Kong Xiuyun's remark that "the renovation costs would be enormous" hit Fang Dongxu and the Dreadlocked Man like a bucket of ice water dumped over their heads.
Zhou Qiang picked up the cup in front of him and leisurely took a sip before setting it down with a soft clink.
"You three have heard everything and seen everything." Zhou Qiang leaned back against the sofa, his hands folded on the table, looking relaxed. "Name your price."
That single sentence changed the entire rhythm of the conversation.
None of the three across from him spoke first.
After a long silence, Fang Dongxu finally couldn't hold back.
"Brother Qiang, this place... we put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it."
Fang Dongxu paused, seemingly gathering his words, or perhaps trying to steel himself.
"The renovations cost six hundred thousand in total. All the furniture and the kitchen equipment and supplies came to two hundred thousand. We paid six months' rent up front, and there's a little over three months left. Let's call it three months, so that's two hundred and forty thousand remaining. There's also the eighty-thousand deposit we paid the landlord."
"We won't count the other minor expenses. They're all small change." After speaking, Fang Dongxu turned the laptop that had been sitting on the table toward Zhou Qiang. "Brother Qiang, here's the breakdown of expenses I put together, along with the lease and some receipts. Please take a look."
Zhou Qiang didn't look at the laptop screen.
He merely tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingers.
"Eighty thousand a month in rent?" Zhou Qiang's tone was flat, betraying neither pleasure nor anger. "How come I heard that comparable storefronts around here rent for about fifty thousand a month?"
Zhou Qiang had heard that from Wang Xiaoliang. Back when