The world of film and television begins from childhood

"Well, Auntie, you have such a good temperament and are so beautiful. You must have played the leading role when you were young, right?"

"That's for sure, Xiao Zhou. You may not know this, but I used to be the leading actress in our troupe. There was another girl in our troupe who always wanted to compete with me, but it was useless after competing for so many years. As long as I was on stage, I would definitely be the A role, and she would always be the B role."

"awesome."

…………

Looking at Aunt and Zhou Chen, one boasting, the other complimenting, chatting animatedly, Su Qing on the side couldn't help but turn her head away, unable to bear to watch.

Su Qing knew her aunt's character very well, but she never expected that Zhou Chen would be so cooperative and flattering.

There is no closeness without reason in the world, so after ruling out Zhou Chen as a liar, she understood that the reason Zhou Chen cooperated so well was definitely to pursue his cousin Yang Tao.

Under Su Qing's command, Zhou Chen quickly arrived at a street and stopped in the middle.

"Xiao Zhou, we have already asked the landlord to come over. You can take a look later. If you are satisfied, you can talk to her directly."

"Okay, thank you so much, Aunt Xue, Sister Su Qing."

After arriving at the storefront and meeting the landlord, Zhou Chen's expression became serious. When chatting with Xue Sumei, he could be more humble, but when it came to renting a house, he had to take it seriously.

The landlord was a woman in her forties, fat and looking quite like a landlady.

What Su Qing said was right. This storefront was indeed nice. It had three floors in total. The first floor was about two hundred square meters, and the second floor was about the same, but the third floor was a bit larger, at more than three hundred square meters. The overall area was not small and was enough to open a wedding shop.

Moreover, the location is also good. It is located in the middle of the street and there are many residential areas around it. If a sign is hung, it should be very conspicuous.

"Xiao Zhou, what do you think of my elder sister's house?"

After walking around, the landlord said to Zhou Chen: "Sister Xue told me about your situation. If you want to open a bridal shop, my house is definitely suitable."

Zhou Chen did not answer immediately, but stood by the window and looked around.

"The location is OK, but the house is a bit old. I just checked it from the outside. The wall paint has fallen off in some places, and there are too many pillars inside. It will be very troublesome to renovate. There are also cracks in many places. If I rent it, I will have to renovate it from beginning to end, which is a big project. And the location of the door is also a bit problematic. The design of the stairs is also unreasonable. And on the third floor, there was a bathroom installed before, but the drainage is not done well..."

Zhou Chen inherited professional architectural design skills in the first world. If he wanted to find problems, it would be easy and he could point out problems here and there continuously.

The landlady's smile was originally full of enthusiasm, but as Zhou Chen continued to narrate, her smile slowly faded.

Not to mention the landlady, even Xue Sumei and Su Qing were all staring in surprise after hearing this. They had seen this house before, and in their opinion, this storefront was not bad. How come Zhou Chen found so many problems after taking a look around?

"Xiao Zhou, what exactly do you do?" the landlady couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "Sister, don't be surprised. I'm quite picky and I want the best things. I want to rent a house and you want to rent it to me. So we are doing business and we should raise any problems. Isn't that right?"

The landlady said: "Young man, I am just a tenant. I don't understand what you are saying. I only know that my house has a good location and a large area. In addition to you, there are several other people who are interested in my house."

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "I understand that you should shop around. Although your house has many problems, they can all be improved through later renovations. But in that case, I will have to bear more risks and spend more on renovations."

"I see. After all this talk, you just wanted to bargain. Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The landlady looked at you as if you were nagging.

Zhou Chen was not embarrassed and asked, "Since you are so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush. How much do you plan to rent? From March, half a year, or a year?"

The landlady said, "Of course it's the annual rent. Xiao Zhou, I think you're a nice guy, how about this amount?"

As he spoke, he raised one hand, spread out all five fingers, and then slowly retracted two fingers.

Xue Sumei and Su Qing were a little confused, but Zhou Chen smiled: "Sister, are you kidding me?"

The landlady said: "I'm not kidding, that's the number. The housing market is this price these days. If you find an agent, it will definitely be higher than this. Since you think what I said is high, then tell me a number."

The same action, the same five fingers spread out, but the landlord's face changed instantly: "Xiao Zhou, are you okay? You can go to the remote suburbs to see this number."

Zhou Chen was not angry either. He shrugged and said, "Sister, you were the one who joked with me first. You said your price and I said mine. If it's not suitable, we can continue to negotiate."

"You are such a ruthless young man. How can you bargain like that? It's already ruthless enough for others to cut the price in half, but you cut the price to more than half of the price."

"The price is negotiated. The main reason is that your house has too many problems. Apart from the location, it's OK. If I rent it, I have to renovate it from the inside out, which is not a small amount of money."

The landlady thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll take a step back and give you twenty."

"It's still too expensive, sister. If your house was in the city center, I would pay for it without hesitation. But this location and this house are very different."

