Chapter Eighteen: Renting a Good House
The next morning, Li Yan and Aunt Xue set off together in an oxcart.
As usual, Aunt Xue went to the town market to buy meat. After arriving in town, Li Yan went directly to the only carriage shop in town. They had arranged a time yesterday and were now going to take a carriage from the shop into town.
Cars were a rare commodity in this era; families who could afford one were generally wealthy and influential.
Those who do not own a car have to rent one from a car rental company if they want to travel.
People from nearby villages usually travel to Qingshan Town by oxcart. However, for villages like Xinghua Village, which are closer to the town, people generally prefer to walk.
So, people would naturally need vehicles to travel from the town to the county seat.
The cart in the carriage shop was not an oxcart, but a mule cart.
This mule cart is much better than an oxcart. At least the rear compartment is semi-enclosed, so there's a shelter to protect you from the wind and rain.
There were five people in the car with Li Yan, all of whom were women, including herself. One pair was a mother and daughter, and the other three were young women around her age.
They were all from nearby villages, rushing to Huating County to visit relatives or run errands. Before long, they became acquainted.
It was still a bit hot, and the swaying motion made it easy for people to get carsick. At first, everyone was chatting happily, but soon they all leaned against the car wall and fell asleep.
Because it was Li Yan's first time in the city and she was unfamiliar with the place, she didn't dare to sleep. She just closed her eyes, leaned against the corner of the carriage, and tried to rest.
From the moment she set off, she had been mentally calculating the time. When they arrived at Huating County, the driver in front shouted that they had reached the city gate and everyone should wake up. It had been about forty minutes.
After entering the city, Li Yan wanted to take a longer look around, so she smiled and said to the driver, "I'm not in a hurry. Why don't you take all the sisters to their destinations first?"
Then, each person gave their destination, and the driver took them there one by one according to the distance of the journey.
Finally, we arrived at the magnificent entrance of the Yuanbao Tower.
Seeing a young woman like her come to Yuanbaolou, and not looking like she was there to eat, the coachman couldn't help but ask curiously, "What brings you to this restaurant, young lady?"
Of course, Li Yan wouldn't tell the truth that she was there to discuss business. She just smiled and said, "A relative of mine works at this restaurant, and I brought some things for him."
"Oh, is that so?" Instantly, the driver lost interest and only instructed Li Yan, "I have to leave the county town and return to Qingshan Town by noon at the latest. Young lady, if you miss the time, you won't be able to get back."
Li Yan quickly bowed slightly to show her gratitude, saying, "Thank you for letting me know. I will definitely get to the city gate before dawn."
After the coachman drove the mule cart away, Li Yan finally took a proper look at the Yuanbaolou.
Unlike her initial impression of the Yuanbao Tower in Qingshan Town, Li Yan felt that this Yuanbao Tower in Huating County truly lived up to the grand name "Yuanbao Tower."
The building has two floors and occupies a large area. Even before entering, just looking at the lintel gives it a very grand feel.
Moreover, I had a general idea of what Huating County looked like from the car ride, and it was much more prosperous than Qingshan Town.
Huating County, which belonged to Jiangning Prefecture and was located in the Jiangzhe region, was naturally prosperous.
Li Yan thought that if she could achieve great things in the future, it would be good to continue moving to a big city. If not, it would be even better to buy a house and settle down in Huating County.
It was still early, far from lunchtime, so the shop was quite deserted.
Li Yan clutched her bundle tightly and cautiously made her way inside. Finding the lobby empty and quiet, without a single person in sight, she mustered her courage and called out, "Is anyone home?"
As soon as she called out, a short, stout middle-aged man came out.
The middle-aged man had a chubby face, which gave him a friendly appearance even when he wasn't smiling.
Upon seeing Li Yan, he paused for a moment before tentatively asking, "Are you... the Lady Li whom Xu Tongsheng introduced?"
Only then did Li Yan realize that Manager Xu was not only a scholar, but also a student who had passed the imperial examination.
Li Yan immediately said, "Manager Xu introduced me to this place."
"Then come with me." The short, stout man then led Li Yan to the accounting office.
The contract had been prepared beforehand. The short, stout man took it out and handed it to Li Yan: "Xu Tongsheng said you can read. You recognize all the words on this, right?"
Li Yan humbly replied, "I know a few characters, but not many. Let me take a look first." Fortunately, although the characters were small, they were neat and tidy. Li Yan recognized every character and could understand every sentence.
The contract was written according to the one she had previously signed with Yuanbaolou Restaurant in Qingshan Town, and the split between her and the restaurant remained 60/40.
The contract states that the initial daily supply to the restaurant is twenty portions. Whether additional portions are needed will be determined based on customer demand.
The contract was fine, and Li Yan readily signed and sealed it.
"I still don't know your surname." After signing and pressing her fingerprint, Li Yan asked, trying to get closer to her.
The short, stout man said, "My surname is Huang, and I am the manager of this restaurant. You can call me Manager Huang from now on."
Li Yan: "Manager Huang, may I ask you how much pork belly costs per pound in the city these days, and how much a serving of roast pork costs in our restaurant?"
Manager Xu mentioned that pork prices in the city are slightly higher than in the countryside, but the price of roast pork in the city is also higher.
Manager Huang: "Pork belly is 32 coins per catty. The portion of roast pork at the main store is larger. It takes about one catty of pork belly to make one serving of roast pork, and the price is 65 coins per serving."
At Yuanbaolou Restaurant in Qingshan Town, a serving of roast pork is very small, and of course, the price is also much cheaper.
