roccoschili Chapter 363 Looking at the shop
Chapter 363 Looking at the shop
Lin Xi himself doesn't study at the academy, so he doesn't want Dean Tian's favor.
After carefully putting the things back, Lin Xi winked and gave Jiang Bei a meaningful look.
Jiang Bei understood immediately and realized what his cousin meant.
He quickly took out a jar of candied fruit from his allowance and placed it in Tian Yanwu's hand: "Dean, this is a local specialty of our village. Please have a taste!"
Dean Tian looked down at the candy in his hand, his face crinkling with laughter. "Oh, that's great! Quick, let's get ready and head into the academy!"
In the future, feel free to ask me anything you don't understand.
Don't let my position as dean fool you; it's actually quite leisurely. I'm fairly skilled in classical Chinese writing and historical commentary, so teaching you won't be a problem!
Jiang Bei and Zhou Miao exchanged a glance, overjoyed, and repeatedly thanked Dean Tian!
After bidding farewell to Lin Xi and Gao Mengli, the two followed Prefect Li and Dean Tian to the academy.
Those who needed to be sent to school have already been sent.
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi suddenly found themselves with some free time.
The two got back into the carriage, and Gao Mengli lifted the curtain and said, "Mengze, drive the carriage to the brokerage firm. We're going to rent a shop!"
Mengze outside the carriage responded with a "Yes," and the carriage wheels began to turn.
Gao Mengli lowered the carriage curtain and turned to look at Lin Xi, "Xi Xi, when you get back tonight, remember to write to the village and ask Nan Chang'an to transport some of the village's vegetables out first."
Lin Xi smiled and nodded: "Okay!"
After about half an hour, the carriage stopped in front of the brokerage firm.
After explaining their purpose, the brokerage manager slapped his thigh with delight, "Gentlemen, it's better to be lucky than early!"
There just happens to be a restaurant for rent, and it's located on the busiest East Street. I'll take you to check it out!
East Street? The most bustling? Or the restaurants?
Gao Mengli frowned.
If there's no foul play involved, pigs will fly.
"Manager? Since this is the most bustling restaurant on East Street, why are you renting it out and not continuing to operate it?"
The shopkeeper's smile froze for a moment, and he rubbed his hands together as he chuckled and explained, "Young lady, you're a shrewd woman... To be honest, right across from this restaurant is the most famous Drunken Immortal Restaurant in our prefecture."
So the restaurant that opened opposite it couldn't survive.
Lin Xi grasped the key point and continued to ask, "Since the best restaurant is right across the street, why did you choose to open a shop opposite it in the first place?"
It's not like Snow King, where wherever Little Deer Coffee is, it will open a store right next to it!
It focuses on one thing and doesn't choose locations, but Little Deer Coffee does. In addition, the two brands have different positioning, so they don't interfere with each other.
But here, if a restaurant is located opposite the best restaurant and has no unique features, it's no different from closing down.
I thought the couple in front of me were young and looked like two suckers.
He was young, but he was also incredibly shrewd, which gave him the chills he hadn't expected.
The shopkeeper sighed: "Speaking of which, this Sinful Immortal Pavilion has only been open for two years. I heard that the dishes are all prepared by imperial chefs."
You know what a royal chef is, right? They're chefs who cook exclusively for the royal family!
In addition, Prefect Li used to frequently take his colleagues there.
So the common people followed suit and went there to eat, because it gave them face.
Over time, the restaurant across the street gradually lost its customers, and now it's closed down and is being transferred or sold.
Lin Xi nodded knowingly: "So, everyone goes to Zuixianlou partly for the imperial chef's dishes and partly to curry favor with the prefect?"
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly: "That's right! How could ordinary people afford to eat dishes prepared by imperial chefs?"
It was just for fun; I could brag to my neighbors later, "I went to the restaurant the prefect frequents."
He sighed, "The owner of that restaurant across the street just doesn't understand this point. He insists on competing with others in terms of dishes and extravagance, and as a result, he's lost all his savings."
After hearing this, Gao Mengli smiled faintly.
Two years? Prefect Li? Imperial chef?
Something feels a little unusual about this.
She left Lin Xi and the shopkeeper chatting, turned around and walked out, beckoning to Mengze, "Mengze, go and investigate Zuixianlou, see if it has any connection with the Crown Prince."
Mengze's eyes sharpened, and he replied in a low voice, "Yes, Master."
After saying that, he disappeared into the crowd.
At this moment, Lin Xi followed the brokerage manager out.
He tugged at Gao Mengli's sleeve, his face full of excitement: "Mengli, let's go check out the restaurant!"
