r18novel Chapter 20 The video rental shop business is booming
Chapter 20 The video rental shop business is booming
School started in early September.
The campus is bustling again. Returning students are returning to school, new students are enrolling, long lines are forming outside the cafeteria, people are playing soccer on the playground, and the corridors are filled with the trivial chatter of "Where did you go for summer vacation?"
Li Si'an walked out of the dormitory building with his bag on his back, glanced at the sun overhead, and thought to himself that he had had enough of living in this lousy dormitory.
The first thing to do when school starts is to arrange off-campus accommodation.
He's a local from Beijing, so the procedures weren't complicated, but he still had to go through the proper formalities: filling out forms, getting his homeroom teacher's signature, and submitting them to the student affairs office for approval.
The person in charge of this matter in the student affairs department is Teacher Li, who is in his fifties, with gray hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and speaks slowly and deliberately, looking like a kind person.
Li Si'an handed the form over. Teacher Li took it, glanced at it, said nothing, and put it aside.
Li Si'an didn't leave.
"Teacher Li, are you free tonight? I'd like to invite you to dinner."
Teacher Li raised her eyelids and glanced at him.
"You're inviting me to dinner? What's up?"
"Here's the thing, my uncle runs a video store near the school gate. He'll be dealing with students a lot in the future, so I'd like to ask for your help."
"Your uncle?" Teacher Li pushed her glasses up. "Zhou Weidong?"
"Yes. You know him?"
Teacher Li leaned back in her chair and suddenly smiled.
"Do you know that when you enrolled in school, your uncle contacted me?"
Li Si'an paused for a moment, then smiled.
"Oh, Ms. Li, then I really have to treat you! Tonight at 6:30, at that Sichuan restaurant near the school gate, how about it?"
Teacher Li smiled and shook her head, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay. But you'd better add one more person."
"Who?"
"Old Wang from the security department. He's in charge of the school gate. Your shop is right by the school gate, so having him look after things will save you trouble."
Li Si'an cursed inwardly—this guy is the real expert.
"Okay. But I'm not familiar with Uncle Wang, could you please invite him for me?"
Teacher Li nodded: "Okay, I'll invite them for you."
"Thank you, Teacher Li. See you tonight."
6:30 pm, Sichuan restaurant.
Li Si'an arrived early, ordered several hearty dishes, and a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor). Before she could even sit down, Teacher Li pushed open the door and came in, followed by a man in his fifties with a tanned, dark red face, wearing a gray-blue jacket, and walking with a brisk pace.
"Old Wang, this is the one I told you about, Zhou Weidong's nephew." Teacher Li patted the man on the shoulder.
Li Si'an quickly stood up and extended her hand: "Uncle Wang, hello, hello."
Old Wang shook his hand; his palm was as rough as sandpaper. He looked Li Si'an up and down, and said in a low voice, "I've seen your uncle's shop when I passed by. It's in a good location."
"From now on, I'll have to rely on Uncle Wang's care." Li Si'an said with a smile as he poured wine for the two of them.
The three sat down. Teacher Li picked up her wine glass, took a sip, smacked her lips, and looked at Li Si'an.
"How is your uncle doing? I haven't seen him in quite some time."
"That's great. After the shop opened, he came to check on things every few days." Li Si'an poured Teacher Li a drink. "Teacher Li, it turns out that my uncle contacted you when I was applying to school back then."
Teacher Li waved her hand, a smile on her face: "Yes, your uncle came to see me with two bottles of wine, saying you're a good candidate and want to get into the affiliated high school. I looked at your grades..."
He looked at Li Si'an and said with a smile, "With your elementary school grades, you really had nowhere else to go if you didn't get into our school. So I gave you a hand."
"Teacher Li, then I must offer you a toast later. If it weren't for your help back then, I really don't know where I'd be now." Li Si'an raised his glass. "Teacher Li, Uncle Wang, I'd like to toast you both."
The three men clinked glasses. Old Wang downed his drink in silence, wiped his mouth, and remained mostly quiet.
Li Si'an filled both of their cups and chatted for a while. The meal lasted until after eight o'clock, and the atmosphere became much warmer.
Teacher Li's face turned red from drinking, and he became more talkative. Old Wang, on the other hand, remained relatively quiet, but he drank quite a bit.
When the event ended, Li Si'an escorted the two to the door, took out two packs of cigarettes from his bag, and handed them to Teacher Li.
"Teacher Li, this is just a small token of my appreciation."
Teacher Li gave it a push and accepted it.
"Just hand in the form about staying overnight."
"Thank you, Teacher Li."
Li Si'an's own stay-at-home arrangements went very smoothly. But Tang Yun's didn't go so well.
She was from out of town, and according to school regulations, out-of-town students were generally required to live on campus. She filled out an application form, submitted it, and it was returned three days later. The reason given was simply: she did not meet the requirements for off-campus accommodation.
Tang Yun looked unwell when she came out of the student affairs office. Li Si'an was waiting for her in the corridor. Seeing her come out, he asked, "How are you?"
She shook her head and handed him the application form.
"no."
Li Si'an took it and glanced at it, but didn't say anything.
