Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

September 20th, morning.

Ai Huijun packed her bag, changed into a more formal suit, checked herself in the mirror, and after confirming that everything was alright, she left the room.

When her husband heard the sound and saw her dressed like that, he knew she was going out to meet a client.

Remembering something she wanted to say, her husband took advantage of the time she was putting on her shoes to bring it up, saying, "I've already bought the gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of this month. We'll visit a few relatives then."

"Okay." Ai Huijun put on her high heels, kicked the toes of her shoes, and then said, "My brother and cousin live in the same neighborhood, so it's very convenient."

"Okay, I'll just say so. Just don't forget."

After saying that, Ai Huijun put on her shoes and went out.

She is a real estate agent.

The main business is the sale and rental of second-hand houses, and also some shop and office building leasing work.

Their family has extensive connections; they have relatives in the real estate business, as well as many other relatives and acquaintances who have invested in real estate in the past, and each household owns some property.

Ai Huijun was adept at using these connections and channels. Relying on her personal relationships, she gradually gathered this batch of properties and quickly became a well-known real estate agent in Linping District.

Although the commission is just a small amount, mostly from house rentals and shop leases, the commission can be tens of thousands of yuan for just one house sale each month.

With this job, she can earn at least several hundred thousand yuan a year. In the years when the market was good, she even earned over a million yuan, which is not much less than her husband's income.

I went out to meet a client today. It wasn't to sell a house, but a client who wanted to rent a shop to open a cat cafe.

This business may not be as profitable as buying a house, but it's slightly better than renting.

Especially for a cat cafe, the rent would easily be several thousand yuan.

Ai Huijun's personality is such that even a small mosquito bite is still meat; she never takes a small amount of money lightly and always prepares diligently.

After leaving the house, she drove to the entrance of the other party's residential complex, glanced at the name of the complex, and paused for a moment.

I didn't realize it before, but now that I see the big characters "Jinpan Yunting Mansion" and think about what I said to my husband when I left this morning, I remember that my brother and cousin also live here.

It's quite a coincidence that today's client also lives here.

After Ai Huijun parked her car at the entrance of the residential area, she sent a WeChat message to her customer to let them know that she had arrived.

Soon, WeChat called.

"Hello."

"Hello, we just came downstairs and will be at the entrance of the community soon."

"Okay, sure." Ai Huijun replied, then turned off the engine and got out of the car, walking towards the entrance of the residential area. As she walked, she said, "I'm already at the security guard's place here. The one in the black suit is him."

"Okay," Ai Qing's voice came from the other end. "We've arrived too, can you see us?"

Ai Huijun looked into the residential area and sure enough, she saw a young man waving at her, with a petite-looking girl next to him.

She paused for a moment, feeling that this person looked somewhat familiar.

When the other party walked in, not only Ai Huijun, but also Ai Qing on the other side was obviously stunned.

The little fish standing to the side was a bit puzzled, wondering why they didn't greet each other when they met.

But after a short while, Ai Qing said helplessly, "Auntie... why is it you?"

"What you're saying..." Ai Huijun said with a laugh, "This is what I do, why can't it be me? But what about you, why did you suddenly think of opening a cat cafe?"

"No particular reason, just driving around with my girlfriend for fun."

"Hmm?" Ai Huijun's gaze immediately fell on Xiaoyu, making Xiaoyu instantly nervous. "Is this your girlfriend?"

“Yes, this is my girlfriend. You can just call her Xiaoyu.” Ai Qing looked at the slightly bewildered Xiaoyu, smiled, and tugged at her hand, reminding her, “Call her Auntie.”

"Oh, oh... Hello, Auntie!" Little Fish only realized it at this moment and quickly greeted her politely.

When Ai Huijun first met Xiaoyu, she simply nodded and said, "Hello, you too."

Then she looked at Ai Qing and asked, "So what are your plans now? If you really want to find a shop to rent, your aunt won't charge you any agency fees. I'll see if I can find you a good location."

Ai Qing scratched her head a little embarrassedly, but didn't refuse. There was no need to decline the kindness of an elder.

His father is an only child, but his grandfather had a deceased older brother who had a son and a daughter, and they had a good relationship with Ai Zhongguo.

When Ailisong's older brother passed away, these two children were raised with the help of Ailisong and Lang Xiangying, and they were not much different from their own children.

However, Ai Qing had never really inquired about what her relatives did for a living.

In addition, Ai Huijun only started working as a real estate agent in the last three or four years. Ai Qing was already in college at that time, and they only met during the Chinese New Year each year.

Ai Huijun uses a dedicated phone number and WeChat account for work, so after adding each other as friends, they really don't recognize each other.

"I've already told you about the location I'm looking for and my requirements. Aunt, do you have any recommendations for shops?" Ai Qing asked.

