Business is booming like never before. Jiang Xuan just made three cups of noodles, and they're almost gone.
He Yinhua said, "I'll knead the dough."
Just then, that familiar shuttle bus pulled up.
Liu Hao saw Jiang Xuan in the car earlier.
After parking the car, he walked over, looked at He Yinhua, and assumed that she was someone Jiang Xuan had called to help.
"Comrade Jiang, when did you get the car?"
"Master Liu is here? The dishes I made a while ago were just finished today."
"Your car is practical; you can park it wherever you want. How about it? Isn't business better here than in front of the courtyard?"
Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "That's right, we've already sold more than twenty today. Thank you, Master Liu. You can have this pancake."
Liu Hao took the pancake and then pulled out fifty cents from his pocket.
Jiang Xuan quickly said, "Master Liu, please put the money away. You helped me sell so many pancakes yesterday, and I haven't even thanked you yet."
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. By the way, do you want to look at the shop later? If so, I'll go call the original owner so you two can talk."
Is it convenient?
"It's convenient, their home is nearby."
"Okay, then thank you, Master Liu."
Jiang Xuan whispered to He Yinhua, "Mom, you can keep an eye on this stall for now. It's okay if you're slow. I'll go check on the shop."
"Okay, go ahead."
Liu Hao led Jiang Xuan to a shop facing the street and said, "This is it. Wait a moment, I'll go call them."
Jiang Xuan looked up and saw that although the shop looked a bit old, the location was indeed good.
A short while later, an elderly man with gray hair walked over.
He took out his keys and opened the door.
"Seeing that you are sincere in wanting to rent, I won't ask for a high price, just 30 yuan a month."
Liu Hao glanced at Jiang Xuan and said, "Grandpa, this is too expensive. The shop doesn't look very big, and the door is broken. We'll have to replace it all."
"This is a good location. I've had quite a few people contacting me these past few days, but I didn't agree to anything else because you've already paid a deposit. Go ask around at the other shops in this row; they're all priced the same."
Liu Hao: "Sir, could you give us a discount? We really want to rent it."
The old man waved his hand, "This is the price. It's not worth losing a few cents."
Jiang Xuan suddenly asked, "Grandpa, is this shop for sale?"
"Huh? You want to buy it?" The old man was surprised. "I can sell it, but it's not a small amount of money."
"How much?"
The old man held up two fingers, "2000 yuan."
Liu Hao was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out of his head.
He wouldn't even dare to dream of 2,000 yuan.
Jiang Xuan: "Can you make it any cheaper?"
"The price can't be lowered, but I can pay the rest of your water and electricity bills for this year."
Jiang Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, please draft the contract today, and I'll come over to sign it tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? You'd better get the money together first. I'm going to my son's place in a few days, and I don't accept debts."
"Don't worry, there won't be any debts. When can the transfer procedures be completed?"
"Let's do it tomorrow, I'll get it all done for you."
Liu Hao's mouth was still open after the old man left.
"I'm leaving," Jiang Xuan said.
Liu Hao snapped out of his daze. "You, you really plan to buy it?"
“Yes, just like you said, the location of this shop is indeed very good, and I want to keep selling guanbing (a type of flatbread). A rented shop always belongs to someone else, and it would be troublesome to move it around if the other party decides not to rent it one day.”
"I believe you will definitely make money with your pancakes in the future, but 2,000 right now is too much."
"It's alright, I'll ask someone to borrow it in the next couple of days."
Liu Hao nodded and said nothing more.
He thought about it and realized that he might have been making a fuss over nothing.
The Lu family has been in the military for three generations, and they have a wide network of connections. In addition, everyone knows that the old man of the Lu family favors this grandson's wife. Why would they have to worry about not being able to come up with this little bit of money?
Jiang Xuan glanced at the stalls not far away and saw a middle-aged woman pointing and talking.
She thought to herself, "This is bad," and quickly ran over.
There were a few people waiting by the stall.
Meanwhile, He Yinhua was slowly rolling out the dough.
When Jiang Xuan looked, she saw that she was covered in sweat.
My chest must be hurting again.
"Mom, are you alright?"
He Yinhua nodded. "It's nothing, I just felt a little unwell earlier."
"Mom, why don't you go and rest on those steps for a bit? I'll finish these and then we'll pack up and go home to rest."
"I'm fine, Xuanxuan, I'll be fine after resting for a while."
"Let's go check if the Chinese medicine is ready later, and take some back with us."
"Are you going to do it or not? Can't you see we're waiting? You keep talking and wasting our time," the middle-aged woman continued to criticize. "If you can't do it, then don't do it at all."
An elderly woman nearby couldn't stand it and said, "It's their first day setting up a stall, so it's understandable that they're not very skilled. Besides, can't you see that they're actually not feeling well? What's there to criticize? If you can't wait, just go buy something else."
"You, I wasn't talking about you, why are you meddling in other people's business?"
Jiang Xuan quickly said, "Sister, I'm sorry, my mother isn't feeling well. Please understand. I'll make it for you right away."
As she spoke, Jiang Xuan quickly washed her hands and began to deftly roll out the dough.
The middle-aged woman then fell silent.
After finishing making pancakes for the few customers in front of her, Jiang Xuan said to the newcomers, "Excuse me, everyone, we have something to do today and we have to close up shop."
*
Jiang Xuan tidied up the table. "Mom, are you sure you don't want to go to the military family compound? I'll stay in the big tenement next door for now."
"I'm not going. How can I face anyone looking like this?"
"If you really don't want to go, that's fine. Today is the birthday of Sheng Ye's two children, and I estimate I'll be able to come see you later."
Two children in the voice?
He Yinhua didn't react for a moment.
Whose birthday are you talking about?
"Mom, I haven't told you yet, Shengye has two children, a boy and a girl, who are 6 years old."
He Yinhua suddenly stood up, almost falling over because she was dizzy.
Jiang Xuan quickly helped her up.
He Yinhua looked at her daughter in disbelief, "He has two children? You mean he's remarried?"
"right."
"You're so foolish, Xuanxuan! You're so foolish!" He Yinhua cried out in anguish. "You're such a good girl, how could you marry a divorced man and become a stepmother? How am I supposed to face your father after this?"
He Yinhua started to cry.
"Mom, don't be so rigid. Those two children are very well-behaved. There's nothing wrong with being a stepmother. I don't have to suffer the pain of childbirth."
He Yinhua got even angrier when she heard this. "Isn't the purpose of a girl's marriage to have children? If you don't even want to have children, why are you getting married? Your grandfather is trying to push you into a pit of fire!"
"Mom, didn't you meet Shengye? He's not the kind of person who can't be relied on, so don't make things harder for yourself."
(End of this chapter)
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