Chapter 79 Buying a Shop

Liu Ye weighed the gold bar in her hand; it was about five taels. One tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver. Okay, she would make it according to this weight, but she would have to make a few heavy ones. Next, she made twenty five-tael gold bars and then fifty two-tael gold bars. Okay, this should be enough.

One gold bar is worth five taels, ten are worth fifty taels, twenty are worth one hundred taels of gold, one hundred taels of gold is worth one thousand taels of silver, a two-tael gold bar is worth twenty taels of silver, and a small gold bar is also worth one thousand taels. Adding them together, there are a total of two thousand taels of silver, which should be enough for her to buy a shop.

She drank a large bowl of spiritual spring water, picked five apples, and then flashed out of the space. As she ate the apples, she looked out the window. There were advantages to Brother Bai not being home; she could take things out of the space at will.

At this moment, in the group heading south, Wu Changgui looked at Bai Zilin riding a horse and following behind Zhao Gongzi's carriage, completely bewildered. How could Bai Zilin know Zhao Gongzi? He had just heard the two of them talking quite familiarly, as if they had known each other before. He really didn't expect this!

But it doesn't matter. Lots of people know Young Master Zhao. Who does Bai Zilin think he is? He's just like him, working for Young Master Zhao. Humph! I'll deal with him when we get back!

Bai Zilin did not know Wu Changgui. Wu Changgui worked as a guard at the Zhao residence year-round and rarely returned home, which was why Bai Zilin had never seen him before. However, Wu Changgui had seen him on his two previous visits home.

The next day, Liu Ye carried a basket on her back, locked the gate, and walked to the town. In ancient times, buying and selling houses required going to a brokerage firm, but where was the brokerage firm?

She wandered around the main street for a long time but couldn't find a brokerage firm. So she decided to ask someone for directions. She saw a man sitting in front of a shop and politely went up to him and asked, "Brother, I'd like to ask you where the brokerage firm in our town is?"

The man slowly raised his head and asked uncertainly, "Are you going to the brokerage to buy a house?"

Liu Ye smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, I want to buy a shop, but I don't know where it is. Do you know, brother?"

The man jumped up from the ground and clapped his hands happily: "Oh my, what a coincidence! You don't need to go to the bank anymore, my shop will sell."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye realized how coincidental it was. She looked at the shop behind the man; the sign said it was a noodle shop. She guessed why he wanted to sell the shop: "Brother, is this noodle shop yours?"

The man nodded with a bitter face and said, "That's right. Flour is too expensive. How much would I have to sell a bowl of noodles for? I can't keep this noodle shop going. My family is almost starving. So I'm thinking of selling the noodle shop to solve the problem of food and clothing for the family for now. Miss, why don't you come in and take a look? My noodle shop is very big. There's even a yard in the back and a well."

Liu Ye followed the owner into the noodle shop, which was indeed quite large, over 100 square meters, with dozens of tables and chairs, and a row of stoves along the east wall.

The man gestured around the shop and said, "Actually, this shop used to be two separate shops. When my business was doing well, I bought the shop next door and combined the two shops together, which is why it's so big. You can use it for any kind of business you do. Let me show you the backyard; it's big too."

Liu Ye nodded and followed the man to the backyard, which was indeed larger, with a courtyard of about 360 square meters. There were three rooms on the east and west sides, filled with tables, chairs, benches, pots and pans for the kitchen.

The man looked at Liu Ye with expectant eyes and asked, "Miss, are you satisfied with this shop? If you like it, I'll sell it to you at a lower price. My family is really struggling to make ends meet. My parents are in poor health and were both sick a few days ago, which cost a lot of money and emptied our savings. Otherwise, I wouldn't be selling the shop..."

Liu Ye also thought the shop was good. It was big enough, and the building was new enough, not the kind of old building. It was a semi-new shop, with freshly painted windows and doors. Even the courtyard was paved with bluestone slabs, and it was very clean and tidy. This was what satisfied her the most.

"Boss, how much silver do you plan to sell this shop for? If it's reasonable, I'll buy it; if it's too expensive, I can't afford it."

The man hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and held up three fingers: "Three hundred taels of silver, miss. I didn't ask for more than you. In a good year, this shop of mine could sell for at least five hundred taels of silver. But now that the year is bad, I have no choice but to sell it at a bargain price. If you don't believe me, you can go to the brokerage and ask around. Even in a bad year, a shop like mine should sell for at least four hundred taels. I'm taking a hundred taels off you."

After hearing the man's offer, Liu Ye thought that three hundred taels was really not expensive. Including the courtyard and the shop in front, it was more than 400 square meters. There was enough space for any kind of business: "Okay, I'll buy it. When is it convenient for you, brother? We can complete the formalities at any time."

Upon hearing this, the man realized he had the time right now. A little embarrassed, he said, "Well, actually I do have the time right now. The deed to the shop is in the shop. I wonder if your home is far away, young lady? If you go home now to get the money, we can transfer the property right now. To be honest, my family urgently needs the money..."

Liu Ye thought this was exactly what she wanted, as she also wanted to transfer the shop ownership as soon as possible: "What a coincidence! I brought silver with me today, but I brought gold bars instead. How should I pay you?"

The man clapped his hands excitedly and said, "Great! Miss, you brought gold bars. I'll take you to the bank on the back street to exchange them for silver. Miss, please wait a moment while I go get the house deed."

Liu Ye nodded, turned and left the backyard, arriving at the shop's entrance. The shop's location was quite good, situated in the center of Xiangshan Town's main street. The back three streets were also lined with shops, as were the front three streets. Residential areas lay behind the shops, and the market was just four streets to the east. It could be said that she had bought the shop well. In a good year, such a large shop in such a prime location would certainly not be cheap, but she had gotten a good deal for three hundred taels.

The man quickly ran out of the house, locked the door, and handed a bunch of keys to Liu Ye: "Miss, these are the keys to the shop, the back door, and the outhouse. I'm giving you all the tables, chairs, pots, pans, and utensils in the shop. They're all in good condition, so don't throw them away. You can use them for your business in the future."

Liu Ye took the key and put it in her sleeve pocket: "I understand, let's go then."

And so, Liu Ye followed the man to the silver shop on the back street. She exchanged her gold bars for a thousand taels of silver. Spending gold bars was still inconvenient, so exchanging them for silver was much easier.