Su Qingyu saw that the old man was a little angry and hurried to comfort him.

“Uncle, I am really satisfied with your shop and I really want to rent it! I have been planning how to decorate it. I had enough money yesterday, but I lent it to a sick relative last night.”

Seeing the old man’s expression of disbelief, she had to tell the truth.

“You know there are many stone quarries in the neighboring county? My relative worked in a quarry and was crushed by a stone. His leg was broken. The owner of the quarry refused to compensate him and said he broke the stone. The family spent a lot of money to treat him. We even sold several acres of land but it was still not enough. My uncle was reluctant to pay and said he would not treat him and would rather go home and wait for death. Do you think we can just watch it?”

Seeing that he had a kind face, Su Qingyu bet that he was an empathetic person, so she decided to tell him the truth and play up his sympathy.

The old man was indeed touched.

“I know the quarry you’re talking about in the neighboring county. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about accidents in quarries, injuries, and deaths. But the quarry owners have connections behind them. A large portion of the tax revenue for the entire neighboring county comes from the quarry, and the political achievements of each county magistrate depend on the quarry, so they turn a blind eye. We ordinary people can’t do anything to twist their thighs.”

“That’s right. My dàgū was married to that place by my step-grandmother. She doesn’t have an acre of land there and makes a living by working in a quarry. Her eldest son went to the army and his wife abandoned him and ran away. My dàgū has never enjoyed happiness in her life. If my dà gūfù is gone, how will she live?”

After hearing this, Uncle Xie sighed.

When Li Ya heard this was the reason, he hurriedly spoke well of Su Qing’an: “She just married into our town. She is the eldest daughter-in-law of Lu Ji in South Street. His eldest son is called Lu Bocheng. You know him, he was just conscripted the day before yesterday…”

The old man came back from another county to retire. He didn’t know Lu Bocheng, but he knew Lu Ji on South Street.

“Then why don’t you borrow some from your father-in-law?” The family has a shop, how could they not have twenty taels of silver?

Su Qingyu didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

The Li Ya looked at her and said to Mr. Xie, “Uncle, you don’t know, her mother-in-law is not her biological mother-in-law.”

“Oh.” Uncle Xie looked as if he had realized what was going on.

Su Qingyu smiled at him.

The other party looked at Su Qingyu, was silent for a moment, and said: “I can rent the shop to you, but I am not running a charity, I can’t refuse the rent.”

Su Qingyu was delighted and said, “You misunderstood. I’m not saying that I won’t pay you the rent. That would be a shame. I just want you to postpone the rent for two months. Then I will not only pay you the principal but also two taels of interest.”

Su Qingyu originally wanted to say one month, but she didn’t know if she could earn that much money in one month.

“Oh? Are you so sure that your shop will make money in just two months? You need to earn at least fifteen taels a month to cover your labor costs, cash flow, and turnover since you have twenty-two taels invested.”

Upon hearing this, Su Qingyu quickly complimented him, “Wow, I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable about business.”

The old man snorted arrogantly: “Why do you think I bought that shop? When I bought a shop in Fengting Town to make a fortune, your father might not have been born yet, let alone you.”

Su Qingyu never dared to look down on anyone. After hearing what he said, she quickly complimented him a few more times, making him feel extremely comfortable.

“You say it nicely, but I don’t know if you can make the money. If you can’t make the money in two months, you’ll throw up your hands and say there’s nothing I can do, and I can’t do anything to you, right?”

Su Qingyu glanced at Li Yaren, and Li Yaren understood the plea for help in her eyes.

He turned around and said to Mr. Xie, “Others may not be reassured, but you should be. Her Lu family’s shop is still there. It has been open for more than ten years. I think it will not move in the next few years. Besides, her husband’s family has a hundred acres of land in the countryside. Even if he wants to sell it, he will entrust it to my dental clinic.”

Although Su Qingyu didn’t want to get involved with the Lu family, she would not refuse if she could borrow the Lu family’s power.

She quickly agreed, “That’s right. Before my husband left, he transferred his grandparents’ land to me, saying that if he didn’t come back, I could take the land with me and remarry. If I can’t pay you back then, I can sell a few acres of land to pay you back.”

When the old man heard this, he praised it and gave a thumbs up: “This is your man.”

Su Qingyu smiled and said, “Well, he’s not bad.”

The Li Yaren also nodded: “We all know her husband. She will live under the watchful eyes of her stepmother-in-law in the future, so she has to make plans for herself.”

The old man fell silent, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Su Qingyu glanced at him and said, “How about I pledge the land deed to Li Yaren? If I can’t pay you back, Li Yaren will help me sell a few acres of land to pay you back.”

Mr. Xie looked up at her and said, “That’s not necessary. I’ll trust you this time. Anyway, your shop is right there, and your home is in town, so I’m not afraid that you’ll run away.”

In the end, both parties signed the agreement, and Uncle Xie left with only the agreement, without taking any money. Su Qingyu felt very sorry and kept seeing him off for a long way.

Li Yaren also said that she met a good person.

Su Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. She was lucky.

She had planned to use the land deed as collateral to borrow some money if it didn’t work out. She was confident that she could pay it back.

But his grandfather’s land was something that Lu Bocheng cared about, and she didn’t want to move it until the last minute.

Most of the problem was solved. Su Qingyu took the key and went to the shop. She looked inside and out, then found a construction team in the town that built houses and asked them to help with some minor renovations.

Because it didn’t require much work, the other party said it would only cost 500 coins a day to fix it. Su Qingyu entrusted the shop to them.

Next, she wanted to make some shelves, so she thought of Grandpa Su’s family in the village.

But she had heard from her father that Uncle Su’s family was overwhelmed with orders, and the orders from the village alone had to wait in line for a long time. After thinking about it, she found a carpenter’s shop in the town, drew a blueprint, asked them to help make a few rows of shelves, and asked for two beds to be placed in the wing room.

After finishing all this, Su Qing’an walked home, thinking about where to find help as she walked.

She definitely couldn’t handle running a store by herself.

There must be at least two people in the store, one to watch the store, one to work in the backyard, and one to run outside to receive the goods.

So at least two people are needed.

When Su Qingyu first thought about opening a store, she thought of her sister. No one else could be more reassuring than her sister.

Moreover, her jiěfū’s situation was unknown, he left her sister and Yaya to live in that house to look after his uncle and aunt, which made her feel distressed. They were not her biological parents-in-law, and her sister not only had to take care of Yaya but also had to do housework inside and outside. She was in her early twenties and looked haggard.

In addition to the staff in the store, there was also the issue of supply.

There were many things she couldn’t think about. If she did, she would get anxious and feel like a bunch of things were squeezed together and she couldn’t figure them out.

It was not easy to make some money.

Su Qingyu had just arrived home and was drawing for a while when her father came again.

(End of this chapter)