PFC Chapter 110 Renting a Kitchen
Chapter 110 Renting a Kitchen
The next morning, after buying fruits for the day, the two called the kitchen's contact number and arrived at the agreed location.
When they arrived, they found that the kitchen was located near the park where the two usually practiced Tai Chi.
The person who answered the phone was the landlord Chen Huiping, a middle-aged woman in her 50s, neatly dressed and looking energetic. She took a bunch of keys and led them to the overpass on the east side of the park.
“Don’t be fooled by the fact that this place is deserted now. It used to be a very popular area. A few years ago, it was impossible to rent a shop facing the street.
Now, because this area has been built with viaducts, the previously crowded roads are now even more inconvenient for sports cars to drive on. Everyone walks directly on the bridge, and gradually fewer people come here. Look, the abandoned high-rise building over there is the former shopping mall." Chen Huiping led the way, introducing the situation of this area to the two along the way.
The three of them walked about 100 meters along the street under the viaduct and entered an alley with a striking and shabby sign hanging above it: Tianshui Street Night Market. The second house after entering the alley was the kitchen that Chen Huiping mentioned.
"Our street was also called the food stall street in the past, because it was full of food stalls at night. My room was originally rented to a food stall owner, who had been running it for seven or eight years and had a very good business.
Later, when the bridge was built, the road was fenced off, which had a significant impact on business, so the merchants in this area gradually moved away. Although the fence was removed after a year or two, the road was still inconvenient, and people’s habits had changed over time.”
As Chen Huiping spoke, she carefully looked at the labels on a bunch of keys. After a while, she found a key and opened the door.
"This house is the kitchen of the food stall. The two restaurants next to it have been rented out to a mahjong parlor. Now this is the only one left. The water, electricity, and natural gas are all working fine. See if it suits you."
Zhao Xiaojing nodded, and the two walked in to take a look. The house was not small, about 20 to 30 square meters, and it used to be the kitchen of a food stall. The operating table, exhaust pipe, sink faucet, and shelves were all arranged in a reasonable manner.
After looking around, the two looked at each other and were both very satisfied.
"Auntie, how much is the rent here? Is this air conditioner left by the previous owner?" Zhao Xiaojing asked.
"Yes, this is also an old air conditioner. It was already seven or eight years old when the previous owner bought it, and he was too lazy to take it with him when he left. If you want to use it, I'll keep it for you. You don't need me to ask someone to take it away.
I won't ask you much for the rent, 1800 a month, payable every six months, one month's rent as a deposit, what do you think?"
Zhao Xiaojing glanced at Su Yuchen and saw that Su Yuchen was also staring at her with shining eyes. She immediately agreed with surprise, "Sure! Thank you, Auntie. We will use the air conditioner too!"
After seeing that a store with an area of 3000 or 10 square meters and a very poor environment on a snack street was offered for 1800 yuan a month and a transfer fee of yuan yesterday, Zhao Xiaojing felt that the price of yuan a month was extremely cheap when she heard it.
Although this house is a bit old and the walls are yellowed by smoke, the kitchen is well planned. It only needs to be cleaned up and the necessary things added, and it can be used immediately.
Moreover, this area is located between the night market and the house where the two live. It is also close to the school. It only takes five minutes to ride a street vendor cart over there.
"I never thought that this kitchen would end up being rented to two clean and tidy young girls!" Chen Huiping brought the two to the residential area behind the alley. After both parties signed the contract and paid the money, she couldn't help but smile and sigh.
"This kitchen has been visited by several people. The day before yesterday, a takeaway man bargained with me for 1000 yuan. I got angry and drove him away. I was thinking that if I couldn't rent it out, I would just knock down the counter in the house and stop using it as a kitchen! Haha.
I'm usually here. If you have anything to say, call me. If you can't get through, just come and find me."
Chen Huiping also lived in a private house. It only took her two or three minutes to walk through the small path from the kitchen. The building was also bustling with people greeting her on the way.
After Zhao Xiaojing and the other person said goodbye to her, they went to the farmer's market and bought a bunch of cleaning agents, mops, brooms and other things and started cleaning.
It was too late to check the stall at the side door today, so after cleaning up part of the kitchen, the two hurried home, ate a casual meal and started making sweet soup again.
After taking a break after making the sweet soup, Su Yuchen rode his bike to the night market to set up a stall, leaving Zhao Xiaojing in the kitchen to continue cleaning.
By the time Su Yuchen came back from the night market on his stall bike, Zhao Xiaojing's work had already produced significant results.
The cooking table and stove were polished to a shine, and the tile wall above the stove, which was originally smoked yellow and black, has been painted to appear in its original black and white checkered pattern. Although the white bricks have turned yellow due to years of immersion, they now look very refreshing.
Even the filters in the old air conditioners were pulled out and cleaned, the shelves were spotless, and the checkered tiles on the floor were mopped until the patterns were visible.
Su Yuchen instantly became uneasy. "Mirror, you are too abnormal, aren't you? I feel like my waist is going to break when I set up the stall. I thought the kitchen is such a big project and you can only do half of it, but you actually did it all by yourself!"
Zhao Xiaojing smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm used to it.
Do you want to have a midnight snack? I have digested all the food I ate last night while working, and I am starving!"
"Okay, I'm hungry too!" Su Yuchen agreed readily. The two of them had been making do with eating all day and now they finally had some free time to have a good meal.
It was not yet eleven o'clock. The two rode their stall bikes to another street and found a small restaurant.
"Is this our first meal in a restaurant? We said before that we came to Jiangcheng to explore some restaurants, but we were too busy to stop. So today we will have a good meal as a restaurant exploration. I'll treat you." Zhao Xiaojing said as she flipped through the menu.
"I'll treat you next time. I haven't eaten out in a long time."
The two of them ordered four dishes, all of which were seasonal dishes that didn't take up too much space: spicy clams, braised prawns, cold edamame, and stir-fried lettuce.
The boss took out a small notebook and made a few quick notes, then shouted the names of the dishes to the kitchen.
The two drank water and looked around the restaurant quietly.
The restaurant has a small frontage, with only four or five tables inside, but because it is summer, there are seven or eight tables outside the restaurant.
There were not many people here at this time. Two waiters were clearing up leftovers from the tables outside. Only two of the seven or eight tables were still drinking and chatting. They were the only two people in the restaurant.
Almost as soon as we ordered the dishes, the cold edamame was served.
The two were so hungry that they started eating as soon as the edamame was served.
"Uh..." Su Yuchen frowned as soon as he tasted one.