Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Buying the Shop; Zheng Qiang Sublets at a High Price?

After about thirty seconds, his phone vibrated.

The other end of the line was noisy. Two seconds later, a high-pitched male voice spoke up. "Hello, who is this?"

Jiang Liu got straight to the point. "Hello, Lawyer Wang. This is Jiang Liu. Elder Xia referred me."

"Ah, Mr. Jiang!" The background noise on the other end seemed to die down, and Wang Cheng’s tone became more courteous. "Mr. Jiang, Elder Xia spoke with me last night. Please rest assured, our firm will handle your case with the utmost seriousness!"

Jiang Liu said, "Okay, thank you. I appreciate you taking this on, Lawyer Wang. Shall we discuss the matter of the visitation rights?"

Wang Cheng replied, "Of course, it’s my pleasure. It’s what I’m here for. Let’s get right down to business. I need to ask you a few questions, Mr. Jiang. Is this a convenient time?"

"Yes. Please, go ahead."

Wang Cheng’s tone remained courteous. "Mr. Jiang, you wish to revoke your ex-wife’s visitation rights, correct?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Alright, I understand your objective. Here’s the situation: first, I need to clarify that visitation rights can’t be permanently revoked, only suspended temporarily. Furthermore, even if you win the case, you may be required to pay a certain amount in emotional distress compensation to the other party. After all, she is also your ex-wife’s daughter. That’s a fact that cannot be changed."

"I understand," Jiang Liu said. "I can accept that."

He had already looked into it and was prepared for this.

On the other end of the line, Wang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

The law was the law. Even as a lawyer, there were some things he couldn’t change.

"Good. Mr. Jiang, how old is your daughter now?"

"Um... she’s five years and three months old."

Jiang Liu said after a moment’s thought.

The sound of a pen scratching against paper came from the other end of the line.

’Wang Cheng must be taking notes.’

Then, Wang Cheng asked Jiang Liu many more detailed questions.

Questions about things like Yang Yixue’s personality and family background.

And the relationship between Tongtong and Yang Yixue, whether there had been any conflict, abuse, and so on.

"Okay, I have a clear understanding of the situation now. However, I still need to meet with the party involved, Tongtong. When would be a good time for you?"

Xia Changzhi had specifically instructed Wang Cheng that Jiang Liu’s case was to be treated as his own, with the utmost gravity.

Therefore, Wang Cheng needed to have a crystal-clear understanding of the entire situation to avoid dropping the ball at a critical moment.

Jiang Liu, of course, wanted to move as quickly as possible. "How about eight o’clock this evening?" he asked. "Would that be convenient for you?"

"Yes, that’s fine! No problem. By the way, Mr. Jiang, would it be alright if I brought my master along for dinner tonight? He’s very eager to have your shrimp noodles."

Wang Cheng’s expression was a little strange as he spoke. He had no idea what had gotten into his master, who had specifically instructed him multiple times to bring him along and kept muttering about how delicious the shrimp noodles were, what a pity it was, and so on.

Jiang Liu’s voice held a smile. "Of course, it’s no trouble at all. When you come, I’ll make you both some of my specialties in addition to the shrimp noodles."

"By the way, Lawyer Wang, this Saturday is a visitation day. My Tongtong is terrified. Is there any way we can cancel it?"

Wang Cheng mulled it over. "It’s not impossible. How about this: after I meet with Tongtong, I’ll try communicating with your ex-wife beforehand."

"If there aren’t any major issues, she won’t have to go tomorrow."

He was very confident in his ability to persuade people.

After a few more words, Wang Cheng said he had to get back to work.

Jiang Liu asked, puzzled, "Lawyer Wang, you haven’t mentioned your fee. Do I need to pay a retainer or a deposit first?"

He could sense the lawyer’s serious and responsible attitude and was more than willing to pay upfront to lock in his services.

Wang Cheng replied in a joking tone, "Mr. Jiang, please don’t even mention it. You’re someone my master respects. If I charged you for such a small matter, he’d break my legs."

In reality, as one of the pillars of Zhentai and a top lawyer in Hua Country, his fees were extremely expensive.

Even a simple consultation was billed by the minute at a rate of one hundred and fifty yuan per minute.

Let alone handling a case personally like this.

But since his master had personally asked, the job had to be done perfectly and in a way that reflected well on everyone.

