Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 106 Renting a House
  "This is the first time I've seen a woman carrying weapons when she goes out. I wonder who the girl just now is?" Li An asked.

"I'll tell you this when we get to the box." Gu Tingye pulled Li An inside.

It was lunch time, and the lobby on the first floor of Fan Building was bustling with people.

Gu Tingye is a frequent visitor to Fan Lou, and all the waiters know him.

As soon as we entered the Fan Building, we were greeted warmly by a waiter who took several people to a private room on the fourth floor.

Gu Tingye asked Li An and Sheng Changbai, ordered eight signature dishes, and asked the waiter to go down and prepare them.

"The girl just now is the third daughter of the British Duke's family. The British Duke has a loyal family, and now he only has one daughter like this." Gu Tingye said with admiration.

Li An was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that the little girl was Zhang Guifen?

"Who is the girl holding the sword with her?" Li An asked curiously.

For some reason, when he saw that woman, he always felt excited.

There was a big age gap between the two. By the time he could get a wife, someone else might already be married, but Li An still couldn't help but want to find out.

"The girl's surname is Luo, and her father is the deputy general of the British Duke's son. When Xixia became independent more than ten years ago, the officials ordered the British Duke to lead the army in the war, and the British Duke's son also went with the army. Later, he was tricked by Xixia and the whole army was wiped out. General Luo There was only such a daughter, and she was later recognized as a righteous daughter by the British, and she was taken into the family and raised. This girl Luo had been practicing martial arts since she was a child. She was good at martial arts and was inseparable from Miss Zhang San. Many dandies in Bianjing were taught by her." Gu Tingye said.

"Oh."

For some reason, Li An felt empty after listening to this.

Before asking, he had some illusions in his mind, but now they are completely extinguished.

Although she was only the adopted daughter of a British father-in-law, she was not something he could reach. In addition, there was an age gap between the two, so it was basically impossible.

"Let's not talk about it anymore. The fourth floor of Fan Tower has a panoramic view of the Imperial City. It would be a pity not to appreciate it when you come here."

Gu Tingye said, stood up and opened the window.

Li An came to his senses and came to the window with Sheng Changbai and the others.

The imperial city faces north and south, and the box they are in faces east.

However, looking to the south, one can still see half of the imperial city, and even the palace walls are clearly visible.

"To be able to build such a high-rise building at this location, I'm afraid the owner behind this fan building is not simple, right?" Li An said.

Normally, tall buildings are not allowed near the imperial city, as it would be suspected of spying on the palace.

Although Fan Lou could only see the imperial city and not the situation inside the palace, it was still against the rules.

This can be seen from the fact that the highest buildings nearby only have three floors.

"I don't know. Fanlou was established not long after the founding of the Song Dynasty. It was not a restaurant before, but it was changed into a restaurant during the reign of the late emperor. But for so many years, the owner behind Fanlou has always been a mystery. But whoever makes trouble in Fanlou , no one has a good ending. My father once told me not to cause trouble in Fanlou and not to talk nonsense here." Gu Tingye whispered.

"My parents also told me similar things." Qi Heng whispered.

When Li An heard this, he was smart enough not to ask. Qi Heng's father was the Duke of the country, and his mother was raised in a kilometer and made a princess.

Even the Qi family kept it secret, and he couldn't find out what was going on behind the scenes.

After admiring the scenery for a while, and waiting for the waiter to bring the food and wine, they sat down to eat and chat.

Fanlou is known as the best restaurant in Bianjing, and it is not for nothing.

The dishes are very exquisite and taste very good.

This is the first time in Li An's life that he has tasted such delicious food.

He thought that when he made money, he would take his parents over and take them to have a taste.

During the chat, Li An learned a piece of news from Gu Tingye. His father had been ordered to inspect military affairs in the northwest two months ago and was not at home.

After eating, a few people continued to visit Bianjing.

It wasn't until the evening that Gu Tingye and the others were sent back to Liu's house.

After bidding farewell to Gu Tingye and others, Li An entered the door carrying some of the things he bought.

As soon as he entered the door, he met Liu Waner who came to inquire.

"Humph!"

Seeing Li An, Liu Waner snorted coldly and turned her head away.

"Hey, who made Sister Wan'er angry?" Li An said with a smile.

