Chapter 17: Phoenix Cries at the Pavilion: The Phoenix-Crying Pavilion

"What do you mean?"

"A bet?"

Zheng Yue Ru had never heard of such a thing.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "That's right, a betting agreement. Since you, Miss Zheng, feel reluctant to hand over Wanhua Pavilion to me, how about I put up some silver and we each take half the shares?"

"I understand buying into a business, but what is a bet?"

Zheng Yue Ru asked with interest.

Liu Zheng said: "A so-called bet means I temporarily buy half the shares, but the management rights of Wanhua Pavilion must be handed over to me. We set a tentative period of half a year. If Wanhua Pavilion can turn a profit under my hands, then you, Miss Zheng, will sell this Wanhua Pavilion to me, Liu Zheng, completely. How about that?"

The crowd was in an uproar upon hearing this.

Many people couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Turn a profit?

Wanhua Pavilion is a place that burns money; who doesn't know that? You, a prodigal son, how could you turn Wanhua Pavilion, which even the Zheng Family can't make money from, into a profitable business?

Zheng Yue Ru also smiled: "And what if Brother Liu loses?"

Liu Zheng said decisively: "If I lose, I won't take a single cent of this half-share; it will all belong to you, Miss Zheng!"

Everyone was shocked, finding it unbelievable.

You have to know, as far as the current Wanhua Pavilion goes, to get half the shares, according to Miss Zheng's asking price, it would cost at least five thousand taels! That means if Liu Zheng cannot make Wanhua Pavilion turn a profit within half a year, those five thousand taels would be as good as thrown away!

"How generous!"

Chen Xiang couldn't help but laugh heartily upon hearing this, though his eyes were full of mockery.

Isn't this just throwing money into the sea?

Others also laughed incessantly.

This number one playboy of Liangzhou really knows how to play!

Throwing away five thousand taels just like that, without even blinking an eye.

"Miss Zheng, what do you think?"

Liu Zheng couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them and looked at Zheng Yue Ru with a smile.

Zheng Yue Ru had a calm smile on her face, but in her heart, she had already started calculating. Zheng Yue Ru, the eldest daughter of the Zheng Family—in this generation of the prestigious Zheng Family, there wasn't a single heir worth mentioning; the few young masters were all playboys and second-generation ancestors. Zheng Yue Ru, however, was decisive and proficient in business, stepping forward early on to shoulder the family's burden.

Therefore, being a woman, she dressed as a man; firstly, because it was convenient for showing her face in public, and secondly, she regarded herself as a man who stands tall.

Although she had just gained a new level of respect for this Liu Family young master.

But no matter how Zheng Yue Ru calculated it in her heart, she couldn't figure out what benefit this bet had for Liu Zheng himself.

Was he just taking such a huge risk purely because he wanted to buy Wanhua Pavilion for fun?

Heh...

A playboy!

Disappointment welled up in her heart again, and Zheng Yue Ru said calmly: "Brother Liu's proposal is quite amusing; if I don't accept, I'm afraid everyone else won't agree."

"Good! Then I accept Brother Liu's betting agreement!"

Liu Zheng was overjoyed to hear this. He had considered investing in opening a restaurant like this from scratch, but after seeing the ledgers of Wanhua Pavilion, he had dismissed that idea.

There was no other reason. Doing business is something one must never do on a whim. A small place like Wanhua Pavilion involves more than just a few things; the connections that need to be cleared are not just ordinarily complicated.

Simply put, the supply of wine, the trading and exchange of courtesans, the slave trade, the official paperwork, and the checkpoints during transport—the Zheng Family was already well-versed in all of this. But what about Liu Zheng? He had just arrived in this world, completely in the dark, knowing no one.

Let him lead a team to run these lines himself?

Forget it! He didn't have the time; with that time, he still had to struggle with his own territory.

Although the commercial system of this era had gradually matured, it had not yet developed to be as sound as in later generations. With the Zheng Family controlling Wanhua Pavilion, it would be even more impossible for Liu Zheng to recruit those relatively skilled talents if he opened another one.

