Chapter 43 Chapter 43 Garlic is important

"Sorry for the long wait. Let's go quickly. There will be no one there when it gets dark. I just asked my friend and the owner of the house is here today." Zhou Jiangang seemed even more anxious than Jiang Xi and it was obvious that he took this matter as his own.

Jiang Xi was touched and packed up his things without delay: "Okay, Brother Zhou, let's go."

The two men crossed the street and Jiang Xi followed Zhou Jiangang to the store he mentioned.

This store is located in the center of a street, next to two residential compounds and across the street from a steel plant. There are many pedestrians coming and going, so the location is very good.

There are other shops near this store, some selling steamed buns and some selling cold noodles. Jiang Xi made a special observation and found that there were no shops selling braised food nearby, so there was no direct competition with the business she wanted to do.

The store is not big, and the main door is a traditional wooden door. Although you can't see inside for the time being, in Jiang Xi's opinion, this store is very good overall. At least it is better than many stores in terms of location. The fact that there are so many small restaurants on this street means that the residents nearby have a certain purchasing power, so small restaurants are concentrated here.

Jiang Xi was a little confused: "Uncle Zhou, this store has a good location, why do you want to rent it out? Is there any special reason behind this?"

Nowadays, houses are not big enough for people to live in themselves, so generally they are not rented out. The concept of renting a house has only become popular in the past one or two years, but people don’t call it renting but replacing it, or at least moving it among relatives.

Zhou Jiangang said: "Small vendor, this shop is good in every way except the landlord. If it weren't for him, this shop wouldn't have closed down, let alone had to sublet."

Jiang Xi asked: "What exactly is going on?"

Zhou Jiangang replied, "This shop used to be run by a young couple. Later, the owner's father came to help them run the shop. This old man is extremely annoying and has no business knowledge at all, but he wants to be in charge of everything. Because of his help, he directly ruined the shop."

Zhou Jiangang huffed, "I'm a regular at their shop. Every time I come, the owner gives me a head of garlic. I love garlic, and it goes really well with noodles. But after this old man came, every time I asked for a head of garlic, he looked at me sideways, as if I was getting a great deal. He even sat on the bench staring at me while I ate. It made me feel really uncomfortable, so I stopped going there."

Jiang Xi could understand that if someone stared at her while she was eating, she would also feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Jiangang continued, "Later, I heard that this old man took the meat they were about to dispose of and sold it overnight. People who ate it got stomach upset and came to the store to demand compensation. The old man not only denied it but also scolded them. As a result, the store's reputation was ruined and it couldn't stay open."

So that's how it was. Jiang Xi asked, "Why didn't the young couple let this old man leave when he made such a fuss?"

Zhou Jiangang sighed, "This house belongs to Old Man Ding, so the young couple had no choice but to listen to him. But they didn't expect that their obedience would lead to their business failing. I heard that the young couple had a quarrel with Old Man Ding and no one knows where they went. Old Man Ding certainly couldn't do business on his own and probably couldn't make any money, so he thought of renting out the house."

Zhou Jiangang was very angry for the young couple: "No matter what, it's all that old man's fault. He ruined a good business. If it weren't for him, their store would still be open and I could still eat delicious beef noodles. Now I have found another delicious noodle shop, but it's too far from the steel plant. It's all that old man Ding's fault!"

Jiang Xi... So this is the reason why Uncle Zhou was so indignant.

Zhou Jiangang cursed and suddenly realized something. He hurriedly explained to Jiang Xi, "Small stall owner, I'm not introducing this shop to you to cheat you. This shop is really good. Apart from that old man Ding, if you can do business here peacefully, you will definitely make a lot of money."

Jiang Xi smiled and said, "I know. I'm very grateful that you can help me, Brother Zhou. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know there is such a store."

Zhou Jiangang scratched his head and said, "Anyway, that old man Ding is quite difficult to deal with. Let's give it a try today. If it doesn't work, I'll help you keep an eye out for other shops."

Jiang Xi nodded, and the two of them walked into a narrow alley next to the store to find Old Man Ding.

There was a somewhat dilapidated little house in the narrow alley. Outside the house, some clothes were hung on a rope, and there was some domestic sewage on the ground. The environment was very bad. Jiang Xi didn't know where to start for a moment, and Zhou Jiangang also looked disgusted.

"Old man Ding lives here. Look at the environment. Even if he opened his own shop, people wouldn't dare to eat in it because he's so slovenly."

Zhou Jiangang was very dissatisfied with Old Man Ding. He stood on a relatively clean step and shouted towards the house: "Uncle Ding, are you there? Someone wants to see your house."

After a while, a hoarse voice came from the door: "Who is watching my house?"

