Take the initiative
When Jian Jianan returned home, he happened to hear his parents talking in the living room.
"It looks like our restaurant may have to find another location." Su Qinxuan's voice, with a hint of sadness, came from the window that was never closed.
When Jian Jianan heard Su Qinxuan's words, he no longer cared about arguing with his brother. He immediately opened the door and walked in. He didn't even think about announcing his good final exam results to his parents.
"Mom, why does our restaurant have to move to a new location? Did something happen at home that I don't know about?" Jian Jianan asked anxiously. It was the first time she heard the news that the restaurant might have to move to a new location, and she was very anxious.
Although Jian Jiabei didn't say it out loud, he looked at the adults nervously, wanting to know what had happened at home that forced them to give up their successful restaurant.
Su Qinxuan found it funny to see the two children's expressions as if they were facing a great enemy, and quickly comforted them, "It's okay, it's okay. Everything is fine at home. Nothing serious has happened."
Jian Jianan couldn't believe it. Her parents had always been the type to only share good news, so how could they be so different now? "Mom—" she dragged out her words, acting like a spoiled child, "Just tell me."
Su Qinxuan was also very happy to see the two children back. Hearing this, he only sighed slightly. "Haven't you been busy with final exams recently? I was worried that your review time would be affected. Your father and I didn't want to bother you with this matter, so we didn't tell you."
Su Qinxuan continued, "The lease we signed with the farmers' market was for six months, and she wanted to raise the rent before the deadline. I argued back, saying the lease hadn't expired yet, but she still wouldn't give up. Now, with about a month left before the lease ends, she's coming to our house and demanding either a rent increase or we move out."
"Did she say how much the rent would be raised to?" Jian Jianan recalled that some time ago, when he invited Shan Jiqing to the restaurant for dinner, he also ran into Aunt Zhang who came to talk about raising the rent. Thinking about it this way, it turned out that they had not given up in nearly a month.
Jian Jianan was still quite optimistic at this time. She thought that raising the price a little was okay. Now that the small restaurant was doing well, it was not difficult to pay a little more rent.
Su Qinxuan was not as optimistic as her daughter. She frowned and said, "He wants to raise it to 100 yuan."
"What? One hundred yuan?" The monthly rent for the vegetable stall in the farmer's market is only ten yuan, and this is a stall in a good location. The location of the small restaurant is not very good either. How can it be worth so much money? This couple is really asking for an exorbitant price.
"But didn't she say it would be raised to 20 yuan when she came last month?" Aunt Zhang often came to them to ask for a rent increase last month, and Jian Jianan still remembered it clearly.
"You know it was last month. I asked her now, and she said twenty yuan was the price then, and the current market price is one hundred. No matter who says it, it won't work."
Su Qinxuan was very worried. If they continued to rent the place, such a high rent increase would have a relatively large impact on their development.
Although they have a lot of spare money now, that is intended to be invested in continued production. Su Qinxuan is also thinking of opening branches in other places.
However, now that the rent issue has come up, they are faced with two choices. If they continue to rent, they will have to pay an extra hundred yuan in rent every month.
The second option is to find another place to reopen the restaurant. This will indeed save on rent, but reopening a small restaurant will require a lot of work, which will not only increase the burden, but the business of existing small restaurants may also be affected.
Qin Xuan and Jian Yangping are worried about this matter now. They don't know what to do between the two choices.
"Oh." Jian Jianan thought carefully about what his mother said. Indeed, this matter was difficult to solve.
Jian Jiabei was surprisingly angry. "How dare he raise the rent? The houses on that street are all farmers' markets. Before our restaurant opened, no one wanted to rent them. It's only because of us that so many people have come."
"And now, even after we opened our restaurant, we got the highest rent increase. The breakfast shop on the left and the grocery store on the right only make a dozen bucks a month! And ours has increased more than five times. He's treating us differently! We might as well just give up. I don't believe we can't open a restaurant without his shop."
"Hey, brother, how do you know the rent of our neighbors? Have you done any research?" I can't believe that my brother, who looks heartless and careless on weekdays, would actually do secret investigations. He must have done the investigation after the rent increase came out.
"Yes... yes, what's wrong?" He did ask a few questions. Jian Jiabei felt guilty for a rare time. He knew that he was usually not very sensitive or concerned about such things, but when his sister asked this, it seemed as if he had done something wrong.
"It's nothing, I was just praising my brother!"
