The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 15

"What? This wretched child wants to leave the Shen family?"

Shen Qing's father, Shen Liang, was furious after hearing what Aunt Liu had said.

His own daughter actually dared to leave the Shen family on her own initiative.

He could do without her, but what right did she have to make demands of him? And even want to leave the Shen family?

“Master, this may not be a bad thing. That girl said she won’t tell outsiders. To outsiders, she is still my Shen family’s daughter.”

Aunt Liu stroked Shen Liang's chest and said.

"Her shop is really something else; it made over 30,000 taels of silver last month. That shop is the most important thing."

Aunt Liu's charm and allure greatly calmed Shen Liang's anger.

"Very well, since this wretched child doesn't want anything to do with the Shen family, let her have her way. Does she think doing business is easy? When she loses everything, she'll naturally realize how valuable the Shen family is. But by then, it will be too late for her to regret it."

Shen Liang took the document and signed it.

Soon, the documents were in Shen Qing's hands.

"Alright, the shop will be returned to you now."

Shen Qing put the documents away and then looked at Afu and Adong.

"Are you two going to stay here, or come with me?"

Although Afu and his companion weren't the quickest thinkers, they were well aware that the shop's success was entirely due to the manager.

With the shopkeeper gone, they could even foresee the shop's decline.

Ah Fu and the other man saw it all.

Those guests came and specifically asked for the shopkeeper by name.

Many noble ladies looked at the shopkeeper with an air of ulterior motives.

Of course, they only dared to think these things; they would never dare to say them aloud.

Moreover, even if they stayed, the new owners and managers might not necessarily hire them.

Who wouldn't want to use their own people?

"I'm going with my employer."

The two said in unison.

On the other side, Zhou Chu used the 20,000 taels of silver given to him by Shen Qing to buy the Feng family shop in Shuntian Prefecture.

If we only consider the area, Feng's shop is much larger than Shen Qing's previous shop.

In a normal transaction, it would cost at least 50,000 taels of silver, or even more.

However, if it falls into the hands of the government at this time, it will be like a foreclosed property in later generations.

The price is naturally much cheaper.

However, even at the lowest price, it would generally cost more than 30,000 taels of silver.

If they were to buy it for over 30,000 taels of silver, Zhou Chu and Shen Qing would have no working capital left.

Zhou Chu did not seek out the daughter of the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

Although the two had a fairly good relationship.

Zhou Chu believed that this noble lady would also be willing to say a few words on his behalf to the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

But this involves money after all.

Let's set aside whether the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is willing or not.

Once other officials in the network of connections realize the value of Feng's shop, getting them to part with their losses will be incredibly difficult.

Zhou Chu can only talk to them on the premise that he does not infringe on their interests.

These people will prey on anyone who threatens their interests.

Zhou Chu has no background whatsoever.

You have to be extremely careful when dealing with these people.

If you're not careful, you'll be swallowed whole, leaving not even a bone fragment.

Before confiscating Feng Youde's property, Zhou Chu approached the clerk responsible for recording the Feng family's assets.

He was given a thousand taels of silver.

If the distribution were done normally, a minor clerk like him would be lucky to get a dozen or so taels.

They wouldn't get the lion's share at all.

Money moves people's hearts.

It's just a matter of writing something; no one will investigate.

Those who confiscated the property did not know the exact value of the shops, and even if they did, they did not know how much the scribes had recorded.

Officials who could see how much the scribes recorded were all ignorant of the people's suffering.

They had no idea of the specific value of Feng's shop.

This is the information gap.

Zhou Chu seized upon this information gap.

If the clerk hesitates even for a moment, it would be disrespectful to the one thousand taels of silver.

When he was taking notes, he directly reduced the value of Feng's shop by about half.

Many smaller shops have this price.

Not outstanding.

It won't leave anyone with any faults.

If the numbers are too low, a comparison with other officials will reveal the truth.

Later, Zhou Chu brought a horse-face skirt he designed himself to the daughter of the Shuntian Prefect.

They bought the shop right before anyone else.

It only cost a little over 17,000 taels of silver.

Even with the extra thousand taels given to the clerk, it's still a huge profit.

When the shop's deed was placed in front of Shen Qing, she felt as if she were in a dream.

"You bought it for only 20,000 taels?"

