Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The next day!
An article appeared on the internet. It was just a government inspection report and most of the time, something like this would only attract the attention of very few netizens who cared about these things. However, this time, the report went viral.
“D*mn, this leader’s expression is awesome.”
“That’s a demonic expression. Who took this photo? He’s amazing!”
“I feel like this kind of leader is the kind that people like. Making such an expression after eating a scallion pancake. Are these scallion pancakes really that delicious?”
“You guys don’t know. That’s Master Lin’s scallion pancake. Li Shi Kun was inspecting Cloud Street and he passed by the shop so he bought a piece. Obviously, he’s been completely subdued by the scallion pancake.”
“Look at this report. It says that just because of this shop, the human traffic in Cloud Street has increased by 200%. That’s way too terrifying.”
“I’m shocked. A single shop managed to pull up a whole street’s economy, how insane must it be?”
“Hehe, you Shanghai people only know how to boast. Only a ghost would believe such a thing.”
“^you bastard, I live in that area. Master Lin’s shop really made Cloud Street’s number of visitors skyrocket. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“You may not think it’s possible but you better not make everyone else think it’s not possible.”
…
The government office.
When Li Shi Kun saw this piece of news, he couldn’t help but start laughing, especially because of the photo of his expression after eating the scallion pancake. He wasn’t bothered by it, nor was he angry. He just hadn’t thought that he would act up like that. It had really been unexpected.
Some of his subordinates felt that the photo wasn’t very nice and asked him if he wanted it to be removed. However, he felt that it was alright and didn’t need to be removed. Previously, all the inspection photos had been very serious. To have one such photo was not bad at all.
It appeared more warm and friendly to the people.
However, one thing was for sure. It was a classic expression that would never be wiped away.
Cloud Street.
Wu You Lan looked at her phone, then said, “You’re viral again. This time, you’re appearing together with the leader.”
Lin Fan was surprised. He went online and instantly burst into laughter. He didn’t know what to say. This time, he had gone viral together with someone else. It was hard to imagine.
When some of the other cities’ leaders saw the news, their first reaction was that it might be fake news. After all, a single shop bringing up a whole street’s visitor flow seemed impossible.
Moreover, for this shop to have so many people queuing up was even more shocking.
But Li Shi Kun was involved in this matter, which made the reliability of the news much higher.
Some of the other cities’ leaders started thinking deeply. Maybe they could open special brand shops on certain streets to boost their visitor flow. But eventually, after thinking about it from different angles and perspectives, they realized it was simply impossible. This case wasn’t something that they could replicate.
In the end, they just gave up.
However, there were still some other cities’ leaders who started to think about attracting people and making use of their talents. If they could attract Master Lin to their cities, it would resolve their issues.
Of course, to carry it out wasn’t that simple.
A few days later.
Wu You Lan brought over a cup of tea and placed it on the table. “Recently, I’ve been feeling that the situation around us isn’t quite right.”
Lin Fan thanked her, then raised his head and replied, “Isn’t quite right? How can that be? Seems normal to me.”
Fraud Tian didn’t feel like anything was wrong either.
Zhao Zhong Yang was playing with his phone as he said in agreement, “I’m with You Lan. I feel like something isn’t right as well. When I came here today, I saw Elder Shen sighing loudly in his shop. I didn’t know what was going on.”
“How could that be?” asked Lin Fan as he put down his phone.
*Bam!*
At that moment, a loud noise came from outside.
Elder Dog Nicholas was having a brilliant time when suddenly, the sound frightened him so much so that his fur stood. Then, he started barking loudly.
Lin Fan and the rest went outside immediately.
Elder Liang, who sold children’s toys, pointed at the people outside his door and exclaimed, “You guys are ridiculous! The rent was already increased half a year ago but I didn’t say anything. Now you want to increase it by 100%? Why don’t you just rob me?”
At that moment, people started to crowd around “You guys really are ridiculous. With people like you increasing our rent, we’ll be giving our whole year’s worth of profit away. We need to earn money to feed ourselves too, you know?”
Lin Fan went forward immediately. “Elder Liang, what’s going on?”
When Elder Liang saw that Little Boss was here, he pulled on Lin Fan and said, “Little Boss, you be the judge. They’re just bullying us. They increased the shop rent half a year ago and now, just half a year later, they want to increase it again, and by 100% too! Aren’t they just forcing us into a dead end?”
