"Hm?"
The atmosphere in the interrogation room changed in an instant. All eyes turned to Zhou Chengrong.
Sitting beside him, Ma Shangxi felt a chill run down his spine.
He never would have imagined that the guys Zhou Chengrong had hired would call him at a time like this.
"Wh-what are you talking about? I don’t understand."
"What do you mean you don’t understand? You drink too much, Brother Rong?"
The person on the phone clamored:
"Didn’t you call me? You said the owner of Xiaojiang Noodle Shop screwed you over a few times, and you wanted me to bring some guys over to trash his shop and splash some paint around so they couldn’t do business. How could you forget about that?"
He was completely floored.
Zhou Chengrong’s mouth twitched, his words coming out in a jumbled mess.
"What are you talking about? I don’t understand. You must have the wrong number. I don’t even know you."
The police officer glanced at Zhou Chengrong, then brought the phone to his own mouth.
"Are you near Xiaojiang Noodle Shop?"
"Yeah, we’re right here. We’re gonna make our move after midnight."
The person on the other end knew it wasn’t Zhou Chengrong speaking, but it never occurred to him that it might be the police.
"Wait for me there. I’m heading over to find you now."
"Sure, whatever."
After hanging up, the officer gave his colleague a look. The colleague left the interrogation room to go make the arrests.
"Look at the mess you’ve made. This would have only gotten you seven days. Now, you’re looking at half a month, minimum."
The two men’s expressions relaxed. Half a month was acceptable. They could just tough it out.
"You conspired with criminals, provoked trouble, and attempted to destroy another’s property. According to the relevant laws and regulations, this is punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal detention, or public surveillance," Qin Yangyang added.
"We’re facing prison time?!"
The two men whipped their heads toward the police officer, hoping he could give them a sliver of hope.
"The lawyer is correct. Even though it was an attempted crime, you will still be punished."
The two of them collapsed behind the iron bars of the interrogation cell, feeling like they wanted to die.
Although they were furious, the two of them hadn’t initially planned on hiring people to trash the shop.
But the anger festered inside them. After a few drinks, it all went to their heads, and they did something stupid in the heat of the moment.
Soon, the two men Zhou Chengrong had contacted were also arrested and brought in.
They saw them sitting behind the iron bars, heads hung low, as they were locked up.
Now that they were caught red-handed with solid evidence, there was nothing more for Lin Jiang to do. He could leave the rest to Qin Yangyang.
About an hour later, Qin Yangyang had handled everything, and the three of them left the police station together.
Lin Jiang had planned to treat them that evening, but Qin Yangyang had work the next day, so they scheduled it for another time.
The next morning, Lin Jiang got up and went straight to the shop, where he added the Gourmet Seasoning to the water.
This had become his main job now. It wasn’t tiring, but it was a bit of a hassle having to come in every single day.
After a while, he could probably hand this task off to Li Yuanyuan or Yang Tao.
A little later, Li Yuanyuan arrived, and Lin Jiang left the noodle shop.
Today, he had to go check out 18D and sign Li Zhiyi up for classes. ’Time to mold her into my ideal shape and have her master the splits.’
He looked up the address and drove to the 18D studio.
"Hello, sir."
The female receptionist stood up when she saw Lin Jiang walk in.
"I’d like to ask about your classes."
"Are you signing up a child? Or is it for you?"
"It’s for a friend. She has some dance experience. I’m interested in the 98,888 package."
Seeing a high-roller, the receptionist ushered Lin Jiang to a nearby chair and began her introduction.
"The 98,888 package includes 100 lessons. If you add another 18,888, all the lessons will be private, one-on-one sessions with our senior instructors..."
The staff member explained everything in earnest, rattling on and on, but Lin Jiang wasn’t really listening.
"I’ll take the 98,888 package, plus the 18,888 for one-on-one tutoring."
"Right away, sir."
The staff member went to prepare the contract. With a wave of his hand, Lin Jiang had effortlessly spent over a hundred thousand yuan.
As a result, the way the receptionist looked at him was filled with longing.
It was as if she were saying, ’Hey, big spender, how about you practice on me?’
Lin Jiang left with the membership card without calling Li Zhiyi. ’It’s better to make this a surprise.’
After paying for the classes, Lin Jiang didn’t head back to the shop.
The scale of his operation determined its ceiling, and he had pretty much hit that limit.
No one was willing to wait in a long line for a bowl of noodles, not even if the broth was made from dragon meat.
Expanding the shop was imperative.
He looked up rental information in his car. He had to hurry up and get this expansion sorted out.
He found a few suitable listings on an app, picked the one closest to him, and called ahead to discuss it.
After learning that it was available for a viewing, he prepared to drive over.
[Blink Card time limit has ended. Within the specified time, the player blinked a total of 20,042 times. You have been awarded 100,210 yuan in cash. The funds have been deposited into your bank account.]
