CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 379 SOMEONE HELPS, MOVING (1)

The two walked to the front of the shop, and saw a steward from the Zhao family, accompanied by four people, talking to Sister-in-law Chai and Eldest Young Master Chai.

Li Yuzhu listened for a while and understood the reason.

It turned out that this shop belonged to the Zhao family. When Sister-in-law Chai and Eldest Young Master Chai first came to the county to make a living, they were in a difficult situation, and it was Old Mrs. Zhao who helped them.

She gave them a shop to run a business.

However, the rent was considerably cheap. Other shops in the same area charged eight taels a month, but Old Mrs. Zhao only charged them thirty percent of the rent.

Moreover, when their shop first opened, Old Mrs. Zhao even waived their rent for a year.

"Miss Yun, there are still two hundred and thirty taels and four hundred coins of rent owed. When will this be paid? Even between brothers, accounts should be settled clearly, right?" The steward shook the account book and said, "According to others, we should be charging interest. But since you are the granddaughter of the old lady’s family, our madam said, don’t charge interest, just repay the debt."

"What the old lady promised us back then, if Big Cousin-in-law doesn’t believe it, she can ask the old lady." Sister-in-law Chai said angrily.

"The old lady is muddle-headed, how can we ask?" The steward sneered, "Miss Yun, you’ve got a shop from the old lady, and you still want to take advantage of the cheap rent?"

These words were unpleasant to hear.

"I... how am I taking advantage? It’s not like I asked for it." Sister-in-law Chai protested unhappily.

"It’s obvious, Old Mrs. Zhao fell ill and can’t manage affairs, so others took the opportunity to create trouble! Huh!" Li Xing’an sneered quietly.

"The little good that the old lady did will be ruined by these people sooner or later." Li Yuzhu shook her head and walked over.

Eldest Young Master Chai was already advising Sister-in-law Chai, "Just give it to them."

Sister-in-law Chai looked at him, pressed her lips together, and said nothing.

Eldest Young Master Chai said to the Zhao family steward, "Please wait, I will get the money for you."

"Hurry up, Chai Cousin-in-law, I have other things to do." The steward waved his sleeve urgingly.

Eldest Young Master Chai patted Sister-in-law Chai’s arm and went into the back hall.

Before long, he came out with a money pouch and several silver notes.

"Two hundred and thirty taels and four hundred coins, count them." Eldest Young Master Chai placed the money on the table.

The steward put down the account book and counted the silver notes one by one, then counted the loose coins.

He packed the money into his back pouch, "The amount is correct."

Sister-in-law Chai said, "Write a receipt."

"Of course." The steward wrote a receipt.

Sister-in-law Chai picked it up, looked at it carefully, and put it into her sleeve.

"There’s one more thing to remind Miss Yun. Starting tomorrow, the rent for the shop will be fifteen taels a month." The steward took out a contract, "You’ll need to sign a new leasing contract as well."

"What?" Sister-in-law Chai and her husband exclaimed together, "The big restaurant at the street corner in such a good location, with a shop twice as big as ours, only charges fifteen taels a month, and you want fifteen taels here as well?"

"This is a shop in an alley! The shop next to us is only eight taels!" Eldest Young Master Chai said angrily.

The steward smiled, "Eldest Young Master Chai, you don’t have to rent it."

"If we don’t rent, we won’t rent. This shabby place asking for fifteen taels a month, you’re robbing us!" Li Xing’an couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted.

Li Yuzhu also said, "Steward, your price is too harsh. They have rented for years and will continue to do so. On account of being old tenants, can’t you lower the price?"

"The older the tenant, the more our family loses! New tenants I can charge fifteen taels a month, old tenants would have to pay the cheaper old rent. That’s seven taels less a month!" The steward sneered.

"Husband, what should we do?" Sister-in-law Chai was getting upset, "We’re just a small business."

The incense and candle business is seasonal; business is good during festivals and very slow without them, only selling some candles.

In a day without two customers, even the shop rent cannot be earned back.

Items like incense, paper offerings, and joss paper are barely sold.

Eldest Young Master Chai thought for a while, "Let’s move."

Sister-in-law Chai was unsure, "Where do we move to?"

"Isn’t there a new shop? The one we looked at this morning?" Eldest Young Master Chai said.

Sister-in-law Chai came to a realization, wasn’t it? The shop given by Old Mrs. Zhao, the location was much better than here. Not only was the shop facing the street, but the backyard was also larger.

However, after moving, there would be no business from old customers.

Sister-in-law Chai felt a bit unwilling, "But this shop, we’ve been running it for three years."

Li Yuzhu said, "Business relies on the management of people, it’s not just about the location. Back then, this place wasn’t an incense and candle shop, was it?"

Sister-in-law Chai thought about it, right, back then it was just an empty shop, they worked hard day and night, maintaining old customers to improve the business.

