Don't worry about traveling through time, she has an all-powerful senior sister to help her

"Dad, I'll go with you. We need to talk to Brother Xie about the house deed." Shen Lingzhu wanted to solve this problem as calmly as possible.

When the father and daughter found Mao'er Hutong, Wang Yuan actually had the day off.

Shen Lingzhu naturally seized the opportunity and proposed to renovate the shop next to the Fire God Temple, and to open an inn with Xie Heng that could be used for both food and accommodation.

She said, “If the renovation is simple and elegant, the price won’t be too high.

In addition to providing convenience for the families of the young ladies entering the capital this year, it can also provide a place for the scholars taking the county and provincial examinations this year, as well as the imperial examinations next year, to study."

"This is good. It is convenient for both others and yourself." Wang Yuan applauded her idea.

Seeing that he didn’t ask whether he could participate, Shen Lingzhu thought for a moment and said, “If the price is lower than that of other inns, it will definitely make people unhappy.

I was thinking about whether I could transfer the property deed to Brother Xie's name. This way, it would be easier to deal with the East City Military Commission and the county government."

Earlier, when visiting for the New Year, Brother Xie had also heard from Second Master Shen about the shop, but he didn't dare to take the initiative to take it back.

But he couldn't let the Shen family down, so he hesitated and said to Wang Yuan, "How about asking your uncle to say hello?"

Wang Yuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "Miss Shen, since the house has been given away, there is no reason to take it back.

However, if you invite your cousin to do business together, you need to discuss it with him. It is not for our family to interfere."

Thinking of the gift the Shen family had given him during the New Year, he didn't say much, so he stood up and said, "I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave first."

After talking for a long time, the house still could not be returned, and Shen Lingzhu was not in a position to stop Mr. Chi when he was sending him out of the study.

So she could only ask Brother Xie to become a partner with her family. "You don't have to do anything. My family will take care of everything. Just come to the store occasionally and we'll split the profits 50-50."

"No, no, no, I didn't contribute anything..." Before Xie Xiaoge could finish his words, Shen Chi said, "The shop is the capital you contributed."

Brother Xie became even more panicked and looked at Shen Lingzhu for help: "No, no..."

"Thank you, little brother, for your help. We can't open an inn in the inner city without someone behind the scenes.

The capital doesn't matter. I want to open a store under your name. If I give you half of the profit, I'll get the better deal.

If you don't agree, this shop will remain empty, and over time, it will wither and decay." Even if he disagreed, Shen Lingzhu couldn't really leave it alone after the house could not be returned, even though she hadn't gone there to ask the doorman for the key so far.

With the flow of people in the capital, there is no need to worry about the inn having no business.

"This, I want to discuss with my uncle." When Xie Xiaoge heard that a good house would be ruined, he felt it was a great waste.

Shen Lingzhu was very happy that he was willing to ask, "We are waiting for your good news."

The father and daughter did not stay for too long. After saying goodbye and leaving, they walked past the Fire God Temple and observed the shop again.

Shen Chi said: "It's a two-entry courtyard, and the back is two stories high with ten rooms in total.

Including the twelve rooms in front, there are a total of twenty-two rooms. It is really a pity to use them as an inn.

This place is close to East Street and the Imperial Examination Hall, and it would cost at least five or six hundred taels of silver. Fortunately, your second sister paid for the old ginseng and Polygonum multiflorum from the Seven Stars Temple, so the gift we sent was more expensive than the house."

After a pause, he continued, "This renovation will cost over a hundred taels of silver. Whether it's the Geng family's money or the Seven Stars Temple's, it won't be paid back in a short while."

“You have to subtract the kitchen and the garage.

It was originally an incense and candle shop, with a shop in front and a workshop in the back, which is not suitable for me to live in.

We can't live in it, we can't resell it, and we can't leave it empty. What else can we do if we don't open a store? Rent out the whole place? The rent will be even lower." Shen Lingzhu was also worried. They had just paid off the loan sharking last year, and they had completely emptied their savings again.

But the gifts that should be given must be given. No wonder the Taoist said that living in the capital is not easy.

She thought for a moment and said, "Let's go in and collect the keys today and see if there are any things in the house that can be used."

"Well, when I need tables, chairs, and beds later, I can buy them at a lower price at the pawnshop." Shen Chi also understood that he had to take over the shop in front of him, and he would feel like losing money if he didn't accept the gift since he had paid such an expensive one.

As they were talking, they took out the house deed and went to the gatekeeper. But the gatekeeper only took one look and immediately handed over the key. "Why did you come just now? I didn't even dare to stay home during the New Year, fearing that someone would break into the empty house."

But when he saw Shen Chi handing him a string of twenty copper coins, he immediately broke into a smile, flattered him a few times, took out his bag and left.

The front few shops were not empty, with a long counter and a few stools, but the back few rooms had only five beds and two tables.

In the kitchen, there was not only an empty stove without a pot, but also only half a load of firewood left.

Shen Lingzhu said, "Move the bed to the second floor of the back room. The other rooms should be separated. There's no need to buy beds. A kang is enough."

"No, if you divide it into a single room, there will be no space for a stove.

It’s better to buy a few beds and a brazier for winter.

How many guests use a kang? Even if they don't build a stove and directly fill the kang hole with fire, if it's not a newly built house, the kang hole has to remain indoors.

Not many of those scholars would light their own fires to heat their kangs.” Shen Chi pointed out the blind spot.

Shen Lingzhu thought about it and it made sense. If she allowed the guests to add fire to the kang in the room themselves, she suspected that some people would set the house on fire.

The father and daughter walked around for a few times and were very satisfied with the well here. Every time Shen Lingzhu put forward ideas, Master Chi would correct them again and again on how to arrange it in the most cost-effective way.

She accepted the opinions humbly and took out pen and paper from her cloth bag to record them on the spot.

When she left after a long time, she had already written four or five pages.

Huang Ruyue looked at it and said, "Ask grandpa to take another look at the house. He knows a lot."

So after Shen Lingzhu finished his work at the food shop the next day, he asked his grandfather to come to the future inn to give him some advice.

Afterwards, we invited a professional bricklayer to come and inspect the site. After three or four days of adjustments, we finally determined how to best partition the room.

A few days later, the rooms were separated by brick walls. When I was about to pull out the pawnshop's bed, Brother Xie came.

He said, "My uncle agreed to our partnership and allowed me to be listed in the company as a nominal shareholder, but I can only take 30% of the shares, no more."

Shen Lingzhu agreed: "Write a contract?"

"Granduncle, don't put it in writing. Just have a verbal agreement." What Brother Xie didn't say was that his granduncle still expected him to pass the imperial examinations, so any contract before that had to be done with caution.

Moreover, my great uncle also said that the future was unpredictable and he could not continue to be the commander of the Imperial Stables forever, so he had to prepare for a rainy day.

Shen Chi said: "If you don't want to write, then don't write. You will be there in the end.

I'm afraid we won't be able to accommodate students taking the county exam this year, but we can accommodate them in the two government and academy exams.

"Xie Xiao'er, where will you take the county exam in the future?"

"Can I take the exam in Beijing?" Shen Lingzhu wanted to see if he could move to Beijing. If so, his elder brother might be able to do so as well.