Zhang Xuemei quickly waved her hand and said, "Aunt Xu, please don't make fun of us. We don't have any branch stores, we're just a small stall."
Besides, it's not us, it's my brother-in-law; he's going to set up his stall over there.
“It’s all the same, we’re all family. But I do have something to tell you. Are you still buying shops?” Aunt Xu leaned closer and said mysteriously.
"Shops? What do you mean? I see this whole street has been sold?"
Zhang Xuemei had the idea of buying a shop before the Lunar New Year, but no one was selling!
"Since someone was selling them, I thought of your place. How about it? Want to come take a look? It's just down this street, quite a large place, and they're currently running an eyeglasses shop!"
"Why are they suddenly selling it? Did they say how much it would cost?" Zhang Xuemei mentally calculated the family's money; as long as it wasn't too expensive, they could afford one.
"It's about 50 square meters, and it costs 26,000 yuan. That's a very cheap price. If you ask around, you'll find that shops in this area cost more than that."
Xu Huafeng learned about this by chance. She also knew the seller, who lived in the same building as her. The seller was selling at a low price because the family urgently needed money.
"The price is acceptable, but why is it so different from other places?" Although the glasses shop was still open and there shouldn't be any problems, Zhang Xuemei was still uneasy if she didn't find out the details.
Xu Huafeng waved her hand and laughed, "What else could it be? My kids lost money in business, so I sold the shop to pay off the debt! It's just that I'm on good terms with you all, otherwise I would have sold it long ago by the time you found out."
"Yes, yes, we still want to thank Aunt Xu for thinking of us. When are you free? We'd like to go and visit."
"I have time now, I can just close the door."
"Okay, Auntie, wait for me for a moment. Xiao Wan is home right now, I'll go home and tell her first."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
Zhang Xuemei hurriedly returned home, went inside, took two thousand yuan from the cabinet, and put it in her pocket.
"Third sister-in-law, what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Xu Mingwan saw that her third sister-in-law was in a hurry as soon as she came in. If she hadn't heard the dog barking, she would have thought that she was being chased by the dog!
"I have to go out for a bit. Xiao Wan, can you keep an eye on Linlin at home? Oh, and if your third brother and the others go home, tell them that the food street is starting to charge rent."
Without waiting for Xu Mingwan's reply, he hurriedly ran off again.
"Hey, the food street has opened? That guy must be ecstatic." Xu Mingwan knew that the guy had been thinking about it a lot!
Zhang Xuemei jogged to Xu Huafeng's shop. "Aunt Xu, shall we go now?"
"Come on, let me close the door." Xu Huafeng came out from inside, locked the door, took Zhang Xuemei's hand, and said with a smile, "I think you'll definitely like it. The location is right at the crossroads. You can rent it out or run it yourself."
"Aunt Xu, it's supposed to be quite cheap, so why isn't anyone else buying it?"
"Of course there is! But they know the landlord is in a hurry for money, so they're all trying to lower the price! 26,000 isn't enough; they're even hoping to get it for 20,000. Isn't that taking advantage of someone's misfortune?"
Xu Huafeng had personally witnessed Lao Gao chasing away several people who were trying to bargain with a broom, so she worriedly instructed, "Xuemei, if you like something later, just make a decision. Don't even think about bargaining, or you'll really be kicked out."
Zhang Xuemei nodded, "Aunt Xu, I know, I won't make things difficult for you."
After walking for about five minutes, the two arrived at the shop that Xu Huafeng had mentioned.
"Look, this is it. Do you want to go in and take a look?" Xu Huafeng said, pointing to an eyeglasses shop.
"Let's go in and take a look; after all, it's not a small amount." With that, Zhang Xuemei took the lead and stepped inside.
"Would you two like to get glasses? We're here..." The shop owner greeted them as soon as they entered.
"No, we just came to look at the house," Zhang Xuemei explained.
"Oh, you want to buy this shop, right? No problem, take a look." The shop owner had seen many people come to look at the shop these past few days, so he wasn't that curious anymore.
Zhang Xuemei looked around the shop and thought the layout was quite good, and its location at the street corner was also quite nice.
He glanced back at the optician and asked with a smile, "Boss, what's your lease with the landlord for how many years?"
The boss had something to say about this: "This worries me! I signed a three-year contract, and I've only worked here for a year. He wants to sell it. What if I get a bad landlord? I'll lose a lot of money."
Putting everything else aside, he's already invested a lot of money in the renovations alone. If they move out, that's a huge expense! How could he not feel the pinch?
"Then why don't you just buy it? You'd feel more at ease running the shop that way," Zhang Xuemei said with a smile.
The shop owner chuckled and said, "Look at what you're saying. If I had the money, would I not buy it? I've already invested a lot in this shop, where would I get the money to buy it? Now I'm just hoping to find a good landlord."
"May I ask how much your rent is each month? Have you paid it for three years in advance?"
Although Zhang Xuemei thought 26,000 yuan was cheap, if you add two years' rent, it's not that cheap, so she still had to ask for clarification.
"No way, I pay it every year, 3,300 yuan a year. I've already paid for the second year. I pay the rent on March 8th every year, right on time."
"Oh, so this year is just beginning!" Hearing this, Zhang Xuemei understood. According to this calculation, if she were to buy this shop, she would have to spend a total of 29,000 yuan.
"Okay, thanks boss, see you later."
Xu Huafeng hadn't said a word while in the shop, but now that she was out, she said somewhat awkwardly, "Xuemei, I really didn't know there was such a thing as rent. I thought it was only 26,000."
Zhang Xuemei smiled and said, "Aunt Xu, I know, I just asked because I wanted to, otherwise I wouldn't know either."
Seeing that Zhang Xuemei was really not angry, Xu Huafeng smiled and complained, "You know, that old Gao is really something. He only mentioned 26,000, but he didn't mention that he had collected the rent in advance."
"It's alright, Xuemei, if you really want to buy it, your aunt will go with you and you can negotiate the price."
Zhang Xuemei really wanted to buy it, so she smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Aunt Xu. If it works out, I'll have to give you a small red envelope as a token of my appreciation!"
"No need, it was just something I did on the spur of the moment, there's no need for you to give me a red envelope."
Upon hearing this, a smile slowly appeared in Xu Huafeng's eyes. Whether she wanted to or not was one thing, and whether Zhang Xuemei mentioned it was another. The fact that she mentioned it meant that this person was worth associating with, and that she hadn't misjudged her.
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