Seeing the arrogant face of the Zhao family steward, she bit her lip, "Move!"

The steward said, "It’s best to finish moving today. Moving tomorrow, we will calculate the new rent, at fifteen taels a month, which is five hundred coins a day."

"With so many things, how can we move them all today? It’s already afternoon, can’t you extend it by a day?" Sister-in-law Chai looked at the sky anxiously.

"No way, someone is waiting for this shop." The steward shook his head.

Li Yuzhu said, "Sister-in-law Chai, don’t worry, my third brother and I will come and help you."

Li Xing’an said, "I’ve made a few friends in the county, I’ll call them over in a bit."

Sister-in-law Chai said, "That would be too kind of you."

Eldest Young Master Chai said, "Where are your friends? Ask them to come now, I’ll treat them to dinner."

Li Xing’an waved his hand, "No, no, let’s wait until we’re done moving."

It was already dinner time, and Eldest Young Master Chai invited Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an to dinner again.

Both waved their hands saying they needed to get people to come, time was tight, so they couldn’t have dinner.

Eldest Young Master Chai said, "Alright, once the shop is moved, I’ll treat you to dinner."

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an left and headed to the County Magistrate Mansion.

The Zhao family steward also left with his people.

Sister-in-law Chai looked at the mess of items and sighed with relief, "Luckily we’ve got the shop sent by Aunt, otherwise, where would we go?"

Eldest Young Master Chai patted her shoulder, "This shop now belongs to Great Uncle. I expected it would come to this; he was jealous of Aunt giving you the shop."

Sister-in-law Chai shook her head, "Forget it, let’s move. We’ve gotten a shop and if I try to take advantage of this place, the Zhao family won’t respect us."

.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an returned to the County Magistrate Mansion.

Li Jing was very happy to see his little aunt whom he hadn’t seen for days, pulling her and asking all sorts of questions.

Li Yuzhu really didn’t have time to chat with him now, she praised him and Chai Tianlang for not bothering the County Magistrate’s Wife and praised them for following Li Lixing to study, even learning five new characters.

The compliments made Li Jing even more obedient.

After dinner, Li Yuzhu chatted with the County Magistrate’s Wife for a while, then she and Li Xing’an went to see Lord County Magistrate.

They wanted to borrow the County Magistrate’s people to help Sister-in-law Chai move things.

Even though they were very familiar with the County Magistrate, like real relatives, borrowing personnel for a friend’s matter was still somewhat embarrassing to mention.

Therefore, Li Xing’an said, "Lord County Magistrate, we will pay those who help. One hundred coins per person, plus a meal and drinks."

The County Magistrate smiled and said, "No need for money, they’ve taken salaries from the government office and have had nothing to do recently, besides sunbathing and chatting, or dozing off. If they idle any longer, their legs and skills will waste away. Giving them something to do is just right for them to practice."

Li Yuzhu said, "But this is actually our private affair."

"I am the parent official of the county. It’s a regular thing for parents to help the citizens of the city move house," the County Magistrate said heartily.

Li Yuzhu felt moved in her heart, hoping that the County Magistrate’s career would go smoothly.

Li Xing’an thanked him, "Thank you, sir, for your help."

"It’s getting late, I’ll call people over, you should get things done early," the County Magistrate said.

He called out his assistant, asked the Government Official Qin Hu to find four people.

After explaining the matter, Qin Hu got three carriages.

Li Xing’an and Li Yuzhu took them with their five people and hurried to Sister-in-law Chai’s shop overnight.

With many people and cars, a strong effort emptied Sister-in-law Chai’s shop in an hour.

The facade of the new shop was two feet wider than the old one, although a lot of items were piled up, it didn’t look crowded.

Li Yuzhu, Li Xing’an, and Qin Hu with several government officials helped Sister-in-law Chai and her husband organize the new shop.

Where things should be placed was arranged according to Eldest Young Master Chai’s instructions.

The place was brightly lit and bustling.

People strolling in the evening occasionally stopped to look, asking what kind of shop it was.

Sister-in-law Chai enthusiastically introduced it.

The few who asked only did so casually, uttering "oh oh" a couple of times after Sister-in-law Chai’s introduction and then left.

Not one person came to buy anything.

Sister-in-law Chai was very disappointed, worriedly furrowing her brow.

Li Yuzhu came over to comfort her, "Sister-in-law Chai, actually, the first time I saw the old shop, I wanted to advise you to leave it, it wasn’t suitable for incense and candle business."

Sister-in-law Chai asked puzzled, "Why wasn’t it suitable? Over the past three years, the business in that shop got better day by day."

Li Yuzhu said, "The business was good because Sister-in-law Chai is good at doing business, old customers like Sister-in-law Chai’s character and come again to buy. What I meant was that the location of that shop wasn’t good, selling incense and candles there would eventually cause trouble, it should have been moved earlier."