Chapter 257 - 220: Even Loan Sharks Aren’t This Ruthless

Chapter 257: Chapter 220: Even Loan Sharks Aren’t This Ruthless

"So you’re saying that Mr. He, the owner of the furniture showroom, has decided that if I can sign the contract and transfer the money to his account within one week, the price will drop from 1,738,400 to 1,538,400?"

Xu An stared intently at the young real estate agent, scrutinizing every twitch of his facial muscles, trying to find the answer he was looking for.

A 200,000 price cut on a property worth just over 1.7 million. Such a steep discount was honestly a little terrifying.

It made Xu An suspect that the young agent and Mr. He might be colluding to set a trap for him, trying to scam him somehow...

The young agent didn’t notice the flicker of hesitation in Xu An’s eyes and answered his question frankly, even a little excitedly.

"That’s right. I’ve been negotiating with Mr. He for almost a week, and we were deadlocked at 1.65 million. But yesterday, he suddenly changed his tune. He said as long as the money is in his account within a week, he’ll finalize the deal for 1.5 million."

"Is Mr. He in urgent need of money?" Xu An lowered his gaze, picked up the bottle of mineral water from the table, and took a small sip, feigning curiosity.

"Mr. He didn’t say why specifically." The young agent then lowered his voice. "But I heard from the owner of the shop next to his that his kid is getting ready to study abroad. They had all the financial statements and proof of assets ready, but I don’t know what happened..."

Hearing this, Xu An understood. If what the young agent said was true, then Mr. He had a very good reason for selling at a low price.

Xu An tapped his phone screen twice to wake it. The time displayed was 10:37 PM, September 6th.

’If I have to wire the payment within seven days, I’ll need to finish all the tax and title paperwork by the fifth day. That means I have to raise 1.53 million by the fourth day...’

It was already almost eleven o’clock at night, meaning the first day was practically over. That left him only three days to raise the funds!

Three days. 1.53 million!

"What price is Mr. He offering if I get a loan?" Xu An asked, taking another sip of water.

"A loan..." The young agent hesitated before answering. "The previously negotiated price was 1.65 million..."

’If I were able to get a loan, 1.65 million would actually be a great price,’ Xu An thought. ’A thirty-percent down payment would be 495,000. After adding all the miscellaneous fees, I could probably get this furniture showroom for 550,000.’

’But forget 550,000, I don’t even have 350,000 on hand right now. 1.53 million is completely out of the question. Even if I add the 960,000 from the village collective’s industrial investment, I’d still be short by three or four hundred thousand...’

Xu An had already checked with the bank. The only reason his last loan got approved was thanks to Zhou Yaodong’s help. Now, with an outstanding loan and no fixed assets to his name, he wouldn’t meet the qualifications, even if Zhou Yaodong was willing to fast-track things for him.

’Looks like my only option is a financing guarantee company,’ he mused. ’The service fees are a little steep, but it’s my best choice right now. I’ll just have to try and borrow as little as possible.’

"Do you know how much money Mr. He is short?" Xu An asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I’m not too sure about that." After replying, the young agent suddenly realized there might be an ulterior motive behind the question. He asked tentatively, "Boss Xu, are you trying to push the price down even further...?"

Meeting the young agent’s probing gaze, Xu An first nodded, then shook his head. He slowly began to explain, "To be honest, I only have a little over three hundred thousand on hand right now."

A giant, invisible question mark popped up over the young agent’s head. His eyes filled with utter disbelief.

’Seriously? You’ve only got a little over three hundred thousand? That’s not even enough for a down payment! Where do you get the audacity to ask for a lower price? Even if I were the best negotiator in the world, there’s no way I could get it down to three hundred thousand! And even if I did, you couldn’t afford the commission you promised me!’

Countless thoughts flashed through the agent’s mind, and he even felt the urge to stand up and walk out. However, his basic professionalism held him back. He forced a smile and said stiffly, "Boss Xu, you can’t be serious. Please don’t joke like that. My heart can’t take it."

"Getting to 1.5 million won’t be a problem. If the bank won’t give me a loan, there are always financing guarantee companies, right?" Xu An gave the agent a much-needed shot of confidence before continuing. "Find out how much money Mr. He is short. If he needs a million, I can provide one million in cash and we can finance the remaining five hundred-odd thousand. That’s the best of both worlds, isn’t it?"

"Besides," Xu An added, drawing out his words, "if it really has to be an all-cash payment, the final part of your commission would have to be delayed by a week. You wouldn’t be comfortable with that, would you?"

