TTTQF Chapter 67

Lease Contract

"Song Yaren, here are forty-five taels of silver. Please count it. I want to rent for three months first. By the way, if I want to renew the lease after three months, will I have priority?"

Jiang Miao brings the silver to the Real Estate and Leasing Agency. This forty-five taels is naturally not all his savings. Opening a shop requires a significant initial investment; if he uses all his money for rent, he is left with nothing for other expenses.

"Priority?" Song Yaren ponders the meaning of his words and guesses, "Do you mean that if you want to rent it again after three months, you'd like to have the first option?"

"Yes. For people like us who do business, moving around is very problematic. I don’t want to find out that the shop has been rented to someone else when I come to renew it in three months." He thinks the shop is very suitable and forgets to ask about other details after learning that he can modify the layout. Even the best business can falter if it keeps changing locations, causing customers to scatter.

Song Yaren thinks for a moment and says, "As long as you want to continue renting, the landlord won’t refuse. However, if the shop is put up for sale during this period, the landlord may decide to reclaim it after the lease ends."

This is indeed a problem. According to Jiang Miao's plan, he rents long-term once he makes a profit and buys the shop when he saves enough money. However, even the best plan can’t prevent someone from selling the shop in the near future. Furthermore, even if he rents long-term for a year or two, he might not earn enough to buy the shop. What if the business thrives and someone envies him and tries to take it away?

Seeing him hesitate, Song Yaren advises, "Actually, this shop is really good, and the price is reasonable. If it weren’t a bit small, it wouldn’t have been on the market for so long. I noticed you kept looking at the vacant land outside yesterday, so you must have been considering it. Since you want it, why not buy it directly?"

"Song Yaren, do I look like someone who can pull out over a thousand taels to buy a shop?" Jiang Miao smiles wryly. He doesn’t understand why Song Yaren keeps trying to persuade him to buy the shop. People in this line of work should have sharp eyes!

Song Yaren looks doubtful and asks, "Young Master Jiang, isn’t this young gentleman your brother?"

Jiang Miao is first taken aback and then suddenly thinks of the practice of selling people in ancient times. He quickly pulls Pei Mu into his embrace and says, "My brother is not for sale."

Song Yaren chuckles, "We are a Real Estate and Leasing Agency, not a slave trader. Besides, this young gentleman looks precious. Who would dare to make any moves on him? Since you are his elder brother, why use lack of money as an excuse to brush me off? You should know that just the fabric of this young gentleman's outer garment could cover several months' rent."

After speaking, Song Yaren sees Jiang Miao looking in shock at Pei Mu's clothes and begins to doubt their relationship. Could it be that Jiang Miao is just his adoptive brother? Or, as in some plays, this young gentleman’s family has fallen into hardship, and he’s taking refuge with others?

Even Song Yaren, no matter how astute, can’t guess that the two, while calling each other siblings, are actually a little brother and his sister-in-law.

Jiang Miao thinks for a moment, then puts the silver away and says apologetically to Song Yaren, "Song Yaren, sorry for the trouble today. I need to think about this a bit more."

Song Yaren smiles and says, "No problem. Think it over and come find me later." The most important thing for them in this business is patience.

Jiang Miao takes Pei Mu back home, feeling unusually down. It seems that acting on impulse doesn’t work; problems come one after another.

Pei Mu sits by the side, noticing his mood, purses his lips, gets up, and moves closer. He props himself up on Jiang Miao's knee, his clear eyes fixed on him, as if asking what is wrong.

"It’s nothing." Jiang Miao pats his head.

Pei Mu frowns, looking somewhat unhappy.

Jiang Miao smiles, "Really, it's nothing. Just thinking that silver is quite a good thing."

Silver? Pei Mu recalls the bag he has seen earlier and his eyes light up. He pulls Jiang Miao toward the bed, then clumsily climbs in, lifts the blanket underneath, and takes out something, handing it to Jiang Miao.

Silver? Jiang Miao is puzzled. He examines the piece of silver and notices it is engraved with the characters "Jixiang Ruyi" (Auspicious and as Desired). Suddenly, he realizes this is the gift that Manager Wang has given to Xiao Shitou before.

It turns out that Xiao Shitou's "small treasury" is hidden here! Jiang Miao wonders how Pei Mu has discovered it. He smiles as he lifts the blanket and sees that besides the silver ingot Pei Mu has just taken out, there are also many copper coins underneath. Jiang Miao counts and finds there are over two hundred coins, likely all the New Year’s money and pocket money Xiao Shitou has saved.

He puts the silver ingot back, rearranges the blanket, and pretends not to have noticed. 

Pei Mu stares at him, puzzled. Doesn’t he want silver?

"This is Xiao Shitou’s money. Without permission, no one should move it, understand?" Jiang Miao says. 

Seeing that Pei Mu still doesn’t understand, Jiang Miao points to the small fish in Pei Mu's hand and says, "Just like your little fish. When you’re willing to let me touch it, I’ll touch it. If you don’t want me to, then no one can touch it, right?" He speaks slowly, and Pei Mu nods, understanding this time. He then goes over, pats the blanket, and shows that he won’t touch the things there anymore.

"Very good!" Jiang Miao praises him. "Now we should go pick up Xiao Shitou."

Pei Mu nods and follows Jiang Miao out.

