Song Sanniang's Journey to Wealth

Because the pawnshop was closer to the main street, we went to the third shop first. The streets of Dongmen Street were very spacious, almost enough for three carriages to run side by side, and the street was also very busy.

Huang Gui stopped at the door of the shop, opened the door with his key, and everyone followed him in.

The shop was empty, there was nothing in it. All the tables, chairs and benches had been moved away. There was only a counter left on the left side of the entrance. The sunlight shone in through the door, making the shop very bright.

The stairs to the second floor are located in the right corner of the hall. A simple wooden staircase leads to the second floor. There are windows on three sides of the second floor, so there is plenty of light without opening the windows.

Go downstairs and into the backyard. There is a well in the upper left corner. You can look out the window of the leftmost bedroom and see the well.

On the right is the kitchen and utility room. The kitchen is quite large, with a three-burner earthen stove, and nothing else.

Both bedrooms can accommodate a bunk bed, a dressing table and a dining table and chairs.

The utility room is quite small, and it was probably used to store firewood and pickled vegetable jars in the past. There were two small vegetable jars in the corner that had not been taken away, and there was still some remaining firewood.

Song Ersao and Song Sanniang thought it looked pretty good, but without visiting the first house, they couldn't make a conclusion for the time being, so they went to the second house.

The donkey cart drove through the bustling city and stopped in front of a shop in Le'anfang. There were various horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, and ox-drawn carts parked in front of almost every shop here.

Because the store was closed, the entrance was full of cars. Huang Gui had a hard time finding a spot to park his donkey cart.

Song Sanniang felt that Le'anfang's business was too good. They had only been standing at the door for a short while when several groups of people passed by. The store just now did not have such a flow of people.

Huang Gui opened the door and led the way in. The shop still had the tables, chairs and benches that the previous owner had used to make noodles.

As soon as you enter the door, there are stairs to the second floor on the left. The counter is located below the staircase platform. There is a wall between the backyard and the counter. The backyard is just behind the counter.

The second floor also has windows on three sides, but the side facing the street has full windows, and the windows are not ordinary hollow wooden windows.

It is a floor-to-ceiling window inlaid with fully translucent glass, making the entire second floor bright and elegant. Although the tables, chairs and benches on the second floor have not been moved away, Song Sanniang fell in love with this window almost as soon as she saw it.

Go downstairs and walk to the backyard. The well in the backyard is located at the lower left corner of the entrance. It is covered with a wooden board. A magnolia tree is more than one meter away from the well.

Now is the flowering season. The trees are full of white flowers, emitting a cool and fragrant aroma, and the ground is also covered with fallen petals.

The first two rooms are just ordinary bedrooms, and the utility room is a little bigger than the third one. What is more surprising is that the kitchen actually has a seven-star stove.

The Qixing stove has three large stoves and four small stoves. The three large stoves are arranged in a row, and the four small stoves surround the large stove in the middle. There is also a sunken platform in front of the stove for easy placement of things.

The firewood adding port of the Seven Star Stove is at the back of the stove to prevent smoke from falling into the food when the fire is burning. There is also a small window at the back to facilitate the chef to communicate with the person burning the fire at the back about the temperature.

Although this Seven-Star Stove may not be used, it is better to have it than not. Without any discussion, Song Ersao and Song Sanniang agreed that this was the one.

After making the decision, the mother and daughter told Huang Gui that they would rent this house. Huang Gui was also the first person to recommend this house, so they went back to the dental clinic to sign the contract.

After returning to the pawnshop, Huang Gui first asked the shop boy to notify the people from the store to come and sign the contract. He had people serve tea to everyone, and then everyone chatted while waiting for people to come.

"Mr. Huang, are the tables, chairs and benches in the store now at our disposal?" Song Sanniang asked.

Because she was going to open a dessert shop, she definitely couldn't keep those tables, chairs and benches, otherwise other people would come in and look at the decoration and feel that the food they eat is not worth the money.

"You need to discuss this with the store owner, because it is their stuff after all. I'll ask for you when the servants come." Huang Gui replied.

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Mr. Huang."

"You're welcome. It looks like Miss Song is planning to renovate the store and change everything?" Huang Gui asked curiously.

"Maybe they need to be slightly modified. Those tables, chairs and benches are very old and don't quite match the things we sell." Song Sanniang thought of those tables and chairs that were so old that they were polished by everyone, and she couldn't help but reply awkwardly,

At this time, the waiter came with the store owner. This person was called Jin Fugui, a servant of the Jin family. His grandfather had worked in the Jin family.

By his generation, they had become the most trusted servants of the Jin family, so the owner of the Jin family handed over all matters concerning renting the shop to them.

Jin Fugui was about thirty years old, and looked like a scholar. He had a long beard on his chin, which was combed sleekly. He looked gentle and decent.

She was wearing a plain satin robe, with a silk ribbon tied around her waist and a carved jade pendant hanging from her waist.

As soon as he came in, Huang Gui greeted him warmly, "Manager Jin is here, please come this way." Then he led him to Song Sanniang and the others, and then introduced the two sides.

"This is Jin Fugui, Manager Jin. He is a capable assistant to Master Jin. Everyone in our city has to be courteous to Manager Jin." While Huang Gui was complimenting Jin Fugui, he was also hinting that Sanniang could have a better relationship with him.

"This is Miss Song. Don't look at her young age. I think she is a very careful person. She is ready to do something at a young age. She is a good girl who is no less than a boy. This is the shop she wants to rent." Huang Gui's words were also to praise Song Sanniang in front of Jin Fugui so that she would not be looked down upon by him.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries, and then began to discuss the matter of renting a shop. They signed a one-year lease and paid a deposit of fifty taels. Jin Fugui was responsible for the preparation of the tables, chairs and benches in the shop.

Because it is already the middle of the month, I have to pay half of the rent. At the beginning of every month, Jin Fugui will send someone to collect the rent.

The first month's payment was made at the pawnshop, and in the second month Jin Fugui would bring someone to collect the rent. Song Sanniang recognized the person Jin Fugui brought over, and he would be the one to collect the rent every month thereafter.

After the two parties had agreed, they signed a contract according to the template for renting a shop, signed their names, and then paid the money.

Song Sanniang put the deed away and thanked Jin Fugui. Jin Fugui smiled and greeted her, praising her for her courage and saying that he would go to support the opening of the store. Later, Jin Fugui said he was busy and left.

Song Sanniang paid Huang Gui a 2% commission, but he said that he couldn't take that much for Huang Shi Tu's sake. Then Song Sanniang practiced Tai Chi with him for a while, and he finally accepted it happily.

When Song Sanniang and her group were leaving, he said that he would go to support the store when it opened, so everyone left happily.

It was lunch time by then, so we had a simple lunch and then went back to the inn to get our luggage, get the donkey cart, and start heading home.