Lin Weidong rented a humble pork stall at Nanqiao Market. Three years ago, the stall had damp floors, a shabby storefront and inconsistent foot traffic during the morning market. Landlord Cao Dexing feared losing money with the stall vacant, so he took the initiative to rent it to Lin Weidong for an annual rent of 80,000, promising he would never raise the rent unreasonably as long as Lin Weidong ran the business there long-term. But as soon as the business took off, Cao Dexing suddenly turned hostile. He presented a new lease for Lin Weidong to sign: the yearly rent would jump from 80,000 to 240,000. What’s more, all of Lin Weidong’s regular pre-order customers, restaurant delivery orders and online payment revenues had to be incorporated into the market’s unified management system.