When they arrive outside the school, Xiao Shitou just comes out. When he sees Jiang Miao and Pei Mu, he runs over excitedly, holding up a new brush in his hand, and says, "Brother, Xiao Mu, look, this is a reward from the teacher! The teacher says I’ve been memorizing the most lines every day!"

Jiang Miao is delighted, squats down, and praises, "Wow, that’s amazing!" He takes the brush and examines it closely. "Did you thank the teacher for the reward?"

"Yes!" Xiao Shitou nods vigorously.

"So what will you do from now on?"

"I’ll study even harder so that I don’t disappoint the teacher or you, Brother!" Xiao Shitou says, his determined expression making Jiang Miao feel reassured and hopeful that Xiao Shitou might become a top student in the future.

On the way home, Jiang Miao buys Xiao Shitou a sweet cake to celebrate. Xiao Shitou takes the cake, first asks Jiang Miao, then splits it in half and hands one part to Pei Mu. Jiang Miao smiles, knowing Xiao Shitou will share with Pei Mu. If they had bought two cakes, they could have eaten them and been too full for dinner.

Pei Mu takes the cake and eats it, but his eyes keep drifting to Xiao Shitou’s new brush.

After dinner, Xiao Shitou sits in the study and carefully copies a few sentences he has learned that day with his new brush. Jiang Miao worries that the dim light might harm his eyesight, so he always lights three or four candles to illuminate the whole room. Since having more candles increases the risk of fire if knocked over, Jiang Miao always stays in the study while Xiao Shitou is writing.

Pei Mu follows along every day, but while others are writing, he is engrossed in petting the cat. Today, however, Pei Mu's attention shifts from the cat to Xiao Shitou. He stands next to Xiao Shitou, closely observing his every move, making Xiao Shitou feel a bit self-conscious.

Seeing this, Jiang Miao pulls Pei Mu to his side and asks softly, "Xiao Mu, what’s wrong?"

Pei Mu turns his head to look at the brush in Xiao Shitou’s hand, then looks back at Jiang Miao, his eyes showing a desire.

"You want to write too?" Jiang Miao guesses.

Pei Mu nods.

Jiang Miao thinks he just wants to play, so he goes to the side, grabs some scraps of paper, and spreads them out on the stool. He also takes a brush, dips it in some ink, and hands it to Pei Mu.

Pei Mu purses his lips, keeps his hands behind his back, and refuses to take it.

Alright, small child with a big temper. Jiang Miao realizes Pei Mu sees through his pretense and has no choice but to set up the desk on the other side, just like Xiao Shitou’s setup, and then places Pei Mu on the seat.

"Is this okay?" This time, when the brush is handed over, Pei Mu accepts it. He grasps the brush and makes a few strokes on the paper, peeking at Xiao Shitou’s work, looking somewhat unsure.

Jiang Miao stands behind him, guides his hand to position the brush properly, and then, following Xiao Shitou’s example, slowly teaches Pei Mu how to write stroke by stroke. His own brush calligraphy is quite poor, but Pei Mu can’t discern that; he thinks it looks quite similar to Xiao Shitou’s, and his mouth curves into a slight smile, happier than when Pei Che taught him to write.

In the Imperial Academy, Pei Che is also writing, with very neat and beautiful words, as if they are engraved on the paper. After finishing his homework, he pulls out a letter from the bottom. This is the news from the person he arranged to be next to Jiang Miao.

The more he reads the letter, the tighter his frown becomes. It says that Jiang Miao visited the leasing office yesterday but returned disappointed today because he did not have enough silver.

He had clearly told Jiang Miao that the money in the Jiang residence was available for his use, but it was only fourteen hundred taels. Why isn’t it enough? Was there someone obstructing him, treating Jiang Miao with disregard in his absence? It isn’t impossible.

Thinking this, Pei Che immediately writes a reply, then goes outside to the base of the wall. He looks around to see if anyone is watching, then jumps over the wall and lands outside.

He whistles, and soon someone arrives, saying, "Young Master, did you call for me?"

"Deliver this letter to Steward Wu of the Jiang residence and instruct him to resolve this matter by early tomorrow morning. Also, find out if there is anyone in the Jiang residence who is not following orders."

"Yes!" The subordinate, seeing Pei Che’s stern expression, does not dare to delay and quickly agrees.

…

The next morning, after dropping off Xiao Shitou, Jiang Miao sees someone waiting outside the side door. 

Hearing the noise, the person turns around and quickly comes over to greet him: "Young Master Jiang, Young Master, you’ve finally returned."

"Steward Wu?" Jiang Miao is a bit puzzled. "What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"

He opens the side door and invites Steward Wu inside.

"The old servant is here to deliver something to Young Master Jiang. The heir sent an urgent message last night, instructing me to have this sorted out first thing this morning." Steward Wu takes out a piece of paper and hands it to Jiang Miao for review.

Jiang Miao opens it to find that it is a property deed, and the location on the contract is the shop on Mingfeng Street.

"Pei Che sent this last night?" Jiang Miao asks, incredulous. "How did he know I wanted this shop?"

Steward Wu smiles mysteriously and says, "The Young Master and you share a close bond, so he naturally could guess what you had in mind."

Jiang Miao gives a forced smile.

After Steward Wu leaves, Jiang Miao examines the property deed again, feeling a bit unsettled. This feeling is quite different from when he received the silver from the Jiang residence. He can’t pinpoint exactly what is bothering him, but he feels that it makes him seem greedy. Is it possible that, in Pei Che’s eyes, everything he does is interpreted as a subtle request for money?

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