She did not think that strangers would suddenly take the initiative to strike up a friendly conversation. She believed that it would be hard to figure out a person's real intentions just by talking to them, so it was best to be wary. She couldn't consider that group of people as friendly. They were insistent and intrusive and wanted to find out where she was staying. That was a sign for her to be wary of them.
They returned to the hotel and returned to their respective rooms. After she showered, Shuishui called the businessman. They agreed on a meeting time for the next day. The businessman's voice sounded smooth. "Miss Qian, you could have contacted me earlier if you were here today. I could have toured you around. After all, you're not familiar with this place."
"It's all right. We just dined out today. We didn't do anything else. You don't have to worry. We've never been here before, but we got around well with the help of a map." Shuishui was an independent person. She didn't think it was necessary for someone to accompany her around an unfamiliar place.
"All right then. Tomorrow at noon, in the city . . ." the businessman said as he sent Shuishui the address of their designated meeting place. "I look forward to meeting you tomorrow. I also hope that everything will go smoothly. Anyway, have a good day."
When the call ended, Shuishui received a message from Mu Ziyu. He reminded her to be mindful of their surroundings and to call him whenever she was free. Shuishui looked at her phone. Wherever she went, Ziyu always thought about her. She replied: "Ziyu, we're already here. We've already had dinner. We're going to rest now. We'll be back in a few days. Don't worry."
Just as she put down her phone and was about to rest, her phone rang. It was a video call connection request. Shuishui answered when she saw it was Mu Ziyu.
"You received my reply so quickly," Shuishui said. It was morning back in the capital where Mu Ziyu was.
"I missed you." Mu Ziyu felt uncomfortable whenever he thought about Shuishui being abroad. He was very worried, but at the same time, he wished that he could be with her. Shuishui left without informing him. Although it was a last-minute decision, he was very dissatisfied with how she made the decision. He wanted to talk about the matter with Shuishui some other day. At that moment, he only hoped that Shuishui would become more mature. He planned to marry Shuishui and settle abroad with her in the future. He was getting annoyed and frustrated that as she grew older, she was becoming more and more beautiful. She would meet more people when she entered university. He was worried that she would encounter people with malicious intentions.
"I miss you too. Don't stress yourself. I'll bring you a gift. The chocolate here is very good." Shuishui didn't really know what to buy for Ziyu, but she was relieved knowing that she had enough cash in her wallet. She didn't need to say it out loud. She planned to buy him a gift and surprise him when they returned to the capital.
"I don't want anything, as long as you come back. Please take care of yourself. It's cold over there. Don't catch a cold. Don't go out too much. Are you in France now? I saw what Anzhi posted. The place you are staying in is pretty good. But you still have to be mindful of your surroundings and make sure you're safe all the time. You guys should be back at the hotel by nighttime, understand?" Ziyu couldn't rest easy knowing he was not by Shuishui's side.
"All right, I understand. I won't wander around. Also, when we arrived, we were told that it's not too safe at night. They told us to go out less, so you don't have to worry." Shuishui didn't want to risk their safety by intentionally going out at night despite knowing it's unsafe. Besides, night life wasn't interesting to her.
She knew Mu Ziyu was worried. "I'll definitely take good care of myself. Don't worry too much, all right?" she said.
They lay down on their beds. Mu Ziyu looked at Shuishui. "You can go to sleep. I want to look at you. When you fall asleep, I'll hang up, okay?"
"It's up to you," Shuishui said as she closed her eyes. She was a little tired. Although she had slept for a long time on the plane, she didn't feel rested because she was uncomfortable on the plane.
After a while, she fell asleep.
Mu Ziyu looked at Shuishui's face. She was so cute when she slept.
"Shuishui, good night," he said. He ended the video call and got up. He only wanted to see Shuishui fall asleep.
Shuishui wslep soundly that night. She got up and went out have breakfast with Qian Anzhi. She accompanied Anzhi to the travel agency to sign up for a one-day tour. She gave Anzhi some pocket money and said, "You have fun today. I'm going to take care of some things." She left Anzhi with the tour group. He would be back in the hotel that night.