"Then forget it." Tang Yun's voice was calm, but Li Si'an could hear a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Forget it, forget it." He folded the application form and put it in his pocket. "I'll figure something out."
Tang Yun glanced at him, her lips moved as if she wanted to say "No need," but she didn't say it. She knew him; if he said he would find a way, he would definitely find a way.
Li Si'an went to see Teacher Li again.
This time he didn't go empty-handed. He brought two packs of better cigarettes and a bottle of wine, all in a plastic bag, and carried them directly to Teacher Li's office.
When Teacher Li saw the bag, she frowned slightly and didn't take it.
"Xiao Li, what are you doing now?"
"Teacher Li, could you please help me with my girlfriend's situation?" Li Si'an placed the bag on the side of the coffee table. "She's from out of town, but she lives with me, so there won't be any problems."
Teacher Li leaned back in her chair and looked at him for a long time.
"Your girlfriend? The one you mentioned last time?"
"Um."
"You two live together?"
"Two rooms, one for each of us," Li Si'an quickly explained.
Mr. Li was silent for a few seconds, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. He glanced at the plastic bag next to the coffee table and sighed.
"Xiao Li, let me tell you the truth. I don't want to get involved in your affairs, and I can't. But—" He paused, lowering his voice, "you two better not cause any trouble."
Li Si'an understood what he meant by "trouble".
"Don't worry, Teacher Li, we know what we're doing."
Teacher Li didn't say anything more, took a form out of the drawer, and pushed it over.
"Have her fill out another one and hand it in tomorrow."
Li Si'an took the watch, thanked her, and left the office. As she reached the door, Teacher Li said from behind, "Take it with you, I don't want it."
Li Si'an didn't turn around, but waved her hand.
"You can keep it."
After the accommodation arrangement was finalized, the video store's business gradually got on track.
The number of visitors after the start of the school year is significantly higher than during the summer vacation. The main peak times are during the lunch break and the evening – from 12:30 to 1:30 pm and from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.
Students from the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy would often stop and browse through the cassette tapes and posters displayed at the entrance on their way home from school.
Emil Chau's "Love Follows," Sandy Lam's "Scars," and Leslie Cheung's "Beloved" sold the best.
Li Si'an instructed Chen Dong to place these items in the most prominent position on the counter, with a red paper next to them that read "Hot Selling".
Chen Dong keeps an eye on things at the store during the day, and Sister Nan is also there during the day, only occasionally going out to deliver goods.
Li Si'an then had much more free time, sometimes sitting behind the counter writing and drawing, and sometimes going upstairs to rest for a while.
The video arcade was even busier than during the summer vacation.
After the start of the semester, tens of thousands of students from several nearby schools—Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Minzu University of China, and Capital Normal University—have nothing to do in the evenings. Spending a few yuan to watch a couple of videos is much better than staying cooped up in their dormitories.
Li Si'an and Sister Nan discussed it and raised the ticket price from five yuan to eight yuan.
"With prices rising so much, will no one come?" Sister Nan was a little worried.
"It's five yuan during summer vacation because there are fewer people. Once school starts, we're the only video arcade around here, so we don't have to worry about a lack of viewers," Li Si'an said. "Besides, it's eight yuan for two shows, which is only four yuan per show, so it's not expensive."
Sure enough, on the first night after the price increase, there were even more students than during the summer vacation. The show started at six o'clock, but people were already there at five-thirty to reserve seats.
All sixty seats were occupied, with several people standing in the back, preferring to stand rather than miss the show.
Sister Nan was collecting money at the door, her hands were sore from taking so much. Tang Yun was inside selling soda and melon seeds, she was so busy she barely had time to breathe.
Li Si'an was in charge of the screenings. This time, he showed "High Risk." When Jet Li picked up Chingmy Yau and turned her upside down on the screen, the audience burst into laughter.
The event ended at 10 p.m., and Sister Nan was counting money behind the counter.
"Four hundred and eighty for the entrance fee. With the soda and sunflower seeds, it almost came to six hundred."
Li Si'an nodded, understanding the situation. Six hundred a night, that's eighteen thousand a month. After deducting costs, if he and Sister Nan split it 50/50, each of them would get over eight thousand.
Sister Nan put the money into an envelope, made a note in the ledger, and then looked up at him.
"Anzi, your shop is a great deal."
Li Si'an smiled but didn't say anything.
He leaned against the counter, mentally calculating. He received a little over ten thousand yuan a month from the magnetic card shop, over eight thousand from the video arcade, another one or two thousand from royalties, and the income from the audio-visual store, totaling over twenty thousand yuan a month.
At seventeen, he earned over 20,000 yuan a month.
In his past life, he was forty years old, coding in an office building in Zhongguancun. He suffered from cervical spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis, and stomach problems, and his monthly take-home pay was only a little over 20,000 yuan.
But can 20,000 in 1995 be the same as 20,000 decades later?
He did the math in his head. In 1995, an average two-bedroom apartment within the Third Ring Road of Beijing cost only two or three hundred thousand yuan. His monthly earnings were enough to buy a toilet.
In his previous life, he saved up for half his life, but he still couldn't afford a toilet in Yanjiao.