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The female owner glared at Cheng Lang in anger. "Don't think that just because you're handsome, you can get whatever you want!"

Cheng Lang sighed softly and looked at her with utter sincerity. "Of course I know this milk tea shop is your life's work—"

The female owner gave a heavy snort, cutting him off. "Good that you know!"

Clearly, in the female owner's mind, Cheng Lang had already been lumped together with those university students who "couldn't recognize quality."

Cheng Lang smiled. In truth, the price he had offered was already just a tiny bit above the market rate for this area. For shops near the university town, the rent for the small restaurants next door was at most 180,000 a year. Cheng Lang had only offered such a high price because the milk tea shop was so well-decorated.

But clearly, his offer still fell short of the female owner's expectations.

Cheng Lang did not want to discuss market conditions with her. Based on the descriptions from those two female students, he could roughly infer that the milk tea shop's owner was a wealthy, impulsive sort. She could quit her job in a fit of anger and go into business for herself; before starting out, she had not even conducted the most basic market research, nor had she chosen to join a franchise. Instead, she had thrown so much money into opening a milk tea shop that no one visited. With someone so emotional, talking about the market or telling her he had already offered a fair price would only trigger her rebellious streak.

"I'm an orphan!" Cheng Lang looked at the female owner with sorrow and solemnity, smoothly launching into his pitiful tale. "I grew up without parents in an orphanage. Ever since elementary school, every penny I spent was earned through my own part-time work. I worked while studying, and it wasn't easy getting into this school. But tuition is still a problem every year."

"...I just wanted to start a business near campus. To support myself, to stand on my own feet... The other guy partnering with me got into a car accident with his family this summer. Both his parents died. He only has a younger brother left, and he's in a vegetative state, still lying in the hospital. The medical bills alone cost nearly 200,000 every month..."

As he spoke, Cheng Lang took out his phone, found a photo of Shen Huaiyu in his gallery, and handed it to the female owner.

"I know you've poured far too much effort into this milk tea shop. I'd also like to offer more money. I think that with this shop's decor and the care you put into it, it would be worth a million even if you transferred it for that price. But I really don't have that much money..."

"Stop talking!" The female owner sniffled and wiped at her nose, saying through choked sobs, "150,000! Give me 150,000, and I'll transfer the shop to you."

Cheng Lang whistled inwardly. "But—"

"No buts!" The female owner shook her head, her eyes red. "Let me put it this way. I'm not short of a million or two. This property is mine, too. I just can't swallow this insult."

The female owner simply could not understand why, after being so earnest and working so hard, no one could see how good she was. "Actually, before you came, plenty of people asked about taking over the shop. The highest offer among them was only 180,000. They even said the shops nearby were all priced like that."

"Pah! How can I be compared to them? Their lousy shops have walls so damp they're moldy, and the insides are covered in greasy fumes and stains. Their tables are sticky to the touch. What gives them the right to be mentioned in the same breath as my shop, which I spent over a million decorating?"

"There are too many people in this world who can't recognize quality." As the female owner cried, she remembered her own heartbreak. "...Tell me, what exactly is wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough? Is my education not good enough? Is my family not wealthy enough? I'm even a local! Why would that bastard rather cheat on me with some receptionist from out of town who graduated from a second-tier university than marry me? Wuwuwuwu..."

Cheng Lang recalled the gossip from the two female students: the milk tea shop owner had gotten into an argument with a company executive and quit in a fury. It seemed there was more to the story.

"There are too many idiots in this world who throw away the jewel and keep the box. If they can't appreciate your beauty, that's their loss. You don't need to be sad over them." Cheng Lang pulled out a few tissues and handed them to her, comforting her without thinking.

The system clicked its tongue in Cheng Lang's mind. It knew its partner's old habit had flared up again.

The female owner took the tissues and blew her nose with gusto. Finally, she slapped the table. "It's settled, then. 150,000, and I'll transfer the milk tea shop to you. But I have one request..."

The female owner looked at Cheng Lang and asked, "After you take over the milk tea shop, what kind of business do you plan to run?"

"A milk tea shop, still," Cheng Lang said.

"Then can you promise me something?" The female owner blushed, suddenly becoming a little bashful. "You're so shrewd. I believe you can run this milk tea shop well. I want all those people who can't recognize quality to know that there was nothing wrong with my milk tea shop. Their taste is the problem!"

Hearing that, Cheng Lang felt a faint sense of foreboding rise within him.

Sure enough, the female owner continued, "Can I stay and work at the milk tea shop? Help make milk tea now and then, or something. I want to find someone destined for me who has taste as good as mine."

Cheng Lang: "..."

Seeing Cheng Lang's hesitant expression, the female owner looked a little hurt. "Is it really not possible?"

It was not a question of whether it was possible. Cheng Lang was mainly afraid someone would die from drinking it!

Seeing that Cheng Lang had made up his mind, the female owner sighed heavily. Somewhat reluctant, she looked around the shop one last time. "Then that's that. The transfer fee is 150,000, and I'll waive one month's rent for you. As for the tea leaves and the remaining fruit, fresh milk, and other things in my milk tea shop—"

"I'll give you 30,000 for all of it." Cheng Lang had taken a look in the back kitchen earlier and checked the quality of the tea leaves and other ingredients. By his rough estimate, 30,000 was about right. Cheng Lang would not lose out, and the female owner would not profit either.

"That works too." The female owner glanced at Cheng Lang in surprise. She had originally planned to give him the tea leaves for free. With tea leaves of this quality, no one would drink them even if she took them home, and no one would want them as a gift. Yet Cheng Lang had unexpectedly taken the initiative to buy all the ingredients.