The sudden turn of events caught Aileen, who had made meticulous preparations, completely off guard!
She had assumed that Chief Steward Mar would be the one coming, and had prepared thoroughly for that.
Not only did Chief Steward Mar have a good relationship with her grandfather, but he had also hinted beforehand that although the price of yarn was bound to rise, the extent of the increase was negotiable.
Isn't the implication clear? Simply put, as long as one can offer enough benefits, Chief Steward Mar could use his positional advantage to give Thunderhawk City a little price concession.
As someone in charge of trading with a city, he certainly had that authority.
Thus, Aileen had already figured out how to deal with Chief Steward Mar and had even notified Rocky in advance.
But what was happening now? Why hadn't Chief Steward Mar, who had readily agreed with her grandfather, shown up, and why had someone else come to trade with Thunderhawk City?
This unexpected change left Aileen at a loss, even uncertain about how to respond for a moment.
Fortunately, Voss was right by her side!
"Is it Senior Voss?"
The group from the Azure Commerce Guild had just approached when their leader spoke up first.
"Indeed, may I know who I have the pleasure of speaking with...?"
"I am Jia Xi, the newly appointed overseer of the Azure Commerce Guild."
The man speaking was named Jia Xi, who appeared to be around forty years old, but his temples were already slightly graying, and his complexion didn't look very good. However, he maintained a smiling face throughout the conversation.
"Senior Voss, I have heard much about your exploits from Chief Steward Mar. You were quite an influential figure back in the day!"
After a brief self-introduction, the new Overseer Jia Xi struck up a conversation with Voss, who effortlessly responded with wit and humor. Judging by their demeanor at that moment, one couldn't tell that it was their first meeting; instead, they seemed like old friends.
After exchanging pleasantries, Voss, Jia Xi, and a perplexed Aileen all boarded the same carriage and headed straight for the City Lord's Mansion.
"Senior Voss, please put in good words for us during this transaction in front of the City Lord."
While riding in the carriage to the City Lord's Mansion, Jia Xi and Voss talked continuously, quickly getting onto the topic of the transaction.
But hearing this, Voss just smiled and shook his head, saying, "Overseer Jia Xi, I'm afraid I can't interfere this time. I'm no longer the finance officer of Thunderhawk City."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Jia Xi was startled, clearly unaware of this fact, then inquired:
"Senior Voss, who is Thunderhawk City's current finance officer...?"
While speaking, Voss glanced at Aileen.
"Aileen, come and greet Overseer Jia Xi."
"Overseer Jia Xi, hello."
Called upon by Voss, Aileen finally snapped back to reality and hastily greeted Jia Xi.
In fact, from the very beginning, Aileen had been somewhat distracted. She kept wondering why? Why had the person coming to trade with Thunderhawk City suddenly changed?
Was it an accident?
Aileen didn't think so; at the critical juncture of rising yarn prices, such an accident seemed improbable.
Was it a coincidence?
Was it just a coincidence that the Azure Commerce Guild decided to have Jia Xi handle the trade with Thunderhawk City and that it was completely unrelated to the increased price of yarn?
Aileen felt that was equally impossible. Thunderhawk City might be small, but it was still a Sky City, and it had to be managed by an overseer-level individual. Therefore, the Azure Commerce Guild wouldn't change its representative lightly.
Furthermore, Chief Steward Mar had already made contact with Grandfather before; if he knew he was going to be replaced, why would he have readily agreed to all of Grandfather's requests?
Therefore, after much thought, Aileen could only come to one conclusion—Grandfather had been deceived!
Even though Chief Steward Mar had readily agreed to Grandfather's requests before, in reality it was all a deception. The other party likely knew in advance that it wasn't him coming to Thunderhawk City for the trade, but he didn't inform Grandfather, leading to today's scene!
This outcome was indeed difficult for Aileen to accept. She had never imagined that her grandfather, who had always been so astute, would be tripped up over such a matter and played by a mere steward.
With this in mind, she couldn't help but glance at Voss, only to find her grandfather looking as composed as ever, still jovially chatting with Jia Xi.
At this moment, Voss was introducing Aileen to Jia Xi:
"This is my granddaughter, and she is now the finance officer of Thunderhawk City."
"Oh?"
Voss's words made Jia Xi reveal an expression of sudden realization, and then he turned to look at Aileen.
After examining Aileen, Jia Xi nodded with a smile. Although he didn't say much, there was an involuntary flash of something in his gaze.
At the same time, Aileen subconsciously frowned because the thing that flashed through Jia Xi's eyes while appraising her suddenly made her feel somewhat disgusted.
However, everyone present was clever; the sly and crafty Jia Xi soon started chatting with Voss again, and Aileen returned to her normal demeanor.
During the journey, Jia Xi and Voss were always chatting idly, looking very much like long-time acquaintances. After learning that all the previous preparations had been void, Aileen began trying her best to join in the conversation, attempting several times to steer it towards the yarn trade.
She wanted to use this opportunity to sound out Jia Xi's stance, to better prepare for the negotiations to come.
But for some reason, after discovering that Voss was not the finance officer, Jia Xi, who had originally brought up the matter actively, now refused to discuss it. Even when Aileen brought it up several times on her own, he only casually acknowledged her a few times before changing the subject to other matters.
The journey from the port to the City Lord's Mansion was not short, but it had to end eventually. So by the time the carriage stopped, Aileen's efforts had been unsuccessful; she hadn't been able to discern Jia Xi's stance.
This result made Aileen more and more uneasy, because based on her experience, Jia Xi's behavior was not a good sign.
And after the carriage arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, Aileen led Jia Xi to meet Rocky, while Voss, just as he had said earlier, did not follow.
"City Lord, this is the Overseer of the Azure Commerce Guild, Overseer Jia Xi."
Having brought Jia Xi to the City Lord's Hall, Aileen was greeted by Rocky who had already been waiting there for some time.
However, when Aileen finished introducing Jia Xi and then looked towards Rocky, she discovered, just as she had imagined, that Rocky's face was filled with surprise and confusion.
Clearly, Rocky had been just as baffled by Jia Xi's appearance as Aileen had been, because like Aileen, he had expected Chief Steward Mar to arrive, as Chief Steward Mar had represented the Azure Commerce Guild in dealings with Thunderhawk City for a long time. So why was there suddenly someone else today?
Now this was troublesome…
Glancing at Jia Xi standing in front of him and then at Aileen, whose expression was slightly embarrassed, Rocky knew that there might have been some changes in the situation!
But his response was also quite fast; the surprise and confusion on his face quickly disappeared, replaced instead by a smile as he said to Overseer Jia Xi, "Overseer Jia Xi, you've had a long journey."
"Thank you for your kind concern, City Lord."
With a slight bow to Rocky, Jia Xi clearly was a man accustomed to significant events and knew very well how to behave in the presence of a City Lord.
After that, Rocky exchanged a few pleasantries with Jia Xi, and then they moved on to the main topic.
"City Lord, the price of yarn this time will increase by thirty percent."
The real business between Jia Xi and Rocky was, of course, the yarn trade, and Jia Xi got straight to the point, informing Rocky that not only would the price of yarn go up, but it would be by as much as thirty percent!
Thirty percent!
At these words, Rocky involuntarily took a sharp breath!
The increase was not just far beyond his expectations, it even exceeded the limit that Thunderhawk City could withstand!