Chapter 15
Immediately afterwards, the carriage that Su Guoer and the others were riding in arrived at Qingyan Street next to the Imperial Street. The Imperial Street was vertical from north to south, while Qingyan Street was horizontal from east to west.
The gate of this house faces Qingyan Street, and behind it is Changpingfang, which is considered to be the market town where wealthy families in the capital live.
Walk a few steps forward and cross Qingyan Street, there is another east-west moat called Bianhe. It starts from Xuanwu Gate and passes through the entire Bianjing City to Changfeng Gate in the west, and then flows into the outer city moat.
I heard Mrs. Wang say, "Sitting on the second floor of the shop, you can enjoy the scenery along the moat! This shop has a unique and elegant atmosphere."
Indeed, the second floor offers a unique view of the river. While sipping tea and enjoying fresh food, you can admire the swaying willows and the sunset on the shore. It is definitely a favorite among scholars and elegant guests.
But... opening a fresh food restaurant for her is a bit of a waste of her talent, isn't it?
The two got off the carriage, and the driver beside Wang Po hurriedly took the key and opened the shop door.
"There's a shop in front where you can open a restaurant, and there's a house in the back where you can live. This is the house I carefully selected for you, let's go and take a good look."
Su Guoer did not enter the house. Her attention was on the large house with red walls and green tiles across the Imperial Street.
Inside, there are towering artificial rocks, red walls and green tiles, and two majestic lions sitting at the door. Even from such a distance, you can tell that the garden is worth a lot of money.
There was still a faint sound of bells.
"Where is it?" Su Guoer asked.
Mrs. Wang said, "Oh, that's it. That's the famous Daxiangguo Temple in Bianjing City. On weekdays, there are many pilgrims who come here to burn incense and worship Buddha, and donate some money for incense."
"This Daxiangguo Temple has always been popular with people coming and going. If you open a restaurant here, you won't have to worry about finding diners."
Su Guoer: "But I think the one next to it is Mingyue Tower?" This old restaurant in Bianjing has stood since the previous dynasty and has a constant stream of diners.
It happened to be right next to this shop. It looked much more spectacular than hers, and had two doors facing the southeast.
The east gate faces the Imperial Street and the Daxiangguo Temple beside the road. The south gate has the same opening as this shop.
After hearing this, Mrs. Wang looked embarrassed.
“That’s true.”
"That one over there is indeed Mingyuelou, but for some reason, the business here isn't as good as before, and there aren't many customers now. It's like they've offended someone. They won't steal the customers from your restaurant, but they just can't bring any customers to you either."
After hearing this, Su Guoer had no choice but to give up and decided to go inside and take a look first.
When I entered the room on the first day of the new year, I saw a large central hall with several tall orchid-wood pillars standing on it. There were some guest tables and benches scattered around the pillars, which were arranged neatly, but covered with a layer of dust.
On the left is the counter for calculating the bills and the wine cabinet where the soju is stored. There is also an upward staircase against the wall that can accommodate two people at the same time, leading to the second floor.
Nothing surprising, when you open the door to the backyard, the first thing that comes into view is a pond of running water?
This aroused Su Guoer's interest. She took a few steps forward, half squatted down, scooped up the fresh water in the pond and put it to her nose to smell it. It was the best clear spring water.
Running water...clear spring water...must be good for making meals.
"This clear spring is brought down from the mountain next to Daxiangguo Temple and flows directly here. It's great water for making wine!"
Su Guoer: “It’s really good.”
This yard is nice too.
On the right is a large kitchen with the door facing east, and behind it are three neatly arranged tiled houses, plus a utility room.
This is the overall view of the house facing the street.
She was very satisfied.
But the price...
Was it a bit too high? Adding in her previous savings, she now had a total of 270 taels of gold. Converted to silver, that was only 2,700 taels of silver. At this rate, she could only rent for five months...
"How is it? Are you satisfied with this house?"
Seeing that she was hesitant, Mrs. Wang stepped forward and asked, "If you like it, I can also go to the owner to discuss the price."
"Because they told me when I got here, although this house is in a nice location, it's been vacant for a long time. I figured it'd be empty anyway, so I might as well rent it out and earn some money. What do you think?"
Su Guoer didn't answer her directly: "Well, at first glance, there's nothing wrong with it. But has Auntie asked someone to come and take a look? Is there anything wrong with the house?"
As she spoke, she walked forward and pushed open the door of the tiled house in the back row.
There are three tiled houses in total. I randomly pushed open one of them, and the result was...
She saw the rooftops exposed to the sky.
For a moment, Su Guoer was silent.
Is love waiting here?
Can this house still be rented?
She turned to look at Wang Pozi, who smiled awkwardly again before telling the truth: "I won't hide it from you. The owner told me when I came here that there are three tiled houses in the backyard of this house, a kitchen and a utility room. Two of them are leaking, so only the west house is habitable."
"The owner doesn't want to send anyone to repair it, so... we're renting it cheaply. You can just hire some bricklayers to put it up yourself later."
Su Guoer: "Then what's the minimum monthly rent for this house?"
Mrs. Wang gritted her teeth and said, "Four hundred taels."
Su Guoer: "No, two hundred taels"
When Mrs. Wang heard this, she became furious: "How can you bargain so hard? Three hundred and fifty taels really can't be any less!"
"Look at this house and this shop. It's in a prime location, crowded with people, and there's a night market right outside. How lively is that?"
Su Guoer: "Wouldn't that be very noisy?" Well, she found another excuse.
At this point, Mrs. Wang was completely helpless. "If you think it's noisy, then I can't do anything about it. But the silver can't be any less. This is the lowest price."
"Or would you like to come with me to have a look somewhere else?" she asked tentatively.
Su Guoer: Three hundred and fifty taels is actually acceptable. It is already lower than the original price of this house. To be honest, if two of the three tiled houses in the backyard were not leaking, I might not be able to get it at this price.
And repairing the two houses would only cost a dozen or so taels of silver, and she knew the math well.
"Okay, let's go here. I've decided," Su Guoer said.
He then took Wang Po to the second floor to take a look. After confirming that there was no problem, the two of them drafted the document, signed and sealed it, and reported it to the government.
After the two of them left the government office, Wang Po took her to the house on the street in a carriage and handed her the keys and documents.
"The contract is now complete. Our rent is payable monthly. Someone will come with the deed to collect the money. Just prepare the money one day in advance."
Su Guoer: "Okay" and then watched her leave.
However, after getting on the carriage, Mrs. Wang lifted the curtain and said to Su Guoer, "I almost forgot. This Zhouqiao Night Market stretches along the entire Qingyan Street from east to west. So, outside at night..."
"It's quite noisy, isn't it?"
Mrs. Wang shook her head. "No, the stalls at the Zhouqiao Night Market also have to pay money to the government, but you don't have to. After you rent this house, you can use the stall at the door as you like. It doesn't cost money. When the officials come to check, just show them the documents and you'll be fine."
This is an unexpected surprise.
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