34 The First Calligraphy at Lin 47th Stree (1/2)
Chapter 34: The First Calligraphy at Lin 47th Street
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
”I can sell them, but I have a requirement.”
”Young master, what's it?”
”We can't sell them on the street. We should have a storefront first.”
”A storefront is very expensive.”
”That's the point. Because my calligraphies need to be expensive, too. Otherwise, I'll feel ashamed.”
”Well, well. You're the boss.”
After completely losing to the little handmaiden, Ning Que decided to fight on after surrendering to retain some benefits and his reputation. Eventually, he agreed to open a shop to sell his calligraphy. Now the real problem they were facing was finding a suitable storefront.
The day before yesterday, they found an inn when they wanted one. Today they needed to find a storefront for rent, but such luck did not show up every day. Even the generous Haotian wouldn't provide so many opportunities for people. So to find a storefront, they had to find a real-estate agency.
The steward of the real-estate agency took out a map, pointing out some empty storefronts as if commanding an army, and casually mentioned their prices. Under Sangsang's strong requirements, they first looked at storefronts that surrounded the local governments instead of the palace, then skipped the storefronts in the Northern Area, wealthy Western District, and desolate Southern Area, and eventually ended up choosing the Eastern Area, which was known for chaos and disorder.
Chang'an was really big but still densely populated. So a storefront's rent here was really an inch of gold per inch of land. Even in the cheapest Eastern Area, it was still hard to find a proper storefront. With less than 200 taels of silver in total, they did not have many options and had no results after following the steward of the real-estate agency to look around for two days.
On the third day, they finally heard some good news. Having suffered from tiredness and torture, the steward excitedly waved his arms and told Ning Que that someone was transferring a small painting and calligraphy shop at Lin 47th Street in the Eastern Area. The shop had all the supplies needed for calligraphy. It was 15 taels of silver for the monthly rent and 50 taels of silver as a transferring fee with a remaining lease of one and a half years. All of this perfectly met the requirements of Ning Que... but mainly, Sangsang.
Ning Que and Sangsang looked at each other and found the surprise and happiness in their eyes. The price was indeed cheap and the location on the map was not bad, either. However, seeing was believing, let alone that opening a shop to sell calligraphies was directly related to their living in Chang'an for the next several years. Therefore, they did not accept it immediately but asked to take a look at the small painting and calligraphy shop first.
When the three arrived there, both the shop renter and former boss were not present. The steward used the key to open the dirty wooden door and then they walked in. With some scrolls of writings hanging on the white walls, this small storefront also had calligraphy stationery on the wooden frame of the east wall. The most satisfying thing was that it had a shop in front, a house behind, and a well in the backyard. Ning Que and Sangsang casually looked around, and thinking of the cheap rent, a sense of willingness arose in their minds.
”I don't need these paintings and calligraphies. So the transferring fee should be cheaper.” Ning Que looked at the scrolls that filled up the entire wall with their fake and pretentious handwriting. He frowned and said, ”Though the calligraphy stationery is of inferior quality, it can still be used. I can reluctantly take it, but it should be free.”
Sangsang looked up at Ning Que with a prideful smile, thinking of the young master's clever words. The steward of the real-estate agency was about to cry, thinking, ”I had already known, young master and handmaiden, how mean you were these past few days, but I did not expect you to be this mean! I'm simply a steward rather than your foe. Why do you two have to keep making me suffer?”