Chapter 31: 031
Yi Feng and Wang Tie bought two old popsicles on the roadside, eating while they looked for shop spaces to rent.
The Tianhe City shopping district was quite large, with shops available for transfer or rent, but they were all street-facing and pricey.
A casual 50-square-meter shop space's monthly rent was about a thousand yuan, and even less desirable locations were over five hundred a month.
In the golden area of Guangxi's city center, these were the general prices.
Wang Tie was startled by these prices.
He had thought the rent would only be around a hundred yuan, not realizing it would be in the hundreds or thousands!
"My goodness, these prices are too high, beyond my imagination… I thought it would be around a hundred!" Wang Tie said in shock.
"There are places for around a hundred, but those are too expensive for street-front shops. We don't need to rent a street-facing shop." Yi Feng said while licking his popsicle.
"Then where should we rent?"
For Yi Feng's computer repair shop, there was no need for a street-front location, as these spots offered a low value for money.
In Yi Feng's vision, a computer repair shop only needed to be within the shopping district because public transportation to the city center was convenient, and the district was surrounded by office buildings and high-end residential areas.
These customers were precise; their need for computer repair was steady, not just an impulse visit upon seeing a computer repair shop while strolling.
Instead, when their computer had issues, their first thought was whether there was a nearby computer repair shop for a quick and convenient fix.
Thus, Yi Feng led Wang Tie into the alleys off the main street.
The commercial atmosphere in these alleys was not strong, with little foot traffic, mostly residents of nearby self-built houses and their own shops.
The farther back into the alleys of Tianhe Road, the lower the price.
Shop spaces in the alleys at the front part of Tianhe Road were around 500 yuan a month, but towards the middle and end sections, the price dropped to about 200 yuan a month.
This price range was acceptable to Yi Feng.
After walking back and forth through the middle and end sections three times and noting down all the shops with suitable rents, after much comparison and consideration,
Yi Feng finally chose a shop about 100 meters in from the entrance of Alley 8.
This shop was a newly vacated ground-floor space in a self-built house, with no transfer fee and a monthly rent of 230 yuan.
Wang Tie looked around, and in the bustling Tianhe City shopping district, there was not a single pedestrian here, very quiet.
"Brother Feng, are we really choosing this shop? It's so quiet here, will anyone come?" Wang Tie asked worriedly.
Yi Feng chuckled, "It's better that it's a bit quiet, the rent can be cheaper."
"Don't worry, once the shop is set up and we do some advertising, customers will come."
"Plus, look, at the entrance of the alley on the roadside, there's a high-end coffee shop. People coming and going from such a high-end coffee shop are definitely well-off, it's normal for them to have computers at home. Just need to find a way to advertise there, the effect should be good!"
Wang Tie followed his pointing direction, indeed there was a nicely decorated coffee shop at the entrance of the alley.
He hadn't expected brother Feng to even consider this coffee shop!
Brother Feng's thinking is really beyond me!
Wang Tie admired silently.
"Alley 8, number 100, there's a contact number." Yi Feng entered the vacant shop for inspection.
This was his third inspection; the shop wasn't big, about 50 square meters, empty inside, with white walls all around.
At the entrance, a chair had the landlord's phone number and rental information.
Currently, mobile phones weren't widely spread among the general population, even the cheapest and best-selling Nokia 3310 cost 1500 yuan.
For the working class, a monthly salary was only three to four hundred yuan, hardly saving a thousand in a year; mobile phones were a luxury.
Especially after 2000, when state-owned enterprises underwent major reforms, leading to closures or mergers, suddenly adding over 30 million laid-off workers nationwide, who had to fend for themselves. It was a time of impending storm, and ordinary families dared not spend recklessly.
Yi Feng's family didn't even have a landline, using Gu Muxi's family's phone when needed.
Only Gu Muxi's family, with her father, the vice director of the rolling mill, owned a Nokia 3310 for business contacts.
Being able to afford a mobile phone and pay the monthly bill was indicative of a well-off family; most working-class families either had a landline at home or used the ubiquitous public phone booths outside.
Yi Feng also wanted to buy a mobile phone and a computer, but his funds were tight.
"Let's go, Wang Tie, we'll use a public phone to call the landlord." Yi Feng gestured.
They arrived at a phone booth on the street, where five or six people were waiting in line. Yi Feng joined the queue, taking out a 30-yuan IC card, a best-selling item at the time.
After waiting for about half an hour, it was Yi Feng's turn.
Approaching the booth, he inserted the IC card, which still had a balance of 12 yuan.
He took out a notebook and dialed the landlord's number.
After a few rings, an impatient woman's voice came through, amidst the background noise of mahjong clattering.
"Hello, who is it?"
"I'm interested in renting your shop at Alley 8, number 100, I'd like to see it." Yi Feng stated directly.
"Oh? Renting the shop? Sure, wait a moment!" The voice on the other end became slightly excited.
They agreed to meet at the shop's entrance.
After hanging up, Yi Feng and Wang Tie waited at the shop's entrance. After a while, a slightly plump middle-aged woman in a floral dress approached from the end of the alley.
"Are you the ones looking to rent the place?" The middle-aged woman eyed Yi Feng up and down, uncertain.
Because Yi Feng was so young, looking like a high school student, not the typical image of a businessman.
"Yes, big sister." Yi Feng's address brought a smile to the middle-aged woman's eyes.
This young man sure knows how to speak!
She opened the shop fully, "Come in and have a look, it's an empty shop, no transfer fee."
"And the rent is only 230 yuan, quite cheap."
Yi Feng smiled slightly, "It seems alright, are water and electricity included?"
The middle-aged woman replied, "All included, there's even a kitchen inside, you can cook."
"What kind of business do you young fellows plan to do? Just to let you know, I won't allow any dodgy business in my shop!"
Yi Feng laughed, "We're planning to open a computer repair shop, we're studying this field, just want to earn some skill money."
"A computer repair shop?"
"It's hard to believe you're so young and have this skill." The middle-aged woman expressed surprise.
"It's self-taught." Yi Feng answered while carefully checking the water and electricity details of the shop.
After a round of inspection, he found no major issues, just that the decoration was basic, and there were no freebies included.
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