A Relentless Pursuit for Love
Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Yoel smiled. “What a pleasure to be getting a “thank you’ from you.”

“As long as you stop saying nonsense, I will still be polite to you. After all, I'm someone with goodmanners.” Sage unscrewed the cap, tilted her head back, and drank deeply from the bottle.

The tilt of her head exposed her graceful swanlike neck, and Yoel was once again struck by herbeauty.

“It's almost lunchtime. Are you hungry? Let me buy you lunch.”

Taking another sip of water, Sage replied, “Let me buy you a meal instead.”

Since Yoel had planned to give her a horse, Sage wanted to repay him by buying him a meal.”

Sage brought Yoel to a famous Japanese restaurant in town. As it was lunchtime, there was a longqueue of customers waiting in line.

They're doing really well, aren't they? I've been wanting to try this place, but I heard that they don'taccept reservations and only serve a limited number of customers every day. Though I'm not sure iftheir food is as good as people say.”

Yoel sighed and walked into the restaurant with Sage. The manager who was attending tocustomers noticed Sage and hurried over quickly. “You're here!”

Sage smiled and said, “I've brought a friend with me. Please have Chef Damian prepare a few of hissignature dishes.”

“Sure. We've prepared a dining room for you and your guest. Please follow me.”

The manager politely escorted Sage into the restaurant.

Walking beside Sage, Yoel asked, “Is this one of Norah Group's businesses?”

“Not really,” replied Sage, “I own this shop.”

Yoel was slightly startled by this revelation. He too had opened up several restaurants, and he knewthat the food and beverage industry was not an easy industry to survive in, let alone have one'srestaurant attain fame. “But from what I know, this place has been around for more than five to sixyears, hasn't it?”

“Yeah.” Walking into the dining room, she added, “I opened this shop when I turned eighteen. I didit mainly because I liked to eat, and I wanted to earn money while doing it.”

Raising his brows, Yoel asked, “Why would you need money when your father owns the NorahGroup?”

"I started working when I was thirteen. My parents don't really give me pocket money, so I have toearn it with my own means.”

Sage moved around the room as if she was at home. After washing her hands, she started makingtea. “Do you prefer green tea or brown rice tea?”

With his eyes fixed on Sage, Yoel replied, “Green tea would do.”

While they were waiting for the food to be served, Sage and Yoel began discussing their strategiesfor running the business. Yoel favored gentrification whereas Sage argued for a populist strategy.

“I get where you're coming from. You are looking to expand the business to include a range of otherpotential customers, but have you considered the financial development in Salem? There are only asmall group of people who can afford horse riding classes. Put simply, the equestrian sport is asport for the rich, and you know best of all how costly it can get. We also have to consider the costinvolved in taking care of the horses. We're running a business here, not charity.”

Although Yoel appeared to be frivolous, when it came to work, he was serious.

Taking a sip of tea, Sage said, “Charity is for show, and business is for profit. At the end of the day, Iam still a businesswoman and o f course, I'd aim to gain profit.”

Passing a folder to Yoel, she went on, “This is a record of how much an average person spends inSalem, Nadeem, and Riverside. Nadeem has the highest cost of living, and it also has the largestpoverty gap. They are closely followed by Riverside. Amongst all three cities, Salem has the lowestcost of living, but it also has the fastest growth rate. This piece of land is rather unique as it isstrategically located at the intersection of all three cities. Thus, we have to take into consideration ofthe spending power of the average person in all three cities.”

Sage explained all of this while Yoel went through the documents. The information was wellpresented, and Yoel was able to easily comprehend everything.

“The equestrian sport was once considered a rich man’s sport, hence it only attracted a small groupof people. However, now that

the standard of living has improved, especially with the people of our generation becoming parents,it is more likely that they would want to focus on developing their children. Therefore, it is likely thatthere are some who would want their offspring to learn equestrian sports, just like there are thosewho want their children to learn music or to pick up another language. Rather than try to popularizea rich man's sport, we should try to make it more readily available for the younger generations.”Sage continued, “It would be a waste to use that large piece of land solely for the races. If weopened it to the public, anyone could visit and make use of the space. We could then include afunfair, or we could build a library, a sauna, a BBQ restaurant, or even a leisure spot. Customerscould then enjoy themselves at a reasonable price. Plus, we can still run the races. Doesn't thissound like a plan?”

Sage gave her opinions in an organized and orderly manner and this stunned and pleasantlysurprised Yoel at the same time. It seemed that Sage had done her research.

Yoel clicked his tongue and said, “You are quite ambitious, aren't you? You plan to get money fromboth the rich and the poor.” Smiling, Sage corrected, “It's not just for me, it's for us both.”