They signed a three-year contract with the landlord. The landlord wanted rent to be paid once a year for the entire year and Shu Yan's plan to pay shell out the first year's rent for Shu Li, that way it would be less stress on her.
Shu Li adamantly refused to accept that. She spent a long time to convince the landlord to let her pay once a quarter. It cost her 2,300 yuan including 500-yuan deposit.
"Do I need to give anything to Lao Hu? Is a case of cigarette enough?" Shu Li was not aware that Lao Hu charged referral fee for his work.
"Don't worry about it. We are friends. I will take him out to lunch on a later date." Shu Yan decided against telling her about it. She could cover that for her.
This storefront was a noodle shop before and its business was mediocre. Shu Yan had no idea what was going through the original owners' mind. How much business did they expect opening up a noodle shop next to a grade school? The walls were a little bit dirty and need a fresh coat of paint.
"I know someone in the remodeling business. I'll have him send someone over shortly. All you need is a fresh coat of paint and have a couple carpenters build you a couple shelves and you will be good to go," suggested Shu Yan after she had taken a look around the place.
In the back was the kitchen. For certain that Shu Li would have no use of it. They could just separate it with a wooden board and they would be able to cook in the back. They could use the other compartment as storage.
Chen Fei came after just one phone call and immediately promised to help. With Chen Fei's help, they could get started right away and he only charged for the labor for the workers and cost of materials. It cost barely anything. Shu Yan still had her cash register from her old undergarment shop sitting in a storage with no use for it. She had someone brought it over.
"Do you want to have a couple of tables here? Students can sit here and read," said Lin Hui when she swung by on her way to picking up her child.
"Nah. It's not senior high school students. Grade school kids won't have the patience to sit around." Shu Yan shook her head. All they were selling were some extra reading material, notebooks, pens and pencils, etc.
"That's true too." Seeing Shu Li coming down from upstairs, Lin Hui smiled and greeted her. "Hi Second Sister. I am Lin Hui, a friend of Shu Yan's. You can just call me Xiao Hui."
"Hi." Shu Yan's mandarin pronunciation was not very good. She had tried very hard learning from Shu Yan in the last few days but still have a bit of an accent. "Pardon me, I don't even have a chair here."
"It's fine. I sit all day long. It will be good for me to stand for a bit." Lin Hui looked around. "This place is nice."
"Your shop is truly nice. I heard you are making good money." Zhang Huaxiu had told Shu Yan that Lin Hui's shop was bringing in low ten thousand a month for very minimum work and management. How wonderful was that?
Lin Hui smiled and didn't comment on that. They chitchatted for a bit longer and it was time for her to go pick her child up. She said that she would buy her stationaries there in the future.
"Your friend seems nice," said Shu Li all of a sudden.
"She's alright. I have a good friend here. Now we run a company together. I'll introduce her to you later." Shu Yan was ordinary friends with Lin Hui and Wu Xiuyue. They never opened themselves up to Shu Yan; nor did Shu Yan, them.
The second floor was the where the original owners lived. They had taken away with them their clothes and beddings but left behind the bed and the closets. All they need were a good wipe down.
Shu Yan brought over beddings and blankets. "I have too many at home and I am running out of spaces to put them."
Nobody has too many blankets. Shu Li knew that Shu Yan was trying to help her out. She didn't call her out but smiled and said, "Thank you."
All the beddings had been washed and the blankets been sun dried. They only need to make their beds and they would be all set. There was a total of two rooms. One for Shu Li and Pingan and one for Niuniu.
"Pingan is getting to be a big boy. Why don't you give him his own room and share a room with Niuniu?" Shu Yan couldn't help but suggest.
"Pingan is weak and had always been sharing a bed with me. Besides, many children in town sleep with their moms and dads till they are in their teens. What's the problem?" Shu Li was surprised when she heard what Shu Yan had said. All the kids around her had always been sleeping with their parents. She never realized that that was an issue.
Never mind about the town, even in their village, many families had 4 ~ 5 members in the same house and some poorer family even upward of 10 in one house. Nobody ever said that was bad.
"That is because their situation doesn't allow for it. If you are in a better situation, you can afford to make better decisions. Pingan might be feeble but he is a boy and should be more independent. You don't want him to always rely on you, do you? We will all get old one day and can't take care of them for life. Not to mention that he will get married and have his own children one day."
Shu Li went silent for a little while and, gritting her teeth, decided to listen to Shu Yan's advice and have Pingan has his own room and Niuniu to share one room with her.
Their place took only one day to get ready. Shu Li insisted on moving there with her children that very night no matter what Shu Yan said to her.
"I have caused you enough troubles. We should move now that our own place is ready." Even if they were real sisters, she shouldn't continue to trouble Shu Yan. Shu Yan had already done enough for her.
The remodeling of the front half of the shop began the next day. All they needed was a fresh coat of paint and add a few shelves. Chen Fei that that would take at most a week. Shu Yan looked around front and back and looked for a sign shop to have a sign made. Shu Li came up with the name of the shop on her own. She named it Happy Stationary.
She said because going to school is a happy event and being able to buy extra reading books and exercise sets would be even happier. Shu Yan went silent for a little while after she heard Shu Li's reasoning. She really wanted to tell her that most students here were really not that happy.
With Chen Fei taking care of the remodeling, the next biggest issue that they need to resolve was where to get inventory from. Feng Zeyu happened to have someone working as a security guard for a publisher who had their own print shop. They would be able to get inventory at a good price. With Feng Zeyu as their guarantor, they could only pay half upfront and pay the rest after the inventory had been sold. That was another big saving.
