Chapter 755 Li Yao Made a Profit

Li Yao laughed: "You don't understand. We girls are supposed to get married and leave the family, so they won't give us any property. But my mother is different. She's already married into the Li family, so she's a member of the Li family! It's impossible for her to get the restaurant for free, but she can buy it without any problem, and at a relatively low price!"

Shen Wantang nodded: "Then what do you need me to do for you?"

“I need you to help me convince my mother! Because she thinks this restaurant is about to go out of business, and oh, that’s exactly what’s going on. So if I say the restaurant can surpass Qingyunlou, she definitely won’t believe me. She’ll just think I’m crazy. You have to talk to her.”

As Li Yao spoke, she couldn't help but complain in a low voice, "She doesn't believe I can run a restaurant. She keeps urging me to go home and not waste my time here. She always tells me to go on dates with some young master Zhang or young master Li. If I could really manage the restaurant well, she probably wouldn't force me to go on dates with those men."

Shen Wantang nodded in agreement: "Okay, sure."

Li Yao was so happy she almost jumped for joy: "That's fantastic! I'll soon have my own restaurant! Can we really surpass Qingyun Restaurant and become the number one restaurant in Dafeng?"

Shen Wantang replied with certainty and confidence: "Yes."

The shopkeeper, standing to the side, secretly shook his head, thinking that his young lady was far too naive, believing whatever people told her.

Zuixianlou has been in business for over a decade. When her father was in charge, the business was booming for a while, but it was nowhere near as successful as Qingyunlou. Now, it is losing money one after another and has become a hot potato. No one in the Li family is willing to take it over, otherwise it wouldn't have been Li Yao's turn to manage it.

Shen Wantang, a concubine's daughter from a humble family, where did she get the confidence to say that Zuixianlou could surpass Qingyunlou? He wouldn't believe her if she dared to make such a boast!

Unless she can persuade the Second Young Master Gu to use the Duke's mansion's powerful resources and connections to create momentum for Zuixianlou and help Zuixianlou poach chefs from Qingyunlou, then there is a certain possibility.

Thinking of this, the shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Shen Wantang really planned to use the Duke's mansion's connections? With her ability to bewitch people, it wasn't impossible for her to make Gu Er obey her every word!

If that's really the case, then Li Yao is definitely not at a loss in this deal!

Not only will you not lose money, you'll also get a huge advantage!

After all, this time Li Yao has befriended the powerful Duke's Mansion! This is invaluable good news for the Li family, who have been in business for decades!

Li Yao's status in the Li family will rise accordingly, and in the future, she may even marry into an official family directly through her relationship with Shen Wantang, completely breaking away from her identity as a merchant!

The shopkeeper thought about it more and more and realized that he had been too naive before. No wonder Li Yao agreed to cooperate with Shen Wantang without hesitation. She must have had her eye on the Duke's Mansion behind Shen Wantang from the very beginning!

So, he was the naive one? And the young lady was the cunning one?

Li Yao had no idea what the shopkeeper was thinking. She was too excited to care about anything else and pulled Shen Wantang out, saying, "There's no time to lose. Second Young Madam, please come back to the Li family with me today!"

Shen Wantang had a lot of things to do today. She originally planned to visit Li Yao's mother tomorrow, but Li Yao was so eager and happy that she hesitated for a moment and then followed her.

Once the two women left, the innkeeper had no desire to stay in the restaurant.

Anyway, the restaurants weren't doing much business. The wealthy and powerful, who didn't care about money when it came to eating and drinking, naturally went to Qingyunlou and wouldn't come to Zuixianlou. And those who were short of money naturally chose the cheaper and more affordable small restaurants and wouldn't come to Zuixianlou either.

Zuixianlou was stuck in the middle, neither good nor bad, so fewer and fewer people came to eat there. With fewer customers, profits naturally decreased, and they couldn't retain good chefs. They hired ordinary chefs, but the dishes they made were just so-so, so even fewer people came to eat there.

Since there's no business, it doesn't matter whether he, the manager, is there or not. He might as well go with the Li family to see what's going on. If Shen Wantang really manages to persuade Madam Li, then the owner of the restaurant will become Shen Wantang!

He had to seize this opportunity! Otherwise, what if Shen Wantang replaced him as the manager?

On the other side, Shen Wantang and Li Yao arrived at the Li family home in a carriage.

The Li family exuded an air of wealth, and the servants were all well-dressed, but it was naturally incomparable to the Duke's mansion.

The Li family's residence was far smaller than the Duke's mansion. It wasn't that the Li family couldn't afford a larger one, but rather that the laws of Dafeng had clear regulations on the residences of merchants. Exceeding these regulations was considered an overreach and would result in imprisonment.

Not only were the houses regulated, but even the daily necessities were provided.

When Madam Li learned that her daughter had brought back the second young mistress of the Duke's mansion, she treated her with the most solemn ceremony.

Even when speaking to Shen Wantang, she was polite yet respectful. Her daughter was young and inexperienced, and did not know what the second young mistress of the Duke's mansion represented, but how could she not know?

After Shen Wantang explained her purpose, she was surprised for a moment, but then said, "It is a great thing that the Second Young Mistress is willing to help Yaoyao. However, Zuixianlou is not something that I, a woman, can decide. Please allow me to discuss it with my husband and give me some time."

Shen Wantang had said everything she needed to say, so she didn't linger any longer, otherwise it would seem like she was being too eager, and others would doubt her motives.

She does need Zuixianlou, but if this deal falls through, she has other alternative restaurants, only they are all smaller than Zuixianlou.

So she quickly left with her people.

She hadn't spent much time coming to the Li family, and now that she was leaving, she still had time to go to the government office to see what was going on with Fang Xuning and Lou Yun'er.

Unbeknownst to Shen Wantang, no sooner had she left than Madam Li solemnly ordered, "Mama Chun, go and fetch my dowry list!"

Madam Chun was taken aback: "Madam, are you... do you really intend to buy Zuixianlou for Miss?"

Li Yao, standing to the side, was both surprised and delighted: "Mother, you agreed? Why didn't you just agree to the Second Young Madam's request earlier?"

While waving her hand to tell Chun Mama to fetch the dowry list, Madam Li said to her daughter, "Of course we can't agree directly. If I agree too readily, how will she control us? We need to make her feel that buying the restaurant is not an easy thing for us."

"Of course, it's not an easy task, but no matter how difficult it is, I will definitely get you a spot at Zuixianlou. This time, no one can stop me!"