Chapter 360 - Give Me Your Hand

The second Zoey regained her senses from his stunning beauty, she immediately retracted her hand away from him as if she had got scalded, "That's impossible!" She argued, scoffing in disdain.

'How can I fall for you in the period of ten dates when I'm already in love with you, duh?' She grumbled in a matter-of-fact tone inside her mind. Well, if she had said that aloud, Matthew would reconsider his remarks. After all, he would probably propose a more decent label between them — a label that was more than just 'dating.'

"Well, don't put a period on your claims." He shrugged, retrieving his hands back to himself. "I mean, I might use it when you're head over heels with me." Matthew explained, confidence surrounded his words which didn't affect Zoey that much as she was already shocked at this entire lady's man persona from the very beginning.

"Whatever. Give me my 1000 yuan!" Zoey spread her hand open, moving her fingers forward and backward hastily as she changed the subject. Gosh… why was their conversation akin to a roller coaster ride as they hopped from one subject to another? However, Matthew often had the last say on most of their debates by dropping his flirtatious remarks which weren't very healthy to her heart.

After all, his existence alone has a huge influence on her. What more if he kept on shoving his romantic advances towards her? Her sanity was barely clinging onto the right side of her brain! She couldn't lose her wits, or else she would shake him to the core and he might think she's thirsty.

"Ahh…" As he looked down at her hand, Matthew nodded his head before lifting his head back to her. "I don't have cash." A sweet smile formed on the side of his lips; Zoey peered at him in dismay, as if she was looking at a con.

"Heck. You haggled too much, yet you don't have enough cash to pay for my services!?" 

"Your rates are a rip off." In a matter-of-fact tone, he answered while shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. 

"Tsk!" Zoey could not help but click her tongue, pinching the space between her brows as she pondered briefly. "I'll deduct it from the rent, then." She proposed, her eyes gleamed as her expenses lessened by a tiny bit. Well, she's a broke businesswoman after paying Milo using seventy percent of her savings. Thus, every penny counts; be it one yuan or thousand.

"Hmm…" Unlike her cheerful countenance, Matthew was staring at her lazily. His knuckles supporting his temples, his eyelashes fluttering slowly as he studied her colorful expression.

"What? Don't tell me you're conning me?" Alas, Zoey's take on his lazy visage was that he was somehow trying to con her. That is, he didn't want the deduction. No one could blame Zoey though. If she sued him for estafa or deceiving her, the court will surely laugh at her. After all, this was Matthew Xi, one of the wealthiest and successful bachelors in the country.

Why would he con her for a meagre sum of thousand yuan? That's silly. Indeed, it was silly of her to think that that was what he had in mind.

"Your business tactics really concern me." After several seconds, Matthew sighed deeply as he kept his expression intact.

"Huh?"

"Since I'm not paying you upfront, you can charge me additional fees, interest, and so on." Since she seemed to not understand his point, Matthew patiently explained it to her. After all, it was a basic rule in the business industry and in other fields to have different prices depending on the package deal they're availing. 

"When you're purchasing a car, there are two options: installment and full payment upfront. I don't think I need to explain the latter. When you choose installment, there's still two or three options to choose for your monthly mortgage — everything depends on the down payment or your in-hand money and monthly income. You have to remember, each option in the installment has different totals. The less you pay monthly, the bigger the total and the longer you pay for it." Matthew's tone sounded a little bored as he explained this very basic information in purchasing a car that applies to most major purchases like houses.

"What I'm pointing out is, you can charge me as much as you like since I'm in your mercy. You can negotiate to have a free month of stay in the building and I would think it's acceptable from a business aspect." He shrugged, speaking his thoughts as he would do the same if he was in Zoey's place. Although the 'free month' was an exaggeration, he was able to charge himself with her original price that he haggled effortlessly.

Meanwhile, Zoey pursed her lips into a thin line as she listened to the business lessons she already knew! For Pete's sake! Zoey wouldn't be a multi-millionaire in seven years if she wasn't that greedy for money. However, since she was dealing with him, she played it fair and square.

Yet, her good conscience made her look like a fool who couldn't do business. If only she could, Zoey would have already thrown a huge fit to prove how well she could do business. Alas, right now, all she could do was zip her mouth and listen to him bearing the same poker face as him.

"Do you understand?" Matthew stared at her blank face while listening to his boring explanation, which he admitted that it was indeed boring. 

Never in his life would he have imagined that he would explain such boring details to anyone as it was basic knowledge. He wouldn't bat an eye to a person who wouldn't have this basic knowledge as he knew they're not worth his time. But to her, his patience was longer than the Qinghai Lake, his desire for her success was higher than Mount Tai, and his understanding was deeper than the ocean.

"Yes, I truly and deeply understand." Zoey blankly responded. "I'll still charge you the same because I have a pride and ego to keep." Her words were laced with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes.

"Such a stubborn person."

Just then, an idea crossed her mind which made her grin, revealing her even white teeth and dimples. "Hey, on a second thought, I actually have a decent argument to that. Having Young Master Xi give me a lecture is actually priceless! Imagine if you start doing seminars, I bet five thousand yuan will be too small for your charge per hour." Zoey crossed her arms, her chin was perked up, proud of how quick-witted she was when it comes to reasoning out.

For a moment, Matthew digested her argument; a glint of amusement flashed across his eyes as he truly couldn't follow her train of thoughts. "Give me your hand.." After a blink, Matthew straightened his posture, lending his hand out over the table while moving the empty food containers to the side to have enough space in the middle.