"Open a shop?" Zhang Fangyuan saw his wife coming back with sweat on her forehead and wiping it for him, and then he learned of his plan. He didn't even think about it: "Okay."

"You agreed so readily?"

Xu He thought that Zhang Fangyuan would at least think it over carefully and would delay it, but he didn't expect that he agreed right away.

Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help laughing. In fact, he had long wanted Xu He to stop setting up a stall at the other end of Tianjie every day. It was like he was roasting sweet potatoes in the oven all day long. Whenever he brought food over, he would see him sweating all over.

Although the stalls over there have shade cloths, they can't cover everything. Unlike the meat market, the roof is completely covered, so no sunlight gets in, and it is ventilated on all sides. It is much cooler than setting up a stall outside.

He knew that he couldn't persuade Xu He to go out and make money, and he was annoyed with the other vendors over there these days, so it was even more difficult to open his mouth. Now he himself has proposed to buy a shop, so this is the best thing to do.

"Haven't you said a long time ago that you wanted to open a restaurant? Of course I agreed."

Xu He pursed his lips, feeling somewhat happy. He took out a palm-leaf fan and fanned himself: "Then shall we go and look at the shop together?"

"Okay, I'll go in the afternoon."

Although Siyang City is only a county town and cannot be compared with the provincial capital, the county town has a good geographical location. It faces Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River in front and is backed by the provincial capital. The county has also produced many famous people.

There was a scholar who won the third place in the imperial examination, and there was an old tutor who retired to his hometown... There was also the world-famous Qianshan Academy. This dynasty attached great importance to imperial examinations, and many people from all over the world came to study there. Siyang was quite famous for this, and it was also worthy of its dense population and spacious county town.

There are countless long streets and narrow alleys, and it is common for first-time visitors to get lost.

Xu He had almost never eaten in a restaurant in the city. Although he had been doing business in the city for a few months, he always brought his own food with him, and the only restaurant he went to was a restaurant that served hot meals every day. For this reason, I am not very familiar with which streets have the most restaurants and which ones have the best food, and I still need to understand the rental trends of the shops.

These were not difficult for Zhang Fangyuan. He could take Xu He to walk through all the alleys and streets in an afternoon and look at the shops that could be rented. Xu He was dazzled, but as he asked about the market conditions, he gradually lost confidence in buying a shop.

The rent of shops in the city is really not comparable to that of small stalls. Just ask around and you will find that a shop the size of a utility room at home costs two thousand coins in rent a month. Besides, the location was not good either. It was located in a dilapidated old alley with neither the main street in front nor the lane behind. Usually, the people who frequented it were old ladies who lived frugally in the city.

Of course, there are good and bad shops. The shops on the four main streets in the city, which are connected to the east, south, west and north, are very good. Not only do they have a large flow of people, but the shops are also large, spacious, facing the river and well ventilated, and there is also ample open space outside.

By then, when the dishes are cooked and the wind blows, guests will come following the aroma. Tables can also be placed outside to accommodate more guests.

Xu He was very satisfied with the shop on the main street, but unfortunately the minimum monthly rent was over ten thousand wen. He was shocked. It might take a farmer several years to save up so much money. The rent of these lands alone would cost so much money. It was simply not something a family like them could afford.

In addition to the good and the worst, there are also shops in the big alleys in between. Some are close to the main street, but most of them are close to a private alley, so the flow of people is acceptable. However, the rent is not low, fluctuating around 5,000 Wen.

Xu He sobbed: "How can it be so expensive?"

Zhang Fangyuan touched Xu He's head and said, "The rent was not this high in the past two years, but the days were peaceful and there were more people in the city, so it was reasonable that the rent of the shops had increased."

Xu He sighed and counted on his fingers. Apart from the rent, the food in the restaurant was another big expense. Although there was food in the village, it was in the city after all, so it had to be transported every day. He also had to pay high taxes every quarter to open a shop...

He didn't even do a detailed calculation, but simply took a quick inventory. He found that the expenses were just like running water, and there was no guarantee that business would be good.

"In this case, it's actually worse than setting up a stall."

"There are 360 ​​professions, and each one is not easy. Setting up a stall has its own advantages, and running a shop has its own advantages. If all of them are disadvantages, then no one will do it."

Xu He understood these principles. If it existed, there must be someone suitable to do it. If they felt it was difficult now, it meant that it was not suitable for their current situation.

"I have about 10,000 coins saved up now. But I still can't buy a shop."

Zhang Fangyuan had not counted how much money he had since he handed it over to Xu Heguan. When he heard him talk about it today, he was quite surprised that he had saved so much in just two months. It turned out that he could save money by living frugally. It really works to let my wife take care of the household.

"If it's really not enough, can we borrow some from a bank?"

Xu He immediately shook his head: "The interest rate of money houses is high, and doing business is not stable. If I lose money, how can I pay back the money houses? It's better to be safe."

When you open a shop, you have to pay a quarter's rent in one go. In the early stages of the shop, you also have to buy tables, chairs, benches, pots, stoves, and bowls. You also have to carry the food ingredients, and you also need money for turnover.

