Preparations Before Setting Up the Stall 2
Yang Lan took another careful look at the notebook. The stalls on either side of this location were already rented out. One was marked as offering southern specialty foods, and the other was a sour soup dumpling stall. A nearby well indicated it was in working order.
He couldn’t quite see what was wrong with this stall.
“Why do you say that?” he asked the helper.
The helper glanced at him, pointing to the southern specialty food stall on the left, his expression hard to describe: “That stall sells something with an unbelievably foul smell, affecting the business of the surrounding stalls. And the one you’re interested in is the closest to it. If you insist on renting it, be prepared for no customers.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao both grew tense.
Lin Qiao whispered, “Husband, maybe we should choose another spot.”
Yang Lan frowned. It wasn’t that he was set on this location, but the other spots weren’t as good.
There weren’t many stalls left. One was next to the bustling donkey meat fire pancake stall, which they had seen earlier with a long line. The stark contrast in business would drive customers to the busier stall, making it hard for them to attract customers.
Several other stalls were by the docks, where there was heavy foot traffic, but the environment wasn’t great, and the crowd was too diverse. He worried that Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao wouldn’t be able to handle it when he wasn’t around.
After weighing the options, the stall they initially considered seemed the best.
What could possibly smell so bad? A stall isn’t like a private shop; the streets are cleaned every night, so it shouldn’t be due to uncollected garbage.
Could it be…
A light bulb went off in Yang Lan’s mind. He asked, “Is what’s sold at that stall black, square, and in pieces?”
The helper, now a bit impatient, replied, “Yes, are you renting or not? If not, move on and don’t waste my time.”
Yang Lan didn’t mind the helper’s rude attitude and smiled, “Alright, I’ll rent this one.”
The helper looked down at the spot Yang Lan pointed to, his mouth twitching, but he didn’t want to argue further.
He took out a contract and placed it on the table: “Rent starts at one month, totaling 300 wen. If you want to use the warehouse, it’s 600 wen.”
Having been a civil and commercial lawyer, Yang Lan was adept at reading contracts. After a quick scan, he found no unfavorable terms and promptly pressed his fingerprint, paid the money, and received a wooden plaque engraved with an official mark.
As they left the brokerage, Lin Qiao clung to the wooden plaque, unable to suppress his smile. He was about to have his own stall!
Zhang Shi was happy too, but his face still showed clear worry.
“Lan’er, the helper said that spot isn’t good. Why didn’t you choose another? If it’s really as he said, won’t it affect our business?”
Lin Qiao perked up at this.
Yang Lan chuckled, “The stall next door has been rented for a year. If it were as the helper said and no one visited, how could the owner stay for a whole year?”
That made some sense.
Seeing Zhang Shi still worried, Yang Lan took them to the location.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao each held an oiled paper bag, their expressions grim.
Lin Qiao was on the verge of tears, “Husband, why does this stuff smell so bad? And it’s expensive. Why did we buy it?”
Yang Lan gave a mysterious smile, using a bamboo skewer to poke out a piece of the blackened item, making the smell even more pronounced.
“Lin Qiao, open your mouth.”
Lin Qiao instinctively opened his mouth, feeling something hot and steamy enter.
Yang Lan had put the smelly thing in his mouth!
Lin Qiao’s eyes widened, his lips trembling, not daring to move.
Yang Lan laughed, skewering another piece and popping it into his own mouth. The spicy, numbing flavor burst forth, making his eyes light up, “Delicious! You should try it!”
Seeing his genuine expression, Lin Qiao closed his eyes and decided to chew the piece in his mouth.
Huh? It wasn’t as bad as he thought?
Zhang Shi, seeing this, tried a piece too, but his face quickly changed, spitting it into his hand, “It’s not good at all.”
Yang Lan looked at Lin Qiao, then at Zhang Shi’s pained expression, secretly amused. It seemed that no matter the era, stinky tofu was always polarizing.
Those who loved it couldn’t get enough, while those who didn’t couldn’t swallow a bite.
In the end, the two bags of stinky tofu ended up in Yang Lan and Lin Qiao’s mouths. As they took the ox cart to the town gate, people on the cart commented on a strange smell.
Yang Lan and Lin Qiao huddled together, chuckling quietly.
After returning home, Yang Lan didn’t rest. He went to find Qi Liangshan, asking if he could make a handcart with space for a griddle and stove.
Qi Liangshan was immediately intrigued, and the two spent the afternoon brainstorming.
Yang Lan’s drawing skills were average, but Qi Liangshan was quite the artist. Based on Yang Lan’s descriptions, he used a piece of charcoal to sketch on a wooden board.
“Done.” Qi Liangshan straightened up, handing the board to Yang Lan.
Yang Lan was amazed. Qi Liangshan was truly talented, and the drawing resembled the mobile pancake stalls commonly seen in later times!
“Uncle Qi, your skills are wasted in the village.”
Qi Liangshan chuckled, “As long as I can help you.”
After discussing with Qi Liangshan, they set the price at two taels. It seemed like a lot, but Yang Lan knew he was getting a bargain. With ancient manufacturing techniques, just the four wheels on the cart cost over one tael.
He paid one tael as a deposit and left Qi’s house, needing to order two large griddles from the blacksmith.
Iron goods were even more expensive, and what he needed was large, costing one and a half taels each. Yang Lan’s savings weren’t abundant, and he needed to keep some as capital, so he ended up ordering just one.
Arranging to pick it up in three days, Yang Lan hurried home as the sun set.
In the following days, Yang Lan focused on finding a house.
Renting a house in Stone Town wasn’t expensive, but finding a place with a good environment and convenient for the stall was challenging.
Yang Lan visited the brokerage on South Street, comparing options, and finally settled on a courtyard in a small alley.
According to the broker, the house originally belonged to a scholar who moved his family to the county after passing the provincial exam, leaving the courtyard vacant.
Logically, such a house should be in high demand. Strangely, it was not only cheap but had been unrented for three years.