"Xiao Zhou, don't fool me. You want to rent my house in the city center for this price? Even if you double the price, it won't be enough."

"Sister, I've seen a lot of houses, and I know what the prices are. Sister, please give me a sincere price, otherwise there will be no room for negotiation."

"I really can't lower the price. With the current market conditions, my house is more than 800 square meters, which is almost as big as the first floor of a commercial building. I can only reduce the price by 10 square meters at most."

Zhou Chen shook his head. To rent such a place for more than 2 million yuan, he must be crazy. It’s neither a bustling commercial street nor the city center. It can barely be considered within the Fifth Ring Road.

What's more, storefronts are not calculated in this way. The storefront on the first floor is a storefront, but the second and third floors are not strictly speaking storefronts. The prices of the second and third floors are very different from those of the first floor. How can they be confused?

This landlady is really cruel. She asked for three million right away. She really thought that three million came from the wind. With this money, she can now use it as a down payment for a house in the city center.

"One million, sister, this is the limit I can accept."

"Young man, you are trying to kill my sister. One million is not enough to cover the cost. No, no, this price is absolutely not acceptable."

Xue Sumei watched Zhou Chen negotiating the price with the landlord and was about to go over to help, but Su Qing held her back and shook her head at her.

Zhou Chen continued, "Sister, I see your house has been empty for quite some time. If the storefront is empty for even a day, you will lose money. And I rented all three floors at once, which can save you a lot of trouble. I think there are probably not many people who rent three floors at once like me. If you rent your house separately, you may not be able to rent it for this price."

The landlord's face kept changing as Zhou Chen said that, because what Zhou Chen said was right, her house was nice, but most people who came to see it were only willing to rent the first floor and were unwilling to add the second and third floors. However, as an old landlady, she knew very well that if the second and third floors were rented separately, they would not be valuable, so she had been reluctant to rent them out.

There were people who wanted to rent the third floor, but the price had to be negotiated many times. Moreover, the other party was unwilling to pay in one lump sum and wanted to pay in installments, which she could not accept.

"No, no, one million is too low. For a place as big as mine, at this price, it's only tens of thousands of dollars a month. It's too low."

"Sister, you can't think like that. You've kept this house for such a long time, and you've lost money. If you rent it to me, I can pay it off in one lump sum, and I can also sign a contract with you for a few more years. In this way, you don't have to worry about renting a house for the next few years."

The landlady said, "Xiao Zhou, do you think I'm stupid? The rent goes up every year. If I sign a contract with you for a few more years, won't I lose more? How about you add another hundred?"

Zhou Chen said, "Sister, this is really the only price I can offer. You also know that I want to open a store here. This is definitely not a matter of one or two years. It must be a long-term lease. In the short term, you may lose a little, but in the long run, it will definitely not be a loss."

"this?"

The landlady immediately looked hesitant. As an old landlady, she knew very well the importance of a long-term tenant, but she still couldn't make up her mind about the price.

Seeing the landlord's hesitation, Zhou Chen took out a business card and said, "Sister, since we can't convince all parties, let's take some time to think about it. This is my business card with my phone number on it. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly."

The landlady took the business card and also gave one to Zhou Chen.

…………

Zhou Chen drove Xue Sumei and Su Qing away.

"Xiao Zhou, are you not satisfied with the house?"

Without the landlord around, Xue Sumei didn't have to worry about so many things and asked Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "The house is OK, but the price is a bit high. But this is to be expected. It is normal to raise the price. Those who rush to buy are not good buyers. Let's wait a few days and see."

Xue Sumei: "Oh, it's the rent issue, but it's nearly three million a year, which is really scary. If I can't make a few million a year, I'll be losing a lot."

Their family is just an ordinary family, and her heart can't bear the millions.

Su Qing said: "I think the landlady seems to be a little moved."

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "That house should have been vacant for a while. There must be a lot of people looking at it, but it hasn't been rented out yet. She must be anxious. No matter how good the house is, it's useless if it can't be rented out. Although the price I offered is not high, I can rent it for a few more years at once, or pay it off in one year. It's natural that she is tempted. After all, seamless renewal is much more convenient and cost-effective than changing tenants every half a year or a year."

Xue Sumei gave a thumbs up and said, "Xiao Zhou, you are quite capable despite your young age."

"No, no."

Zhou Chen looked very humble. In his previous world, he had seen many houses and had some experience. He knew how to bargain hard, but this was not a skill.

Xue Sumei smiled and asked, "Xiao Zhou, are you free tomorrow? Taozi from our family will be on vacation tomorrow. If you are also free, how about arranging a meeting between you two?"

"Auntie, I have time."

"Okay, then it's a deal. You pick a place tomorrow and I'll send our Taozi over."

"No problem, Auntie."

…………

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 79: Helpless Yang Tao

"We can finally have a day off tomorrow. Let's have a good meal tonight."

Tomorrow is a day off, so Yang Tao invited her two best friends to have dinner together after work to relax.

