Chapter 156 The Shop Is Ours

Chapter 156: Securing the Shop

"Step aside, I need to get out of the car," Su He told Fu Tinghua.

Fu Tinghua backed away sheepishly.

Su He noticed the durians had been placed in the farthest corner of the yard near the entrance.

Looks like Dr. Fu couldn’t stand the smell, despite never saying a word about it.

Su He gave him a knowing look. Fu Tinghua shifted uneasily and cleared his throat before asking, "Where do you want these durians?"

"Just leave them here for now."

As soon as they entered the house, Niu Niu came running over.

"Mommy, Mommy, you're awake? Niu Niu was very good and didn’t disturb your sleep!" The mischievous little girl chirped.

"Good, Mommy knows. Thank you." Su He crouched down and kissed her daughter’s cheek.

Meanwhile, Fu Yanju had Chen Waner start cleaning the house.

Though it looked tidy, it had gathered some dust.

Seeing Su He awake, Fu Yanju broke into a smile.

"Su He, does your head still hurt? Go rest in the room first. I’ll take care of dinner later."

"I need to go to the shop. The previous owner probably finished moving out by now—I have to wrap up the paperwork," Su He replied.

"Ah? That fast?" Fu Yanju sounded pleasantly surprised.

"Not exactly. We’ll still need to renovate afterward."

Since they were opening a small supermarket, they had to do it right.

Most shops at the time were messy, like typical mom-and-pop stores.

Su He wanted a more modern setup with neat sections for different products.

However, this era didn’t have much to offer—many items hadn’t even been produced yet.

That’s where her exchange system would help, making sure the items could blend into this era without raising suspicion and even passing local inspections with proper quality certificates.

Now they just needed a wholesale supplier. Of course, goods available locally would still be sourced that way.

"I’ll go check it out with you," Fu Tinghua offered.

After all, Su He had chosen the shop herself, and he hadn’t even seen her pick yet.

He wanted to make sure she got a fair deal and see what kind of place she’d selected.

"Sure. Fourth Sister, you coming too?" Su He smiled at Fu Yanju.

"Me... I can come too?" Fu Yanju was caught off guard by the invitation.

"Of course. You’ll be my right-hand woman. Ting Hua has to work every day and won’t have time. In the future, we’ll be running the show together," Su He said cheerfully.

"Then I... then I'll go wash my hands. Wan'er, come wash your hands with me."

Fu Yanju said with a smile before pulling Chen Wan'er to the kitchen to wash their hands.

When the group arrived at the storefront Su He had leased, the previous tenants had indeed cleared out most of their belongings.

Someone came out to throw away trash and happened to see Su He about to enter the shop, their face brightening in recognition.

"Oh, Miss Su, you're finally here!"

"Auntie Zhang, what's the matter?" Su He asked, puzzled.

"You haven’t stopped by all week, so we were afraid you didn't want to rent it anymore. While we were packing up these past two days, several people came asking if the shop was available for sublease, but we told them it was already rented."

People back then still took honesty seriously, and with the signed contract and a copy of her ID on file, they didn’t dare go back on their word.

"We already signed the contract. What are you worried about?" Su He was both amused and exasperated.

"It’s good that you’re here now. We’ve pretty much finished moving out." Auntie Zhang then led a group inside to check out the space.

Once everything was cleared out, the shop looked even more spacious.

Fu Tinghua was also very satisfied with the location Su He had chosen—the location, surroundings, and foot traffic were all quite good.

But he knew the rent here wouldn’t be an issue.

Not that it mattered. Even if his wife’s business failed, he had her back.

Though his salary wasn’t huge, as Deputy Director of the hospital, he would receive a year-end dividend—a new benefit this year.

"Look, I think we should repaint these walls and upgrade the lighting to make the shop brighter," Su He said to Fu Tinghua beside her.

She wasn’t satisfied with the floor either—it was bare concrete and dusty—and wanted to redo it as well.

But since this was just leased space, Su He worried that if she renovated it too well, the landlord might reclaim the space or raise the rent, which would be troublesome.

So she turned to Auntie Zhang, who was tidying up nearby, and asked, "Auntie Zhang, how can I contact the landlord?"

"Huh? You mean the Xia family’s property manager? He comes by every month to collect rent. Not just this shop—this entire block belongs to the Xias. They’ve just rented them out." Auntie Zhang said with envy.

Wow! Now that’s old money. Even before real estate boomed, they already knew how to make money from rent.

"The Xia family?" Fu Tinghua couldn’t help but ponder.

Xia Chengan had once mentioned to him that his family owned a row of shops near the hospital, and part of his spending money came from the rental income collected from them.

What are the odds?

Xia Chengan was indeed the scion of the wealthy Xia family, whose business ventures in the city spanned many industries. Renting out properties was just one of their revenue streams.

"Isn’t that your friend’s family?" Su He turned to Fu Tinghua and asked curiously.

"Do you want to make major renovations to this shop?" Fu Tinghua, who knew Su He so well, immediately guessed her intentions.

"Exactly. I even want to redo the floor. It’s just bare concrete—I want to tile it."

Auntie Zhang overheard and immediately exclaimed, "Oh my!"

She cautioned, "Miss Su, no disrespect, but you don’t own this place. If the landlord decides to terminate the lease later or you decide to close the shop, you’d be out all that money."

"That’s why I want to talk to the landlord—to negotiate that after I renovate, they can adjust the rent to market value.

And I’d also need assurance that they won’t terminate the lease for a certain number of years, or else they’d have to reimburse the renovation expenses.

Of course, if they won’t agree, I’ll scale back the renovations."

That’s why everyone said Su He was clever—in just this short time, she had already thought through so much.