Jian Jianan probably understood the situation and said this to his brother with a smile.
Jian Jiabei touched his forehead suspiciously. He always felt that his sister's words had hidden meaning, but it was not good. Could it really be a compliment?
Jian Jiabei is really pitiful. Maybe he feels this way because he is often hit by his sister. This time, Jian Jianan was just giving him a simple compliment!
Although I always say that my brother is not good in this or that, those are just words said in anger. In fact, my brother is still very reliable sometimes!
What he just said makes a lot of sense.
First of all, one cannot stand out too much. It is impossible that all the neighbors around have paid the rent increase, but you are the only one who does not pay. Secondly, the rent increase of Sunshine Farmers Market seems to be a small matter, but the situation behind it is very serious. From a small perspective, it can be seen that Sunshine Farmers Market does not follow the provisions of the contract and is unreliable!
Even if they give in this time and agree to pay the rent increase, what about next time?
Is it possible that next time I encounter the same situation, I will have to give in like I did today?
impossible!
Jian Jianan concluded in his heart.
So, Jian Jiabei was right. The best way was to go out and find another address!
But……
This is easier said than done, otherwise my parents wouldn't be so worried.
The main problem is that the timing is wrong. It is the end of the year, and Jian Jianan and his friends are on vacation at home and don't need to go to school. However, all industries are at their busiest at the end of the year, and Su Qinxuan and Jian Yangping are very busy.
Jian Jianan gritted his teeth and thought, Li Zheng really knows how to pick the right time! He chose this time to ask for rent and evict them. He must have been sure that Su Qinxuan and the others would agree!
Jian Jiabei looked at his sister for help. He knew that his sister always had good ideas. There was a high possibility that his sister could solve the problems that he could not solve.
But this time, Jian Jianan didn't know either. She looked at her brother with an embarrassed look on her face.
The brother and sister looked at each other, both with sad faces. They were really a pair of miserable brothers.
"Let's...let's go back and eat first!" Jian Jiabei thought for a while and said this.
Jian Jianan bit his chopsticks and had no intention of enjoying the food.
How can she help her parents in this regard?
Suddenly, Jian Jianan thought that her parents were short of time, but she had plenty of time at home during the holidays!
She decided that she could act secretly first and tell her parents after she had chosen a place!
Jian Jianan made up her mind and felt that she couldn't accomplish this task alone, and she had to bring her friends along. She glanced at her brother, who looked cheerful, and shook her head secretly. Then she decided to go find the reliable Shan Jiqing!
Su Qinxuan has been very busy these days, or rather, since the opening of the Nanbei Restaurant, she has not been idle for a single day.
But no matter how busy she is, she will always take time to pay attention to her two children. In the past few days, she found that her youngest daughter was always busy with something, constantly cutting things from the newspaper and pasting them on her notebook, looking mysterious.
However, when Su Qinxuan asked, she would remain mysterious and not say anything, but only make a reliable announcement.
"You'll know then, Mom!"
"Wait for me to give you a big surprise!"
That day, Jian Jiabei was confused when his sister called him out of bed. The conditions in their hometown were poor, so the brother and sister could only sleep in the same room.
After arriving in Shenzhen from the island, the two of them each had their own room. Jian Jianan could no longer whisper to her brother in bed, but that didn't stop her from tiptoeing to her brother's bedside to wake him up.
"What for?" Jian Jiabei said unhappily. After the exam, he devoted himself to playing basketball. He went out at dawn every day and was only seen at dinner time. With such a large amount of exercise, not only did his appetite increase, but his sleep time also became longer.
Although I went to school to get my final exam results today and didn't exercise, no one would be in a good mood if they were pulled out of bed while sleeping soundly.
"Brother, I'm going out to play with Shan Jiqing tomorrow, and I forgot to tell my parents. Can you tell them for me tomorrow?"
"That's it?" Jian Jiabei was furious. He had thought something earth-shattering was going on, but it turned out to be just such a trivial matter. "Can't you just tell your parents yourself?" Jian Jiabei said angrily.
"I was so excited that I forgot. Brother, please remember it." After saying that, he wanted to leave but was stopped by Jian Jiabei.
"Wait, let's make ourselves clear before we go. Where are you and Shan Jiqing going to play? Is it far? Is it dangerous?" Jian Jiabei asked three soul-searching questions.
