Since the lease of the previous merchant who temporarily rented the shop had expired two days ago, after signing a long-term lease contract with Hu Mao's family, the landlord efficiently asked the previous merchant to leave.
When Lin Cheng and the other two arrived at the store, the entire store had been cleared out.
The three of them simply cleaned up the garbage and debris in the store, borrowed a tape measure from a nearby hardware store, and measured the entire interior of the store.
Lin Momo stood by with a small notebook, carefully writing down the measurement data.
After finishing all this, the three returned to their residence with the drawn shop floor plan.
When Yang Fang at home heard that several people had already rented a shop, she was surprised.
"You guys have settled the matter of renting a shop so quickly?"
She didn't even find a house so quickly.
Yang Fang muttered silently in her heart.
"Yes, and the price is very affordable. Other shops on that street that are similar to the one we rented and are big all cost more than 5,000 yuan a month. In the end, ours only costs 4,600 yuan." Hu Mao said to his wife with a smile on his face.
He didn't expect that renting a shop would be so easy.
"It turns out that I still need to study more." Hu Mao said to himself.
After lunch, everyone started to get busy.
Lin Momo and Yang Fang began to discuss what they could make, how to make them, as well as the menu and name after the store opened.
Lin Cheng, Hu Mao and Huang Yang, who had just returned from work, were discussing the design of the entire store with the store floor plan.
The entire store is measured to be a little over 16 square meters in total. Except for an oblique triangle area of about one square meter on one side of the store, the entire store is a regular rectangle with a length of 5 meters and a width of about 3 meters.
"This store is relatively easy to plan. According to the normal layout, the back will be used as the kitchen processing room, the front will be the dining area, and a cash register can be set up here..." Huang Yang said, pointing to the floor plan.
"It's just that this oblique triangle area is a bit troublesome," Huang Yang stared at the irregular area and thought for a long time. Finally, he could only say helplessly, "This area is too small. If we build a cabinet against the wall, there is only a small area that can be used. It will waste work and materials, and it won't be very useful in the end."
"How about just leaving it like this?" Hu Mao suggested.
Hearing this, Huang Yang frowned slightly and said, "It's fine to keep it, but it will cost a lot of money to renovate it."
"Is there still such a saying?"
"Of course. Look at this piece. If you don't care about it and put it directly into the dining area, it will be useless. As for the beveled corners of the suspended ceiling, the material cost can be negotiated, but the labor cost must be calculated based on the length and width. The same goes for the floor tiles. An extra beveled corner cutting process will cost more. In addition, whether it is painting the walls, pasting wall tiles, installing skirting, or making anti-corrosion wall protection, a part of the labor and material costs must be included. If nothing is done, most of this piece will be in the dining area, and it will not look good."
Huang Yang's words put Hu Mao in an awkward position, and Huang Yang himself frowned, unable to think of a better solution for the time being.
Finally, they both looked at Lin Cheng who was still silent beside them.
"Brother Cheng, do you have any suggestions?" Huang Yang asked.
Lin Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's make a wall-mounted cabinet, but there's no need to make a cabinet door."
"What do you mean?" Huang Yang asked.
Lin Cheng pointed to the floor plan and explained, "This place is divided into the kitchen operation area and the dining area. The part of the operation room is relatively deep and can be sealed to serve as a storage cabinet for the kitchen. The part in the dining area can be made into an open display shelf to display some special products or ready-to-eat goods."
When Huang Yang and Hu Mao heard Lin Cheng's suggestion, their eyes lit up.
"This is a good idea. If we don't have cabinet doors, we can save some of the processing material costs. Moreover, the usable space in the cabinet will be much larger, and it can also serve as a decorative promotional effect." Huang Yang said.
Hu Mao also nodded at the side: "Then? It's settled."
"What about other areas?" Hu Mao asked again.
Hu Mao and Huang Yang both looked at Lin Cheng at the same time.
When it comes to decoration, Hu Mao is a complete layman. Although Huang Yang knew some fellow villagers who were engaged in decoration before and learned some basics from them, when it comes to overall planning, neither of them is good at it.
Lin Cheng stared at the floor plan and thought for a moment before he spoke: "The other areas will remain the same as Xiao Huang's divisions before, but some details can be added."
Lin Cheng took a pencil and made a simple plan on the floor plan. While drawing, he explained to the two people: "The processing area can be built according to the concept of 'transparent kitchen'. The left side against the wall can be made into an inner cabinet, which has the functions of support and storage. The rest of the area can be directly separated by high-temperature resistant glass to save space and be clean and moisture-proof. Semi-automatic soybean grinding and tofu processing can all be openly displayed in this area. Later, a dry and wet area partition can be added here. The innermost area has a window and is closest to the water inlet pipe. It can be used as a primary processing room. This part is the sink, this part is the operating table, and the stove is installed here..."