"Sis, why don't you come along?" Qian Anzhi said helplessly before she left him. He felt hurt that she would leave him with a tour group.
"You can visit more places when you go with a group. All right. Stop complaining. Have fun," Shuishui said before she left Anzhi.
Qian Anzhi helplessly waited for everyone in the room.
Soon after, some tourists arrived. The group was divided in groups. Anzhi saw that there were tourists who came alone, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one.
It was Shuishui and Mr. John's first meeting. He was of Chinese descent and his surname was Cheng.
When she arrived at the high-rise building, she went up and asked for directions to the restaurant. She found the restaurant, walked in, and looked around. It had unimaginable and eye-catching decorations, and everything was so intricately designed that she was mesmerized.
A waiter came up to her. She said, "I have a reservation."
She glanced around and saw a young man at one of the tables. She wondered if he was the businessman she had agreed to meet up with. She strode forward and said, "Hello. Mr. Cheng?"
"Miss Qian?" the man stoop up in surprise when he saw that Qian Shuishui looked very young. She had such a young and innocent face. They had never asked each other about their ages because it was an unimportant matter.
"Please take a seat," he said to Shuishui.
Shuishui made it a point to dress more maturely that day. "Thank you," she said as she sat down.
"I'll be the host today. Order the dishes first, then we'll talk in detail. What do you think? The serving time is quite long because the dishes are prepared meticulously," he said to Shuishui.
Qian Shuishui smiled and nodded. "Of course. I hope you don't mind if I order several dishes."
She called the waiter and asked for the menu. After a few glances, she closed it. She had tried French cuisine the previous day, but she was all right with trying more French dishes because she was in the country anyway. She couldn't really understand the menu, so she directly called the waiter and ordered French dishes that she had previously ordered.
"I didn't expect your French to be so good," Mr. Cheng said as he placed his hands on the table. He thought that he needed help to place their order, but it seemed that there was no need for it. He felt that she knew more about French delicacies than he did.
"I can only say a little. It's embarrassing." Shuishui was being frank, and Mr. Cheng felt a bit intimidated. He found comfort in the belief that it would be easy to settle business with Shuishui since she was young and a woman.
Shuishui had no idea that Mr. Cheng had initially underestimated her.
"Then let's get straight to the point. I want to buy exclusive rights to your process of making your handicrafts." Although he was not a high-tech person, he saw a good business opportunity when he came upon the handicrafts Shuishui had posted on the website.
He planned to manufacture many products out of the prototype and put them up for sale in the market. He believed that Shuishui's handicrafts were unique and would be hard to imitate. He saw the many possibilities if he had the exclusive rights for the products. As a businessman, he could not believe that she was even interested in selling it.
"The two production methods and the anti-imitation clause, together with the copyright and the other things, will cost two million. It includes exclusive rights to the process. I think the price I offered is reasonable," Shuishui said bluntly. She understood that Mr. Cheng was a businessman. She was not as business-savvy as he was, but she was not stupid enough to be fooled. She would not lower her price. It was non-negotiable for her. She felt that there would be other people interested in it. There would be other prospective buyers, so she was not worried about him not agreeing with her price.
Shuishui glanced at her glass of water and looked at Mr. Cheng. "It's reasonable, right? At the very least, if someone tried to imitate you, it would take them at least a few years to be able to produce a replica," she continued.
"Miss Qian, they are not widely used items." He frowned. He did not expect her to speak first.
"Mr. Cheng, it's a novel idea. They are products that many people would be interested in. It's not widely used, but it doesn't mean that it's not useful. There are restrictions on its usage, but they do not impact the quality of the product. Besides, the production cost is low. I just don't want to lose money. I know you are also interested in it for profit. However, it's mutually beneficial. Wouldn't it be better if we came up with opportunities that we can work on in the future? Soon, I am planning to come up with a smaller gadget with similar functions." Shuishui's price was fair. It was up to Mr. Cheng whether he would refuse the offer, ask for a lower price, or accept the deal and team up with Shuishui.
Mr. Cheng understood what Shuishui meant. If he wanted to continue to cooperate and establish a good business relationship, the premise was mutual benefit.
