Chapter 111 Finding a Shopfront

Chapter 111: Securing a Storefront

What was originally a conversation about visiting a patient and repaying a benefactor ended up turning into Su He pitching her Fire Durian.

In her past life, Su He had done plenty of bold things in pursuit of success.

So what was the big deal about selling durians to Shi Jin and Wen Yuru, who barely knew her? If they bought, she’d be happy; if not, she wouldn’t force them.

They needed to sample her durians first—only then would people be willing to accept the taste, and eventually, more customers would come seeking them out.

At noon, Fu Tinghua took Su He and their two children to a noodle shop near the hospital for a casual lunch.

Su He had said she didn’t want to eat at the hospital cafeteria again—every time she went, she drew everyone’s stares.

It didn’t bother her much, but she was afraid the kids would feel uncomfortable being stared at.

After a casual lunch, the family of four strolled home for an afternoon nap.

On the way, Fu Tinghua asked Su He, “Did everything get resolved with the person you saved today?”

“Yeah, she wanted to give me two hundred as a reward, but I refused. I just took the medical costs and cab fare I covered,” Su He replied.

“Glad that’s settled.” Fu Tinghua didn’t push it.

But that evening, when Fu Tinghua returned, he told Su He that Wen Yuru’s husband had come looking for her.

Her husband was a soldier, apparently high-ranking, and had brought several people with him to the hospital to see Wen Yuru. However, it seemed Wen Yuru was at odds with her husband and didn’t want to talk to him.

Su He knew there must be more to the story, but it wasn’t her place to comment on someone else’s personal family matters.

Who would’ve thought that the next day at work, Fu Tinghua would be stopped by Wen Yuru’s husband at the hospital entrance?

“Are you the Deputy Director? Hello, I’m Wen Yuru’s husband, Liu Jianjun.

I heard it was your wife who saved my wife yesterday. I’m deeply grateful. Could I meet with her?

No ill intent—it’s just that my wife refuses to go home with me now, and I was hoping your wife could help persuade her.”

Liu Jianjun, dressed in his military uniform, was strikingly handsome and spoke to Fu Tinghua with respectful humility, without a trace of arrogance.

But since this was a personal family matter, Fu Tinghua didn’t want Su He involved. He replied, “This is between the two of you. It wouldn’t be appropriate for my wife to interfere. You should think of another way.”

Just as Fu Tinghua was due at work, Liu Jianjun persisted quietly, still asking for help.

Seeing the man like this, Fu Tinghua’s elegant brows knit slightly.

“Mr. Liu, I’m due at work. Please don’t delay me and make me late, alright?” Fu Tinghua said firmly.

Liu Jianjun hadn’t expected Fu Tinghua, who seemed so gentle and refined, to be so firm.

But since the man wouldn’t help, there was nothing he could do—after all, Fu Tinghua was the hospital’s Deputy Director, and his wife was still a patient there.

“Alright then, Deputy Director. Could you mention this to your wife later? I’d like to meet her. Please.”

That much, Fu Tinghua could agree to.

So he nodded before making his way to work.

Meanwhile, first thing in the morning, Su He was out looking at retail spaces again.

But today she was lucky and found a shop space for rent not far from the hospital.

This shop had previously been a restaurant, and the space was quite large—over a hundred square meters, enough for Su He to open a small supermarket.

Since their children had gone to the capital for better opportunities, the older couple wanted to transfer the shop and move there as well.

Su He approached them and asked about the price—six months’ rent was just eighty yuan, which wasn’t expensive.

Property values were shockingly low back then.

A shop of over a hundred square meters in the city center, near the hospital, cost only eighty yuan for six months’ rent.

Though money was tight in those days, Su He still found it a steal.

After all, a single market day selling fried dough in town could earn her enough to cover half a year’s rent.

"When are you handing over the shop?" Su He asked the shop owner’s wife.

"Two weeks from now. We’ll operate until the Monday after next week, then move out," the woman replied.

Two weeks from now—that was perfect timing. She could return to the countryside to check on her durians and come back the following Saturday to prepare for the shop.

She tried haggling with the owner, hoping to lower the rent.

The owner didn’t beat around the bush and directly showed her the lease contract with the landlord.

To her surprise, the owner was straightforward—the contract clearly stated that the rent was eighty yuan for six months, with no deception.

They were in too much of a hurry to wait until the lease expired, so they wanted to transfer it early.

Without further delay, Su He drew up a sublease agreement with the owner that same day, starting the Monday after next week.

She didn’t pay a deposit, but both parties swapped ID copies to validate the contract.

In this era, people treated ID copies like gold.

Unlike in later years, when you’d hand over your ID copy for an interview and companies wouldn’t even bother to return it if you weren’t hired.

With this matter settled, Su He was in a great mood and even had time to return home to cook lunch.

When Fu Tinghua came home at noon, the last dish was ready to come off the stove.

Seeing this, he immediately grabbed a plate from the cupboard and handed it to Su He, who naturally plated the food.

"I have good news to share."

"I have something to tell you."

They blurted out at the same time, then locked eyes in surprise.

Fu Tinghua snapped out of it first. He smiled, took the plate from Su He, and said, "You go first."

Su He jumped right in. "I found a shop and rented it."

"You still have money? I never gave you the funds last time."

"I do. Remember, I still have that 300 yuan you gave me before."

Fu Tinghua eyed the meat on the table and shot her a doubtful glance.

"You need to spend money on groceries and such, so don't worry about saving on my account."

He thought Su He only cooked elaborate meals when he was around.

But he was overthinking it—whether he was there or not, Su He would always prepare good food for the kids.

"Well, I run my own business in town and make money, so I’m not exactly pinching pennies," Su He replied.

"Though, my shop needs some renovation, so I might actually have to spend some money," Su He sighed.

"It’s fine, renovations don’t cost much these days," Fu Tinghua replied calmly.

Indeed, it wasn’t costly—labor’s really cheap these days.

"By the way, what did you want to tell me?" Su He asked.

Fu Tinghua hesitated for a moment before answering, "That woman you helped yesterday—her husband showed up asking for you, said he needed to talk to you."

"Talk to me? What for?" Su He didn’t get it.

Fu Tinghua cleared his throat and carefully phrased his words, "Says his wife’s giving him the cold shoulder and won’t go home with him, and wants you to help persuade her."