Shen Qing assumed that Zhou Chu had spent all 20,000 taels.

"To be precise, it was 18,000 taels."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he returned the remaining two thousand taels to Shen Qing.

Since we are partners, we must be sincere.

A person who deceives everyone will eventually fall into an even bigger trap.

"how did you do it?"

Shen Qing gasped.

"Then you don't need to worry about it. As we agreed before, I'll take 40% of the new shop, and you'll take 60%."

Zhou Chu said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing fell silent.

"What? You think I took too much?"

Zhou Chu raised an eyebrow.

"No, you're taking too little. How about this, you take 60% and I'll take 40%."

Shen Qing's words took Zhou Chu somewhat by surprise.

"Why would you think that? I'm just a shopkeeper."

Zhou Chu asked.

"You can collaborate with anyone, or even go it alone. It's me who can't live without you, not the other way around."

Shen Qing thought for a moment and then said.

Shen Qing knew very well that he could find another manager, but the profits that other managers could bring were far less than those of Zhou Chu.

Putting everything else aside, the previous customers, those noble ladies, will definitely all come over once they know that Zhou Chu has opened a new shop.

This is beyond doubt.

Who can do that?

Perhaps Zhou Chu doesn't have enough capital to open his own shop right now.

But it's only a matter of time before we save enough capital, and it might not even take long.

If Zhou Chu were to go solo at that time, his shop's business would likely plummet.

"One more thing, I've learned a lot from you during this time, and I want to continue learning more from you, so you have to take 60%."

Shen Qing said sincerely.

Hearing this, Zhou Chu did not refuse.

Although the shop was bought by Shen Qing.

But if I hadn't been busy running around doing all the work, this shop would probably have cost twice as much.

Moreover, whether they can even buy it is another matter.

After all, the shops that the government puts up for sale are extremely sought after.

Ordinary people simply cannot obtain it.

Zhou Chu agreed for another reason.

I can't keep running this one shop forever.

I'll have to withdraw sooner or later.

Running this shop is just a temporary measure.

Shen Qing is a sensible woman.

Know when to advance and when to retreat, and act decisively.

With a little training, he could be a great businessman.

Then I'll hand the shop over to Shen Qing to manage.

If things go well in the future and my business grows even bigger, Shen Qing could become my deputy.

The shop in front of me is nothing but a pittance.

Zhou Chu never really took it to heart.

"Have Afu buy firecrackers. Set them off for the opening in three days. Also, I'll write a flyer later. Go to the bookstore to have a printing block made and print over ten thousand copies. Since we're opening, we should make it a grand and lively event."

"Also, we need to stock up on goods; we can't do what we did with the previous shops."

Zhou Chu gave instructions.

Because they didn't know when the Shen family would take back the shop, they never stocked too much inventory.

Otherwise, those cloths would have to be left to the Shen family.

But now that the shop belongs to both of them, they naturally don't have such worries.

After giving these instructions, Zhou Chu asked Afu to buy a few shad, half a mutton, and some other ingredients.

Zhou Chu hasn't had a good month; he's been incredibly busy.

Now that I have some free time, I should naturally relax.

While Zhou Chu was stewing fish soup, he asked A Dong to go to the brokerage firm and invite his cousin over for dinner.

Then he asked Afu to call the old man and his wife.

Soon, seven or eight people in the room were waiting for Zhou Chu to finish cooking.

Shen Qing was a pampered young lady who never lifted a finger, so naturally she didn't know how to cook.

On the other hand, Zhou Chu's master's wife, although originally from a well-off family, learned everything after following the old man and came to the kitchen to help Zhou Chu cook.

"Teacher's wife, how could you fall for my teacher, this old geezer?"

Zhou Chu joked as he stewed the mutton.

"Go away, no seniority."

The woman blushed slightly as she spoke.

Immediately, the woman seemed to be lost in memories.

"He was famous throughout the world when he was young, and many high-ranking officials and nobles wanted to see his face."

"It's a pity that his life was full of hardships and bad luck, otherwise things wouldn't have turned out this way."

"But if that weren't the case, how could I be qualified to stay by his side?"

The woman spoke with a sweet smile on her face.

"He's hopelessly in love."

Zhou Chu couldn't help but say.

"What did you say?"