Eat in Song Dynasty

Chapter 490 Zhuo Rufeng Wants to Earn Pocket Money
Phew, it’s finally sold out.

For the first time, Qin Jingyang experienced the joy and pain of collecting money.

You know what, this feeling is quite novel.

Wen Shu looked at the empty bucket and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, all the goods were sold out and he could go back to take a nap.

After taking a nap, Wen Shu got moving again in the afternoon. She was going to take care of the shop.

When she was leaving the city with her father yesterday, she happened to see a shop for sale two streets away. She took a look and thought the location was good, but she was in a hurry to leave the city at that time and did not ask in detail. Now she can learn more about it.

"Monthly rent of five taels?" Wen Shu looked around.

Seeing her surprised expression, the shopkeeper hurriedly said: "This price is already the lowest price. If it weren't for the urgent need for money at home, this price would be impossible."

Wen Shu knew he was telling the truth.

Because before coming here, she went to a pawnshop and specifically inquired about the market price.

For a two-bay shop like this, located in this area and with a small ice cellar, asking for eight taels is quite generous.

But she was very curious about what happened in the shopkeeper's family that made him reluctantly cut down the price by 300 grams.

She asked the reason, but the shopkeeper was reluctant to tell her at first.

But Wenshu said that as a foreigner, she would not dare to rent the property casually if she did not know the reasons behind it, in order to avoid any trouble.

After hearing this, the shopkeeper told the story with red eyes.

It turned out that the shopkeeper had a daughter-in-law who was very beautiful. One day, she was seen by the son of a wealthy local family, who wanted to take her as a concubine.

When the daughter-in-law refused, the young man took her away by force.

By chance his son came back and saw what happened, and he had a conflict and a fight with the young man.

The young man brought a number of servants with him and immediately beat his son to the ground, and his daughter-in-law was also taken away.

From then on, people often came to their shop to cause trouble, and gradually their business disappeared.

And because of the offense against that family, no one dared to rent the shop.

Speaking of the sad part, the shopkeeper even wiped away his tears, "If my son wasn't still sick and needed medicine urgently, how could I be willing to rent this five taels of silver!!"

Seeing Wen Shu's bad face, the shopkeeper felt even shakier. "I know the young lady must have concerns, but forget it."

He shook his head and was about to close the door, but unexpectedly, Wen Shu propped up the door frame and said, "I'll rent this shop. I'll pay eight taels."

She is not the kind of person who would take advantage of others. Taking advantage of others' misfortune is not what a gentleman does.

What's more, this matter is more or less related to her.

"Really, young lady, why don't you think about it again?"

Although the shopkeeper wanted to rent it out very much, she felt a little soft-hearted when she saw such a delicate little girl. She was afraid that the Wang family would come to cause trouble, and she, a girl from another place, would not be able to handle it.

"It's okay. I have some relatives in Lin'an City. I'm not afraid of the Wang family." Wen Shu comforted.

"That's good, that's good." The shopkeeper was happy again after hearing this and said hurriedly, "Then when can we sign the contract? I'll go and prepare it right away."

"Now you can."

"Okay, okay, I'll go write the deed then."

Wen Shu directly paid one year's rent and rented the store. When he went back to tell Old Man Wen and the others, Qin Jingyang was completely stunned.

"Aren't you going back to your hometown to visit your relatives? Why are you thinking of opening a shop in Lin'an City?"

"This is not a conflict." Wen Shu said while drinking tea, "The shop originally sold food. It has everything you need. It can be opened in two days. We can hire a manager to look after it, and then we can continue to return home."

Qin Jingyang still shook his head after hearing this, "It's hard to manage when you're far away. If you really want to open a shop, I'll find one for you when we get back to the capital."

"The capital is the capital, Lin'an is Lin'an, and in the future I will open shops along the road." She laughed ostentatiously.

Qin Jingyang thought she was daydreaming.

"By the way, do you want to open a shop in Lin'an as well?" Wen Shu suddenly turned around and asked him.

Qin Jingyang said disdainfully: "I want to open a shop, so of course I will open it in the capital. Why would I come to Lin'an?" What a stubborn person! Wen Shu shook his head.

