Uncle Zhou patiently explained, "I used to run a teahouse. The first floor was mostly for people to eat dim sum, and the private rooms on the second floor were for business discussions. So there were only two large private rooms. All my big pots were for roasting tea leaves."

"Oh, I see. That explains why there are only some nice plates and not many bowls and chopsticks in your cupboard."

Qiao Zixun also explained, "Uncle Zhou's teahouse has a great location. It's not exactly in the center, but it's a busy place. You won't have to worry about customers here. Plus, you already have a lot of customers, so I think it's pretty good."

Pei Yuezhi agreed, mainly because she had searched for a good shop several times but hadn't found one, so it was a bit unbelievable that she found one so easily.

"Uncle Zhou, don't you have a real estate agent for your shop? That should make it easier to rent, right?"

"When I first started looking for a tenant, I went through a real estate agent. Later, quite a few people came to look at the shop, but none of them rented it. They all complained that it was too expensive or something. So I thought, forget it, I'll just look at the shop myself and rent it out myself. It saves me from having several people come to look at the shop every few days. I'm also a bit lazy."

After Pei Yuezhi learned about this, she nodded and began to talk about other things.

So far, there's nothing about this shop that Pei Yuezhi is dissatisfied with; even this little house is perfectly built.

Once I open a big shop, I'll have Pei's father and Pei Yunzhi move in. The rooms in my house were just right, but with Liang Zhenzhen, we're worried about not having enough rooms.

This new shop happens to have a place where people can live.

Then either Pei Yunzhi or Liang Zhenzhen can move into the shop.

Pei Yuezhi discovered that everything she did went smoothly.

"I must be the chosen heroine!!!" Pei Yuezhi thought with wild joy.

On the surface, he remained calm and rational: "Uncle Zhou, this shop is indeed very good. Let's talk about the rent."

Uncle Zhou then brought up the issue of rent: "A shop of this size would normally cost ten taels a month, but this shop is in a very good location, so I was thinking of asking for eleven taels. What do you think?"

Pei Yuezhi's budget was roughly ten to fifteen taels, which was a reasonable price.

Although it's more than five times more expensive than the original store, the features and excellent location make it absolutely worth the price.

In a big city like Beijing, this would cost at least fifty.

However, Qingquan Town, although it is called a town, is actually quite large. In modern terms, it would be considered a small city.

Because this area is in the north and closer to the capital, it feels more affluent.

Seeing that Pei Yuezhi remained silent, seemingly considering something, Uncle Zhou added, "Then ten taels it is. I won't charge an extra tael."

"I'll take a deposit of ten taels of silver, and the rent is for a minimum of three months. Is that alright?"

Pei Yuezhi turned to look at Liu Yuanyuan and saw that she gave her a reassuring look, which showed that she was also very satisfied.

"Uncle Zhou, I can accept ten taels. When can we sign the documents?"

"Is today convenient?" Uncle Zhou seemed a little anxious.

Seeing his urgency, Pei Yuezhi couldn't help but wonder, "It's convenient, but why are you in such a hurry?"

Uncle Zhou sighed, "Sigh, it's Baiweiju again. They've been bothering me for three days already. This morning they even came over to ask me about renting out the property, but I just brushed them off with some excuse."

“I really don’t want to rent to them. Although they won’t shortchange me on rent, I don’t want to make things convenient for them when I think about what they’ve done. Come to think of it, when my teahouse was still open, they took away a lot of customers from me.”

"Do you think my teahouse would affect their restaurant's business? Well, they went and found my supplier, bought some old stock, and bought it from me at a lower price. They actually stole my customers."

"This isn't even a business transaction, have I affected him at all?"

Uncle Zhou talked on and on, saying that Baiweiju was truly a cancer in Qingquan Town, as they wanted to get involved in everything related to food.

Liu Yuanyuan, who loved to stand up for the weak, said indignantly, "They've already gone through all this, and they still have the nerve to come and rent your shop?"

"Of course, I don't want to rent it to them."

Seeing that the two of them were about to start chatting again, Pei Yuezhi quickly said yes.

"Uncle Zhou, let's sign the documents today."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back and get some paper and pen. After we sign, I'll leave tomorrow. I'll give you the keys then, and you can move in anytime. We'll start counting from the day you move in."

Uncle Zhou is a really good person, so Pei Yuezhi quickly agreed and thanked him.

After both parties signed the agreement, Uncle Zhou happily went back to his house to pack his things.

"I'll tidy up today, and tomorrow I'll go to your shop, give you all the keys, and then I won't come back," Uncle Zhou said.

It's likely that Qiao Zixun had already explained his situation, and Uncle Zhou knew that he owned a shop. After telling him the shop's name and address, Pei Yuezhi and Liu Yuanyuan went back first.

"Great! Yueyue, we finally have a big shop, and we can unlock the system lounge!"

After stepping outside, Liu Yuanyuan said excitedly.

Pei Yuezhi was also very happy, not entirely because of the lounge, but mainly because she felt a great sense of accomplishment. She felt that if she worked hard like this, she could go directly to the city next year.

It's only summer now, so we need to get Pei Yunzhi back to school as soon as possible. With his intelligence and eagerness to learn, we should try to get him to pass the imperial examination next year.

The clearer the goal, the more motivated I become to work.

“Yuanyuan, we need to rest for two more days and move everything. I’m just wondering, what will we do with the lunch boxes after we open a big shop?”

This was a problem that Pei Yuezhi had been struggling with, but the location of this large shop was not close to the dock and was not very suitable for making boxed lunches.

But the workers were used to the food, so moving it felt a bit sudden.

Liu Yuanyuan also fell into deep thought, and after a while she said, "Actually, we can continue making boxed lunches, but we'll earn a lot less that way, and it's not very convenient for them to come and eat here. Why don't we cancel it for now?"

Pei Yuezhi agreed, explaining that larger shops are opened because there are more customers ordering, and there's no room for them at each table.

After all, we're in business, and we have to prioritize our own interests. Let's cancel the boxed meals for now, but we'll offer some special dishes every day so that customers with limited means can also have something to eat.

After returning home, the two told their families about it, and everyone was very happy to hear about the new shop.