Bargain Bin Lifespan

"How much money do you have to trade?"

"How much lifespan are you capable of offering?"

"…"

"…"

"How much time are you looking to sell? Days? Months? Years?"

"You'll have to name an adequate price per year first."

"…"

"…"

The questions asked by both sides were met almost immediately with other questions. Neither side wanted to make the first offer, and it led to a stalemate.

Randolph felt slightly awkward, but there was not a hint of hesitation in John's eyes.

"Fine. There's no point in beating around the bush. Give me 50 years for one thousand dollars each." Holding up five fingers, the old man shrugged.

"…Are you insane?"

Randolph stared flabbergasted at John, but he quickly realized that he shouldn't have as he saw the latter's sly smirk.

He had given too much ground, revealing his bottom line too quickly. Now the man had more room to work with.

The small interaction showcased his experience in the matter that far exceeded Randolph's. He was completely and utterly shameless, and it had caught the young man off-guard.

"One million a year, at the very least." But he wasn't to be outdone, casually mentioning the absurd amount of money.

Usually, someone in his position wouldn't be able to do so, but Randolph knew that he held the advantage here.

His currency was something that money couldn't buy, no matter how much of it one had. Both parties knew that, so it gave him much more leeway to act.

It wasn't to mention that John wasn't the only wealthy man in the world who needed lifespan, while Randolph could have been the only person in the world who could trade it.

"Come now Randolph. We both know I don't have that sort of money, otherwise I wouldn't have been personally overseeing the factory's operations."

Despite the outrageous demand, John only grinned. As the one who had pulled out a dirty tactic, it was only reasonable that Randolph would as well. But unfortunately he had no choice. The young man simply had too much power in the trade, and they weren't standing on equal relations at all.

"Most of my assets are illiquid. Unless you want land deeds or cars, which will take you god knows how long to sell, you'll have to make do with not even a quarter of that."

"…" The man's logic was sound, and it brought a frown to Randolph's face.

He couldn't do anything if the man didn't have the money for it, no matter how much he fleeced him.

"You were a factory owner. Surely you'll have at least some assets to spend."

"I handed the reins over to my son several years ago. Most of my assets have been converted into stock, but I'm sure that's not what you're interested in, is it."

The question was a rhetorical one, and it sent the two into another stalemate.

Randolph had too large of an advantage, but John's experience barely balanced it out. His methods were crude but skillful, not exactly lying but not stating the truth either.

"Fine. I'll give you three years of lifespan, but for each year-" Randolph was mid-sentence until he abruptly shut his mouth.

John had grinned once again at him, and he could see a subtle smirk beneath his grin. It brought him to the realization that the old man was purposely aiming for a stalemate. He was testing the young man's patience, to see how far he could push things before he broke.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Noticing the strange interruption, John let out a sigh before he rubbed his face. "Old habits die hard. I haven't done this in a while, so I suppose I'm fairly rusty."

Randolph felt some stress building up as he watched the man before him. While he was indeed treating it seriously, he was having too good of a time bargaining.

"We won't get anywhere like this, John."

"Hm. True." Smiling at Randolph, the old man merely closed his eyes.

He sensed Randolph's impatience from his tone, and was completely content with stretching out the stalemate.

"Do you believe that I'll walk out right now?"

"I do. But you're welcome to. It doesn't change a thing for me, anyhow."

"You're a real pain, aren't you."

"Heeeeh. It's not the first time I've heard those words." Chuckling, the old man's grin stayed on his face.

Randolph didn't mean his threat though. He wasn't so foolish as to allow his personal feelings to get in the way of making money, especially not in one so important as the one before him.

"Fine. Thirty-thousand for each year, and I can give you three years. What do you think?" Shaking his head, Randolph simply gave up as he made the first move.

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Article II: Trading Principles

2.1 Items Eligible for Trade

Both parties upon signing the contract will hereby agree to the terms of (3) years of party (a)'s lifespan in exchange for ($105,000 (CAD) dollars) belonging to party (b).

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The moment Randolph stated his price tag, the system window popped up directly in front of him. The text it continuously generated matched exactly with the terms he had stated.

"Too much, and too little. You're still overestimating my savings. It would take most people a horrifying amount of time to liquidate that amount."

"Don't treat me as stupid, I know you have at least that much available. If not, you can dip into your retirement savings or your savings for your son and grandson."

"I do have that much, but not for only three years."

"Fine, four years then. Just think about it. What's a hundred-thousand compared to five extra years? You can gain so much more in that timespan I'm sure. It'll hurt your current funds, but just think of the future."

"Hm… You do have a point, I suppose." Rubbing his chin, the old man looked down in deep thought. "Seven years, for twenty thousand a year. Sound good?"

"Sound good my ass. Five for $35k each."

"Six? For ten? You're asking a lot for someone who hasn't even proved the quality of the product to me."

"That's a lot for a damn year of lifespan? There are people who would probably pay millions!"

"But you can't see them, can you?"

"Fine, I'll give you the items first, and you can pay me afterwards. Is that fine?"

"As long as you'll give me six."

"Five. $20k Each."

"…"

Rubbing his chin again, the man closed his eyes for a second time. He stayed quiet this time, but half a minute later, he slowly nodded his head.

"Very well."

 Randolph felt ecstatic the moment he saw the slow confirmation, but he didn't allow it to show on his face.

He knew what John was thinking of, and the reason he had accepted the trade. He had been aiming for said product first, his pushing slowly building to that point. It was only until Randolph had accepted that he gave his guarantee.

It was fairly obvious since his resistance afterwards was basically nil compared to before.

The most crucial thing to note was Randolph's attitude towards him. If this was truly real, then he couldn't push the young man too far.

This wasn't a one-time thing that he was looking for, but rather the beginning of a hopefully long business relationship. Randolph understood this well as he knew the value of lifespan.

Randolph didn't know how much the man really had, but he probably had more than he let on. He decided against fleecing him though, as he also couldn't push too far before confirming his own product. It would only be counterproductive to his end goal.

In any case, it wasn't too late to do so after he had proved himself. The most important thing now was to make as much money as he could in the moment.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let's move on to the finer details of the trade."