Hao Cheng was not good at confiding in others, especially strangers of the opposite sex. So, when faced with Jiang Mengzhen’s concern, she just muttered a few vague words and brushed it off. She was reluctant to speak clearly, and Jiang Mengzhen didn’t press her too much. After spending some time and effort asking around in the town, he found out what was going on.

There were several Broker offices in the town, but the one Hao Cheng chose was the most successful and largest. This was because they had the support of the county magistrate’s wife, and ordinary families wouldn’t dare to oppose them.

Places like Broker offices also needed to introduce some servants like maidservants and errand boys. Big families in the town had connections with them, and offending the Broker office would naturally lead to trouble in selling properties.

Hao Cheng was just a commoner, although she was a scholar with some prestige, there were still many other scholar’s wives in the town. Scholars didn’t have the same status as top scholars, and the Hao family didn’t have any influential relatives to rely on. Faced with this situation, what could she do? Endure it?

Accepting defeat meant she would have to fork out several hundred taels of silver. But money didn’t just fall from the sky, and several hundred taels was a significant sum for her. If she paid this amount, she wouldn’t have any capital left to start her own business. Renting a house meant she wouldn’t have her own property, and if she offended someone and got kicked out, she would be in an even more awkward situation.

But Hao Cheng couldn’t just swallow her pride and accept it. Being taken advantage of like this made Jiang Mengzhen even more upset than her. To him, Hao Cheng was his protector, and with the identity of a lifesaver, he considered her his own person.

Jiang Mengzhen held grudges and defended his friends. If someone bullied Hao Cheng, it was as if they were bullying him. Even without his true identity, he couldn’t tolerate Hao Cheng being treated unfairly.

After spending two days outside, Hao Cheng was still feeling down, but Jiang Mengzhen had already thought of a plan. He found a suitable opportunity when Hao Cheng was in a relatively good mood and subtly brought up the topic, “Do you have enough money for the house? If not, I have some here.”

Only then did Hao Cheng remember that she had a small portable safe at home. Knowing Jiang Mengzhen’s character, if she borrowed money from him and didn’t return it, he probably wouldn’t hold it against her. If she borrowed money from him, even if she had to pay back an extra two hundred taels, she would still have enough capital to open a shop.

But it was still difficult for her to swallow her pride, “I had already settled on a house before, but I encountered a little trouble. I originally planned to spend around five hundred taels to buy a house, but then I offended the Broker office. Now they’re asking for an extra two hundred taels, or I’ll end up buying a bad house for an inflated price.”

Jiang Mengzhen already knew about this, but pretended not to, “Where did the Broker office get the audacity? If their business is doing well, why bother with this? Even if you complete the transaction, they could still get a cut of the profit. Or is it that there are no other Broker offices in town?”

Hao Cheng sighed, “It’s because I offended my uncle, Mr. Kou. I’ve visited several Broker offices in the past few days, but none of them are willing to do business with me. Going alone takes too much time and effort. I’ve been thinking these past few days, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just leave this town. My uncle can’t reach me once I’m elsewhere.”

Running away was something Hao Cheng couldn’t bring herself to do. If she couldn’t handle it, she would leave first, then come back to face the Kou family when she had the strength.

Jiang Mengzhen nodded, “Moving to the neighboring town is also an option, but it’s not ideal. Have you considered reporting them to the authorities?”

Hao Cheng shook her head, “The county magistrate is in cahoots with the Broker office. What good would it do to report them? Besides, they’re just following the rules. Even if I report them, it won’t make a difference.”

Those who were selling properties wouldn’t risk offending the county magistrate to testify for her, and the Broker office had done nothing technically wrong in the transaction. It was precisely because of this that Hao Cheng felt even more aggrieved. What was the point of being kicked while she was down?

Jiang Mengzhen grinned, “If you want to report them, you can, and I guarantee you’ll win.”