Chapter 43: Buying a store

As they left the Merchants Guild while being led by the staff member from the Merchants Guild, Lin Fan couldn't help looking at Yue Lan with a look of admiration.

He knew many people who would have ignored the strange occurrences of that residence and still have bought it. Of course, all those people that he knew were people who came from his previous world, the world of science and not cultivation.

In the modern world, people were less inclined to believe in things like ghosts, so they didn't care if people said that a place was haunted. Of course, there were people that did care about that, but they were in the minority.

For Yue Lan to ignore this temptation of a cheap house like this, it was clear that she didn't believe in the rumours about the ghost, but she also wasn't swayed easily by easy benefits.

While it was likely that there weren't ghosts in this residence, it was most likely someone playing tricks which Lin Fan didn't get involved with.

For Yue Lan to decisively reject this residence, it was enough to show how collected her mind was.

It took them a while to get to the residences since Xiao Yue and Yue Lan moved slowly. Lin Fan could see the impatience in the eyes of the staff member, but they very firmly held back their impatience.

This just once again showed how professional the Merchants Guild staff were.

It took them a while to get through all the residences, but in the end, Yue Lan decided on the residence that only had a single courtyard. It wasn't just because it was cheap, but also because of how close it was to the second market street.

Once that was decided on, Yue Lan immediately asked the staff member that came with them about buying a store.

The staff member was surprised that Yue Lan would bring this up, but he also quickly brought out several possible locations on the second market street for Yue Lan's store that met the conditions that she raised.

This Merchants Guild staff member worked in the real estate department of the Merchants Guild, but the real estate department wasn't just in charge of selling residences. They were also in charge of renting out and selling stores.

After all, most of the stores in the town were owned by the Merchants Guild to begin with and they were rented out to the people who currently used them. So it was only natural that they would be involved in this business.

It took them around two hours to visit all the stores even though they were on the same street. That was because while they were visiting the store, Yue Lan had gone through every part of the store like she was trying to find something wrong.

However, even when the staff member asked her about this, she didn't say anything. So in the end, the staff member did all they could to promote these places and even offered large discounts.

By the time that it was over, Yue Lan was able to get a store that cost over four thousand gold coins for just three thousand gold coins.

Since they finished negotiating everything, all that was left was to head back to the Merchants Guild to sign the contract and pay the money.

Yue Lan directly left that to Lin Fan as she started preparing the next things that she needed to prepare. She went to another counter of the Merchants Guild, looking to hire some staff.

The Merchants Guild was also a place for people to find workers since all merchants needed temporary workers. The Merchants Guild made it easier for them to find talented people, the only downside was that an introduction fee had to be paid to the Merchants Guild.

Still compared to finding and hiring people, it was easier to use the Merchants Guild's network.

However, by the end of it, Lin Fan had a bitter smile on his face when he saw the amount that it cost.

Along with the cost of the store and the house, Lin Fan had spent over four thousand gold coins by the end of the day after hiring the staff for the store as well.

He knew that opening a store was something that required a lot of funds and the store would be making him plenty of money in the future, but having to spend all this money at once really did put a hole in his heart.

It was different from the case with Yue Lan, so it did hurt.

But still seeing the happy look on Yue Lan's face, Lin Fan decided that it was worth it in the end.

After all, she would pay him back in another way…

Once they had settled the matter of the store, the first thing that they did was register at the Merchants Guild.

After all, they would be doing business in this city and the Merchants Guild was the union for all merchants, so it made sense to register as a member of the Merchants Guild in case anything went wrong.

But it wasn't Lin Fan who was registered as a member, but rather Yue Lan.

Lin Fan didn't know a thing about business and he knew that it wouldn't be him running the store when it was opened, so there was no reason for him to register as a member of the Merchants Guild. He would leave the store to Yue Lan, so it clearly made more sense for her to register as the member.

But when Yue Lan found out about this, she was shocked by Lin Fan's suggestion. She quickly pulled Lin Fan aside and said, "Master, this is your store, you should be the one registered as the member."

Lin Fan gave a sigh when he heard this.

Without knowing when it started, Yue Lan had decided to call Lin Fan "master".

He had tried to correct her on this, but she had been adamant about this since he was the one who had bought her. So by all rights, he could be considered her master and she was determined to treat him as such.

Even when he told her that he didn't mind any of that and that he just wanted her as his woman, she still said that this was something that was necessary.

Still, Lin Fan wouldn't budge on this matter.

So Lin Fan said in a firm voice, "I won't be doing anything with the store, so there's no need for me to register as the owner and as part of the Merchants Guild."

Yue Lan was about to say something, but Lin Fan cut her off by saying, "Since I won't be doing anything at the store, it's better to have your name registered so you can take action when you want to. I'm a mercenary and I travel a lot for work, so if you have to find me every time to do something, the store will obviously fail."

Yue Lan looked like she was a bit swayed by this, but she still said, "But master, this is your money…"

Seeing the way that she looked down slightly, Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat over how cute she was. He raised his hand to pat her on the head before saying, "I trust you."

[Yue Lan has been touched by your words. Affection has increased by 10.]

There was a blush that came over Yue Lan's face as her eyes misted over. She looked up at Lin Fan and seeing the strong look in his eyes, she gave a strong nod in response before saying, "I won't let you down."

Lin Fan patted her head again with a smile and said, "I know you won't."

With that, it was decided that the store would be registered under Yue Lan's name and she would be the owner of the store.

As it happened, Yue Lan couldn't believe everything that happened over the past few days.

She had gone from being stuck at the brothel, almost being r*ped by a noble, and losing all hope to being rescued by Lin Fan and him even giving her a store.

Having her own store was something that she had wanted since she was a child because she had wanted to show her own abilities with this store. However, she knew that this was very unlikely because of her father's own failing business and the fact that she had to help cover his debt with her own body.

But now that it had happened, her heart was filled with gratitude towards Lin Fan.

She decided then and there that she would do everything she could to make this store a success. At the same time, she decided that she would give all her heart to this man.

When they came out of the Merchants Guild, Yue Lan came up behind Lin Fan and pulled on his sleeve to make him slow down.

Lin Fan was surprised to see Yue Lan acting this way, but seeing what she wanted, he leaned in to let her come up beside his ears.

The words she said completely shocked him, but then he also revealed a smile.

"Come to my room tonight and let's sleep together."

With this invitation, how could Lin Fan say no?

It seemed like there was something to look forward to tonight.

Since there was nothing else to do today, Lin Fan decided to just walk around the town with the two girls.

But as he was walking around, he realized that he had forgotten something important.