Hearing Li Shu's question about when she had been taken advantage of, Qin'er couldn't help but cough, and said in a low voice with a bitter face: "Miss, you have never been taken advantage of before, but that was in the past. Aren't you being taken advantage of now? Zizai Building is only worth six or seven hundred taels of silver, but you are spending one thousand taels to buy it; the barren slope behind it is only worth ten taels of silver, but you are spending one hundred taels... Miss, if this is not considered a taken advantage of, then what is?"
"Hehe..." Li Shu couldn't help laughing when she saw Qin'er's distressed look. Then she waved her pink little hand and asked the irrelevant maids and nannies to temporarily leave, leaving only Qin'er and a few other trusted maids and nannies in front.
"This is a bargain." Li Shu smiled slightly and said seriously.
"Getting a bargain???" Qin'er expressed serious doubt. This loss went to grandma's family, how could it be called getting a bargain
Although I have little education, you can't deceive me, Miss, Qin'er looked at Li Shu with suspicion.
"The current market value of Zizailou is 700 taels of silver, but this is only the current market value. In two to three years at the shortest, and five to six years at the longest, the price of Zizailou will at least quadruple." Li Shu said with a confident smile.
"Ah? It has to quadruple at least?" Qin Er was so surprised that her mouth dropped open. After being surprised, she became seriously suspicious. She looked at Li Shu with disbelief and asked, "Miss, how can it quadruple?"
"Just rely on the south city wall." Li Shu said with a smile.
"South City Wall?" Qin'er looked confused, not knowing what the price increase of Zizai Building had to do with the South City Wall.
"Hehe... I don't think you are much smarter than Hua'er." Li Shu couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh when she saw Qin'er's confused look.
"Miss, I just don't understand, what does the South City Wall have to do with the price increase of Zizai Building?"
Qin Er asked with a bitter face.
"Let me ask you, which is more expensive, the restaurant in the city or the restaurant outside the city?" Li Shu did not answer directly, but asked Qin'er a question.
"Of course the restaurants in the city are more expensive. The restaurants in the city can afford several restaurants outside the city."
Qin Er replied without hesitation.
"That's it. Zizai Tower was originally outside the city. Last month, Lord Nie Bao presided over the construction of the outer city outside the inner city. After the southern city wall was built, the court could not afford it. Lord Nie had to build two north-south walls connecting the inner and outer cities. It was just completed three days ago. The original "口" shape of our capital has changed to a "凸" shape. Dajue Temple and Zizai Tower were originally outside the city, but now they are all wrapped in the city wall and are already located in the outer city. The outer city is also a city, within the protection range of the city wall. In a few years, the outer city will surely develop rapidly, and the land price in the outer city will surely rise, so the value of Zizai Building will surely increase. Especially with the development of the outer city, the value of Zizai Building will continue to increase. The more prosperous the outer city is, the more the value of Zizai Building will increase. The same is true for the barren slope behind it. After leveling, it can get ten acres of land. After a few years, in terms of value, the price of these ten acres of land will be no less than that of Zizai Building. Buying it is a profit. If you spend 1,100 taels of silver to buy it now, you can earn at least twice as much if you sell it in the future. "
Li Shu smiled like a little fox who had stolen a chicken, her pair of ink-black eyes sparkling.
"Ah... I see."
After hearing what Li Shu said, Qin'er suddenly understood and looked at Li Shu with eyes full of admiration.
At this moment, Qin'er's admiration for her young lady was almost overflowing.
"Do you still think I'm being taken advantage of?" Li Shu asked with a smile.
"Miss, of course not." Qin Er shook her head firmly, and then became nervous again, "Miss, the outer city was repaired three days ago. Will the Sixth Miss and the Great Madam also realize that the price of Zizai Building will increase? Will they regret and disagree?"
Qin'er is now worried that Sixth Miss and the others will go back on their word, and that they will not agree to sell Zizai Building and the wasteland behind it.
"Don't worry. Each of them looks smart, but in fact they are short-sighted. They only focus on the small piece of land in the mansion and only know how to fight among the girls. How can they look outside the mansion, let alone the outer city." Li Shu mentioned the Sixth Miss and the others, with some contempt, not worrying at all that the Sixth Miss and the others would go back on their word.