As for stationary, there were specific markets for that. Shu Yan asked around and brought Shu Li there once. Shu Li would be able to do that on her own going forward.
The store opened up only 20 days after Shu Li's arrival to City Nan. That was indeed a record speed.
On the first day, Shu Yan, Feng Zeyu, and even Hu Ruixue sent over flower baskets. Shu Li bought some fire crackers herself and that was the stationary's grand opening. Their sales topped 600 yuan on the first day. Even though the notebooks and stationaries only went for a penny or two each but they were very profitable. 600 yuan gross still provided them with 300 yuan net profit.
Looking at the change, Shu Li could not believe that she could make more than what Lu Qingwei make in half a month in just a day.
"Am I dreaming, Little Sister?" Shu Li pinched herself. "Ow. I am not dreaming. 300 yuan a day? That mean...... 9,000 yuan a month..... Oh mi, I am going to get rich?"
Shu Yan chuckled and said, "You made a lot in day one because of promotional activities. You won't be able to make this every day. Also, business will be slow during summer and winter vacation time. Just be prepared."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Shu Li smacked herself over her head and finally recovered from all the money. "Don't worry. I am just in shock. I understand. I will be happy with 100 yuan a day from now on."
"Well, you can aim a little higher than that," said Shu Yan with a smile. "Take care of this shop first and you will be able to open up branch stores later. All you will need to do is to visit the store daily and collect the money. Save up more money and you will feel much better once you are able to buy your own place in City Nan."
"Right. I do need to buy a house. Pingan is doing much better after using the herbal medicines prescribed by the herbal doctor. I feel so much more relieved now." Shu Li smiled happily. "Now I can focus more on other things. I will save up a lot of money and send my children to college then buy a house so I can have a home."
Everyone says that money gives men courage. But that applies to women just the same. Only when Shu Li realized that she was capable of making money when she had the confidence to say such a thing.
Over at City Xi, Old Mr. Ye and Old Mrs. Ye rushed over to town and asked around for Shu Jianyang's place. They didn't care if someone was home and kept on knocking on his door.
"Who are you looking for?" Shu Jianyang's door didn't open; his neighbor's one did.
"We are looking the owner of this place." Old Mrs. Ye saw the neighbor opening up the door and said in tear, "The family that lives here is the brother of my former daughter-in-little assistant. My daughter-in-law was such an awful person! She took the children with her during the divorce and wouldn't let me see them again. It had been over a year and I have no idea where my grandson and granddaughter are, if they had grown any or lost any weight. My grandchildren! This is killing me!"
The neighbor knew Shu Jianyang and they had an amicable relationship. They felt a little dubious when they heard the old lady's words.
"Knocking on the door isn't going to get you anywhere. He's not home." The neighbor figured that they would just take care of the situation for now.
"Where is his company then? I'll go look for him there. I mean no harm. I only want to see my grandchildren."
The neighbor wanted to see they didn't know and had them come back at a different time. Another woman walked out from across from them and gave old Mr. and Mrs. Ye the address of Jianyang's company with a pitiful look.
When they reached the company, the receptionists wouldn't let them in. Old Mrs. Ye dropped onto the floor, slapped her thighs, and cried, "Shu Yan, you come out. Even if you are divorced, you can't not let me see my grandson and granddaughter. They are my precious! It had been over a year and grandma misses you! Have you lost any weight? Grandma had been taking care of you since you were born and you must be crying for me without me around. Aiya, my precious! My grandson and granddaughter!"
"Boss Shu, an old couple came looking for you downstairs. They said they were your sister's former father- and mother-in-law and demanded to see you. The old lady is making a scene downstairs."
Ye Zhiqiang's parents? Shu Jianyang raised his brows some. "Okay, I get it."
Shu Jianyang was taken aback a little when he saw Ye Zhiqiang's parents. This couple had been very spry since Ye Zhiqiang had become successful. They looked at least 10 years older now.
"Uncle, Aunty, what are you two doing?" Shu Jianyang glanced over at the people nearby. "And what are you all doing just watching an old lady sitting on the ground? Hurry up and help her get up and get a seat."
Old Mrs. Ye stopped fussing now that Shu Jianyang had showed up. She was a little intimidated by Shu Jianyang. She didn't want to push him so far that he could come to their house at night and had her and her husband killed.
"I heard that Shu Yan had come back. Where are my grandson and granddaughter? Where are they? She can't not let me see my grandson and granddaughter even if they are divorced. That isn't how things work," said Old Mrs. Ye urgently.
"Aunty, you knew what happened. It was Ye Zhiqiang who didn't want to keep the children. You might not believe me but I have them in writing. Why don't you go ask Ye Zhiqiang. He said to not have the kids look for him in the future. So I have no idea why you are fussing here with me. It's Ye Zhiqiang that you need to fuss with."
"He might have agreed but I didn't. You are a bunch of robbers. You had your brother came to take the children away and robbed Tianbao from me." Old Mrs. Ye's heart ached when she thought about it. She never would have expected that the honest and docile Shu Yan would have changed so much all of a sudden.
"Old Mrs. Ye, you need evidences to make such an accusation. When did we cheat you? What was wrong with the children's mother asking her brother to pick up her children for her when she missed them?" Shu Jianyang stretched out her hands. "I am done talking with you. Go and talk go Ye Zhiqiang. If you keep making a scene here, I am going to call the cops."
Ye Zhiqiang truly had no idea that his parents were coming here today. He regretted a lot right now that he let Shu Yan had their son.
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Translator's rambling:
This is so aggravating. It wasn't even about them missing the children (because they didn't care about Jingjing at all). It was all about the son. That is so messed up!