Born in the 1980s, she was remarried and became a stepmother; a cold, rough man doted on her, pinchi

Chapter 43 Renting the Shop
The next afternoon, Wang Xiu and Jiang Man finished setting up their boxed lunch stall on the street as usual and were preparing to pack up and go home.

Just then, Wang Xiu's gaze was inadvertently drawn to a "For Rent" sign posted outside a shop not far away.

The store's location wasn't exactly prime, but the surrounding foot traffic was quite good, and from the outside, the store appeared to be spacious.

Wang Xiu's heart skipped a beat, and she nudged Jiang Man: "Sister-in-law, do you see that shop for rent? Shall we go take a look?"

Jiang Manyi said, "It really is. Let's go ask them."

The two entered the store, where the owner was sitting behind a somewhat old desk, flipping through some accounting documents.

Seeing someone come in, he raised his head slightly and looked Wang Xiu and Jiang Man up and down.

Jiang Man spoke first, with a polite smile on her face, and said, "Hello, we saw that your shop is for rent and would like to know more about the details."

The shop owner put down the documents in his hand, stood up, pointed around and said, "As you can see from the location, although it's not the most bustling area, the daily foot traffic is still quite stable. The space inside is quite spacious, about fifty or sixty square meters, so if you're doing a small business, you can basically operate comfortably."

Jiang Man carefully observed the shop's environment, nodding slightly as she listened.

Wang Xiu then asked, "Boss, how do you calculate the rent?"

The shop owner held up two fingers and waved them: "Fifty a month, one month's deposit and three months' rent in advance. This price is quite fair in this area. Just ask around, and you won't find a cheaper shop with similar conditions."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Man secretly calculated in his mind that fifty-one months' rent was indeed not expensive.

At this moment, Jiang Man spoke up: "Boss, could you give us a discount? We're a small business, and we plan to rent this place to sell boxed lunches. We've already invested quite a bit in the initial stage, so if the rent could be lower, it would ease our burden."

The shop owner frowned, seemingly a little embarrassed: "Oh dear, this price is already very low. My shop is in a good location, and the building is new. Fifty is really not much."

Wang Xiu and Jiang Man exchanged a glance, and Jiang Man said, "Boss, we know your shop is nice, but we are really serious about renting it. How about this, we'll pay six months' rent upfront, and you can give us a 5% discount. That way you can get the money sooner, and we can ease our burden a bit."

The shop owner pondered for a moment, then stroked his chin and said, "Six months' rent? That's something I can consider. But a 5% discount is a bit low; I can only offer you a 2% discount at most."

Wang Xiu quickly said, "Boss, a 2% discount is still a bit high. Could you compromise and give us a 4% discount? We promise to take good care of your shop and pay the rent on time. Besides, our boxed lunch business can bring more customers to the area."

The shop owner hesitated for a moment, then looked around the shop again, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. Wang Xiu pressed her advantage, saying, "Boss, why don't you just consider it a favor to us small business owners? If our business does well, we can rent here long-term, which will save you a lot of trouble, right?"

The shop owner thought for a while and finally nodded: "Alright, seeing that you're quite sincere, I'll give you a 4% discount. But let me make this clear from the start, the rent has to be paid on time, the house can't be renovated, and you'll be responsible for compensating for any damage."

Wang Xiu and Jiang Man's faces immediately lit up with joy. Jiang Man said, "Boss, don't worry, we will definitely keep our promise. So when shall we sign the contract?"

The shop owner said, "Let's do it tomorrow. You prepare six months' rent, we'll sign the contract, and then the shop will be officially rented to you."

After leaving the shop, Wang Xiu excitedly said to Jiang Man, "Great! We finally negotiated the rent down. This shop is ours now. We have to work hard!"

Jiang Man nodded with a smile: "Yes, this is a good start. Now it's up to us to see how we can make this business bigger and stronger." Back home, Wang Xiu didn't even have time to rest before immediately pulling Xu Laosan aside to discuss it.

“I feel that my sister-in-law shouldn’t have to pay the majority of the cost of this shop, since she’s leaving after the New Year and the shop will be ours by then. So I was thinking of talking to her about it tomorrow and seeing if she would agree.”

Upon hearing Wang Xiu's words, Xu Laosan expressed his support without hesitation.

"But I don't think your sister-in-law will necessarily agree. But you can try asking her tomorrow. If it doesn't work out, don't force it. We can just slip her some extra money when she leaves."

As expected, when Jiang Man heard Wang Xiu's idea, a faint smile appeared on her face. She waved her hand and said, "No need to be so clear about it. I haven't left yet, have I? You can rent it after I leave. There's no need for you to pay more money now."

That evening, Wang Xiu and Xu Laosan sat down at the dinner table and carefully calculated the accounts.

As they tallied up their income and expenses, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the money they earned from selling boxed lunches over the past two months was more than enough to cover their rent.

This result thrilled them, and the lingering worry in their hearts completely disappeared.

The next morning, Wang Xiu and Jiang Man returned to the shop with great joy and successfully signed a lease agreement with the owner, officially renting the shop.

After finishing his work in the fields, Xu Laosan also came to help clean up, hoping to get the store officially open as soon as possible.

As soon as Jiang Man and Wang Xiugang rented the shop, the news spread throughout the village.

"Hey? Have you heard? Jiang Man and Wang Xiu's business is booming. They've already rented a shop in town. I heard they're planning to open a store!"

"Really? These two young wives are amazing!"

"That's right! Jiang Man may have suffered a lot, but most importantly, his cooking is really delicious!"

“Every day when we eat, we have to open the doors and windows. Just smelling the food makes us want to drink an extra bowl of rice porridge!”

Hearing these words, Jiang He felt a mix of emotions, with the strongest feeling being indignation.

Her brows furrowed tightly into a "川" shape, and her eyes revealed a hint of jealousy and anger.

"Hmph, it's just renting a shop. What's so great about that?"

Jiang He muttered to herself, her steps becoming heavy and hurried.

She felt that Jiang Man and Wang Xiu were just lucky. Why did they get so much praise from the villagers, while she had to suffer from others' pointing fingers?

Jiang He grew angrier the more she thought about it. Her face turned bright red, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

"I don't believe they can keep going smoothly like this. Maybe one day they'll run into problems."