"Well... I haven't thought about it yet, but we definitely won't go to any dangerous places!" Jian Jianan assured her brother that she was just going out to survey the location, and it wasn't like she was going through fire and water, so there was no need to be so serious.
"Oh, okay." Jian Jiabei's mind was a little slow, and he nodded in agreement subconsciously. If he were sober, he wouldn't be so easily fooled. At least he would not give up until Jian Jianan explained the location and itinerary.
"Good night, brother!" Jian Jianan slipped away while he saw that he had the chance, leaving Jian Jiabei still lying in bed, hugging the quilt in a daze.
***
The next morning, Jian Jianan woke up early and busied herself with packing her belongings: money, notebooks, maps... She put them into her small backpack, checked them over, and nodded with satisfaction.
Su Qinxuan and Jian Yangping went out to work as early as daybreak, while the two children were still sleeping soundly in bed.
Jian Jianan glanced at the closed door of his brother's room, left a note on the dining table, and went out with Shan Jiqing.
After leaving the house, the two children got on the bus to their destination with ease.
The ticket seller was carrying a small bag. After asking the two children about their destination, he smiled and gave each of them a ticket. Who wouldn’t like these cute and polite children?
Jian Jianan and Shan Jiqing found a seat next to each other, then Jian Jianan took out a notebook from his backpack and muttered something to Shan Jiqing while turning the pages.
"Look, all the places we're going to today are listed here. Can you help me find the most suitable bus route map?"
Jian Jianan always makes thorough preparations when doing things. For example, this time, a few days before leaving, she would secretly write down any news she read in the newspaper or heard from merchants coming and going, as long as it was related to the location, and then record it in a small notebook.
However, these locations are very scattered, some in the east and some in the west. Shan Jiqing happened to be traveling with us, so why not let his friend who is the best at math plan the route carefully, and find the route that saves the most time and effort, so that we can visit all the locations in the notebook as much as possible today!
I'm going to bring Shan Jiqing with me today. Besides accompanying me on the trip, the most important thing is to make use of his abilities. After all, since we're here, it wouldn't be a big deal if he helped out with some things.
Sure enough, Shan Jiqing lived up to expectations. He took the notebook and after a little thought, he combined it with the route map in his mind and planned out a suitable route that could save time and effort and complete the journey reasonably.
"Look here, this is the final intersection of the route map you want to go to. We can go to the industrial development center first, then to the suburbs, and finally to the central area which is just in the center of the way back. We can complete the whole journey in one go, saving time and effort." Shan Jiqing suggested this to Jian Nan. After reading it, she thought it was very reasonable, so she nodded in agreement.
The two little kids whispering to each other naturally attracted the attention of many people on the bus. There were no parents watching them and they kept talking about where they were going. People couldn't help but feel curious and a little worried. Where were these two children without guardians going?
Jian Jianan and Shan Jiqing had no idea what the others were thinking. They got off the bus when they arrived at their stop and walked a short distance to their first destination.
This is a rapidly developing commercial street, close to several factories. People pass by here on their way to and from get off work, which perfectly meets Jian Jianan's criteria of a good location and high flow of people.
Shan Jiqing glanced at the expression on Jian Jianan's face and thought that if he was lucky, he might be able to go home soon.
Jian Jianan immediately noticed four big words posted outside a shop: "Prosperous Shop for Rent."
As Jian Jianan and the others got closer, they saw that it was a breakfast shop. She perked up a little. Wasn't this a restaurant like her own? Why was it subletting? Could it be that it couldn't continue?
She first leaned over to take a closer look at the situation, only to see that there was almost no one queuing up in front, and the few large steamers that were available were not being used. The entire small shop almost gave off a feeling of being on the verge of bankruptcy.
Jian Jianan exclaimed in his heart, this shop doesn’t look like a prosperous shop!
As soon as she saw someone coming, the proprietress inside quickly stood up to greet them. However, compared to the people at the Nanbei Restaurant, she was not as enthusiastic. "Are you here? You can choose what you want to eat. But now we only have vegetarian buns left, so take them if you want."
Jian Jianan was keenly aware of the boss lady's mood and had a hunch that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
She stated her purpose: "Auntie, I saw a sign outside your shop saying 'Wang Shop for Rent'. How much is the rent?"
The proprietress's eyes suddenly widened. She thought the two children came to buy breakfast, but it turned out they were asking this.
