Chapter: Obsessed With Money
Unexpectedly, Wen Qing did not hesitate to agree! Yintang’s trio was stunned, Yin couldn't believe it. "Are you stupid? The shop costs seven or eight thousand teals at best, and you’re spending 100,000 teals to buy it! You are not mad, are you?”
Wen Qing smiled cooly. "I am not stupid. I have a lot of money to burn!"
The trio couldn't say anything more and looked at Wen Qing like she was a fool.
Wen Qing was not stupid. Did they think silver was easy to collect? She will give it out and get it back in the end, with interest! Even if the person was her uncle, she wouldn’t spare them.
After Wen Qing settled her business, she enjoyed her meal without pressure. The food in Hongyun Building was quite good. And Yintang, the trio, was holding the umbrella, forced to walk away with muddled faces.
Outside of Hongyun Building, Yin asked, "Ninth brother, are you really selling the shop to her?”
“I'm not stupid, why would I not accept 100,000 teals for nothing, and let her be proud of taking advantage of us?”
"That sounds reasonable. Ninth brother, you are so powerful!"
Yinsi was not as optimistic as the two of them. “That woman is of unknown origin, we still have to be cautious.”
"Send people to check her details, I want to see who dared to make fun of us brothers. Let’s see if she has the backing of the emperor or not!" Yintang said coldly.
The next day, Wen Qing took a box containing one hundred thousand silver teals and sent it to Yintang's mansion. Yintang did not cause trouble and readily gave her the property papers and sent someone to help her go to the local authorities for the ownership of the household.
The ninth prince’s people accompanied her, so naturally, everything went well and the formalities were completed sooner. There was a triple courtyard residence behind the shop. Wen Qing didn't even need to bother finding a place to live and was able to move in on the same day.
A few days later, Wen Qing quietly opened the shop. There were no firecrackers, no deafening sounds of gongs and drums, no invitations.
When the news reached the ninth prince's mansion, the eighth and tenth princes were also present. Yintang hooked his lips up and said, "Come on, let's join in the fun.”
Yintang's Hongyun Building was located in the most prosperous market in Beijing, and the shop opposite it was in a good position. Therefore, even if the opening of Wen Qing’s shop was low-key, it still attracted a lot of people. Anyone who went in came out with a stormy face. Just as the trio arrived, they saw a man swinging his sleeves while leaving. The man criticized, "Profiteers!”
"Hey, it looks like she's not only cheating the three of us but also cheating other people!" Yin gloated.
Yintang scolded him as he glanced, "You are quite proud of being cheated.”
The trio continued forward. After seeing the hoarding board hanging above the shop, they were shocked. The words inscribed on the board were— Obsessed With Money[1].
This was the first time they saw someone shameless to this extent, writing ‘Obsessed With Money’ on a glimmering hoarding board! It couldn’t be decided whether to call her magnanimous or treacherous. The trio was shocked for a long time before they finally recovered, only to see what was underneath the board.
The door turned out to be made of glass! Two huge colored glass, eight feet high and six feet wide, smooth and level off, clear and transparent. The palace has never seen such a large piece of transparent colored glass! Seeing the colored glass doors, the trio had to weigh Wen Qing's significance again.
Only when they got close did they see that there was a line on each of the two glazed doors. On the left side— Buying or not, you have to pay a teal as an entrance fee. On the right side— The pauper with only a thousand teals is not allowed to enter.
No wonder so many people left with stormy faces. They had to pay one teal when they entered the door. Indeed, she was profiteering! One teal was enough for an ordinary family of three to live for half a year, which she could gain just as entrance fees. Isn't she a profiteer?!
"Interesting." Yintang was even more curious about this store. These two regulations prevent most people from entering, but this shows that the things here were rare. Because those who meet these two regulations must be rich or noble, if these people go in and don't get what they expect, who could possibly bear their anger?
"Come on, let's go in and see.”
The trio pushed the door and went in. Against the side of the wall stood a table, the strange woman was leaning on the table, writing. When she heard someone come in, without raising her head, she said, “Thank you for your patronage, pay the money first."
Yintang scoffed. "Will I be short of money?" Then he raised his hand and threw ten pairs of silver in front of her.
Wen Qing readily picked them up and threw them in the bamboo basket under the table, but still didn't look up. "Sir could casually check the things. All the things here are only allowed to be seen but not touched, those who are interested can come to the checkout counter.”
This perfunctory attitude caused Yintang's face to darken, but Wen Qing didn't look at him at all. His complexion then regained its original color. With a cold snort, he went around the shop. Yinsi and Yin had gone in earlier and were now facing the glass cabinets inside with marvel.
Everything in Obsessed With Money was placed inside glass cabinets, and people could simply look through glass if they wanted to see it. Fortunately, her glass transparency was very high and did not affect one’s line of sight.
However, the things in the cabinets were so strange that they didn't even know what they were!
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TL Note:
[1]: 棺材里伸手死要钱打 is an idiom in Chinese which means reaching out from the coffin demanding the money, which means Obsessed With Money. The name of the shop is 死要钱. So I guess it works that way too.
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