When the boss saw how young Mingyue was, his heart skipped a beat and he felt that all his work today had been in vain.
Because the boss had no hope at all that Mingyue would be able to rent the store, his attitude seemed a little lukewarm, and he only answered each of Mingyue's questions.
Father Meng frowned, thinking that the boss was too unmanageable. No wonder the shop couldn't be rented out for a long time.
Mingyue didn't mind. She looked around the entire shop inside and out, and soon started discussing the contract with the boss.
The boss had just taken a sip of tea and hadn't swallowed it when he heard Mingyue say, "I'm quite satisfied. Let's sign the rental agreement!" He choked on the tea and coughed several times before looking at Mingyue.
"You, you, you really want to rent it? I'm paying 16 a month, so you have to pay for half a year first." The boss thought for a moment and added, "Also, even if your business is bad and you don't want to do it anymore, you can't ask me to refund the rent."
Father Meng couldn't help it this time. He slammed the table and stood up: "How can you talk like that, old man? No wonder your business can't make it. Our store hasn't even opened yet, and you're here cursing our business for being bad, you old man..."
The shop owner and Meng's father should be about the same age, so it's not an exaggeration to call him an old boy.
Mingyue was frightened by Meng's father and hurried to comfort him: "Uncle Meng, it's okay, don't be angry, I don't believe in these things, and this uncle is just talking about the facts, it's okay."
"How can you talk like that? Really, really." Father Meng said dissatisfiedly, his face still looking very ugly.
The boss realized that what he said was wrong and scratched his head awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I'm a straightforward person and I'm really not very good at talking."
Mingyue shook her head: "Let's get down to business. You can make any requests you want. I only have one request, which is that the rent cannot be increased within three years. If you agree, you have to write it into the contract."
Why within three years? Because she is confident that she can buy her own shop in three years.
She was also wary of her boss, as she didn't want to wait until she had done everything well and business was booming before the rent was maliciously increased.
The boss was stunned for a moment, then asked her, "So you mean you can rent it for at least three years?"
Mingyue nodded without hesitation: "Yes, no matter whether my business is good or bad, I will rent it for at least three years. Even if I don't rent it at that time, you can increase my rent for these three years. This can be written into the contract."
After hearing this, Father Meng became anxious: "Mingyue, this is not..."
Mingyue shook her head at him, indicating that he didn't need to persuade her anymore.
The boss laughed when he heard this. Where did this silly girl come from? Does her family have too much money to spend
So the boss was also straightforward and slammed the table directly: "Okay, as long as you can rent for three years, then I can really not raise the rent for three years. I, I will give you another 50 cents off, oh no, a dollar off, just 15 yuan a month."
This was a pleasant surprise, Mingyue smiled and said, "Then let's draw up an agreement!"
What you say isn't enough; what's written down is the real truth.
The boss was also afraid that she was talking nonsense, so of course he was happy to keep the agreement.
Then, Father Meng saw Mingyue and the boss happily discussing things, and he suddenly felt a little melancholy. So, why did he come here this time
Things went even more smoothly than Mingyue had imagined. After paying the money that day, the boss gave Mingyue the key to the store.
At this moment, the things belonging to the boss in the store have basically been moved out, leaving only a few crooked benches, two black tables, and a large iron pot covered in oil stains. These are all things the boss no longer wants.
Seeing that there was nothing for him to do, Father Meng said goodbye to Mingyue and went back.
Mingyue stayed in the store for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, she closed the store and went back to the compound. Fortunately, the store was very close to the compound, and it only took eight or nine minutes to walk there, so it would be convenient for her to come back in the future.
When Mingyue returned, Zhou Chengming was already waiting at her door. She didn't know how long he had been waiting.
As soon as the two of them met, he couldn't wait to ask, "How is it? Did it work?"
Mingyue didn't keep it a secret and nodded with a smile: "It's done."
Zhou Chengming breathed a sigh of relief, and then talked about the progress of things on his side.
After dinner in the evening, the two agreed to go and clean the house together the next morning, and then Zhou Chengming returned to his residence.
The next day Mingyue took Zhou Chengming to the store. The previous boss was obviously sloppy in his work. The store was full of dust and stains. The ground was covered with thick mud, and even the stove was black.
The two of them first used the big iron pot given by the boss, put it on the stove to boil hot water, and then began to clean diligently.
Every corner of the house needs to be cleaned, the mud on the ground needs to be shoveled, the abandoned tables and benches need to be dealt with, and the stove also needs to be cleaned...
The two were busy and sweating, and seeing the whole store become bright, they were in a particularly good mood.
After cleaning up the store, Mingyue and Zhou Chengming returned to the courtyard to make lunch. They took a short break at noon and then went to the market to buy things.
Tables, benches, pots and pans... There were so many things to buy that the two of them used the tricycle for three trips before they finally got everything.
Mingyue didn't have much money left at this time. She originally wanted to renovate the shop, but now she thinks it's better to just leave it as it is for now.
Next, Mingyue went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to apply for a business license, and went to the health station to apply for a health business license. Small mobile vendors don't need these things, but they are necessary to open a store.
There are not many self-employed individuals in the city nowadays, so the documents were processed quickly.
The "Zhou's Cooked Food" sign that had been customized earlier was also ready, and Zhou Chengming rode his tricycle to get it back.
Mingyue also asked someone to print a big opening promotion, where you would get free ice jelly if you bought cold dishes, there would be limited-time discounts on braised food, and if you spent one dollar or more you would get free vegetables worth three cents, etc.
She also gave the flyers to Zhou Sanming, Zhou Siming and Meng Zhen, asking them to help with promotion.
On a sunny day, Zhou’s Delicatessen opened.
Before this, Mingyue’s promotional leaflets had already been distributed to several large factories in the surrounding area. Even before this small store opened, it was already known to many people.
Because they knew that the new store would be much cheaper when it opened, many people thought it would be a shame not to take advantage of the good deal, and quite a lot of people came on the opening day.
Currently, this delicatessen mainly sells cold dishes and braised dishes. Cold dishes are still the same as before, with vegetarian dishes costing 40 cents and meat dishes costing 80 cents. Braised dishes are slightly more expensive than cold dishes, with meat dishes costing 90 cents and vegetarian dishes costing 50 cents.
Ice jelly is a gift, given away with every purchase.
(End of this chapter)