Chapter Fifty-One Still Fell for the Beauty Trap

  Seeing me still hesitating, Chen Kejiao said: "Of course, what I said is just one-sided words, you can verify them in various ways, but hurry..."

  I raised my glass: "Let's settle it then. Tomorrow, ask Miss Chen to bring the relevant documents to my place and we'll sign the contract."

  "This time it's Chen Kejiao's turn to be surprised: 'Did Manager Xiao really believe what I said?'"

  I smiled and said "Cheers." I saw that the cold and proud ice beauty actually showed a hint of admiration and submission.

  This is great, it's the second time in my life that I've experienced the thrill of being wealthy and generous. The first time was when I was in elementary school and found 5 yuan, so I treated all the kids in the hospital to ice cream. Oh yeah, I also lent Xia Le 3 jiao, which he still hasn't paid back...

  The glass cup made a crisp "ding" sound, Chen Kejiao had just touched her delicate lips to the edge of the cup, and I said: "Right, I only have one request."

  Chen Kejiao immediately put down her cup, and I smiled: "Don't be nervous, I just want to arrange for a few people to come in, salary and benefits don't need you to take care of."

  Chen Kejiao looked at me warily, and I made a helpless gesture to explain: "They're all just rural relatives..."

  Chen Kejiao seemed to have dealt with similar situations before and relaxedly said: "How many people?"

  "Two."

  "I'll arrange for them to be deputy managers then."

  "Cheers!" The two cups clinked together again.

  I agreed to it so easily because I'm not stupid, and I can roughly estimate what kind of sales a bar of this scale should have. "Time Reversal" is definitely up to par in terms of scale and class. Even if Chen Kejiao was trying to trick me into taking on this failing business for 2.4 million, after a year she wouldn't be able to afford to buy back the hardware facilities, which could still be sold for a pretty penny.

  Secondly, I really think I should do something to repay Old Hao. If this business goes smoothly, helping Old Hao earn 1 million is a matter of course.

  Thirdly, and most importantly, I plan to use this as a transit point. In the future, when Liu Laizi sends more people over, they can come here first, and then we'll see who's suitable to send over to replace me in receiving those clients who have crossed over. Of course, this person must be found from among Liangshan's good men.

  Chen Kejiao's face turned red after drinking a cup of wine, looking much more lovely than usual, but her tone was still cold. She put down the wine glass and said: "I have something to do first, from now on you are the behind-the-scenes boss of this bar, thank you for inviting me to drink."

  What you said is quite comforting, but your tone isn't very friendly.

  She probably also looked up some industry rules for pawn shops, places like bars, restaurants, and bath centers have very detailed regulations for pawning items as collateral, because these establishments are not as simple as a car or a house.

  If we use 1 million as the down payment for a car, then we can even waive the annual management fee. In other words, after one year, you still get to keep your 1 million worth of car, but don't forget that when we return it to you, its value has already been discounted. This car could be worth 1.5 million or more, and during this one-year period, what we want to extract is its usage value. We'll rent it out for people to travel to Antarctica, or at the very least, drive it from Shanghai to Tibet, racking up hundreds of thousands of kilometers. By the end of the term, even if the car doesn't break down, its value will be at most 200,000.

  If it's a house, of course, we can't rent it out as a dormitory. This is the difference in value between medium and medium. Similarly, if you pawn 10 million yuan, you need to pay us 2% management fee when you redeem it, which is 12 million yuan. If the house price has doubled, the owner will have to redeem it first even if they sell their children. Now the house price is unlikely to fall, so our pawnshop welcomes people who pawn houses like this. It's a stable profit of 99%.

  For places like bars, if they are connected to the land, it's very simple because the land itself is valuable. If you're a store selling gloves, during this period we won't interfere with your business of selling gloves. After the period ends and if you can't afford to redeem it, we'll take over and can sell it to someone else who might want to sell shoes or socks, or even turn it into a paid toilet.

  Chen Kejia's proposal, in fact, only involves the hardware and operation of the bar, which poses a great risk to our pawnshop. Therefore, we have very detailed terms for such situations, including the right to participate in the business process. If Chen Kejia disagrees, we have the right to terminate the agreement, which is very unfavorable to her.

  So Chen Kejia said I am the behind-the-scenes boss, which makes some sense.

  As I bid farewell to Chen Kejiao and led Ersha down the stairs of the bar, my heart was bursting with pride: this bar, half of it is mine.

  When I called Mr. Hao to ask for money, he didn't show any surprise at all when he heard that the deal had been made worth over 20 million, as if he had been waiting for this day all along. But after listening to the whole process again, he just chuckled twice and said two words: "Don't do it!"

  I was stunned at the time and asked: "Why?"

  Old Hao calmly told me: "Think about it, even if she borrows at high interest, 24 million a year will still have to pay over 10 million in interest?"

  A simple truth brought out all my cold sweat, and I defended myself: "But this bar I've seen it before, 2 million a month is not something to be blown away."

  "I know, normally I'd say you've done a great job with this deal, but Brother Qiang, have you thought about the timing? It's only been a few days since the earthquake, and city leaders are still hesitant to visit hot springs in our city because of the risk of aftershocks. If another small earthquake occurs, bars like yours will basically be wiped out! At that time, forget about making 200,000 yuan per month, you'll be lucky if you make 20,000 yuan. And you want to sign this contract with her? A year from now, she'll still get 2.4 million yuan, no matter what. She's essentially buying a big insurance policy from you for a small price! The reason she doesn't dare mortgage the bar to borrow money from loan sharks is that they only care about getting their money back, regardless of whether there's another earthquake or not. If there is one, everyone will still have to pay back what they owe, otherwise, she'll be in big trouble. Same logic applies to you, think carefully before you do this!"

  Damn it! This woman has been played! Crying and shouting to remind herself not to fall for the American trick, but still got drunk by a cup of flat champagne!

  But I just became the boss of such a big bar, and the happiness is still dizzying. Do I have to return to reality so soon? Just now I was still treating her to drinks, do I have to take out cash from my purse with bricks in it right away?

  I made a last-ditch effort with Old Hao: "Aren't those all just uncertain things? Isn't that normal risk?"

  Hao boss chuckled: "I'm 65 this year, being moderately wealthy is safe, unlike you young people, I can't withstand the ups and downs anymore. I don't want to lose all my savings, Strongzi, others think I'm invincible, but in fact, I haven't made a single penny in the past two years..."

  The last sentence can be ignored, but Lao Hao has made up his mind and will no longer do this business.

  This shows that the peak of Xiaoqiang's career can only be the "best pawnshop" manager, mainly because later he will still have to borrow Zhao Dage's bicycle to personally deliver it to the village outside the 5th ring road - oh no, I now have a 1955-made cross-type motorcycle.

  Then I suddenly had a bold idea: do it myself!