Chapter 47: Chapter Forty-Six: Old Friends and a Discounted Deal

One liter of fresh blood, and staying by your side for three months—during this time you will provide me with all my blood food. This key is a deposit; afterward I will give you the other copper plate. Su Qing took out the large copper plate and bluntly stated his demand.

After speaking, he quietly looked at the old man behind the desk.

But after waiting a moment, Alexander gave no reply, merely looking at him with a subtle expression.

"Alexander, whether you agree or not, give me a reply—your sudden silence makes me embarrassed." Su Qing waited a bit more, Alexander still didn't speak, he made up his mind and said: "If you don't speak again, I'll leave."

Still no words, Su Qing couldn't help wondering—this scene felt like a battle of wits with empty air; maybe he was deliberately giving him the cold shoulder, trying a psychological ploy to make him lose his footing.

He stepped forward two steps to the desk, waved his hand, but the old man still had no reaction; helpless, he simply pulled a chair and sat down, seeing a side table, he casually made himself a cup of tea to sip.

What surprised Su Qing was that the tea leaves were actually Big Red Robe.

You should know that getting from Hungary to China requires crossing an ocean; the straight-line distance is over seven thousand kilometers, and in this era you couldn't make it in less than half a year to a year.

Alexander actually managed to get Big Red Robe—quite unexpected.

Being able to drink his homeland's tea in a foreign land, Su Qing felt moved; he brewed himself a cup, then thought it would be impolite to drink alone using someone else's tea.

So he poured a cup and placed it before Alexander.

Clink!

The tea cup fell onto the table, making a clear, crisp sound.

Strangely, the old man who had shown no reaction after half a minute of speaking finally responded upon hearing the tea cup's sound.

He came to, glanced at Su Qing, said nothing, then skillfully lifted the tea cup to his lips and took a gentle sip—his motion, disregarding his Western features, made him seem like a true Easterner.

After a light sip, he set the cup down, Alexander looked at Su Qing and asked, "Your name is Su Qing, right?"

Glug… glug…

Su Qing didn't reply, gulped down a cup of tea, refilled it, then candidly said, "Yes, Su Qing—the 'Su' from 'heaven above, Suzhou-Hangzhou below,' the 'Qing' from 'the blue of my heart's collar'."

"Hearing your name reminds me of several departed friends."

Su Qing nodded; the old man—still a super-aged over-1500-year-old—naturally recalls the past when seeing scenes, which is completely understandable.

Thinking of this, he curiously asked, "Are those departed friends of yours Easterners?"

"That's right—over eight hundred years ago I visited the Eastern lands once, made some friends there; oh, and one of them shared your surname Su." Alexander sighed, rose, turned his head to look at the wall's calligraphy reading "Damn it," and said with melancholy, "This piece was written by him for me."

Su Qing followed Alexander's gaze to the calligraphy, and suddenly noticed the left-side signature seemed off: the eleventh day of the eighth month in the Yuan You era, Su Zizhan!

His heart gave a slight jolt, and he couldn't help asking, "What's the name of that friend of yours who shares my surname?"

Alexander turned his head to look at him, gave a light smile, and spoke in proper, rounded Chinese: "Su Shi!"

"Holy crap, it really is him!" Su Qing felt a jolt, his eyes blazing as he stared at the calligraphy—this could be an authentic work of the great Su Shi himself!

His thoughts reaching this point, he paused, then suddenly realized and looked at Alexander: "You can speak Chinese!"

"Of course—otherwise how would I usually communicate with him?" Alexander glanced at him, then continued: "Over my long lifespan I've learned many peoples' languages and met many interesting individuals."

Alexander narrowed his eyes, seeming to sink into recollection; after a while he went on: "I stayed in your homeland for fifty years, befriending Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi and several others; from them I learned perspectives on all things in the world that I had never grasped in the first half of my life. It was then that I suddenly realized Marcus and William each had their own path to follow, so I returned to my homeland and silently watched them, all the way up to now."

"Holy shit, my ancestors, you're awesome—even Alexander got convinced."

Su Qing never expected that Alexander's whole-time bystander, cleaning up after others, was due to the influence of Su Shi and other celebrities.

Alexander noticed Su Qing's expression change, gave a light smile, and said: "That guy Su Shi was quite famous back then; although many years have passed, you surely know him."

"Of course I know him, and I can recite his works backward."

Song·Su Shi·Nian Nu Jiao……

His ancient poems were practically a childhood nightmare—back then I had to recite them every day and would end up crying.

"Hiss!" Su Qing recalled the fear of being dominated by ancient poems, quickly changed the subject: "Wait, I think we should get back to talking about the deal."

Alexander also didn't mind the diversion, smiled, and continued: "The deal is a good one; your conditions are quite reasonable."

Hearing that, Su Qing blinked in surprise, his eyes full of astonishment.

He knew full well that this was nothing but a lion's grand opening—asking for far too much.

Originally intending to negotiate, he couldn't just blurt out his expected price at the start; surely he'd begin high, then they'd engage in a tug‑of‑war, finally settling on a price both could accept.

How……

Damn, could it be that I actually said it too cheap!

Su Qing instinctively lifted his head, wondering whether he should double his original basis.

But a glance showed Alexander looking at him with a half‑smile.

He quickly dismissed the thought of doubling, gave a hehe laugh, and said: "Since you think the deal is reasonable, how about we proceed with it now?"

"No." Alexander shook his head.

"Well, you said the deal was reasonable, so why the shake‑head? By the way, William is all alone in that lightless coffin—you're his father, can you really bear it?"

Alexander settled back into his chair, took a slow sip of tea, and said calmly: "Your conditions seem reasonable to me, but I never said I wanted to trade with you. As for William, his fate also saddens me, but it's unavoidable—we can only let him suffer for now."

Hearing his words, Su Qing nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood and fainted on the spot.

Fuck, something that could be cleared up in a sentence, and you've dragged on about old friends and such—you old coot are just using me as a monkey.

Damn immortal, heavenly killer lone star, giving birth to a son with no asshole—wait, no, having sons just makes them mutants.

"You……" Su Qing pointed at Alexander, wanting to say something but feeling powerless no matter what; he was still too young, facing this treacherous thousand‑year‑old coot, truly had no recourse.

Think about it—I'm pretty damn stupid too, missed it all along, listened to half a day of stories… pfft, immortal old bastard, I'm not playing with you anymore.

Su Qing rose, grabbed the large copper plate intending to leave, but then heard Alexander say: "However, the keys are right before my eyes—I can't pretend I didn't see them. As for your request, I can only give you two hundred milliliters of blood; the rest is fine."

"Damn, you were waiting for me here, weren't you!"

His steps halted; Su Qing was neither able to leave nor stay—at this moment his feelings were extremely tangled, and he very much wanted to draw his gun and put a bullet in that old coot's head.

But considering the purpose of this trip, he could only suppress the impulse, turned his head with a grim expression and replied: "Double the blood to four hundred milliliters, or we have nothing to discuss—even if you use force to take this key from my hand, you'll never get the other one……"