Chapter 399 Buying a Shop
Li Si is a simulated robot. His skin texture and expression are no different from those of an ordinary person, and he has a processing core with extremely fast computing speed inside.
No matter how many chores and details Gu Jiayue instructed him to do, he could record them in the procedure without any error.
After talking for a long time, Gu Jiayue finally stopped talking.
He tilted his head to think for a moment, confirming there was nothing he had missed, and then waved to Li Si. "Okay, that's all for now. Go find a shop first, and we'll work on the rest later."
She paused, then warned, "Be careful when you go out, don't let the gatekeeper see you."
Li Si nodded, his eyes steady and his tone respectful: "Don't worry, Miss, I will be careful."
Annan City is not big, with only four streets running vertically and horizontally. For the convenience of naming, they are simply called North Street, West Street, South Street and East Street.
North Street was home to mostly scholars, and there were one or two private schools, with plaques reading "Qimeng Hall" and "Zhili Zhai" hanging above their door lintels. Scholars throughout Annan County were proud to live on North Street, walking with their backs straight, as if the scent of ink on their bodies made them superior.
West Street, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: it was populated by hooligans who spent their days wandering the street corners with their shirts unbuttoned, either gathering at the entrances of gambling houses to peer in, or squatting against the walls to chat. Idlers were essentially the black sheep of the county town.
South Street was relatively safe because the county government office was located there, with yamen runners standing at the gate year-round. Most of the residents were wealthy, and the blue brick and tile houses were clustered together, with stone lions at the gates, giving it a very impressive look.
Most of the shops in Annan County are located on this street, which is very prosperous.
East Street is more ordinary, with residents who make a living by their skills. Blacksmith shops, carpentry workshops, and tofu stalls are crowded together. There are shouts every day before dawn, and it is lively and real.
In the current situation, food is in short supply everywhere. The only people who can afford to buy food are the wealthy scholars in North Street and the rich families in South Street.
Li Si memorized what he saw and walked around Annan County for an hour. Finally, he decided to open his shop on South Street.
His young lady's business has to deal with the county government, so it is convenient to do business next to the county government.
If someone really wanted to cause trouble for him, he could just charge into the county government office. No matter how powerful those people were, they wouldn't dare to act so recklessly in front of the government office.
The shop I liked originally sold pastries. There was an old wooden sign with the words "Tianxiangju" hanging at the door, and most of the paint had fallen off.
Nowadays, with the severe drought, people can't even get enough coarse grains to eat, so how can they spare money to buy these exquisite cakes? Therefore, business is very bleak.
The shelves behind the counter were half empty, not because they were sold out, but because there was no business and the chefs in the shop simply didn't make any pastries.
Looking again, there was a wooden board standing in a conspicuous place at the door, with the words "sublease" written on it with a brush.
Li Si walked in.
The waiter, dozing off on the counter, suddenly looked up at the noise. Seeing someone coming in, he quickly put on a smile and greeted them. "Master, are you looking for some cakes? Come in and take a look. Our cakes are the best in Annan County. We have candied fruit cakes and osmanthus cakes, all made fresh!"
Li Si didn't even look at the remaining cakes. He just waved his hand and pointed at the sublease sign at the door. "Are you planning to sublease this shop?"
The smile on the waiter's face faded a little. It had been half a month and no one had come to buy pastries. It looked like this business was going to go bankrupt.
He nodded, a hint of helplessness in his tone. "Yes, business is tough these days. We can't even sell two cakes a day. My uncle can't make it any longer, so he wants to sell the shop and take the money back home!"
It turns out that the owner of this shop is the waiter's uncle.
Li Si nodded and said directly: "Go and call your shopkeeper out. I want to talk to him."
The sublease sign has been up for nearly two weeks, and it's not like no one has come to inquire about it. The ones who do come are either stingy and offer too low a price, or demand to keep all the store's belongings, with ridiculous additional conditions, so I haven't sold it yet.
The waiter looked Li Si up and down and saw that he was dressed very well, and the material was also fashionable this year. He looked like a man with plenty of money.
But nowadays there are so many people pretending to be good, and I am not sure whether he can come up with the money all at once.
"Okay, sir, please take a seat. I'll go call my uncle over." My uncle had already said before that if the shop could be sublet, he would be given an extra month's salary.
The owner was not in the store, but his home was not far away, just in the next alley.
The waiter ran to call someone, and in just an incense stick of time, he brought the shopkeeper over.
Shopkeeper Wu was a very well-off man, with a round belly and a face full of fat. No matter who was standing across from him, he would smile even before they spoke, his eyes wrinkling. "Brother, do you want to sell my shop?"
Li Si nodded and said without any extra words: "Just tell me how much silver it is."
He was pressed for time and had a heavy workload, so he didn't intend to waste time on other people. If it was a good fit, he'd take it; if it wasn't, he'd move on to the next one. He didn't have time to waste here.
Seeing the man speaking so forthrightly, Shopkeeper Wu didn't want to beat around the bush and said directly, "Okay, since you're so forthright, I'll be forthright too! Five hundred taels of silver, and I'll give you this entire yard!"
He was afraid Li Si would find it too expensive, so he quickly added, "Don't be fooled by the small size of the shop in front, but there's a warehouse in the back! There are also two rooms in the yard with a kitchen, which can be used to store miscellaneous items and materials. It's more than enough!"
If it weren't for his son's gambling debts and demanding payment, and the drought that hit the shop, causing business to plummet, he would have been reluctant to give up the shop he had run for five years.