“The overall space utilization of the dining area outside needs to be improved. The entrance should be kept as bright as possible so that customers can see everything clearly at a glance. This way, customers will not feel hesitant about whether to enter.”
“The on-site sales of pre-processed products and ready-to-eat foods and the cash register are arranged on the left side of the store, which can not only preserve the display effect, but also make it convenient for passers-by to buy on the outside…”
Huang Yang listened carefully to what Lin Cheng said and nodded.
"This arrangement is completely feasible. The remaining area can be used as the dining area. It is quiet and bright enough, and will not affect the movement of other people in the store."
"But..." Huang Yang thought for a moment and raised a new question: "After dividing it this way, this area is actually not very big. Will it be a bit crowded if we put tables and chairs there?"
"You don't necessarily have to put movable tables and chairs in there. You can install a circle of tabletops against the wall to serve as a table, and the chairs can be replaced with single wooden benches," said Lin Cheng.
"That's a good idea!" Huang Yang said, and then he pointed to the floor plan and added excitedly, "This place is far away from water and fire sources, dry and ventilated. If we put a circle of seats here, we can also put a circle of lockers on the top."
"Okay." Lin Cheng affirmed.
After some discussion, the three of them quickly decided on the design layout of the entire store.
The only thing left is the budget issue.
When it comes to the issue of money, Hu Mao and Yang Fang and his wife next to him showed worried looks on their faces.
"We only have such a small amount of money. It's probably not enough to turn the store into this state." Hu Mao said with a frown.
Yang Fang also said, "If it doesn't work, I'll go back to my hometown to get some money."
At this moment, Lin Cheng said in a positive tone: "No, the existing money is enough."
"Enough?" Hu Mao looked at Lin Cheng in disbelief.
"Just do the math and you'll know." Lin Cheng said, and handed the floor plan to Huang Yang, who was standing beside him, and asked him, "Can you estimate how much material is needed?"
"I can only try to make a rough estimate."
Huang Yang buried his head in writing and drawing on paper.
After a while, Huang Yang gave a rough figure: "For such a big store, one cubic meter of sand is definitely enough, seven or eight bags of cement, three 4-meter water pipes and five elbows for the processing room are enough, and if the tables, sales counters, and wall panels are all made of carbonized wood boards as you said, then... "
"This area is replaced with antiseptic wood, the surface cement grade of this part is increased, the floor tiles are replaced with 45 bluestone slabs, and an 8 cm interval is left in the middle." Lin Cheng said.
"Half a cubic meter of sand will be enough. You can go to some nearby houses and collect some unused sand after renovation. Six bags of cement should be enough. As for the wood, it's..."
Huang Yang said this, and then calculated the increase and decrease in area and materials according to what Lin Cheng said.
After getting the final data from Huang Yang, Lin Cheng wrote down the unit price of each material next to it.
Seeing this, Huang Yang and Hu Mao were a little surprised: "Do you know the price?"
"I went to the building materials market before to buy materials and sell bean dregs cakes, and by the way, I learned about the prices of common materials." Lin Cheng explained.
Lin Cheng said this calmly, but the audience who heard this were not calm:
By the way?!
What a nice coincidence...
Why didn't I expect that I could stop by 'by the way'.
I suspect Momo's dad is in Versailles.
Haha, Lin Cheng should be wanting to reinforce and decorate the shabby house they live in, and then he learned about these things, maybe just by the way.
Or? It's just that the brain is working well.
…
Inside the house, Lin Cheng quickly calculated the approximate cost of decoration materials.
Surprisingly, after careful calculation, the estimated total price of decoration materials was less than 7,000.
"I heard from my fellow villager that the labor cost for decorating this kind of store is about 30% to 50% of the material cost. If you want to save money, you can try to do some of the rough work yourself." Huang Yang suggested.
This proposal was immediately approved by Lin Cheng and Hu Mao.
"I don't know how to do high-end technical work, but I can move things, nail some things, and paint the walls. I have a fellow villager who is a plasterer. It should be no problem to ask him to come over and give me some guidance in the evening." Hu Mao said, "Also, the old Master Yang who lives in the back used to be a rough carpenter. If the nailing requirements for the wood are not detailed, asking him to come and help should save a lot of money."
Huang Yang at the side also said: "I have done wiring and welding before when I was in a repair shop. The principles are similar. If you don't mind, you can buy the materials and borrow the tools from the shop for wiring and ceiling installation, and I will do it."
The three of them quickly divided the work: Lin Cheng was responsible for purchasing materials and controlling costs, Hu Mao was responsible for finding carpenters and plasterers, and Huang Yang was responsible for connecting water and electricity and installing some facilities and equipment.
—
The few of them did not waste any time and started working separately that afternoon.
In order to reduce the decoration cost to the lowest level, Lin Cheng traveled to almost half of the city, and even took the trouble to persuade the boss who sold antiseptic wood to give them a piece of burnt wood door sign as a gift.
