The Crown Taxi quickly stopped in front of a shop with its doors tightly closed. Although there are many more cars on the road these days, many passersby still turned their heads, curious about who got out of the car.
As soon as Fu Wan got out of the car, she looked in the direction of her shop, which she remembered. What she saw made her pause in surprise.
Strange, if she remembered correctly, when she took over those two shops, the business was selling antiques and breakfast buns.
The steamed bun shop is still there, but the antique shop has been replaced by a clothing store.
Moreover, the clothing store's signboard was somewhat grayish-yellow, suggesting it had been there for a while.
However, business doesn't seem to be doing very well; there's a "For Rent" sign posted at the entrance.
Fu Wan looked at the notice and couldn't help but laugh in exasperation; it was quite interesting.
To avoid any misunderstanding, she took out the property certificate from her bag and checked it twice. Only after confirming that it matched the house number did she start walking towards the shop.
"Comrade, welcome!"
As soon as I entered, a smartly dressed woman came to greet me.
That woman was dressed very fashionably, in a red floral dress and low-heeled leather shoes, paired with her big wavy hair, giving her a very Hong Kong style vibe.
Looking at the clothes in the store, they were also very trendy. Not only were there various floral dresses in the same style as the woman wearing, but there were also many fashionable jeans, leggings, and dresses.
Fu Wan casually picked up a yellow dress, and the clothing store owner, Guan Yue, saw this and quickly praised her with a smile: "Comrade, you have good taste. This is the most popular color in Beijing this year."
You're tall and slender, this will definitely look good on you.
"Really? Then I'll have to give it a try."
Fu Wan smiled, holding the dress up in front of the mirror. To be honest, the dress was really well made, and the fabric felt comfortable to the touch.
However, she got a tan from going out to sea recently, which made her look a bit darker than her yellow dress.
Fu Wan gestured as she asked casually.
"Boss, I think the clothes in your store are quite nice, so why is there a 'Prime Location for Rent' sign posted at the entrance?"
Guan Yue was a talkative person, and seeing that Fu Wan was also a woman, she naturally felt closer to her.
"Oh dear, what's the use of nice clothes? This alley is full of women who don't know how to appreciate them."
"I barely make any money to begin with, and the landlord keeps raising the rent. Hey girl, you have no idea how tough business is these days. I've been running this shop for six months, and I haven't made much money at all; it's all going to the landlord!"
Seeing that the complaint on her face didn't seem fake, Fu Wan put down the clothes and continued to ask, "The landlord raised the rent?"
That's going too far. Isn't the shop rent based on the contract? Could it be that you didn't sign a contract?
Guan Yue shook her head, her face full of regret.
"I didn't sign it. When I was looking for a shop, this was the cheapest one in the area."
The landlord found it too troublesome and didn't sign a contract.
"Oh dear, who would have thought he'd come every month for the past few months demanding rent increases? If it weren't for the fact that the place is all renovated and moving out would be a hassle, I would have quit long ago."
Guan Yue's eyes flickered for several seconds as she said this, clearly indicating that there was more to the story.
But Fu Wan could guess that the fact that the rent was increasing every month and the person hadn't run away was partly because the renovations were finished, and partly because the rent after the increase was probably cheaper than other places nearby.
Even if it's cheap, the price keeps increasing month by month. Fu Wan stood in the store for more than ten minutes but no one came in. It seemed that business here was really not good.
"Hey, wait a minute, comrade, why are you asking so many questions?"
Guan Yue came to her senses, and Fu Wan hung the clothes in her hand aside. Just as she was about to reveal her true intentions, Fu Ming and the others pushed the door open and came in.
"Ah Wan, you're here! I was wondering where you were. Hey, isn't this an antique shop? When did it become a clothing store?"
Fu Ming remembered clearly that he was curious about whether those antiques were real or fake at the time.
Upon hearing Fu Ming's words, Guan Yue immediately stood up, looking at Fu Wan and the others with a wary expression.
"Let me make it clear first, I didn't see any antiques for sale before I came here. I sell clothes here. If you have any disputes, you can go to the police station to find the police officers."
"Don't cause trouble here, or I'll call for help!"
After saying that, she pulled out a pager, looking like she was ready to call for help at any moment.
Seeing that she had misunderstood, Fu Wan quickly explained.
"Comrade, don't be afraid, we're not here to cause you any trouble."
"So what do you do?"
Guan Yue initially guessed that these four or five people must have been scammed in the previous antique trade and were now coming to cause trouble.
But seeing that Fu Wan and the others were empty-handed, it didn't seem like they had come to seek justice.
Moreover, this is the capital city, and she figured that Fu Wan and her group wouldn't dare to cause trouble.
"To be honest, comrade, this shop is mine."
“I haven’t received rent for more than half a year. I came to Beijing on business, so I made a special trip to check it out.”
Fu Wan's casual words left Guan Yue staring wide-eyed in disbelief.
"This shop is yours? How could that be!"
"Why not? If you don't believe me, I can show you the property certificate."
Fu Wan took out the property certificate from her bag. It has to be said that Ye Xiaocui was farsighted; before leaving the house, she was afraid that Fu Wan would need these things, so she specifically told her to bring them with her.
The documents, with their clear black and white text, didn't seem fake. After reading them, Guan Yue felt a wave of dizziness. Who was the landlord she had been paying rent to for the past six months?
"Comrade, do you have any information about the landlord?"
Guan Yue shook her head, "No, he said before that he didn't have an ID card, and he personally comes to the store to pay the rent every month."
At this point, Guan Yue suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, a few days ago I told him I wasn't going to rent it anymore, and he gave me his pager number, saying that if anyone wanted to rent the shop, I should call him."
Well, that's pretty mysterious.
Guan Yue frantically rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a piece of paper with a string of numbers written on it.
Pagers are popular right now, but they're also quite expensive. The fact that a scammer can use a pager shows he's swindled a lot of money.
"Comrade, how much is your rent per month?"
"They initially said fifty..."
"What, fifty?"
Zhou Hui exclaimed in surprise. As someone in the real estate industry, she was well aware of the rental market for shops in Beijing.
"This is too cheap. For this location, it should be at least eighty."
Guan Yue smiled awkwardly, "That was the initial price; it's gone up to one hundred now."
She was still a little angry as she spoke, angry that she had been greedy for cheap money and had trusted that person to rent the shop because she needed the money urgently, and also angry that the swindler had gone too far by renting someone else's shop to her; no wonder the rent was so cheap.
But what can she do when she's just starting out and has limited funds?
Fu Wan pushed the piece of paper with the pager number written on it back. "Comrade, let's make a deal!"
"Could you send a page to this person for me, saying that someone wants to rent a shop, and since you've helped me, I'll waive two months' rent for you?"
After saying that, she turned to look at Zhou Hui and said, "Zhou Hui, you know this area well, take me to the police station to report this!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com