Chapter 117: Willfulness (4th update after 35 monthly tickets)
However, when Zhuang Qingning arrived at the shop, he took a closer look and found that one of the blue bricks paving the floor had become loose, probably because it had been there for a long time and had been accidentally soaked in water. Whenever someone stepped on it, a corner of the brick would lift up.
I see.
Zhuang Qingning lowered his eyelids and looked behind him following Deng's lead.
There is a small courtyard and two houses behind the shop.
"The front of this shop is spacious. Although the backyard is a bit small, the two rooms can be used as warehouses, and the other room can also be cleaned up for living."
Mrs. Deng introduced here: "There is an open space in this yard. If you want to cook, you can build a thatched shed and a stove."
"I'm telling you, Miss Zhuang, this shop is really hard to find in this town even with a lantern. If you miss this place, you will never find another shop like mine."
It's really a shop that's hard to find even with a lantern. There's really no shop like yours in this town. A shop with bad feng shui is here. You're really good at talking. You can turn black into white.
This means knowing the ins and outs and the inside story. If you don’t know, you will really be fooled by it.
Zhang Yongchang curled his lips and said a few words to Deng, so that she would know that she should not brag too much.
But because Zhuang Qingning was present and the shop was rented by her, if she really had a quarrel with Deng, it would not be appropriate to hinder Zhuang Qingning from renting the shop, so she suppressed her dissatisfaction for the time being.
Mrs. Deng was praising the shop eloquently, and Zhuang Qingning was listening with a smile on his face, humming once or twice from time to time.
This attitude cannot be said to be bad, but it is definitely not very enthusiastic either.
Deng stopped talking and looked at Zhuang Qingning: "This shop is not bad, isn't it?"
"It's okay." Zhuang Qingning replied.
Deng had heard this kind of answer many times. Ever since she walked in the door, she had always heard words like "not bad", "almost", "that's how it is", and "probably".
This made Deng feel somewhat uneasy, and she lost her spirits.
It is said that praise and criticism are the result of buyers' interest. The more people are interested in something, the more crazy they will be in finding out its shortcomings, just to find a reason to bargain for it and avoid wasting money.
Just like what Zhang Yongchang did just now, he came up and said that the shop had bad feng shui, just to prevent her from asking for an exorbitant price, and he could still pay her back on the spot.
Deng saw it clearly and knew how to deal with it, but facing someone like Zhuang Qingning who was so lukewarm and didn't say anything good, but also didn't say anything bad, Deng didn't know what to say for a moment.
"So, are you going to rent your shop or not?" Deng was a person who didn't like beating around the bush, so she just said what she wanted to say directly.
"Since you've come to see the shop, you naturally want to rent it." Zhuang Qingning looked at Deng and smiled, "I just don't know if you, aunt, want to rent it out."
"That makes sense. Since the sign is already hung, why would it be rented out without any reason?"
After Deng said this, the smile on her lips faded a little.
This question was apparently asking her whether she wanted to rent the property out or not, but was actually asking her what her attitude was, whether she was willing to rent it out at a high price or was willing to rent it out at a lower price.
"Since Aunt wants to rent it out, then it's easy." Zhuang Qingning's smile did not diminish. "Aunt knows me. I set up a stall in town to sell tofu and salted duck eggs. Business is just so-so. I don't make much every day. But I was worried that windy and rainy weather would be bad for my business. So I thought about finding a shop to rent. I can settle down and do this tofu business comfortably for a long time."
"I like your shop because the location is really good and the shop is clean and bright, so I came to find you to see if you are willing to rent it to me and what the price is."
He talked about it all the time, but never mentioned the bad feng shui.
Deng's heart was suddenly a little complicated. She looked at Zhuang Qingning and asked, "How long do you plan to rent it for?"
Then decide what the rent will be.
"I'll rent it for five years for now." Zhuang Qingning said, "As for the rent, I'll pay it year by year. I paid it to you in the last month of the first year for next year. I gave it to you directly when I signed the contract this year."
"The rent, including the shop and the small courtyard at the back, is two taels of silver per year. During these five years, Auntie is not allowed to raise the rent because my business is good, and I will not lower the price because of poor business. And after the five years are up, Auntie must rent it to me first. If I don't rent it, then you can rent it to someone else. The same applies if you want to sell this shop."
"This is the rent for the first two years. If it's successful, go sign the contract now."
Deng was stunned.
She just wanted to ask Zhuang Qingning how long he planned to rent the house, but how come he had already paid the rent before she even said a few words?
The rent of two taels this year is neither high nor low according to the market situation. If there were no rumors about this shop, it could be rented for two or three taels. But in its current situation, two taels is not low.
At least it was much better than the one or two taels and a half that others had given before. At least it was a fair price.
This shop has been empty for a long time, and we have already lost a lot of money. If it continues to be empty, we will lose even more.
At the moment, this girl doesn't talk about the bad feng shui and doesn't think about lowering the price. She makes people feel very comfortable, and her tofu is indeed delicious, so let's just rent this shop...
"Okay." Mrs. Deng agreed straightforwardly: "Go to the bookstore next door and ask someone to write a receipt for you."
"Well, I'll pay for it." Deng added.
"Thank you, auntie." Zhuang Qingning smiled.
Zhang Yongchang, who was standing by, had a dark face. He looked at Zhuang Qingning with a look of disappointment: "Why are you thanking her? She didn't suffer any loss."
Not only did she not suffer any loss, but she actually got a great advantage. According to Zhang Yongchang's intention, the shop would have paid 1 tael and 5 taels, which would have been enough. However, Zhuang Qingning paid 2 taels. Isn't this a big mistake? Ning girl is really getting more and more willful in her actions.
"Come on, come on. It's only because Miss Zhuang is so likable that I'll rent the shop to her. If it were you, I wouldn't rent it to you for even two or three taels, let alone two taels. You're still thinking of a lower price. What are you thinking of?"
Deng glanced at Zhang Yongchang, then looked at Zhuang Qingning and smiled. She felt more and more that Zhuang Qingning was really a good and likable person.
"I think you are an honest person. Don't worry, I won't let you suffer any loss. You want to rent a shop to sell tofu, right? I still have many tables, cabinets, boards and other things at home. If you tidy them up, they can be used. You don't have to worry about making these things anymore."
Today I will update four chapters temporarily. I still have two extra chapters left for the monthly tickets. I will make up for it tomorrow~ (End of this chapter)
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