How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Shop at Yanmen Pass?

Now, Old Madam Zhou is a sorceress, and not only the Empress Dowager believes in her, but even Noble Consort Ning believes in her very much.

Even the current emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty trusts her very much.

Everyone stared at Zhou Min, Zhou Min continued:

Anyway, Zhou Wanwan is extraordinary. Look at the businesses she runs; they're incredibly profitable.

"Just from food delivery, you can make a lot of money every day."

Princess Jianing stared at Zhou Wanwan's takeout stall. It was just a small stall, but soon people started coming over to order takeout; business was booming.

Zhou Min continued:

"We've only been here a short while, and there's already a takeout stall there."

They placed over 40 orders in total. Even if each order was 5 taels of silver, that would still be over 200 taels.

Zhou Min continued pointing:

"Look, over there is a tent shop. Those tents are really good; people buy them every day."

And over there, there's a shop that specializes in selling all sorts of weapons, and business is booming.

That area sells medicinal herbs. Don't you find it strange? There are more and more stalls here, and the flow of people is becoming more and more concentrated.

Princess Jianing said:

"You mean, all these stalls belong to Zhou Wanwan? You think too highly of her, don't you?"

But her delivery business is really profitable; we need to find a way to steal her away.

Shangguan Wan'er said:

"It just so happens that my family sent over a few chefs."

With the addition of your personal chef, we can also make the same delicious food as her.

Princess Jianing snorted and said, "Yes, that makes sense, but in a place like the border, it's not easy to buy vegetables, is it?"

A noblewoman said, "I know a market that's very close by. The vegetables there are fresh and cheap. You can go there to buy your vegetables."

Princess Jianing's eyes lit up, and she immediately waved to summon the imperial chef, asking, "How many of you have come this time?"

The imperial chef said, "Her Highness was worried that you might not be used to being away from home, so this time a total of 10 chefs have come."

Princess Jianing nodded and said, "That's good. I'm also planning to start a takeout business here. The foot traffic here is increasing, so business is sure to be good."

The imperial chef smiled and said, "That's fine then, I'll go arrange it right away."

Princess Jianing quickly had a stall set up. Zhou Wanwan's stall only had two people and simply had the words "takeout" written on it.

Princess Jianing's stall was different; it was advertised as being prepared by the imperial chefs, and the stall itself was very luxurious.

Princess Jianing looked at Zhou Wanwan and said:

"Isn't it just a mess?"

"What's so great about it? Our food is made by imperial chefs; it'll definitely sell better than your stall."

Zhou Wanwan said:

"Really? We sell a lot, and we even have barbecue tonight—all kinds of lobster, crab, oysters, scallops, abalone..."

What do you have at home? Do you think you can win people over just by claiming your food is from the imperial court?

"If you want to win our delivery business, you need to have something special, understand?"

Princess Jianing sneered:

I don't need anything special.

Whatever you can do, we can do too. Don't think you're the only ones who can do it well.

You know, I'm a business genius. When I was making money in Beijing, you were probably nowhere to be found.

My snack shops in Beijing are doing incredibly well.

"It's been helping me earn a lot of money every month."

Xie Cheng'en's lips twitched as he stood to the side; ignorance is bliss.

Some time ago, he ran into his previous supplier, Xiao Jiu.

The moment he saw Xiao Jiu, he was quite happy. "Xiao Jiu, what are you doing here?"

Xiao Jiu looked at him and said, "Xie Cheng'en? What a coincidence! If I'm not here, where am I? I'm always with my master; wherever my master is, that's where I am."

Xie Cheng'en nearly went crazy at that moment.

After all that, it turns out those snack shops were also Zhou Wanwan 'Zhou Wanwan businesses; she just wanted to use them to make money for her.

Having figured this out, he had no desire to compete with Zhou Wanwan at all.

Now that Zhou Wanwan plans to hand over the takeout business to Xie Cheng'en Chengen, he is naturally very happy to do so.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Your snack shop is really impressive."

Shangguan Wan'er was standing next to her, said:

"They don't just have a snack shop."

There are also pharmacies, silk shops, tea shops, cosmetics stores, porcelain shops, jewelry stores, and bookstores. How can you compare to her?

Xie Cheng'en was so embarrassed he wanted to die; all these shops were owned by Zhou Wanwan.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "That's right! Princess Jianing is indeed quite capable. If I were you, I would fill all the shops at the border."

Jianing's eyes lit up and she said, "That's a good idea, really quite good, but I wonder how expensive the shops are at the border."

Zhou Wanwan sighed and said:

"I heard it's quite expensive, a shop costs several hundred taels, or even over a thousand taels, and it's only for rent, not for sale."

This is such a rip-off, that's why I'm never renting a shop!

Princess Jianing sneered, "That's because you're incompetent. If I were to go, it would be different. Where is the shop to rent?"

Zhou Wanwan pointed in a direction and said, "It's over there, the City Lord's Mansion."

Princess Jianing, head held high and chest puffed out, said:

"Let's go! We're going to the city lord's mansion; I need to buy a shop."

"Buy as many shops as there are."

She arrived at the city lord's mansion quickly, and as soon as she entered, she saw Old General Xie.

Princess Jianing was actually quite afraid of Old General Xie. She stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Grandfather..."

Old General Xie glanced at her and said, "What are you doing here? Can't you just stay in the capital? Don't you know how dangerous the border is?"

Princess Jianing said, "I came to the border to take a look around. My mother also thinks I should go out and broaden my horizons. This time I came to buy a shop."

Old General Xie said:

"The shops at the border are not for sale, only for rent. We fought hard to conquer these border towns."

We built those shops bit by bit.

The revenue from renting out these shops was also used for border construction and to subsidize the soldiers' salaries.

Princess Jianing said, "Alright! How much for renting shops at Yanmen Pass?"

Old General Xie waved his hand and said, "Someone! Take her to see him. I don't have time to wander around with him aimlessly."

A broker approached and said, "Princess, this way please. We have quite a few shops along the border. Which one catches your eye? I can give you a discount."

Princess Jianing nodded and followed the broker into the street.

Princess Jianing looked at the most bustling area and asked, "Are these shops available for rent?"

The broker shook his head and said, "These shops have all been rented out. Shops in Yanmen Pass are in high demand; as soon as they're put out, they're rented out the next day."

Princess Jianing asked with some disappointment, "Where else can I find shops?"

The broker said, "What do you think of these shops? They're not far from the city center, so you can open any kind of shop here."

Princess Jianing looked around and said, "They are indeed quite nice. How much do all these shops cost in total?"