Li Si asked the shopkeeper Wu to take him around.
The shop in the front is indeed not big, with only room for three shelves and a counter, but the yard in the back is quite neat.
The warehouse is even more spacious, with some traces of flour bags on the ground. It is obvious that it was used to store flour materials before, and it would be just right to be used to store grain.
The entire store is clean and tidy, and doesn't even require any renovations. When food arrives, it can be put directly on the shelves and sold.
Li Si understood what was going on and said, "Four hundred taels, I agree to sign the contract immediately!"
In fact, he felt that five hundred taels was acceptable, but the lady had specifically told him on the way here that he must remember to bargain when buying things.
Although he didn't understand the point of bargaining and there was no "bargaining" logic in the program, he had to do it because the lady gave the order.
"Isn't four hundred taels too little?" Shopkeeper Wu's smile faded, and his brows furrowed. "Brother, would you like to add a little more?"
Four hundred taels wasn't a loss, after all, he'd only spent about three hundred taels to buy the yard. But it wasn't much of a profit either.
He helped his son pay off his gambling debts. The whole family was going back to their hometown, and they needed money everywhere on the road, so they had to bring some extra money with them to feel at ease. After all, they say a poor home makes a rich journey, and carrying money with you makes everything easier.
Li Si frowned, his tone still calm. "Then what's the price, Shopkeeper Wu? Five hundred taels is too much."
Shopkeeper Wu was still somewhat reluctant.
The waiter standing nearby tugged at his sleeve anxiously. "Uncle, my cousin is still waiting for this money to redeem himself. I wonder if those people in the gambling house have beaten him up in the past few days."
He persuaded Shopkeeper Wu not because he had a good relationship with his cousin, but to get the money as soon as possible.
When talking about his cousin, Xiao Er could only curl his lips.
He never does any work and is idle. Some time ago, he became addicted to gambling and lost his family's small assets to the point where they had to buy a shop.
If this were his son, he would have beaten him to death long ago.
Shopkeeper Wu gritted his teeth, thinking that the sooner he could sell it, the less trouble he would have to worry about. He said, "Four hundred and fifty taels! Any less is absolutely unacceptable!"
Li Si calculated in his mind that the price had been reduced from five hundred taels to four hundred and fifty taels, which was fifty taels less. This should have met the "bargaining" requirement mentioned by the lady.
He stopped arguing about the price and simply pulled out a fifty-liang silver note and handed it over. "This is the deposit. Let's go to the county government office now to sign the contract. After the contract is signed, I'll give you the remaining four hundred liang. But I have one request: you must move everything out of the store today. I want to open it tomorrow!"
Shopkeeper Wu took the banknote and was stunned for a moment as he held the thin piece of paper between his fingers.
This deal went too smoothly!
He was already prepared for an extreme push, but the other party unexpectedly agreed?
The bottom price in my mind was originally four hundred taels, but I didn't expect this seemingly shrewd businessman to not bother too much.
He secretly regretted that he would have bid a higher price if he had known earlier.
Both of them felt that their psychological expectations had been met, so they walked to the county government office together in a very friendly manner to register the contract.
After coming out of the county government office, Shopkeeper Wu was grinning from ear to ear, holding the copy of the contract, and trotted home to pack his things.
Li Si took the contract and returned to the yard with steady steps.
When he saw Gu Jiayue, he bowed and said, "Miss, I have already done what you asked me to do."
Gu Jiayue took the contract and read it carefully. The handwriting was clear and the terms were clearly stated. She nodded with satisfaction. "Okay, then, wait for Manager Wu to move everything out of the store. Then we'll go transport the food tonight!"
Li Si naturally had no objection and nodded slightly in agreement.
When night fell, the darkness was as dark as ink. The two men took cover from the shadows and quietly left through the back door of the yard, walking quickly all the way to the shop on South Street.
The warehouse, which was originally filled with flour bags and pastry molds, has now been emptied. The floor has been swept clean, leaving only some tiny flour grains and a few wooden boxes. They look like they were used to store flour, and the edges and corners have been worn smooth.
Gu Jiayue looked at the empty warehouse. She was very satisfied with the large space and good ventilation.
She turned to Li Si and said, "Go out and watch over me. Don't let anyone get close."
Li Si obediently went out and closed the warehouse door behind him.
Gu Jiayue was the only one left in the entire warehouse.
She took a deep breath and said to herself, "System, use two-thirds of my education points to buy me food!"
The system's voice sounded in her mind with a hint of trepidation: "Host, don't you save some education points to save your life?"
The host seems to have a lot of points, and can earn a lot of education points every day, but they are spent quickly.
After buying water the day before yesterday, there was not much left in the account. If I use two-thirds of it to buy food, and then buy water for the county town tomorrow, the remaining points will not last long.
Gu Jiayue was quite open-minded about the system's concerns. "Don't worry, tomorrow I'll start educating the refugees outside the city. I'll earn a large amount of education points every day!"
She only needs one education point a day to survive, so she is not afraid.
After all, there are many people in the entire Dagan Dynasty who are learning the educational theories she created.
As long as there is one person who accepts her ideas, she will gain educational value.
With so much income every day, are you still worried about not being able to make a living?
"Okay, since the host has made the decision, I will not persuade you anymore." The system sighed and did as it was told.
According to Gu Jiayue's request, the system used two-thirds of the education value in the account to purchase food in the mall.
In an instant, a soft light flashed in the warehouse. It was not dazzling but bright enough to see the dust in the corner.
After the light faded, the originally empty warehouse was instantly filled with all kinds of food.
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