“Hmm, there are some.” Ai Huijun stroked her chin and pondered. “A size of 80 to 100 square meters, with a bathroom, convenient transportation, a street-side shop, preferably near a shopping mall, where there is more young people.”

"Correct."

“There are quite a few,” Ai Huijun said, then glanced at Ai Qing, then looked at the row of shops next to the entrance of the residential area, and said with a strange expression, “You’re going to open a cat cafe? Didn’t you tell your family?”

"It was something I discussed with my girlfriend; I haven't mentioned it to my family yet," Ai Qing said. "What's wrong?"

“No wonder.” Ai Huijun shook her head with a laugh. “Why don’t you just tell your dad? He has a shop here, why don’t you use it? Anyway, it seems like no one wants to rent it recently.”

"What?!" Ai Qing was truly stunned, momentarily unable to process what she was seeing. "Where did my dad get a shopfront?"

"Wasn't there a housing subsidy as compensation for the delayed demolition and construction in the North District?" Ai Huijun looked at Ai Qing with a puzzled expression. "Everyone who was relocated before was eligible for a subsidy."

“Your grandparents’ household registration was in their hometown before the demolition and they received demolition compensation, so only your parents’ demolition compensation is in this community.”

"So at that time, they each used one quota to buy an apartment and a shop in the North District."

“The house had been rented out for several years, but a few months ago, after the last tenant didn’t renew the lease, your dad suddenly told me that he was no longer renting it out and that he had other uses for it.”

"The storefront used to be a fruit shop, and then it was converted into a supermarket and other businesses. It closed down in the last two months and has been vacant ever since."

Ai Qing: "..."

After listening to her aunt's words, Ai Qing fell silent for a moment, her mind a little confused.

What do you mean by "Dad has another house in the North District"?

And suddenly stopped renting it out a few months ago?

Does that mean it's no longer available for rent?

I bet he just rented it out to his own son!

And there's still a monthly rent of two thousand!

However, after he found a girlfriend, he said he would give her a dating fund of two thousand yuan every month.

So this dating fund is money he earned himself?

Chapter 188 Rent

Ai Qing feels a bit numb right now.

He actually knew their family situation quite well.

Having a good background, Linping District, which was just a small county town a decade or two ago, was also included in the development area as Hangzhou's economy developed and the city expanded.

Demolition and relocation naturally followed.

Moreover, Hangzhou is not short of money, and the compensation for demolition is quite generous.

Like the first batch of rural demolitions, Ai Qing's grandparents enjoyed the benefits.

I moved to this old residential area of ​​Jinpan Yunting Mansion more than ten years ago because of rural demolition.

Ailisong and Lang Xiangying own two houses, and they have been saving the demolition compensation they received.

When the area was later demolished, Ailisong and Lang Xiangying were not included because they had already received demolition benefits once.

Therefore, only Ai Zhongguo, Yao Qiang, and Ai Qing herself received demolition compensation.

However, Ai Qing was still young at that time, so everything was handled by his parents, and he didn't understand much about it.

All I knew was that I had been allocated an apartment.

There are a total of three people and three houses. The first and second floors of their current home are two of them.

The adjacent supermarket store was purchased when it was first built.

The house that Ai Qing was allocated is now being managed by Ai Zhongguo. Including the two houses they used to own in the countryside, there are a total of three houses, and Ai Zhongguo usually collects the rent.

Because the locations are generally not very good, the houses in the countryside are rented to migrant workers who work in factories, and they can earn about four or five thousand yuan a month.

Ai Qing's apartment costs about three thousand a month.

If you also include the apartment and shop in the North District... Ai Zhongguo earns 10,000 or even 20,000 yuan a month just from rent.

Thinking of this, Ai Qing's lips twitched.

He already knew that his family didn't lack housing, so the pressure of finding a job after graduating from university wasn't particularly high.

But who knew that an extra house and a shop could appear out of nowhere!

And they won't even tell him!

To be honest, if it were Ai Qing himself, with so many assets in his hands, he would probably just stay in that publishing house and live a leisurely life like Ai Zhongguo.

That explains why Ai Zhongguo, after being forced to resign, hasn't had any major problems even though he hasn't been looking for work.

So they really don't lack money.

Ai Qing thought about her novel, which used to earn her 20,000 yuan a month in royalties, but she estimated that the royalties would plummet after it was finished.

It might not even be as much as the rent my dad earns.

Thinking about it, it really does make my teeth hurt.

Even so, Ai Zhongguo's family's circumstances were considered average among their relatives.

Even setting aside families like Kong Fugui's, Ai Huijun's family's circumstances were far more outrageous than this.

It can only be said that the rapid development of coastal areas has indeed brought many benefits...

“Why don’t you go take a look at your shop? The location is pretty good,” Ai Huijun said with a smile. “It’s right on this street, close to where you live, and it’s even bigger than you’re looking for, about 120 square meters.”

Ai Qing looked at the shops on the street, and some of them seemed familiar to her.