Chapter 504: Rent a Shop

It doesn't matter if he doesn't understand; Ye Cheng doesn't need him to understand, just follow orders.

The two hadn't finished their meal when the boss called the landlady over—a slightly plump auntie, Qi Dama.

"Qi Dama, they want to rent a shop, and I'm the one who first introduced your shop to them." the boss said quietly to Qi Dama.

Qi Dama understood immediately and promptly agreed, "Don't worry, if it works out I'll give you a big red envelope."

Ye Cheng also finished eating, came over to say hello, then followed Qi Dama to look at the shop.

"Young man, you're renting the shop to run it yourself, right? Let's make this clear first—my shop can't be sublet." On the way, Qi Dama began laying out the rules.

"Auntie, rest assured, we'll sell our own goods and definitely won't sublet."

These landlords are afraid they'll take the property and become second‑hand landlords, profiting from the difference.

The landlady's shop isn't far; after leaving the small eatery and walking along the street for less than 100 meters, we arrived.

Although it's not far, this is already the end of the alley, with far fewer pedestrians, so it's no wonder business is poor.

"Well, this one—let me tell you, the previous tenant renovated this shop, so you save on renovation costs."

The landlady said, stepping on the roll‑up door with one foot, unlocked it with a key, then pulled it up with a clatter.

A shop of over twenty square meters appeared in Ye Cheng's view, the floor still bearing many water stains, looking dirty.

However, the walls are relatively fresh, even specially painted; although the floor is dirty, it's only surface grime, and anti‑slip tiles have been laid.

At the back of the shop are two large glass water tanks against the wall, with the pipes already connected.

The landlady stepped over carefully, turned on the faucet, and a stream of clear water flowed out.

"Look, this water is ready to use; you can bring your goods and sell them right away—no extra preparation needed."

The landlady proudly introduced it.

Ye Cheng didn't interject, examined it himself, and was generally satisfied; plus, moving in with just his bags would be very convenient.

He glanced outside without changing expression, then said, "Auntie, there's hardly anyone out here—having goods but no buyers won't work."

Qi Dama's eyes flickered, then she calmly said, "How could there be no one? It's afternoon, so of course there are fewer people; if you came in the morning, there would definitely be more."

Ye Cheng pointed to the three vacant shops next door, shook his head, and said, "If there were people, those neighboring shops wouldn't all be empty, would they?"

Qi Dama awkwardly rubbed her hands, "Young man, you're clearly experienced—I won't lie to you. Foot traffic here is a bit low, but my rent is cheap; over there they have more people but high rent.

Let me tell you, in business the most important thing is to control costs; when costs are low, you have a chance to make money, right?"

Ye Cheng glanced at the landlady; she's quite eloquent, probably because this shop is really hard to rent, so she's had to develop that skill.

Duan Yong discreetly nudged Ye Cheng and lowered his voice, "Brother Cheng, it's too remote—definitely won't work."

Although his voice was low, the landlady still heard it, and she looked at the two displeasedly and said,

"Young man, I've laid it all out for you—if you're still going to be picky, just forget it."

Ye Cheng signaled Duan Yong to stay quiet, turned to the landlady, and asked, "Auntie, how much do you plan to charge per month for this shop?"

Seeing Ye Cheng ask about the price, the landlady immediately perked up, "Those places over there go for over 2000, I'll charge you 1500—you'll save 700 each month, which is 8400 a year; just the savings alone are a lot, right?"

Ye Cheng almost laughed when he heard that.

"Damn, hearing you say that makes it feel like you'd earn 8400 without doing anything."

Ye Cheng shook his head, "Auntie, your price lacks sincerity; if you insist on that, I'll just walk away—there are plenty of other vacant shops nearby besides yours."

The landlady's expression stalled, she looked at Ye Cheng with some difficulty, then stomped her foot as if making a big decision, "Well then, 1200—this is the cheapest on the street."

Ye Cheng didn't even look up, just said flatly, "Auntie, before looking at your shop, we actually asked about prices for other shops on this street."

Duan Yong glared at Ye Cheng, "Damn, you're lying with your eyes open—when did we ever look at any shops?"

As soon as she heard Ye Cheng say he'd looked at shops, the landlady grew nervous, quickly changed her tone, "Oh dear, young man, you're something—if you'd looked, you should have said so earlier; now name your price."

Ye Cheng wasn't polite either, he held up five fingers and said calmly, "500 per month."

"What? 500? You're not joking, are you?" the landlady laughed in anger.

Ye Cheng smiled, unhurried, and said, "You haven't had anyone come look here in a while, right? Renting it gets you 500, not renting gets you nothing—think about it? If not, we'll just go elsewhere."

With so many vacant shops around, Ye Cheng truly isn't afraid to switch; he liked this one because it's already renovated, saving hassle.

"How about 1100?" the landlady said, gritting her teeth.

Ye Cheng gave a small smile, "600."

"1000!" the landlady's voice was nearly frantic—she'd dropped from 1500 to 1000, a 50% cut.

"700—any more and I'll look elsewhere," Ye Cheng said unequivocally.

The landlady's expression turned ugly, a flicker of hesitation crossing her eyes—she had been charging 1100 before, now dropping to 700 is hard to accept.

However, the market really is bad right now, making it somewhat difficult to rent out.

She hesitated for a long time, then finally relented, "700 is fine, but you have to sign a three‑year lease."

"Sure, I'll take three years."

Three years suits Ye Cheng just fine; he was still worried the landlady might raise the rent after a year.

Seeing Ye Cheng willing to rent for three years, the landlady's face improved considerably, "Then you need to pay in full upfront."

"Okay, I've brought the money—bring the contract over, we'll sign and pay."

Seeing Ye Cheng so straightforward, willing to pay three years' rent in one go—such a gullible guy isn't common—the landlady hurried back to fetch the contract.

While the landlady was away, Ye Cheng instructed Duan Yong, "Tomorrow daytime, bring Feiyang over and have him stand guard here."

Feiyang has been to the city before, and from his experience in multi‑level marketing, his eloquence isn't bad either—he's well suited to selling goods.

"Sure, Brother Cheng, how much should we bring tomorrow? Sell at ten bucks a jin?"

"No." Ye Cheng gave a slight smile, looking at Duan Yong, "We'll sell at fifteen per jin."

"What? Fifteen? That's expensive!" Duan Yong exclaimed in shock.

Ye Cheng shook his head, "Ah Yong, it's not expensive—we're the only ones in the whole city, and besides."

He paused, then curled the corner of his mouth into a mysterious smile, "We'll only sell 200 jin a day—not one jin more."