The several black-suit-wearing young men at the entrance looked frustrated as well. They said, “Boss, shouting at us won’t do anyone any good. These are orders from our superiors. I’m just an employee and I can only do what I’m told.”
“Don’t be angry. It’s not worth it. Let me ask you this,” Lin Fan comforted Elder Liang, then turned to the three young men, “There must be reasons for the rental fees for this shop increasing but it can’t possibly increase twice in less than a year. Have you got it wrong?”
The three young men shook their heads, “We didn’t get it wrong. We’re just following directions and carrying them out. We can’t do anything about the rent increase.”
“Look, this is the document. We have no choice.”
Lin Fan took over the document and read it carefully.
Xin Yu Commercial Real Estate Corporation Limited.
Lin Fan then read the contents of the document. Cloud Street shops’ rental fees were indeed increasing by 100%.
After reading it, Lin Fan passed the document back. “Wasn’t the agreement once a year? It’s not yet time to pay the rent, right?”
Elder Liang calmed the rage in his heart, then said, “Little Boss, you don’t know this but there’s a rule in the contract that says if the industry inflates, the shop rent may change. What it means is that is that they can increase the rent whenever they want and we would have to pay the amount that it increases by. If we disagree, the contract will be terminated and our remaining rental fees will be refunded to us.”
“This agreement is a little absurd, isn’t it?” Lin Fan said in surprise, “Are all the business streets around here increasing their rental fees as well?”
The shop owners shook their head and said, “None of them are increasing. It’s just Cloud Street.”
Lin Fan looked at the three young men. “Let me ask you. If it’s based on the industry’s inflation and all the other streets haven’t increased their rent, then why should the Cloud Street shop rents increase?”
They shook their heads. “These are the changes in the market that have been found. Cloud Street’s visitor flow has increased twice over, that’s why the rents must increase.”
At that moment, Lin Fan understood.
It turns out it was because of him. They had probably noticed the report that had been posted out earlier.
That was why they were increasing the shop rents.
Lin Fan asked, “I rent a shop too, why haven’t I been informed?”
The young men shook their heads. “We don’t know. We haven’t received any notice.”
The surrounding shop owners said, “Little Boss, the increase in visitor flow in Cloud Street is thanks to your contributions. They surely wouldn’t dare to increase your shop rent. That’s why they’re taking it out on us instead.”
Lin Fan looked at the crowd. “Are all your shop rents increasing?”
The crowd replied, “Yeah, we already got the notice.”
Lin Fan was silent for a while, then he asked, “What do you all plan on doing?”
Elder Liang sighed, “I can’t afford to pay this rent. I think I’ll have no choice but to move elsewhere.”
“Sigh, this is really hard for us to handle. Little Boss, perhaps we won’t be neighbors in future. I think I’ll have to move as well.”
“Me too. Although my business definitely won’t do as well, we can’t just stay here and let them exploit us.”
Lin Fan raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.
The crowd looked at Little Boss, not knowing what he meant.
They couldn’t bear to leave this place but they had no choice. The rent was too high, they couldn’t afford it at all.
They were furious at the situation as well. What the heck was that?
When the flow of people increased, the rent increased. When the people flow had been low, why hadn’t the rent decreased? If that was the way they worked, then they should stick to it no matter what.
“Everyone, don’t be anxious. I’ve been in Cloud Street for almost two months. During this period, I got along well with everyone. Everyone treated me courteously and kindly as well. So, if someone is moving, we’ll all move. They can increase the rent as much as they want and we don’t have to give a rat’s a*s about it.”
“Shanghai may lack many things, but it doesn’t lack shop openings. I saw the news the other day. Isn’t there a district nearby where they just built a new business street? I think it just finished building. We’ll move there and start afresh. Let them increase the rental fees all they want,” said Lin Fan.
When the crowd heard this, they were momentarily stunned. They hadn’t thought that Little Boss would say such a thing.
How touching.
How exhilarating.
Some of the shop owners were close to tears.
They hadn’t thought that Little Boss would stay on their side like that.
Those three young men were shocked as well. It seemed like the situation had gotten out of hand.
But to Lin Fan, it was the same no matter where he went. This rent increment method, although it didn’t affect him, he absolutely wouldn’t have it.
If he had to leave, he would leave. There were no qualms about it.
If they wanted to cause trouble, Lin fan wasn’t going to show any fear.
Attracting customers?
That was simply not an issue.
At most, he would just work a little harder and sell twenty servings of scallion pancakes a day.
How could he be afraid of not having enough customers?