Chapter 263 - 225: Mr. He Takes the Initiative and Drops the Price by Another 200,000

Chapter 263: Chapter 225: Mr. He Takes the Initiative and Drops the Price by Another 200,000

In a private room at the Haitian Hotel.

"...Come on, come on, Boss Ren, let’s drain this cup!" Mr. He picked up the liquor flask, first filling Ren Peng’s glass about eighty percent full before filling his own to the brim. His face wreathed in smiles, he raised his glass and clinked it against Ren Peng’s.

As their glasses clinked, Mr. He deliberately lowered his own glass slightly, keeping it below the rim of Ren Peng’s.

"Hey, hey, hey! Boss He, what are you doing!" Ren Peng said, feigning indignation. "Boss He, there’s no need for such formalities with me. We’re good brothers, aren’t we?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" After downing the liquor in his glass, Mr. He squinted at Ren Peng. "Since Boss Ren says we’re good brothers, then I’ll speak my mind and not beat around the bush."

"Of course, of course," Ren Peng replied automatically, but then he suddenly realized something was off. ’Is Boss He about to start haggling?’

"About the price of that shop... Boss Ren, you’ll have to offer a bit more. One point four million is really a little low!" Mr. He picked up the flask again, this time filling the cup in Ren Peng’s hand to the very brim.

"Right next to my shop is the plot of land that Qiansheng Group’s Victory Supermarket acquired. The buildings have already been demolished, and construction could start any day. I’ve heard that Victory Supermarket is planning to build a large, three-story supermarket there! The foot traffic will be incredible then!"

Mr. He poured himself another full glass, leaned in to clink it against Ren Peng’s, and downed the liquor in one go. Fueled by the fiery rush, he leaned close to Ren Peng’s ear and spoke in a low, secretive whisper.

"To be honest with you, someone else is interested in my shop, and their offer is one point six million! They can pay one point two million in cash, with the remaining four hundred thousand financed." Mr. He clapped Ren Peng on the shoulder. "I’m only telling you this because I like you. Just raise your price a little—one point five million—and we can sign the contract today. We’ll finish the paperwork tomorrow, and the day after, the land deed will be in your hands!"

One point six million?

A flicker of suspicion appeared in Ren Peng’s eyes. ’What idiot would be willing to pay such a high price?’

’It was true that Victory Supermarket had taken the land next door, but everyone knew they were short on funds right now. That plot wouldn’t be developed for another three to five years. One point six million would be a completely losing proposition.’

That’s what he thought, but Ren Peng put on an angry front. "Boss He, I thought of you as a brother, but what do you take me for? I’m sincerely trying to buy this shop from you, and you just invent some Tom, Dick, or Harry out of thin air. You’re not being sincere at all."

With that, Ren Peng covered the mouth of his cup with his palm, stopping Mr. He from pouring him more liquor.

"Hey, who says I’m not sincere!" Mr. He’s face flushed red at his words. He slammed the liquor flask down on the table and said, full of righteous indignation, "I’m not making things up! Since we’ve come this far, I don’t mind telling you more. The other person who wants to buy my shop is none other than the boss of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant!"

Mr. He shot Ren Peng a sidelong glance and continued smugly, "Don’t be fooled by Boss Xu’s age. He runs his business remarkably well, and his judgment is incredibly sharp. He’s extremely optimistic about my shop..."

’Xu’s Fast Food? Xu An? Why is it him again!’

’That kid, how does he always manage to be one step ahead of me! If this Mr. He in front of me wasn’t a few screws loose with a big mouth, I never would have known about this!’

’Putting aside everything else, Ren Peng genuinely admired Xu An’s business sense. Since he was also interested in this shop, it proved that it must have some hidden value that he himself hadn’t seen!’

’Even so, a closing price of one point six million was absolutely impossible!’

"Boss He, since you’ve put it that way, as a brother, I can’t just not add a little something. How about one point four two million? It avoids any unlucky numbers and aims for a good omen!" This time, Ren Peng was the one to pick up the liquor flask, filling Mr. He’s glass eighty percent full.

"Boss Ren, how about this? I’ll take a step back, you take a step back. One point four eight million has a bad ring to it, so how about we settle on one point four six million?" After saying this, Mr. He cut in before Ren Peng could speak again. "You don’t have to give me an answer right away. The day after tomorrow, around this time, if you think the price is right, give me a call. If I don’t get a call from you, Boss Ren, then I’m going to sign a contract with the owner of Xu’s Fast Food!"

Tossing back the liquor in his glass, Mr. He wiped the booze from his lips with his right forearm, stood up, and walked straight out, not even giving Ren Peng a second glance.

After walking out of the Haitian Hotel and settling into a taxi, Mr. He pulled out his phone. A little excited, he keyed a string of numbers into the dialer and pressed the call button.

