Upon arriving home, Xu Yunrong had already prepared most of the cash in Beijing, including some bank drafts. Meng Zhao didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately sent someone to contact the brokerage firm.
The brokers were initially annoyed by having to work during the Lunar New Year, but their eyes lit up when they saw Meng Zhao's generous spending. They no longer cared about taking a holiday break and led Meng Zhao to look after the shop from morning till night.
Hearing that Meng Zhao was eager to make a purchase, the person went out of their way to help contact the seller. The first person they arranged to meet was the original owner of the three-story restaurant. The two parties agreed to meet in a private room of a teahouse in the city. Meng Zhao arrived on time, but after two rounds of tea, the seller still hadn't shown up. If she hadn't really wanted to buy it, she probably would have been angry by now.
After a long while, footsteps finally came from outside the door, along with the ingratiating voice of a broker, "Young Master Xiao, you've finally arrived! The buyer has been waiting for quite some time."
Upon hearing the surname, Meng Zhao raised an eyebrow. Only after the man entered the private room did she get a clear look at his appearance. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, dressed in a luxurious gold-embroidered brocade robe, yet his face was filled with arrogance. He impatiently complained as soon as he entered, "Hurry, hurry, hurry! What's with the rush? Can't a person have a peaceful New Year?"
The broker wasn't annoyed at all, and still smiled ingratiatingly: "Oh, my dear young master Xiao, it's all because Madam Xiao kept urging us to find a buyer before the New Year. We finally found someone who is sincere in wanting to buy it, so we rushed over to bring it to you."
Only then did Young Master Xiao properly examine Meng Zhao, his gaze sweeping over her simple dress. He curled his lip slightly and said, "You? You think you can afford my restaurant?"
Meng Zhao calmly took a sip of tea and gently placed the teacup on the table: "Whether you can afford it or not, we'll know after we discuss the price." Her voice was unhurried, yet it carried an air of authority that could not be underestimated.
The man leaned back in his chair with a swagger, crossed his legs, and said, "My restaurant is not only spacious, but it also has three floors. It must cost at least three thousand taels of silver."
Meng Zhao did not reply, but looked at the brokerage clerk beside him, "Is this what you meant by a sincere sale?"
Despite the freezing weather, the young waiter was sweating profusely with anxiety. "Young Master Xiao, Madam Xiao told us before the New Year that it would be two thousand five hundred taels. How come it has changed so much after just one year?"
Young Master Xiao looked at Meng Zhao and said, "If you're in a hurry to buy, then this is the price. Otherwise, I'll wait a bit longer. Anyway, my shop is easy to sell."
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao stood up without saying a word. "Since that's the case, then let's forget about it." With that, he turned and walked out of the private room.
The waiter beside her was so anxious that he stamped his feet and hurriedly chased after her, saying, "Madam Meng! Madam Meng! Please calm down!" He jogged up and blocked Meng Zhao's path, bowing repeatedly.
Meng Zhao wasn't really going to leave, so he stood at the door of the private room and said coldly, "You know I have many shops to buy and I meet a lot of people every day. If they're all like this from now on, you might as well not bring them in front of me."
The shop assistant wiped the sweat from his brow and lowered his voice, saying, "Madam Meng, you may not know, but this young master Xiao usually doesn't manage things. It's not the New Year, so he probably has a lot of family matters to attend to, which is why Madam Xiao sent him to handle things." He leaned closer, "The Xiao family has quite a few shops for sale on Zhuque Street, all in prime locations. If you want to buy a shop on Zhuque Street, you can't avoid the Xiao family."
"The Xiao family? Which Xiao family?"
The waiter smiled ingratiatingly, "Oh, my lady Meng, in the capital, which other family, surnamed Xiao, could be so generous?" He bowed, "Please wait a moment, allow me to try and smooth things over again."
As he spoke, he quickly called over the waiter and opened another private room next door. He then invited Meng Zhao in attentively, before hurrying back to the original private room, closing the door and lowering his voice to say, "Young Master Xiao, now is not the time to be temperamental. This Madam Meng is a customer I finally found. She has plenty of money. If you can close this deal, she might just buy all the remaining shops if she's in a good mood."
Xiao Hengyu was extremely agitated. He wasn't stupid; he knew that priced at three thousand taels, the shop would never sell. His arrogant attitude just now was simply because he didn't want to sell the shop.
In the end, it's all that old geezer's fault. Over the years, he's been completely fooled by Xiao Youzhi, and ended up handing over the entire Chunfeng Tower to him. When he bought the restaurant, he originally thought he could put Xiao Youzhi in his place, but who knew business would be so difficult? He lost nearly a thousand taels of silver in less than two years.
He slammed his fist on the table in frustration, saying, "I spent over two thousand taels to buy this shop. If I sell it at the original price, wouldn't I be losing a thousand taels for nothing?"
The waiter who was able to discuss such a big deal was naturally no small fry. He had already found out the details. "Young Master Xiao, you know the situation of your restaurant. Every day it stays open means another day of losing money. Now, listen to Madam Xiao and sell the shop as soon as possible. That's the most important thing."
Xiao Hengyu tugged at his collar in frustration, cursing Xiao Youzhi in his mind, but remembering his mother's repeated instructions before he left, he reluctantly agreed, "Alright, alright, stop talking so much! Go and find him for me again."
Upon hearing this, the waiter beamed and readily agreed, "Alright! I'll go and invite him right away!" With that, he strode towards the private room next door.
After listening to what the waiter said, Meng Zhao continued to leisurely sip his tea and said unhurriedly, "I've walked quite a distance today and am a little tired. Since we're going to talk, let's talk here."
Upon hearing this, the young waiter hurriedly bowed repeatedly, saying, "Madam Meng, please don't make things difficult for me. I went through a lot of trouble to persuade Young Master Xiao to stay."
"Since you're so insincere, what's the point of talking? I have money in my hands anyway. Surely I can buy a shop that suits my taste in this huge capital city?" With that, he got up to leave again.
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