Chapter 1204

The wrinkles on her forehead, the grease-stained apron, and the heavy smell of cooking oil on her body had long since worn away her former refinement and charm; now, without exaggeration, she was nothing more than a housewife.

It was hard to imagine that such a housewife actually ran such a massive Flying Fox Restaurant — it must not have been easy.

"You must be the guests wanting to rent our private room. Let's talk while we eat! I'm the owner of this restaurant. If you don't mind, just call me Sister Zhang."

"Feiyan, go call your dear sister over to eat together."

"Okay." The little girl named Feiyan set down the dish in her hands and left.

Sister Zhang smiled, warmly invited Lin Cheng and the others to sit down, and also set down the dishes in her hands — a mix of meat and vegetables, looking quite nice.

"You're too kind, Sister Zhang."

"My name is Lin Cheng. I brought my family to Shicheng to develop ourselves. Don't worry, we're all good citizens with proper identification, and we absolutely won't take advantage of you." After sitting down, Lin Cheng took the initiative to introduce himself with a smile, and handed over his identification.

"I'm at ease." Sister Zhang had already heard from her youngest daughter that Lin Cheng's identification belonged to an important talent of the Empire, but she still picked up Lin Cheng's identification to confirm.

In the lower right corner was a special concealed seal personally issued by the City Hall to verify authenticity. Regarding this point, she checked repeatedly several times before truly setting her mind at ease.

"Sorry, Mr. Tut, your identification is very rare. I hope you don't mind me looking at it so long." Realizing some time had passed, Sister Zhang returned the identification to Lin Cheng with an apologetic expression.

"It's fine. What's real can't be made false, and what's false can't be made real. Actually, I only just found out today when I got my identification that I'm apparently a special talent." Lin Cheng said with a smile.

"Congratulations, Mr. Tut."

"Sister Zhang, you're really too polite. Just call me Lin Cheng. This is Miss Qianhui, and this is General Ji Xia." Lin Cheng took the opportunity to introduce Miss Qianhui and General Ji Xia.

"Hello, Sister Zhang." Miss Qianhui and General Ji Xia greeted Sister Zhang in turn.

"Hello to you both."

A peculiar smile appeared on Sister Zhang's face — she understood that for a capable man, having one wife and multiple concubines was perfectly normal.

"Sister Zhang, to be honest, I'm a blacksmith. The reason I want to rent your private room is to open a smithy. If you allow it, I might have to make some minor modifications to your private room."

The excellent location of Flying Fox Restaurant made Lin Cheng somewhat eager to discuss the rental with Sister Zhang, to sign the contract as soon as possible so he could set his mind at ease.

"These are all easy to discuss, Mr. Lin Cheng. I'm also very willing to rent the private room to you and support your idea of opening a shop. However, there are some things you need to know." Seeing Sister Zhang's increasingly solemn expression, Lin Cheng vaguely guessed some of it — it was very likely something about Flying Fox Restaurant.

Whether it was raising the rent or some special requirement, he had to consider it carefully. A storefront was certainly important, but it also depended on whether it was worth it.

"Please go ahead." Lin Cheng sat up straight and composed.

Miss Qianhui and General Ji Xia didn't feel right speaking up in such a scene. They knew the head of the household was Lin Cheng; if Lin Cheng couldn't reach an agreement with Sister Zhang, there was nothing they could do.

Seeing the three of them so utterly serious, Sister Zhang couldn't help but let out a couple of light laughs.

"Relax, it's actually not about the rent. Lin Cheng, as a special talent of the Empire, I'd actually lower the rent for you somewhat. The truth is, this matter concerns us mother-and-daughter and the restaurant. I'm afraid it might affect you, so I have to tell you, and let you decide whether to rent or not."

· ·······Please send flowers····· ·····

"Alright, Sister Zhang, please go ahead." Lin Cheng nodded.

When he had first entered the restaurant, he had realized the restaurant might have problems; otherwise, a restaurant in such a prime location couldn't possibly be this deserted.

Following that, Sister Zhang began to recount the long-standing love-hate relationship between her mother and daughter and Flying Fox Restaurant. Midway through, that singing girl also joined the table to eat, without interrupting Sister Zhang's account.

It turned out that Sister Zhang had originally run the restaurant together with her husband, gradually growing it from a small eatery into the present Flying Fox Restaurant. The family was fairly well-off. Her husband had originally been a local retired officer of the Fortress City of Shicheng, and had died two years ago in the jaws of a magical beast while covering his comrades during a hunt in a magical beast zone.

Ever since then, life had not been easy for the mother and daughter.

Her husband, as a retired officer, had enjoyed special privileges in Shicheng, but after his death, those privileges were no longer enjoyed. Fortunately, her husband's former comrades still looked after the mother and daughter fairly well, so they barely managed to get by.

But three months ago, a wealthy merchant came wanting to open a restaurant in Shicheng, and took a liking to their Flying Fox Restaurant, hoping to buy the entire place.

Originally this was a good thing — as long as the price was satisfactory, she had no reason to refuse.

However, after learning about the mother-and-daughter's family background, the merchant maliciously drove down the price, which she naturally could not agree to.

But the other party not only refused to give up, they instead made threats, and even sent people to maliciously cause trouble at the restaurant. She reported to the authorities, but she hadn't expected the merchant to have connections above — the City Hall only imposed a mere fine on the merchant. (End)