Her first feeling was funny. Look at the two children in front of her. They are so tiny. The shorter one is even standing on tiptoe in front of the stage. They both have stern faces and want to see more clearly, which makes them look like little adults.
The proprietress had seen enough before waving her hands: "Hey, you two little brats, why are you asking this? Where are your parents? Ask your parents to come and talk to me about this serious matter!"
She thought they were cute, but she didn't take the two children seriously, nor did she think it was appropriate to talk to them about the serious matter of renting the property.
Shan Jiqing said seriously, "It was our parents' idea!"
Jian Jianan nodded and said "hmm" heavily. The proprietress thought it was funny, but suddenly became serious. "In that case, if you have any questions, come and ask me!"
When Jian Jianan came over, he wrote down all the questions he wanted to ask in a notebook, and now he immediately asked: "Auntie, how much is your monthly rent for a house here? How much can you make in a month if you open a breakfast shop? Is it profitable?"
Seeing that there were no customers, the owner of the breakfast shop became interested in chatting with Jian Jianan and slowly said, "My rent here is eight yuan a month, one month's deposit and three months' rent. I haven't calculated the money, it's all managed by my wife."
Jian Jianan asked a lot of questions, then politely said goodbye to Shan Jiqing and left. On the way, Shan Jiqing asked curiously, "Why don't you continue asking questions? I saw that auntie answering questions fluently, and she seemed very interested in renting it out."
Jian Jianan frowned: "I always feel that something is wrong. Let's just grab someone and ask them."
Just as the two of them reached the end of the alley, they saw a notice posted at the door, a large notice with a red background.
It says: Notice regarding the change of ownership of Anfu Road Street.
After reading it, Jian Jianan looked at Shan Jiqing. Okay, they finally understood why they felt that the shop was weird. It had no property rights at all, and the ownership of the property was very controversial.
No wonder the lady boss wants to sublet such a promising shop!
"Keep looking!" Jian Jianan sighed in his heart. The housing rental market in Shenzhen is too complicated and there are too many traps. It is really hard to guard against!
Maybe because of a bad start, the first location we looked at was not suitable, and the next store the two children went to survey was not suitable either.
Either the rent is a bit expensive, or the transportation conditions are poor, or the place is so remote that you have to go around and ask people on the roadside to find it.
"It's okay. They say everything is difficult at the beginning. Let's look for it carefully. This district in the east is so small, let alone the whole city. At worst, we can run farther away and look in other districts. As long as the location, flow of people and other conditions are met, distance is not a problem." Shan Jiqing comforted his friend when he saw his depressed look.
After being comforted like this, Jian Jianan cheered up, said "hmm" heavily, and continued to cheer up and move on to the next destination.
The two children got on the bus and continued on their journey. After a few stops, the bus dropped them off and drove away.
"This...is this place really suitable for opening a restaurant?" Jian Jianan asked doubtfully. It was no wonder she said that. She had seen this place in the newspaper, but when she arrived at the scene, she realized that this place was really desolate and remote, surrounded by tin shacks. The conditions were much worse than the previous ones.
"Isn't this a lie? It has nothing in common with the ads in newspapers." Jian Jianan knew that sometimes advertisements would be exaggerated, but customers couldn't be deceived. They had looked at several locations before, and although one or two conditions were not met, they could still pick out a few advantages.
But now, Jian Jianan felt that there was no need to go and see it.
The most important source of income for a restaurant is customers. There are no clothes hanging on the racks in front of the iron shed in front of us, which means that no one lives there usually. Without guests, the restaurant has no customers.
"Go and take a look." Shan Jiqing advised. He rarely expressed his opinions, but at this moment he was determined to persuade Jian Jianan to go and take a good look.
"After all, we're here."
Jian Jianan had no choice but to agree and walked inside.
If the environment in the previous places was orderly in chaos, then the environment here could not be described in three words: dirty, messy and poor.
It's not just dirty and messy, it's like a stinking ditch, with dust flying everywhere. As soon as you get close, you can hear the huge roar of various machines.
“Sizzle!”
“Boom!”
“Crunch, crunch!”
The environment was too noisy. Jian Jianan and Shan Jiqing had to shout at the top of their lungs to speak, otherwise the other party would not be able to hear what they were saying at all.
"Let's go take a look ahead!" Jian Jianan suddenly became interested in what he saw and suggested excitedly. Faced with such an interesting little friend, Shan Jiqing had no choice but to agree.
