Looking at Lu Jia, I felt a pang of emotion because of what she said, after all, we had lived together for three years.
Lu Jia glanced at the bowl of noodles, which was now only filled with soup, and then changed the subject, saying, "Could you put this bowl away for me? I need to go back and discuss it with our business development manager as soon as possible, and then get this settled as soon as possible."
"Okay, you can go ahead and get busy."
"Let's have dinner together tonight. You'd better give us an answer tonight about connecting these two shops... We want to get these shops done as soon as possible before heading to Lijiang."
I nodded. Lu Jia glanced at me, then dragged her suitcase and left.
After walking a few steps, he turned back to me and asked, "You haven't changed your number, have you? You haven't replied to any of the messages I sent you before."
I paused for a moment, then replied, "I didn't change it."
"Oh, I thought you changed your number, that's why I didn't see it..."
I repeated myself: "It wasn't changed."
"That's all... Let's talk again tonight. I'll be waiting for your good news."
"Yes, I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
Lu Jia smiled and didn't say anything more. After she left, I was left alone in the deep alley. I leaned back in the chair and smoked a cigarette. When I came to my senses again, half an hour had passed. I went to wash the bowl that Lu Jia had left behind... And this was the first time in all these days that I did something that any normal person would do.
...
Another half hour later, I finally called the landlord, Lao Jin, from whom I had rented three shops, one of which was 150 square meters. If I wanted to connect it with the shop next door, I would first need his permission.
A few seconds after the call connected, he answered and asked me with a smile, "You're Michael, the one who rented my shop in Jiulongju, right?"
"It's me, Uncle Jin... I'm calling to talk to you about something."
"Say it."
“A client has taken a liking to your shop in Jiulongju, but she requires the shop to be at least 300 square meters. So she called you to ask for your opinion on whether you could combine it with the shop next door and rent it to this client together… I’ve given her a quote: 200,000 yuan a year for the two combined shops, which means you’ll get 100,000 yuan a year; the client is willing to sign a five-year contract… Our studio will keep the rent for the first year, and the rent for the second to fifth years will belong entirely to you.”
Old Jin asked, "I'm not an expert on this. Do you think it's feasible?"
"It's definitely feasible, because the rent has indeed been paid in full... It's just a matter of tearing down one wall. If the client doesn't want to rent anymore after five years, we can just rebuild the wall. It won't cost much."
"Uh... won't this ruin the feng shui?... These two houses are right next to each other. If we tear down the wall, we don't want our wealth to flow to their side."
I chuckled and said, "If you really believed in feng shui, you shouldn't have bought a shop in Jiulongju in the first place... but nobody said the feng shui here was good!"
Old Jin laughed too: "That's true..."
After pausing for a moment, he seemed to remember something and said to me, "Oh, right... I have a great-niece who also bought six shops on this commercial street. She has two 150-square-meter shops that are right next to each other... Why don't you talk to her? If you get one, it will save you a lot of trouble and save you from having to talk to another shop."
I paused for a moment, then a name flashed through my mind. I asked, "Is your great-niece named Chen Yi?"
"Yes, yes, how did you know?"
“I have information on all the owners of Jiulongju. I have information on six shops, and she is the only one I remember. So I remember her quite well. However, I called her before, and her mother answered. She said that Chen Yi went abroad to recuperate, so the deal didn’t go through.”
“She went abroad to recuperate, but this matter is not difficult to handle. Her family and I are old friends, and my daughter is also a very good friend of hers... If you want to take her six shops, it's just a matter of making a few words. Besides, these shops are just sitting idle anyway. They can earn several hundred thousand yuan in five years. She won't lose out.”
"Well, but if you give this opportunity to her, you won't make any money. This is indeed an opportunity because we haven't even started our leasing work yet. They came to us on their own initiative. Once we officially start leasing, it's hard to say when you'll be able to sell your 150-square-meter shop."
"It's alright... Back then, it was my daughter who asked her to buy this shop here, and it cost a lot of money. But the shop hasn't appreciated much, and my daughter feels bad about it... So let her earn the money first, I'm not in a hurry."
"Okay, when can you get this done for me? The client is in a hurry, so it would be best if it could be settled tonight."
“What a coincidence, I’m in Nanjing right now. Send me a copy of the contract right away, and I’ll have his mother sign it on his behalf. Once she’s back in China, she can sign a copy with you herself… As for the keys, they’re with his mother. I’ll go to Dali in a couple of days and bring them to you.”
"Thank you so much!"
"It's a mutually beneficial thing, why are you thanking me like this..."
I forced a smile.
Old Jin added, "You can trust me, Old Jin, to speak for you. Rest assured, I'll give you a reply over there in three days at most, and I'll bring you the keys."
"Thank you so much, Uncle Jin."
"Don't thank me, my niece really benefited from this... If you can really make this commercial street popular, we should thank you properly. Our family has several million yuan tied up in these shops, and they haven't appreciated in value. We're quite anxious about it!"
After exchanging a few more polite words, I ended the call with Lao Jin.
After sitting on the wooden bench for a while, I washed my face with cold water by the sink.
I seem to have become a little more clear-headed, and there seems to be some force pulling me back to normal, to do normal things... But even so, when I'm alone at night, I still feel heartbroken, because when the sunlight disappears, I can't see anything in the darkness, I'm left all alone, breathing alone, thinking alone, reminiscing alone, and swallowing all the bitterness of today alone.
I sat alone from afternoon until dusk, feeling like I'd lost my soul, before finally remembering to call Chen Jin and ask him to join Lu Jia for dinner that evening.
Chen Jin was overjoyed. He had been working alone for so many days, waiting for this result: our studio finally had money coming in! Money was incredibly important to us at this stage. More importantly, it would give us confidence, especially Chen Jin. His confidence had been severely damaged by my recent dissatisfaction with me… And regarding this project, his ambition was even stronger than mine. He wanted to succeed and wash away the shame that Shanghai and Ding Lin had brought him. (To chat with more like-minded people about "My Tenant Miss," follow "or" on WeChat to discuss your favorite books.)
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