Chapter 233 - 158: You’re Into This Too?
Chapter 233: Chapter 158: You’re Into This Too?
As he spoke, Gao Yuan gave Qin Yichuan and Zheng Zhi a look that all men would understand.
"You know how to do that?"
"Then why did you come for a massage?"
"You’re not..."
Gao Yuan saw the look in Qin Yichuan and Zheng Zhi’s eyes change and immediately shouted, "Hold it!"
He wasn’t some kind of essential oil aficionado. He was a normal guy, without that many hobbies.
"We’re just going to chat for a bit later."
This was Gao Yuan’s way of reassuring Qin Yichuan and Zheng Zhi.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
There was another knock on the door.
Old Si came in, beaming.
"President Gao, I spoke with the boss. Will you have some time in a bit?"
"I’m free. We can talk right here in this tea room."
’No point in dragging this out,’ Gao Yuan thought. ’I’ll talk to him today, and if the terms are right, I’ll take it.’
’Besides, there’s still a lot to do later, like the renovations. The system will give me a Renovation Card, but I can’t just use it out of the blue, can I?’
’I’ll definitely have to close the whole place for a while to make it look like it’s being renovated. After some time passes, I can explain that I arranged for people to do the remodeling.’
’As for the speed of the project, I’ll just have to say I spent a fortune to have crews working around the clock in shifts to get it done.’
’And I’ll also have to teach them my massage techniques. The methods these people use now aren’t very appealing.’
’For this, I’m thinking of splitting it into two parts.’
’Massages for men will focus on loosening up muscles and joints, while massages for women will be centered on essential oil SPAs.’
’As for my special techniques, I don’t plan on teaching those to anyone.’
’It’s a family secret, after all. Gotta keep a trick or two up my sleeve.’
"President Gao, President Qin, President Zheng."
"I have something to say, but I’m not sure if I should."
After Gao Yuan said he would meet the Platinum Palace’s owner in the tea room, Old Si took a deep breath and spoke.
"What is it?"
Gao Yuan asked.
"What I told the boss was that you’re some big shots I know, and that I was introducing you to talk about the business."
"Understood. Go ahead."
Gao Yuan didn’t let Old Si finish. ’I get what he means.’
’I can guess that Old Si is probably getting a finder’s fee out of this—a commission, in business terms.’
’It’s not like that money would go to me anyway. If Old Si can get it, that’s a credit to his own abilities.’
Besides, if Gao Yuan were to acquire the Platinum Palace, he wouldn’t have time to manage the place himself. Old Si seemed like a good candidate for the job.
「A short while later.」
The private room door opened, and Old Si walked in with a middle-aged man of short stature.
Old Si introduced everyone, and they all sat down to talk.
When Pan Daming heard that Gao Yuan was in the skincare e-commerce business, he was instantly thrilled.
’An e-commerce tycoon!’
’I’m planning to get into e-commerce myself. This decision must be the right one!’
After a bit of small talk, Pan Daming brought the conversation around to the Platinum Palace. He gave Gao Yuan a detailed breakdown of its current situation.
He also described the Platinum Palace’s performance during its peak, and he didn’t hide its current poor state, laying out all the details for Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan listened and nodded.
’Truthfully, he didn’t care about any of this. Whether Platinum Palace’s performance was good or bad was all in the past. What did it have to do with him?’
’What he cared about most was the money.’
No matter what was said, it would eventually come down to money. After just a few more sentences, Pan Daming brought up the selling price for the Platinum Palace.
"President Gao, you’re now clear on the size and situation of the Platinum Palace."
Seeing Gao Yuan nod, Pan Daming continued, "The total asking price is one hundred million. If you find that acceptable, we can continue our discussion."
Gao Yuan just smiled without replying, raising his teacup for a sip as he looked at Pan Daming.
"President Pan, I hear the hotel upstairs is also your property."
"That’s right. All six floors here are my property."
Pan Daming didn’t understand why Gao Yuan was suddenly asking about the hotel upstairs, but he answered nonetheless.
"I’m not that interested in the Platinum Palace by itself. But if you include the three hotel floors, then we might have something to talk about."
"But, you’ll need to reconsider the price."
Gao Yuan stated his intentions. He had deliberately bundled the Platinum Palace with the three hotel floors above it, signaling to Pan Daming that he wasn’t really interested in just the Platinum Palace.
If Pan Daming wanted to sell, it would be best to sell the three hotel floors along with it; otherwise, there was a high chance Gao Yuan wouldn’t buy at all.
Now it was Pan Daming’s turn to hesitate.
’The three hotel floors upstairs were actually doing okay. While not fully booked every day, their business was much more stable than the Platinum Palace’s.’
’Pan Daming had originally intended to keep those three floors as his nest egg, a safety net in case his e-commerce venture failed.’
’Gao Yuan’s demand really put him in a tough spot.’
’He was reluctant, mainly because he wanted to leave himself a path of retreat.’
Gao Yuan didn’t rush him. Instead, he went back to drinking tea with Qin Yichuan and Zheng Zhi.
「After a long moment.」
Pan Daming also picked up his teacup, drained it in one gulp, and said, "For all six floors, two hundred million."
"Hahaha!"
Gao Yuan let out a hearty laugh.
"President Pan, you’re not being sincere!"
’Pan Daming wanted one hundred million for the Platinum Palace, and now he wanted another hundred million for the three hotel floors? That was just ridiculous.’
"President Gao, I wasn’t planning on selling those three hotel floors. It was only because you brought it up that I’m even willing to part with them, as painful as it is."
’Pan Daming also knew that two hundred million was a bit impossible, but business was all about give and take. Haggling was perfectly normal.’
’This was the part Gao Yuan hated the most, but he had to do it nonetheless.’