CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: THE RICH LADY

No. 17 Mingyang Street, here it is.

Chen Yiyang parked his 911 by the roadside, got out of the car, and inspected the two-story shop before him.

To be honest, if this shop was in this location ten years ago, it would have been a prime spot.

Because it was next to a residential area on the left and to Jin City’s most famous temple fair street on the right.

But now, the nearby residential area has become old and rundown, and people prefer to shop in the more bustling commercial area nearby.

Meanwhile, the original temple fair street has turned into a scam hub, shifting from antique trading and temple fairs to a street where tourists get scammed.

However, the shop is quite large in area. It’s very long and narrow overall, and looking inside through the closed doors and windows, the ground floor alone is about 300 square meters, and if you add the second floor, the entire shop would be around 500 square meters.

No wonder it has a warehouse full of stuff.

"Young man, looking at the shop?"

Chen Yiyang’s behavior of looking around drew the attention of an elderly man next to him.

"Old man, is this your shop?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously.

"I don’t have such a worthless son," the old man said angrily,

"This shop belonged to an old buddy of mine. But his son got addicted to gambling and would go to the casino every so often, making my old buddy furious enough to die.

And after his father died, that brat actually went to a pawnshop to sell this shop!"

The old man spoke while getting angry.

Chen Yiyang almost wanted to help him, fearing the old man might collapse in front of him.

"Do you know which pawnshop this shop was sold to, sir?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously.

He was indeed planning to open a shop recently. Mainly to provide a reasonable explanation for his bank card transactions.

If this shop had been sold to a pawnshop, then he might have a chance to snag a bargain.

Fortunately, the old man had a good memory and quickly mentioned the name of the pawnshop.

Chen Yiyang realized it was the pawnshop where he had previously sold the Great Ming Treasure Notes.

So, he checked the prices of similar-sized shops nearby.

A shop of such size generally sells for about three million.

Comparatively, the price is considered quite low for the shop’s area.

But shops are different from residential houses.

A house in a poor location can still be lived in, although transportation might be inconvenient.

But such a poorly located shop would neither be easy to rent out nor to do business with personally.

So this price was just a listed price, and the actual transaction price would definitely be lower.

Chen Yiyang checked the time; it was still early.

He then headed to the nearby temple fair street to see if there were any channels to sell his silver coins.

"You charged my dad thirty thousand for such a string of wooden beads?!"

A young man with an elderly person was shouting at the shop owner in front of an antique souvenir shop.

"These are indeed made of amber," the shop owner tried to argue.

"Such poor-quality amber is worth just fifty at most!"

"Let’s not talk about the price or the authenticity. Let’s talk about filial piety. Look, if you go to a temple and spend thirty thousand praying, the monks might not even give you such a string of beads.

Your dad came to my place and bought such a bracelet, then your dad is like my dad. If anything happens to you one day, I’m like his real son. Tell me, is it expensive to sell such a bracelet to our dad for three thousand?!"

The shop owner’s words left the other party speechless.

Brilliant, it’s a pity he’s not in network marketing.

Seeing the scenario there, Chen Yiyang dared not ask about selling his silver coins.

He feared that they might take something genuine and assume it was fake, too.

So he turned around and drove first to the pawnshop to inquire about the shop.

"The Pawnshop on Mingyang Street, right? This shop is in our hands."

The manager who greeted Chen Yiyang was the same one from last time.

Chen Yiyang handed over a silver coin for the appraiser and began chatting with the pawnshop manager.

"How much did you buy this shop for?"

"That’s a commercial secret." The manager smiled, showing reluctance to answer.

Chen Yiyang wasn’t really envious of the pawnshop. After all, they acquired the shop from a gambler. Even at a low price.

Once that gambler loses all his money, he wouldn’t dare to come back and trouble the pawnshop, complained the acquisition price was low at the time, although an individual purchase might be different.

So even if Chen Yiyang had the chance to buy the shop from that gambler, he still needed to go through the pawnshop.

"How much are you planning to sell it for?"

"Three hundred and fifty thousand, including all the procedures," quoted the manager.

"That’s too high," Chen Yiyang frowned upon hearing the price.

The market price was around three hundred thousand, and the pawnshop added fifty thousand.

"We can help you handle all the procedures and inspections. If you want to change the business scope of the shop, we can also help you facilitate it."

The manager explained the reason for their three hundred and fifty thousand price offer.

If this shop was on a bustling commercial street, Chen Yiyang would welcome the shop’s owner charging fifty thousand extra for such a service.

After all, handling it himself, just dealing with the fire safety aspect would be a headache.

But for this shop, Chen Yiyang didn’t plan on making money; it was just to disguise his cash flow while conveniently acquiring the ivory carving mahjong set in the warehouse.

The price of three hundred and fifty thousand was too high.

At this moment, the appraisal result for his silver coin also came out.

"If you sincerely want to sell it, we can offer eighteen hundred for such quality of a silver coin."

The pawnshop price in Jin City was two hundred higher than in the casino.