"It's you, you don't take me with you when we go out to play!" Liu Waner said angrily.

"I also bought a pottery doll for someone. It seems that someone doesn't want it anymore. Cui'er can give it to you." Li An opened the wooden box in his hand and took out a brightly colored pottery doll and handed it to Liu Waner behind her. Maid Cui'er.

"Thank you Mr. Li." Cui'er smiled and reached out to take it.

"No, this is mine."

Liu Waner saw that Tao Dou liked it so much that she snatched it away.

"Haha." Li An smiled and said, "Then you forgive me?"

"Humph." Liu Waner said arrogantly, "I will forgive you this time. If you go out to play without me next time, I will ignore you."

"I can't help it this time. Changbai didn't bring his sister, so it's inconvenient to take you with him." Li An said.

"Then I don't care." Liu Waner pouted.

"Okay, Wan'er, don't mess around." Mrs. Zhang scolded.

"Master's wife."

Li An saluted and said with a smile: "There is a restaurant on West Street that makes good roast duck. I heard that the restaurant has been open for decades. I bought two of them and I will try them out later."

"You're spending money indiscriminately again. Things are so expensive in Bianjing, so you have to save some money, you know. And Wan'er is naive, so don't let her do anything." Mrs. Zhang said.

"Master Wife, I know that sister Wan'er is lonely. She used to have some playmates in Yangzhou, but she doesn't know any of them in Bianjing. The Sheng family is far away," Li An said.

"Alas." Mrs. Zhang sighed, looking a little sad.

Liu Waner's mother was a concubine and died in childbirth when giving birth to her.

One time she went to see her son and saw that Liu Waner was dirty and no one cared about her. After asking, she found out that her daughter-in-law, Liu Waner's aunt, didn't care about her at all. Yes, naturally he doesn't pay much attention to this young lady.

Mrs. Zhang simply took Liu Waner to her side to raise her.

It is precisely because of this that Liu Waner hates Ru Lan who always talks about her legitimate daughter.

Li An saw that Mrs. Zhang's expression was wrong and knew that his words had caused her sadness, so he quickly changed the topic and said, "Mrs., hasn't the teacher come back yet?"

"He asked his servants to come back at noon and said that there will be a morning court tomorrow and he needs to go to the Ministry of Etiquette to learn etiquette and rules. There are colleagues who want to treat him to dinner in the evening and will come back later. Ignore him, the meal is almost ready, let's eat. " Zhang said.

……

In the next few days, Li An went out to visit some tea shops and listen to books every day.

Although the Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts, the most popular storytellers in the market teahouses were stories about marches and battles.

After shopping around for a few days, Li An felt confident and started looking for a suitable shop.

I have to say that prices in Bianjing are really high. The location is slightly better and the shop is larger. The monthly rent is dozens of taels more.

The areas are prosperous, with houses ranging from hundreds to hundreds of taels.

Of course, this kind of thing refers to the larger ones. It would not be so expensive to open a snack bar.

In addition, Li An also inquired about the housing prices.

Unexpectedly, there were public rental houses in the Song Dynasty, but just for a single room, the monthly rent was four to five hundred Wen.

As for a house with a courtyard, a small courtyard with two or three rooms would cost several taels of silver a month, and a larger one would cost dozens of taels.

Li An originally thought that with the money he had, he could rent a house and a shop, but now it seems that it is not enough at all.

After all, although the rent can be paid monthly, a deposit must be paid, and it costs money to hire people to rent and decorate the store, as well as to buy snacks and tea.

The money on hand may not be enough, and I may need to borrow some from someone, so I can only temporarily give up my plan to rent a house and move out.

But as long as the business starts, there will be enough money to turn around, and it won't take long.

After careful consideration, Li An rented a two-story shop two streets away from Liu's house.

The monthly rent is 45 taels per month and the deposit is 100 taels.

Because it was introduced through a dental store, I had to pay an agency fee of 4.5 taels.

After signing the contract, Li An paid the rent and deposit, got the key, and spent some money to ask Yahang to find someone to clean it. Li An returned to Liu's house with Shi Zhu.

As soon as he arrived at the door, Li An saw a familiar carriage parked at the door.

The coachman and two young men dressed as servants were talking quietly beside the carriage.

(End of this chapter)