Chapter 330: Chapter 172 Rent_1
The family had a visitor—who was it? Hearing Lian Yeye and another person’s footsteps heading towards the West Wing Room, she guessed that perhaps someone had come to buy soybean sprouts, so she temporarily stopped the conversation.
Lian Manman walked out of the house and saw Little Monk Yuan Tan carrying a bundle of firewood, walking one after the other with Lian Yeye into the room.
"Sister Manman," Lian Yeye greeted Lian Manman, "He came to our house, saw me carrying firewood, and insisted on taking it from me."
Yuan Tan bent down to place the firewood on the ground, not stirring up any dust.
"Heh heh, I’m used to doing chores," Yuan Tan straightened his back and rubbed his bald head, chuckling with a heh heh sound.
Xiao Tanzhi was diligent and sharp. Lian Manman then remembered that she had promised to bring pastries to Yuan Tan.
"My parents are both there, Xiao Tanzhi, come on in." Lian Manman led Yuan Tan into the house, and Lian Yeye followed them in.
Seeing Yuan Tan, Lady Zhang greeted him to sit on the kang bed while she poured him a bowl of sugar water and took out two pastries from the cupboard to offer Yuan Tan, encouraging him to eat. The dual identity of an orphan and a little monk made Lady Zhang look at Yuan Tan with exceptional tenderness.
"...the pastries are vegetarian, you can eat them without worry," Lady Zhang told Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan took the sugar water but refused the pastries.
"...save them for Manman and Xiao Qi," Yuan Tan recognized that such desserts were only available in town and were coveted by the children of tenant farmers.
"They’ve had theirs, and there’s more in the cupboard. This is for you, so just eat it without worry," Lady Zhang said with a smile. She was always generous when it came to material things.
Only then did Yuan Tan accept the pastries, ate one, and wrapped up the other, saying he would take it back for his master to eat. Yuan Tan’s master was the Abbot of the Earth God Temple, whose dharma name was Shanyuan.
"Is your master in good health? Haven’t seen him for many days," Lian Shouxin chatted with Yuan Tan.
"Mom, did you prepare the pastries for the temple?" Lian Manman asked Lady Zhang.
"All ready, was just about to have your dad deliver them," Lady Zhang replied, then pulled Lian Manman out.
The two entered the garden, where Lady Zhang had already packed the pastries meant for the temple’s donation into a sack, resting it against the wall.
"Weren’t we just talking about opening an early-morning snack shop? Your dad and I have thought it through," Lady Zhang said, looking around to ensure no one was nearby, then spoke to Lian Manman, "Let’s rent the rooms at the Earth God Temple to open our snack shop."
It was a good plan. It seemed Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang had decided to open the shop while on their way home.
"But can we really rent that room?" Lian Manman asked.
"We won’t rent it for free; we’ll pay rent," Lady Zhang said, "Those rooms are empty; renting them to us will give the temple some extra income, they will surely agree. Plus, we don’t need to buy tables, stools, bowls, or chopsticks right away. We can also borrow them from the temple, no, rent them."
Even though it was an ordinary rural Earth God Temple, it sometimes conducted ceremonies, so it had quite a few tables, chairs, plates, and bowls. As the saying goes, "even a broken boat has three pounds of nails."
Renting the temple’s rooms and utensils was convenient and saved trouble, allowing their snack shop to open earlier. Moreover, Lian Manman could guess what Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang were thinking. Opening a snack shop was like crossing the river by feeling for stones. They were not entirely sure they could really make money. Although they had enough capital to run the snack shop, renting would significantly reduce the risk cost.
After considering, Lian Manman felt that starting this way was also fine.
The two carried the sack of pastries and placed it at the doorstep of the West Wing Room.
"Xiao Tanzhi, the pastries my family made this year have big and sweet fillings, remember, we use different leaves than other people’s, so don’t get them mixed up," Lian Manman instructed Yuan Tan as she went back inside, meaning to let him choose pastries from her family when the time came.
Yuan Tan nodded his head with a simple smile.
"I’ll take Yuan Tan back," Lian Shouxin said.
Yuan Tan gestured that it was unnecessary; he could carry the pastries back.
"I need to discuss something with your master," Lian Shouxin said, then turned to Lady Zhang, "I’m going to discuss the room rental with Abbot Shanyuan and also ask him to help us choose a good day."
Having listened to Lady Zhang, Lian Manman understood that Lian Shouxin was going to discuss renting the room and utensils with the Abbot of the Earth God Temple.
"I’ll go with dad," Wu Lang said.
Lian Manman also thought about joining them, but then reconsidered and didn’t voice her intention. The family had just discussed the potential profits of the snack shop, and they all had a rough idea of how much they could afford in rent. It was unlikely that anything would go wrong. After all, she, Lian Manman, wasn’t omnipotent; it wasn’t possible to handle everything personally. Lian Shouxin was the mainstay of the family, and Wu Lang, as the eldest brother, was also very cautious. The father and son duo should manage this matter well.
