"I'm looking for someone, I don't know if it's your place." Zhang Liunian replied calmly, his expression unwavering.
As Mu Mingliang listened to Zhang Liunian and Li Qi's conversation, several thoughts flashed through his mind. He then formally introduced Zhang Liunian to Li Kuaishou, "This is Zhang Liunian, my friend. He was looking to rent a shop in the county town, so I recommended your place to him."
Li Kuaishou didn't show much of a reaction upon hearing this, but Li Qi exclaimed in surprise, "He's renting a shop? His family is so poor they can barely put food on the table. Where would he get the money to rent my shop? Is he joking with me?"
Li Qi was well aware of Zhang Liunian's family situation. Just last month, he had heard Tie Fei mention just how impoverished Zhang Liunian's family was. How could it be that just a month later, Zhang Liunian was looking to rent his shop?
Who gave him the courage?
Li Qi rolled his eyes, looking down on Zhang Liunian, completely disbelieving that Zhang Liunian was actually there to rent a shop.
Nor did he believe Zhang Liunian had the capability.
As for Zhang Liunian, who was being looked down upon, even though he had his suspicions, hearing Li Qi's words confirmed them, and his heart sank.
This shop was indeed the Li family's. This made things difficult. Li Qi had always disliked him. If he rented the shop, it was highly probable that Li Qi would find trouble with him every few days.
"You know each other?" Li Kuaishou frowned, not liking the way his son spoke to people. More importantly, he was curious as to when his son got to know Zhang Liunian, as he had never heard of it.
Before Li Qi could answer, Zhang Liunian spoke up proactively, "We used to be friends, right Li Qi."
"Who's friends with you? I am not friends with you. You are not worthy of being my friend, Li Qi." Li Qi refused to acknowledge Zhang Liunian as his friend.
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian appeared to be disappointed, perhaps even hurt. However, he remained silent and chose not to speak.
Anyone with eyes could see from his demeanor that Li Qi had betrayed Zhang Liunian's fraternal feelings.
Li Kuaishou didn't want to get involved in their matters. His primary concern was whether Zhang Liunian had the ability to rent his shop.
Thus, he turned to Mu Mingliang and asked, "Comrade Mu, does he really have the money to rent my shop?"
Mu Mingliang smiled and replied, "If he didn't have the capability, would I have brought him to your place? Isn't that right?"
The two were old acquaintances, and Mu Mingliang wouldn't make such a joke.
Li Kuaishou thought to himself that it made sense. He was good friends with the restaurant manager, and Mu Mingliang certainly wouldn't dare to joke with him.
"Dad, don't listen to him. Zhang Liunian really has no money. He's always been supported by his wife, living off her blood. How could he possibly have a few hundred yuan to rent our shop?" Li Qi's father seemed to be swayed, and he became anxious, fearing his father would truly believe Zhang Liunian had money.
Upon hearing this, Li Kuaishou and Mu Mingliang were both incredulous. Unlike Li Kuaishou's shock that Zhang Liunian could be such a person, Mu Mingliang felt that Li Qi's words were becoming increasingly ridiculous.
Because no one knew better than him how much money Zhang Liunian was making now. He could easily earn a few hundred yuan in a day.
With such earning potential, did he need to be supported by his wife?
How much enmity did this Li Qi harbor towards Liunian to slander his reputation like this?
"Young comrade, how do you know he lives by sucking his wife's blood?" Mu Mingliang chose to step in and speak up for Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian added, "You say you're not my friend, yet you know more about my affairs than I do. How do you explain that?"
"..." Of course, it's because I can't stand the sight of you and feel you've lost your dignity as a man, Li Qi thought to himself, but his words caught in his throat under his father's gaze.
Li Qi believed that if he dared to say it, he would surely be reprimanded by his father when they were alone.
Therefore, his best option now was silence. Silence was golden.
Seeing his son's inability to retort, Li Kuaishou understood everything. His son simply couldn't stand Zhang Liunian and was attacking him.
However, he was a father with principles and would never question his son in front of outsiders.
At the same time, he didn't want his son to continue embarrassing himself here. He gestured with his hand, dismissing him, "Go back inside."
"I..." Li Qi didn't want to leave, but he dared not speak his mind. He walked back into the house with reluctant glances, eventually hiding behind the main door, openly eavesdropping.
Li Kuaishou ignored his son's minor actions and invited the two to sit at a table and chairs in the courtyard, pouring them tea.
"The rent for that property of mine is eight hundred yuan a year. Can Comrade Zhang accept that?" Li Kuaishou asked after putting down the teacup.
Zhang Liunian nodded, "Yes."
Seeing him agree without batting an eye, Li Kuaishou was somewhat surprised and became even more curious about why he wanted to rent the shop. As the thought occurred to him, he asked, "May I know what Comrade Zhang plans to do with the shop? You can rest assured, I won't compete with you; I have my own job."
Zhang Liunian smiled, "Even if you wanted to learn, you wouldn't be able to. I'm going to sell aquatic products from Daming Lake."
"Then indeed, no one can learn."
The aquatic products from Daming Lake had always been sold by the aquatic products company. He wondered how Zhang Liunian managed to obtain the sales rights for them.
However, regardless of how he obtained them, it proved that Zhang Liunian was not without connections, Li Kuaishou thought to himself.
At this moment, Zhang Liunian suddenly changed the topic and inquired, "Comrade Li, is that shop of yours only for rent, or is it also for sale?"
Zhang Liunian's question stunned everyone present.
Li Kuaishou was taken aback for a long time before saying, "Comrade Zhang, what do you mean by that? Do you perhaps want to buy it?"
Honestly, he had never considered selling that shop. That shop was converted from their old house. Although the exterior was old, he had never thought about selling it.
It wasn't that the shop was particularly profitable, but rather that he had never considered it, and he didn't know what he would do with the money if he sold it.
"That's right. In any case, I need a long-term, stable shop, so I thought I might as well buy one."
This way, Li Qi wouldn't come looking for trouble from time to time. This was not something Zhang Liunian wished for.
"You have money to buy my family's shop? Are you still asleep!" Li Qi couldn't help but scoff from inside the house upon hearing this.
However, no one paid him any attention. They continued their conversation.
"I really haven't considered it." Li Kuaishou seemed somewhat hesitant, as he had never thought of selling, he didn't know the value of the shop.
Mu Mingliang was surprised by Zhang Liunian's sudden change of decision. While he was astonished by Zhang Liunian's capabilities, he also wondered how much money he would need if he really intended to buy.
After considering for a moment, he did recall a family who had sold their house and moved away.
"I remember behind us, someone sold a shop. Their place had a courtyard and two floors. The ground area combined was only ninety square meters, and they sold it for eighty-five hundred yuan."
Mu Mingliang's words reminded Li Kuaishou. He also recalled that there was indeed a family behind their shop.