"What are you saying, Boss Xu? Of course I’m not worried about that."

The young agent, who had just started to relax, was once again put on edge by Xu An’s words. Wasn’t he working this hard precisely for that commission? And Xu An’s proposal was reasonable; it wasn’t an outrageous demand. It was worth a try.

"Okay, I’ll talk to Mr. He again tomorrow," the young agent said, having made up his mind and agreeing to Xu An’s request.

After seeing the young agent out, Xu An sat on a small stool on the first floor of Shop No. 2, took out his notebook, and flipped to a page where two lines were written in black ink.

[Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company, Service Fee: 50% of loan interest]

The current bank interest rate was 6.58%. The annual interest on a one-million-yuan loan would be 65,800, which meant the service fee would be 32,900. The fee was steep, but not unacceptable.

Given his shop’s current performance, he should be able to get help securing a loan for over a million, even without any fixed assets.

But unless it was an absolute last resort, Xu An did not want to go through a financing guarantee company.

Any financing guarantee company would certainly conduct a detailed investigation into the profitability of his shops to confirm his ability to repay before they helped him. On the surface, it seemed like a good arrangement where everyone got what they needed, but the problem was that these were private companies! That introduced far too many uncontrollable variables...

AAAAAAAH!

A sharp, high-pitched scream erupted from the second-floor office, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps and heavy breathing. The succession of sounds snapped Xu An out of his world of numbers.

"What’s wrong?" Xu An shot to his feet and hurried upstairs, calling out as he went.

"Boss!" Gu Jiayi’s voice was trembling as she answered. "Our Taobao Store orders just passed ten thousand!"

’Holy crap! Is this for real?!’

Xu An rushed into the office, taking the stairs two at a time. He rather rudely snatched the mouse from Gu Jiayi’s hand, right-clicked to refresh the page, and stared at the total order count: 10,032!

It was 11:00 PM. Not even three hours after going live, and they had already surpassed ten thousand orders!

Keep in mind, this was ten thousand orders!

With an average of six items per order, ten thousand orders meant sixty-six thousand pounds of braised food!

When the order count had surpassed three thousand in the first half hour, Xu An had figured it was just curious onlookers making impulse buys. He would have been perfectly happy if the 24-hour total reached fifteen thousand.

He never imagined that after only three hours, the order volume had already broken ten thousand and was still climbing fast.

He right-clicked to refresh again, and the total jumped from 10,032 to 10,102.

’At this rate, aren’t we on track for twenty thousand orders in twenty-four hours?’

’Twenty thousand orders... that’s one hundred and thirty-two thousand pounds of braised food!’

Xu An’s breathing became as heavy and ragged as everyone else’s in the office, his nostrils practically flaring with excitement.

"Boss," Tang Wen’s voice chimed in at just the right moment. "Our account has gained 18,300 followers since the launch. The latest post announcing the giveaway winners has 12,000 likes and 6,300 comments!"

The Taobao Store’s numbers exploded. The Weibo account’s numbers exploded. The WeChat official account’s numbers exploded...

Everything exploded!

’I really have the owner of Golden Dragon Fast Food Restaurant to thank for this!’ Xu An thought. ’If it weren’t for his ridiculous shenanigans, Xu’s Braised Shop would never have become such a hot topic online. Even if I had poured money into advertising, I never would’ve gotten this much buzz or attracted this many followers. The Taobao Store orders never would’ve broken ten thousand in a mere three hours!’

’A sincere thank you to you, owner of Golden Dragon Fast Food Restaurant!’

’If I’d known the orders for the Taobao Store would be this massive, I would have told them to go a little easier on him. But alas, what’s done is done. No turning back now.’

"Jiayi, reach out to some of our competitors and poach a few customer service and after-sales support staff. We need to lock those two areas down! Especially after-sales. If any packages arrive damaged or contaminated, we offer a full refund or replacement, no questions asked!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Tang Wen, post a new update right now. From now on, post another one every time we break another ten-thousand-order milestone. In each post, we’ll randomly select ten followers who interact with it and send them a three-pound braised food gift package!"

"Yes, sir!"

Having just finished working overtime at home and adjusting the procurement plan, Lu Ziyue sent the revised schedule to Xu An and collapsed into bed, ready for sleep.

However, his phone rang again. It was the custom ringtone he had set specifically for Xu An.

’Time for work~! The boss is on the phone~!’