By then, I'm afraid it would be a real deficit!

Therefore, if he wanted to take over Wanhua Pavilion, he had to take over this ready-made one—the restaurant exists, the courtesans exist, the fame exists, and incidentally, the management team exists too.

This was completely different.

"Brother Liu, don't go back on your word..."

Zheng Yue Ru ordered her servants to bring paper and pen, and the two immediately drew up a contract.

In duplicate, Liu Zheng happily tucked one copy away; five thousand taels in Silver Notes had just been thrown out like that.

Zheng Yue Ru said with a smile: "Congratulations, Brother Liu. The management rights of Wanhua Pavilion for these six months will be temporarily handed over to you. I just don't know, what kind of moves do you have planned next?"

She was indeed very curious about this.

Liu Zheng looked full of confidence, so Zheng Yue Ru was actually a bit unconvinced in her heart. She had been running this Wanhua Pavilion for so many years, and not once had it been profitable.

He takes over, and wants to make a profit in half a year?

She thought this was wishful thinking!

Liu Zheng chuckled: "This hermit has his own clever plans, but although I am managing Wanhua Pavilion, Miss Zheng, you must also assist from the sidelines!"

Zheng Yue Ru said briskly: "That goes without saying!"

A flash of light appeared in Liu Zheng's eyes: "Then first, we change the name!"

"What?"

Zheng Yue Ru hurriedly said: "Brother Liu, this..."

In this era, the name of a business is a golden signboard. The reason she had been pouring money into it for five years was to build up this brand! Asking to change the name of Wanhua Pavilion at this time, wasn't that stabbing her in the heart?

Liu Zheng looked around and nodded decisively, saying without question: "We absolutely cannot use 'Wanhua Pavilion' anymore; it's too heavy with the scent of powder and rouge."

At these words, the courtesans wouldn't have it, and they spat in his direction one by one.

Those guests also sneered and shook their heads one after another.

In a place of flowers and willows like this, if it isn't heavy with the scent of powder and rouge, who would come? Without this powder and rouge, who would give you their money?

Zheng Yue Ru also wanted to remind him of this, but once she thought that Wanhua Pavilion was already Liu Zheng's, the person in charge makes the decisions, and this was written in black and white—one couldn't go back on it—so she stopped mid-sentence: "Then, what does Brother Liu want to change it to..."

"Fengming Tower!"

Liu Zheng did not even have to think about it.

Zheng Yue Ru was slightly stunned.

Fengming Tower?

This name was indeed quite grand. And... Fengming Tower, it naturally held two meanings. One was, of course, that it would be filled with beautiful women, their voices like orioles and swallows, as if a phoenix were singing. On the other hand, the phoenix had represented talent since ancient times; did this Fengming Tower not imply that this place was also a gathering spot for scholars, poets, and men of talent?

Brilliant!

Zheng Yue Ru's eyes lit up.

Liu Zheng pointed to one of the corners of Wanhua Pavilion with the best view and laughed, "This place must be renovated. It should be primarily for floor seating, with an elegant style. This spot shall be Fengming Pavilion!"

Miss Zheng's eyes burned with intensity: "Does Brother Liu mean that this Fengming Pavilion will be a place exclusively for scholars and literati to debate?"

Liu Zheng nodded: "Not only that, but in the future, my Fengming Tower will have a rule: this Fengming Pavilion will issue one topic per day! The scholar who wins the debate will have their bill waived for the day!"

Boom!

Once these words were spoken, the scholars and literati present looked at each other with delight.

"Good!"

"Young Master Liu is generous!"

"This is a great idea!"

People in the past did business by the book; where had they ever seen such things? Waiving bills at the drop of a hat—he was truly worthy of being the number one playboy of Liangzhou!

