Qingfu Town had been established a long time ago, and He'an Prefecture was close to Jiangnan and more prosperous than the Northwest in Central State, so any rich household with some means would send servants everywhere to hunt for shops. As long as something was for sale, it would be bought up fast.
"Qingfu Town had only three streets, the front street, the back street, and the main street, and every shopfront on every street already had an owner. And the shops on the main street had long since been taken over by the wealthy families in the county."
Even those two not‑so‑great streets, the front street and the back street, had all their shops bought up by various village chiefs' families, clerks' families, and Government Officials' families.
The remaining shops had been left behind by families who had lived in town for nearly a hundred years. That was ancestral property, with a shop in front and a courtyard in back, the foundation they depended on to live, and no one would sell.