Lin Cheng's character in my mind is collapsing bit by bit.
Haha, really, the way Lin Cheng bargained didn't look like a 'boss' or a celebrity at all.
Lin Cheng's stingy behavior makes him look more and more like his stingy daughter.
To put it the other way around, it is possible that this is Lin Cheng's true form, and Momo is his genetic cousin, but Lin Cheng concealed it well before.
…
Lin Cheng and Lin Momo couldn't see the complaints in the live broadcast room. At this time, the father and daughter were going further and further on the road of saving money.
Lin Cheng and Lin Momo spent half a day to finally buy all the necessary materials. After their efforts, the materials that were originally planned to cost around 7,000 only cost 5,400 in the end.
In the evening, after the masters who were invited to help had a meal, they started to decorate the store.
Several people started working almost day and night.
Taking into account the presence of residential areas and schools nearby, in order to avoid noise pollution, the main work done during the day is some carrying, installation and laying work. The work that requires cutting and hammering is arranged to be carried out during rush hour and school time so as not to disturb others. At night, everyone does some noise-free plastering and painting work.
After two days of continuous hard work, the entire store finally took shape.
Lin Cheng brought Lin Momo to the second-hand market in the east of the city.
This was a place recommended by a fellow villager of Huang Yang.
Here, stainless steel stoves and sinks, second-hand electrical appliances, and industrial furniture are all available, but the price is only 20% to 40% of new ones.
—
Lin Cheng and Lin Momo walked around the entire market and finally came to an inconspicuous second-hand large electrical appliance store.
Seeing a customer coming, the owner of the store walked out, walking around the piles of second-hand goods.
"What do you want to see?" the boss asked.
"I opened a small restaurant and came here to see something useful." Lin Cheng explained his purpose.
The boss immediately took over the conversation and said, "Then how many are there in our store?"
After that, the boss introduced the items to Lin Cheng: "Over here, we have freezers, disinfection cabinets, refrigerators, and air conditioners used in ordinary small restaurants. We also have air conditioners of various capacities. Over there, we have stainless steel stoves, sinks, and cutting boards used in restaurant kitchens. In addition, we also have small electrical appliances if you need them, such as the air curtain at the door, ultraviolet lamps, induction cookers, and water dispensers. They are in the back and are not displayed. If you want them, I'll take you to have a look."
"Let's take a look at the large appliances first." Lin Cheng said, telling the boss the approximate size needed.
"Yes, come with me and have a look." The boss led Lin Cheng and Lin Momo into the store, pointed at a few appliances and recommended them to Lin Cheng: "Take a look at this freezer, it's 90% new, the previous owner took good care of it, look at the paint, from top to bottom, there's no rust at all, and the sealing strip is basically new, too, how about it, I'll give it to you for 680 if you want it."
Lin Cheng didn't say anything. Even though the boss praised the freezer in front of him to the sky, Lin Cheng still carefully checked the entire freezer.
"Anything else?" Lin Cheng stood up and asked.
Hearing this, the boss was stunned: "Why, this one is so new, you are still not satisfied? If it's other ones, they won't be this good."
"Just buy this one, you can't go wrong."
The boss was still strongly recommending it, but Lin Cheng directly pointed out the problem with the freezer.
"The paint on these places was re-sprayed later. You should have replaced the sealing strips with new ones later. It is impossible for them to be so new after use. You can even see the processing debris. The mold line is obvious. It should be a pirated copy from a small factory. The rust spots underneath have also been polished..."
The second-hand shop owner's renovation skills are simply superb. If you don't look carefully, you can't see anything wrong. But Lin Cheng still found some clues on it.
When the boss heard Lin Cheng accurately point out several places that needed to be renovated, the expression on his face changed slightly.
At this time, Lin Cheng pointed at the cover on the back of the freezer and said, "This cover has also been refurbished and reshaped. Judging from the wear on the screws, it must have been opened more than once."
At this time, the place where fluorine is added does not usually need to be added during the normal use period of the freezer, unless there is damage, fluorine leakage or the service life is too long and repeated repairs are required.
Before coming here, Lin Cheng borrowed Hu Mao's mobile phone to do his homework online.
Sure enough, after hearing what Lin Cheng said, not only did the boss's expression change, but even the way he looked at Lin Cheng changed.
"Haha, you are quite knowledgeable about home appliances."
"This appliance is a few years old, but most of the items have been replaced with new ones. In fact, I'm not lying when I say it's 90% new. Some customers come here just to pick something like this." The boss laughed guiltily and said nonchalantly.
"Let me show you the others." The boss said, and recommended a few other freezers to Lin Cheng.
This time, having learned from previous lessons, the boss didn't dare to fool Lin Cheng again, but instead gave a real introduction.