’Not a bad haul.’
After driving for over half an hour, he arrived at the outskirts of Zhonghai.
The buildings here were all quite old. The residents were mostly ordinary folks and working-class people, and the cost of living was relatively lower.
Lin Jiang had contacted the landlord in advance—a middle-aged man who came strolling over with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"You’re the young man who wanted to see the property, right?"
Lin Jiang nodded with a smile.
"You can’t go wrong renting my place. 338 square meters for 620,000 a year. You won’t find anything this cheap in Zhonghai."
The landlord said as he unlocked the door:
"Take a look around. It’s two or three in the afternoon, and there are still this many people. You can make money doing anything here."
"The foot traffic is indeed quite good. I’ll take a look inside first."
The landlord opened the door, and Lin Jiang went in to have a look. The shop had no renovations whatsoever—just plain white walls.
"What was this place before?"
"It was rented to someone who sold clothes. They’re not renting anymore, so they’ve cleared everything out."
Lin Jiang nodded. No wonder there were no fixtures or decorations left.
If it had been a restaurant before, it would have definitely been subleased, since the previous tenants would have spent a lot on renovations.
As it was, he would have to handle all the renovations and plumbing and electrical work himself. For a space this large, it would surely be a significant expense.
’The money I have on hand probably isn’t enough.’
"Is the rent negotiable?"
"600,000 a year is the absolute lowest. That’s my bottom line."
"Alright, I’ll think about it."
"Call me when you’ve made up your mind."
The landlord didn’t press him, which suggested he wasn’t worried about finding a tenant.
Lin Jiang also felt the price was fair. The location was just a bit remote, but given his budget, he couldn’t be too picky.
After saying goodbye to the landlord, Lin Jiang prepared to check out the next location.
But before he could even get in his car, he was stopped by a middle-aged woman.
"Young man, are you looking to rent a storefront?"
"Do you have one?"
"I do! It’s on the next street over, more than 300 square meters. If you’re serious about renting, I’ll give it to you for 400,000 a year."
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A 300-plus-square-meter storefront for only 400,000 a year? That was ridiculously cheap.
But since he was already here, and it wasn’t like he was going to India, it was worth checking out.
"Alright, take me to see it."
"You got it."
Led by the middle-aged woman, the two of them arrived at the next street.
When she opened the door, he saw that the signs on the wall hadn’t been taken down yet. It was clearly a former hot pot restaurant.
The foot traffic on this street wasn’t bad either, the layout was decent, and the space was even a little bigger than the last one. A place like this could easily rent for 700,000.
That just made it all the more strange.
Even if business had been bad, the original hot pot restaurant owner would have kept the lease and tried to sublet it to recoup some of the renovation costs. After all, they must have spent a lot on fixtures, and that would be factored into the rental price.
But now, the place was just sitting empty, and the rent was only 400,000. It was highly suspicious.
"Ma’am, I’ve been in business for a while now. I know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Why is it so cheap?"
The woman gave an awkward laugh, seemingly not intending to hide anything.
"To be honest with you, this used to be a hot pot restaurant. But the owner was a real piece of work—he withheld his employees’ wages and even hired thugs to retaliate against them. In the end, one of the waitstaff couldn’t take it anymore and secretly poisoned him to death."
Lin Jiang: ???
’So this place comes with its own ghost?’
"Ma’am, when you’re in business, you want everything to be auspicious. A place where someone died... that’s not great," Lin Jiang said, declining with a smile, trying not to make things too awkward.
"Such uncultured superstition! How can a young person like you believe in that stuff?" the woman said with a straight face.
"Let me tell you, a dead person inside a belly is a problem, but a dead person inside a house is nothing."
Uh...
’This lady is on a whole other level.’
"Okay, I’ll go home and think it over."
Seeing Lin Jiang’s lack of enthusiasm, the woman didn’t press further, and they walked out together.
"Young man, you look quite young. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"You’re not trying to play matchmaker for me, are you?"
"Actually, I was thinking about it," the woman said, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
"I know a girl, about your age, and she’s very pretty. Want her contact info? Don’t worry, I guarantee there have never been any dead people in her belly."
"I appreciate the thought, but I have somewhere to be. I have to go."
"Don’t be in such a hurry! Let’s talk a little more. The girl is only in her early twenties, you two would be perfect for each other."
"I like older women. Too young is no good for me."
"Oh? So you like older women, huh?" The woman hurried after him. "I’m 58. How about you consider me? I’m in great health, no problems at all. Just can’t have kids anymore."
Lin Jiang: ???
’Does it have to be this absurd?!’
"No, no, I’m too young. We’re not a good match."
"What does size matter? At my age, I don’t have those kinds of needs anymore. Don’t be so insecure."
[You have gained the favor of the middle-aged auntie. Charm +1.]
’Tongzi, your mother must be Tian Wenjing!!!’

Comments

Loading...