Chapter 57 Renting a Shop

An old man in his sixties wearing reading glasses stuck his head out and looked at Liu Xihua, "Are you renting a shop?"

"Yes, I want to ask how much the rent is?" Liu Xihua leaned into the shop.

All the shops in the same row as this shop have the same layout, with two rooms on the upper and lower floors.

People live in the upper room above the shop below.

The downstairs and upstairs are the same size, both are the size of an ordinary living room.

"What are you selling?" The old man walked out of the house, looked at Jiang Meihua and Jiang Meilan, then at Jiang Xiaoxiao, and asked Liu Xihua.

"I sell food and daily necessities." said Liu Xihua.

She hadn't decided what to sell yet.

"Six dollars a month," said the old man.

Liu Xihua opened her eyes wide, "So expensive?"

It is equivalent to one-third of Jiang Daguo’s work points in the production team.

The old man waved his hand, "Do you want to rent it or not? If not, forget it."

It was the first time that Liu Xihua rented a house and was disliked by others. She didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

When she was about to back out, she heard her daughter's voice again, "Other companies charge five dollars a month, but they charge six dollars a month. They are bullying a mother who has never done business before."

[The first two people who rented this house lost money. How dare the landlord charge so much? ]

[Mom should have lowered the price a bit, it can be rented for 5 bucks a month]

Liu Xihua pursed her lips and mustered up the courage to say, "Uncle, five dollars a month, I heard that the two tenants in front of you lost money after renting your shop, and they moved out and stopped renting. It shows that the location of this shop is not good. Besides, the other tenants in this row are all five dollars a month. Why do you want six dollars?"

The landlord noticed that a good bargainer had come. He waved his hands and said, "Okay, okay, five dollars. Are you going to rent it now or when? Did you bring the rent?"

Liu Xihua was in a dilemma. "I was just passing by here and thought of renting a house. I didn't have much cash on hand, only one dollar."

The money from selling the fermented rice wine and some change, all added up, was only one dollar.

The old man thought for a moment and said, "Give me one dollar first, and then go back and get another four dollars. This dollar is the deposit."

"Okay." Liu Xihua agreed.

The landlord took one dollar, wrote a receipt for Liu Xihua, and agreed on a time to pay the remaining four dollars.

Liu Xihua exhaled and looked at her two sisters-in-law, "Should we go shopping or go home?"

Liu Xihua suddenly rented a shop. This is a big deal and she must tell Jiang Daguo immediately.

Jiang Meihua and Jiang Meilan both said, "Let's stop shopping and go back."

"Okay, let's go back." Liu Xihua also wanted to go home early and talk to Jiang Daguo about renting a shop.

The road back to the village team is four or five miles.

The three aunts and sisters-in-law talked about the future of the shop as they walked.

Liu Xihua said she wanted to sell fermented rice wine and other food.

She is good at cooking, and Jiang Daguo always praises her for the delicious snacks and meals she makes.

When Liu Xihua returned to the team house, she saw that the door was open. On one side of the door, Jiang Daguo's baskets and buckets for vegetables and fish were drying.

Today is Sunday and no one is working in the Civil Affairs Bureau, but the market in City A is quite lively because it is Sunday.

Jiang Daguo transported the vegetables to a farmers' market in City A and sold them. Because his vegetables were fresh and the fish were lively, they were sold out quickly.

"Daguo!" Liu Xihua pushed Jiang Xiaoxiao into the house. "Brother is back?" Jiang Meihua carried the empty basket to a corner of the house and put it away.

Jiang Meilan knew that they wanted to talk about serious matters, and since she was still studying and couldn't come up with any ideas, she went to hug Jiang Xiaoxiao and play with her.

Although Jiang Xiaoxiao is less than one year old, she can stand with the help of objects and move a few steps.

Jiang Jiangmei loves to tease Jiang Xiaoxiao while she walks.

But Jiang Xiaoxiao is lazy. Walking is so tiring that she prefers to sit.

Jiang Meilan carried her out of the stroller, but she clamped her legs tightly together and refused to come out.

Jiang Meilan was so angry that she laughed, "You lazy girl, you don't even want to walk?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao's face was gloomy. Now was her rare time to be lazy. When she was older, she couldn't be lazy anymore. She had to walk.

So now, she can be lazy as long as possible.

Jiang Daguo helped Liu Xihua sit down, "Where have you been?"

"We went to the street and sold some of the fermented rice wine I made," Liu Xihua said with a smile.

Jiang Daguo shook his head. "The doctor told you to rest more. Why did you go out on the street? Rest now and don't move around anymore."

Liu Xihua said, "The doctor said that if you don't carry any loads, don't squat all the time. It's okay to walk around. I'm not walking all the time. We'll walk for a while and then sit down to rest for a while."

But Jiang Daguo still did not recommend Liu Xihua to go that far.

Liu Xihua said, "We don't have to walk that far, so why not rent a shop to sell fermented rice wine? I've found a shop that I like, the rent is five yuan a month, it's near the market, the first floor is for business, and the second floor can be used for living. Let's move there, and I won't have to go back and forth."

Jiang Daguo blinked and asked, "Rent a shop?"

"Yes, Meihua and Meilan have both seen it," said Liu Xihua.

She told Jiang Daguo about her wine sales today. "The street is much busier than last year when I was working alone. There are more shops and stalls. We can rent a shop and do some small business while the price is not high."

Jiang Daguo has been delivering and selling vegetables these days and has seen a lot of markets and small businesses. He has come up with some small business ideas.

Seeing that Liu Xihua was planning to start a wine business, he did not object, "Okay, then rent it. We can also make some other food to sell."

Seeing that they had agreed, Jiang Meilan and Jiang Meihua said, "Brother and sister-in-law, we will go to help when we are free."

"Okay, I'm glad you can help. However, you still have to do more housework. Mom will scold you if she knows you foreigners come here." Jiang Daguo likes his younger sisters to come, but he is worried that they will be scolded.

"Oh, brother is right. We have been out for a long time. We have to go back." Jiang Meilan looked at the sky and urged Jiang Meihua.

The two sisters waved to Jiang Daguo and his wife and ran home.

Seeing the tall Jiang Meihua walking away quickly, Liu Xihua thought of the young man she met buying fermented rice wine on the street.

She asked Jiang Daguo, "Daguo, do you think mom has told Meihua about her in-laws?"

Jiang Daguo shook his head, "I haven't heard of it."

Liu Xihua breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I'm worried that the person Mom is looking for is not reliable. Let Meihua talk to him herself."

Jiang Daguo turned around and looked at him, "Why are you suddenly talking about Meihua's marriage?"

Liu Xihua laughed and said, "That's because some people like Meihua."

She told Jiang Daguo about Tai Wenguang.

Jiang Daguo frowned as he listened, "I'm afraid it won't work. Mom won't agree."

Liu Xihua blinked, "Why? Doesn't mom like sons-in-law who work in the company? She has always wanted Meizhi to marry into a family that produces commercial grains, why don't you agree now?"

(End of this chapter)