell of latte quickly lingered in the air.

"President? Are you OK?" She wrinkled her brows as she looked at Xue Lin.

"Pfft... don't worry Wanqiu, I'm fine, really!" She turned her head away.

Wanqiu Xia tilted her head then nodded afterward, she minced toward Naruto and put down the plate on the short table, then she held a white cup above the plate and placed it in front of him.

"One coffee served~" She rose and smiled at him.

"Now, now, Ms. Wanqiu... try to add 'Goshujin-sama' after the word served," Naruto faced her with a solemn expression.

She frowned, "why should I do that? And what is that mean?"

"Because it's improving your services and it's the same as sir."

She pondered a bit before smiled at him, "One coffee served Goshujin-sama~"

"Pfft...!" Naruto threw his face away from her as he tried to contain his laughter.

Wanqiu Xia wrinkled her eyebrows as she looked at him and her CEO, both hiding face while their body shook as if an earthquake occurred in the room.

(***)

"Alright, let's talk for real this time."

Xue Lin occupied a wide sofa beside Naruto's, Wanqiu Xia excused herself from the room and exited with question marks hovered above her head. Naruto took a sip of his latte before he adopted serious expression.

"You know that I'm not saving you downstairs out of my generosity, right?" She sighed, "what I did might cost my association relationship with Young Master Chen."

"What association is that?" Naruto said with closed eyes.

She bit her lips, "a project that worth thirty million."

His eyebrows tensed a moment, "what do you want me to do?"

"I need you to convince me, that a partnership with Yu Lei worth the same value or might exceed it."

"The original plan did not hold the value that much, after all, I'm not sure our cooperation will work or not," Naruto shook his head, "let's face it. Just like what you said to him, there was a lot more superior company than yours that might propose us a better deal. You also never try to subscribe gems into clothes right?"

Xue Lin turned her eyes into another side then nodded her head slowly, combining jewelry into garment required high amount of talent, a precise type of gemstone, and high-costed manufacturing process. It's not about cutting it into small pieces, but modeling it after the design that took an amount of time and money. Her expression became grim, thinking her unfortunate predicament.

Naruto sighed, then rose from his seat, he walked toward the window and gazed upon the view of a bustling city, "what technology you use in production?"

"Both high-tech and manual tools, we model it with tech and polish it with tools," she put her finger on her cheek, "but if it was for mass production, then we will use tech entirely."

"Which one benefitted you the most, single or mass?"

"Well, both have a different way to reap profit, single stemmed from its rareness and unique style, while mass stemmed from sales. But most of the times, profit from a single release could worth thousand of mass release."

Naruto rubbed his chin, his eyes looked at the flowers far on the ground that scattered and unreformed.

"Which technology cost you the most?"

"Well of course high-tech one, every move it made can cost me two digits already. To finish one product it required more than 50 moves sometimes, and 1 batch consist of more than 100 products. Not to mention its operator wages. and other costs."

"Alright, then let's do this," Naruto nodded and walked back into the sofa, "for our deal the share will be 70:30."

Xue Lin enlarged her eyes, "you willing to let go that much?!"

He sneered, "who says 70 goes to Ice Snow? It's Yu Lei who receive 70!"

Her face darkened, it regained its previous coldness, "are you playing with me?"

Naruto raised his finger, "I say Ice Snow get their 30 percent of the share, but I will help you reduce your cost."

She wrinkled her brow, "how strong the cost will lessen?"

Naruto raised all of his fingers on his right hand and four on his left, Xue Lin almost laughed but not with delight but contempt, "9%?! You think that will be enough?!"

He shook his head, his eyes gazed at her with serious light, "90%!"

Xue Lin shivered as her alluring lips gaped, her sight captured the image of him with slightly blurred, "90%?" Naruto nodded, she gulped her oral liquid, "are you kidding?"

"Do I look like one?"

She calmed herself then gazed at him with narrowed eyes, "how you will achieve it?"

"First!" he raised his forefinger, "I will replace your high tech with manual tools that can cut a diamond like a butter!"

"Second!" his middle finger entered the stage, "I will replace your operator with people who don't need to be paid nor need to eat!"

"Third!" The sweet ring finger joined the fray, cold glint reflected on his eyes as his lips curved one-sided.

"I will eradicate every people who dared to mess with our plan."