This design is reasonable; people in the countryside are unwilling to spend a lot of money to buy roast pork from outside. If the portion size is too large and the price is correspondingly too high, it certainly won't sell well.
But it's different in the city.
Urban dwellers have a relatively higher standard of living.
We often prepare banquets to entertain guests, and if the amount of meat is too small, it will seem stingy.
Nowadays, pork belly in this city costs 32 coins per pound. One pound of pork is just enough to make a bowl of braised pork, which sells for 65 coins. So, you make a net profit of 33 coins. If you use 1 coin of seasoning per pound of pork, you still make a profit of 32 coins.
Of these 32 coins, Li Yan took 60%, which was 19 coins, and gave another 20% to Manager Xu, so she would get about 15 coins in the end.
The contract stipulated that twelve portions would be made the first day, so the profit she would receive on the last day would be... 180 coins.
When she got to this point, Li Yan's eyes widened suddenly, her heart pounding. Her mind was filled with images of the adorable snowflakes waving at her.
This only includes the portion from the city. If we add the nine portions from Qingshan Town each day, the net profit is thirty-four coins. Ten portions would yield at least thirty-five coins in net profit.
Adding it all up, I can earn a net profit of 215 coins every day!
This is just the minimum I can earn. If braised pork can also sell well in Huating County, I will only earn more in the future.
Two hundred and fifteen coins... That's four times more than what she earned when she was selling mulberry drinks in Qingshan Town.
It's true that in any era, there are always more opportunities in the city.
But we can't be too happy yet; we'll still need to rent a place to live in the city. Rent is a big expense, and I don't know how much it will cost per month.
Li Yan inquired about the approximate location of Shuangxi Street from Manager Huang, and after going there, she found the brokerage firm that Manager Xu had previously told her about.
As soon as I entered the shop, the broker surnamed Cheng happened to be there.
The man looked quite young; Li Yan estimated he was only in his early twenties. He had fair skin and a sweet tongue.
Upon seeing Li Yan, he immediately called her "sister".
Li Yan: "..."
The original body was at most seventeen or eighteen years old; it probably just looked a bit older.
However, Li Yan didn't care much about that. She just wanted to find a house that suited her taste and settle down as soon as possible.
Li Yan explained her needs, and the broker surnamed Cheng then took her to see each house according to those needs.
After looking at several places, Li Yan wasn't satisfied with any of them. Either the kitchen wasn't big enough, or the rent was too high.
Finally, the broker noticed that Li Yan was getting impatient, constantly asking about the time and wanting to leave. He then said he had another place he knew that would definitely suit her taste, and he would take her there now. It wasn't far, just nearby, and it certainly wouldn't delay her.
So Li Yan went with him to another place.
This place was indeed to Li Yan's liking; the kitchen was large, and the courtyard was spacious. There were three rooms in the north building: a main room in the middle and a living room on each side, which was enough for her.
The location is also good. Just outside the door, the back street is one of the more bustling streets in the county town, which would be suitable if you were to set up a food stall.
Seeing that Li Yan was only carefully looking around without saying a word, Cheng Yalang knew that she had probably taken a liking to her.
“This house used to be lived in by a cook, but the whole family moved away to another place. They lived in this house for many years and didn’t need the money, so they didn’t sell it. They just entrusted it to me, saying they would see if they could find a suitable owner and then rent it out. I heard that you, Madam Li, are the cook? Then it’s really fate that you found this house.”
The house is nice, but it has its drawbacks. For example, it's too old, and a lot of the furniture is unusable and needs to be replaced.
And this courtyard. Although it's large, it looks dilapidated and not as refined as other houses. If we move in, we'll have to put in a lot of effort to tidy it up.
Li Yan pointed out each of these shortcomings one by one, but Cheng Yalang said, "These days, when you rent a house, how can everything be as you wish? As long as the place meets your expectations, other things are not a problem."
Li Yan: "This house... I can only barely say I'm satisfied. But since you introduced me to it by Manager Xu, and you've been so kind as to show me several places, I don't plan to look for anywhere else." Li Yan asked, "How is the rent calculated?"
Seeing that he liked the house, all that was left was to discuss the rent. Cheng Yalang immediately beamed and started calling her "sister" again.
"Look at this huge plot of land, and we're only charging you forty coins a day in rent. It's a great deal."
Forty coins a day, that's twelve hundred coins a month. Just renting a house would cost one tael and two coins. Indeed, it's the same now as in ancient times. If you have a house, it's fine, but if you don't, you'll work hard every month, spending half of it on rent.
After hearing this, Li Yan turned around and left immediately.
Based on her experience, if there was any room for negotiation on the rent, Cheng Yalang would absolutely not let her go.
If she doesn't show a firm stance now, it will be difficult to negotiate the price later.
Sure enough, the broker immediately pulled the man aside and asked, "Then how much do you think the rental fee should be?"
Li Yan's target price was a maximum of thirty coins per day, but she bargained it down to twenty coins per day.
Cheng Yalang sneered: "Are you really interested in renting this house?"
Li Yan: "If Young Master Cheng were truly sincere about renting to me, he wouldn't have quoted such an exorbitant price as forty coins a day. We're all ordinary people; many of us don't even earn a tael of silver a month. One thousand two hundred coins... that's enough for an average family to live on for two or three months."
Hearing her say that, Cheng Langjun laughed again: "Then you can name your price."
Li Yan then said, "Let's take the middle ground, twenty-five coins a day, I don't want a single coin more."
“This…” Cheng Yalang hesitated.
He definitely makes a profit at that price, just a small one.
"Fine, I'll rent it to you."
A note from the author:
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20 more red envelopes will be given away!
My daughter will rent a place first, then buy a house!
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