Su Qingmei turned around and went to the kitchen to find Aunt Zhou.

She had more important things to do, and it didn’t make sense for her to be the one to fulfill the filial piety that Wu, the daughter-in-law, should show. As a granddaughter-in-law, she naturally had her share of filial piety, and being filial didn’t necessarily mean making two sets of clothes herself.

Su Qingyu brought a few bolts of clothes to find Aunt Zhou and asked her to help make two sets of clothes for Lu Bocheng’s grandparents.

Aunt Zhou was very happy that there was work to do at home again.

The last time she took a job from Su Qingyu, within a few days, her mother-in-law and daughter earned one or two taels of wages. She also kept the scraps of cloth and pieced them together to make a small coat for her youngest son and a few pairs of soles.

Su Shi also taught her youngest son how to make a ball with the hard feathers of a white goose and how to hit it with a racket. The youngest son was so happy that he played with his friends in the alley every day, hitting the ball with each other and having a lot of fun. A bunch of other children gathered around to watch and they had a great time every day.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I will tell them to do a good job and make sure they do the work carefully. Don’t worry.”

Su Qing’an was very confident in their work. After giving her instructions, she left.

She had inspected several main streets a few days ago and had an idea of ​​what was going on. Today she really went to a broker’s place and explained her purpose.

“My lady, you want to find a big shop, with a big backyard, a well, and rooms for people to live in. It doesn’t matter if it’s new, old, or decorated. Is that right?”

Su Qingyu nodded.

The other person glanced at her and said, “Madam, don’t you want a property in the four main streets?”

“Yes.”

Although the main street had a large flow of people, the rent was also expensive, and the business she wanted to do was special and did not need to be on the main street. She wanted a concentrated residential area with a large storefront and a large backyard.

The middle-aged broker, whose surname was Li, lived in the town. He went over Su Qingyu’s request in his mind, flipped through the book in his hand, and after a long while, he said, “There are a few properties. I wonder if you want to buy or rent them?”

“What is the rent price and what is the purchase price?”

Broker Li looked at Su Qingyu and saw that she looked calm, but he was not sure where she came from. He did not expect that such a young woman with plain clothes could afford to buy a shop.

He immediately did not dare to underestimate it, so he said, “Based on your requirements, such a shop would cost at least two hundred taels. If you rent it, it would cost at least five taels per month. If you rent it, it would start from half a year, payable quarterly, and require a one-month deposit.”

Pay once every three months, with three months’ rent as a deposit? That meant at least twenty taels must be paid upfront. Then she still needed to stock up on goods, renovate, and hire people. Even with generous planning, the silver she had on hand would only last for two months in the worst-case scenario.

Seeing that Su Qingyu remained silent, Broker Li felt that the deal might not be successful.

Whose wife was this? She came here and said she wanted to rent a shop. Business was not that easy. The monthly rent was five taels, so the monthly turnover must at least double. Add the labor, and you had to make at least six taels to avoid losses. It was really hard to do business without strength and background.

He thought the lady was going to give up, but he heard her say, “Then Broker Li, take me to have a look.”

Ah, do you really want to rent this?

Seeing that he didn’t move, Su Qingyu looked at him questioningly.

“Ah, I’ll take Madam there right away. Wait for me to get the key.”

“Good.”

After he got the key and they walked onto the road, Su Qingyu realized that his legs were a little…

“Oh, don’t mind it, my lady. I was born with short legs. But it doesn’t affect my walking, and it doesn’t affect my ability to show you around the shop.”

Su Qingyu shook her head: “I didn’t mean that.”

Broker Li smiled.

Su Qingyu was afraid that he would misunderstand her, so she smiled and said, “In fact, you are lucky to be like this. After all, you can live in peace. I just sent my man away yesterday. He was conscripted into the army, but he was reluctant to leave home. He even said that he wished his father would break his leg so that he wouldn’t have to go.”

Li Yaren ^[1]broker laughed and said, “That’s true. Although my legs can’t do anything else, they have saved me from being a human target on the battlefield. In this sense, I’m lucky.” After saying that, he laughed.

The two of them were finally not so strangers anymore and they chatted as they walked.

“Oh, so you are the new wife of Bocheng?”

“Ah, did you know him, brother?”

“I know about him, of course, I don’t know him! We’re from the same town. He’s very famous in our town. He loved fighting since he was a kid. No kid in the nearby alleys could beat him. When adults brought their kids to complain, his dad would hit him with a stick, and he would turn around and run away, running really fast. The next day, he would beat the kid who complained until he cried. Then someone complained again, and his dad would beat him again, and he would beat the kid who complained again. It’s so funny.”

Su Qingmei stroked her forehead.

This guy must have been stupid.

Li Yaren looked at her, stopped laughing, and said, “Bo Cheng is a loyal kid. He couldn’t stand older kids bullying younger kids, so he started beating them. Later, those who fought with him became his friends. You can often see them walking on the street. There must be just a few people in this town who don’t know him.”

Su Qingyu listened quietly, wondering if Li Yaren had some special relationship with that guy, as he kept saying good things about him along the way.

“Bocheng’s mother died a long time ago, and his father didn’t care much about him. Now that you’re married, you should live a good life with him. Although swords and arrows are blind on the battlefield, if he knew that people were waiting for him at home, he would definitely try his best to survive.”

“Yeah.” Su Qingyu felt sad when he said that. If a person had no attachment to the world, he would either become a monk or commit suicide.

She hoped that Lu Bocheng could also have something to cherish and live a good life.

The two of them talked as they walked, and they didn’t feel bored on the road anymore.

Li Yaren’s business ability was outstanding. He knew every house and shop in the streets and alleys. Which ones were for rent and which ones were for sale, what were the prices, what information did the sellers have, and why did they sell or rent, all the information was stored in his mind.

He even knew which villages and towns near the town had land for rent.

Su Qingmei obtained a lot of information.

She thought that when she made money in the future, she would ask him to take her to buy some land, and then she would also become a person with a house, a shop, and land.

She looked at several places in a row because Su Qingyu was not particular about the conditions inside and outside the shop. It did not matter if there was nothing inside. She was not running a food shop or a wine shop, so she did not want tables and chairs. It would be best if it was an empty house so that she could renovate it.

Soon Li Yaren took her to choose a shop.

On the northeast street of the inner city, there were many residents and the streets were fairly spacious. Most of the shops were houses with people living in the back and shops in front. This place was not far from the town entrance.

The shop was spacious and had high ceilings. There was a well, a warehouse, and a stable for cattle and horses in the backyard, and the left and right-wing rooms were suitable for people to live in. The shop had just been renovated, so she didn’t need to do much.

Su Qingyu was very satisfied after seeing it and decided on it on the spot.

Li Yaren was also very happy, so he said that he would help her make an appointment with the landlord first, and asked her to come back early tomorrow morning with the silver to sign the deed and pay the money.

Su Qingyu agreed, paid the brokerage fee, said goodbye to him, and went to the vegetable market for a long time before returning to the Lu family.

She did not go out in the afternoon, but stayed in the house writing and drawing, thinking about what she needed to do to open the shop and the money she would have to spend.

At Shen ^[2] 3 PM to 5 PM, Aunt Zhou came to call her and said that her father was looking for her.

Dad? Didn’t she see him yesterday? Why was he here today?

(End of this chapter)