CH 68

When she heard Mo Yan say she wanted to rent the storefront, the woman was overjoyed, “Zhao’er, let’s go back home. Do the two of you want to come over? In the future, you can grab stuff from us when you’re running your business.”

Mo Ling was still slightly hesitant, while Mo Yan said, “Sis, it’s not like we can’t trust Mr. Cao, and the rent they’re asking for really isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Ok, let’s go take a look!”

Mo Ling followed the two to the storefront, and went into the alley behind it. It turns out that was where the two of them lived.

Their door was half broken, and dogs could get in even if they closed it. The woman opened the door, and went inside with her son, with Mo Yan and Mo Ling following them.

Mo Ling left their wheelbarrow in the alley and stepped in. Their courtyard wasn’t small, but it hadn’t been looked after much and was slightly messy.

The rooms were semi-new, and there was no kitchen, just a stove in the courtyard. There were a few rabbits in a cage beside the southern wall. The woman gave the rabbits a handful of the vegetable leaves.

There was also a young goat tied to the cage, and a stack of firewood was sloppily piled next to the wall. There was also a water bucket, and two pieces of clothing on a clothesline.

Mo Yan was overjoyed to find a well within the woman’s courtyard, “You even have a well?”

She nodded, “Yes, the water is even sweet! When my son’s father was still here, he made tofu for a living using the water from this well. After he was gone, I didn’t know how to make tofu, so our days gradually became like this.”

“Did he die of an illness?”

A glimmer of hatred appeared in the woman’s eye, “He had a heart disease, but if the governing official’s underlings hadn’t angered him to this extent, he wouldn’t have passed away so easily and left the two of us behind.”

This woman didn’t seem like the business-oriented kind, scraping by by doing any odd jobs she could. She’d married her husband for a few years, but never bothered to learn his trade either.

Mo Yan asked, “Do you have the deed to your storefront?”

“My surname’s Ng, my maiden name’s Hua, and this is my son Zhao’er. That storefront definitely has a deed, don’t worry.”

That meant she didn’t have a deed to the storefront. No wonder Shopkeeper Ho said it’d be taken down any day. Mo Ling pulled on Mo Yan and said, “If they don’t have a deed, I don’t think it’s a good idea to rent from them!”

Mo Yan scanned the courtyard. It’s a shame this is all wasted, this courtyard is really large.

“Don’t worry, we’re still renting. But I want to rent your courtyard too, for an extra five hundred dollars per month. What do you think?”

The woman hurriedly nodded her head, “Yes, but Zhao’er and I still have to live here.”

“Of course, you still have to live here. We’re just borrowing your unused space.”

“That’s fine, I have no issue with that.”

Then, they’ll have a monthly income of a thousand and five hundred dollars, which is enough for them to live off if they’re frugal with the money.

Mo Ling whispered to Mo Yan, “What are you renting this courtyard for?”

Mo Yan replied, “The space in the storefront is too small to hold a large amount of items. If we rent the courtyard too, we can use it to store the larger items such as clay jars.”

Seeing Mo Ling hesitate, the woman was scared she was about to change her mind and hurriedly tried to make her decide, “Our courtyard is large, and can be used to store many things! Even if you don’t trust me, do you trust Mr. Cao? We can go to him and ask him to be a witness for our contract.”

Mo Yan asked, “Are you close to Mr. Cao?”

“He’s a nice person, and took care of my husband’s body when he was still there. After he left, he helped the two of us out a lot as well.”

“Mr. Cao is known in our village for being kind-hearted. We owe him a lot too!”

“Then if you trust him to be a witness, let’s go over to him together now!”

Mo Ling was still hesitating when Mo Yan comforted her, “It’s just one and a half silver taels every month. Trust me, it’ll definitely be worth it!”

Mo Ling touched the purse on her waist, “Alright, we’ll rent it. At the very least, we’ll have a place to sleep if we ever run away from home again.”

Mo Yan smiled, “Yeah! It’s also pretty convenient, since they’re the only two people who live here.”

They all went to the clinic. Mr. Cao didn’t have any patients, and wasn’t surprised to see them. He asked them to sit down, “You’ve talked it all out?”

Ms. Hua nodded her head, “Yes. For a silver tael and a half per month, they can rent both the storefront and my courtyard.”

Ms. Hua’s courtyard was to the back of the clinic, and the two were only separated by a single wall.

Mr. Cao asked Mo Yan, “Why are you renting the courtyard too?”

“For storage! If we’re renting a storefront, we won’t just be buying wraps, but also other items. The storefront’s too small to store much, and since their courtyard is mostly empty, we decided to rent it.”

Ms. Hua was nodding along by the side, and Mr. Cao grabbed an inkbrush to start writing out a contract.

Mo Yan asked, “Sir, who do the storefronts next to the road belong to?”

As Mr. Cao was still busy writing the contract, Ms. Hua answered for him, “They belong to the government, and were built at the same time as the road.”

Building storefronts to rent out at the same time as the road, the government was really mercenary! If they hadn’t been built, Ms. Hua’s storefront would be right next to the road, and its value would be drastically different.

As Mr. Cao took pity on the two, he gave them the idea of building a small storefront. Ms. Hua’s husband’s death was related to the government, so they wouldn’t antagonise her. So even if they didn’t have a deed, the government wouldn’t take down the storefront.

Shopkeeper Ho objected to the creation of this storefront as it blocked the alley and gave him less food traffic. It wouldn’t benefit him in the slightest.

After they had signed the contract, Mr. Cao asked Mo Yan, “The storefront didn’t have a deed, so why did you still decide to rent it?”

Mo Yan smiled slightly, “It doesn’t matter if the storefront doesn’t have a deed. If I play my cards right, I’ll be able to use the entire courtyard as the store.”

Mr. Cao pointed at her and smiled, “I knew you’d be able to figure that out. That’s why I told the two of them to go find you.”

Mo Ling asked from the side, “Are you a seer?”

Mr. Cao shook his head, “I’m not a seer, Mo Yan is just naturally business-minded. Think about it, the medicinal herbs growing in our village haven’t just been there for a year or two, but she was the first one to forage them for money. The same courtyard is completely useless in Mrs. Ng’s hands, but Mo Yan can make use of it well.”

Post-edit notes: Mo Yan – new skill unlocked! Business Sense