“`
“I’m driving, no need for you to drive!”
Wang Xueru, who had changed her clothes and was ready to fetch her car keys, saw Yang Hao wave his hands dismissively.
“Oh, that’s fine.”
Wang Xueru was taken aback for a moment, then nodded her head.
She was still unaware of Yang Hao’s financial capabilities; her initial proactive engagement with him was purely out of a desire for retaliation, but she found his company quite comfortable.
Moreover, the impression this delivery guy gave her was of someone very reliable and physically fit, so why not continue being good friends?
She could share her troubles with him, which was pretty nice.
This kind of relationship didn’t bind either of them, and there was no need to bear any responsibilities or obligations. It was way more comfortable than being married.
As the two left the residential complex together, Wang Xueru didn’t hesitate to link arms with Yang Hao. After all, she had already signed the divorce agreement and carried no psychological burden.
She assumed Yang Hao would be driving an ordinary car, but he stopped next to a domineering BYD U8.
Wang Xueru drove a BYD Dolphin, so she kept up with some of BYD’s developments and was aware of this model.
“Yang, is this your car?”
Wang Xueru was startled, her delicate face showing utter disbelief.
“Hmm.”
Yang Hao nodded and got into the driver’s seat.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Wang Xueru took her place in the passenger seat.
“Yang, you’re driving a million-dollar luxury car, why still deliver takeout?”
The two were quite familiar with each other by now, so Wang Xueru didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly.
“Would you believe me if I said I deliver takeout to lose weight?”
While starting the car, Yang Hao asked with a chuckle.
“So it’s like that.”
Wang Xueru nodded, not quite believing this excuse, but unable to come up with a more reasonable explanation.
It just goes to show that Yang was an enigma!
A few minutes later, Yang Hao drove into the commercial street behind Starlight City, a street lined with restaurants and two bubble tea shops, with only one coffee shop featuring a “For Sale” sign—Happiness Coffee.
Yang Hao didn’t really understand those who named their coffee shops in English. Did it make them feel more upscale?
Some names he could understand, like Happiness Coffee!
Happiness signifies joy, and the shop’s name probably meant “joyful coffee.”
But there were some shop names that Yang Hao, a graduate from a second-tier university, just couldn’t decipher, such as the one called dblcoffee he had once seen!
“dbl” had him puzzled for ages.
His colleague, Liu Zifeng, said it was an abbreviation for double, meaning twice as much.
But that didn’t make sense to Yang Hao. What on earth was “double coffee”?
So he specifically asked the owner what “dbl” meant.
And the owner told him it meant “amazingly cool”!
Yang Hao inwardly gave a thumbs-up; with such a name, who wouldn’t be confused?
The Happiness Coffee shop was pretty spacious, with seventy to eighty square meters on the ground floor, and an equally large area upstairs, styled with an industrial decor.
And this so-called industrial decor was really just a way to save money; many places didn’t need to be finely finished. Of course, this shop was only pseudo-industrial. The real industrial-style decor wouldn’t be cheap.
Being a Saturday, the store had a few customers and wasn’t particularly deserted.
Behind the counter were two employees, one playing with her phone while the other, seeing customers enter, greeted them professionally.
“What would you two like to drink?”
The conscientious employee smiled and inquired.
“Is your boss around?”
Yang Hao got straight to the point.
“Who are you?”
The employee looked at Yang Hao with confusion.
“Isn’t the shop for sale?”
“I’d like to talk to your boss,” Yang Hao said, pointing to the “For Sale” sign on the door.
“Oh, the boss isn’t here. I’ll call her right now!”
“Please have a seat.”
The employee gestured to a vacant table near the counter.
Then she picked up her phone and dialed the boss’s number.
“Our boss will be here in fifteen minutes.”
“What would you like to drink? The boss is treating.”
After ending the call, the employee addressed Yang Hao and Wang Xueru, who had already taken their seats at the vacant table.
“What’s your shop’s signature drink? Make two of those, that’ll do.”
Yang Hao said nonchalantly, waving his hand.
“Okay!”
The employee agreed and then got busy with her colleague.
“`
Wang Xueru was sizing up the decoration and layout of the first floor. She did want to open a coffee shop, but in her mind, it was supposed to be a small one. The area of this shop was clearly beyond her expectations.
But since she was already there, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit more.
After a short wait, the female server brought over two cups of coffee, one caramel macchiato and one matcha latte.
Both were categories available in other shops, nothing special.
Yang Hao handed the high-calorie caramel macchiato to Wang Xueru, and he took a sip of the matcha latte himself. Its taste wasn’t anything special compared to other shops.
Coffee, unlike bubble tea, is quite difficult to innovate in terms of flavors.