The office of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

After leaving Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company, Xu An rushed back to the restaurant without a moment’s rest. Half an hour later, he finally arrived at the entrance. Without even catching his breath, he bounded up the stairs to the second floor three steps at a time, burst into the office, and yelled, "Tang Wen, pull up the data for me!"

Already prepared, Tang Wen pulled up the document the instant she saw Xu An, then stood up and stepped aside to give him her seat.

His eyes immediately fell on the number of membership cards. Online plus offline, the current total was 957! The total top-up amount was 212,300 yuan! And surprisingly, three of the top-ups were for the maximum amount of one thousand yuan!

"I analyzed the data from our other accounts, and one possible reason for the rapid growth in online memberships is our ’Brand Story’..."

As she spoke, Tang Wen took back control of the mouse and opened a simple, unadorned PowerPoint presentation.

"These are the likes, shares, and comments from our Weibo account; these are the likes, shares, and comments from our WeChat official account; and this is the video view data from our ordering page... They all have one thing in common. At 10:40, all three metrics started to skyrocket... At the same time, the number of online membership cards also began to increase rapidly... Based on these results, I’ve concluded there’s a positive correlation between the two..."

With a click of the mouse, the PowerPoint moved to the next slide, which displayed humorous comments from netizens.

’I showed this video to my mom. Now she doesn’t nag me about eating takeout anymore and even wants to eat it with me!’

’Please tell me where you buy your vegetables! They look so high-quality, especially the tomatoes. They look perfect for dipping in white sugar!’

’Someone accuses them of food safety issues, and the next thing you know, they film their entire cooking process. This boss has guts, I like it! Say no more, I’m topping up 200 to support them!’

’...’

’Sometimes the best results come from where you least expect them.’

This "Brand Story" was just a spur-of-the-moment decision he’d made after someone had maliciously reported him for food safety issues. At the time, he was just thinking, ’I’ll just publish the entire non-critical process for making my fast food and braised dishes. Let’s see who can report me next time, and for what reason!’

He never expected that this impulsive decision would actually become the main driver for the membership card top-up promotion...

BZZZT—

Xu An’s phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. A text had come in.

’Boss Xu, the other person interested in the furniture store is Ren Peng from Yipin Xiang Fast Food Restaurant. The price they’re negotiating is one point four million!’

Just as Xu An was typing a reply to the agent to let him know he’d received the message, a call from a completely unknown number popped up on his screen.

"Hello, this is Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, may I ask..."

"Boss Xu, I’m the owner of the furniture store." Mr. He cut Xu An off unceremoniously. "We’re both businessmen, so let’s be blunt. I don’t care what kind of deal you made with the agent. Let’s work together privately. You just have to come up with one point five million, and the shop is yours."

"Mr. He, that’s not exactly proper, is it?"

"What’s proper or not? If we make a private deal, we can save a lot of money. Every cent we save goes into our own pockets. If you work with an agent, that money just goes into their pocket."

’He had a point, but only a small one.’

Xu An wasn’t some paragon of virtue; he just sensed there might be a scam involved. It wasn’t the scam he’d previously suspected, where the agent and Mr. He might team up to rip him off. Rather, he felt something was off about Mr. He contacting him privately right after laying down his harsh terms.

"Mr. He, let me think about it. How about I give you an answer the day after tomorrow in the afternoon?" Xu An said after some consideration.

"What’s there to consider? It’s a yes or a no. Plenty of people have their eyes on my shop!" After yelling this, Mr. He suddenly said, "One point three million in cash, and the shop is yours! As soon as the money hits my account, we’ll go do the paperwork immediately."

’Money into his account first?’

"Mr. He, over a million is no small sum. We have to follow the proper procedures..."

"Procedures? What procedures? You want to let those vampires at the bank suck away more of our money?" Mr. He rudely cut Xu An off again. "My family has lived in Hai City for three generations, and this shop was passed down to me from my father. What is there to worry about!"

’He wants cash, he wants to skip the agent, and the moment I mention ’procedure,’ he immediately brings up the bank. All signs pointed to one thing: something was wrong with this Mr. He!’

"Don’t worry about the bank’s escrow fees, Mr. He. I’ll cover the full amount!" Xu An said, testing the waters.

"Boss Xu, it’s not easy for you to make money either, so why give it to the bank for free? If you’re really that worried, how about this? I’ll give you a bank card. You deposit the money onto the card, and you hold onto it. You can even set the PIN. Once the transaction is complete and you have the property deed in hand, you can give me the card and the PIN. How does that sound?"

After verbally sparring with the man for a few more rounds, Xu An hung up, found Xu Dongliang’s number in his contacts, and pressed the call button.

"Uncle Dongliang, I need to trouble you to run a background check on someone for me. It’s a Mr. He, from the furniture store on Qianjin Street, off Zijing Road. The main thing I need to know is if he’s in the process of selling off all his fixed assets..."