The room next to the conference room was filled with smoke.
Except for Tong Ruoqing, the rest of us and even Saint Alexandra were smoking cigarettes. The visibility in the room was getting lower and lower, and we could hardly see anyone clearly.
Later, Tong Ruoqing couldn't stand it any longer and reached out to me: "Give me one too."
"What are you doing? Don't smoke, little brat."
"I'm an adult."
"Not even when you are an adult. It's not a good thing. Why smoke it?"
"That's better than sitting here and smelling your second-hand smoke."
It made me laugh: "Then what, the smoke you smell when you smoke is not considered second-hand smoke?"
Before she could speak, Shen Gong jumped out and said: "Give it to her. With her current physical condition, it doesn't matter if she takes one. She will metabolize it all when she adjusts her breath at night."
"Can't you teach me a little bit? What kind of cigarettes does a good little girl smoke?"
After all, I took one out of my pocket and handed it over: "Be careful not to choke."
Unexpectedly, Tong Ruoqing was very skillful. After lighting it, she took a deep breath and blew out two smoke rings. She bared her teeth and smiled at me: "Hey, I actually smoked it secretly when I was in school."
"Okay, I don't think you're a good person at all."
I rolled my eyes and threw the cigarette butt to the ground. I pulled Tong Ruoqing's little paw: "Don't wrap it up, don't wrap it up at all. Let's get down to business. Leon said he can make concessions, so what should we ask for?"
The second half of what I said was in Russian, and Alexandra could understand it. She looked a little embarrassed: "Believers and sphere of influence are the foundation of the Holy See. In principle, they cannot be compromised."
"Well, I didn't want to quit in the first place."
I didn't know if there was a bug in the room, so I simply used my mental power to block all the information: "I had already discussed it with Sophia before coming here. Our plan this time is to retreat in order to advance.
It’s not me who said that you are too rigid in doing things and don’t know how to adapt. Yes, you must fight, but I think you should try to gain some benefits before fighting."
"I don't understand."
Alexandra shook her head expressionlessly: "The Holy See will not let us benefit."
"That's not necessarily the case. You saints are not weak in strength, but your social experience is too young."
Feeling that holding claws was a bit unsatisfactory, I directly pulled Tong Ruoqing onto my lap and sat on her: "Why doesn't the Holy See give in? Because they also know that negotiations are just a show, and in the end they have to use their fists to speak.
But do they really want to fight? I don’t think so. These old men enjoy material and glory in the Holy See and live like gods. If they have a choice, who is willing to risk their lives? "
Alexandra didn't say anything, her eyes were still a little confused.
I’m not trying to be too pretentious: “Since they don’t want to fight, let’s just use Poxiadonkey to send a signal that we actually don’t want to fight either.
If you observe carefully enough, you will find that I have been showing weakness just now, trying to give them the illusion that the Orthodox Church is weak now, and the negotiations may be successful, but if there is a real fight, the other party will fight tooth and nail.
As long as we act similar enough and they believe it, they will do their best to promote this negotiation. Even if we pay some costs, as long as we can achieve the set goals, these old guys will definitely be willing."
Alexandra's expression was a little strange: "I understand, but can this be successful? The Holy See is not a fool. If its opponents who have been tough for thousands of years suddenly make concessions, they will definitely be suspicious."
"As I said, it depends on whether our acting is similar or not."
As I spoke, I pinched Tong Ruoqing's cheek: "Yes, baby."
"Well...acting is what I learned."
She fidgeted with her fingers: "Then what benefits do you want from the Holy See?"
I didn’t even think about it: “Of course I need money. The poor people in Western Europe now only have money, and they don’t have anything else.”
The saint's curiosity was aroused: "How much does Mr. Gu want?"
I stretched out a finger and shook it.
"One hundred million dollars?"
"Ten billion dollars."
"How many?"
She sat up from the sofa with a bang: "Impossible. This condition is ten times more exorbitant than the compensation Mr. Zhuo proposed to the Holy See when he promised to leave the Far East. The Holy See will never agree to it."
I was noncommittal: "Then we'll see."
Maybe it's because the Orthodox Church is poor, and I feel that this saint's eyes are too shallow.
Tens of billions of dollars may be an unimaginable figure to her, but it is nothing to the Holy See.
You must know that the entire Western Europe, North America, and some places in South America are their dioceses. With so many developed countries, I definitely don’t believe that they can’t raise 10 billion US dollars.
Besides, negotiation is about demanding a sky-high price and paying back the money without even daring to open your mouth. If the other party doesn't agree directly, how can you delay the time?
Alexandra was skeptical about my idea.
But I didn't intend to ask her opinion, so I pulled Tong Ruoqing to stand up: "Just stop talking and see how we perform. You are far behind in such things as trickery."
After the ban was lifted, several people walked out of the room and returned to the negotiating table.
Including Leon, these priests did not move anywhere and were all waiting in the conference room.
Seeing that we were seated firmly, Leon was the first to speak: "How many of you have discussed and come up with a result?"
"Well, it's almost done."
Crossing my legs, I said casually: "In principle, we agree with your division of the sphere of influence of the diocese, but you must compensate us in other ways."
As soon as he said this, everyone present in the Holy See was stunned.
They looked at each other with astonished expressions on their faces. There were constant whispers in the conference room. It was obvious that when this request was made, no one thought that the other party would really agree.
But Leon was worthy of being in charge. Several old men around him were shocked, but he still had no expression at all.
"Quiet."
He tapped the table a few times with his hand, and after there was no movement in the place, the old man narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"I'm not sure."
Zhuo Yi started to act: "Gu Yan, you are too hasty. Didn't you agree to ask Sophia first?"
"Don't ask her, I can make the decision."
"It's up to you whether you decide or not. These old men are so pretentious. How can you..."
"Shut up, don't be petty, and do as I say."
Pretending to be displeased, I glared at Zhuo Yi, then turned to Leon and said, "I'm sorry, my friend has some objections to you. I hope Mr. Bishop doesn't mind."
"No, we did have some misunderstanding with this lady just now."
The old man still had a calm expression: "But the question remains, can Mr. Gu represent the Orthodox Church?
For thousands of years, the Orthodox Church has never backed down on the division of dioceses. I'm sorry, but I have doubts about Mr. Gu's promise."