After those words, Peter Clark seemed like a different person, his eyes shining with light, his little face now full of confidence.

Brian Grant smiled, took out some more silver from his money pouch, and handed it to Peter Clark, “Take this.”

Giving out silver so freely, even Peter Clark felt a bit scared and said, “Big brother, this is so much money, I... I don’t dare accept it.”

Brian Grant laughed and said, “Take it and buy some food for your companions, otherwise, how will they believe you? Hurry and take it, I need to get back.”

Only then did Peter Clark accept the silver, and said again, “Big brother, don’t worry, I will definitely complete your task.”

……

The Kou family.

“Why are you back so late?”

Edward Harper looked at Brian Grant with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Actually, this time he wasn’t too worried, since he hadn’t planned to snatch this business anyway; otherwise, he really wouldn’t have dared let Brian Grant go.

Brian Grant pretended to be apologetic and said, “To answer father-in-law, after I finished talking at Jinyu Restaurant, I ran into a friend, so... so I went to have a few drinks with him.”

Edward Harper asked, “So how did your talk go today?”

Brian Grant shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Edward Harper asked in confusion, “Didn’t you go today?”

Brian Grant said, “I did, I went early. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Steward Harper, he knows. It’s just that... just that when I got there, Mr. Zhou and Young Master Liu had already talked. Mr. Zhou asked me if I had any ideas, and I could only tell him honestly that I was just there to listen. Then Mr. Zhou told me to go back.”

Although it was just a few words, Edward Harper could imagine the scene at the time. He felt his old face flush with embarrassment—how awkward! He glanced at Brian Grant again, thinking, after being humiliated like that, you still have the mood to go drinking? Truly hopeless!

Now, just seeing Brian Grant made him feel disgusted. He waved his hand and said, “Go back and rest.”

……

After leaving Edward Harper’s room, Brian Grant sighed to himself—living off a woman really is a skill! Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed William Harper sneaking toward the garden, which piqued his curiosity, so he quietly followed.

Just as he reached the garden entrance, he heard William Harper call out, “Miss.”

An affair?

Brian Grant tilted his head to look inside, and saw a tall, graceful figure standing by the flowerbed—it was Sarah Harper. She was carefully planting flower seedlings while asking, “How did it go?”

William Harper shook his head and said, “David Clark doesn’t seem very interested in buying the Chen building.”

Brian Grant was slightly surprised. Could it be...

Sarah Harper’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. She straightened up and said, “He’s not interested at all?”

William Harper hesitated for a moment and said, “Not exactly. If he wasn’t interested at all, he wouldn’t have talked for so long. I think David Clark has a lot of concerns.”

Sarah Harper said, “He’s afraid that even if he buys the Chen building, he still won’t be able to withstand the impact from Jinyu Restaurant.”

William Harper said, “I think that’s true. Helen Brooks has been running his business in Liangyuan for so long and still can’t compete with Jinyu Restaurant. And David Clark’s usual clients are mostly guards or martial artists, while Liangyuan is the territory of civil officials. I don’t think he’ll be able to establish himself there.”

“But that’s exactly why I chose Zuixiao Restaurant.”

Sarah Harper sighed softly and said, “People strive upward, water flows downward. David Clark may be wealthy, but his status in the restaurant business isn’t high, mainly because his clients are all from the lower classes. Of course he wants to move up, but to raise his status, he must come to the southern city and connect with these high officials and nobles.”

William Harper said, “That may be true, but the risks are too great, and I don’t think David Clark has much chance of success. Plus, judging from our conversation today, I guess he won’t buy the Chen building.”

Sarah Harper was silent for a moment and said, “You may go now, I’ll think about it some more.”

Brian Grant, who was eavesdropping outside, saw that William Harper was about to come out and quickly slipped away, secretly laughing to himself. So she was thinking the same thing as me—how interesting! But that’s good; with such a wise wife, it’ll be hard for my freeloading life to go wrong!

Chapter 0007: Selling in Parts

Edward Harper was only in his forties, but after that serious illness, he was already feeling weak and powerless. In fact, he had long wanted to retire and enjoy his later years, but because he had made a terrible decision in choosing a son-in-law—picking someone like Brian Grant, who was neither completely useless nor capable—he had no choice but to keep holding his post.

But he no longer went to the shop; the daily business was usually handled by Sarah Harper, while he sat in the main hall of the residence, only meeting important clients personally. But it had been a long time since any big clients had come.

However, this morning, Helen Brooks suddenly came to visit, which surprised Edward Harper. He asked in confusion, “Helen Brooks? What is he here for?”

William Harper, who had just reported, replied, “He said he’s here to talk business.”

“Business?”

Edward Harper frowned, then suddenly said, “Could it be that Sarah...”

Just as he spoke, a clear and pleasant voice sounded from outside the door: “Your daughter knows nothing about this.”