Chapter 164: Cooperation

"Deliver money to you? We don't have any financial dealings with you. On what grounds would you deliver money to us?" asked the woman beside Master Yao with some surprise.

"Ding-dong..." Amidst their conversation, the elevator descended to the ground floor, and its doors opened automatically.

"Why don't the two Masters and I move to another place to talk? I will naturally explain everything to you then," Zhang Wei said with a smile, noticing that he had piqued their interest.

"Very well, but let's skip the meal. We can talk in the pavilion in the residential compound," Master Yao and the woman exchanged a glance and nodded.

"After you," Zhang Wei said.

With that, Zhang Wei accompanied the two of them to the pavilion in the compound. As soon as the three of them sat around the stone table, Master Yao impatiently asked, "Just spit it out. We are pressed for time."

"The two of you must be well aware that the real estate brokerage industry and feng shui masters are closely linked. The clients of both industries often overlap, so I hope to cooperate with the two of you. We can exchange information and share resources," Zhang Wei stated directly.

In fact, Zhang Wei had thought about cooperating with feng shui masters long ago. The wealthier people were, the more they believed in feng shui. Whether these people were buying real estate or renting commercial office space, they would always hire feng shui masters to survey the property beforehand.

Zhang Wei believed that Master Yao definitely held information on some wealthy individuals, or that these wealthy people would make an appointment with him for a feng shui survey before buying or renting a home. In Zhang Wei's eyes, Master Yao was a potential vault of gold.

Zhang Wei believed that as long as he could persuade Master Yao to cooperate with him, he would gain an additional channel for generating leads. Furthermore, these clients were bound to be wealthy VIPs, which would simultaneously expand his network and greatly assist his career.

"It is true that real estate agencies and feng shui masters are closely connected, but that does not mean we need to cooperate," Master Yao mused, refusing the offer.

Master Yao was also a shrewd person who would not agree to anything without benefits. What Zhang Wei described—information exchange and resource sharing—seemed like an equal treaty, but due to the differing nature of their industries, Zhang Wei's information would not be of much use to him.

First of all, wealthy clients would make an appointment with him for a feng shui survey before buying a house, allowing him to acquire their information and contact details. If he gave these contact details to Zhang Wei, Zhang Wei could proactively reach out to the clients and easily close the deal with his cooperation. In other words, simply by exchanging information, Zhang Wei would be the one benefiting from him.

Secondly, although Zhang Wei also had plenty of client data in his hands, those clients might not necessarily believe in feng shui. Even if they did, they would not trust the feng shui master introduced by Zhang Wei, fearing that the agency and the feng shui master might collude to deceive them.

Furthermore, even if Master Yao obtained client contact information and details from Zhang Wei, the nature of a feng shui master's profession did not allow him to proactively contact clients. Feng shui masters belonged to a mysterious profession, and as practitioners, they had to maintain a certain level of aloofness and dignity. In other words, even with an exchange of information, Master Yao could not benefit from Zhang Wei.

The biggest difference between a feng shui master and a real estate agent is that the former belongs to the modern service industry, while the latter belongs to the ancient mystical arts. Their service philosophies are worlds apart.

The modern service industry emphasizes the active service philosophy that the customer is god. Proactively contacting clients is a professional standard; not only will it not be looked down upon by clients, but it will also win their favor.

For example, as long as a real estate agent knows a client has a demand to buy a house, regardless of where the information came from, they can directly contact the client. As long as they have suitable properties and can win the client's trust, they can close the deal.

The ancient mystical arts emphasize mystery and transcendence. They do not proactively contact clients; instead, they rely on their reputation and credibility to have clients proactively come and "request" their services. They must maintain a certain air of aloofness; only in this way can they demonstrate their capability.

For instance, if Master Yao learned of a client's home-buying information from Zhang Wei and knew that this person believed in feng shui, he still could not proactively contact that client. Doing so would "cheapen" him, which did not befit the status of a feng shui master and might instead cause the client to mistake him for a fraud.

"Master Yao, I understand what you mean. I know the uniqueness of your profession and that you have special channels for meeting clients, but that doesn't mean we have no possibility of cooperation," Zhang Wei said.

"If you can provide me with client information and contact details, as long as the client signs a deal through me, I will give you a 20 percent commission. How does that sound?" Zhang Wei asked.

Upon hearing Zhang Wei's words, Master Yao did not answer immediately. He stroked his goatee, his small eyes darting around rapidly, and then exchanged a glance with the woman beside him, nodding almost imperceptibly.

"We can consider your proposal, but if you want the client to sign—requiring us to provide client data and later cooperate with you on the feng shui aspect—a 20 percent commission is simply too low. We want at least a 50 percent commission," the beautiful woman said.

"Fifty percent is definitely out of the question. Our company also takes a large share of the profit. I can only increase it to 30 percent," Zhang Wei replied.

"If it's 40 percent, we agree," the woman said.

