vrcanaries Chapter 88 The Shop
Chapter 88 The Shop
After a period of carefree living, Xiao Siyue felt that she had become too lazy and unambitious.
So I'm planning to find something to do.
The weather was sunny and bright.
Xiao Siyue then led Chuntao and Lanyi to the street.
"Let's go have lunch here." Xiao Siyue wandered around the street for a while and stopped at a shop called Shi Lou. She felt that the name of the shop was quite unique and was very curious.
Once inside, Xiao Siyue was surprised to find that there were practically no other customers.
It's lunchtime right now. Even if business is bad, there shouldn't be a single customer. Is the food here particularly bad?
This made Xiao Siyue even more curious, wanting to know just how bad the food was.
Xiao Siyue found a seat by the window and sat down, when a waiter came over to ask her something.
"What would you like to eat, sirs?"
"Okay, just bring me a few of the specialties you ordered." Xiao Siyue glanced at the sign on the wall.
"Okay, please wait a moment, sir." The waiter said and left.
"Miss, business at this shop is really bad?"
"Yes, indeed."
The three of them chatted for a short while before the waiter brought out the dishes.
Xiao Siyue picked up her chopsticks and took a bite.
It's not bad, it's just like regular food. Could it be due to poor management?
Just then, several tall, burly men with an aggressive air entered from outside.
"Old Xu, it's been several days already, when will you be able to pay back the money?" One of them, who seemed to be the leader, pointed at the shopkeeper behind the counter with a stick.
The shopkeeper emerged nervously from behind the counter, bowing and scraping before the leader: "Could you grant me a few more days? I can't raise that much silver in a short time."
"Hmph, give me a break, old man Xu, you don't want your son's life anymore, do you?" The leader made a vicious throat-slitting gesture.
"No, I will definitely pay it back. I'll have the money once I sell the shop." Old Xu was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground.
"How much silver can your shabby shop sell for?" the leader said disdainfully, glancing at the shop.
“It’s definitely possible,” Old Xu assured him.
"We'll give you three days. We'll come back in three days. If you still can't pay back the money, we'll smash up your shop." The leader said, gesturing with the stick in his hand.
"Let's go." The group then left the shop in a large entourage.
After everyone left, the shopkeeper collapsed to the ground with a thud, tears streaming down his face.
"Shopkeeper, how could we possibly sell the shop in three days? It's been months already, and no one has bought it yet," the shop assistant said, pulling the shopkeeper up from the ground with a worried expression.
"But I have no other choice. If I can't pay back the money, they'll kill Cheng'er," the shopkeeper cried, holding the shop assistant's hand.
Xiao Siyue was startled when those people came in. Afterwards, their fierce appearance made her a little angry, but she did not step forward. She knew her own limitations; these people were not people she could deal with.
However, when I heard that they were selling the shop, I had an idea. The location of the shop was not bad, and the shop itself was quite large, so it would be very suitable for opening a hot pot restaurant.
"Chuntao, go tell the shopkeeper that I want to buy their shop and ask him to come over and talk," Xiao Siyue said to Chuntao.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Miss, are you really going to buy our shop?" the shopkeeper asked with a surprised tone.
"Please have a seat, sir. Let's have a proper talk." Xiao Siyue pointed to the chair opposite her.
"Okay," the shopkeeper quickly sat down, his eyes full of anticipation.
"May I ask your name, shopkeeper?"
"My surname is Xu."
"Manager Xu, how much do you plan to sell this shop for?" Xiao Siyue asked directly.
"This, this shop... it costs 1000 taels of silver," Manager Xu said, sounding somewhat unsure.
"1000 taels?" Xiao Siyue looked at the shop again, mentally estimating whether it was worth that price.
"Miss, 900 taels is also acceptable." Manager Xu said anxiously, thinking that Xiao Siyue thought it was too expensive.
"The price is not a problem, but if I may be so bold as to ask Manager Xu, what happened to your son?"
Xiao Siyue didn't expect the price to be reduced by another 100 taels, but she still had to ask clearly, in case someone came to cause trouble after she bought it, how would she open the shop?
Manager Xu understood what Xiao Siyue meant; Xiao Siyue had seen everything that had happened in the store before.
Shopkeeper Xu sighed and slowly said, "Alas, some time ago, my good-for-nothing son was tricked into going to a gambling den, lost a large sum of money, and was subsequently detained by the gambling den. We simply don't have enough money to ransom him, so we had no choice but to consider selling the shop."
Shopkeeper Xu paused for a moment before continuing, "This shop was passed down to me by my father. When he was still alive, business was booming. But after he passed away, and I failed to learn his skills, the business declined and the shop has been losing money ever since. Even so, I am still reluctant to give it up, but there is nothing I can do."
"At first, everyone who wanted to buy from our shop drove the price down very low. I didn't sell, and these past few days, nobody has even asked about it." Manager Xu regretted it a bit. He should have sold it earlier. If he didn't have enough money, he could have found another way to raise it.
"Were those people from the gambling den?" Xiao Siyue asked.
"Yes, the gambling den came to collect debts," Old Xu said, still a little scared as he thought of the group of people from earlier.
"If I buy the shop, will the people from the gambling den come after me?"
"No, the people at the gambling den just want money. I'll pay them back and they won't come back," Old Xu quickly assured him.
"Alright, I'll take this shop," Xiao Siyue said to Manager Xu.
"Really?" Shopkeeper Xu stood up excitedly.
Xiao Siyue nodded, then said to Chuntao, who was standing to the side, "Chuntao, go back and get the silver."
Chun Tao accepted the order and quickly went out.
When Manager Xu heard Xiao Siyue say this, he was happy that his son was finally saved, but also sad that the shop his father had left him would belong to someone else.
However, shops are inanimate, but people are alive.
His son is the only male heir in the Xu family.
Xiao Siyue waited for a while, and then Chun Tao returned.
Xiao Siyue handed the silver note to Manager Xu, who excitedly took it and put it in his pocket. Then he took out the shop's deed and gave it to Xiao Siyue.
"Miss, you can take over the shop anytime. We can leave today." Manager Xu felt relieved after receiving the silver.
"It's alright, no rush. You can take care of your business first." Xiao Siyue still needed to go back and make some plans, so she wasn't in a hurry.
"Thank you very much, Miss." Manager Xu was very grateful. If Xiao Siyue hadn't bought their shop today, he couldn't imagine what would have happened.
Xiao Siyue was very happy after buying the shop. Today's trip was definitely worthwhile. She took the property deed and went home with her two maids.