Zheng Yue Ru was confused for a moment, but she quickly reacted. Although there was a waived bill, it was limited to only one person. If this "one topic per day" policy spread, the number of scholars and literati patronizing Fengming Tower would surely double!

In this way, wouldn't the cost of that one waived bill be earned back several times over?

Heavens!

Zheng Yue Ru looked at Liu Zheng in disbelief. How did this guy come up with this?

In fact, it was not that Zheng Yue Ru was stupid, but these marketing tactics were from modern society. Although they were not difficult to understand once explained, they simply lacked this kind of awareness, so people of this era would absolutely never have thought of them.

"Anything else?"

Suddenly, Zheng Yue Ru felt a sense of pleasant surprise in her heart, feeling that this playboy might truly be a treasure of a boy.

Liu Zheng pondered and said: "Of course there is. Our Fengming Tower has four floors in total, so there must be corresponding levels and some simple settings. The fourth floor shall be called Cloud Peak!"

"Cloud Peak?"

Zheng Yue Ru recited it a few times and nodded in agreement.

It was easy to understand and had an elegant atmosphere.

"The third floor will be Wangshu Terrace!"

"Good!"

Many scholars praised it one after another.

"The second floor, Shuimo Xuan; the first floor, Sanqian Fanhua!"

Zheng Yue Ru nodded repeatedly as she listened: "And these settings?"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily: "Anyone can consume on the first floor. But if you want to consume on the second floor, there must be a threshold."

"A threshold?"

The crowd looked at each other in dismay.

This young master from Liangzhou actually had so many tricks up his sleeve?

Liu Zheng called for the manager to bring paper and brush again. While grinding the ink, he laughed, "It's very simple. Consumption on the first floor depends on one's own ability."

"The minimum consumption for the second floor is fifty taels of silver!"

"This..."

"Madman!"

"Are you crazy from poverty?"

Those guests began to protest, especially Chen Xiang, who looked at Liu Zheng with a cold sneer: "I wondered what brilliant method it was; it turns out you are just a black-hearted merchant!"

Zheng Yue Ru also became anxious.

Fifty taels?

Was this not a joke? In Yinzhou, how many people could come here and afford to spend fifty taels at once? Fifty taels, in later generations, would be like tens of thousands of yuan; it was indeed not something an average person could afford to spend.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.

These ancient people had never seen this mode of consumption, so it was normal for them to be worried.

In fact, from ancient times to the present, this mode of tiered consumption had never lacked people flocking to it, for no other reason than to show off!

The feeling of looking down from above!

This was vanity!

Everyone had vanity; as long as you could hit the "pleasure point" of these people, you would never have to worry about no one paying the bill for you!

So.

Money alone was naturally not enough.

Liu Zheng smiled: "Of course, there is another way to enter Shuimo Xuan, and that is to compose a matching couplet!"

A couplet?

Everyone was bewildered.

What was this all about?

Zheng Yue Ru, however, said excitedly: "Brother Liu means..."

Liu Zheng smiled slightly and had already picked up the brush to start writing.

The scholars of this era were not only obsessed with poetry and songs, but they were also equally obsessed with couplets. Couplets were also a way to express one's literary talent.

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, as well as at various temple fairs and gatherings, it is a time for grand competitions of couplets and poetry, where talent from all walks of life always emerges.

Zheng Yue Ru felt a slight shock in her heart.

This Liu Zheng is not only skilled in poetry and songs, could it be that he also knows couplets?

She already understood Liu Zheng's intention; it seems that whoever can match his couplet will be able to consume for free on the second floor. However, doing it this way requires the threshold for this couplet to be very high; is he capable of that?

"Couplets?"

Chen Xiang also mocked and laughed from the side: "Young Master Liu is also capable of this?"

He absolutely did not believe it.

Others also shook their heads one after another.

As expected.

Liu Zheng's brush moved like a dragon or snake as he wrote out the first line of a couplet; when the crowd saw it, they immediately burst into wild laughter.

"The sea water tides morning after morning, morning after morning, morning after morning, morning falls!"