klisemfg Chapter 756 The restaurant is not important, what is important is her
Chapter 756 The restaurant is not important, what is important is her
Li Yao laughed triumphantly after hearing his mother say this. "Mother, do you also think that I've found a very reliable partner this time? Are you also moved by the Second Young Master's wife's words, and think that our Zuixianlou can surpass Qingyunlou and become the largest restaurant in the capital? I told you, I'm definitely not worse than my eldest and second brothers. Now you believe me? I won't have to go to see those stinky men anymore, right?"
Madam Li looked at her daughter's tender face and innocent eyes, sighed and shook her head, "How could I have given birth to such a naive girl like you? Fortunately, the Second Young Master's wife was kind, otherwise you would have been torn to pieces and swallowed, still smiling foolishly! However, you are right about one thing, you don't have to look at those men anymore."
Li Yao automatically ignored the first part and only listened to the second part.
She was very happy: "Really? Mother is keeping her word? She won't force me to see you anymore?"
Madam Li patted her daughter's head. A gentle smile crossed her face as she looked at her daughter, dressed in men's clothing. "Everyone thought you were fooling around by dressing as a man to run Zuixianlou, but unexpectedly, this fuss led to a great opportunity. My daughter is blessed. Perhaps she will be different from the other members of the Li family in the future. Naturally, she won't have to bother with those merchants' sons anymore."
Li Yao didn't understand the deeper meaning behind these words. She thought Madam Li was praising her ability. She happily took Madam Li's arm and said, "Mother really loves me the most! I just wonder how much silver it will cost us to buy Zuixianlou? Will my grandfather and uncles ask for an exorbitant price?"
Mrs. Li was quite confident in this regard. "Your father is the patriarch of the Li family after all, and the one who makes the most money. We, mother and daughter, didn't ask for Zuixianlou in vain, and we're willing to pay for it. We're very sensible. If they dare to raise the price for a restaurant that's almost run down, I'm not someone to be trifled with. I'll make a scene and see who dares not sell it to me."
Li Yao flattered her with a smile: "Mother is really amazing, your daughter admires you!"
Mrs. Li smiled, took the dowry list from Chun Mama, and began to count it out one by one: "Two strings of coral court beads, two amber bracelets, two beeswax necklaces, a pair of jade bracelets, a pair of jade ruyi, two pairs of porcelain vases with the inscription "Flower of Fortune"... five hundred hectares of fertile land outside the city, one farm in the southwest, two farms in the southeast, and a shop..."
She recited a long string of words, then asked, "Yaoyao, have you figured it out? How much silver are these things worth in total?"
The smile on Li Yao's face had disappeared, and she felt a little guilty and uneasy: "Mother, aren't you going to sell most of your dowry? This is what my grandparents left for you to use as a living. I..."
"It's nothing. I originally intended to leave these dowries to you. Your brothers all have the Li family's assets, but you have nothing. Naturally, I have to make more plans for you, otherwise you won't be able to gain a firm foothold in your husband's family in the future."
"But……"
Li Yao originally had a good plan and wanted to use her mother's dowry to buy a restaurant. However, when she actually saw her mother counting her dowry one by one and preparing to sell it in exchange for her favorite restaurant, she still felt very uncomfortable.
She even felt that she was too unfilial, forcing her mother to sell her belongings for her own selfish desires.
She bit her lip and said, "How about I go and discuss it with the Second Young Master's wife? She said she wants to own 60% of the restaurant. Shouldn't she also contribute some money? She can't ask us to pay for it all, right?"
Mrs. Li immediately rejected her proposal: "No!"
"Why not? Doesn't Mother think that 60% is too much?"
"I don't think it's much. I just said that the second young master's wife of the Gu family is kind, because she only asked for 60% of the shares. In fact, even if she asked for 90%, I would agree."
Li Yao was shocked. "Ah? You agree to 90%? If we only take 10%, wouldn't that be a huge loss?"
"Silly child, if she wants 90%, we won't lose anything."
"Isn't this a loss? Mother, am I stupid or are you? She didn't spend a single ounce of silver, and she got 90% of the shares of Zuixianlou!"
Madam Li said earnestly, "Because what she gave was something that could not be bought with silver. The value she brought could not be measured in silver at all."
Li Yao touched his chin and said, "Mother said that she can bring big business to the restaurant?"
"I'm not talking about the restaurant, I'm talking about the Duke's Mansion behind her."
Mrs. Li's eyes danced with unprecedented hope: "Yaoyao, to us, the restaurant is not important at all. What's important is that the Second Young Master's wife can bring you into the circle of nobles. In the future, your status may be able to break away from that of a merchant, and you won't have to be looked down upon anymore."
"But I don't think there's anything wrong with being a businessman. Who would look down on me? They all think my family is rich and try to curry favor with me!"
Madam Li glared at her. "You're surrounded by girls who are poorer and lower-ranking than ours, so of course they want to curry favor with you. Try changing them to young ladies from noble families and see if anyone still curries after you. I've protected you too well and spoiled you too much, so you don't know how high the heavens are, how deep the earth is, and how treacherous people are!"
Li Yao said nonchalantly, "I don't play with the ladies of noble families. It's no big deal. I just like running a restaurant and making money."
"I'm collaborating with the Second Young Master's wife, not because of the Duke's Mansion behind her, but because I think she's very capable. She easily pointed out all the problems with Zuixianlou. She even identified the problems with the chef's dishes and knew how to improve them! I think she's a very intelligent woman, so I brought her back to see you."
Madam Li agreed with this point: "She is naturally intelligent. Otherwise, the arrogant Second Master Gu wouldn't have lowered himself to ask for her hand in marriage, nor would the Prince of Ning, who is used to seeing beautiful women, have snatched her away in the street. I think her beauty is perhaps only her least noteworthy quality. She has many more compelling qualities."
Li Yao felt a little jealous: "Mother only met him briefly, and you praised him to the skies. Why don't you praise me like that? Someone who doesn't know would think she's your daughter!"
Madam Li looked at her with a mixture of anger and amusement. "I, your mother, haven't lived all these years in vain. You don't have to spend a year or two getting to know someone to judge whether they're good or bad. Often, you can tell what someone's character is like just by meeting them."
"If you want me to praise you, then you should learn to be calm and composed. You're always so irritable. You're already an adult, but you're still acting like a child."