Shen Yuan ignored Jiang Yuchen and instead raised an eyebrow at Old Li: "So, Mr. Li, you were planning to rent the shop to this fool?"

Old Li chuckled awkwardly, "It's just that we haven't been able to reach an agreement yet..."

“If you hadn’t come, I would have settled things today.” Jiang Yuchen glanced at Shen Yuan. “He offered me 280 taels before, but I didn’t agree. Later, we negotiated to 260 taels, and I asked him to offer another 10 taels. Although he hesitated, I knew he would agree sooner or later!”

Shen Yuan smiled: "Did Boss Li really agree to Young Master Jiang's request?"

"No, no, no!" Old Li hurriedly waved his hand and said to Shen Yuan, "Miss Shen, the contract has been written. Let's sign and affix our seals!"

"What contract?"

Jiang Yuchen quickly moved to the table and picked up the contract on it.

After reading the contents of the contract, Jiang Yuchen tugged at Chen Yuan's sleeve: "Girl, don't be foolish! This old Li didn't give you a single penny; he's trying to rip you off!"

Shen Yuan's expression turned slightly cold as she pulled her sleeve back.

Even without Jiang Yuchen's obstruction, she didn't want to sign the contract.

Old Li: "Young Master Su, you... even if the deal falls through, we should still be on good terms. You've gone too far!"

"How can this be considered excessive? I am simply kind-hearted and compassionate, and I couldn't bear to see this young lady being deceived by you, so I rented this shop at a high price!"

"..." Old Li was so angry at Jiang Yuchen that he was about to jump up and down, and he looked very unhappy.

He took two deep breaths, then looked at Shen Yuan with a smile: "It's not that I intentionally deceived you, Miss. I've been in dire need of money these past few days, so I gave Young Master Jiang a discount. Who knew that Young Master Jiang would seize on my lack of money and keep pushing the price down, forcing me to give in."

"But my shop is in such a good location, it's three stories high, you could open a brothel or a restaurant there, it's really worth three hundred taels! Now that things have come to this, I can compromise, two hundred and eighty, if the young lady thinks that's acceptable, we can sign a new contract!"

Shen Yuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Two hundred and sixty, that's a lucky number, what do you think, Mr. Li?"

Since Old Li and Young Master Su were able to reach an agreement on a price of 260 taels, that was also her expected price.

Old Li frowned: "Two hundred and sixty taels...this..."

Seeing his hesitation, Shen Yuan suddenly realized that she shouldn't have tried to bargain like Jiang Yuchen!

Just as he thought of this, he heard Jiang Yuchen shout loudly, "Old Li, I'm willing to pay two hundred and eighty taels. Let's sign the contract!"

As he spoke, Jiang Yuchen affectionately hooked his arm around Old Li's shoulder and pulled him toward the desk.

Shen Yuan: "..."

She underestimated this chubby boy!

He had his eye on this shop for a long time. Although he had tried to lower the price before, he saw that she also wanted to rent the shop today, so he deliberately told her that Old Li was willing to rent it to her at a low price. He wanted to trick her into falling into his trap so that he could kick her out of the game!

It's true what they say, no business is without its cunning!

Old Li, pen in hand, glanced sideways at Jiang Yuchen: "Two hundred and eighty taels? Are you sure you won't back out? You're not going to try to outsmart this old man?"

"Am I the kind of person who likes to play petty tricks?"

Jiang Yuchen smiled and said, "Hurry up and write it! I've brought the money! I'll give it to you after you sign and put your seal on it!"

Upon hearing this, Old Li pulled out a brand new sheet of white paper and began to write.

Like Jiang Yuchen, Shen Yuan was also very satisfied with the shop. Seeing Old Li writing a new contract, Shen Yuan quickly picked up the previous contract with the amount of three hundred taels written on it, bit her index finger, and pressed her fingerprint on it.

"Three hundred taels, I'll rent it!" Shen Yuan shouted, holding up the signed contract.

Upon hearing this, Old Li's hand trembled, and the tip of his pen blurred the ink on the paper.

Seeing that the contract for 280 taels of silver had been written incorrectly, Jiang Yuchen angrily raised his head and glared at Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan pretended not to see it.

Old Li took the contract that Shen Yuan had signed and stamped, and said with a smile, "Young lady, you're so generous!"

After saying that, he opened the inkpad and prepared to sign and affix his seal.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuchen gritted his teeth and said, "Three hundred and ten taels, rent it to me!"

Old Li paused in his motion to press his fingerprint.

Shen Yuan looked up at Jiang Yuchen. Jiang Yuchen met Shen Yuan's gaze, raised an eyebrow at her, and looked determined.

Shen Yuan's thoughts stirred slightly.

It seems that Jiang Yuchen really wants to rent this shop.

He must have already planned what kind of business he would do with this shop.

So even though it's different from what he thought before, he'd rather pay ten more taels to rent this shop!

If she wants to take the shop from Jiang Yuchen, she will have to pay more money than Jiang Yuchen.

She had ten taels of gold bestowed upon her by the Emperor, enough to buy the entire shop, but business people must keep some cash on hand, so she didn't plan to use it all for the time being.

Moreover, since I'm new to Nanjing, it's uncertain whether I can succeed in business, so there's no need to buy a shop.

If she couldn't buy the shop, she would have to compete with Jiang Yuchen for the highest bid.

The shop was indeed in a great location, but Shen Yuan felt it wasn't worth renting it for over three hundred taels of silver.

She looked at Jiang Yuchen and said gently, "Young Master Su, you can raise the price, and so can I. But if we bid against each other, the person who ultimately rents the shop will have to pay a higher price, which is not beneficial to either of us."

With a "snap," Jiang Yuchen swung open his folding fan.

He waved his fan, looking Shen Yuan up and down.

The girl was dressed in plain clothes and didn't look like someone richer than him at all.

So this is a roundabout tactic of hers?

However… Jiang Yuchen closed the fan, his fingertips stroking the agate and jade inlaid on the fan ribs. The girl’s last two sentences were quite good.

She knew that bidding against him was not worthwhile, so she did not intend to raise the price, but wanted to have a calm and rational talk with him.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!