Chapter 114 - 114: Unlucky (First update)
That’s right, a jump, at least her feet left the ground.
Because Zhuang Qingning didn’t pick the big one, or the small one, but the vacant shop two doors to the east of Fushun Tower.
“Hmm, this one.” Zhuang Qingning nodded affirmatively: “The location looks good, clean and spacious, it should be fine.”
Its area is a little bigger than the shop that Zhang Yongchang had found, almost double the size of the small shop, and its location is even better.
Zhuang Qingning thought it was very good.
“This shop is very expensive, I think we should not choose this one, it’s not suitable.” Zhang Yongchang frowned, his face looking rather grave.
“How expensive?” Zhuang Qingning was surprised.
In this town, she hadn’t heard of overly expensive rents.
“Not only is it expensive, but it’s also too big. Anyway, it’s not suitable. As a small business owner, renting such a big shop is too wasteful.” Zhang Yongchang continued to persuade earnestly.
Zhuang Qingning chuckled: “I have other plans for the future, I absolutely won’t waste it.”
She anticipated that she’d have more recipes to exchange with customers, and more things she could make. If she rented a small shop, it would quickly run out of space. It might as well be better to rent a larger shop which would be sufficient for a period of time.
At least before her business grew significantly, it would be enough, and she wouldn’t need to keep hunting for new shop spaces or be forced to open more and more shops, which would be hard to manage.
“When it comes to doing business, a nice shop front is good, but in the end it’s an expense. You have to consider whether it’s suitable or not. Your road ahead is long, you can’t just think about making big money and spending recklessly.”
“Save more money for a rainy day, that’s how to maintain a sustainable business, how to go further.”
“Don’t mind if my words sound harsh, this is just the way it is, remember this.”
Seeing the serious look on Zhang Yongchang’s face, as if his eyes were saying he was disappointed in her, Zhuang Qingning knew he was concerned she could become reckless from making some money. She laughed and explained: “Uncle Zhang, rest assured, I do have a plan.”
“I’ve thought about the future utility of renting this shop space. I won’t let any money in my hands cloud my judgement and focus solely on appearances.”
Zhang Yongchang raised his eyebrows, noticing Zhuang Qingning nodding definitively, in a serious manner. He knew she had made up her mind and no amount of persuasion could change that. He let out a long sigh.
“Uncle Zhang, just trust me and observe in the future.”
Zhuang Qingning chuckled: “But speaking of this shop’s matters, Uncle Zhang, why would they want to rent out such a good shop? I see that the For Lease sign has been hanging for quite a while. Why hasn’t it been rented out?”
Thinking carefully about it, it seemed like since the time she started doing business in this town, the shop has always remained vacant. Perhaps it’s been some time, which is very strange considering its prime location.
“About that, that’s what I wanted to discuss with you…”
Zhang Yongchang paused, saying: “I didn’t tell you about this shop before, and didn’t let you see it because I thought there was something wrong with it. That’s why I didn’t suggest it.”
“Something wrong?” Zhuang Qingning was surprised: “In what way?”
From the outside, the shop looks well-built and attractive, it was hard to see anything wrong.
“It’s unlucky!”
Zhang Yongchang said: “But don’t be too scared, it’s not like there have been deaths in the shop or anything. It’s just that there’s something off about this shop. Not sure if it’s bad Feng Shui or something, but everyone who has rented this shop for business ended up ill-fated.”
“I’m not saying that their business didn’t do well, but they experienced misfortunes at home. Take Manager Pei who once rented this as an antique shop, for example, couldn’t make a sale for consecutive months. Manager Bai who rented this place as a cloth shop fell and broke his foot here. Although he recovered, he limped when he walked.”
“And Manager Song, shortly after he rented this place, and just when he finished tidying up the shop and decided on the opening date, he suddenly fell ill and wasn’t able to continue his business. And there was Manager Zhang…”
“In short, everyone who rented this shop faced some trouble. People say that this shop is unlucky and are unwilling to rent it for their business. Of course, there are people who wanted to take advantage of the situation and rent it cheaply, but the owner of the shop absolutely refused to lower the price, insisting that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the shop. People are just trying to slander it to get a cheaper rent.”
“After all the back and forth, this shop became infamous in town and people stopped asking about it. It has completely emptied out. You started selling stands in this town not long ago, so you may not have noticed. But this shop has been vacant for almost half a year now.”
“At first, I didn’t want you to rent this shop because the price was not cheap and also because I was afraid that you would become reckless after earning some money. Most importantly, I was worried about the Feng Shui of this shop and how it might hinder your business.”
“Although I am not superstitious, sometimes these things cannot be ignored. Everyone doing business considers these things. Renting it and running into trouble is aggravating. And if something bad really happened, it would trouble your mind and you wouldn’t be able to continue doing business.”
“So I strongly advise you not to rent this shop.”
Zhang Yongchang said: “It’s not just ‘advised’, you absolutely should not rent it.”
She’s an orphan, who tirelessly earned some money selling tofu and was finally able to take care of herself and her younger sister. If the decision to rent the shop leads to bad luck and results in the loss of her earnings, this would be unsuitable.
Zhang Yongchang truly thought it was unnecessary to take this risk.
Why not choose another shop, quietly do business, isn’t that good?
“Is there really such a thing?” Zhuang Qingning’s eyes widened.
As for Feng Shui, whether it’s in modern society or in these times, it’s the most uncertain thing. Most people would rather believe it exists than risk it. They try to avoid things that might bring bad luck as much as possible.
But Zhuang Qingning does not take Feng Shui into consideration.
Moreover, Zhang Yongchang just mentioned that this shop has a notoriety in town for its bad Feng Shui. If that’s the case…
[Ding, congratulations to the host for activating the “Believe in Science” task. The host needs to prove through actual actions that the so-called bad Feng Shui of the shop is a baseless accusation.. Upon completion of the task, you will receive a generous reward!]