Lily Evans's Weakness

"Well, well, Lily Evans, you shameless hussy! So this is the kind of thing you get up to!" Mrs. Zhao gritted her teeth in fury. "No wonder Lily doesn't care about money—she throws lavish banquets without blinking! Turns out all she has to do is spread her legs and the cash rolls in!"

"Mom, now that we've uncovered Lily Evans's secret, what should we do next?" May Parker was both excited and smug—she'd finally gotten dirt on Lily!

Mrs. Zhao leaned in close to May Parker's ear and whispered her scheme.

May Parker nodded repeatedly as she listened, then said, "Mom, you're brilliant! That wretched Lily Evans is about to get what's coming to her!"

Just thinking about finally stepping on Lily Evans made Mrs. Zhao ecstatic. She grabbed May Parker and hurried off toward Greenfield Academy.

Meanwhile, Lily Evans was none the wiser, riding a carriage straight for Tenmile Hill.

As the carriage neared Tenmile Hill, Lily Evans saw a large group of people busy constructing houses on a vast stretch of open land.

According to what Ryan Lee had told her, once these buildings were finished, they'd become Phoenix Academy.

Lily Evans took a closer look. Although the foundation had just been laid, the land was spacious and the project covered a huge area.

This meant Phoenix Academy was no small endeavor—it was really going to be a massive, prestigious institution.

Seeing this matched everything Ryan Lee had said, and Lily Evans felt even more certain that this place would become Greenfield City's commercial hub in the future. Right now, it was desolate—half the shops along the road were closed, and the rest looked half-dead—but Lily was convinced that once Phoenix Academy opened, every inch of land here would be worth its weight in gold!

The carriage arrived, and Mr. Zhang led Lily Evans and Lucky off. There were people already waiting for them.

Tenmile Hill was rundown, the shops were worthless, and many houses couldn't be rented out and were stuck in the owners' hands. The landlords had long wanted to offload these money-losing properties and buy new shops in the bustling parts of Greenfield City.

But Tenmile Hill was just too remote—no one wanted to take over. Now, hearing someone wanted to buy houses and shops, the landlords rushed over, afraid they'd miss their chance if they were late.

Mr. Wang, the headman of Tenmile Hill, acted as the representative and welcomed Mr. Zhang and Lily Evans into a tavern. The crowd of landlords eager to sell followed them in.

Lily Evans couldn't help but smile—so many people selling meant she could really drive the prices down!

Mr. Zhang introduced, "This is Mrs. Evans, the buyer interested in purchasing houses."

Mr. Wang greeted her warmly, "So, Mrs. Evans, how many are you looking to buy?"

Lily Evans smiled, "I've got a few thousand taels of silver on hand, so I'm pretty comfortable. I'm planning to buy quite a few. But as for the price..."

Mr. Wang replied, "Mrs. Evans, since Mr. Zhang brought you here, we'll be fair with the pricing. Our shops along the street, with two stories and a rear courtyard, go for two hundred taels. A regular single-family house is fifty taels..."

Mr. Wang kept up his enthusiastic pitch, and Lily Evans listened with a patient smile before finally saying, "Mr. Wang, I think your prices are a bit high."

Mr. Wang replied, "Mrs. Evans, our prices are already very low. Just look at our shops—they're well-built and fully furnished. You won't need to renovate; you can open for business right away."

"But this place is way too remote! Even if I bought a shop, it’d be hard to rent it out." Lily Evans deliberately frowned to drive the price down. "I only considered buying here because it’s cheap. But walking down this street, I barely saw anyone, and half the shops are empty. Two hundred taels is just too much—I might as well spend a bit more and buy in Greenfield City!"

With that, Lily Evans stood up, pretending she was about to leave.