"Taozi, you are so busy every day that you don't even have time to date a boyfriend. When can you get married? Although Weiwei is not married yet, she at least has a boyfriend. Aren't you in a hurry?"

Jiao Yang, the male best friend, asked Yang Tao while drinking a drink.

Yang Tao, Jiao Yang, and Lan Weiwei, the three of them grew up in the same compound. They have a very good relationship and get together whenever they have time. Especially Yang Tao and Jiao Yang, although they are a boy and a girl, they have an absolutely close relationship.

Yang Tao rolled her eyes at him and said, "You're still talking about me. Don't you have a girlfriend and aren't you married?"

Jiao Yang: "I'm different from you. I'm not planning to get married. It's so good to be single. Why should I find someone to control me?"

Yang Tao was speechless and could only look at Lan Weiwei: "Weiwei, when can you bring your mysterious boyfriend out to show us? We have been dating for several years and we have never met him once."

Jiao Yang also shouted: "Yeah, Weiwei, you are too mean, do you still consider us as friends?"

Lan Weiwei is a yoga instructor. She has a hot body, is charming and sexy, and looks good too. But if Yang Tao is the type of pure older sister, then Lan Weiwei is definitely the type of seductive vixen.

"He's very busy and has been abroad recently. When I'm free in the future, I'll definitely introduce you to each other."

"You've said this so many times that our ears are callused from hearing it."

Jiao Yang had a look of disdain on his face. Even friends had different levels of closeness. Among the three of them, he had a better relationship with Yang Tao, but not so close with Lan Weiwei, because he felt that Lan Weiwei was a little pretentious and not as straightforward as Yang Tao.

As they were talking, Yang Tao's cell phone rang. She took out her phone and looked at it, her brows immediately frowned.

"I finally got a day off, but the Empress Dowager in our family just wouldn't let me go."

In the past two years, her mother had arranged many blind dates for her, so much so that she felt a little scared when she saw her mother's phone call.

Jiao Yang said: "Hurry up and answer it. If you don't, it will only get worse."

Yang Tao answered the phone helplessly: "Mom."

"Taozi, you should take a rest tomorrow."

"Yes, I have a day off tomorrow, but I have an appointment with Weiwei and the others to get together tomorrow."

Yang Tao wanted to use a dinner party with friends to shut her mother up, but her mother was much more capable than her.

"You guys just have your own gathering, don't delay anything. Someone will call you in the afternoon and you can go meet Xiao Zhou."

"Xiao Zhou? Mom, you're arranging another blind date for me. I finally have a day off. Can you let me have a good vacation?"

"A blind date won't interfere with your rest. This time, Xiao Zhou is different. Your sister and I have met him. He's a very outstanding guy..."

"Have you met my sister?"

This surprised Yang Tao very much. It would have been fine if her mother had seen it, but how did her cousin get involved?

"Yes, your cousin and I agree that this Xiao Zhou is your perfect match, right, Qing'er?"

"Taozi, what Auntie said is right. This guy is really excellent and a good match for you. You should go and meet him."

"You heard what your sister said, Yang Tao, I'm telling you very seriously, if Xiao Zhou calls you and you dare not answer, or don't go, then you won't be able to come back and you won't recognize me as your mother. I don't have a disobedient daughter."

Yang Tao was very tired: "Mom, is it that serious? Okay, okay, I get it. Isn't it okay for me to listen to you?"

Putting down the phone, Yang Tao collapsed on the chair, looking extremely painful.

"Being urged to go on a blind date again?" Jiao Yang smiled with gloating eyes.

Yang Tao didn't bother to pay attention to him and just sucked on the straw with a look of despair.

Lan Weiwei pursed her lips and advised: "Taozi, I think you should listen to your aunt. You are not young anymore. It is time to get married. Find a man to live with. At our age, it is very difficult to pick a good man in the future, just like buying a lottery ticket. It is very difficult to win even the smallest prize."

"Weiwei, I don't want to hear what you said. With Taozi's conditions, why should we be cheap with those stinky men? If we want to find a partner, we should find an excellent man."

Jiao Yang was very unhappy with Lan Weiwei's words. In his opinion, Yang Tao was much better than Lan Weiwei. When would it be Lan Weiwei's turn to lecture Yang Tao?

"okay."

Yang Tao didn't care about it. She still cared very much about her best friend Lan Weiwei.

"Weiwei, do you have anything to do tomorrow afternoon? If you don't, come with me."

Lan Weiwei quickly shook her head: "No, no, if you go on a blind date, why would I go with you?"

Yang Tao approached Lan Weiwei and took her arm: "Weiwei, just come with me. Blind dates are so awkward. I don't know the person, and there's nothing to talk about if we sit together. If you go with me, at least there will be someone else to talk to, and the atmosphere won't become too awkward."

Lan Weiwei shook her head: "You are not embarrassed anymore, but I am. You two went on a blind date, but I am sitting there like a light bulb. What's going on?"