"...That's what happened." Portia tapped her eyebrows with a folding fan and showed a helpless expression: "You also know that Granny Nail has left the Southern Region, and it is impossible to find her to help refine the hat. "
"According to Sister Dong Lizi's words, I can only look for you now."
At this point, Portia chuckled: "Originally, I was thinking about how to contact you, but what I didn't expect was that just when I was distressed, Regina came to me."
"You should know what happened next."
Portia wanted to find Angel, and Angel happened to be looking for her, so today's meeting happened.
"In that case, it's quite a coincidence." Angel raised his eyebrows.
Portia Smiler's swaying folding fan: "Since it's such a coincidence, do you want to accept my request?"
Angel was silent for a moment and said, "Is this a condition of exchange?"
On the condition of liberating Qili, exchange him for refining hats?
Portia: "If you want it to be a quid pro quo, that's fine. Just so, if you want to solve Qili's matter, I have two options here, and one of them can indeed be used as a quid pro quo."
Angel was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean?"
According to Portia, one of the plans can be obtained without any exchange conditions?
If this is the case, wouldn’t it be enough to just choose this option?
Portia seemed to see Angel's doubts and explained: "After listening to my two plans, you will understand..."
Next, Portia began to describe in detail her solution to Qili's matter.
The first option does not require any exchange conditions. Portia directly orders the director of the Fragrance Department of Ashley College to cancel Qili's mission and revoke the ban and punishment on Qili.
This plan is actually the solution Angel thought of at the beginning to deal with Qili.
It was just that Angel was thinking that Portia might use this plan to exchange conditions with him.
But now it seems that Portia does not intend to use this to "blackmail" Angel?
After hearing this plan, Angel had some doubts in his mind. Did he think too badly of Portia? Or did Portia have a deeper meaning in doing this?
Portia did not explain the first plan, but directly stated the second plan, which could be regarded as an "exchange condition".
"The second option is that I won't come forward to solve the matter, but I can privately teach Qili a special extraction method. The extraction speed of this extraction method is similar to that of the general extraction method, but the extraction speed of each extraction is Measurement, but much more than the previous extraction method.”
"In other words, if Qili learns this extraction method, she can clean up the No. 1 raw material warehouse faster."
"And this special extraction method was created by me and has never been spread before. How about I use this unique extraction method in exchange for you to help Dong Liz refine a hat?"
After hearing Portia's second plan, Angel's expression was a little subtle.
Portia's solution actually also has the option of "accelerating extraction".
Sure enough, the alchemist masters actually had the same idea, and Portia actually had the same idea as Midora.
However, this plan sounds different from him going to Stirling to borrow equipment.
Borrowing equipment from Stirling may cost you points; asking Portia for an extraction method may cost you an alchemy opportunity. In short, they all cost money, so there seems to be no difference?
Thinking about it this way, it seems that the first option is better?
But why did Portia choose the first plan and help unconditionally, but would make an exchange for the second plan?
This bias is because Portia feels that the second option will cost her more?
Indeed, given a special extraction method, it would definitely cost a lot. But for the first option, she obviously didn't need to pay anything, she just needed to issue an order.
……wrong.
Angel thought about it carefully. If Portia uses the first option, she will actually have to pay. What she pays is her face, or in other words, her credibility.
She used her credibility as a guarantee to bail out Qili. People in the fragrance circle were willing to agree because of Portia's face.
This kind of intangible contribution may be more than the tangible contribution.
After all, it is difficult to accumulate credibility, but it is easy to collapse it.
Moreover, what Qili destroyed was the "spiritual faith" of the fragrance wizards. Even if Portia could use her credibility to save her, this method would also make some fragrance wizards feel resentful.
Many times, the decisive factor that affects the collapse of a building may not be the cracked earth or a violent disaster, but an inconspicuous breeze.
Part of the resentment in the hearts of the fragrance wizards is this seamless thread. It won't be anything at first, but as it accumulates, once something happens to Portia, they will gather together and become the last thing that breaks the camel's back.
Root straw.
Therefore, using reputation as a guarantee may actually cost more than the tangible payment. But why did Portia not use this plan to exchange conditions with Angel?
——Because, if she does not exchange, she may gain more.
Intangible contribution, how much this contribution is, is unknown.
The price she will have to recover is naturally unknown.
There is only one "unknown" that Angel can think of, and that is...humanity.
The first plan does not seem to require any exchange conditions, but the invisible price Portia paid is enough to exchange Angel's favor.
The debt of gratitude is the most difficult to repay.
Now, Portia has not asked Angel to exchange the special magic pattern for life alchemy; but in the future, what if she talks about things as a favor?
Thinking about it this way, the first plan seems ordinary, but it is actually a big pitfall.
On the other hand, the second option is to clearly mark the price, and everyone goes about their business without owing each other... Maybe the second option is more appropriate?
Angel's choice at this time has begun to change. From the beginning, he was leaning towards the first option, and now he is starting to seriously consider the second option.
The second option seems to be slower, but learning the special extraction method will benefit you for life. Moreover, it is actually possible to solve the problem of "too slow" of the second option.
That is, both a special extraction method and a Stirling machine are required. These two methods happen to be non-conflicting and can be performed at the same time.
Once both sides start working at the same time, Qili may even be able to completely clean out the No. 1 raw material warehouse in less than half a month, or even less than a week.
This speed is definitely not slow.
However, if you want to achieve such speed, Angel will have to pay a lot of effort.
While Angel was weighing his thoughts, Portia suddenly said: "You seem a little confused?"