"You get paid for the feng shui survey, you get an extra commission from me, and you don't even need to make any major investments. Actually, a 30 percent commission is already quite generous," Zhang Wei argued.

"So be it. Wealth is merely external material. We practitioners of the mystical arts are merely trying to make a living in the mortal world. Let's do it according to this gentleman's offer of 30 percent," Master Yao said.

"Master Yao truly has high enlightenment," Zhang Wei smiled and said.

"By the way, I still don't know how to address this gentleman," Master Yao asked. Although he remembered Zhang Wei from their previous encounter, he had forgotten his name.

"I was too caught up in discussing business earlier and forgot to introduce myself to Master Yao," Zhang Wei said, taking out a business card and handing it over. "My name is Zhang Wei. I hope to rely on Master Yao's guidance and support in the future."

"Zhang Wei, Store Manager of Zhongtong Real Estate's Yayuan Branch!" Master Yao silently recited the information on the business card, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes as he thought to himself, "This kid doesn't look very old, yet he's already a store manager of a real estate agency. He must be quite a capable person."

Master Yao had extensive social connections, dealing with people from all walks of life, and he had seen many wealthy and powerful young masters. Some became section chiefs or directors at a young age, while others became managers or vice presidents right after graduation. However, those people merely relied on their family backgrounds.

A real estate agency store manager was different. In Master Yao's eyes, this position held much more substantial value. Although the title was not high, it was earned purely through one's own ability; no young master would fight for this position relying on family background.

The real estate brokerage industry had a low threshold, which was precisely why its talent pool was so broad. People with either university degrees or elementary school educations could engage in it. It could be said to be the industry with the largest workforce, making the competition extremely fierce.

Among them, 80 percent of those who entered the real estate brokerage industry failed to make money, and sooner or later, they would leave. Others left for various reasons. Only a very small fraction managed to stay.

Without a doubt, those who stayed were elites in real estate, possessing strong business acumen and interpersonal skills. To become the store manager of such people required not only superior competence but also deeper seniority; otherwise, it would be impossible to win their conviction.

In Master Yao's view, the fact that Zhang Wei could become a store manager at such a young age meant he did not rely on seniority, signifying his exceptional personal ability. As the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together." Master Yao was willing to cooperate with capable people so that his intelligence and information would not go to waste.

"Zhang Wei, I've always had a question I wanted to consult you about. Can you tell me?" the woman beside Master Yao asked with curiosity.

"Of course," Zhang Wei said. "However, I still don't know how to address you, Miss."

"My name is Yao Qian," the woman said.

"Last time, that house you showed Mr. Li—the feng shui of that house was clearly not very good. If he moved into that house, his family might face bloodshed. Why did Mr. Li still buy that house?"

Yao Qian remembered the scene when she ran into Zhang Wei last time very clearly. The moment they met, Zhang Wei had flirted with her. To exact revenge for Yao Qian, Master Yao had intentionally portrayed the feng shui as extremely poor, hoping to dissuade Li Guang from purchasing Zhang Wei's property.

Li Guang was a firm believer in feng shui. In the minds of Master Yao and Yao Qian, Li Guang certainly would not buy that house. Yet, developments went completely contrary to their expectations; Li Guang ultimately bought the house, and reportedly signed the contract directly on the same day.

Upon hearing about this incident, both Master Yao and Yao Qian were utterly baffled, unable to figure out where the problem lay. The two of them had always wanted to get to the bottom of it, and since they were now in a cooperative relationship, Yao Qian naturally brought it up directly.

After Yao Qian asked this question, Master Yao also looked at Zhang Wei with a curious expression. To become a qualified feng shui master, one needed not only to understand feng shui, divination, physiognomy, and auspicious dates, but also to grasp the thoughts in the client's mind.

Only by hitting upon what the client was thinking could a feng shui master win their trust and make them willingly hand over their money. Master Yao had thought about Li Guang's transaction for a long time, vaguely grasping some threads, but always feeling that some aspects were not entirely clear.

"Master Yao, I wonder if you noticed that Li Guang and his wife are not very harmonious with each other," Zhang Wei said, casting a meaningful glance at Master Yao.

As soon as Zhang Wei spoke, Master Yao frowned. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said, "I understand now! You had already seen through the problems between Li Guang and his wife, so you deliberately offended the two of us, prompting me to describe the house's feng shui as poor. That way, Li Guang would end up buying the house instead!"

Master Yao was a clever man, and he was already very familiar with that incident. Prompted by Zhang Wei, he immediately saw through the crux of the matter, a look of sudden realization dawning on his face.

At the same time, he held Zhang Wei in even higher esteem. No matter how disharmonious the relationship between Li Guang and his wife was, Li Guang would never tell outsiders that he wanted to harm his wife. The fact that Zhang Wei could see through this and use it to facilitate the deal was proof of his capability.

"In other words, you were flirting with me on purpose last time!" Yao Qian glared at Zhang Wei with wide, almond-shaped eyes, her expression looking rather unfriendly.