In terms of facial features, Chen Kejiao was almost flawless, with classic willow-leaf eyebrows and cherry lips. However, her aloofness often prevented men from immediately appreciating her exquisite beauty. Her nose was also slightly too prominent, revealing a fatal stubbornness and an unnatural obstinacy beyond her gender. Such a woman was practically born to be conquered by strong men… and I suppose I am quite strong now.
Hmm, I need to find an excuse to send Jing Ersha back first.
Seeing the awkward silence, Chen Kejiao casually looked around and asked in a very ordinary, conversational tone, "What does Manager Xiao think of this place?"
Wow, we're getting to the point so quickly? I patted the leather sofa; it was soft enough, but not big enough. I said, "It's alright, but I wonder how well the soundproofing is?"
Seeing that I was focusing on something unusual, Chen Kejiao straightened up and said, "Well, we used the best materials during the renovation, so the private rooms won't disturb each other at all. We can try it out after the people next door leave..."
I spat out blood and said, "We? You mean you're calling me over here to the next room to listen?" Just then, we heard the people in the next room rush out and stand in the corridor. Someone shouted loudly to the waiter who came to collect the bill, "We only ordered a few cups of tea, why is it so expensive... What's a minimum charge... Huh? Didn't someone pay for these two dozen beers? What, they didn't pay? -- That bastard Xiao!"
Chen Kejiao pointed to the door with disgust and said, "There's nothing I can do. There are always such rude people around. How about I accompany Manager Xiao to the first floor to take a look?"
"First floor? What are we going to the first floor for?"
"Don't we need to take a look at them all?"
In a crowded, dimly lit nightclub, she found a secluded corner... Did she like this kind of thing? I asked, puzzled, "Does she really have to go there to see it?"
"Wouldn't this allow for a better evaluation of the bar's overall performance?"
"bar?"
"Yes, I own this bar, and I'd like you to give me an estimate."
...
I wiped my sweat in embarrassment and said, "Miss Chen, you're selling this bar?"
Unexpectedly, Chen Kejiao resolutely said, "I never thought about selling. In fact, I didn't agree to any offers I received, even though some people offered me very high prices."
I was so angry! If you weren't going to sell yourself or the bar, why did you bring me here to make a fool of yourself?
But Chen Kejiao immediately explained, "That's why I invited Manager Xiao here, in order to pawn it out."
This is interesting. I asked her, "Why don't you rent it out? If you rent it out, at least you still have the initiative. But if you give it to me, then I'll be on top and you'll be on the bottom." I immediately felt that her words were a bit ambiguous, as if she was deliberately trying to take advantage of me.
Chen Kejiao didn't care about these minor details; she displayed a manly efficiency: "It's rare to see Manager Xiao speak so frankly. I have considered renting it out. Money isn't a problem, but those willing to rent a bar are almost all industry insiders. If they want to run it, they're mostly interested in my space, which means we'll have to make major changes to the staff. These employees have worked for me for so many years, and I really can't bear to abandon them like this, so I thought of the pawnshop."
“I want to give you ‘Reverse Time’ as a thing. During this time, I will still be its nominal owner. You are just keeping it safe for me and have no right to damage its structure. If you agree, I will let you have a taste of the benefits.”
A sweet treat… Luckily, I was quick to realize this. I've only just risen from the ashes; I'm not yet in a position to wait for a beautiful woman to scheme against me. Dealing with a woman like this, I figured I didn't need to be polite, so I simply asked, "Oh, can you tell me about it?"
Just then, our Hennessy arrived. Chen Kejiao watched the waiter mix our drinks but remained silent. I vaguely guessed her predicament; she probably hadn't told the staff about this yet, and didn't want to shake morale before things were settled.
After the waiter left, she handed two glasses to me and Jing Ke and continued, "This bar's profit this month is 200,000, which is one of the worst performances since the bar opened, mainly because the impact of the earthquake hasn't completely subsided. If it were around the Lunar New Year, this performance would be five times higher—but let's calculate based on a monthly profit of 200,000, which is 2.4 million a year. I'll give you 'Reverse Time' for that price for one year, and after one year I'll redeem it for 1.2 times the price. All the profits of the bar during this year are yours, but my only requirement is that you don't touch my employees or the layout of this place."
Surprisingly, she seemed quite knowledgeable about pawnshop rules. Although this was my first time handling a pawnshop, if what she said was true, the price was very tempting.
