Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 397 Killing someone isn't enough; you must also destroy their spirit!
After saying "I'll pay the penalty for breach of contract," Lü Yao realized that his tone sounded like that of a nouveau riche. However, at this point in his life, Lü Yao certainly had enough capital to say such a thing.

Although Lü Yao himself doesn't have that many assets in his domestic bank account, his company's public accounts, the profits he makes through investment companies, and the assets he invests in overseas projects with Rong Nianqing, which he injects overseas, add up to a considerable amount of assets.

Lu Yao never calculated the exact amount, but it was more than the "Haff Coins" of many operators in later games, and even the speed at which the assets appreciated was unmatched by those people in the game.

Not to mention the assets Lü Yao has earned in the cryptocurrency market.

All of these assets were placed in overseas banks by Lü Yao through various asset management methods and under various names. Lü Yao even had a bank overseas specifically to manage his assets. These were all asset management techniques that Lü Yao learned from Rong Nianqing and the others.

It was during this learning process that Lü Yao finally understood what it meant for "assets to appreciate on their own," and why large capital firms were so eager to pursue asset appreciation.

Because it's in our nature.

Just like when a person is hungry, they want to eat; it's an inviolable law.

But Lü Yao did not become a slave to his assets; he clearly knew what he should do with the money.

After hearing what Lü Yao said, Li Ziqi frowned: "But my contract clearly states that if I breach the contract, I will have to pay a hundred times the signing fee in compensation."

Hearing this, Lin Yongzhen couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't worry, these unreasonable clauses violate commercial contract terms and can be considered invalid contracts. If the other party insists on making a fuss about this, our legal team is not to be trifled with. We can keep fighting them in court until Weinian goes bankrupt."

Lu Yao then asked, "How much did Mr. Liu pay to sign you back then?"

Li Ziqi didn't hide anything: "500,000."

Lu Yao laughed: "Even if we lose and have to pay out the full amount, it's not scary."

what?
Li Ziqi looked at Lü Yao with a strange expression, as if she were looking at the landlord's foolish son.

I would say fifty million, not five thousand! How come this amount of money seems so insignificant in Lü Yao's words?

Lu Yao continued, "Do you know how much I charged Mr. Liu for your transfer fee?"

Under Li Ziqi's curious gaze, Lü Yao suppressed a laugh and said, "One hundred and fifty million."

Li Ziqi almost jumped up: "What?! How much?!"

Lu Yao and Lin Yongzhen both smiled as they watched Li Ziqi's startled reaction. After her initial surprise, Li Ziqi looked at Lu Yao and Lin Yongzhen and said, "Am I that valuable in your eyes? Isn't it a bit inappropriate to spend so much money on me?"

This is the difference between a kind person and a mercenary person.

When kind people are treated well, they think about whether they deserve it and how to repay the kindness.

Meanwhile, the mercenary ones are thinking that they deserve so much and, once they're treated well, they'll try to scheme for even more benefits.

Li Ziqi is certainly not a purely kind person. The hesitation and self-doubt she shows at this moment are simply because she has a bit of a mental breakdown after hearing about such a large sum of money.

But Li Ziqi isn't a bad person either.

How bad could a woman be, who willingly returned to the countryside to stay by her grandmother's side?

Looking at Li Ziqi, who was still hesitant, Lü Yao reassured her, "Believe me, you deserve so much. Your potential is far greater than you imagine. In the future, your actions will become a kind of 'symbol' to be worshipped. What you are doing now is your path to godhood."

Li Ziqi stared blankly at Lü Yao, unable to understand what he was saying due to her limited education.

But in the future, even if Li Ziqi, immersed in her own world, doesn't understand, she will naturally become that kind of person. In Buddhist terms, that's what's called "Bodhi arising spontaneously."

Lu Yao waved his hand: "Alright, it's settled then. You don't need to do anything during this time. I'll take care of all the troubles outside for you."

After saying that, Lü Yao got up and left Li Ziqi's courtyard with Lin Yongzhen.

Back in his car, Lü Yao dialed Liu Tongxiong's number. Liu Tongxiong's calm voice came through the phone quickly: "Hello, Mr. Lü, what can I do for you?"

Lu Yao replied, "I think you should know that I have been in contact with Miss Li, and Miss Li is now more willing to cooperate with us. Although you still have a contract with Miss Li, I have already prepared to negotiate the breach of contract compensation with you."

