Volume 2 Chapter 187 - Business Union that survived in name only (1/2)

“Chairman Xu, you….really are too impulsive.” Chairman Rank looked at Xu Yi and said this with a soft sigh.

After meeting the new City Lord Count Stagg, Count Stagg said that he didn’t need any merchants to accompany him. So the Banta City merchants had all scattered and then gathered at chairman Rank’s private hotel.

At this temporary conference of the Business Union, Xu Yi once again became the center of attention.

Although many people admired Xu Yi secretly, thinking that he had refuted Count Stagg to the face because of how he treated merchants, most people thought that Xu Yi was too impulsive and he didn’t consider the consequences.

Count Stagg was the new City Lord, Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce were in Banta City, so they would be in his jurisdiction.

Now that Xu Yi had gone against Count Stagg so openly, it would be strange if Count Stagg didn’t cause trouble for him and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.

“Why are your expressions so serious today?” Compared to everyone else, Xu Yi had a relaxed expression, “The one who refuted Count Stagg to his face was me and not you, Count Stagg will definitely come looking for me to cause trouble, he definitely won’t go looking for you.”

The others looked at each other before revealing bitter smiles.

Chairman Vincent gave a sigh before shaking his head and saying, “Chairman Xu, what everyone is worried about isn’t him causing trouble for one person, rather it is the attitude that the new Lord City Lord had.”

“That’s right.” Chairman Cruise also gave a sigh, “This new Lord City Lord doesn’t like us merchants, so I suspect it’ll be hard to do business in Banta City in the future.”

“This….shouldn’t be that serious, right?”

Through the public transport system that was a core part of Banta City, the Fersen Carriage Company had also joined the Banta City Business Union. This time chairman Pompeii was taking part as a non-voting delegate. Seeing his peers sigh around him, he couldn’t help speaking up for the first time.

“Now that Banta City’s developed much faster and last year’s tax income is around ten times more than usual, not being modest, it is all because of us merchants. We pay for most of the tax revenue and with how much Count Stagg looks down on merchants, once he received this information, wouldn’t he try to do something to us?”

“Humph, he won’t do anything?” Chairman Cruise said with a snort, “Didn’t you see what happened today? If we’re talking about contributions to Banta City’s development, who would be able to say that they could compare to chairman Xu and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce? He was clearly deliberately looking for trouble with Xu Yi! Of course, speaking of this, Xu Yi, you really were too impulsive. Even if Count Stagg causes trouble for you, you shouldn’t oppose him that strongly, right?”

Xu Yi gave a shrug, “Since I know he is causing trouble for me, what meaning is there in avoiding it? He is the new Banta City’s City Lord, how could I avoid it if he wanted to cause trouble for me?”

“But there’s no need to offend him, right?” Chairman Cruise said with knit brows.

“You think that…..a great person like Count Stagg would be insulted by a few trivial words from me? His attitude towards me was already set before he came here, it can’t be changed.”

Chairman Cruise fell silent.

It was because everyone knew that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and Xu Yi was on the same side as her highness Seveni. The Stagg Family had already announced their support for his highness Eric to become the next king.

Count Stagg causing trouble for Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wasn’t just because of a few words. Rather it was already decided before he became Banta City’s City Lord.

The conference hall fell into a strange silence. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a while.

After a while, a thin looking merchant with sharp eyes said, “Actually I feel that…..even if Count Stagg is aiming at chairman Xu, it doesn’t mean he will aim at all of us Banta City merchants. So I think…..I think…..that if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce withdraws from our Business Union, wouldn’t it be better for everyone?”

Everyone’s gaze fell onto the thin merchant. Their eyes were filled with shock, doubt, confusion, and a trace of excitement.

“Chairman Lawrence! What do you mean?” Without waiting for Xu Yi to speak, chairman Cruise slapped the table. He pointed at the thin merchant and angrily said, “At this time, you actually want to make the Frestech Chamber of Commerce withdraw from our Business Union? Don’t you have a bit of conscience at all? Did you forget? Your company almost went bankrupt and it was because Xu Yi didn’t charge you a single cent for the Magic Kettle technology, renting the magic production machines to you for free, and sending technical staff to help you that your company could come back to life. What is the meaning of your words now? You truly are ungrateful!”

Chairman Lawrence’s face turned red in shame and he lowered his head as he refuted in a soft voice, “I…..We miss paying him back a single copper coin afterwards…..”

Chairman Cruise was even angrier as he slapped the table again and cursed out, “You think that Xu Yi didn’t help you because you paid him back? If it wasn’t for Xu Yi helping you, you might have jumped into the Sandy River and killed yourself! What qualification would you have to sit here now and say these kinds of words?”

Chairman Lawrence was probably angered by chairman Cruise’s straightforward words, so he suddenly raised his head and said with a red face, “That’s right! Chairman Cruise did help us before, but I am thinking from the viewpoint of all the small merchants in Banta City! We are just small and weak merchants, how could we resist the Lord City Lord? Now that the Lord City Lord has set his eyes on chairman Xu, we can’t just use ourselves to block him, right?”

“Nonsense! You’re clearly someone who has no gratitude, but you dare act this righteously, it really is disgusting!” Chairman Cruise spat onto the ground and prepared to curse at him more, but Xu Yi reached out a hand to stop him.