Chapter 110 Renting a Kitchen
The next morning, after buying the fruits for the day, the two called the kitchen's contact number and arrived at the agreed location.
When they arrived, they saw that the kitchen was near the park where the two usually practiced Tai Chi.
The person who answered the phone was the landlord, Chen Huiping, a woman in her 50s, neatly dressed and looking energetic. She took them to the overpass on the east side of the park with a bunch of keys.
"Don't be fooled by the fact that this place looks deserted now. It used to be a very popular area. A few years ago, it was impossible to rent a shop facing the street here.
"Now, because the entire area has been overpassed, the already crowded roads are now even more inconvenient for cars to drive. Everyone just walks on the bridge, and the area has gradually become less crowded. "Look, that abandoned high-rise building over there is the former shopping mall." Chen Huiping led the way, explaining the situation to the two along the way.
The three of them walked about 100 meters along the street beneath the overpass until they entered an alleyway. Above the alley hung a striking, shabby sign: Tianshui Street Night Market. The second house into the alleyway was the kitchen Chen Huiping had mentioned.
"Our street used to be called Food Stall Street because it was filled with food stalls at night. I originally rented this room to a food stall owner who had been running it for seven or eight years and had a very good business.
Later, when the bridge was built, the entire road was fenced off, which significantly affected business, and the merchants in this area gradually moved away. Although the fence was removed after a year or two, the road was still inconvenient, and people's habits had changed over time.
As Chen Huiping spoke, she carefully looked at the labels on a bunch of keys. After a while, she found a key and opened the door.
"This room is the kitchen of a food stall. The two restaurants next to it have been rented out to a mahjong parlor. Now this is the only one left. The water, electricity, and natural gas are all working properly. See if it suits you."
Zhao Xiaojing nodded, and the two of them walked in to take a look. The house was not small, about 20 to 30 square meters, and it had previously been a food stall kitchen. The worktop, exhaust pipes, sink faucet, and shelves were all arranged in a very reasonable manner.
After looking around, the two looked at each other and were both very satisfied.
"Auntie, how much is the rent here? Is this air conditioner left by the previous owner?" Zhao Xiaojing asked.
"Yes, this is also an old air conditioner. It was already seven or eight years old when the previous owner bought it, and he was too lazy to take it away when he left. If you want to use it, I'll keep it for you. You don't have to ask someone to take it away.
I won't ask you much about the rent, 1800 a month, payable every six months, with a one-month deposit. What do you think?"
Zhao Xiaojing glanced at Su Yuchen and saw that Su Yuchen was also staring at her with shining eyes. She immediately agreed with surprise, "Sure! Thank you, Auntie. We'll use the air conditioner too!"
After seeing that a shop with an area of 8 or 9 square meters and a very poor environment on the snack street was offered for 3,000 yuan a month and a transfer fee of 100,000 yuan yesterday, Zhao Xiaojing felt that the price of 1,800 yuan a month was extremely cheap.
Although the house was a bit old and the walls were yellowed by smoke, the kitchen was well planned. All it took was a bit of cleaning and adding the necessary items, and it would be ready for use right away.
Moreover, this area is located between the night market and the house where the two live. It is also close to the school. A street vendor cart can be used to get here in just five minutes.
"I never thought that this kitchen would be rented to two neat little girls!" Chen Huiping brought the two to the residential area behind the alley. After both parties signed the contract and paid the money, she couldn't help but smile and sigh.
"This kitchen has been viewed by several people. The day before yesterday, a delivery guy bargained with me for 1,000 yuan. I got angry and kicked him out. I'm thinking that if I can't rent it out, I'll just knock down the counter inside the house and stop using it as a kitchen! Haha.
I'm usually here. If you have any questions, call me. If you can't get through, you can just come and find me."
Chen Huiping lived in a private house, and it only took her two or three minutes to get there through the small passage from the kitchen. The building was bustling with activity, and many people greeted her on her way there.
After Zhao Xiaojing and the other person said goodbye to her, they went to the farmers' market and bought a bunch of cleaning agents, mops, brooms and other things and started cleaning.
It was too late to go to the side door to check the stall today, so after cleaning up part of the kitchen, the two hurried home, had a quick meal and started making sweet soup again.
After taking a break after making the syrup, Su Yuchen rode his bike to the night market to set up a stall, leaving Zhao Xiaojing in the kitchen to continue cleaning.
By the time Su Yuchen returned from the night market on his stall cart, Zhao Xiaojing's work had already produced significant results.
The cooking table and stove were polished to a shine, and the tile wall above the stove, which had originally been smoked yellow and black, had been painted to reveal its original black and white checkered pattern. Although the white bricks had turned yellow due to years of immersion, they looked very fresh.
Even the filters in the old air conditioners were pulled out and cleaned, the shelves were spotless, and the checkered tiles on the floor were mopped until the patterns were visible.
Su Yuchen instantly lost her composure. "Mirror, you're really crazy, aren't you? I feel like my back is going to break just setting up the stall. I thought the kitchen was such a huge project, and you could only do half of it, yet you actually did it all by yourself!"
Zhao Xiaojing smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm used to it.
"Would you like to have a midnight snack? I've digested everything I ate last night while working, and I'm starving!"
"Okay, I'm hungry too!" Su Yuchen agreed readily. The two of them had been making do with eating all day, and now they finally had some free time and could have a good meal.
It was not yet eleven o'clock. The two of them rode their stall bikes to another street and found a small restaurant.
"Is this our first meal in a restaurant? We said before that we came to Jiangcheng to explore some restaurants, but we were too busy to stop. Today we will have a good meal as a restaurant exploration. I'll treat you." Zhao Xiaojing said as she flipped through the menu.
"I'll treat you next time. I haven't eaten out in a long time."
The two of them ordered four dishes, all seasonal and light, including spicy clams, braised prawns, edamame salad, and stir-fried lettuce.
The boss took a small notebook and made a few quick notes, then shouted the names of the dishes to the kitchen.
The two drank water and looked around the restaurant quietly.
The restaurant has a small frontage, with only four or five tables inside, but because it is summer, there are seven or eight tables set up outdoors outside.
There were not many people here at this time. Two waiters were cleaning up the leftovers on the tables outside. Only two of the seven or eight tables were still occupied by people drinking and chatting. They were the only two people in the restaurant.
Almost as soon as we ordered, the cold edamame was served.
The two of them were so hungry that they started eating as soon as the edamame was served.
"Uh..." Su Yuchen frowned as soon as he tasted one.
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