Liu Tongxiong's voice remained calm and unchanged: "Is that all? For the specifics of these matters, Mr. Lü, you can discuss them with my company's legal counsel."

Lü Yao laughed: "You don't have to be so heartless. It's your own fault for not choosing my initial suggestion."

"Honestly, you should have accepted my offer back then. I offered you 150 million, but you didn't accept. Now I know that you signed Ms. Li for only 500,000. Even if I don't sue you and give you the full amount in compensation, you still lost out big time."

Liu Tongxiong's voice on the phone seemed to have lost its composure, with a noticeable fluctuation in his tone: "President Lü! This has nothing to do with how much money."

Lu Yao chuckled: "It's always about how much money you have. To be honest, if you were more sincere, things might have turned out differently. Mr. Liu, you're clearly quite wealthy, yet you're making these stingy moves. I just can't understand it."

In fact, this kind of situation—picking up a sesame seed but losing a watermelon—is never uncommon in the business world.

Take, for example, Luo Bingzhang, the partner of a genius chemist at the beginning of this century. He was in charge of a business worth tens of billions and risked his life, but he was extremely stingy with his partners, to the point that his partners were unwilling to split the goods they purchased into two different places.

Take, for example, the powerful figure in the Greater Bay Area. He clearly held absolute power there, yet he was incredibly stingy with his cash cows.

A person's character can truly determine their future and destiny.

Liu Tongxiong, just like his predecessors.

Lu Yao continued on the phone, "Although you, Mr. Liu, are not willing to buy into my scheme, I am still willing to put aside past grievances and cooperate with you. Don't you have the trademark registrations for Li Ziqi and a series of other brands? I want all of those, still at the price of 150 million. At the same time, I will not haggle over Ms. Li's transfer breach of contract fee; I will give you a hundred times the amount."

This time, Liu Tongxiong on the other end of the phone was silent. Almost five minutes later, Liu Tongxiong's hoarse voice came through the phone: "Just now, President Lü said that I was not sincere enough and not magnanimous enough, but aren't your current actions also insincere and not magnanimous enough? You and I both know that Li Ziqi's commercial value cannot be satisfied with just one or two hundred million."

Lu Yao almost burst out laughing: "You see such huge commercial potential in Miss Li, yet you're still thinking of getting something for nothing? If sincerity is measured by money, then my sincerity and magnanimity are probably 400 times greater than yours, not to mention that my cooperation model with Miss Li is a fair and just one."

Lu Yao couldn't see Liu Tongxiong's expression through the phone call, but from the faintly heavier and more rapid breathing coming through the microphone, Lu Yao could still imagine that Liu Tongxiong's expression must have been quite something.

Lu Yao continued his attack: "OK, since you say I'm not sincere enough, then Mr. Liu, name your price."

On the other end of the phone, Liu Tongxiong was genuinely furious, but he really wanted to offer an astronomical price! Like 10 billion! He wanted to use that amount to put Lu Yao in a good position.

But in his confrontations with Lü Yao so far, he has never been able to gain any advantage.

So after careful consideration, Liu Tongxiong let his rationality prevail and shouted out a price that he thought was reasonable: "Two billion."

When Lü Yao heard Liu Tongxiong's price, he really wanted to applaud Liu Tongxiong.

Back when Apple went public in China in 2010, it was sued by a company in Shenzhen for trademark infringement. It only cost $6000 million to reach a settlement with the Shenzhen company and obtain the exclusive right to use the iPad trademark.

Even if Li Ziqi's popularity continues to grow as Lü Yao remembers, the profit that the Li Ziqi brand itself can bring in is only a few hundred million yuan per year. But Liu Tongxiong has devoured Li Ziqi's profits for the next five years, or even longer, with just one word.

No matter how rich Lü Yao is, he can't let people take advantage of him.

Moreover, Lü Yao didn't want to be the sucker.

So Lü Yao didn't even bother to haggle. He immediately started giving Liu Tongxiong examples and calculating the costs. After calculating the commercial value of Li Ziqi, Lü Yao told Liu Tongxiong about the Apple trademark incident.

Finally, Lü Yao concluded by mentioning the WeChat trademark incident: "I feel that Apple Group is a bit too reasonable in its business competition in China. Tencent, on the other hand, has a very rogue business style. Years ago, after WeChat became a hit, the core category of the product was registered by other companies. Instead of buying it directly, Tencent filed a dispute with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, applying for its cancellation on the grounds that the trademark was actually used and would cause adverse effects."