Mr. Cheng smiled and said, "Interesting. I didn't expect you to be so good at doing business at such a young age. Then as a friend, I have an offer to make. Let's work together happily." He knew he would not lose out on the price Shuishui had stated. He had initially wanted to close the deal for a low price, because he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. When Shuishui spoke, however, he realized she was not someone he could fool with regard to the business. He admired her frankness and resourcefulness. Most importantly, he was impressed by her skills. "After dinner, my lawyer will come over. We'll discuss the contract in detail. You need to prepare a copy of your passport and a certificate," he said to Shuishui.
"I've already prepared it," Shuishui said. Foreign regulations were lax, and she was over sixteen years old anyway.
When they finished their meal, two people in suits arrived. One was a foreign woman, and the other was an Asian.
The Asian man spoke to Shuishui in Chinese.
Shuishui studied the contract, which was in English.
"Everything seems to be fine, though I can't guarantee that it will not be replicated by others. You should be fine, in the next one or two years if you safeguard it," Shuishui said as everything was laid out before her. She also added in a few documents for Mr. Cheng to read.
She paused as she was reading through the documents. "I hope Article 21 can be deleted. If so, I can sign the contract directly," she said.
"This one? Oh, yes," Mr. Cheng answered. It was actually an unimportant clause. He was impressed that she had read everything and caught the minor error. He felt that it would be difficult for him if he continued to do business with smart people.
Both parties knew what the other party wanted, and they stated their purposes clearly. "I hope we can work together happily," Mr. Cheng said.
"En, we can work together happily. I've also prepared the designs and sketches. I can hand them over to you today," she said as she took out a bunch of other documents. She and Mr. Cheng finalized everything by signing the documents. They used their seals, and Shuishui was given her copy of the document. She handed another copy to Mr. Cheng's lawyer.
Finally, they shook hands. Before Shuishui left, she said, "I hope we get to work together again in the future."
"Of course. If you come up with something new, you can contact me again." They felt that since it was a happy collaboration, they could work together again in the future.
When Shuishui left, Mr. Cheng sat down. He placed his chin in his hand and pondered on what had happened. "How interesting," he said.
"Boss, do you know more about that lady?" the lawyer said as he was looking at the photocopy of Shuishui's passport. He was confused. He couldn't believe Shuishui's age. "That lady just now—she is very young," he said.
"Indeed, she looked quite young, but she spoke with maturity. She must be a businesswoman." Cheng Le did not know much about Qian Shuishui because they had only met and had never talked about anything beyond the business. He was impressed by her calm gaze and by how she carried herself with confidence. Although he liked smart women and Qian Shuishui was indeed beautiful, she looked very young. On that point, he was a little concerned.
"Boss, she doesn't just look young. She really is very young. She is almost seventeen years old. Logically speaking, she is not an ***** yet." The lawyer was still staring at their copy of Shuishui's passport. It was indeed stated there that she was only sixteen.
Cheng Le frowned. "Let me see that."
He stared at the photo and read Shuishui's personal details. He couldn't help but laugh. They had been talking for so long, but he had never doubted her age. "Is this her real age? Go check it out and tell me what you find," he said to his lawyer.
The lawyer nodded. "Okay."
Shuishui's personal details kept reappearing in Cheng Le's mind. If she really was young, then it would be really interesting.
Meanwhile, Shuishui took a deep breath as she went out. She had succeeded and had earned more money, but she still had to continue working hard.
Shuishui, who was in a good mood, wandered around by herself that afternoon. She found a place where she could have dinner before returning to the hotel to wait for Qian Anzhi.
That afternoon, she visited a few luxury stores. She wanted to give gifts to some friends and elders. She felt it was more appropriate to give watches or wallets to elders. They were valuable, and they would not be easy to get rid off or give away.
That afternoon, she spent a lot of money and bought gifts for the elders. She bought a wallet for Teacher Hu, while she bought a belt for Teacher Li. She bought bracelets for Auntie Mu and Auntie Jiang. She hadn't found any suitable gift for Mu Ziyu yet, but she bought a watch for Mu Zilin.
She bought a few postcards for some of her friends.