Chapter 13: Looking for a Storefront

Day Two.

Shen Yu got up at seven o'clock and took a pot of preserved egg and lean meat porridge with baby cabbage and ham directly from the finished goods warehouse.

This pot of porridge contained baby cabbage, preserved eggs, lean meat, and ham; it was highly nutritious, and the taste was fresh and sweet.

Shen Yu loved this porridge and had prepared quite a lot to keep in the warehouse. Whenever she wanted some, she would simply scoop out a large bowl.

When the three children eventually tasted this porridge, they also expressed to her how much they liked it and said they wanted to eat it again in the future.

Shen Yu gave a light laugh. "Alright, Mom will make it for you again."

It seemed their family's tastes were quite similar, which was for the best; it would save her a lot of trouble. If she had encountered picky eaters, she would have had real cause for worry.

Raising children was truly no easy task. Not only did one have to worry about their eating, drinking, sleeping, and excretion, as well as their clothing, food, housing, and transportation, but one also had to manage their studies and growth, and later worry about them getting married and having children... As long as parents wanted to care, there would be endless things to worry about.

As for her three little ones, from what she could see so far, they were already very easy to raise and very obedient children.

Yet, even after a busy day, she still felt exhausted. If she were to encounter those rebellious children who came to collect "debts," she feared she might suffer a brain hemorrhage from anger.

Fortunately, fortunately, her children were all good kids! She hoped they would stay this way forever and never change!

After the family of four finished breakfast, Shi Zichen put on his backpack and went to find his two cousins to go to school together.

After tidying up the house, Shen Yu took little Kang Kang and little Shu Shu out, intending to look for a shop around the Old Street area. She wondered if anyone near the Old Street or the school area had houses for sale. The commercial street in their village likely wouldn't be built so soon, so Shen Yu could only try to find a shop in the Old Street area first. If she couldn't find a shop, she would have to continue driving around as a mobile vendor. That would be too much hard work, and the money earned wouldn't be much.

She calculated yesterday's earnings. After working the entire day and secretly restocking many times, the customers had barely stopped coming. She was so tired her limbs felt like they were cramping, yet the total turnover was only about three hundred yuan.

In this era, a daily turnover of over three hundred yuan was not considered small. However, she wanted to buy land and build buildings to become a landlord in the future, which wasn't something that could be accomplished with just a few thousand yuan; it required a large sum of capital.

She held such high-quality sources of goods in her hands. If she had a storefront, hired two or three employees for sales, and extended her operating hours, she could sell at least a thousand yuan worth of goods in a day. If she opened several more chain stores, her wealth could accumulate very quickly. That was the correct and fastest path to getting rich.

However, she couldn't rush this; she could only take it one step at a time.

Little Kang Kang and little Shu Shu were very happy to follow their mother out for a stroll today, chattering away to Shen Yu along the way. Little Shu Shu was like a curious baby, asking her all the way: "Mom, what is this?"

"This is a little rabbit."

"Mom, what is that?"

"That is a watermelon. It's an edible fruit, and it tastes sweet."

Shen Yu patiently taught her, helping her recognize these unfamiliar or novel things.

Looking longingly at the large watermelon, little Kang Kang looked up at Shen Yu and asked, "Mom, I want to eat watermelon, can I?"

Shen Yu smiled back at him, "Yes, we'll eat it when we get home, okay?"

Upon hearing that they would eat it at home, little Kang Kang immediately grinned, "Okay, okay~"

In the Old Street area, many shops were already open, including the original state-run restaurants, as well as private snack stalls, restaurants, hardware stores, clothing stores, grocery stores, and more.

After walking around a circle, Shen Yu set her sights on a large, two-story building at the intersection of the Old Street that was currently closed. Seeing an elderly woman sitting in front of the building next to it, she stepped forward to ask, "Grandma, excuse me, do you know the owner of this building?"

The elderly woman asked back with a look of suspicion, "Why are you asking that?"

Shen Yu replied with a good-tempered smile, "Grandma, I'm from Nanshanwan Village. I want to rent a shop here in the Old Street to do business. I saw that this house isn't open, so I wanted to ask you."

Hearing that she was from Nanshanwan Village, the elderly woman finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, you're from Nanshanwan? This house isn't for rent. The whole family went to Hong Kong; they said they want to sell the house."

Shen Yu was delighted to hear this and quickly asked, "Grandma, how much do they want to sell it for?"

The elderly woman glanced at her. "Do you want to buy it?"

Shen Yu smiled and replied, "I have to see how much it is to know if I can afford it."

The elderly woman said to her, "Because of the industrial zone development, land prices around here have risen quite a bit. They said they want this much."

Seeing the number the elderly woman gestured, Shen Yu asked tentatively, "They want eighty thousand yuan?"

The elderly woman nodded. "Their house is quite large, with 200 square meters on the first floor and 400 square meters across both floors. Based on the current market price of 200 yuan per square meter, it comes to eighty thousand."

To Shen Yu, who knew how terrifying property prices would become in the future, this price wasn't expensive at all—it was incredibly cheap! But for her current self, it was extremely expensive. She truly couldn't raise that much money in a short amount of time. Even if she borrowed from all her relatives and friends, she probably wouldn't be able to gather that much.

It seemed she would have to use the treasures in her warehouse to exchange for money to quickly gather this sum.

Shen Yu asked the elderly woman again, "Grandma, are there any other houses on this street for sale or rent? If you help me facilitate a deal, I'll give you a little 'tea money' as a thank you, how about that?"

Hearing the mention of tea money, the elderly woman immediately became enthusiastic, and her tone improved significantly. "I haven't heard of any right now, but I'll look into it for you. When will you be coming back?"

Shen Yu smiled and replied, "I'll be coming to the intersection by the market in front every afternoon to set up a stall selling soda and cola. If you have any good news, you can come find me there, or you can come to Nanshanwan Village. My name is Shen Yu. And what should I call you, Grandma?"

The elderly woman replied, "My surname is Wu. You can call me Grandma Wu."

"Alright, Grandma Wu. I'll be going now. Please look for me when you have news. See you later."

Having finished her business, Shen Yu said goodbye to Grandma Wu with a smile and prepared to head home with the two children.

On her way home, she happened to pass by the Nanshanwan Police Station. As the three of them walked past the entrance, they just happened to run into Lu Weizheng walking out.

When Lu Weizheng saw Shen Yu and the two children she was holding hands with, he hesitated for a moment before greeting her, "Comrade Shen, are you out walking with the children?"

Shen Yu was also quite happy to see Lu Weizheng and replied with a smile, "Yes, just taking them out for a walk. I'm also taking the opportunity to ask if there are any shops for rent or sale around the Old Street. I want to find a shop to do business so I don't have to be a mobile vendor being chased around."

Lu Weizheng understood her choice and said to her, "I'm often around here. I'll help you ask around and let you know if I hear anything."

Shen Yu had mentioned this to Lu Weizheng specifically because she wanted to utilize his connections to see if she could find a shop more quickly. Hearing that he was willing to help without hesitation, her eyes crinkled with a happy smile. "Alright, alright, thank you so much. I'll treat you to tea when the time comes."