But Chen Yiyang was still not quite satisfied.

A Yuan Datou coin would be consumed for two hundred, over a hundred coins meant twenty thousand.

"If I want to buy your store, how about each Yuan Datou for two thousand?"

"Sure." The manager agreed without even thinking.

In the world of antique or second-hand goods trading, the most popular method is actually bartering.

Firstly, in such transactions, whether the valuation is high or low, the original market valuation won’t be disrupted.

For example, if Chen Yiyang wanted to exchange these Yuan Datou coins for money, eighteen hundred per coin is the pawnshop’s baseline.

If they made an exception and gave Chen Yiyang two thousand, then if their pawnshop wanted to buy Yuan Datou coins in the future, people would rather sell them for eighteen hundred elsewhere than at their place.

Secondly, if they really acquired them for eighteen hundred each, and if the buying price got around, it would be difficult to sell them at a higher price.

Because of such reasons, those numerous high-priced antiques and collectibles in the collector’s and antique world are rarely known to be traded with real money.

Most are exchanged with goods, thus maintaining high valuations, and waiting for some outsider to come in and fall for a major scam.

Of course, bartering has another benefit, which is making the accounting easier and avoiding taxes.

A total of one hundred and twenty-one Yuan Datou coins could offset twenty-four thousand two hundred.

Compared to the shop that’s three hundred and fifty thousand, it’s just a drop in the ocean.

Chen Yiyang now has around two hundred thousand in cash at hand, not enough even if he throws it all into buying this shop.

Even if he had enough, he would still need to keep about a hundred thousand for emergencies.

Pawn the car?

Chen Yiyang thought for a moment and immediately dismissed the idea.

A car worth a hundred thousand could be pawned for eighty thousand at best, the cost-effectiveness is too low.

This price still needs to be negotiated down.

"How about two hundred and fifty thousand?" Chen Yiyang directly slashed a hundred thousand from the price.

"The lowest we can offer is three hundred and twenty thousand."

Negotiations went back and forth between Chen Yiyang and the manager with no result.

However, it’s normal for such business negotiations to stretch on for days or weeks.

Today happened to be a quiet day for the pawnshop.

So, the two sat in the meeting room, drinking tea and chatting while trying to figure out how else they could negotiate on the price.

Around six o’clock, Sun Xingguo called Chen Yiyang.

"Mr. Chen, do you have anything on tonight? How about joining us for a game of mahjong?"

"Why the sudden interest in mahjong?" Chen Yiyang was curious.

"It’s because of my mentor. He heard about you and wants to organize an event so everyone can gather."

So it was the wealthy woman mentioned in the intel that day.

Chen Yiyang thought that if he stayed here any longer, nothing would come out of it, so he might as well make a move.

He bid farewell to the manager and drove to the address sent by Sun Xingguo.

Spring Tide Tea House.

The name of this tea house sounded quite familiar.

As soon as Chen Yiyang got out of the car, he remembered.

Wasn’t this the place where he previously looked for a pawnshop referral from Zhang Guichen, where Zhang Guichen and Liu Chen were having tea?

That day, to thank Zhang Guichen for the referral, Chen Yiyang covered all expenses except for the girls.

This is not a proper place, why did that rich lady come here to play mahjong?

Could it be that this place sells everything?

Chen Yiyang went upstairs and entered the largest private room here.

"Let me introduce, Mr. Chen, young and promising, with broad connections and wide influence."

Sun Xingguo introduced Chen Yiyang to the other two people present.

Then Chen Yiyang learned the identity of the wealthy woman.

Liu Zhaodi, forty-five years old, a well-known local female entrepreneur with many industries under her name.

Accompanying her for mahjong was her female secretary.

Then, Chen Yiyang saw that this wealthy woman had a female chat companion from the Spring Tide Tea House in her arms.

Wait, so this rich woman is actually a lesbian?

It was the first time Chen Yiyang realized that his information on picking up a leak had an unreliable source.

He was informed of a lonely rich woman but wasn’t told about her sexual orientation!

Luckily, it was Sun Xingguo who went that day, saving Chen Yiyang from embarrassment.

"I heard from Sun Xingguo that you have wide connections?"

After a few rounds, they played Sichuan-style mahjong.

Chen Yiyang usually plays Japanese mahjong and wasn’t too familiar with Sichuan mahjong.

Fortunately, the rules of Sichuan mahjong are simple, and no money was involved, so there wasn’t much pressure.

"Not bad, primarily in the field of antique collections." Chen Yiyang introduced himself with a dose of courage.

If all the deals Chen Yiyang had recently made were fully disclosed, they would indeed be quite impressive.

From second-hand electronics to antiques, to calligraphy, painting, and art collectibles from abroad.

A wide variety and great range.

But Chen Yiyang was well aware of his actual capabilities, still having a short experience and connections not fully established.

However, the first words from the wealthy lady got Chen Yiyang excited.

"I’m looking to purchase an antique mahjong set with ivory carvings, do you have any leads?"