Especially for these individually run small shops, which basically lack the ability to research and innovate, mainly imitating others.
Innovation is better left to those large chain brands, like the “Coconut Latte” sold by Luckin Coffee, which sold a hundred million cups in one year, and the later popular “Soy Sauce Latte,” both of which are very successful products.
The two waited for a while, and then a red BMW X6 parked at the entrance of the shop, and a woman dressed in a black leather jacket, with her face covered by shades, got out of the car.
However, she didn’t go straight into the shop. Instead, she glanced at the Yangwang U8 parked nearby.
BMW X6 is considered a medium to large SUV, but next to the imposing Yangwang U8, it suddenly seemed a bit mini.
The woman’s eyebrows, hidden behind her sunglasses, lifted slightly before she strode into the shop.
“Qing, these are the two who were looking for you,” the server indicated to Yang Hao and Wang Xueru.
“Let’s head to one of our upstairs private rooms to talk,” Huang Qing suggested with a nod and a polite gesture.
The ground floor of this coffee shop was the main hall, while the second floor had several private rooms as well as some seating with partitions, which were more suitable for dates or discussing private matters.
“My shop covers over one hundred and forty square meters, with the upstairs private rooms suitable for birthday parties and various small gatherings,” she said.
“Aside from coffee, the shop also sells tea, pastries…” Huang Qing continued, introducing the place as she led the way upstairs.
After reaching the second floor, she first gave them a tour before entering the private room named [Red].
The naming convention for her coffee shop’s private rooms was red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple — quite interesting.
Initially, Yang Hao had thought it was just a naming scheme, but to his surprise, the interior of each room corresponding to its name featured that color theme.
For instance, [Red] was full of red elements, particularly vibrant shades that provided a strong visual impact as soon as the door was pushed open.
“Please, take a seat.”
“My name is Huang Qing. May I know how to address both of you?” asked the woman as she took off her sunglasses politely.
It was then that Yang Hao got a clear look at her. She was very beautiful, with three-dimensional features and picturesque brows and eyes. She had a different air about her compared to the women Yang Hao knew. She exuded a cold arrogance, and her gaze was sharp.
<img data-ywcc-imgId=”10021370″ data-ywcc-path=”/imgChapter/17284022805329601/26974686204535004/10021370/204404f30dd58ace79cd2240f7848849wAP4vafoPPIhm6V.jpg”>
“Yang Hao, hao as in vast,” Yang Hao said his name.
Wang Xueru then introduced herself as well.
After the brief pleasantries, Huang Qing cut straight to the point, “This property is mine, and it’s for sale. If you intend to buy the retail space along with it, the price is 8.5 million.”
Huang Qing hadn’t originally planned to bring up the sale, but on entering the shop, she saw the Yangwang U8 parked outside. Someone who could spend over a million on a big toy surely wouldn’t be short of money, so she directly mentioned the property sale.
Xueru was startled by Huang Qing’s words, though. The scale of the coffee shop had already exceeded her expectations, let alone buying the retail space as well.
Although she came from a well-off family, 8.5 million was still out of her reach.
Just as Wang Xueru was about to ask how much just for the shop itself, she heard Yang Hao say, “One price, 8 million.”
“What?” Xueru turned her head in surprise, her eyes full of shock.
Although she had come to accept that Yang Hao might be wealthy, after all, he drove a luxury vehicle worth millions,
But to just buy an 8 million coffee shop on the spot??
Huang Qing was also taken aback; she hadn’t expected such an immediate offer.
Although she had asked for 8.5 million, it genuinely wasn’t much, as she had spent 10 million just to purchase the property, plus the shop’s renovations and various equipment, bringing her total investment to 11 million.
Her asking price of 8.5 million was mainly due to the recent downturn in the real estate market, not only with residential property prices dropping sharply, but also retail spaces being reduced in price, leading to her deciding to sell at a loss to cash out.
Even so, it wasn’t easy to sell a property worth more than 8 million so readily.
At this time, cash was king, making liquidation the hardest part.
There had been inquiries before, but no deals were made in the end.
“Can we sign the contract today for 8 million?” Huang Qing asked.
“Yes!” Yang Hao replied affirmatively.
“OK!”
“Deal!” Huang Qing reached out her fair hand proactively.
Yang Hao shook her hand with a smile and then turned to Wang Xueru, “You’ve got your ID with you, right?”
“Uh, yes.”
Xueru didn’t understand why Yang Hao asked that but nodded nonetheless.
Huang Qing, on the other hand, understood and raised her eyebrows in surprise. She gave Wang Xueru a careful look, then turned to Yang Hao, thinking to herself: This must be some rich, clueless old man!