fictionpage Chapter 19 Street-front Shops
Chapter 19 Street-front Shops
Chapter 19 Street-front Shops
Xiangchun Road is 3km long and runs east-west, reaching all the way to the riverbank.
Years ago, there were rumors that it would be included in the urban renewal project, but it was never officially approved and there was no progress.
In December, around the middle of the month, the authorities will issue a document mentioning accelerating the renovation of shantytowns and dilapidated houses.
As a result, all the buildings along Xiangchun Road were included in the demolition and requisition scope.
From the announcement of the plan at the end of December to the issuance of the demolition notice and then to the formal demolition, everything proceeded in a tight schedule, taking exactly two 30-day periods.
Two months later, the demolition project will be in full swing.
Apart from a few government buildings and a few stubborn holdouts, the entire street was razed to the ground and rebuilt piece by piece.
Yu Huan drove around the old street several times, and seeing that it was already 12:30, he drove to a Shuntian Gaima Rice restaurant and stopped in front of it.
I'm going to grab a quick meal to tide me over.
After getting off the car.
But instead, a chubby middle-aged man stood in front of the door, hands on his hips, scolding a disheveled old woman:
"Stop yelling at your mother! Go beg somewhere else if you want to die!"
One man wore a shiny leather jacket and a thick gold necklace around his neck; the other man was dressed in hunched clothes and carried a large woven bag of plastic bottles.
The former spat a mouthful of phlegm on the ground and made a move to kick the person.
The latter immediately shrank back, walked away timidly, squatted on the roadside not far away, took out a biscuit from his tattered pocket, and nibbled on it.
Seeing this, Yu Huan could only shake his head.
I looked away and glanced at the restaurant's glass display window.
I noticed a notice posted above that said the shop was for sale, and it also included the contact person and phone number.
Having made this decision, Yu Huan strolled inside and glanced around.
With a four-bay storefront and an open kitchen, the area can be estimated to be a little over 150 square meters.
This type of shop is a mixed-use commercial and residential building, with the ground floor open to the street as shops, and the remaining six floors being ordinary residential units.
In terms of area, it's also possible that several shops have been combined into one.
It's not surprising that there are even several landlords, several property certificates, and more than a dozen property owners.
This rice bowl restaurant is only so-so. It's already noon, and there are only a few customers here and there. The stove in the open kitchen at the far end is also turned off.
Yu Huan ordered two servings of stir-fried pork with dried tofu cooked over firewood from the receptionist. The chef in the kitchen, who had been idly playing on his phone, finally got busy.
One serving is eaten fresh, and the other is taken away.
He planned to finish quickly, absentmindedly ate his meal, and then picked up a spoon to scoop up a mouthful of the complimentary seaweed and egg drop soup.
He smacked his lips.
Everything, from the dishes to the soup, was bland and tasteless.
Could the person in charge of cooking be the boss's brother-in-law?
With flavors like this, it would be a miracle if it could survive in Changsha, where the catering industry is incredibly competitive.
He tore a tissue from the tissue box on the table to wipe his mouth and casually threw it into the trash can next to the table.
Yu Huan immediately took out his phone from his pocket, dialed a number he had memorized, and prepared to get a quick overview of the market.
The moment the receiver was placed to my ear, the ringtone started playing:
"I made a mistake in the flower field, we promised to forget it before dawn~ I made a mistake in the flower field, and the embrace turned into torture—"
The call is connected.
"Hey?"
Hearing the voice from the other end, Yu Huan quickly said, "Hello Mr. Yang, I would like to know about your shop."
"I don't need an intermediary."
"Uh, I'm not a real estate agent! I want to invest in a shop and I saw the 'For Sale' sign on your storefront, so I'm calling you to ask about the details."
"Oh, great! I'm in the shop, we can talk face-to-face."
Hear this.
Yu Huan quickly looked up and around, but didn't see anyone making a phone call in the shop.
Looking out through the shop window, all I could see was the fat man who had scolded the old scavenger earlier, now sitting on the side of the road, making a phone call to his ear.
"I'm eating inside."
Yu Huan finished speaking.
The fat man turned around and scanned the store.
Their eyes met, and the fat man slowly strolled into the shop.
He sat down opposite Yu Huan at the table.
The fat man's thick lips parted and closed: "What's your surname?"
"No need to mention your surname, Yu."
His face was covered in fat, with a particularly prominent double chin that almost blended into his neck; his eyes narrowed into slits when he smiled.
"Mr. Yu has a good eye. There's no shop this big on this street. It's perfect for a restaurant."
I noticed a while ago that Yu Huan arrived in a BMW and had his left leg in a cast, so he must have broken it.
He was exceptionally enthusiastic.
Since very few people actually come to look at the shops, the real estate agents' phones are ringing off the hook, and I'm already fed up with all those agents asking all sorts of questions.
This person looks like someone with the financial means to buy his shop.
Yu Huan pondered, "Boss Yang, why do you want to sell this shop?"
"Hey! The tenant won't rent anymore after this month. My family of six is crammed into a tiny, old, 70-square-meter apartment. I'm thinking of moving to a bigger duplex." Fatty Yang pulled a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his shirt pocket, pinched one out, and handed it to Yu Huan.
"Thank you, but I won't smoke." Yu Huan waved her hand to decline, then continued to ask, "How many years have you owned this shop? Is the property right clear? Has it been mortgaged?"
Fatty Yang tapped the cigarette lightly in his palm a few times, then lit it in his mouth.
He took a drag of his cigarette, smoke billowing from his nostrils as he spoke:
"I bought this shop seven years ago. It's four storefronts combined together. My husband and I own it jointly. The property certificate shows a total of 160 square meters. It hasn't been mortgaged, and most importantly, there's no shared area. I'm a very easygoing person, Mr. Yu. If you want it, I'll give it to you for 1.8 million!"
In the local dialect of Xingcheng, "Ya Lao Guan" means father.
"One million eight hundred thousand?" Yu Huan shook his head upon hearing this: "You think this is so casual? I'd rather use this money to buy a shop in Wuyi."
He picked up a pre-packaged rice bowl, leaned on his cane against the table, and got up to leave.
As for the commercial and residential street-front shops like these, in terms of location, Xiangchun Road is just so-so. In 2012, the average price was only 10,000 yuan per square meter at most.
Even though the property rights of the four shops that were combined were very clear, Yu Huan was still quite tempted.
However, this fatso was asking for an outrageous amount.
Yu Huan didn't turn her head back.
Fatty Yang hurriedly chased after him.
Just as Yu Huan stepped out the door, someone stopped him and said, "Mr. Yu, here's 1.7 million for you! I still need to pay business tax and individual income tax!"
Yu Huan deliberately ignored him, turned around, and walked up to the old woman who was scavenging for recyclables.
When the old lady saw Yang Pangzi following closely behind, she immediately tried to get up and hide. Seeing this, Yu Huan quickly handed her the rice bowl with toppings he was carrying.
“I originally brought it for a friend, but he called and said he didn’t want it anymore, so you can have it.”
"Thank you, young man!" she said, took the money, glanced nervously at Fatty Yang, and hurriedly turned and left.
After doing the good deed, Yu Huan got straight into the car.
Fatty Yang rushed over and shouted through the car window, "Boss Yu, you're handsome and kind-hearted, consider 1.7 million!"
Yu Huan rolled down the passenger window and said slowly, "At most 1.3 million."
"One million six hundred thousand!"
"One million three hundred thousand for all four storefronts, that's a very fair price. If you're really serious about selling, Mr. Yang, you can call me in the next couple of days. Don't miss out!"
Say it.
Yu Huan drove away.
(End of this chapter)