Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 372 Unlucky Female Educated Youth 72_1

Chapter 372: Chapter 372 Unlucky Female Educated Youth 72_1

Huang Lei knew that Wang Nan finally got into college, oh, a junior college, on her third attempt at the college entrance exams.

Time flew, and it was almost time for graduation, but she had no time to think about these things. Whether Wang Nan was doing well or not, it had nothing to do with her.

Today, she was indeed very busy. After running for two years, Ho Ming’s Medicinal Meal Workshop was about to start a new Chapter.

When they first opened the shop, they didn’t make it very big, since they thought many orders would be delivered straight to clients’ homes. They just got a place that was a little over 100 square meters with two floors.

But a shop can’t just provide medicinal meals, right? They definitely had to offer some other foods as well.

Ho Ming’s cooking skills were not exactly excellent, but they were sufficient to support a medicinal meal shop. Plus, with two or three other chefs hired, they managed to set the shop up.

The prices were reasonable and the food was quite delicious and appetizing, so many customers came to dine. The shop, which initially seemed spacious, became increasingly crowded.

Many people were asking about expanding the shop, and on the issue of renewing the lease, the landlord suggested an annual renewal with a substantial rent increase.

In response, Ho Ming called a shareholders’ meeting to discuss how to handle the situation.

The landlord of the Medicinal Meal Workshop knew Huang Dapeng, who had strongly recommended the shop space to them in the beginning.

Initially, Huang Lei and Ho Ming had their eyes on another location, but Elder Huang insisted that place was better, so they agreed.

Now, with things turning out this way, Huang Dapeng felt he was losing face. He could accept annual renewals and rent increases,

but a sudden jump in cost like this was hard to stomach. A rent slightly higher than the neighboring shops would have been acceptable,

but double the neighboring rent really rubbed people the wrong way. Even if the business was profitable, they couldn’t just burn through cash like this.

Ho Ming read the latest rental contract sent by the landlord and looked at Huang Dapeng and the others, "Uncle Huang, Xiao Lei?"

The Huang family was shocked by the new contract. Huang Lei carefully recalled, "I don’t remember the last contract being so harsh."

"Yes, it’s the latest version. They want a response from me by tomorrow." Ho Ming had seen his share of outrageous demands and thought he wouldn’t lose his temper easily again,

but this time, he was genuinely angry. The fact that he did not argue with the landlord on the spot was a testament to his self-control.

Huang Lei took a deep breath, "Since that’s the case, I think we should still sign a one-year contract."

Huang Dapeng said, "You make the decision on this matter; don’t worry about my face."

Ho Ming nodded, "That’s what I’m thinking too. Sign for a year, then start looking for a new shop."

"Anyway, we must buy the shop this time." Originally, due to insufficient funds, they could only rent a shop.

Now that they had sufficient funds on hand, Ho Ming resolutely chose to buy a shop. Renting was absolutely not an option, considering the chance of encountering a landlord like this again.

"Right, buy a big shop, and then renovate it."

Huang Lei paused, "Even if it means raising the workers’ wages, everything must be settled six months in advance."

"Use three months as a transition period, and for the remaining three months, we will have someone watch over the old place without doing business."

"Advertise in the newspaper, informing everyone that we are relocating."

"Three months will give ample notice to the uninformed about the new address of our shop."

A landlord with no ethics might lease the space to another who serves medicinal meals, seriously harming our reputation.

"This way, after three months, most of our regular customers will know about our relocation, and very few will go to the wrong place."

Even if there are walk-in customers who come by reputation, there won’t be many."

"Grandfather, when the time comes, we’d rather leave the old shop empty than return it early, even if the landlord offers to refund three months’ rent," said Huang Lei, worried that Huang Dapeng, concerned about face, might agree if the landlord were persistent.

"I’m old; I’m not responsible for these matters anymore," replied Huang Dapeng, cutting it short. That was the attitude his old friend took when he went to see him.

Since that was the case, now was the best time to use the same tactic.

So, the next day, Ho Ming renewed the lease for one year and paid the rent for the coming year in one lump sum.

In the lease agreement, they made the landlord note that the property cannot be reclaimed for any reason before the lease ends, not even a day early. If so, the landlord would have to pay five times the annual contract amount as compensation.

The reason for such a clause was fear that the landlord might break the lease early upon seeing the shop empty.

The landlord didn’t mind this clause, thinking Ho Ming was just worried about an early eviction as a means to drive up the rent.

In fact, if not for many years of collaboration, the landlord wouldn’t even consider renting the space to Ho Ming anymore, as there were other potential renters willing to pay a higher price.

Oh well, consider it consolidating one’s reputation for another year; the busier the place, the higher the rent that could be charged.

The landlord’s idea wasn’t bad, but would Ho Ming and his team be willing to cooperate?

Of course not. As soon as they signed the lease, Ho Ming and Huang Lei immediately went to look for a new shop.

After some searching, they soon found a three-story building with a garden that wasn’t too small in the back, albeit somewhat neglected due to a year of disuse.

What delighted Huang Lei even more was that the street where the house sat was always famous for its food.

Not only Capital City locals but also tourists from other places would come here to eat. Opening a shop here would be absolutely better than the current location.

If there had to be a downside, it was that the place was a bit far from the parking lot, but that was hardly an issue.

If the food was delicious, would such distance be a problem? Of course not.

Seeing that Huang Lei was quite satisfied, Ho Ming asked, "This place?"

Huang Lei nodded, "This place."

They might not find such a good shop if they kept looking, and the price might not be better either.

After brief bargaining with the landlord, Ho Ming quickly signed the contract; to him, time was a critical issue.

He hoped to have the place effectively renovated quickly, even if the old shop had to sit idle for half a year; that wasn’t a problem.

Once they bought the shop, Ho Ming immediately found people to start on the renovation, following the blueprints inspired by Huang Lei’s ideas.

When they had viewed the property before, Huang Lei had casually suggested layout ideas for private rooms. After all, with more wealthy customers, there were instances when dining and discussing were not quite suitable in the main hall. Having private rooms would attract more business customers.

It was a casual remark she made, but little did she expect Ho Ming to latch onto it so firmly—it wasn’t so much about not wanting to find a designer,

but rather about saving time. Good designers were in demand and might not produce schemes to his liking, so it was better for Huang Lei to take charge.

Thus, Huang Lei began a new profession—designing a shop, with a focus on a Chinese-style theme.