Not only that, Zhang Fangyuan also needs money to buy livestock. Now that he has finally built up a reputation, it will not look good if he buys livestock on credit in the future, and people will no longer be willing to sell livestock to them.

If you want to borrow money to open a restaurant, it will probably be a considerable amount.

Xu He thought about it and decided that he was just impulsive. After looking at the market conditions of the shops, he finally came to his senses.

Zhang Fangyuan pulled the reins, looked at the absent-minded man, and couldn't help saying: "If I had saved more money before and not spent it recklessly, I wouldn't have let you down so much today."

Xu He came back to his senses after hearing this and said quickly, "I'm not disappointed, you've done a good job. If we don't have enough money, we can just save more. Looking around the village, there are only a few families who can save as much money as you in three or two months."

He was a little anxious, so he spoke quickly and said a lot, but when he closed his mouth he didn't know what he had said. But he really didn't want Zhang Fangyuan to think that he was incapable of running the shop, so he could only blame himself for acting on his own accord.

Zhang Fangyuan's eyes softened. He responded and said, "I'll take you somewhere."

The two men walked along the official road all the way. They did not go down the fork in the road when they reached Jijiu Village, but continued down the official road. After walking for about an incense stick of time, Zhang Fangyuan stopped the horse under a big banyan tree.

Xu He rarely went out of Jijiu Village, and when he came out, he always went straight to the city, almost never going in the opposite direction. When he came here, he found a large open space with an old banyan tree blocking the sky. It was likely that it would provide shade when the sun was at its highest at noon.

He jumped off the carriage and walked around. In addition to the main official road, there were forked roads on both sides. Xu He couldn't recognize the words written on the road signs. He just said, "I'm afraid that when the sun is strong during the day, many passers-by will stop here to cool off."

"Yes. There is a Guanyin Temple 20 miles away from here. To the east is our village, and to the west is Zaojiao Village. The most important thing is that it takes more than two hours to get to the east by express carriage from the official road. The west to Suzhou is far away, and it will take two days to travel."

Xu He looked at the road and was somewhat familiar with the area, but he was not stupid enough to think that Zhang Fangyuan brought him here just to teach him the way.

"I've been here many times before, and I often see people enjoying the cool air here. If you think this place is good, you can consider building a teahouse. Then we can attract passers-by to come here for dinner and tea."

Zhang Fangyuan leaned against the cart and said, "Of course, this place is not as prosperous as the city, and it is definitely not as interesting as opening a restaurant in the city, but there are more choices."

Xu He's eyes lit up. If he opened a tea stall here, he could also receive customers. Although there would not be as many customers as in the city, there would be fewer competitors here.

Furthermore, you can build the tea shed yourself. It doesn’t have to be very good, as long as it can shelter you from wind and rain. Once it is built, you can use it frequently and you don’t have to pay rent. Ingredients and vegetables can be picked directly from the village on the same day and brought here. They are not too far away.

Once Xu He thought about it, he found it was really a great deal.

"Why is there no one doing business here?"

Zhang Fangyuan said: "Yes, during the market, some villagers who don't want to go to the city will set up small stalls here to exchange goods. When the temple fair is busy, some people will set up stalls here for a day to sell porridge and rice. But these people don't come here to make a living every day. Ordinary villagers have no skills and no money, and the landlords don't care about the small profits, so they are empty."

He remembered that there seemed to be a government post station built here, but that was a few years ago. If they built a shed here and the government came to tear it down, they would have to pay some money as compensation, so it would not be a loss. And they may not necessarily be demolished, as some post stations already have teahouses and small restaurants next to them.

If you don't want to go to the city, this place is a very good choice, but it mainly depends on Xu He's opinion, and he will follow his will.

After all, only Master Xu can run a restaurant.

"Yes, I think it's great! If there is only this place, I don't have to spend the whole afternoon looking at shops in the city."

Xu He became happy again. There were no post stations or tea stalls around them. He had only heard about them from the peddlers who traveled around the village. It would be a novelty to see them himself.

Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help but smile when he saw him happy: "In that case, I will go up the mountain to cut down some trees and build a tea shed after I close my stall. I can spend some money and easily find two strong men in the village, and it will be completed in less than a month."

Xu He nodded in agreement, already thinking about which store in the city would be more cost-effective to buy pots, pans, and utensils.

When he returned home, he set aside three thousand coins, one for buying kitchen utensils, and the other for asking Zhang Fangyuan to hire someone to help build a tea shed. It is not expensive to hire people in the village. You can get someone to work for a whole day for fifty or sixty cents. Fifty cents will provide meals, and sixty cents will allow you to eat on your own.

Zhang Fangyuan called Chen Si and his brother, two or three people were more than enough.

A tea shed only needs to be able to shelter from wind and rain. It is not as complicated as a house for self-residence, which has separate rooms and bedrooms inside. A tea shed only needs to separate the kitchen area and the dining area.

Zhang Fangyuan's land only occupies a quarter of the resting area here, and the rest of the space is still reserved for the people who originally used to rest and set up stalls. If it were all occupied, some people would be dissatisfied and do bad things.

When the villagers saw Zhang Fangyuan leaving the village early in the morning with a horse carrying firewood, they asked in confusion, "Going to the lumberyard to sell wood? Not setting up a stall to do business?"