A master of metaphysics is farming.

Chapter 146 Looking for a shop

As the group walked down the street, the ethereal beauty, unlike her earlier carefree self, obediently followed behind Xiang He.

Jiang Xinyue recounted everything that had just happened, and Qin Fuhua covered her mouth in surprise, "I've heard about these things before, but I never expected it to be so blatant..."

"I've seen it all in public."

Xiao Quan, who was with the others, said, "Those two scoundrels often come out. As women, you should try to avoid them as much as possible and not confront them directly, lest you suffer losses."

Upon hearing this, Xiang He's eyebrows twitched, and she glanced at his less-than-pleasant expression. This Xiao Quan always seemed to be targeting her, and today his words were barbed as well, but there was a hidden meaning in his words.

This guy usually doesn't give you a friendly look, but today he's doing a good deed. It seems he's not such a bad person at heart.

"We're here. Shall we go in and take a look?"

Xiang He snapped out of her daze and looked up at the shop in front of her. The storefront wasn't large, but the interior was fairly tidy.

She raised her hand and softly called, "Black Crow."

Suddenly she said two things, and Xiao Quan looked at her in confusion. A moment later, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes and landed directly on Xiang He's forearm.

I blinked and realized it was a crow.

"You even brought Chu Wu with you when you went out..."

“It’s happy to come along.” Xiang He stepped inside. “This place is alright. Does Black Crow have any ideas?”

Xiao Quan was speechless. "Can it talk...?"

“Black crows have a spirit, you don’t understand.”

Leaving behind a message, Xiang He continued walking inside. The layout was fairly standard, but he wasn't entirely satisfied.

Just a moment later, Xiang He came out and said, "Let's go, next place."

"..."

The group visited three restaurants, but Xiang He was still not satisfied. Xiao Quan couldn't help but complain, "What are you looking at? The last one was right in the middle of the street, such a good location, and you're still not satisfied?"

"Since it's a prime location in the middle of the street, why hasn't anyone rented it? The interior looks quite new, so it's a newly rented shop. I guess the previous tenant just moved out not long ago?"

Since it was a new store, why did it move away after only a short time? First, the business was not suitable for the location, and second, the store did not attract customers and was not profitable.

With all these factors combined, the shop was simply not good; even Black Crow didn't like it.

Black crows are spiritual beings; they can always sense whether something is good or bad inside.

At this moment, Jiang Xinyue smiled and said, "Young Master Xiao, don't worry, He Yatou is the most reliable shopkeeper."

"You're all in cahoots."

"..."

Well, Xiao Quan has offended another person.

Finally, everyone arrived at a shop at the end of the street, which was larger than the ones they had seen earlier.

Right around the corner, this place is sure to get a lot of attention. From a feng shui perspective, it has a "bright hall" layout, which is conducive to attracting popularity and wealth.

Although there are drawbacks, with a little design work, this place will surely be packed with customers!

Just as Xiang He was about to make a decision, Black Crow flew out and circled the roof beams several times.

"Look, even Black Crow likes it, so let's decide on this place?"

Upon hearing this, the slightly overweight man in the shop immediately beamed with delight, "Young lady, you have excellent taste. The previous owner of this shop became wealthy and wanted to retire to a more leisurely life, so he reluctantly gave it up."

"Really?" Xiang He looked around. "The beams press down on the table of wealth, and the ladder hangs over the door of fortune. The previous owner must have been very ill. He spent all day counting accounts under the table and cabinet."

The fat man's smile froze. He sniffed and continued, "This used to be a tavern, right? The entrance faces the main beam directly, and the wealth position is blocked by water. The previous establishment probably didn't last long either."

These words made the fat man look embarrassed, and he glanced at Qin Fuhua furtively, "This... young lady, you mustn't say such things..."

Seeing how nervous he was, Xiang He smiled gently and said, "Don't worry, the shop will still be rented. Please give a reasonable rent."

The words had already been spoken, and from the beginning, the fat man wanted to raise the price. Although the princess was present, he didn't dare to raise it too high, but Xiang He was the first to express satisfaction, so he would definitely try to take advantage of him.

However, what I just said has already refuted the fat man. Even if he denies it, Qin Fuhua is here, and he will definitely investigate personally. If he dares to lie, he will be punished.

"Look at what the young lady is saying, that must be a reasonable rent. The monthly rent is thirty taels, and if you want to buy it, you need five hundred taels."

Jiang Xinyue was so shocked that she covered her mouth with both hands, "The monthly rent is okay, but this buyout..."

Xiao Quan glanced at her coldly, "The East Market is a place for high-ranking officials and powerful people, so it's normal that the goods and shops there are more expensive than in the West Market."

That makes sense now. Xiang He turned to look at Jiang Xinyue and asked, "Do you want a monthly rent or a buyout?"

This didn't bother Jiang Xinyue much. She only thought about it for a moment before concluding, "Can we rent it for three months first? We need to see how the business is going. If it's good, we can buy it out later."

Upon hearing that it was going to happen, the fat man nodded repeatedly, "Of course that's possible!"

"Let's make this clear first: if business goes well in the future, you can't raise the price on the spot."

The fat man waved his hand and said "Tsk," "How could that be? This is the price set by the government. We're just doing it as brokers."

Jiang Xinyue slammed her hands on the table. "Alright then, shall we sign today?"

Upon hearing that the deal was about to go through, the fat man hurriedly pulled out the contract documents, saying, "Everything is ready. I'll write down the lease dates."

While the manhunter and Jiang Xinyue were reviewing the contract, Qin Fuhua looked around and asked, "Miss Xiang, given all the problems you just mentioned, why did you still choose to rent it?"

"The location is good; other aspects can be improved."

The main beam inside the store will not be altered, but other aspects of the layout will be changed to make it a pillar for accumulating wealth—it's that simple.

Qin Fuhua nodded slightly, "You are very capable, young lady. I don't know anything about these things, so I was just being nosy."

Xiao Quan, who was standing to the side, frowned as he listened, wondering who Xiang He was and how he could be so familiar with such miscellaneous feng shui knowledge...

"Princess, you've spent half the day with us. In a little while, Xinyue will cook you a delicious meal. You can try it and give me some pointers."

Upon hearing Xiang He's invitation, Qin Fuhua nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "I wouldn't call it giving pointers, but I'd also like to try Miss Jiang's cooking."

She looked at Xiao Quan with a smile, "Young Master Xiao, would you like to come along?"

This question startled Xiao Quan. "You are all women. It wouldn't be appropriate for me, a man, to go alone..."

“There’s a man in the house,” Xiang He glanced casually at the roof beam. “Young Master Xiao is in a bad mood today. Have Xin Yue make you a soup to cool you down.”

Xiao Quan looked surprised. "I do have some worries, so I won't disturb you all any longer, lest I spoil the princess's enjoyment."

He bowed deeply with his hands clasped, saying, "I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave."

He left with only a brief remark, turning and departing. Qin Fuhua was filled with doubt, "I wonder how things are going at his home..."

Upon hearing this, Xiang He subtly raised an eyebrow. "What happened at his home?"

“Sigh…” Qin Fuhua frowned, looking worried. “His father is a senior official in the Ministry of Works. He’s been embroiled in corruption cases recently, which is probably why he’s so angry today.”

The Ministry of Works official...

Her brows furrowed slightly, and when she looked up at Xiang He, a sense of ease filled her eyes. "Let's not talk about these things. Has the princess been to the market?"

"Never."

"Let's walk around the market for a bit and buy some meat to take back."

"So interesting, very good!"