I Want to Talk Business with You

The broker took out an abacus, calculated for a moment, and said, "The annual rent is 12,000 taels of silver, and you can get eight shops in return."

"What? Renting a few shops at the border requires such a high price?"

The broker smiled and said:

"Then you'll have to see how the shop is decorated. Once you get the shop, you won't need any additional decoration."

It even has some of the most basic facilities.

The princess went inside, looked around, and said, "It's quite nice, but the key question is, how much foot traffic is here?"

"You don't need to worry about foot traffic at all. No matter what kind of shop you open, business will definitely not be too bad."

Look at the people outside now, there's a constant stream of them.

The princess looked at the crowd outside; it was indeed packed.

Shangguan Wan'er gently reminded her:

"Princess, this place is only here because of the War God's Tomb. What if the War God's Tomb is closed down in the future?"

Will this place turn back into the way it was before?

The broker smiled and said:

"Don't worry, ladies, 12,000 taels of silver isn't expensive. You'll definitely make your money back."

Besides, you're renting, not buying the shop outright.

It's not too expensive.

Princess Jianing immediately tossed out 12,000 silver notes and said, "Deal! I'll take all these shops."

Zhou Min, who was standing nearby, said, "Princess, aren't you being too hasty?"

Princess Jianing smiled and said:

"There's no such thing as being hasty or careless. When I opened my shop, I went directly to my previous suppliers."

That supplier is pretty good; my shop will be up and running soon.

"What makes Zhou Wanwan think she can compete with me?"

Zhou Min nodded and said, "That's true, Zhou Wanwan definitely can't beat you."

After Princess Jianing acquired the shop, she quickly contacted Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by several suppliers.

Princess Jianing looked at Xiao Jiu and said, "Xiao Jiu, can you give me some advice? What kind of shops should I open?"

Xiao Jiu looked at her and said:

"Princess, I need to check what's at this checkpoint. You can't open the same thing as everyone else."

If you open the same car as everyone else, you'll definitely lose money.

Princess Jianing nodded and said, "Yes, yes, you're right."

Xiao Jiu continued:

"Princess, and you must play to your strengths."

For example, we can open a store based on which area you have the most connections in.

Xiao Jiu looked around and said:

"Teahouse, snack shop, cosmetics shop, clothing shop, jewelry and jade shop, tavern, antique shop, miss, what do you think?"

I think these things would sell very well here.

Xiao Jiu really didn't cheat Princess Jianing; these shops really can make money.

Princess Jianing looked at Xiao Jiu and said, "I trust you, but you need to help me manage these shops first, because I'll need to hire some people later."

Xiao Jiu nodded and said, "No problem, Princess. Rest assured, I will train the people you recruit to ensure they can get started as soon as possible."

Princess Jianing was very satisfied:

"This is my supplier; his goods are one-of-a-kind."

Moreover, many of these things cannot be bought outside.

The noble ladies around Princess Jianing all listened to her, so she didn't hide anything from them.

"The goods this supplier provides are things that ordinary people simply can't buy; even the imperial palace might not have them."

The noble ladies gathered around and asked, "Really? Princess, can we have him supply goods for us in the future?"

"We also have several shops."

Princess Jianing nodded and said, "Of course."

Xiao Jiu shook her head and said, "No, we only serve the princess; we don't do business with anyone else."

Princess Jianing smiled at Xiao Jiu and said, "You've got quite a keen eye!"

Xiao Jiu cupped his hands and said:

"I am here to serve the princess. Whatever you need, I will do my best to fulfill it."

As for the others, I really don't have time to run around.

Princess Jianing was very satisfied and handed him the keys to the shop.

Xiao Jiu took the keys and started looking for someone to set up the shop. Princess Jianing didn't care about anything and left everything to him.

Even the recruitment was entrusted to him. Xiao Jiu said while calculating:

"This Princess Jianing is really rich. We can take a cut of her rent, hire some workers, and even take a cut of her goods."

It feels so good to have a princess working for us.

Someone asked softly:

"Manager Xiao Jiu, why is it that we can clearly open our own shop?"

"Does it really have to be Princess Jianing opens a shop too? Isn't that just letting her get away with it?"

Xiao Jiu rolled her eyes and said:

"Fools, what do you know? Princess Jianing has the backing of Noble Consort Ning and has top-notch connections. These shops are targeting noble ladies."

And those noble ladies, when they buy things, they don't care about such things, especially since our products are truly of high quality.

My master is so busy every day, how could he have time to manage these things?

We'll handle the sourcing and recruitment for her, and she'll help us with advertising and promotion. Isn't that great?"

Xie Cheng'en, sitting beside him, twitched his lips and said, "Master is truly thoughtful."

Xiao Jiu sighed and said:

"Originally, she wanted to replicate it. The market in Great Qi is huge, and if we replicated it well, our business could flourish throughout the Great Qi Kingdom."

Little did they know that the Crown Prince of Great Qi was incredibly foolish, actually deluding himself into wanting our master to be his concubine.

Concubine? That's laughable, he doesn't even deserve it!

The crown prince of the Great Qi Kingdom was only ten years old; he was too young to understand such intricacies.

The crown prince may not understand, but there are others who do!

Zhou Wanwan was reading when she heard the Third Princess walk in and say, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince of the Great Qi Kingdom requests an audience."

Zhou Wanwan raised an eyebrow and asked, "The First Prince? What does he want with me?"

The third princess shook her head and said, "My eldest brother usually lives a secluded life and is in his thirties. I don't know what he's thinking."

Zhou Wanwan waved her hand and said, "Then let him in!"

The eldest prince arrived with his two sons.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and asked, "Do you need something from me?"

The eldest prince looked at Zhou Wanwan and smiled faintly, saying, "Young lady, I'd like to discuss a business deal with you."

Zhou Wanwan looked at him and asked, "What kind of business?"

The eldest prince said:

"I've heard that you have a food delivery service and various shops under your control, and I'd like to cooperate with you."

You must have a source of goods. I'd like to know your sourcing channels. What do you think?

Zhou Wanwan glanced at him indifferently and said, "You want my supply channels?"

"Yes, the person behind you must be very powerful. I'd like to cooperate with him."

Zhou Wanwan looked at him and said, "There's no one behind me, it's just me."

The eldest prince's youngest son frowned and said, "Impossible. How could you, at only six years old, possess such great abilities?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at him and said, "Since you don't trust me, why did you come to me in the first place?"

"Of course we know you have connections! Otherwise, we wouldn't have come to you."

The eldest prince smiled and said:

"My youngest son may not be good at much else, but he's quite good at business and has a good business sense."

I just want to ask the person behind you, are you willing to mentor him?

If you're willing, we're willing to pay an apprenticeship fee.