The young waiter quickly stopped her, but seeing her resolute expression, he could only say with a bitter face, "Please wait a moment, I'll go and talk to her again."

A short while later, Xiao Hengyu pushed open the door and entered with a gloomy face. "Two thousand five hundred taels, not a penny less!"

Meng Zhao sneered, "Two thousand taels, I won't buy it for a single coin more."

"You!" Xiao Hengyu roared in fury, veins bulging on his forehead. "I think you've gone mad with poverty! You think you can buy my shop for two thousand taels?"

Seeing Xiao Hengyu take a step forward aggressively, Huang Cui reacted quickly, stepping in front of Meng Zhao. In an instant, the small private room became like a battleground. The waiter was truly exasperated; how could everyone be so hot-tempered during the New Year? He quickly stepped forward to smooth things over: "Please calm down, gentlemen. It's the New Year; let's talk things out!"

He turned to Meng Zhao, smiling obsequiously, and said, "Madam Meng, I discussed the price of two thousand five hundred taels with you beforehand, and you didn't say you disagreed then. Why have you changed your mind now?"

"Why the price reduction? Young Master Xiao should know best. After all, who opens a shop without making money? Young Master Xiao has managed the business in such a mess that I don't know how many messes I'll have to clean up after taking over."

Xiao Hengyu was furious. Because of this shop, his mother said he was acting impulsively, his father said he was bad at managing it, and even that damned Xiao Youzhi often mocked him openly and secretly. Now, some wild girl who appeared out of nowhere dared to ridicule him to his face!

"Fine! Very well!" Xiao Hengyu laughed angrily, then abruptly flicked his sleeve. "I'd rather tear this shop down than sell it to you!"

With the commission within reach about to fly away, the young shop assistant immediately grabbed Xiao Hengyu's leg, "Young Master Xiao! Calm down! Think about it again! Madam Meng, this is really wrong of you. How can you bargain like this? Why don't you raise the price a bit more? Young Master Xiao is sincere about selling."

Seeing this, Meng Zhao stood up gracefully and straightened his sleeves: "Although I don't really intend to spend much money on this restaurant, I just heard that Young Master Xiao has some other shops, which I am quite interested in."

"You?" Xiao Hengyu sneered, looking Meng Zhao up and down with disdain. His eyes clearly said, "You have to haggle over the price of a shop. Where would you get the money to buy other properties?"

Seeing Xiao Hengyu stop, the young shopkeeper dared to release his grip and began to explain solicitously, "Madam Meng, you may not know, but the Xiao family owns a total of twelve shops near Zhuque Street..."

After hearing this, Meng Zhao immediately said, "I want all the shops you own, which cost a total of ten thousand taels."

Even Xiao Hengyu couldn't help but become serious at this moment, "You have so much silver?"

Meng Zhao sneered. Of course not. Even if she took all the cash from Qu Yang nearby, it would probably only amount to six or seven thousand taels. But since she dared to report it, she was sure she could get the money out.