Angel did not deny it and nodded: "I am indeed a little confused."
Portia did not ask what Angel's "confusion" was, but asked: "Do you think it is better for me to eliminate Qili's punishment with just one sentence, or for Qili to gain a different view in the fragrance circle by completing her original goal?"
Would you rather be better?"
Angel: "...the latter."
Portia smiled and said nothing.
But Angel understood what Portia meant.
She was reminding Angel of something: Qili wanted to eliminate not only punishment, but also the prejudice against her by the entire fragrance industry.
Portia could lift Qili's punishment in one word, but this only eliminated the punishment, but did not eliminate the prejudice. It even aggravated the prejudice.
And if Qili relies on "her own efforts" to clear the No. 1 raw material library - at least in the eyes of others, it is her own efforts - this is the way to truly eliminate punishment and remove prejudice at the same time.
This is why Portia used this plan to exchange conditions with Angel.
Not only because of this method, Portia needs to pay for a special extraction method; also, this method is the real solution to Qili's dilemma.
Having said this, Angel's choice is actually very clear.
The second option is definitely more appropriate.
Moreover, in addition to the reasons mentioned before, he actually also took Qi Li's own thoughts into consideration.
At the beginning, the reason why Qili decided to clean up the No. 1 raw material warehouse was because she felt that she had implicated the allies of the Lilith House. Also, the reason why Qili did not want Kanter to help was because of her mental condition.
problem.
If you want to solve this matter, punishment alone will definitely not work. Qili's psychological factors should also be taken into consideration.
Qili may not care about the prejudice of the fragrance circle, but she cares about the attitudes of the families affiliated with Lilith House, and these affiliated families care about the prejudice of the fragrance circle. Going around and around, prejudice is definitely one of the factors that affects Qili's psychology.
one.
The only way to solve prejudice is the second option.
Angel: "If I had to choose, I would choose the exchange special extraction method."
Angel did not directly give a conclusion, but added "if" in front of his words because he actually had more than one option at this time.
He can also solve Qili's problem through Stirling machinery.
Of course, a two-pronged approach is definitely better, but the second plan involves an unpredictable variable - Dong Liz.
Angel must understand the complete picture of Dong Lizi's refining before he can decide whether to take over the refining.
Especially, Dong Liz kept saying that the hat refining was her sister's request, which made the hat refining drama even more confusing.
Even though Angel was leaning toward the second option, it would be difficult for him to make further decisions before he knew the full story of Dong Liz's alchemy.
Angel expressed his thoughts: "...If you really want to refine a hat, at least let me know what is going on with her sister?"
"Ms. Portia, do you know anything about Lizzie Winter and her sister?"
Portia pondered for a while and then said: "I don't know more about Dong Liz than you do. However, her sister is indeed a problem."
"Dong Lizi has said many times that her sister is behind her. But I can't see her sister."
"Based on the results of the power word spell, Dong Liz did not lie. However, at that time, I still didn't believe that she was accompanied by a sister."
"Because Power Word can only detect normal people. If a mentally ill person with hallucinations imagines a sister by her side, and she is convinced that her sister is real, then Power Word cannot detect the truth."
In other words, when Portia and Winter Liz met for the first time, she treated Winter Liz as a mental patient.
It wasn't until later that Portia contacted Witch Shalu that her mind changed a little.
"Although Witch Xia Lu appears to be very crazy, it's just that her brain circuit is different from other people's. As long as you understand her brain circuit, you can understand her thoughts."
"I have known Witch Xia Lu for many years, and we have been doing close business recently, so I can probably understand some of her behavioral patterns."
Portia: "From some of the details shown by Witch Xialu, I can be sure of one thing. She is very supportive of Winter Liz's decision to refine the hat."
"This kind of support is not like supporting Dong Liz herself, but supporting an unknown existence."
Angel: "... Dong Liz's sister?"
Portia nodded: "Yes, that's my guess. Witch Xialu gave strong support to Sister Dong Liz's decision."
"It is precisely because of this that I began to doubt my previous judgment."
"Perhaps Dong Lizi really has a sister, but we can't see it."
Portia sighed softly and glanced at Angel: "I know, this conclusion is a bit absurd. But then I asked Witch Xialu about it, and the answer she gave was yes."
"Witch Xialu also admitted that Dong Liz's sister exists."
"I don't believe in Winter Lizzie, but I believe in Summer Dew Witch."
Although Portia has still not found any clues about Sister Winter Liz, she is already leaning towards the fact that such a person does exist.
Angel thought for a while and asked, "Can others see Dong Liz's sister?"
"As far as I know, no one can see it, even..." When Portia said this, she hesitated, as if she didn't know whether to continue speaking, and finally she said what she had not finished: "Even I think
, Witch Xialu can’t see Dong Liz’s sister either.”
"Witch Xialu can't see Sister Dong Lizi either?" Angel said in surprise.
Portia nodded: "Yes, I have observed Witch Xialu. When she faced Dong Liz, her eyes wandered every time, and in the end her eyes did not freeze in one place, as if she was looking for
Nothing, but nothing was found.”
"So I think Witch Xialu may have used other methods to confirm the existence of Dong Lizi's sister, but like everyone else, she couldn't see Dong Lizi's sister."
Angel: "If that's the case, why is Witch Xialu so supportive of Sister Dong Liz's decision?"
Portia took out the folding fan and waved it: "I don't know about this. Maybe Winter Liz's sister has something special that we don't know about? And her specialness happened to be discovered by Witch Xialu."
"How about you talk to Sister Dong Liz in person?"