An old man appeared along with the voice. He was very thin and looked at Zhou Jiangang and Jiang Xi with a pair of cloudy eyes. The scrutinizing look made people feel very uncomfortable.

Jiang Xi greeted him and explained his purpose: "Hello, Uncle Ding, I'd like to ask about your house. I heard that your house is for rent, and I just happened to be looking for a place to rent, so I came to take a look."

Old Man Ding raised his eyebrows: "What kind of business is it for a little girl like you to start?"

Jiang Xi had already been reminded by Zhou Jiangang, and she had anticipated many situations in her mind. She was not annoyed by what Old Man Ding said, but she did not give Old Man Ding a good look either.

"I rented your shop to do business, and you rented the shop to do business. Let's just talk about this matter. Other things are none of your business, and I have no obligation to answer you."

Jiang Xi is not someone who will tolerate being bullied. Although this shop looks good, she will not swallow her anger just to rent a shop.

There are plenty of shops, so at worst you can just keep looking. Even if you can't find one for a while, it's okay to continue setting up a stall. You can make money anyway, so Jiang Xi doesn't care how.

Old Man Ding didn't expect Jiang Xi to confront him directly. He snorted and said in a very stiff tone: "Then are you still going to rent it?"

Jiang Xi said: "I came to see the shop for the purpose of renting, but I also need to see if it is suitable."

Old Man Ding said, "Wait a minute." He slowly walked into the house. After a while, Old Man Ding came out again, holding a bunch of keys in his hand: "Let's go!"

Jiang Xi's eyes widened. Could this bunch of keys be what she thought? Zhou Jiangang whispered to her, "Uncle Ding has more than one house."

Jiang Xi...had no idea that Old Man Ding had so many houses.

Old Man Ding carried the key chain and brought the two of them to the front of the store. He found the corresponding key and opened the door.

The wooden door creaked, and Jiang Xi saw the complete appearance of the store. The store was about 30 square meters in size and was very tidy. There were six tables and a counter. Behind the counter was the kitchen, which was equipped with pots, stoves and other utensils.

Jiang Xi secretly planned in her mind that if she rented this store and renovated it according to her ideas, it would indeed be suitable for selling fermented food.

Old Man Ding said, "My shop has everything ready-made. If you want to rent it, I can give you all the supplies."

Jiang Xi was not very happy. She had a hunch that the old man wouldn't be so generous. Jiang Xi asked directly, "Is it free for us? Or do we need to pay extra?"

Old Man Ding said matter-of-factly, "How can I give them to you for free? I'll sell them to you at a discount later. They'll be much cheaper than the market price."

Jiang Xi, however, was not greedy for this bargain. She paid great attention to hygiene in her snack business and did not want to buy second-hand tableware just to save money. Who knew what these tableware had been used for in the past? Besides, she would not need these things in her future braised food business.

Jiang Xi shook his head: "I don't need these things, and I won't buy them from here. I came here today to look around the store, not to buy second-hand tableware."

Old Man Ding said, "Aren't you going to open a restaurant? Why don't you need these things anymore?"

Jiang Xi didn't answer directly. Old Man Ding always changed the subject, but Jiang Xi didn't want to waste time with him. "This matter is not complicated. I want to rent your shop. Just tell me the price. If it's suitable, I'll rent it. If it's not, I won't rent it. Why are you talking so much?"

Old Man Ding was choked and angrily threw the keys on the table: "You young people are full of principles, but you don't know how to respect the elderly and love the young. And you! You are not a good person either."

Zhou Jiangang pointed at his nose with a confused look on his face, and didn't say a word.

Old Man Ding cursed: "Every time you came here to eat noodles, you always ate a head of garlic. It was annoying to see. Who else would eat like you? We don't make much money from a bowl of noodles, and you still ate a head of garlic. You're taking advantage of me."

Zhou Jiangang was already upset about the garlic incident, and now that Old Man Ding brought it up again, he couldn't help but say, "I just ate some garlic, so what's it got to do with you? Noodles with garlic only taste half as good. You don't know anything and you're still giving orders blindly, which is why you've ruined the whole store."

Old Man Ding glared: "You mean it's because I ruined the store?"

Zhou Jiangang said, "Of course. The couple's store was doing well. If it weren't for you, how could it have gone bankrupt?"

Zhou Jiangang couldn't stand Old Man Ding's unreasonable behavior any more, so he started to speak very directly.

But unexpectedly, after hearing what he said, Old Man Ding burst into laughter: "Haha, so that's how it is. It seems that what I did is useful. I said that anything can be accomplished as long as I take action!"

Zhou Jiangang didn't understand why Old Man Ding suddenly went crazy and ruined his store. What was there to be proud of?

Zhou Jiangang looked at Jiang Xi apologetically. He had thought that Old Man Ding was difficult to deal with, but he didn't expect him to be so difficult.