Gu Yi knows Ye’s mother is trying to match her with Ye Hao, but does it have to be so obvious?
Every ti Ye Hao sends a letter, Ye’s mother pushes Gu Yi to write back, afraid that she won’t.
In the end, Gu Yi has no choice but to go back to her room and write a letter to Ye Hao.
Early the next day, Gu Yi and Ye Qian took a bus to the county.
They first delivered the bean sprouts ordered by Li Gang, simply telling him they ca to browse the county before leaving.
Gu Yi wanted to look around near the school, so she and Ye Qian took a turn around County No. 1 Middle School.
Upon arrival, Gu Yi was pleasantly surprised to find that the town was still small; the governnt area and the middle school were together, with an experintal elentary school nearby, and the factory district not far away.
It was sumr vacation, and only a few shops were open, with business being average.
Gu Yi and her group took a lap around the middle school and found two or three businesses doing better than others.
Two are directly opposite the school’s main entrance — a bun shop and a restaurant offering noodles and stir-fried dishes. There’s also one at the back entrance with noodles and stir-fried dishes.
It’s only eleven o’clock now, so Gu Yi decided to wait a bit, waiting for the governnt offices and factories to get off work to check out the area.
At twelve o’clock, everyone got off work, and the sa few businesses remained busy.
The bun shop mostly had take-out buyers, perhaps due to proximity. Most from the governnt offices went to the dine-in restaurant in the front, while more factory workers went to the restaurant at the back.
Gu Yi roughly understood the situation. After lunchti, she took Ye Qian to a restaurant a bit to the right of the main entrance.
This location wasn’t as good as the ones in front but close enough to the governnt buildings, tucked at the mouth of an alley.
The storefront is small, just one unit, shaped like a fan.
Gu Yi ordered a bowl of noodles each for her and Ye Qian and added a fried egg to each.
While waiting for the noodles, Gu Yi observed the restaurant’s environnt.
It looked larger inside than from the outside, with a closed door in the back, revealing none of what lay beyond.
The place was quite clean; six long tables were set with two benches each, and the left side near the entrance was sectioned off as a workspace.
The boss and his wife appeared to be in their forties, seemingly honest and decent people who were quite amiable in their deanor.
Soon, the wife brought over two bowls of noodles, and as Gu Yi ate, she understood why the location wasn’t bad yet business was poor.
The noodles tasted much like homade ones, not very flavorful, lacking richness. Nowadays wasn’t like later tis when people pursued healthy diets with less oil and salt.
Nowadays, people eat out to indulge, desiring rich and savory dishes; bland ones like these wouldn’t satisfy anyone more than homade ones would.
As Gu Yi ate, she chatted with the owner’s wife. People weren’t on high alert, so after finishing the noodles, Gu Yi had pretty much understood the situation.
The boss’ surna was Chen, and they owned this place; with few doing business, renting it out wasn’t possible.
With two school-age children, family burdens were heavy. Seeing others doing well with food sales, they thought of trying as well, not hoping for much profit but at least so supplentation.
But people always think they can succeed just by watching others; after starting, they found business wasn’t as simple as initially thought.
Unable to recoup daily costs, they tried saving on materials, making business even worse.
"Boss Chen, my surna is Gu, and this is my sister. Honestly speaking, we were looking to rent a store space for so small business. I’m straightforward and frank, and if I say anything displeasing, please bear with . I saw your business isn’t great, so why not rent the shop to ? You can have rental inco monthly and find work elsewhere, likely earning more than keeping the shop open here. Please consider my proposal; I’ll return in three days to discuss the rent if you agree."
Boss Chen and his wife did not expect a young girl who ca in to eat to want to rent their shop, leaving them a bit muddled. By the ti Gu Yi settled the bill and walked far with Ye Qian, they processed the situation.
"Sis, do you think the boss will agree to us?"
Not far from the exit, Ye Qian anxiously asked Gu Yi.
"Barring any other circumstances, we can discuss rent in three days."
Gu Yi intended to buy the storefront, but Boss Chen likely wouldn’t agree. First, he saw them as too young; second, he had a bit of business acun, keeping the store to accumulate rental inco over ti rather than selling it rashly.
Gu Yi wasn’t urgent; renting it first, making so money, then discussing other options.
If buying the space was impossible, they could buy residential property, as future prices would soar; buying more while they were still low would be ideal.
Similar to what Gu Yi anticipated, the restaurant’s Chen couple discussed
"Honey, do you think the girl is serious or just playing?"
Eldest Sister-in-law Chen tidied up the table and sat opposite Boss Chen.
"Should be serious; they don’t have any reason to tease us. Actually, think about it, the girl makes sense; neither of us is suited for business. Since we opened, business hasn’t gotten better. Running it day by day isn’t feasible; if we rent the space per her suggestion, collect so rental fees, we might find other work, and our two children can study well too. What do you think?"
"Alright, you are the family head, it’s your call."
"Great, wait until three days later when the young lady returns and discuss the rent."
Boss Chen felt this was best; he initially wanted to rent out the shop, only doing business themselves due to lack of takers. Thus, he hesitated little and waited for Gu Yi’s revisit.
Knowing no issues here, Gu Yi didn’t look elsewhere, returning with Ye Qian.
Three days later, Gu Yi ca alone to Boss Chen’s, intending to visit Li Gang for help after settling matters here, hence leaving Ye Qian behind.
Boss Chen imdiately recognized the young lady wanting to rent the shop.
Coincidentally, there were no guests, so he poured water for Gu Yi; the three sat on opposite sides of the table.
"Boss Chen, have you considered my proposal?" Gu Yi read Boss Chen’s attitude and knew it was agreeable, now to settle the rent.
"These days, I thought carefully and concluded: girl, you’re right. My wife and I really aren’t cut for business. If you genuinely want to rent the shop, it’s yours."
"And about the rent?"
"20 yuan a month, minimum paynt of half a year upfront."
Boss Chen quoted a price, Gu Yi calculated, finding the rate reasonable for the area, but didn’t agree imdiately, fearing perceived expensiveness.
"Girl, it truly isn’t pricey; I have a kitchen and room behind, included in this offer."
"Okay, but I have a condition: I want a five-year lease without rent increases during this term. After five years, under equal conditions, consider renting to first. Don’t move anything out here; I’ll pay an extra 10 yuan and this ti deposit for a year upfront. How’s that?"
Gu Yi didn’t hesitate this ti.
"Alright, we wanted a long-term lease too." Both were secretly pleased and signed the deal.
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