Chapter 2

The surrounding business owners acted like they were concerned for me. They all came over to talk to me. I asked, “Since this shop location is so great, how about I swap with your location instead?”

They fell silent. Everyone knew that even though my business was the best, my shop was the smallest.

People would queue up almost every day for my tacos, and my regulars would call in advance to place their order with a deposit to my account. They knew that if they ordered late, the tacos would be out of stock.

My father operated Anderson’s Tacos for more than 30 years. I had worked on it for 10. I could not let this business collapse.

I created a fake account and asked Ben to add me to the group chat. He was one of the only ones who supported me.

[Ben, aren’t you afraid of getting fired?]

[Gabe, I wanted to quit for the longest time. These people are ruthless. They’ll reap what they sow sooner rather than later!]

I read the text and could not help but snicker. Ben was right. They were hopeless.

In the past, before we moved our taco shop here, my father and I went to visit many potential shops.

Nancy came to us. She said she was at her wits’ end, and she asked us for help. She needed the rent money to send her daughter to study overseas.

When I found out that she needed money for her child’s education, I immediately paid her one year’s rent in advance. It was $8,000 a month at that time. I rounded it up to $100,000 for her.

Back then, she thanked me profusely. She was less entitled in those days.

John was a meat supplier. Whenever I came up with a new menu item, he would stand outside my shop and count the number of people queuing up.

Then, he would say, “You’re earning so much! Look at you! You just wrap tacos and earn thousands a month, while we’re stuck doing hard labor for minimum wage.”

As for the vegetable supplier, Leonard George, he was always very afraid of unsold vegetables going bad. He went around selling his vegetables, but people did not buy much.

I was the one who bought most of his stock from him so he did not have to worry.

However, when they saw that I was doing well, they became jealous of me. They kept increasing the prices and thought I was a pushover.

My wife, Helen Anderson, was furious when she saw the price increase notice. “The rent has increased again! Do they really think we’re a walking ATM?

“Whatever we earn goes into their pockets! We work so hard all year long! I’ve had enough of this!”

I said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Let’s just find a new shop to rent!”

She looked up at me. “Really? Did you finally consider it?”

“Yes. I no longer want to entertain them.”

Helen was excited. Customers started pouring in at 10 a.m., so we stopped chatting and got to work. We did not get a chance to catch our breath until 1 p.m.

When we were finally out of tacos, I took down the banner and uploaded an announcement on my social media page.

[Sorry everyone, due to the increase in rent and prices for the ingredients, we’re unable to sustain our business. We’ll be closed for a week. We’ll update you on when we’ll reopen. Thank you.]

Immediately, we received a lot of comments expressing their sadness. At the same time, someone sent me a link.

[Gabe, look! Some shops on the street near Gold Square are open for renting. They are giving a 50% discount on the first year’s rent, and there are a lot of perks too!]

[There are also two schools nearby, so the traffic will be good. If you move here, it’ll be a lot easier for me to buy your tacos too!]

[That’s right! I’ve been to that area before, and it’s a good location. There are many surrounding neighborhoods. The only downside is the parking, but the crowd there will be good for business. There is a morning market just behind the street!]

[You should go and find out more!]

I glanced at it and thanked my customer. Then, I immediately called the number of the shop for rent.

“Anderson’s Tacos? If you’re willing to rent from us, we’ll help you to apply for three years’ worth of rental perks!

“We’ll give you a 50% discount on the first year, a 40% discount on the second year, and a 30% discount on the third year! We’ll also give you a free advertisement space!

“Mr. Anderson, we welcome you to rent from us at any time!”