âNo, we are not here for lunch. Mommy just want to check something out,â replied Cheng Huan as she walked forward with XingXing in tow. Next to âKing of Hot Potâ was a Hunan cuisine restaurant. In front of it stood a few servers who werenât doing anything.
Cheng Huan walked over to them and asked them, âExcuse me, do you know why this hot pot place closed down?â
She gave a slightly shy smile and said, âI am supposed to meet up with a friend and have lunch here.â
âOh, they closed down abruptly just a couple of days ago.â The server asked her, âDid you have their membership card? That is not a problem. You can use them at any of their locations. Or you can call the number posted there and they will give you a refund.â
As the hot pot place had closed down so abruptly, there were no shortage of people asking about it recently. The servers had seen a lot of them and more or less figured out their refund policies.
Cheng Huan thanked them and returned to the storefront. Sure enough, there was a piece of white paper posted on the wall with a number on it. She wrote down the number and went back to the person. âDo you know why they closed down?â
âThat I am not sure.â
They were not their employees after all and the server didnât have any more information. Cheng Huan wasnât too disappointed by that. She thanked them again, took XingXing to a bakery and bought him a slice of mango mousse cake.
All kids found sweets irresistible. The cake made XingXing forgot about everything else.
Cheng Huan was a good cook but she had a difficult time with baking. In addition, she wasnât too comfortable with outside food, so XingXing didnât have a lot of chance for this type of food.
When XingXing was eating his cake, Cheng Huan dialed the number that she had written down.
The phone rang for a few times before someone picked it up. It was a young woman on the other end of the call who asked Cheng Huan what did she need.
Cheng Huan explained herself and wanted to ask about the sublease.
The person paused for a little bit on the other side and put her on hold. After a while, a different person came to the phone.
âYou are interested in renting the location?â
âYes,â said Cheng Huan. âI want to open up a restaurant and happen to see that this location is subleasing, so I want to ask about it.â
âOh,â came a long dragged out sound. âDid you hear about it from the management company?â
âI did.â
Hearing her definitive answer, the voice from the other end became more enthusiastic. âWe should discuss about it face-to-face. Why donât we set up a time to meet? How about tomorrow? Letâs meet at Huirong PlazaâŚâ
âWait, hold on.â Seeing that the other party was already trying to set up a meeting time, Cheng Huan had no choice but to interrupt him. She asked with a guilty conscience, âUm.. I just wanted to find out the cost to sublease the location.â
âOh, the cost⌠itâs not that expensive. I got a discount when I rented it. It was $2.4M or so for 3 years. I still have one year left on the contract. I can charge you less for the sublease. What do you think about $800,000? Donât worry, the place was fairly well equipped. You wonât regret it.â
$800,000 a yearâŚ
Cheng Huan was a bit dumbfounded by the amount. That sounded too good to be true.
So the management company wasnât trying to scam her? They were only charging a tad for their referral fees?
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Translatorâs Note:
Chinese saying âpie fell from the skyâ â something that is too good to be true.