"Following up two years ago, the court supported Penguin, ruling that the company's trademark registration violated the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and was therefore invalid."

After saying that, Lü Yao said with a hint of amusement, "Mr. Liu, with so many cases and experiences before us, what do you think I should do?"

Upon hearing Lü Yao's question, Liu Tongxiong's anger was already boiling over.

Are you trying to be a scoundrel to me?
I'm the real thug, okay?! Even if I put on a suit now, I'll still fuck you!

But Liu Tongxiong could only say these harsh words to himself. The rules of the game in this world have changed a long time ago. It's not like before when people like Bald Qiang could act with impunity. Besides, Lu Yao wasn't even in Bald Qiang's camp. He was Bald Qiang's boss, Boss Li, at the same level as Grandpa Niu from Fandou Garden.

Thinking of this, Liu Tongxiong, filled with anger and indignation, repeatedly used his reason to tell himself to calm down and to hold back.

A small leak will sink a great ship!
After sorting out his emotions, Liu Tongxiong asked, "So, what are your thoughts, Mr. Lü?"

Lu Yao didn't mince words and calmly said, "I'll give you an extra 30 million at most."

Liu Tongxiong almost slammed the phone down when he heard that!
It’s so deceiving!
He had expected Lü Yao to haggle, even if it meant cutting the price in half, but he never expected this! He absolutely never expected that this scoundrel Lü Yao would only offer an additional 30 million! Damn it! Does he think he's not human?!
Am I even human?!
Liu Tongxiong truly roared out his inner rage.

Hearing Liu Tongxiong's rapid breathing through the phone receiver, Lü Yao calmly continued, "I'm willing to talk to you, and willing to spend so much money on those few worthless trademarks, because I initially admired you quite a bit, Mr. Liu, and even wanted to use this money to make friends with you. But Mr. Liu..."

Lu Yao's voice turned cold: "You seem to think I'm a fool."

"To be honest with you, even without the Li Ziqi trademark, using other trademark names would be the same for me. I have multiple and complete supply chains, as well as sufficient internet influence. Even if I use a trademark name that has absolutely nothing to do with the three characters 'Li Ziqi,' I can still build up my future business."

He definitely has the ability.

Finally, Lü Yao said in a way that seemed designed to kill, "Now, I fully understand your disrespect, Mr. Liu, and I realize that you want to 'turn me into a gun' so that others can use me against you. But Mr. Liu, the prerequisite for using someone as a gun is that the gun must have enough merits."

It must be either strong enough or toxic enough.

But Liu Tongxiong, which one do you fit into?
Even if you want to be someone else's gun, are they willing to use you?

What Lü Yao said, when translated, meant to Liu Tongxiong—

"You're not qualified."

Far from enough.

This world is often so cruel. Many times, even if you want to be used by others, you may not be noticed. As for the arguments that netizens spread on the Internet later, such as "As long as I am useless, no one will use me" - Lü Yao would just laugh it off every time he saw them.

Anyone who says such things is truly of no use whatsoever, because even trash can be recycled, and most people can't even be called "things," at most they are just cattle or horses, and cattle and horses don't need to be utilized, they are used to be exploited.

After Lu Yao finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

Liu Tongxiong, also in Mianyang, stared blankly at the phone after it was hung up.

From the very beginning, he sensed the arrogance in Lü Yao's tone. Why was he unwilling to invest in him when he first called? Why did he have to poach his employees? The nonchalant tone was like a soft, yielding palm strike, turning into strands of "contempt," a thorn in Liu Tongxiong's eye and a nail in his flesh.

This ultimately led him to smoke all night, preparing to confront Lü Yao head-on.

But when he arrived in Mianyang, his plans were once again casually exposed by the other party, who even frankly admitted that he was willing to pay so much money because of his appreciation for him.
At that moment, Liu Tongxiong felt regret, distress, and disorientation.

He began to reflect on whether he was too concerned about saving face and too competitive. Had he never properly positioned himself from the beginning? If he had accepted Lü Yao's call, shown a willingness to cooperate, and used the interpersonal skills he had learned before, instead of acting impulsively...
Is it possible that the ending won't be like this?

At this moment, Liu Tongxiong felt as if his heart was being torn apart!
Regret gnawed at his heart like a poisonous curse, to the point that he experienced a real, physical, agonizing pain in his chest.
(End of this chapter)