Chapter 401: Purchase
Chapter 401: Chapter 401: Purchase
Bai Suihe nodded and didn’t ask further. After all, every family had its own difficulties. It wasn’t hard to guess the situation of the old couple; they probably had some disagreements with the younger generation.
"My old man is right. We really didn’t overprice it at three hundred taels of silver," the old woman said. Seeing Bai Suihe stay silent, she thought she was dissatisfied with the price and grew anxious. This concerned their retirement funds, after all. "It’s only because so many things have happened in the county town recently. If this were ten years ago, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to buy these two storefronts even if you doubled the price."
The old man stopped his wife. "Alright, that’s enough. We’ve stated our price. If this madam is willing to buy, she will agree. If not, we can’t force her."
They were eager to sell, but the transaction still had to be mutual.
Bai Suihe knew they really hadn’t asked for an unreasonable price. If she bought such storefronts and renovated them, and if a reliable official truly arrived as the old man had said, she would make a profit right off the bat.
Now that the emperor was going to clean up Lingnan, the selection of officials would definitely be stricter. Special attention would be paid to this region in the coming years. As long as the new officials were smart, they wouldn’t dare to cross the line.
"I have no problem with the price, but is it easy to transfer the deeds right now?"
"Yes, it is!" The old woman was a little excited. "Right now, with the help of several County Magistrates from the surrounding areas, everything in the county office is running as usual. It’s even more convenient than before."
Just like that, Bai Suihe beat Gu Kaiyuan to the punch and purchased her first property. The clerk in the government office was also very efficient. After paying a small tax, she obtained a brand new red deed.
Stepping out of the government office, the old couple said they would go back and pack their things. They would leave early the next morning and just leave the keys in the small hole under the gate pier.
Bai Suihe didn’t mind. The property was completely empty inside and out anyway. She would just send someone over tomorrow to change the locks.
After leaving the government office, she wanted to continue looking around, but two small figures blocked her path.
Daya was thrilled. She had waited outside for so long and finally saw her benefactor again.
"Benefactor," Daya said, dragging her younger brother over to kneel and bow. "Thank you for saving our lives."
Zisu knew that her madam didn’t like people kneeling to her, so she walked over and helped them up. "Little girl, just tell us what you want to say. We don’t have the habit of letting people kneel all the time here."
Daya explained, "I was just too excited to see our benefactor. We’ve been waiting here, and I didn’t expect our benefactor to actually show up."
Zisu asked, "How is your mother doing?"
Bai Suihe was also curious. The doctor had said there was no problem yesterday, and looking at the expressions on these two little ones, their mother must have made it through safely.
"My mother gave birth to another little brother for us," the little girl said, her heart full of joy. "Both my mother and my little brother are safe now.
"My mother wants to thank our benefactor in person. I’ll go tell her right now."
Bai Suihe quickly reached out to stop her. "Don’t. Your mother just gave birth and needs to rest. Don’t disturb her.
"As long as she is safe, that’s what matters. Let your mother recover well so you can all go home sooner."
She had already asked the doctor about the silver she left yesterday and confirmed that there would be money left over after paying for the medical expenses. It should be enough for them to hire a carriage home.
Daya was torn. Her mother wanted to thank their benefactor, and if she knew she had run into her, she would definitely come out to kowtow in gratitude. However, what her benefactor said made sense. Her mother was still very weak and really shouldn’t overexert herself.
While she hesitated, Bai Suihe had already walked away with her people. Daya could only grit her teeth and take her younger brother back to the clinic.
After wandering around for a while, Bai Suihe indeed didn’t find anything else suitable. She returned to the inn, where Gu Kaiyuan had already arrived.
"Madam, I didn’t expect you to move faster than me today. You’ve already bought two storefronts."
Gu Kaiyuan’s teasing made Bai Suihe feel a little surprised. "How did you know?"
"We must have missed each other by seconds. Just as you finished the deed transfer, I arrived at the government office," Gu Kaiyuan said with a cheerful laugh. "Today’s haul wasn’t bad. I also bought a few farming estates." Saying this, he pulled out a stack of red deeds from his robes. "And two small courtyards, as well as a few storefronts."
"Why did you buy so many?" Bai Suihe asked. This was beyond her expectations. So many farming estates and storefronts would require a lot of people to manage.
"It doesn’t matter. We’ll see how things develop here. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just resell them. Either way, we won’t lose money."
Bai Suihe blinked. "I think you should have been the child of the Bai Family. Your head for business is much better than mine."
For a family like the Gu Family, whose minds were entirely focused on the imperial court, to produce such a shrewd opportunist—he had truly been born into the wrong household.
"I can’t compare to you, Madam," Gu Kaiyuan said modestly. "Any random little idea you have can crush most people. I’ll still have to rely on you for my next meal in the future. Take a look at these storefronts and see if there are any you like. Their locations are all pretty good."
Bai Suihe flipped through the deeds. "I don’t want to run too many shops right now. Let’s observe the situation here first; maybe we can open another fabric shop later. Let’s just keep these storefronts for now. If the price is right, we can also sell a few off."
They had just arrived. It wouldn’t be a good thing to hold on to all the storefronts in such prime locations. The reason they rushed to buy so much, aside from wanting to make a profit from the price difference, was to use these properties to establish some connections.
Although they could use the banner of the Bai Family, it wasn’t a long-term solution. After all, the Bai Family was merely a merchant household. More powerful families simply wouldn’t take them seriously. Before they had the absolute ability to protect themselves, they still needed to keep a low profile while expanding.
Most importantly, housing and land prices here were extremely cheap right now, so buying more wouldn’t attract suspicion. The Bai Family had already sent things over several times, so who knew exactly how much wealth was hidden within?
The two of them talked for a while and only stopped when Gu Xingyang woke up.
"You said you wanted to come out and play with me, but you sure slept a lot, you little lazy pig," Bai Suihe teased after she finished tidying Gu Xingyang up.
Gu Xingyang waved her little hands around continuously. Having slept for so long, she needed to stretch a bit. "Mother, you really can’t blame me for this. I’m still a growing child."
Gu Xingyang felt innocent. It was a natural physiological response; she couldn’t force herself to stay awake. However, having woken up from a good sleep, she was fully revived again. "Father, Mother, let’s go out and play!"
Gu Kaiyuan deliberately teased her. "But we just got back."
Gu Xingyang’s sweet, childish voice rang out, laced with a sob. "...Boo-hoo, Father, you promised to take me out to play before. You’re deceiving a child."
Even though he knew she was faking it, Gu Kaiyuan’s heart softened anyway. "Father isn’t deceiving you. Father will take you out to play right now. But there isn’t much fun to be had in this place. It’s mostly just old streets and alleys. The streets are very quiet, and there are hardly any shops."
Bai Suihe chimed in to confirm. "Your father isn’t lying to you."