The layout was more or less the same as Shu Yan's and its geographical location was impeccable. The only problem was that its pricing was a little over what Shu Yan had expected.
"Is the landlord in the country currently?" If they were not, that'd make it trickier.
"Yes, they returned to take care of the documents and also to sell this place, but they refused to go below 9,500 yuan." Lao Hu did not offer to bring Shu Yan to meet with the landlord.
That was normal, if they reached an agreement through him, he'd be able to collect an agent's fee from both parties. If he introduced Shu Yan to the landlord and they reached an agreement privately, there was nothing he could do if neither party paid him a penny.
"Let's try a little more. The going prices in this area are in the 8,000s. As much as the location was fairly decent, it's not 9,500 yuan decent." Shu Yan felt that Lao Hu was overthinking this. She had a lot more areas that she'd need his help with in the future and there'd be no way she'd burn that bridge with him over some agent's fees.
"Sure, let me go talk to them again," said Lao Hu as he nodded.
"If you could talk them down some, no matter how much, I will give you 1% of the difference," said Shu Yan with a smile.
"What if I can hit 8,500 yuan?" asked Lao Hu as his eyes lit up.
"If you can talk them down to 8,500 yuan, I will give you 2% of the difference," replied Shu Yan without hesitation.
Shu Yan walked around the shop. West City Nan Road would become more and more well known in the future. In her own world, rent would be as high as 10,000 yuan per square meter by 2010. By 2019, it'd go to 20,000 yuan per square meter. Meaning, rent alone would be 1.6 million yuan a year. She wasn't entirely sure whether this world would be the same as hers, but judging from what she was seeing so far, it wouldn't be too far from it.
How old was she going to be in 2010? Shu Yan did the math. She was 25 years old right now and would be 45 years old 20 years from now. By then, she wouldn't need to do anything else other than lying around at home. The rent every year alone would be enough to provide her with a very plentiful lifestyle.
"What are you doing here?"
Shu Yan turned around when she heard the voice and saw Zhu Hung standing by the door. She looked a bit disheveled now and was no longer that prideful woman that she had seen before.
"I've heard that the landlord is intending to sell this place and I have a friend who's interested in it. I am here to check it out for him." Shu Yan scanned over at Zhu Hung. The landlord wanted to take the place back and to sell it; it was natural that she looked the way that she did right now. It was very much like the day Shu Yan looked when she was told by the landlord that she could no longer rent the place that she was staying in.
That was karma at its best. Heaven is always looking down on what one is doing and nobody gets away with their bad deeds. Shu Yan felt very redeemed.
"Hrm. What kind of friends could you possibly have? I don't believe any friends of yours will be able to afford this place," said Zhu Hung as she let out a hrumph. "If they are so rich, perhaps they should loan you money to buy your own place first, so you wouldn't have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off when you were kicked out.
"At least I'm not running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Why don't you look in the mirror some time? You illustrate that term perfectly." Zhu Hung's store was the only male clothing store in West City Nan Road, and her business was pretty decent. Now that the landlord was no longer renting out the place to her, she'd need to look for a different storefront. A store and a house were very different; Zhu Hung would only have more troubles than Shu Yan.
"I am fine. Even if I don't have my own business, I still have my husband to support me. What about you? A single woman with kids running her own business. Where is your husband anyway? Did he dump you? I guess that makes sense. You are short, fat, dark, and covered in spots. I wouldn't want you if I am a man either," said Zhu Hung to Shu Yan with a vicious look on her.
"I will still need to find a husband with ability. I don't want the kind who stutters and is too cowardly to say a word to his own wife. Not even if you pay me money to take him."
"You..."
Shu Yan hit Zhu Hung where it hurt the most. Zhu Hung always prided herself as being smart and pretty but somehow ended up marrying a cowardly man whom she couldn't get a word out of.
Shu Yan didn't want to engage with her anymore; she just walked out and walked back to her own shop.
"Mom, look at my balloons," said Tianbao as he ran up to Shu Yan and showed her his two balloons like they were some sort of treasures.
"Eh? Where did you get these pretty balloons from?" Shu Yan took one from him. The balloons weren't too big. Perhaps, the person was worried that a large one would pop too easily and startle the child.
"Aunt Xiuxiu gave them to me." Aunt Xiuxiu was now Tianbao's third favorite person, after Shu Yan and his sister.
"Those are the leftover ones from our promotional activity last time. I brought out a few for them to play with." Xiuxiu didn't have kids of her own, but she was very popular with kids. Let it be her own nephew or Jingjing and Tianbao, they all liked Xiuxiu.
Shu Yan did not stop the two children from playing in the shop. It was only normal for kids to run and jump around, as long as they didn't go overboard.
As the number of customers increased, Shu Yan had the two kids move to playing behind the cash register when she walked over to give her sales pitch. "Your body is so shapely. This dress will look very pretty on you. Why don't you go try it on?"
Shu Yan picked a dress out for a customer and had her go try it on. She also grabbed a jacket and carried it with her. She handed the jacket to the customer when she walked out and immediately the feel of the set changed again.
"The dress is perfect for the weather right now. You can add this jacket when it's cooler in the morning and at night. When it gets colder, you can wear a thicker jacket. This dress will go well with many combinations."
The woman spun around. It was, for sure, much classier than the dresses she normally wore. She didn't even ask the price before she bought it, along with the jacket.
Her girlfriend watched for a little while and also had Shu Yan help her mix and match. She was the petite type and Shu Yan picked an outfit that was fit for petite people. When she put it on, she immediately appeared to be delicate and lovely.
"Boss Lady, you are so good at this," said the petite girl before she had Shu Yan pick out two more sets of fall clothing for her.
"I am glad you like it." Shu Yan felt a sense of accomplishment when she received compliments from the customers.
"I like them a lot." When the petite girl paid for her order, she looked at Shu Yan and said, "Pardon me, but did you get these spots when you were pregnant with your children?"
"Yes. It wasn't too bad after my first child, but when I was pregnant with the second one, they were all over my face and they never went away even after I gave birth." Shu Yan touched her face.
Shu Yan had tried many things with these spots. Ever since she had arrived at City Nan, she went to the mall to look for skin care products immediately after she had settled in. There weren't a lot of skin care products during this time period and many of the more luxurious brands required foreign currencies to purchase. Shu Yan had purchased the best domestic products. Unfortunately, with the exception of the pearl cream, all the other ones were geared toward maintaining moisture. There were very few products for skin-whitening.
"My sister, too, had a lot of spots after she gave birth. My mom found a folk prescription for both ingesting and topical application. The spots were gone shortly and her skin had gotten much whiter," said the petite girl full of passion.
"Really? Do you have the prescription with you right now?" Shu Yan's eyes lit up. She had planned to head to the hospital later on to see if there was any way she could have them removed with laser. If this folk prescription works, she wouldn't need to head to the hospital.
"I don't have it with me, but I can ask my mom later on. I will let you know the next time I come," said the petite girl as she left with the items that she had purchased.
Shu Yan sighed. She didn't know whether what the girl said was true or not. She wouldn't put too much hope in it for the time being.