Shan Jiqing felt strange and asked her, "Why did you suddenly change your mind like this? Didn't you just say that the location of the restaurant must be suitable? Do you think this place is suitable for opening a restaurant?"
Jian Jianan turned around and glanced at him quickly, then said, "It may not be appropriate now, but it may not be inappropriate in the future. Let's take a good look at it first!"
As they got closer, they saw that the place where the machines were roaring was a building in the middle. At this moment, it was surrounded by green cloth, making it impossible to see the whole picture at all. They could only peek from the side and see the workers working hard inside.
Jian Jianan peeked through the gap and saw the scenes inside. There were workers constantly moving around the construction site, some laying bricks, some mixing cement, all busy and absorbed in their work, with no time to care about the two curious children.
"Jian Jianan! Jian Jianan!" Shan Jiqing called her several times, but she continued to watch as if she didn't hear him.
After a few seconds, Jian Jianan turned around with his eyes shining, his face full of joy, and said to Shan Jiqing without thinking: "I have a hunch that we may have stumbled upon the most suitable place by accident!"
"What!" Shan Jiqing was completely confused, and was pulled away by Jian Jianan's arm. "Come on, let's ask someone!"
Who should I ask? First of all, the workers on the construction site definitely can’t do that. After all, everyone is busy working, who has time to pay attention to a little girl like you?
However, Jian Jianan had a clever plan. He went straight to the tin shed he had just seen and asked the old man who was leisurely basking in the sun in a rocking chair at the door.
"Uncle! Do you know what's going on here?"
When the old man opened his eyes, he saw two children standing in front of him with curious faces. One of the little girls was very cute and asked him the question without any reason.
He lazily raised his head and glanced at it, then replied nonchalantly, "I don't know, I don't understand, I'm not sure!"
"Grandpa, do you really not know? I thought you looked so knowledgeable and must know everything!"
It seems that the trick of flattery is a skill that Jian Jianan has learned naturally. She can always say words of praise easily, but Shan Jiqing can't do that. He lowered his head and pursed his lips, and for the first time he felt ashamed of his eloquence.
When the old man heard the compliments Jian Jianan gave him, he also became interested, "Hey, little girl, you are so nice to talk to. In this case, I will tell you!"
"That piece of land in front, they say they're building a comprehensive shopping mall, but it's hard to say. It's been under construction for several months, and it's been fenced off for several months, but it's still not finished. I don't understand what's going on!"
The old man generously answered questions and resolved doubts, while he continued to wave the palm-leaf fan in his hand, looking very leisurely.
But when Jian Jianan heard this, she was not as calm as the old man. She was ecstatic and subconsciously thought about what this so-called comprehensive shopping center meant.
A shopping mall? What is that? I've never heard of it before! She knew about shopping malls, but could it be that a shopping mall is even bigger than a shopping mall?
The old man noticed the two children were silent from the corner of his eye. He felt that his words had stunned them, and he was very proud of himself. Then he revealed another piece of information: "Old man, my daughter works on the construction team of this shopping mall. My daughter said that this was built by a big boss from Hong Kong in cooperation with the government. The big boss invested a lot of money and said that he wanted to build the tallest building and the largest shopping mall in the city here!"
"Although my house looks shabby, it's still a place to live. I'm going to leave it to my daughter!"
Almost before the old man said a word, Jian Jianan's eyes lit up. She tugged at Shan Jiqing's clothes, indicating to him that there was a chance. Shan Jiqing and Jian Jianan had a very good understanding, and she knew that she was doing this to cooperate.
Shan Jiqingdong asked one question, and Jian Jianan asked one in detail, and soon they cooperated with the old man to find out the intended rent of the shop from his words.
"Rent it? Hahaha, you kid are such a joke. How could anyone possibly want to rent this shabby house? If someone really wants to, just give them a dozen bucks a month!"
After hearing this, Jian Jianan was even more surprised. It was even lower than her budget.
But she didn't show it, instead she said hesitantly, "Wow, it's so cheap, but sir, when my friend and I were here, we discovered that there was a property issue. The person living there now isn't the owner at all!"
The old man was confused by the series of words and quickly shouted: "Stop, stop, stop!"
"How can you speak so fast, little girl? This house of mine was passed down from my great-grandfather! It's only my name that's written on it, but it's going to be passed down to my daughter in the future!"
Jian Jianan smiled and said, "That's good. Then I don't have to worry about you not being able to make the decision!"
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