Clearly, the storefront was much better than she had anticipated, and the location was also very good. The only concern was whether the rent would be too high. Xu Xiuxiu decided to ask about the rent first and then make a decision based on that. "How much is the rent?"
"What rent are you talking about? Are you dissing me, Sister-in-Law?" Chen Hualong simply replied to Xu Xiuxiu's question. He truly did not care about the small amount of money and did not really want his team leader to discuss rent with him.
Xu Xiuxiu felt somewhat helpless upon hearing his words. She could tell that Chen Hualong had a good relationship with Song Yuanhuan, but she did not want to proudly accept his kindness just because of their friendship. Thus, she turned her gaze toward Song Yuanhuan, hoping he would handle the situation.
"Hualong, charge whatever the rent should be, just give a reasonable discount," Song Yuanhuan was not planning to let Chen Hualong suffer any loss.
"Okay, I'll listen to the captain," Chen Hualong, who had years of acquaintance with Song Yuanhuan, knew his captain's temper. Since he had already spoken up, he didn't want to waste more words on it.
Finally, the rent for the store was set at 150 yuan per month—compared to the prices Xu Xiuxiu had seen before, this was practically a loss-making deal—but Chen Hualong offered the price, and Xu Xiuxiu, as the lessee, did not have the habit of complaining about the low prices and adding money, so she happily signed the lease agreement for three months.
With the store matter resolved, Xu Xiuxiu began to prepare for renovating the storefront. Fortunately, Song Yuanhuan reliably found some ex-military personnel who did renovation work to help, asking a very fair price, but the 800 yuan Song Yuanhuan had given her was almost completely gone.
Xu Xiuxiu began to worry about money.
But the next day, Song Yuanhuan handed her another 500 yuan.
"Where did you get the money?" Looking at the 500 yuan presented before her, Xu Xiuxiu's heart tightened.
Song Yuanhuan frowned, "I borrowed it from Zheng Guohui." That youngster is not yet married and has fewer expenses, so he secretly saved quite a bit of money. Borrowing a few hundred yuan for use isn't a big deal.
"I'm sorry," Xu Xiuxiu looked down and apologized, unable to lift her hand to take the 500 yuan.
"Take it! Women don't need to worry about money; that's something for men to stress over." Since he had agreed to let her open a restaurant, he was psychologically prepared and wouldn't mind how much she spent.
"Song Yuanhuan..." Why do you support me unconditionally? Why don't you stop me? Xu Xiuxiu looked at Song Yuanhuan, wanting to ask, but she didn't.
"Go to sleep early, I'm heading to the barracks," Song Yuanhuan said before he approached the bed and ruffled Song Chengguang's hair.
Xu Xiuxiu followed behind Song Yuanhuan, watching his tall figure gradually disappear into the night, and then she went back inside to close the doors and windows and went to sleep.
Half a month later, the storefront was renovated according to Xu Xiuxiu's specifications, and the sign she had specially ordered was ready. The three large characters for Sichuan Pavilion were dynamically and elegantly embedded in the signboard, both grand and exquisite.
"Sister Zhao, Su Juan, these are the promotional flyers I had made. Distribute them in the nearby residential areas and companies over the next few days. We're preparing to open the day after tomorrow." Xu Xiuxiu handed a stack of flyers to Zhao Xiumei and Su Juan.
Sister Zhao, Zhao Xiumei, was the one Xu Xiuxiu met on the train before, thirty-two years old, unmarried. It was said that she fell in love with a fellow "educated youth" who went to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, but after that youth returned to the city, he never went back. Zhao Xiumei, unbelieving, waited several years for him, but even after more than a decade, he never returned, and she had missed her chance.
Recently, disliked by her sister-in-law back home and not wanting to trouble her parents, she thought of coming to the army to find her brother, Political Commissioner Zhao. Originally, she planned to return to the countryside after a seven-day visit, but a couple of days ago, after discussing with Song Yuanhuan, Xu Xiuxiu decided to hire two people to help in the restaurant, one in the kitchen to wash and serve dishes and one to take orders and handle the cash, including meals and accommodation with a monthly salary of 50 yuan. Zhao Xiumei somehow heard the news and pleaded with her brother to speak to Song Yuanhuan about wanting to help.
Xu Xiuxiu understood the general situation and agreed.
And Su Juan! Also a military wife, her man, Wu Peng, was under Song Yuanhuan. Because she had some education, and Xu Xiuxiu needed someone to handle the cash register and orders, she had her husband also ask Song Yuanhuan for a favor. After meeting her, Xu Xiuxiu saw that Su Juan was fair-faced and efficient, so she agreed as well.
"Okay, we'll go and distribute the flyers now." Su Juan nodded, taking the flyers, her eyes going to the joyously red flyers that offered an 88% discount if presented on the opening day, "Xiuxiu, you sure are clever, these flyers look really good. I can't wait to try it myself." Xu Xiuxiu had purposely printed pictures on the flyers; the images of signature Sichuan dishes were appetizing.
"Alright, stop flattering me and go distribute the flyers!" Xu Xiuxiu laughed as she hurried them off, "Come back home to eat once you're done."
Zhao Xiumei and Su Juan both nodded at her words and left the Sichuan Pavilion.
Xu Xiuxiu then locked up the shop and, carrying Song Chengguang, returned to the rented single-story house nearby. It cost 50 yuan a month, had two rooms and a small courtyard. Xu Xiuxiu lived in the east room, while Zhao Xiumei and Su Juan shared the west room. Since Song Yuanhuan was mostly at the army base and only came occasionally, the courtyard was quite suitable for the three women.
Back in the courtyard, Xu Xiuxiu entered the kitchen to heat up water to mix some condensed milk for Song Chengguang and then went out to water the orchids under the eave with Space Water.
This was an idea Xu Xiuxiu had when she was anxious about money a while ago. Well-nurtured, valuable orchids could fetch a surprising price. With the support of Space Spring Water, she went to the flower market to buy some expensive orchid seeds, watered and tended them for a few days, and soon they sprouted. Now, they were growing astonishingly well, and she estimated they could be sold in another couple of months.
By evening, Zhao Xiumei and Su Juan, having distributed the flyers, returned, their hands empty - a sign to Xu Xiuxiu that they had probably given out all the flyers.
"Xiuxiu, we've distributed all the flyers," Su Juan said, entering the kitchen to assist Xu Xiuxiu, while Zhao Xiumei played with Song Chen outside.
"That was fast," Xu Xiuxiu commented as she chopped vegetables.
"At first, we both were a bit shy about handing out flyers to people, but after the initial two, it got easier. Some people were even curious about what we were handing out and came up to us to take a flyer!" Su Juan laughed, marveling at Xu Xiuxiu's precision in cutting even strands of julienne potatoes. Despite being used to Xu Xiuxiu's culinary skills, seeing each strand nearly identical in width and thickness made her admire Xu Xiuxiu's meticulous knife work.
"You'll get used to this kind of thing over time." Xu Xiuxiu guessed the gist of it. At that time, not many people were distributing flyers, and Xu Xiuxiu had made hers very elaborately, so it wasn't strange that they finished quickly.
"Alright, I'll cook one more dish, and then we can eat dinner. You can help set the table!" Xu Xiuxiu said after she poured the stir-fried meat and celtuce from the wok.
"Sure." Su Juan immediately picked up the bowls and utensils and walked out of the kitchen.