Wang Yan listened to their discussion while holding a bamboo cup of perilla water. Aunt Wang's idea was to rent a shop on Ma Xing Street, while Fatty Wang preferred to go to the Wei River.
"Her father, you have no idea how crowded Ma Xing Street is at night, with people coming and going shoulder to shoulder."
Moreover, the shops are rented there, so they can stay open during the day. It's not just boats that travel around here; merchants also frequent this area, so there are quite a few people there even during the day.”
Upon hearing this, Fatty Wang was tempted, while Wang Yan felt a chill run down her spine.
"Father, Mother, I suggest we go to the Wei River area to do business."
Aunt Wang glared at her. "Hmm, why?"
“The Wei River connects directly to the Bianjing wharf, and there are at least a thousand ships coming and going every day.”
Therefore, as long as 100 boats bring passengers, our profits will be no less than setting up a stall in the horse market.
In fact, there were more than a thousand ships, because it didn't only go to Bianjing Wharf.
The four canals for water transport—Bianjing River, Huimin River, Jinshui River, and Guangji River—all flowed through the city, while the four rivers outside the city were interconnected to connect with other places.
The Bianjing River connects six routes and governs the waterways of seventy-two prefectures, transporting over a hundred kinds of goods, including grain, silk, tea, salt, gold, silver, feathers, glue, and lacquer.
Not to mention other goods transported during the commercial boom, the annual transport of grain alone amounted to at least six million shi (a unit of dry measure), and sometimes as much as eight million shi.
It is no exaggeration to say that it inherited "half of the world's wealth".
The Wei River is just a small river in the city, but it can still accommodate a large boat to sail straight and five or six small boats to sail side by side.
Therefore, if you open a food business at the dock, as long as your food isn't too bad, you'll be competitive compared to the food stalls along the river.
The competition is even less than in the inner city. If you really look at the foot traffic of a small shop, it's no less than that of the inner city markets, and may even be more.
Of course, it can't compare to the "Colorful Gate and Joyful Pavilion" in the inner city, with its 300 wine flags. You probably couldn't match their daily customer flow even if you worked for a year.
But as I said before, judging from your own position, if you only run a small restaurant, you must be getting more benefits by the Wei River area.
After all, there are countless foot shops in the city, so it's really not easy to find a place for one.
However, if we only consider the flow of the Wei River, it's just the flow of these few dozen shops along both banks.
She took another sip of perilla water and continued, "Moreover, the business in Ma Xing Street is based on serving the locals."
If you don't make a name for yourself, and you rush in recklessly, they won't honor your credentials.
There was one more thing Wang Yan didn't say: she thought Aunt Wang was too crazy.
Holy crap, doing business at the night market isn't enough, they're even thinking of opening a shop during the day too.
Can people work non-stop day after day? No matter what, we must go to the Wei River, do business only during the day, and not stay up all night.
It's important to know that the night market doesn't close until the third watch of the night, and it continues even in wind, snow, or rain.
What's going on? Does Mother also want to stay at the night market until dawn, when it closes at midnight and reopens at daybreak?
That won't do. Wang Yan felt she couldn't handle it; she was still young and needed to grow.
Moreover, she's fine with strolling through the night market, enjoying the food and drinks, but she's not willing to stand there all night, glued to the spot watching business.
After hearing what she said, Aunt Wang hesitated. Wang Yan looked at her parents and added fuel to the fire.
"And I think we don't need to rent a shop, we can just buy it."
"What!" Aunt Wang exclaimed in surprise, "Why do you want to buy a shop?"
"Because our business is bound to do well, when the time comes to rent a shop, if the owner turns on you and kicks you out, there's nothing you can do."
"..."
Anyway, the family discussed it all night, but they still haven't come to a conclusion, but it doesn't matter.
Wang Yan returned to her room and asked Aunt Wang to bring out all the silver rewards she had received over the years to take stock of.
Yingjie was with her; she ordered the first time, and Yingjie ordered the second time.
The first thing I received was a purse given to me by the Lady of the Marquis today, containing eight silver coins and eight gold coins.
Even now, Wang Yan is still somewhat happy to see this purse.
They left the mansion smoothly, that's great.
Various gold and silver bracelets, jade hairpins, gold ingots, silver ingots, etc., totaling 737 taels of gold and silver.
A jewelry box full of jewelry, roughly estimated, should be worth around three hundred taels.
If all goes well, this money should be enough to buy a small shop by the Wei River.
After listening to Wang Yan's words, Fatty Wang became even more determined to buy the shop. In any case, this would be considered acquiring property.
He switched sides again. He had just considered changing his mind after Aunt Wang explained the benefits of Ma Xing Street, but now he's back to his original plan.
After some hesitation, Aunt Wang decided to buy the shop. She would give it to Wang Yan. The money was just sitting there anyway.
The family argued all night about where to open the shop, but they made a decision the next day.
The reason is simple: there are no stalls or shops for sale on Ma Xing Street. There is only one small two-story shop by the Wei River.
It's very small; the first floor is only 12 square meters. There's a stove set up at the entrance of the shop by the river, and the back room can only fit two tables at most.
