Chapter 138 [VIP]
Wang Ying was unaware that someone was plotting against her behind her back. The reason she didn't open her shop today was because she was planning to go out and find a new storefront.
Since she wasn't home, Lin Sui couldn't manage everything by herself, so she simply closed the door and let everyone take a day off.
Now that she has over 1,300 strings of cash, Wang Ying plans to rent a nicer shop and renovate it to a higher standard so that she can price her iced drinks higher.
If a shabby little stall sells a bowl of shaved ice for fifty coins, who would buy it?
Wang Ying first went to the official brokerage firm to take a look. Shops were not easy to rent at this time of year. Most of them had been rented out early. The remaining shops that could not be rented out were either in bad locations or too expensive.
After looking around and finding nothing suitable, Wang Ying gave the broker a string of cash, asking him to keep an eye out and contact him if anyone was in a hurry to sell their shop.
The broker was easy to talk to once he received the money and readily agreed. People in their line of work could earn several hundred coins in commission for renting out a shop, so naturally they were willing to do it.
After leaving the official brokerage, Wang Ying visited several private brokerage firms. Having lived in the prefectural city for half a year, he had learned a lot about the market, such as which private brokerage firms were reliable and which ones were rip-offs.
The place we came to was called Sun's Brokerage Firm. The owner was a man in his thirties named Sun Peng. He was not only efficient in his speech and work, but also had a very good reputation in the city.
As soon as you enter, a waiter greets you, "Please come in, sir. Are you buying or selling a servant, or renting or buying a house?"
"I'd like to rent a shop, do you have any suitable ones?"
"Please wait a moment, I'll go and call the boss over."
Before long, Manager Sun came from the backyard. Upon seeing us, he greeted us with a smile and said, "You must be the manager of Michelle's, right?"
Wang Ying was taken aback. "You recognize me?"
“My son really likes the iced drinks you sell. I even bought some for him a few days ago.”
Wang Ying smiled and said, "I see. It is our honor to have your esteemed son's favor."
"Please sit, please sit. May I ask what brings you here today, Manager Wang?"
"I'd like to rent a shop, something spacious, preferably located near Zhengtong Street."
"Is your lease on this shop expired?"
"not yet."
Sun Peng realized that the business was so booming that they were planning to open another shop. "Please wait a moment, I'll go and get the shops that have been rented out recently for you to see."
"This is troublesome."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Zhu Zi, pour some tea for Manager Wang."
While he went inside, Wang Ying took a look around the brokerage shop. The shop wasn't large, but it was very clean, and there were several potted plants on the side that were well-maintained. On the wall hung a painting of mountains and flowing water, next to which were written the four large characters "May your business prosper."
Sun's brokerage firm truly deserves its reputation as the best in the city; Manager Sun's attitude towards people and affairs is very pleasing.
Soon after, Sun Peng came over with a wooden tray, on which was a stack of papers listing the shops that had recently been rented out.
Sun Peng picked out a few and placed them on the table. "These are all in good locations. This one is right at the intersection of Zhengyang Street and Zhengtong Street, where the passersby are all wealthy and powerful. It used to be a pawnshop, but the owner got into some trouble and the shop went out of business. It was just rented out last month."
Wang Ying picked up the paper and looked at it carefully. The paper marked the size of the shop: four zhang long and three zhang wide, and the rent was seven hundred and fifty guan per year.
Too expensive!
The daily income from smoothies is around ten strings of cash. It will only last for two months before the weather cools down. I haven't sold milk tea yet, so I don't know how well it will sell. If it doesn't sell, I'll realize that the money I earn won't even cover the rent. No way!
Wang Ying put down this one and picked up a few others to look at. Most of them had rents of over 500 guan, but the locations were not as good as this one. There was also a restaurant for sale with a rent of 1,100 guan per year. She didn't even need to look at it; she definitely couldn't afford it.
Sun Peng seemed to sense that he thought it was too expensive. "If you had come to rent earlier this year, there would have been plenty of good shops available, all priced at around three or four hundred strings of cash. Right now, there aren't many shops left to rent."
"I'll take another look. If it doesn't work out, I'll rent it next year."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you. If there are any cheap shops in good locations, I'll have my staff let you know."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, this is just what I do for a living."
Since there was no suitable shop available for the time being, Wang Ying had no choice but to continue operating this small shop.
I rented it because it was cheap, but the shop entrance is narrow and the inside isn't spacious either. It was alright when I was selling vegetables; most of the customers were servants from wealthy families, so they were somewhat polite and would automatically line up when there were many people.
Nowadays, most of the people who buy popsicles are ordinary folks who haven't received much education. They'll start cursing at each other after a few words, and it's common for them to underpay for things.
A bamboo tube popsicle cost ten coins. They would throw eight or nine coins on the table, grab the popsicle before Lin Sui could count the money, and leave. After this happened several times, Lin Sui became so anxious that she burst into tears. However, there were still many people waiting in line behind her, so she could only collect the money and continue to give it to the next person.
With no other option, Wang Ying had to call Er Shun and Uncle Chen to help maintain order, while she and Lin Sui were in charge of collecting money, which made selling much faster.
*
On the tenth day of the fifth month, the prefectural school was closed for the holidays, and Chen Qingyan and the others returned.
The three of them packed their things last night, and as soon as it was light, after the teacher finished explaining the lessons, everyone carried their books and bags and prepared to go home.
Upon arriving at the gate, they discovered that their own carriage had not arrived, but the Liu family's carriage had.
