Ye Chen asked the shop owner suspiciously, "The rent isn't quite right, is it?"
The landlord froze for a moment and then said, "Right, why wouldn't it be right? This is the current price for my storefront."
The landlord's answer was firm; it seemed that in his eyes, this storefront was practically worthless. As long as it could be rented out, he'd be thanking his lucky stars.
Upon hearing this, Ye Chen became even more hesitant.
Ye Chen knew the principle that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
The rent for this location should be at least around 100,000. The other party only wanted 50,000—half the price. Was he stupid?
Beside him, Xia Yingluo also tugged at his arm.
Ye Chen knew that Xia Yingluo also felt this shop was a bit strange.
Ye Chen said, "How about this, we'll go back and discuss it."
Hearing that the two were not signing immediately, the landlord became anxious instead.
"With this location and this price, it's really already very cheap. What are you still hesitating for?"
Ye Chen said speechlessly, "It's precisely because it's too cheap that we need to think it over."
The landlord wanted to say more, but the more Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo looked at his expression, the more they felt something was wrong with this shop.
After making their decision, the two left politely.
The landlord watched their figures and sighed helplessly.
After leaving, the two discussed it and felt that the shop wasn't very reliable.
Furthermore, when someone is being unusually kind for no reason, they must have an ulterior motive.
Don't touch small bargains; that was Ye Chen's principle.
There's no free lunch in this world; there was definitely a problem with this shop being so cheap.
Therefore, the cheaper it was, the more uneasy the two felt.
The two walked around some more and found that the prices of surrounding shops were all around 100,000 or even higher.
However, none were for rent.
The two of them didn't think about returning to that shop just now, and finally decided to give up on opening a shop near Peking University.
Since it wouldn't work here, they might as well find a Commercial Street to open one.
Just as the two were about to leave, the sharp-eyed Ye Chen suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
Wasn't that the landlord who had just been negotiating with them?
The landlord was a bit chubby and was wearing a colorful shirt, making him very conspicuous in the crowd.
He didn't see Ye Chen and the other, but instead walked toward a Starbucks coffee shop by the street.
The cafe was right on the street, so Ye Chen could clearly see the situation inside.
The fat landlord sat down at a table.
Ye Chen looked across from him and was instantly stunned. Wasn't that Professor Xia?
The fat landlord seemed to say something to Professor Xia, and Professor Xia seemed a bit angry, saying something back to the landlord.
Inadvertently, he turned his head and saw Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo standing in front of the window, watching him.
Professor Xia's expression changed slightly, and he then looked in another direction.
Ye Chen was speechless. Did you think that if you didn't look at us, we wouldn't be able to see you?
Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo walked into the Starbucks.
Ye Chen stared at Old Man Xia and asked, "Professor Xia, what exactly is going on?"
Old Man Xia glanced at the landlord.
The landlord didn't speak, intentionally turning his head to look at a foreign girl nearby.
Old Man Xia smiled awkwardly, "Student Ye, what a coincidence. We meet again."
Ye Chen said flatly, "It is indeed quite a coincidence!"
Professor Xia nodded repeatedly, putting on an act of being surprised by the chance encounter.
Ye Chen looked at Professor Xia. Coincidence? Do you take me for a fool?
Ye Chen finally understood why the rent for that shop was so cheap.
It must be because of Old Man Xia.
He didn't know that landlord at all, so why would the other party be so nice to them and offer such a cheap price?
Ye Chen asked, "Professor Xia, that shop belongs to you, doesn't it?"
After thinking it over, this was the only possibility.
"Shop? What shop?" Old Man Xia continued to play dumb.
However, Old Man Xia clearly hadn't lied much before; his acting was particularly poor and his expressions were overly exaggerated.
Looking at Old Man Xia's clumsy acting, even Xia Yingluo couldn't help but cover her eyes.
Old Man Xia knew he couldn't hide it anymore and stopped pretending: "Fine, that shop is mine."
That landlord was actually a friend of Old Man Xia, who helped him manage various matters regarding rent.
Regarding this shop the landlord mentioned, Old Man Xia and I each own half the shares.
Originally, he had already found a tenant and was about to sign for a price of 120,000, but with one word from Professor Xia, the shop had to be rented to Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo.
Not only that, the rent had to be cut in half.
Although he didn't know why Old Man Xia was doing this, the storefront belonged to Old Man Xia after all, so he could only follow Old Man Xia's instructions and sign with Ye Chen.
He didn't expect that because the price was too low, it would actually scare Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo away.
Xia Yingluo and Ye Chen looked at each other, still looking puzzled.
Ye Chen asked, "Then why did you give us such a low rent?"
To be honest, Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo had only met him once; they didn't really have a relationship.
So why was Old Man Xia helping them like this?
It simply wasn't logical.
Old Man Xia patted his chest and said, "I, Old Xia, love helping others the most at Peking University. I know you're going to school while also starting a business, so as a professor at Peking University, I naturally have to help you."
Ye Chen originally wanted to pretend to believe him, but it just didn't make sense.
Neither of them were Old Man Xia's students, nor did they have any friendship. Why would Old Man Xia be willing to lose hundreds of thousands a year to help them?
The fat landlord on the side was also very frustrated.
He had negotiated 120,000 for this storefront, but for some reason, Old Man Xia insisted on renting it to these two young people for 50,000.
Ye Chen said, "So you set the rent so low to help us?"
Old Man Xia said, "We just gave a bit of a discount, that's all."
Ye Chen was speechless.
With this location and this price, it could be said there was no difference from giving it away for free.
Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo finally understood the whole story.
They also realized that the man didn't want to scam them, but rather wanted to help them.
They had overthought it before.
Ye Chen and Xia Yingluo didn't know that Old Man Xia had been paying attention to their movements for the past two weeks.
Old Man Xia found that besides going to school, the two were running around outside every day.
But after asking Xiao He later, he understood that his granddaughter had actually already started a business with Ye Chen.
And they were doing quite well. Knowing this, Old Man Xia felt even more heartache for his granddaughter.
Attending school while also doing business was simply too hard.
However, he also felt proud of his granddaughter.
He was proud that his granddaughter not only studied well but was also so outstanding.
For an orphan to get into Peking University through her own efforts and even have her own business was enough to show how excellent Xia Yingluo was.
How could he, as her grandfather, not be proud?
But he also felt heartache. In his view, a girl should be treated like a little princess, pampered at home, and shouldn't have to worry about money.
But now, because of him, Xia Yingluo was thinking about making money at such a young age; it was truly too hard.