The second floor was built by myself and is strictly speaking an illegal structure.
However, the "Capital City Office" is no longer in charge of these small shops along the river that have only been built two stories high.
After all, the various illegal buildings on the streets are already beyond our control.
Moreover, the government has not said it will regulate encroachment on the street, and even if it is to be demolished, it will provide compensation, so you can buy this shop with peace of mind.
Because of the economic prosperity at that time, the government abolished the "ward and market system and curfew system".
Therefore, the residents of each neighborhood have gained considerable freedom to build houses and shops.
"The neighborhoods have no wide lanes, and the markets are impassable for horses." These two sentences perfectly illustrate how serious the encroachment on streets (illegal construction) is in some places.
After haggling for a long time, the price was reduced by a few taels of silver, and the final price was 747 taels.
Wang Yan paid for the shop, so the shop is registered under Wang Yan's name.
Looking at the shop contract, Wang Yan was filled with emotion. Both dynasties she had lived through were quite good, and even the current capital could be described as open and civilized.
Although this era is not as advanced as the 21st century, women are relatively more able to enjoy greater freedom and respect.
They could open shops, attend girls' schools, or go out to work.
Even Song Wu Sao could become the richest woman in Jiangnan with just a fish soup. As long as a woman has a skill, it is very easy for her to survive and thrive in this era.
Even singers and dancers were no longer despised and trampled upon as in previous dynasties.
With the shop in hand, the family felt much more at ease. The next step was to decide what kind of food to sell.
Wang Yan really didn't want to work long hours from dawn till dusk; she hadn't even considered selling stir-fries or barbecue.
I need to think of a snack that's easy to make and can attract customers. It's not troublesome, and I can make money. How great would that be?
Chili peppers are definitely the main ingredient; otherwise, you'll just be making ends meet with other snacks, and it'll be hard to get ahead.
Because no one in their family can make the street food taste amazing, at least that's how Wang Yan felt after eating it.
Let's cheat a little then. My family has received dozens of bags of chili powder for three consecutive years.
Besides making spicy strips for the Marquis's residence, some rice crusts were also used, and there's still a huge pile of them in the house.
Why did Wang Yan say that Wang Xing had nowhere to stay when he came back? Because the main room was piled high with chili powder.
Otherwise, we could set up a small bed for him in the main room, and he could rest for the night.
It's no exaggeration to say that now when neighbors come to visit, they don't even want to leave the main room; they just sit in the courtyard and chat!
No matter how small it is, it's their home. Whenever the family sees this little house, they feel incredibly at ease and secure.
After the contract was signed, the family didn't go home to cook. Instead, they went straight to a small restaurant and ordered three bowls of salted black bean soup, a plate of fried clams, and a plate of spicy vegetable pancakes.
I must say, these pancakes made with mustard roots have a pretty refreshing and stimulating taste.
To make salt and fermented black bean soup, add fermented black beans, fried short noodles, and mixed meat to a pot and cook together.
The group wasn't really in the mood to savor the food; after finishing their meal, Aunt Wang took Wang Yan to register for the guild.
All merchants in this dynasty are required to join guilds, and there are many different types of guild organizations.
Flower sellers joined the West City Flower Guild, vegetable sellers joined the South and North Tumen Vegetable Market, the North City Rice Market, the Charcoal Bridge Medicine Market, the Chicken and Goose Market, the Green Fruit Guild, the Henghetou Cloth Market, the Carpentry Market, the Masonry Market, and so on.
Basically, every type of job has a corresponding guild.
Wang Yan and her friends need to register their planned small eatery and join the food service industry.
The manager of this market is surnamed Hu. He has slightly graying temples and looks to be in his forties.
When they found him, he was in a good mood and registered them quickly. After that, Wang Yan and her group were qualified to sell all kinds of snacks at will.
However, small shops like theirs are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages; they are not qualified.
But they didn't plan to sell alcohol, so this didn't matter to Wang Yan and wouldn't affect her.
In one day, everything, from buying the shop to registering with the guild, was completed.
She could be described as decisive and efficient, but Wang Yan wanted to stay for a couple more days to observe the market and figure out what to sell. So the small eatery was not in a hurry to open.
She could also rest at home for a few days, which Aunt Wang agreed with, letting the child relax a bit.
Aunt Wang felt that even she herself was such a grown-up.
When I first left the mansion, I was intrigued for several days. With nothing to do, I would wander around the streets, going in and out every now and then.
And so, the leisurely holiday life began. Wang Yan slept until noon every day, then washed up and went for a stroll with Wang Ying.
This state of affairs was something that had never happened before when they were in the Marquis's residence.
Even when I'm on holiday and go back to Houfu Back Street, I have to get up very early, otherwise the other neighbors will talk.
But after coming out, I felt much freer. After all, no one was watching me all day, and I was told that the servant who was supposed to work for the master was being lazy.
The neighbors here are busy making a living every day, busy earning money. Who cares how late you sleep, whether you eat, or whether you go shopping?
Moreover, without the conflicts of interest and position, the neighborly relations are much better than when they were in the Marquis's mansion.
It's so relaxing! Indeed, being a free person is always the most comfortable thing, no matter what.
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