The capital city is good, but who knows what will happen next? Once the Jin soldiers attack Bianliang, I am afraid that all the shops in the capital city will fall into their pockets.

She had long wanted to move her business to the south, and now that there was an opportunity, she decided to start from here.

"Brother Qin is unwilling, but I am somewhat interested." Zhuo Rufeng suddenly said, "However, I am not good at business, if the young lady does not mind, I am willing to invest in it with silver money and earn some pocket money."

Wen Shu didn't expect him to say that. He was stunned for a moment and said, "The Zhuo family has many businesses in Lin'an City. Why would the Third Young Master be interested in my small shop?"

Zhuo Rufeng smiled and said, "The Zhuo family's assets belong to the Zhuo family. I am just the third son."

What he meant was that he had no way of inheriting the Zhuo family's business, so he wanted to build some business of his own.

"But I just opened a shop and I am not familiar with running it. I don't know if this shop can make a profit, Third Young Master."

"I believe in you, young lady. Even if I lose, it's nothing." He winked at Wen Shu. "It's just a little bit of body. I won't starve to death."

Wen Shu was amused by him. Then she thought about the fact that Zhuo's business had been in Lin'an for a long time, so it must have some power and connections. If she could persuade Zhuo Rufeng to invest in the shop, there would be someone to take care of it when she was away.
It's a win-win situation.

"Okay, since the Third Young Master trusts me so much, I will give up 20% of my shares."

"Okay, I'll go and draft the contract right away." Zhuo Rufeng put down his wine glass and went to the shopkeeper to ask for pen and ink, as if he was afraid that Wen Shu would go back on his word.

When people see this, they feel that this matter is taken very seriously and is not just said casually.

In fact, Zhuo Rufeng really wanted to settle this matter quickly, not just because of what his second uncle said.

As he traveled with them along the way, he truly felt the vitality and decisiveness of Miss Wen.

If he were to ask which one of the three of them was the noble lady of the Zhuo family, he thought it should be Miss Wen.

After signing the contract, Zhuo Rufeng took out two hundred taels of silver from his waist and handed it to Wen Shu.

"I don't know how much the initial investment will be. These girls will be used first, and the excess will be refunded and the shortfall will be supplemented."

Don't be fooled by his appearance of wealth and power; in fact, all his assets over the years added up to only eight hundred taels.

He was sent to Ruyin to recuperate since he was a child. Apart from food and clothing, he only received five taels of allowance per month. This money was saved up by him over more than ten years.

"Okay." Wen Shu took it without hesitation.

Today, I spent 98 taels just to rent a store. Tomorrow, I have to hire staff and buy tables, chairs and benches, which is also a considerable expense.

Now that I have an extra two hundred taels, I can buy things more happily.

After dinner in the evening, Wen Shu went into the kitchen again.

Qin Jingyang thought she was making something delicious again, so when he followed her in, he found out that she was boiling water.

"What are you boiling water for?" he asked puzzledly.

"Take a bath." Wen Shu said concisely.

For taking a shower, doesn't the inn have water ready? Is it necessary to boil it yourself?

"If you want to take a shower, just ask the waiter to bring some water to the room." Qin Jingyang curled his lips, seeming a little confused about her behavior.

"I just like to use the ones I burn myself, no."

Wen Shu took out two taels of silver from his waist, stuffed it into his hand, and pushed him out of the kitchen, "Take the money, call Mr. Zhuo San and go out for a walk together, don't bother me here."

"Aren't you going?" Qin Jingyang held the door frame.

"No, I'm tired after a day, I want to take a shower and rest early."

"Okay." Qin Jingyang nodded, then laughed and said, "Can you give me some more? I heard that there is a young lady in Xiyu Tower who is not only as beautiful as a fairy, but also sings Jiangnan folk songs with unique charm. I think..."

Wen Shu rolled his eyes, took out another two taels from his waist, and stuffed them into his pocket. "Take it, take it, and come back. I'll remember this for you."

Qin Jingyang didn't care and went out with the silver.

After a while, the waiter came over with a few cloth bags and said, "Young lady, I've bought everything you asked me to buy."