“Hi, welcome.”
The salesman was a young man around 20 years old. He was sleepy, resting his upper body on the counter, and didn’t show any enthusiasm at seeing a customer walking inside. Because there were no good objects placed in the store, he was used to the fact that people might look around for a while before they left.
Gu Ning didn’t feel displeased, but slowly walked around the store; she was quite satisfied with its location and space.
“Why aren’t there any new objects in this store?” Gu Ning asked.
“Didn’t you see the transfer notice posted outside? This store is about to be transferred. It’s a waste of money if we keep on purchasing new objects,” the young man said with impatience.
Gu Ning didn’t mind his unkind attitude and asked, “Where is your boss?”
“What for?” he asked. Gu Ning was very young, so he didn’t think that she came here to acquire this store.
“Isn’t this store about to be transferred? I want to rent it, so I need to talk with your boss,” Gu Ning said with a smile.
“What?” Hearing that, the young man’s eyes lit up at once, and abruptly stood up to look at Gu Ning.
Seeing Gu Ning’s face, he thought that she looked a little familiar, but failed to recognize who she was.
“Did you just say that you want to rent this store?” he asked with doubt.
“Yeah,” Gu Ning said.
“Are you sure you’re not kidding?” He still didn’t believe it.
Gu Ning understood that he didn’t believe her words. “I’m very satisfied with the location and space of this store. If the price is reasonable, I think that I’ll rent it.”
“Well, I am the owner of this store,” the young man said, and walked out from behind the counter. His attitude towards Gu Ning changed completely as well, and he greeted her with great enthusiasm, “Please have a seat, miss.”
Gu Ning sat down, and felt slightly surprised that this young man was actually the owner of this store.
He poured a cup of tea for Gu Ning, and placed it on the table in front of her.
“Miss, nice to meet you. I’m the owner of this store, Du Laifeng. May I know your name?” he asked.
“My surname is Gu,” Gu Ning said.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Gu! Would you mind telling me what kind of business you’re going to do with this store?” Du Laifeng asked.
“The same as you,” Gu Ning said. “I wonder why your store can barely stay afloat now?”
Hearing that, Du Laifeng seemed angry and sad. “It’s not a secret on this street, so I don’t mind telling you. My father opened two stores, and both of them were very profitable. However, my father was very sick in the first half of last year, so he gave the two stores to me and my younger half-brother. My step-mother and my younger half-brother wanted to occupy both of the stores, but one of them was already under my name, so they could do nothing about it because I disagreed.”
“In that case, they turned to a bunch of hoodlums for help and caused me a lot of trouble. I’ve been losing customers and providers since then. What’s worse, nobody dares to buy my store because of my step-mother and younger half-brother.”
To Gu Ning’s surprise, there was a big story behind it.
“How much do you know about antiques?” Gu Ning asked.
“A lot, because I grew up with them,” Du Laifeng said.
“What do you plan to do next if I take over this store?” Gu Ning asked.
“Find a job to feed myself. I think that I can still live a good life with my pay and rent,” Du Laifeng said.
“Can you help me manage this store after I rent it? I can pay you a high salary along with 10% dividend every year,” Gu Ning said.
Du Laifeng was struck dumb for a second. It sounded too good to be true!
“Miss Gu, I’m afraid that it’ll cause you trouble if I keep on working here, because my step-mother and younger half-brother won’t allow me to stay here,” he said. Du Laifeng was a good, upright man.
“Don’t worry. They can’t cause me any trouble,” Gu Ning said with confidence.
“Really?” Du Laifeng was still worried.
“Well, let me prove it to you. Give me your phone,” Gu Ning said, and reached out her hand to Du Laifeng.
Du Laifeng didn’t understand why Gu Ning needed his phone, but he followed her order.
“Unlock it,” Gu Ning said.
Du Laifeng unlocked his phone and gave it to Gu Ning
Gu Ning then searched her name on the Internet and opened the first web link about her. It consisted of all the news and information on her.
“Read it before you make a decision,” she said and gave the phone back to Du Laifeng.
Du Laifeng took it, then began to read it. After reading the news, he was shocked. He had read the news before, and this girl in front of his face… All of a sudden, Du Laifeng stared at Gu Ning, and realized why he thought this young girl looked familiar. He had seen her face before!
The moment Du Laifeng realized that he met his idol, he got excited and said, “You, are you Goddess Gu? You’re Goddess Gu, right?”
Gu Ning was surprised that Du Laifeng had read news about her, but didn’t recognize her when she walked into the store just then.
