"Jianguo, you're here! What have you been up to lately?"
The middle-aged man greeted warmly.
He had known Li Jianguo for over a decade and was quite close with him. Even though Jianguo previously only ran a small restaurant, a craft isn't something that can be measured by the size of a restaurant.
After all.
Everyone has their own signature dish.
Therefore.
Every Chinese New Year.
When Li Jianguo returned, he would always set aside a day to pay a visit.
"Same old, I've spent all my time at home after returning, taking care of my child and growing vegetables and flowers," Li Jianguo said with a smile, wisely not asking about his friend's child, which would be rather tactless.
If he really wanted to help his friend.
Taking over the restaurant was the real deal.
"Xiao Kai, you're here too, you've grown so tall. How's school?" The middle-aged man turned his attention to Li Kai.
"Hello, Uncle. My grades are okay, I should have no problem getting into a university," Li Kai replied reluctantly.
He hated it when people asked about his grades.
But he understood that at his age, what else would people ask him about?
All he could do was complain silently in his heart.
"This is Yang Chengjun, Boss Yang, and this is Tang Qing, my partner." Li Jianguo introduced Tang Qing to Yang Chengjun.
Yang Chengjun had previously noticed Tang Qing who was with Li Jianguo.
He thought he was a younger generation coming to gain experience.
Turns out he was actually a partner.
"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Starting to help out the family business at such a young age, you're really sensible. Not like our boy, always causing trouble," Yang Chengjun praised.
Comparing people can be disheartening.
Comparing goods can be irritating.
His own son constantly caused him trouble, and he could only hope that his son's sentence would be light, so that he wouldn't be too old when he gets out of prison.
"You're too kind, Boss Yang, I'm just leeching off the success of my parents," Tang Qing said modestly.
"When I was your age, I was far behind compared to you," Yang Chengjun sighed.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think of his son, who was in jail, but he didn't forget the topic for today and said: "Alright, let me first show you around the venue, this place..."
Afterwards.
Tang Qing and his companions followed Yang Chengjun on a tour of the restaurant.
It was originally meant to be a hot pot restaurant, with excellent decoration.
According to Yang Chengjun, the design was drawn from his observations from some of Beijing's upscale restaurants, and it was his abilities and costs that determined this decorating style.
Yang Chengjun, once brimming with confidence to make big money.
Was utterly ruined by his unlucky son.
All his efforts ended up benefiting others.
Even though they paid for all of it, it wasn't a freebie.
But compared to the potential future profits, it felt like he was bleeding out.
However.
All of this was for his son!
Tang Qing carefully looked around.
He was quite satisfied.
At least it wouldn't be outdated within five years, looking at the decoration and materials, it seemed the several hundred thousand renovation fee was not exaggerated.
If he rents the place.
A simple transformation would be sufficient for business operations.
Luckily, they hadn't yet bought tables and chairs.
The hot pot tables would be useless to him. Plus, the preliminary preparations, procurement of supplies, licensing, recruitment and promotion - if all goes smoothly, they could all be completed in a little over two weeks.
"So, what do you think? Are you satisfied?"
After a thorough tour of the place, Yang Chengjun asked Li Jianguo.
Li Jianguo turned to Tang Qing.
Although he was the largest shareholder, Tang Qing was the largest investor.
Most importantly, he wasn't greedy for controlling rights, and instead lent money to Jianguo. His forward and modest attitude at this age was admirable to Jianguo, and so he must consider Tang Qing's opinions.
"Boss Yang, what do you say about the price?"
Tang Qing noticed a change in Yang Chengjun's eyes at him. But he didn't mind and asked the question he was most concerned about.
Even though he already knew.
But he still needed to confirm.
"Fixed price, 850,000, not one cent less." Yang Chengjun said firmly.
Truth be told.
He had spent nearly 750,000 on the entire shop. With a price of 850,000, he would still make a profit of 100,000.
It might not seem like much.
But compared to being busy all day long, and having no income for over a month due to renovations, he didn't think he was making much. After all, labor is a cost too, and as the boss, it's normal for his costs to be higher.
Some friends from before wanted to take over too.
But their offers were too low, the highest being only 750,000. He had even countered with an offer of 810,000, but he guessed they were banking on his urgent need for cash, and refused to budge. As a result, no deal was made.
Having been in business for so many years.
Yang Chengjun surely knew their intentions of leaving him hanging to lower the price, but he simply couldn't accept their offer.
Tang Qing looked at Li Jianguo.
Li Jianguo immediately understood and said:
"Isn't this asking price a bit high? Although the location is good and the decorations aren't bad, we don't really like this style. We'll need to do some additional renovations afterwards, which will add more costs. 750,000 seems more reasonable."
Business is business.
And transactions are transactions.
The money wasn't all his own, after all.
It would only be reasonable to put on a strong bargaining attitude in front of Tang Qing.
"I won't sell for less than 850,000." Yang Chengjun said resolutely.
"Mr. Yang, we are not going to play the game of asking for the moon and then bargaining down to earth. I truly want this shop, and I won't say things like 750,000 or 760,000. Don't stick to your 850,000."
"Final price, 800,000, we won't pay a penny more. As long as you agree, the money will be in your hands as soon as the contract is signed, and it's in cash. How does that sound?" Tang Qing immediately stepped forward and said.
Hearing Tang Qing's words.
Yang Chengjun fell silent.
He was considering his gains and losses.
800,000, he's not losing money, but suddenly losing 50,000 still didn't sit well with him. Seeing Tang Qing's determined face as if it really was his final offer, Yang Chengjun wavered.
Never mind!
What's the point in being so calculative?
Thinking of his spendthrift son, and the experienced Tang Qing across from him, he found himself envying Tang Qing's parents.
Just think of it as accumulating some good karma!
Yang Chengjun sighed and said: "I agree, but the money must be transferred this afternoon. I'll call the landlord over later, and we can sign the contract directly."
"No problem, we'll go prepare the money first. We'll return in an hour to sign the contract, how does that sound?" Tang Qing said.
"Alright, I'll go prepare the contract and contact the landlord."
Now that the shop was rented out.
Yang Chengjun felt a sudden relief.
No matter what, he had to sort out his son's issue first.
But after paying the compensation, though it wouldn't take his life, it was a huge blow. His son's mistake cost him nearly half of his assets, all he could do was to earn it back slowly. What else can he do?
And thus.
The three of them left the shop.
Yang Chengjun left to prepare the necessary materials and contact the landlord.
Tang Qing, on the other hand, was preparing to complete the loan agreement with Li Jianguo. They went to Tang Qing's uncle's place, where Tang Qing went to "get" the money and contract, while Li Jianguo and his son waited for him in a taxi outside the neighborhood.
After a while.
Li Jianguo saw Tang Qing holding a wine box.
With a black plastic bag over the lid.
He immediately realized that it contained 500,000 in cash.
At this thought.
Li Jianguo's heart couldn't help but race.
Not because he had any bad intentions but because he was shocked seeing a high school student haul 500,000 in cash from his uncle's place. Tang Qing had previously given a hint about his uncle's identity, which eased Li Jianguo's mind.
Otherwise.
A deal being made without an adult present.
Anyone would naturally be skeptical.
Li Jianguo felt as though he understood something.
With this in mind.
Even though Tang Qing could not be considered a second-generation official, the public security force was still a very powerful law enforcement agency to ordinary people. A deputy director was definitely a high-ranking official in Li Jianguo's view.