242 Team 2 in 1 (2/2)
”For example, take the organization that you and Mr. Han are currently investigating.” The middle-aged man finally reached the real reason Ye Shuang was there that day. ”If a normal, law-abiding citizen found something that violated the law and the societal rules, they would choose to call the police. However, those not so law-abiding citizens would take matters into their own hands. Normal people rarely approach these dangerous areas—only those with special occupations and special permission would. We do not have the occupational permission, but at the same time, we will be forced to have interactions with them, so this is why it's called a fringe case.”
Ye Shuang steepled her fingers and placed her hands on the table. Her interest was increasingly piqued. ”Please continue.”
This was the first time that the middle-aged man had run into someone who was so relaxed when they heard about such dangerous things. Not only that, Ye Shuang had even managed to maintain his interest. Because of that, he could not resist glancing at Ye Shuang. After some thought, the middle-aged man continued. ”Beginner agents will only be responsible for official cases, and when Mr. Han thinks you're good enough, becoming a mid-tier agent will open up a new section of the database, and then you'll realize that the talent at your fingertips will become more complicated. Underground boxers, mercenaries, retired snipers, reformed prisoners, and even certain second-generation young masters…
”The cases you might come across will be more complicated. Perhaps, you might be tasked with investigating certain illegal information or work together with the police to set up a trap or an event. Theoretically speaking, for example, this money-laundering organization should be taken care of by a mid-tier agent. The police do not have criminal evidence, so they cannot build a case against them. However, no case means no budget. Without budget, all the resources used in the investigation process including the boxed meals and the petrol money cannot be claimed. With the pittance that our law enforcement earns, who do you think that they will be responsible to cough up these expenses?”
Other than the issue of budget, the officers could not use all the methods available to conduct the investigation, or else it could be viewed as police brutality or infringement of public safety. Therefore, most of the time, this type of issue could only be handled by citizen organization. And the budget would be taken up by the victim like An Corps or the Si Hai Organization. They would hire suitable talent from Han Chu to do things that were not so open to the public.
Since this type of case had a wide range of jobs and would require someone with powerful connections and ability, normally, it would be handled by mid-tier agent. However, the surprise was, since An Corp came directly to Ye Shuang for the case without going through Han Chu, Han Chu did not have time to decide the difficulty of the case beforehand. Furthermore, the influence of the money-laundering organization had not been exposed yet, so even after he knew that Ye Shuang had accepted the case, he did not stop her.
When Anthony and others got closer to the organization and everyone knew what was happening, and when Han Chu wanted to tell Ye Shuang to retreat, Ye Shuang had already gotten herself too involved into the situation. It was impossible to yank her out directly. Han Chu had observed for a while and realized that the girl seemed to have the ability to handle this, so he started to consider opening the permission for a mid-tier agent to her. Ye Shuang finally understood what he was saying. ”So, what Brother Zhang means is that I've been promoted?”
”I've said so much and you only got that?” the middle-aged man could not help but tut.
”It actually doesn't matter that much to me.” Ye Shuang smiled. ”Even though I've heard some interesting new things, whether you open the permission or not, it doesn't change much for me. The plan to evict the money-laundering organization will still be continued, and the plan that I've made hasn't been affected. The main difference is whether the commission rate for mid-tier agent and beginner agent will change or not.”
The middle-aged man looked at Ye Shuang with interest, and he felt like he was unable to follow the thinking of the young man. ”The commission rate doesn't change.”
Then, he saw the disappointment that was apparent on Ye Shuang's face. He told himself to be patient and added, ”But mid-tier agents will get more channels to gain income.”
”Please do explain!” Ye Shuang's eyes lit up, and she straightened her back. The smile on his face was so handsome that it could take a person's breath away. The middle-aged man chuckled.
”The mid-tier agent can ask the client directly for a budget because the case handled by a mid-tier agent is not normally a simple problem, so the content might not be the usual singular talent scouting but a group scouting. To put it simply, to complete the case, the number of talents that you might need will probably exceed one.” The middle-aged did not want to look at Ye Shuang anymore.
”When calculating the difficulty of the problem and when you're drafting the plan to deal with the problem, the agent can discuss the budget and the fee with the client based on the difficulty of the case. For example, if the client's budget is ten million and the request is to remove the organization's influence from Shanghai. In this period of time, the things that you need to make, the goal that you need to achieve, and most importantly, the special talent that you might need to hire and the individual salaries of these talents… you need to expend the ten million on these issues. The commission rate will be the same as before, but after you complete the job, the remainder of the fund will be yours. It'll be your pure profit.”
