Chapter 108 The Overpriced Grocery Store

Chapter 108: The Exorbitant General Store

Baili Lane was neither a suburb nor a commoner's district; rather, it was a residential area affordable only to the middle and upper classes. It was very bustling, with hawkers crying out their wares on the streets.

Ji Yuntang found the house purchased by Nanny Xu based on the address marked on the title deed.

The mansion before her was immense, a typical multi-courtyard compound with three parallel rows. With red brick walls and glazed tiles on the roof, the courtyard was orderly and symmetrical. Two large stone lions stood by the entrance.

Pushing open the door, the courtyard was even more spacious. Though it couldn't compare in splendor to Prince Ye's mansion, it was still half its size.

At present, no one lived in the house. It seemed that Nanny Xu didn't dare hire someone to manage it—partly to avoid extra wages and partly out of fear that the matter would be exposed.

Ji Yuntang walked around the grounds and found the house satisfactory in all aspects. Buying such a house for 15,000 taels of silver was a real steal, so she decided to keep it.

As for its purpose, she hadn't yet decided.

Nevertheless, this was Ji Yuntang's first piece of private property.

After inspecting the house, Ji Yuntang went to the Jiangxin Shop on White Tiger Street.

From the outside, it looked like a typical general store, selling children's toys, women's jewelry and clothing, shoes, foodstuffs like rice and sorghum wine, tea, coal… almost everything. It was all there, plenty and mixed up.

The manager inside was a fifty-something old man in coarse linen clothes, who sat hunched over, sighing deeply. In the short time Ji Yuntang was there, he must have sighed twenty times or more.

"Ahh~" Another heavy sigh.

Ji Yuntang frowned, walked up to the old man, and asked, "Sir, are you Manager Wang of the Jiangxin Shop?"

The sudden voice startled Manager Wang. Turning around, he found a stunning young woman in white standing behind him.

Thinking she was the first customer of the day, Manager Wang immediately greeted her warmly.

"Yes, this humble one is the manager. May I ask what you would like to buy, miss? Our general store has everything. I can help you..."

Ji Yuntang interrupted him, "I'm not here to buy anything. I, Princess Ye, am here to tell Manager Wang that Nanny Xu embezzled silver from Prince Ye's mansion to buy a house and open a shop. Now that she has lost her power and has no chance of recovery, this shop will henceforth belong to me."

With that, Ji Yuntang directly pulled out the deed of the Jiangxin Shop and placed it before him.

The name of the operator had changed from Xu Cui to Ji Yuntang.

Manager Wang was stunned. He had no idea that the owner of the Jiangxin Shop was actually a senior maid from Prince Ye's residence.

All he knew was that the owner's surname was Xu. Every time she came, she would bundle herself up tightly, as if afraid of being seen.

And she always contacted him on her own, or sent someone with a message. He could never find her.

At first, Manager Wang simply assumed she was a mistress of a wealthy family who didn't want to be recognized.

Now it turned out that the shop he'd managed for two years was bought with embezzled money from Prince Ye's mansion. Were servants from the residence really so bold?

Manager Wang was shocked, hardly able to believe he'd been working for a servant for two years.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. His face changed, and he knelt on the ground, "This humble one had no idea Princess Ye was coming. Please forgive me, Your Highness. Could I maybe see Nanny Xu one more time, Your Highness?"

Seeing his troubled expression, Ji Yuntang asked suspiciously, "Why do you want to see her?"

"In reply, Your Highness, Nanny Xu still owes me ten months' salary. I have elderly and young dependents at home, all waiting for me to bring back money to eat. I was hoping to get the back wages from her."

If it weren't for that, he would have quit long ago. Manager Wang didn't care what Nanny Xu had done or what punishment she would receive; he only cared about his ten months' lost wages.

Ji Yuntang's eyes flickered. "Why did you keep managing the shop for her if she didn't pay you?"

"Your Highness may not know, but when I was first hired, Nanny Xu personally promised a monthly wage of eight taels of silver. At that time, many people were eager to work at the Jiangxin Shop, but she only recruited one manager."

"This humble one's family was in urgent need of money, so I decided to give it a try. Unexpectedly, Nanny Xu took a liking to me at first sight. Seeing that I was honest and a widower, she kept me on and we signed an employment contract."

"At first, the wages were paid on time. But gradually, things went sour. Every time I asked her for my salary, she came up with all sorts of excuses to put me off, saying I should wait, that she would pay me eventually. I believed her."

"But later, I realized that this owner came to the shop less and less. I often couldn't see her at all. In the past month, she's completely disappeared without even sending me a message. I couldn't leave, so I just had to keep watch over this desolate shop every day."

Ji Yuntang pressed her lips together. This was a classic case of "pie in the sky," wasn't it?

Working for free while she made empty promises—Nanny Xu's scheme was as clear as day.

"Manager Wang, how were the profits of the Jiangxin Shop?"

Manager Wang said gloomily, "Profits have always been poor. Everything here is sold at very high prices. I told the owner many times to lower the prices, because small profits and quick turnover are the way to do business. But she wouldn't listen. She insisted that higher prices meant higher profits. She thought that as long as she sold one item, she'd earn as much as other shops selling five—a guaranteed moneymaker, she said. There would always be people willing to play the fool and buy."

But as it turned out, how many suckers can there be? With so much inventory sitting unsold, not even basic profits were being made. She was the sucker all along.

Ji Yuntang found a chair and sat down, tapping her fingers idly on the table. "Manager Wang, bring me the account books for the Jiangxin Shop."

"Wait a moment, Your Highness, I'll fetch them."

When the account books arrived, Ji Yuntang turned the pages one by one, frowning deeper and deeper as she read.

Five taels for a catty of tea leaves, three taels for a catty of preserved fruit, two taels for a pair of straw sandals, eight taels for an oil-paper umbrella...

This wasn't just expensive; it was sky-high.

People with money wouldn't choose to shop here, while those without money wouldn't even glance at the prices before walking away.

Ji Yuntang was speechless. No wonder she hadn't seen a single customer walk in all this time.

Manager Wang added, "Your Highness, to be honest, if the Jiangxin Shop continues to be run this way, I'm afraid it will close within a month."

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