Chapter 402: The Location

Gray drove around the city. In his mind, there was no plan at all. He just want to see where the car and his mind would take him.

"So what’s the plan?" Mara eventually glanced at him after a while.

Gray sighed before shrugging his shoulders. "We swing it," he answered.

"Huh?"

"It’s exactly what I said. We’ll look for commercial districts and maybe growing neighborhoods, where competition isn’t as overwhelming."

Mara looked at him suspiciously before eventually nodding when she realized that his plan was not that bad at all.

"Alright, I guess you know what you’re doing."

Soon, they reached one of the city’s larger commercial areas. In there, tall buildings lined both sides of the road while restaurants, convenience stores, and retail shops occupied the ground floors.

The area was busy despite it being the middle of the day.

"Hmm." Mara immediately began taking notes as they passed by the area.

"The foot traffic looks nice here."

"Yeah. It does."

"But the rent prices are probably terrible."

Gray glanced at her and chuckled. The two of them were thinking of the same thing. Since this place was already well-known, then the prices here must also be expensive.

"You know what? Let’s keep looking." Mara waved her hands off as if telling Gray to move on form this location already.

Gray just chuckled and agreed with it. Over the next several hours, they visited multiple districts.

Some locations were immediately rejected because of a few varying reasons. There was one area who had excellent traffic but barely any available commercial space.

Another one had cheap rent but there were almost no customers around. They also found a good location but they discovered that several major competitors already dominated the area.

By late afternoon, both of them were beginning to feel tired. They were already far from the main city when they decided to have late lunch first at the side of the road. The restaurant they found wasn’t that fancy.

It was just one of those family-owned places that had been around for years. The sign outside was already fading. Inside, the tables were just simple. It’s a simple place for those who just wants to eat.

"Finally." Mara let out a long sigh as they entered. She immediately took a free table and sat there, her back immediately leaning against the chair.

"I thought you said you weren’t hungry."

"I wasn’t earlier." Mara made a face.

"And now?"

"I’m starving."

Gray laughed before opening the menu. They each ordered something filling. And just a few minutes later, everything arrived at their table already.

The two of them immediately started eating. For several minutes, neither of them spoke because they were undeniably hungry.

Well, who wouldn’t be hungry when in the entire afternoon, they only spent their time driving around and walking through commercial districts to evaluate different locations.

Meanwhile, the restaurant continued operating normally around them. There are a lot of customers going in and out of the place. It must be popular, because soon enough, it was packed with people.

And with it, several tables were occupied by locals chatting about their daily life. At first, Gray paid them no attention because it wasn’t his thing.

However, a nearby conversation suddenly caught his ear.

"What a waste."

"Huh?"

"That shop on the district."

Gray subconsciously slowed his eating at that. The conversation came from a table occupied by several middle-aged men.

"The large one near the Avenue."

"Oh, that place?"

"Yeah."

"I heard it finally closed down."

When she heard it, Mara’s fork also paused slightly in the air. Gray also glanced toward the table without turning his head.

"No wonder."

"They were bleeding money for months."

"Still." One of the men shook his head.

"It’s a pity."

"It really is."

"That place was huge."

"And they were in a prime location too."

"Yeah. I tried shopping there once, but, oh well."

The group continued talking among themselves. However, it was not only them who was so interested in the topic now. There was also Gray and Mara who slowed down eating and kept silence so they could hear the conversation.

"I heard the owner officially declared bankruptcy last week."

"That fast?"

"What else could he do?"

"The building alone must be expensive." One of the men sighed.

"I still can’t believe it. It was one of the biggest commercial spaces around here."

Gray and Mara exchanged a glance at that. Neither of them said anything, but it was obvious how the two were already thinking of the same thing.

"Someone’s going to grab that location eventually."

"Obviously."

"Any smart businessman would because the traffic around there is still excellent."

The moment those words were spoken, Gray and Mara looked at each other again. This time, there was something different in their eyes.

They were now clearly interested at what was happening.

"..."

"..."

Mara slowly put down her fork.

"Did you hear that?" she leaned forward and whispered to Gray.

"Yeah, I did." Gray nodded.

"It seemed like there’s a large commercial that will close down soon here.

"Mm."

Mara stared at him and Gray stared back.

"We should look at it immediately." Gray muttered that immediately made Mara agree.

The two looked at each other. Then both of them glanced down at the food still sitting on the table.

"Let’s finish this quick."

Gray nodded. For the next several minutes, the two of them ate quickly.

Mara quickly finished her meal before taking a sip of water. "Hurry up."

Gray also eventually finished his food. After eating, they paid for their meal and left.

The moment they stepped outside, the warm afternoon air greeted them, but they didn’t care about it anymore. Instead, Gray just glanced at her.

"Do you know where we’re going?"

Mara had already opened her phone to search for it.

"I heard them mention the Avenue..." She quickly searched through maps while walking.

"There!" She exclaimed out loud when she saw something with that name.

Gray looked over as Mara pointed at a commercial district several minutes away.

"There aren’t many large retail properties in this area. So it’s probably one of these."