Chapter 597: Deal?!
Chapter 597: Deal?!
When they arrived and got down from the horse carriage, Lin Xuan Qi held Liu Shi Shi close to him while they walked around the area.
She had her head lowered but she didn’t complain about it.
This was a rare trip for her to be with him and she didn’t want to waste any moment of it.
Lin Xuan Qi glanced at the shops and buildings in the vicinity while he took note of the foot traffic at the same time.
There were some pedestrians, mostly servants from the mansions nearby, running errands for their masters.
But it was as he had expected, they could only buy mostly food in the surrounding area.
If they needed to buy other items they had to go to the other streets in the city to get them, making it very time consuming for them to accomplish their job.
"Young master, have some of our noodles?" One of the bosses waved at him and said, inviting him in for a meal.
Lin Xuan Qi nodded and he went in with Liu Shi Shi.
"What would you like to have? You can try our signature beef noodles." The boss started to recommend the bestselling item on the menu.
"Sounds good. Get us one bowl of the beef noodles each." Lin Xuan Qi replied without much hesitation and the boss quickly got into the back of the shop.
There wasn’t anyone else in the shop except for the boss, Lin Xuan Qi, and Liu Shi Shi.
Business didn’t seem to be going too well considering it was lunchtime.
"Is it usually this empty?" Lin Xuan Qi asked and the boss who was cooking the noodles gave out a long sigh.
"Usually we get a few customers from the mansions nearby, but it has changed after the few rice noodles shops opened not too far away from here." The boss said while he placed noodles and the slices of beef into the bowls in front of him.
"Ah, the rice noodles shops... Things are tough, isn’t it." Lin Xuan Qi nearly coughed out the tea he had in his mouth when he heard the boss, but he pretended not to know anything about it.
"Yeah. After the turbulence that happened last year and now with the war in the north that’s not going too well, things are much more difficult for us." The boss came over and placed the bowls of noodles onto the table for Lin Xuan Qi and Liu Shi Shi.
Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head emphatically and had a slurp of the noodles.
He wanted to console the boss with how it would get better as long as his beef noodles were good enough.
But he couldn’t bring himself to it.
The beef was tough and overcooked, while the noodles were soggy and the soup bland and tasteless.
All the food in his rice noodles franchise was much better than it.
Maybe he would be doing the boss a favor, Lin Xuan Qi thought, and he put down his chopsticks.
He nearly laughed out loud when he saw the expression on Liu Shi Shi.
Thankfully, he stopped himself from doing so at the last minute.
The features on her face were squeezed together; she too was used to the culinary skills of Auntie Sue and the food in the mansion by now.
Lin Xuan Qi glanced at the boss and asked, "Have you thought about selling this place?"
"Selling?" The boss glanced around at the empty shop and he pondered on it for a few moments.
"If the price is right, why not?" He finally gave Lin Xuan Qi an answer.
That was what Lin Xuan Qi was waiting to hear.
"I can offer you eighty taels of gold for it." He gave him an offer on the spot.
Although his budget was a hundred taels of gold for each of the shops, he wanted to try his luck after seeing the condition of the business.
Eighty taels of gold was the market price for the other areas of the city and so it wasn’t exactly a lowballed figure either.
The boss frowned and raised his right hand, stretching his fingers out.
"Eighty five taels of gold."
"Deal." Lin Xuan Qi agreed to the increase on the spot.
The boss was surprised by how fast he made his decision and he knew that he could have asked for more.
But his word was out and there was nothing more important than trust when doing business, so he nodded his head at Lin Xuan Qi and said, "Deal."
He chatted with Lin Xuan Qi on the terms and he agreed for the payment to be made the next day with the signing of the documents.
It was however, not over yet.
Lin Xuan Qi glanced at the surroundings and asked, "How about the other shops, are they looking to sell?"
"What? You want to buy more?" The boss was surprised at his query.
He had to scan Lin Xuan Qi from head to toe to make sure that he wasn’t dealing with a charlatan.
Thankfully, the silk clothes Lin Xuan Qi was wearing, and the horse carriage with the guards that were waiting outside the shop convinced him and he said, "I’m sure some of them are looking forward to do so.
"Their businesses haven’t been good like mine lately.
"I’ll ask around for you."
"Great, then, I shall thank you for your help." Lin Xuan Qi raised the teacup he had in his hand at the boss and the boss cupped his hands at him.
After he downed the cup of tea in a mouthful, he discussed the details for the following day with the boss.
And after everything was settled, he got out from the shop with Liu Shi Shi.
"Shall we head back to the mansion?" Lin Xuan Qi glanced at her and asked.
She frowned and shook her head at him.
The beef noodles were untouched by them after a few bites and she was still hungry.
Lin Xuan Qi shook his head and gave her a smile, "Fine, we shall have something else to eat before we get back home."
He would be able to take the opportunity and buy something for Xue Cong and the others.