Tenant's Secret Love

Chapter 99: Breakfast together

After washing up, I finally lay down in the bed that Renee had made up for me. This was the first time I had felt at ease living in this house since Renee bought it, and I hoped that Renee wouldn't one day be unhappy with me and use her newly-gained landlord status to evict me again.

I think I should have a serious chat with her about renting tomorrow. Of course I won't live here for free, and we can sign a formal rental contract.

I rested my head on my arms and thought about the main purpose of my trip to Suzhou. I have to help Violetta run the bar well, and it would be best to turn a profit in a short period of time. However, the most urgent task is to help her solve the problem of the 1 million debt, because paying off the loan sharks is something that cannot be delayed.

But who should I ask for help? Among my friends, only Robert and Brittany have the means to do so, but it's hard to ask for a loan of one million.

I suddenly thought of Renee, who could definitely come up with the one million, but I rejected the idea of borrowing from her, as if I were asking her to return a favor. At least when I have a choice, I would rather borrow from Robert, even though our relationship is awkward right now. But when it comes to a matter of right and wrong, I can't worry about the awkwardness.

I turned around and saw the bottomless night outside the window. My mood suddenly became depressed again. This depression stemmed from my worry that I was unable to help Violetta get rid of the trouble of borrowing from loan sharks.

...

I slept very lightly that night and woke up early in the morning. After that, I couldn't fall asleep no matter what, so I got up before sunrise.

After washing up, I cooked some congee and then went downstairs to the familiar breakfast shop to buy some breakfast. By the time I got back, Renee had already got up and was washing up in the bathroom.

I said to Renee in the living room, "I bought some pot stickers and steamed dumplings. Do you like them?"

"It's OK. Did you buy soymilk?"

"I made congee, so I didn't."

"Oh."

"If you want some, I can go buy some."

"Don't bother."

"It's okay, it's no trouble," I said, putting on my shoes and running downstairs.

When I came back, Renee had already washed up and was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of congee. I handed her the soymilk I had bought and said, 'You wanted soymilk, why are you eating congee?"

"I was hungry, so I ate a little first,' she said, taking the soymilk from me but not eating the congee.

I frowned and asked, "You're not going to drink the porridge?"

"I have soy milk now."

"That's a bad habit. If you don't drink it, it'll just go to waste. That's a waste!"

"If you think it's a waste, you can drink it," Renee said nonchalantly.

I immediately and seriously refused, "No way. This is something you've drunk. What kind of behavior would it be for me to drink it?"

"Why didn't you say that when you used my toothbrush?" Renee said, bringing up an old issue.

"The positions of the two things are different, and they cannot be generalized."

"Suit yourself, I can't eat it anyway."

I didn't argue with Renee, and I brought her bowl of congee, which she had only eaten a few mouthfuls of, over to my side. I didn't want to disgust her, so I just ate it. It would be a pity to waste it, after all, my father had sent it, and he had paid for it.

"Didn't you just say you weren't going to eat it?" Renee asked in a mocking tone.

"I really don't want to waste it, and neither should you. This is a bad habit. I'll tell you: many of my relatives are from the countryside, and they work hard farming the land, even if you don't see it," I said seriously.

Renee finally nodded, as if she had made a mistake, and said to me, "I know, next time I'll eat as much as you serve."

I nodded, but didn't say anything else. My mind was on the crisis I was about to face. Last night, I did intend to borrow money from Robert, but when I really had to face it today, I felt that there was a hurdle that I couldn't overcome. And I really wasn't sure if Robert would lend it to me, because the amount was too large, and more importantly, I simply didn't have the ability to repay it.

Because I was distracted, I ate very slowly, but Renee finished eating before me and then took out a key from her bag and handed it to me, saying, "Here are the keys to the house."

I took the key from Renee's hand and smiled, asking, "Are you really planning to let me stay this time?"

"You can stay. I'll move over there."

Of course I knew that the 'over there' Renee was talking about was her other house in Suzhou. I wasn't surprised by her decision, after all, she had never liked the idea of living with a man alone, and there were indeed many inconveniences, especially for a woman like her who had high demands on the quality of life.

I nodded and said, "Then let's talk about the rent. Can I just pay you the same rent as I paid Jason?"

"Whatever you want... I'm going to work," Renee said, getting up and walking towards the shoe rack to change her shoes.

"I'll just pay you whatever I want then," I shouted at her.

"Okay,"

"So when are you moving your things? Or are you just going to leave them here?"

"I'll leave them here," Renee made her choice without hesitation.

"Oh, are you planning to come back to stay occasionally?"

Renee had already changed her shoes. I don't know if she didn't hear my question or if she didn't intend to respond to me, but she just left, and it was already morning.

...

I put the dishes away, lit a cigarette, sat on the sofa for a while in a daze, then took my phone out of my pocket and dialed Violetta's number. I wanted her to take me to the bar to get a feel for the situation.

After calling Violetta, I called Robben and CC separately to invite them to come and chat. For example, I think Robben might know more about the current state of the bar than Violetta herself.

A moment later I arrived at the door of the bar owned by Violetta. None of the three of them had arrived yet. I walked down the street and found that it was a very new commercial street, and it was also a commercial street mainly for entertainment. As for the commercial prospects of this commercial street, I could not make a judgment, but Violetta's act of opening a bar in a new commercial street with an uncertain future was a very risky move. But I guess she had no choice. After all, it is not that easy to squeeze into a mature commercial street and open a bar.

In addition to Violetta's bar, there is another bar, a disco, two newly opened karaoke bars and several restaurants in this commercial street, but it still hasn't formed a commercial environment because nearly a third of the shops are still not rented out.

My quick analysis, combined with the location of this street, the traffic, and the surrounding supporting commercial facilities, suggests that a commercial environment may form in a year or two, but this requires sufficient funds to support it. If it can be sustained, the prospects will not be too bad.

But Violetta obviously doesn't have that kind of money to burn at the moment, and it's not realistic to sell the bar in the short term. The only thing to do now is to try to run it as best as possible, and wait until the business situation improves before selling the bar. You can also choose to continue running it, but that's all for later. The problem in front of me now is really tricky.