Volume 3 Winter Solstice Chapter 5 Rent Increase
Jiang You took Zhou Liang into the Big Beard Restaurant next to the community. It was past 8 o'clock and the table turnover speed increased.
After sitting down, Jiang You flipped through the menu and asked, "What did Boss Li say?"
Zhou Liang glanced at his phone, "He said he's almost there."
"Is he driving himself? Then don't order any wine." Jiang You picked up a pen and started writing quickly on the order sheet.
"Just eat whatever you want," Xiao Zhou watched Jiang You write down five or six dishes, "It's too much for just the three of us."
"Almost. The portions here aren't big," After writing, Jiang You took the menu and order paper to the counter. When he walked back, he saw Li Ronggao push open the door of the restaurant and walk in.
After seeing Jiang You and Xiao Zhou, Li Ronggao walked straight towards them, "Xiao Jiang, long time no see."
Jiang You looked at Li Ronggao, who was wearing a black leather jacket and a few gold rings on his hands. He said, "Boss Li is becoming more and more impressive."
Li Ronggao pulled out a chair and sat down. "Not bad, not bad, Xiao Jiang. Xiao Zhou spent a lot of time and effort on this house for you."
"Yes." Jiang You also sat down. He took out the cups from the three sets of tableware and poured hot water into them.
Li Ronggao held a cup in his hand. "At first I thought the house here was hard to rent. I saw that it hadn't been rented out yet, so I told him that the price could be lower. Brother Jiang, you don't care about a hundred or two hundred, right?"
He took a sip of water and continued, "In the end, he said he wanted to find someone who looked kind and had a stable job. This was the first time I saw someone looking at a person's appearance and occupation before renting a house."
"Thank you for your hard work," Jiang You picked up the cup, "Xiao Zhou, I'll toast you with tea instead of wine."
"It should be. It should be."
After clinking cups and taking a sip of tea, the first dish, braised duck with dried bamboo shoots, was served.
After putting down the dish, the waiter took out a lighter and lit the small stove under the clay pot.
"Has the recent group rental business affected your business?" Jiang You picked up a dried bamboo shoot and took a bite.
"Business is becoming increasingly difficult." Li Ronggao sighed.
" Didn't change the car again?"
" Yes, group renting has been hit, and then big companies come in. They sign five- to eight-year contracts with landlords, and then rent out the houses after renovating them. We are scattered and guerrillas, and can only rely on old customers, one to lead another," Li Ronggao repeated, "Business is getting harder and harder."
"If we rent it out together, the rent should be lower, right?"
"How can it be low?" Li Ronggao picked up a piece of duck meat. "They are competing for the market. They don't even treat money as money. Today one person tells the landlord 5,000, and tomorrow another person tells the landlord 6,000. The price goes up like a mountain and down like a thread. It's the same with house prices and rents."
The dishes came up one after another.
"Uniform decoration also has its advantages. Group renting without standardization does pose a safety hazard."
"What's the benefit?" Li Ronggao raised his voice. "It looks nice, but the formaldehyde level is too high. Yesterday, a client of mine told me that he originally rented that kind of house . It looked nice, and the furniture and appliances were all new, with a very bourgeois feel. But when he closed the windows and slept at night, the smell in the cupboard..."
Li Ronggao shook his head. "Then he came to rent my house anyway, and lost the deposit and one month's rent."
"They only take more than ten days to renovate the houses and rent them out without even saying anything," Zhou Liang added.
"Is that so? That's true, but there will always be someone who can rent it," Jiang You picked up a piece of beef with chopsticks and put it in a small bowl and ate it slowly, "I can also increase the price after the New Year."
“It’s time to increase it a bit.”
"The bigger the company, the less conscience it has," Li Ronggao said. "Their propaganda is very good, with standard construction and environmentally friendly materials..."
Zhou Liang guessed, "Maybe the people below cut corners?"
"It's driven by capital, conscience can't be turned into a KPI, the upper management pretends not to see it, and the lower-level sales staff can do anything."
Jiang You saw that the old duck pot was almost burnt out, so he called the waiter to put out the fire.
"Today, the two girls told me that they wanted to renovate the house to make it more romantic, with a photo wall, night lights, carpets..."
"These don't cost much," said Li Ronggao.
"It's not much. I just threatened them to raise the price. It was quite funny." Jiang You scooped a bowl of fish soup, took a sip and said, "Come to my place for a cup of tea later. My yard is ready."
"I've been listening to you talk about the yard, so I'm going to go take a look today," Li Ronggao glanced outside, "I think the snow will accumulate tonight."
“It’s getting cold fast this year.”
After eating and taking a short rest, Jiang You took them to the insect house.
Li Ronggao walked around the yard. "It's great, really great. I envy you." He looked at the pomegranate tree behind the swing. "After two or three years, when the tree grows taller, your yard will be even more beautiful."
"I think so too. Come in and sit down. It's cold outside."
Jiang You made three cups of tea, brought them out from the kitchen and placed them on the long table. "I went to the flower and bird market a few days ago and wanted to buy a turtle to raise, but they told me that turtles hibernate in winter."
Li Ronggao laughed out loud, "Didn't you say last time that you wanted to raise birds?"
"I want to raise it."
"Where is your son?" Li Ronggao asked Jiang Mo.
"It's upstairs," Jiang You took out a bag of melon seeds and a bag of pistachios, tore open the wrapping paper and poured some on the table, "It's winter now, and he's lazy."
"Okay, okay, let's just sit for a while."
"It's rare for us to get together." Jiang You took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the counter.
Li Ronggao took out a cigarette and lit it. "Raising a child is not easy, right?"
"It's okay, he's pretty good."
"My niece just got divorced, and her son is with the man. She's doing very well in her own business..."
Jiang You understood what Li Ronggao meant, and he said, "No, no, I'm just afraid of being controlled."
"As a man, you can't take care of children as carefully as a woman."
"Really, goodbye. I'm fine now. I would feel uncomfortable if there's one more person."
"Brother Jiang, do you remember Fang Xuezhou?" Zhou Liang suddenly said.
Jiang You frowned subconsciously, "What's wrong with him?"
"The previous tenant? The pervert who abused cats?" Li Ronggao asked.
"That's him. He still lives in Lanxinyuan. I saw him recently and had a chat with him."
"How is he?"
"He found a job, I forgot what he did, he rented a garage, there was an old lady who picked up garbage living next door, he seemed to be taking care of her, the old lady had a hard life," Zhou Liang sighed, "her son seemed to be a famous entrepreneur, but later he went bankrupt and committed suicide."
"Her son once sponsored Fang Xuezhou."
"No wonder."
Snowflakes are jumping under the street lights.