Gao Mengli nodded, "Okay!"
When the shopkeeper saw that the two of them still wanted to go look at the shop even though they knew the reason, his face immediately broke into a smile.
He misunderstood; these two are just stubborn fools, no doubt about it!
The carriage stopped on the bustling East Street.
As soon as we came to a stop, we heard shouts of welcome coming from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, mixed with the clinking of wine cups, creating a lively atmosphere.
The innkeeper eagerly lifted the carriage curtain: "Please look, gentlemen, this is Juxianlou. It's just across a stone path from Zuixianlou. What a great location!"
Gao Mengli got out of the car and looked up at Juxianlou.
The storefront wasn't small, but the vermilion paint was peeling and the lanterns were faded. Compared to the gleaming golden signboard of Zuixianlou across the street, it did look rather dilapidated.
But after walking halfway around the shop, she stopped at the back door: "Is there a small dock here?"
The shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment: "Oh, there was an abandoned cargo dock. It used to be used to transport vegetables, but Zuixianlou took away its business, so it was no longer used."
Lin Xi and Gao Mengli exchanged a glance, both seeing excitement in each other's eyes.
This restaurant is located right next to the river that runs through the city. Isn't that convenient for them to transport vegetables from the village? They don't even have to bother hiring people to bring them from the dock!
The two remained silent, their faces showing disdain.
After all, in business, if you perform too well, you're more likely to be taken advantage of and charged a higher price.
They stopped talking, turned around and followed the innkeeper into the restaurant.
Although the main hall was covered in dust, the carvings on the beams were still faintly exquisite. The windows of the private rooms on the second floor faced the side door of Zuixianlou, and one could clearly see the official sedan chairs coming and going.
Lin Xi followed her up to the third floor and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!": "We can see the back door of the government office from here."
The shopkeeper muttered behind him, "What's the use of seeing the government office? You can't eat it..."
However, it makes it convenient to send troublemakers to jail.
Gao Mengli looked around at the surroundings: "Is the restaurant for sale or for rent?"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper realized there was a chance, a very good chance.
He immediately became excited and said in a serious tone, "It can be rented or sold."
If you want to rent it, it's fifty taels a month, payable annually!
"If we sell it, although the restaurant business isn't great, it's located on the busiest East Street, and it would be excellent at any other business. We definitely wouldn't lose money..."
Lin Xi glanced at the shopkeeper and interrupted his preamble: "Get to the point."
The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then said, "The selling price is nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine taels, fair and square!"
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine taels?"
Gao Mengli seemed to have heard a joke, wiping the dusty tabletop with her fingertips. "Shopkeeper, why don't you call it ten thousand taels?"
The shopkeeper's face turned bright red: "Young lady, you're wrong about that!"
Land prices on East Street are so high, half a tael of silver per square foot. This three-story building with a backyard is really not expensive at over nine thousand taels!
Whether it's expensive or not depends on whether it's worth it.
Lin Xi almost rolled her eyes inwardly.
Gao Mengli raised an eyebrow and calmly broke the shopkeeper's bone: "Five thousand taels. If you want to sell, we'll sign the contract immediately."
Upon hearing the price, the shopkeeper's brow twitched: "Five thousand taels? Young lady, you've sharpened your knife far too quickly! You've cut it in almost half!"
He cleared his throat lightly: "Eight thousand taels!"
Gao Mengli stared into the shopkeeper's eyes and chuckled, "Six thousand taels. If you're not going to sell, then forget it."
After saying that, he led Lin Xi toward the door.
The shopkeeper's lips twitched, and he hurriedly chased after them, finally gritting his teeth and shouting, "Seven thousand taels! No less than that!"
"This is prime real estate on East Street. Even if we turn it into a fabric shop or teahouse, we're guaranteed to make a profit!"
He glanced up at Gao Mengli and saw that her smile had faded and her fingertips were already on the carriage armrest, as if she was about to leave at any moment. He panicked.
Gao Mengli didn't reply, but instead turned to Lin Xi and asked, "How much did the shopkeeper say for that shop with the backyard on West Street?"
Lin Xi, having received instructions from his Meng Li, pretended to recall: "It seems to be five thousand eight hundred taels, and it also includes two newly made carved doors."
The shopkeeper rubbed his forehead, took out the abacus from his pocket, and clicked away for a while before sighing, "Six thousand eight hundred taels, this is really the lowest price you can offer, I really can't sell it any lower."
"make a deal."
Gao Mengli turned to respond, her smile much more genuine this time, "Let's write the contract, we've brought enough money."