Superstition as a negotiation tactic

Recently, we discussed sponsoring a university in China. After much discussion, the professor agreed that the amount was about right - but he asked us to change it, since it contained too many fours. I assumed it was the same in China as in Japan, and that four is homonymous with death; so this would be bad. Silly guy, I thought, a university professor being superstitious, and agreed.
Only later did I realize that he had made us raise the sponsorship with several thousand yuan. Clever, that.