Chapter 51 Still fell for the honey trap
Seeing that I was still hesitating, Chen Kejiao said, "Of course, what I said is only one side of the story. You can verify it in various ways, but you have to be quick..."
I raised my glass: "Let's settle it like this. Please have Ms. Chen bring the relevant documents to my place tomorrow so we can sign the contract."
This time it was Chen Kejiao's turn to be surprised: "Manager Xiao believed everything I said?"
I smiled and said, "Cheers." I saw that even the aloof, ice-cold beauty showed a hint of admiration and respect.
This feels amazing! This is only the second time in my life I've experienced the thrill of being incredibly wealthy. The first time was when I was in second grade and found five yuan. I treated all the kids in the neighborhood to popsicles. Oh, and I also lent Xia Le three mao (0.3 yuan), which he still hasn't paid back…
The glass made a crisp "clink" sound. Just as Chen Kejiao touched the rim of the glass with her delicate lips, I said, "By the way, I only have one request."
Chen Kejiao immediately put down her cup, and I smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, I just want to bring in a few people, you don't need to worry about their salaries and benefits."
Chen Kejiao looked at me warily, and I made a helpless expression as I explained to her, "They're all relatives from the countryside..."
Chen Kejiao had probably dealt with similar situations before, and then relaxed and asked, "How many people?"
"two."
"I'll arrange for them to be deputy managers."
"Thank you!" The two cups clinked together again.
The reason I agreed to her so easily is twofold. First, I'm not stupid. I can roughly estimate the revenue a bar of a certain size should generate, and "Reverse Time" certainly meets that expectation in terms of scale and quality. Even if Chen Kejiao is scheming against me, trying to dump this mess on me for 2.4 million yuan for a year, if she can't redeem it after a year, the bar's facilities can still fetch a considerable price.
Secondly, I really felt I should do something to repay Lao Hao. If this deal went smoothly, it would be only natural to help Lao Hao earn 1 million.
Thirdly, and most importantly, I want to use this as a transit point. When Liu Laoliu sends people here again, they can come directly here, and then we can see who's suitable to be sent here to receive those time-traveling clients. This position, of course, will have to be filled by the heroes of Liangshan.
After drinking a glass of wine, Chen Kejiao's face flushed, making her look much cuter than usual. However, her tone was still not warm at all. She put down her glass and said, "I have to go now. From now on, you are the behind-the-scenes owner of this bar. Thank you for buying me a drink."
Tsk tsk, those words are quite pleasant to hear, but the tone isn't very friendly.
She had probably looked up some of the industry rules of pawnshops. There are very detailed regulations and rules for pawning items in places like bars, restaurants, and bathhouses, because these places are far more complex than just a car or a house.
If we pawn a car for 1 million, we can even waive the annual storage fee, meaning the car is still yours after a year. But don't forget, we've already depreciated it when we pawned it; it might be worth 1.5 million or even more. During this year, we're extracting its use value—renting it out for Antarctic tourism, or at least a short trip from Shanghai to Tibet, driving it several million kilometers a year. By the end of the year, if the car isn't scrapped, it's worth at most 200,000.
If it's a house that's pawned, we obviously can't turn it into a dormitory for people to live in; that's just the standard practice of waiting for price differences. For example, if you pawned it for 1 million, you'd have to pay us a 20% storage fee to redeem it, making it 1.2 million. If the house has already doubled in value, the owner would naturally sell their children to redeem it, and since house prices are unlikely to fall now, our pawnshop welcomes people who pawn their houses; 99% of the time it's a guaranteed profit.
For businesses like bars, if the land is included, it's very simple, because the land itself is valuable. If you're a glove shop, you can continue selling your gloves during the loan term without any interference. If you're unable to redeem the pawned item when the loan term expires, we can resell it to someone else and sell shoes or socks, or even convert it into a pay-per-use toilet.
What Chen Kejiao is actually pawning is only the bar's hardware and operations, which poses a significant risk to our pawnshop. Therefore, we have very detailed terms for this type of situation. These terms include the right to participate in its operation. If Chen Kejiao disagrees, we have the right to terminate the agreement, which would be very disadvantageous for her.
So there's some truth to Chen Kejiao's statement that I'm the behind-the-scenes boss.
As I said goodbye to Chen Kejiao and led Ersha down the stairs of the bar, I felt incredibly proud: half of this bar was mine.