Chapter 154

154. Chapter 154: Buying a Shop

The mother and daughter found the teahouse mentioned by Shopkeeper Zhou. It was a two-story commercial shop with a piece of paper posted at the main entrance, on which four words were written: Shop for Sale.

The teahouse business was cold, and there were few people.

Jiang Xiaoxiao followed her mother into the teahouse, and as soon as she entered, she looked around.

The lobby on the first floor of the teahouse was quite large, with floor tiles on the ground, tables and chairs arranged very neatly, and it was also cleaned very cleanly inside and out.

Except for a few guests, there was only a waiter wiping the table.

The shopkeeper sat in the counter, bored and flicking the abacus. Seeing guests coming, he didn't even lift his eyelids, and shouted faintly: "Waiter, serve tea."

"Coming!"

The waiter was full of energy, put the rag for wiping the table on his shoulder, and greeted enthusiastically: "Two guests, what do you want to eat? We have Longya Tea, Pu'er, Wu Guo tea here..."

Halfway through the speech, he saw Jiang Xiaoxiao, who was short, looking at himself without blinking, and added with a smile: "We also have green bean porridge, sour plum soup, Lu pear syrup, papaya juice, and raw pickled papaya... Madam, what do you want to drink?"

What he added later were all soups and juices that children love to drink or are suitable for children.

Jiang Xiaoxiao praised in her heart. This waiter was quite clever and sensible. If this commercial shop could really be bought, this person could be kept to help.

"Two bowls of sour plum soup." Jiang Wei said faintly.

"Alright!"

The waiter went down to prepare.

Jiang Wei also scanned the layout and appearance of the teahouse, then led Jiang Xiaoxiao to the counter and asked straight to the point: "Shopkeeper, how do you plan to sell this commercial shop?"

Hearing the sound, the shopkeeper finally looked at the person coming.

But when seeing the dress of the mother and daughter, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

Jiang Xiaoxiao frowned imperceptibly. Was this shopkeeper going to stage a scene of looking down on people?

"Sigh, this Madam, you also saw that my teahouse business is poor and I really can't do it anymore. If you know which big tycoon is interested in my shop, you can help introduce it."

Although the shopkeeper's words contained disappointment, his attitude was okay, and the scene Jiang Xiaoxiao imagined didn't happen.

"How much do you plan to sell this shop for, shopkeeper, why don't you make a price." Jiang Wei said.

The shopkeeper smiled and didn't think the woman in front of him could afford it, so he said truthfully: "To tell you the truth, I originally asked for one thousand five hundred taels for this shop. A few people came, but they ran away as soon as they heard the price. Now I don't dare to ask for a price indiscriminately. If you can find someone to buy it, one price, one thousand taels, but only for one-time payment."

One thousand taels?

Jiang Xiaoxiao, who heard this price, couldn't help but scan the entire teahouse again. To be honest, asking for one thousand taels for this two-story commercial shop was already much lower than the market price.

An ordinary one-story commercial shop is about eight hundred taels, and a two-story commercial shop, in such a good location, can't be bought at all with one thousand taels of silver.

This shopkeeper was probably the same as what Shopkeeper Zhou said, in a hurry to sell the shop, so the price was pressed so low.

Her family had earned one thousand taels of silver from the ice cream and snow cake business in the past few months, but building the house also cost a lot of money, and they could barely scrape together eight hundred taels of silver, so it was really difficult to take down this commercial shop in one breath...

She was still thinking about where to scrape this money from, when Jiang Wei beside her took out the five one-hundred-tael silver notes from her sleeve, and then took out dozens of golden gold bars from the other sleeve.

"Then this price, let's sign the contract."

Jiang Xiaoxiao was stunned, looked at the gold bars on the counter carefully twice, and the more she looked, the more familiar she felt, and only then did she remember that this was the gold bar in the treasure chest they had discovered on the mountain earlier!

She almost forgot that there were countless gold, silver, jewelry, gold bars, and jade in this treasure chest. Just taking out a few pieces was a large sum of money.

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, looked at the gold bars on the counter in disbelief, and it took a long time before he stammered: "... Okay, okay, sign, sign the contract."

He found paper and pen in a hurry and began to draft the document.

In this era, buying and selling houses or shops requires signing a contract first, and then it is the transfer of the house after both parties confirm that there is no problem, and finally going to the County Yamen to print the contract.

Signing the contract is to draft a sales contract document, which is the so-called contract. Printing the contract is to go to the County Yamen, submit the contract for approval and stamping, and make a copy for preservation and filing. Finally, this transaction is completed and protected by the laws of this era.

Generally, in big places like the capital, if both parties want to save trouble, these procedures only need to be handed over to the tooth house. They are both guarantors and intermediaries, and can also represent both parties to submit the contract transfer document to the County Yamen for filing.

Small places like Yong'an Town naturally don't have such things as tooth houses. After signing and pressing, they have to go to the County Yamen in person.

When the group returned to the teahouse again, it was already close to the Shen hour.

The guests in the teahouse had already left, leaving only the shop assistant cleaning the table and cleaning up.

The shopkeeper held the brand-new contract and silver notes in his hand, changed his depressed attitude, and enthusiastically led the mother and daughter to the backyard of the commercial shop, introducing: "I renovated this backyard not long ago. I usually use it as a warehouse and a temporary small residence. The furniture inside is semi-new and can be moved in directly..."

Jiang Xiaoxiao followed her mother and looked around. This backyard was very spacious, the ground was also paved with floor tiles, and there were a few trees planted in front of the house. The environment was good.

The doors and windows of the house were painted with new paint, just as the shopkeeper said, it had been renovated not long ago.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was more and more satisfied as she looked, and felt more and more that this one thousand taels of silver was really worth it.

"... Sigh, this shop has followed me for many years. If it weren't for something urgent to leave, I wouldn't sell this shop cheaply." Speaking of the end, the shopkeeper couldn't help but sigh, "Oh, by the way, the waiter in the teahouse is surnamed Lin and has worked here for many years. He is very diligent. If you plan to open a shop, you might as well keep him to help."

"Okay." Jiang Wei nodded, thinking that she was quite satisfied with the waiter surnamed Lin.

After the shopkeeper took people to empty the teahouse and left, the mother and daughter also prepared to leave the town and return to the village.

Although the shop was bought, there was still some time before the official opening. After all, the family's soap had not yet started mass production.

Moreover, this shop also needed to be renovated, and the plaque outside the shop also needed to be changed, but these would have to wait until later.

After locking the doors and windows, the mother and daughter just walked out of the shop when a carriage drove past quickly, and the wind brought up the curtain of the carriage.

Through the corner of the lifted curtain, Jiang Xiaoxiao saw a familiar face.

She was stunned, and her gaze followed the carriage, stopping on the opposite street. (End of chapter)