Chapter 84: The Grocery Store 3

The shopkeeper carefully picked up the land deed, and seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had no intention of stopping him, he felt relieved and began to look it over.

After all, it was the land deed for his own shop, so the shopkeeper recognized it instantly.

Without a moment's hesitation, he carefully placed the land deed back on the tea table, then knelt down before Zhu Gaoxu.

"This lowly one, Li Quan, pays respects to the young master."

Li Quan was not stupid; through the land deed and Zhu Gaoxu's attire, he instantly concluded that this was a child of the Prince of Yan.

Although he did not know which son he was.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, reached out to gesture for Li Quan to rise, and then briefly introduced himself.

"This Prince is the second son of the Father Prince, the Nanyang Commandery Prince personally enfeoffed by the Imperial Grandfather; from now on, this shop is under this Prince's charge."

Li Quan was a bit confused upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words.

He knew his own worth, and even more so, he knew the status of his own little run-down shop.

He reckoned that people from the Wangfu would not even spare it a glance.

Yet the master before him sounded like someone with real power.

A Commandery Prince personally enfeoffed by the Emperor!

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu, he appeared to be only four or five years old.

This meant he had become a Prince a full five or six years early; he truly could not understand why Zhu Gaoxu would come to his shop.

However, although his heart was full of doubts, Li Quan still said, "I wonder what instructions the master has."

Zhu Gaoxu did not stand on ceremony and said directly, "Find people immediately to clear out everything in this shop, then sell or discard the shelves as appropriate, and then reorganize this shop from scratch."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Li Quan felt both joy and worry in his heart, and for a moment, he did not reply to Zhu Gaoxu.

The joy was naturally because hearing Zhu Gaoxu say this clearly meant he intended to value this shop; with Zhu Gaoxu's attention, he could naturally rise with the tide.

But the worry was that he had no money, and even if he sold everything in the shop, it probably wouldn't amount to much; secondly, the ceiling for this shop was already low, so no matter how it was tidied up, it would still be the same. If he spent a large sum on renovations only for there to be no improvement, and then was blamed for it later, he would likely be the only one to take the fall.

Zhu Gaoxu, of course, did not know Li Quan's worries.

Looking at Li Quan standing before him without speaking, Zhu Gaoxu frowned and asked, "What? Is there something amiss?"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu ask this, Li Quan braced himself and voiced his concerns.

"Master, our shop's location is poor. Although there are many customers, most are commoners. Even if it were decorated luxuriously, I fear it would be of little use."

Hearing Li Quan say this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded secretly in his heart.

It was not that he agreed with Li Quan's words, but that Li Quan's words were considering things for his sake.

At the very least, this was what a qualified shopkeeper should do.

Before coming, Zhu Gaoxu had been worried that if the shopkeeper's ability or loyalty were lacking, he would have to find his old man to replace him.

But now it seemed he could still be used.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu said directly, "I have my own considerations for these problems; you don't need to worry about them, just do as I say."

Seeing that he could not dissuade this young master, Li Quan had no choice but to nod, then opened his mouth as if to say something but did not speak.

Watching Li Quan still standing there motionless, Zhu Gaoxu frowned.

If this person was ungrateful or disobedient, he could not be used even if he were qualified.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not make a decision immediately but continued to ask, "What? Is there something else?"

"Replying to the master, I do not know what kind of renovation the master wants. If it is too luxurious, this lowly one may not be able to afford the expense."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu frowned.

When he came, he had specifically asked Wang Guanjia and knew that although this shop did not earn much money in a year.

There were still many valuable things in the shop.

Scraped together, it was more than enough to renovate this small shop of twenty or thirty square meters.

Why was Li Quan telling him there wasn't enough money?

Zhu Gaoxu could not be bothered to think further and said directly, "Do you think this Prince is young and easy to bully? Before I came, I already asked Wang Guanjia; I am perfectly clear on how many things are in this shop and what their value is. Are you trying to be a parasite of the Wangfu!"

Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu slapped the table; despite his young age, his aura was not weak in the slightest.

Upon hearing this, Li Quan was so frightened that he knelt on the ground again.

At this moment, the little girl ran out from the backyard.

"Don't you dare bully my father just because of your status; my father is not that kind of person!"

Seeing his daughter actually run out to contradict Zhu Gaoxu, Li Quan grabbed his daughter, forced her to kneel, and then kowtowed to Zhu Gaoxu while begging for mercy: "I ask the master to calm your anger. My daughter is ignorant; please punish me instead."

Zhu Gaoxu frowned as he watched this scene, and the anger that had risen in him subsided by more than half.

He first let the father and daughter rise, then Zhu Gaoxu did not lose his temper again, but gave Li Quan a chance to explain.

"Don't say this Prince is bullying you; I will give you a chance to explain properly. If there is even a hint of deception, not only will I not spare you, but your daughter will also be punished for offending this Prince!"

"If you satisfy this Prince, I am not an unreasonable person, and I will let you and your daughter go this time."