”What if the budget is not enough?” Ye Shuang asked about the other possibility.
”There are also two possibilities if the budget is not enough.” The agent sighed. ”In the contract between you and the client will be various clauses that must be completed and anticipatory goals. To remove the organization's influence… for example, if we are able to complete evict the Xi Hwa Organization's branch from Shanghai, that will be counted as completing the anticipatory goal. But if that is not doable, you have to at least be able to fulfill the other clauses, like making the Xi Hwa Organization suffer a certain percentage of losses, drop how many percent of stocks, or other related judging standards.
”If you complete the final and anticipatory goal, the client is required to give you another twenty percent of bonus. If you have exhausted the budget from completing the necessary goals, then you can ask the client for their opinion to see whether they are willing to add more money to complete the rest of the mission or not. However, if you are unable to fulfill the necessary goals and have already exhausted the budget, then you'll need to take out your own money to complete it.” The middle-aged man looked at Ye Shuang and smiled. ”There are no transactions in this world that are one hundred percent beneficial. You cannot expect other people to pay for you every time.”
Ye Shuang lowered her head to fire off a message to Han Chu to confirm that he was indeed willing to promote her to become a mid-tier agent. Then she thought about it and asked the final question. ”One last question, who shall I get the budget from for this case?”
She and the Si Hai Organization were just a part time collaboration—it was mainly to secure the trader's working environment. Her actions in San Lin City had been because of An Corps and because Yao Zhixing had been attacked, so she did those things for a friend. However, if she was expected to continue, she would need to handle the problems that arose herself. For example, Ye Shuang had already planned to get closer to the man by infiltrating the film crew. If there was budget for her to hire people to help her, her life would be so much easier, and she would be able to earn some money—that was the best result.
”Of course, you'll need to look for the client yourself.” The middle-aged man finished the cup of wine. ”For example, how far do you plan to go after the money-laundering organization? Who might have the same desire as yourself? Who would benefit the most from you completing the mission? In other words, change these things into the needs of a client and the people that I've mentioned earlier could all be your potential clients. You need to go persuade them yourself and then only start working after you have the budget in your hands.”
Ye Shuang thought about it. People with the same desire… Currently, she only knew that Han Chu had the same mission as her. The people that stood to benefit the most if the mission was completed… that would be the government, right‽
Ye Shuang wiped the sweat. ”Then I need to think about it further.”
F*ck, it sounds like I cannot touch Xia Cheng so soon. If I just kill this person now, I might not even get any money from it.
”Have fun then.” The middle-aged man nodded and moved the empty bottle aside. He cleared a space on the table and took out his laptop from his bag. He searched for the database. ”Did you bring your laptop? I'll share the database with you first.”
After the transfer, Ye Shuang looked at the database , which had gotten bigger by twenty percent, and she sighed. However, that was not when the issue was over. The middle-aged man left the room to ask for the Wi-Fi password. Finally, he closed his laptop. ”Mr. Han's meaning is for me to lead you for this first fringe case. In two days, I will send you a list of potential clients. You should try to make contact with them. How big their budget is and how many talents you should employ, that is your decision. Other than that, you should try to familiarize yourself with the new talents. That Anthony counts as your private team, so his information doesn't need to be transferred to the file.”
Private team… Ye Shuang felt so dumb that day.
The middle-aged man chuckled and pointed out the meaning with the grand aura of a senior. ”It's a talent who has a special talent but will not receive cases from other agents. Perhaps you have a deal with them, or they might be your long-term partners. Every agent will have their team. Other than fringe cases, we also need to deal with official cases. Don't you think you need a team to handle all these cases?”
Ye Shuang looked at the man and answered seriously. ”Most of the time, I really can handle them alone.”
”…” the middle-aged man.
He looked at Ye Shuang like he was looking at a youth that did not look his limit. However, the man was still patient. ”Normally, if you want to start a team, I suggest you find an accountant first. They will be able to help up calculate the various budgets that are involved in your cases. Other than that, you need a legal expert to deal with the various problems that might arise during your mission. These two are normal talents that you need. The rest depends on the definition of your team and your personal preference. For example, do you plan to focus more on fringe cases or official cases, or when you have more official cases, do you plan to have someone liaise them for you or not?”
Accountant… She could find Father Ye to ask for some professional textbooks. Law was easy. Internet and book stores, she could memorize all that.
Other than Anthony accidentally joining the team, Ye Shuang really did not see a reason to find other team members. Oh, wait, she could use an assistant. If the person was really free, they could help her clean up her apartment at San Lin City.