Liu Changyi, sitting in the car, waved and said, "Brother, Qinghuai, Songdi, come in my car."
"No need, that's too much trouble."
"It's no trouble at all, it's just a short walk. Besides, I have some schoolwork I don't understand and I'd like to ask you for help, brother."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyan agreed and informed the gatekeeper at the entrance of the academy that if his own car came by, he should pass on the message so that it wouldn't go the wrong way.
The three of them boarded Liu's carriage, which was much more spacious than their own. The carriage also had a small table with drawers underneath containing snacks prepared by Qin Furong.
Liu Changyi opened a drawer, grabbed some dried fruit and melon seeds, and handed them to the three of them. Actually, taking them home wasn't his real purpose; his real purpose was to secretly catch a glimpse of Qingyun.
The two were to be engaged in less than a month, and Liu Changyi bought a jade hairpin to give to her.
A quarter of an hour later, the carriage stopped in front of the Chen family's house. Chen Qingyan casually invited, "Changyi, come in and have a seat."
"Hey!" Liu Changyi immediately got off the car.
Just then, Qingyun and Yuanbao were chasing butterflies in the yard. When they saw their brothers return, the two of them happily went to greet them.
"Father!"
"Yuanbao~" Chen Qingyan put down his book box and picked up his son. Qinghuai and Qingsong behind him also joined in teasing their nephew.
Only Liu Changyi, nervous and unsure of what to do with his hands and feet, weakly offered a greeting.
When he spoke, Chen Qingyun realized that there was someone behind her, and she blushed immediately. The two of them stood there shyly, unable to say a word.
It was Chen Qingsong who came to the rescue, pulling Liu Changyi along and saying, "Brother Changyi, come inside and sit for a while. I'll put down my luggage, and Sister, please make a pot of tea."
"Hmm." Qingyun ran to the side room in a clumsy manner, leaving Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai to look at each other and burst into laughter.
Chen Qingyan, carrying Yuanbao, asked, "Father's not home. Have you been naughty these past few days?"
"No, Yuanbao will listen to his father."
Where is your father?
"Let's go to the shop to buy ice cream, it's so delicious!"
The weather has been hot lately, so Wang Ying occasionally gives Yuanbao some iced drinks. The child loves cold things, so she doesn't let him eat too much for fear of him getting diarrhea.
"I'll go take a look." Chen Qingyan handed his son to Qinghuai and went back to his bedroom to change his clothes.
In the main room, Liu Changyi sat alone on a chair, looking rather reserved. After a short while, Chen Qingyun came over with a teapot to pour him some tea.
"I, I can do it myself." Liu Changyi quickly took it, but in his haste, hot water splashed onto the back of his hand.
"hiss--"
Chen Qingyun was startled and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the water from his hands. "Oh dear, they're all red. Go outside and rinse them with cold water."
"No, it's nothing, it's alright."
"No, you'll get blisters if you do that." Chen Qingyun grabbed his arm and dragged him into the yard, scooping out cool water from the vat and pouring it on his hands.
The burn had subsided considerably, and Liu Changyi's gaze fell on Chen Qingyun's dark sideburns. His heart raced, and he quickly turned his head to the other side.
"Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore..."
"I'll go get the burn ointment. You wait here for a moment."
"No need for that."
"No, this is the hand you use for writing, you mustn't leave a scar." Chen Qingyun hurriedly ran into the house.
When Chen Qingsong walked over, he saw him standing there grinning foolishly with his hand raised, and he didn't respond when Chen called him. Chen waved his hand in front of Changyi's face and asked, "Brother Changyi, what are you doing?"
"No, it's nothing. I just accidentally burned my hand."
Seeing that the back of his hand was bright red, Chen Qingsong thought to himself, "He can still laugh even though his hand is burned. Has he burned his brain?"
A moment later, Chen Qingyun came over with burn ointment and handed it to her younger brother, saying, "You can apply it to Brother Liu." Then she turned to leave.
"Qingyun, please wait." Liu Changyi hurriedly took out a small wooden box from his pocket and handed it over. "I saw it on the street last time and thought it would suit you, so I bought it. I hope you won't find it offensive."
Chen Qingyun hesitated for a moment before taking the wooden box from him, thanking him, and then hurriedly returned to her bedroom.
Chen Qingsong's eyelids were practically rolling to the sky as he held the burn ointment. It turned out that Brother Changyi was taking them home just to deliver a gift to his sister!
*
On the other side, Chen Qingyan walked towards her own shop, missing her husband dearly after not seeing him for ten days.
Because there were other people in the dormitory, he didn't dare to go into the experimental field during this period.
The dormitories at the prefectural school were allocated according to academic performance. Class A had ten fixed dormitories, with four people living in each room. Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai were assigned to one room, while Chen Qingsong was in the dormitories for Class B.
The other two roommates were Lin Zhen, who ranked second in the provincial examination, and Shen Mengzhou, who ranked third. The group was not far apart in age and got along well.
As Chen Qingyan approached the shop, he saw a large crowd outside and couldn't help but smile. Ah Ying had said that the popsicle business was better than the vegetable business, and it turned out to be true!
When they got closer, they realized something was wrong; the group of people seemed to be making a noisy discussion.
"Excuse me, excuse me!" Chen Qingyan squeezed through and saw a wooden board lying across the crowd with a person on it, covered with a white sheet.
Kneeling beside him was a man in his twenties, who cried as he said, "My younger brother ate their iced drink, and when he got home, he had a stomachache. They called a doctor, but he couldn't be saved. He was poisoned to death!"
A note from the author:
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