Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 228

Chapter 228: Chapter 228

As soon as Nanzhi and her three companions descended the stairs, Lei Zhong finally allowed the worry to leave his face.

"Have you made a decision?"

Nanzhi nodded with a smile. Seeing her smiling, Lei Zhong felt relieved, at least he could now sell the restaurant.

"So, when would it be convenient to sign the contract?

"Lei, the manager, is in a hurry, isn’t he?"

"Not really." Lei Zhong replied, a tad awkward, as he invited his guests to have some tea.

"We have looked around. Baiweizhai is indeed impressive. However, the third floor..."

Nanzhi paused mid-sentence, directing her gaze toward Lei Zhong.

"The third floor was added later. We could never decide what to do with it, so it has remained vacant to this day," Lei Zhong hastily explained, concerned that they might think some major incident occurred on the third floor.

When he first purchased the restaurant, it was very run-down. He had slowly renovated it, bringing it its present glory. Unfortunately, after he just finished renovating the third floor last year, he now had to sell it.

"I see."

Nanzhi nodded and continued with a smile, "We appreciate Baiweizhai too, but the one thousand tael is just too much."

Hearing her say this, Lei Zhong wore a bitter smile on his face, "Young lady, I really wouldn’t be selling Baiweizhai if it weren’t for pressing matters at home. One thousand tael of silver is already our lowest price. As you can see, the location of this place is prime."

Since they could not get him to lower the price, Nanzhi did not press the matter. They scheduled the contract signing for the next day and then left Baiweizhai.

Only after they turned the corner (of the street), did Shen Miaomiao finally utter in disbelief, "Sister Nanzhi, are we... are we really buying Baiweizhai?"

"Yes, we are."

Nanzhi did not show it, but she was certainly nervous inside.

She had never owned a restaurant before, but Baiweizhai was such a catch. The location and the price impressed her deeply.

"Where will we find a thousand tael of silver?" The young woman was worried. Her family could at most shell out twenty tael—the difference to a thousand tael was quite massive.

Lin Yicheng pressed his lips together before hesitantly asking, "Isn’t a thousand tael a bit too much?"

"A thousand tael is already a bargain considering the terrific location, such a large-scale restaurant normally would cost around one thousand five hundred tael."

"Isn’t there a catch to this?" Lin Yicheng was understandably worried.

What would make Manager Lei forgo those five hundred tael of silver?

That’s five hundred tael, not five tael of silver.

"Because no one dares to buy it." Lin Ercheng shook his head.

"By rights, a restaurant as large as Baiweizhai should attract plenty of buyers even at two thousand tael. The fact that we benefited is probably because we are not part of any influential households. We’re not privy to the inside stories..." Nanzhi sighed.

The starving camel is bigger than the horse. It’s likely some people are pulling strings behind the scenes.

"Won’t we get into trouble if we buy it?" Shen Miaomiao, baffled, squinted her eyes.

Since they knew it had issues, why did Sister Nanzhi still want to buy it?

"Don’t worry, there won’t be any trouble." Nanzhi assured confidently.

Others in Yan City refused to buy because the city is a tangle of forces. They were afraid they might provoke somebody.

Right now, wasn’t Shen Wenchen dealing with these issues?

More so, their purchase of Baiweizhai would present the least threat to the city’s power figures. Whichever family bought this restaurant, it would upset someone. If they could buy the property, people who were clear of any such involvements and didn’t hold any backing, at most they could be ridiculed.

Her instinct was telling her that she must secure this restaurant; perhaps it’d be the foundation for her foothold here.

Fearing that going directly to the City Lord’s Residence might raise suspicion, Lin Ercheng took Nanzhi to the County Office.

The previous City Lord had reduced the Territory of the County Office and built his residence relying on the remaining space. Yet, such audacious behavior had not led to any investigation.

Since Shen Wenchen took over, he simply demolished the wall separating the City Lord’s Residence from the County Office. This meant, anyone passing through the back of the County Office will directly reach the City Lord’s Residence.

Liu Jie had told him about this.

The government official standing at the entrance of the County Office, seeing that the visitors were from the Lin Family, instantly put on a smile.

They, being the officials at the County Office, had some knowledge of the Lin Family matters.

They might not know every detail, but seeing Liu Jie treating them with such politeness everyday, they understood the underlying principles.

The Lin Family surely had some connections with the City Lord. They, the officials, certainly didn’t want to offend them.

Seeing them approach, they greeted them with a smile.

"Is big brother Lin looking for big brother Liu?" A younger official asked.

"Yes, I am. I wonder if it would be convenient."

"Convenience, certainly convenient." The two officials made room for the four guests to enter.

Liu Jie came out just as they walked in.

After greeting the Lin brothers, he noticed Nanzhi in her wheelchair, causing him to pause, "What happened to Miss Lin?" He had heard from his brothers, that Miss Lin merely tripped someone. Why does it look like she broke her leg?

"Nothing serious." Nanzhi replied with an awkward smile.

"As long as it’s no big deal. General Shen is in a meeting and will probably be back in about an hour. Let me take you to the City Lord’s Residence to wait."

Presuming their purpose of visit, Liu Jie kindly led the four to the back yard of the office.

"This part, straight ahead, is the City Lord’s Residence." Liu Jie pointed to the garden in front of them.

Looking at the artificial hill, the flowing water and all sorts of strange plants, Nanzhi swallowed her saliva.

Didn’t all this look exactly like the County Office’s courtyard had been cut in half to construct it?

The two Lin brothers were even more dumbfounded. Despite hearing about the outrageous behavior of the former City Lord, they were somewhat incredulous about the modification of the county office.

Honestly, this was the first time they had ever seen someone dare to shrink the County Office for their personal use.

After walking for about fifteen minutes more, Liu Jie finally stopped in front of one house.

"You can sit here for a while, I’ll go and arrange for someone to serve you the tea." Liu Jie instructed as he ushered them into the room, then he left.

Nanzhi took in the room’s decor, guessing it could be some sort of reception hall.

They all sat in silence, no one starting any conversation. Soon, two servants brought in some tea.

Both servants were young, quickly going about their tasks of preparing the tea and snacks, then, going back to stand by the side, waiting for instructions.

Suddenly, the room was filled with an odd atmosphere.

"Miaomiao, have some tea." To break the awkward silence, Nanzhi finally opened her mouth.

"Alright."

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