Jiang Liu didn’t like being indebted to people and insisted, "I should still pay you. I’m asking you to do so much; I’d feel terrible if I didn’t. Besides, not paying would be disrespectful to your profession, wouldn’t it?"

Wang Cheng was surprised by Jiang Liu’s integrity. He suddenly understood why his master held Jiang Liu in such high regard. It definitely wasn’t just because he was a good cook.

There were plenty of good cooks in the world, but he’d never seen his master take such a personal interest in any of them.

"Mr. Jiang, I really can’t accept any money. It’s no big deal, really. And besides, didn’t you already agree to treat my master and me to dinner?"

The two went back and forth, each refusing the other.

Wang Cheng absolutely refused to accept any money.

Jiang Liu had no choice but to drop it. He decided he would just have to make an even more lavish dinner that evening. The man was going out of his way to help, so the least he could do was not be a poor host.

After hanging up, Jiang Liu grabbed a dozen or so buns and two bottles of juice and went to hang out at Xue Guang’s shop for a while.

Xue Guang was so moved he could have cried.

"It’s not every day a big boss like you still thinks of me. I was starting to think you’d forgotten all about me these last couple of days."

Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow. "Is that sarcasm I hear?"

Hua Manman brought out a container of peeled durian. "This just came in. It’s fresh. Take it home for your parents to try."

Jiang Liu didn’t refuse. After chatting with Xue Guang for a bit, Jiang Liu excused himself, saying he had to go make buns.

The sun was now beating down on his shop sign.

Jiang Liu stood at the entrance, checking to see if anything in front of the shop needed fixing up.

He inadvertently glanced at the roll-up door of the Mountain City Blade-cut Noodles next door and saw a note taped to it: [Shop for high-priced sublease, 150,000 a month. Contact 175-46*-8**-70 for details. Serious inquiries only.]

’Wow. The nerve of this Zheng Qiang.’

’He can’t run the shop successfully himself, so he’s trying to offload it on someone else at an exorbitant price.’

Jiang Liu was dumbfounded by the guy’s logic.

This whole thing also reminded Jiang Liu of something.

His own shop was also a rental. ’Could it be possible to buy it directly from my uncle?’

’I could even buy the shop next door, knock down the wall between them, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about not having enough seating. If it rained, I could even let all my customers inside to take shelter.’

With these thoughts swirling in his head, Jiang Liu lost all interest in making buns.

He pushed aside the idea of buying the neighboring shop for now; he definitely couldn’t afford it at the moment.

But his own shop... it belonged to his uncle.

His uncle and his dad had always been close, so the price should be negotiable.

Jiang Liu was a man of action.

He immediately called his uncle, Jiang Dashan.

The call connected quickly.

A deep voice, identical in tone to his father’s, came through the line. "Liu’er, what’s up? You calling because you don’t want to run the shop anymore?"

’Business sense just isn’t in the Jiang Family’s DNA. Liu’er must have run the shop into the ground and is now calling to get his money back and skip town,’ he thought.

Jiang Liu hurriedly replied, "No, that’s not it, Uncle! I want to buy the shop. What do you think it would cost?"

"Buy it?!"

Jiang Dashan was stunned. His storefront was worth over six hundred thousand, at the very least.

And his nephew was asking to buy it just like that?

’Are you crazy, or am I dreaming?’

Jiang Liu said seriously, "That’s right. I want to buy it so I can run it properly. Uncle, just tell me the price, and I’ll transfer the money."

Jiang Dashan’s head was buzzing. He scolded angrily,

"Hold on, do you even know how much money we’re talking about? And what would you do after you buy it? Rent it out to someone else to make a profit?"

"Let me tell you, even if you buy it, it would take you ten, maybe twenty years to break even. If you really have that kind of cash, wouldn’t it be better to invest it somewhere else?"

Jiang Dashan was genuinely looking out for Jiang Liu.

The property was fine as a retirement nest egg, but for a young man to sink a huge sum of money into buying it? That was pointless.

"No, Uncle. I’m serious. Just give me a price. I want to buy it."

Jiang Liu’s tone was resolute.

Seeing that his nephew was serious, Jiang Dashan was at a loss for what to do.

"Fine. I’ll call your dad first. We’ll talk after."

He hung up.