"The most important thing is that compared to the current market price, I raised the price for them by at least 400 taels of silver. They are blinded by greed. Didn't you see that Lao Liu was so happy that he could hardly hold back his excitement? It's probably because they are afraid that I will go back on my word. Just wait and see, Lao Liu will come to me with the house deed and land deeds soon, and won't give me a chance to 'go back on my word'."
Li Shu smiled and said confidently.
Qin'er thought about it and realized that it was true. When the Sixth Miss left just now, she couldn't hide the excitement on her face.
He looked like he had gotten a great bargain.
From this point of view, there is really no need to worry about them changing their minds. However, Qin Er still has a worry in her heart.
"Miss, as you said, it will take at least two or three years for the outer city to develop and the value of Zizai Building to appreciate, maybe even five or six years. What should we do with Zizai Building during this period? Zizai Building's business is not good and it is losing money every day. If we wait for five or six years, and if we keep losing money during these five or six years, it will not be a small amount." Qin'er asked worriedly, "Sixth Miss and the others will definitely laugh at us. When I think of them laughing at us, even if it is only temporary, I still feel very unhappy."
"Haha, the reason why Zizailou has been making losses is that they don't know how to run it." Li Shu curled her lips in disdain.
Qin'er opened her mouth in surprise after hearing Li Shu's evaluation, "Ah? You don't know how to run a business?! Last time we went to Dajue Temple to burn incense, we passed by Zizailou. I saw that Grandma and the others run the business very carefully. The decoration of Zizailou is simple and elegant, and the chef is also a chef from the imperial kitchen. His skills are very good. The waiters are also diligent, careful and enthusiastic, and the ingredients are all very fresh... I think Zizailou has been losing money because the surrounding area is desolate and there are few customers."
In Qin'er's opinion, even if they took over Zizai Building, they might not be able to do better than Grandma and the others.
"The surrounding area is desolate and there are few customers. Can't we do good business?!" Li Shu smiled slightly.
Qin'er nodded subconsciously.
"Those who don't know how to run a business can't do business well." Li Shu gently tapped Qin'er's head and said softly.
"Then how to run it?" Qin'er's little head was filled with this question.
"Of course, we have done a good job of positioning. The area around Zizailou is a bit desolate, with less traffic. Although the outer city has been built, the area around Zizailou will not be prosperous in the short term. However, Zizailou is backed by Dajue Temple and is very close to Dajue Temple. People who go to Dajue Temple from the inner city to burn incense will pass by the avenue in front of Zizailou, and the traffic is actually not small. Many of these people who go to Dajue Temple to burn incense are dignitaries and wealthy families. As long as we capture them, Zizailou's business will be much more prosperous than the restaurants in the city."
Li Shu analyzed softly.
"Miss, what you said makes sense, but how do we catch them? Grandma and the others have invited the imperial chef..."
Qin'er had a face full of question marks.
"It's simple. If we accept Zizailou, we will put up a few conspicuous signs on the roadside outside the store to advertise: there is a vacant lot behind Zizailou specifically for diners and guests to plant blessing trees. If you are interested, our store provides pine, cypress, osmanthus, plum, orchid and bamboo seedlings blessed by the monks of Dajue Temple, for guests to plant and pray for blessings, write inscriptions as souvenirs, and hang wooden signs on the trees with the guest's name, planting time and blessings. After that, guests can come to our store at any time for free to view the planted blessing trees. Our store only charges three cents of silver for the seedlings." Li Shu smiled slightly and said slowly.
"It can pray for blessings, is elegant, and has commemorative significance. It will naturally attract a group of wealthy pilgrims to come and plant trees. And those pilgrims who plant trees, once they have planted trees, will definitely remember the blessing trees they planted with their own hands. When they go to Dajue Temple to burn incense again, they will naturally come to visit the blessing trees they planted with their own hands, and naturally become repeat customers. A group of small trees will bring back a group of repeat customers, and Zizailou will naturally be full of customers..."
Li Shu squinted her eyes and smiled like a little fox.
"Miss, how did you come up with this idea? It's amazing..." Qin'er's voice broke with excitement, and her eyes suddenly burst into stars of admiration.