Chapter 5: The Store Opening Event

  "Our class is a big mix, with students from the former No. 1 Middle School, as well as those who came from the former No. 2 and No. 3 Middle Schools, and even some who transferred from farther away...". On the day military training ended, our head teacher Xiao Rihua gave a speech: "I don't care how impressive you were at your previous school, nor do I care what scores you got on the high school entrance exam. To be honest, when the school gave me the list of students' scores, I didn't even look at it. What I need is a brand new score. Tomorrow we will begin a round of exams that will last for three days, and this exam will determine your ranking in our class for the new semester."

  Everyone immediately complained, they had just finished their holiday and received a week of military training. They were originally looking forward to relaxing during the three-day break after the military training, but it was specially planned by the class teacher as an exam. This made everyone feel uncooperative from the bottom of their hearts. The excitement of the military training that had just ended hadn't even dissipated yet, and they had to go home for a round of review.

  Although I'm not satisfied in my heart, the competition within our school is quite fierce. Moreover, the ranking of new classes still depends on this, and no one wants to be ranked after others, which involves personal reputation issues.

  On the No. 8 bus, Su Can didn't go home directly, but instead got off two stops later at the Municipal Government Station, right outside his family's new store.

  "Xia Hai Cultural Goods" had a clean sign hanging above the door, and inside was filled with all sorts of goods. There were people standing at each counter, it looked like business was booming. Ol' mom Zeng Ke was in charge of collecting money, ol' dad was answering questions from the crowd beside her, big uncle, auntie, and big sis Zeng Na were all sitting on stools, chatting with Zeng Ke every now and then.

  Seeing Su Chan come over, Aunt smiled and responded to Su Chan's greeting.

  The large storefront, the goods can be seen to be full and not sparse, actually also has a credit of Da Shu Zeng Quan Ming. After using Zeng Ke's money for a year's rent contract and initial purchases, there was little left, and no matter how much merchandise came in, it was impossible to fill this large storefront with over 80 square meters, so most of the wall-mounted shelves were empty, which would undoubtedly give the first batch of consumers a feeling that the goods are scarce and not very formal.

  The old mother wants to stand firm on this street, and the first impression of consumers here must be very important. Zeng Quanming also borrowed another 100,000 yuan personally, not only enriching the entire storefront but also renovating the exterior and interior, making it look more beautiful and elegant. As a result, the entire interior suddenly became rich and full.

  The elder uncle's money in the stock market has been recovered, and now that the overall market is declining, he doesn't plan to invest again. Thinking of Su Can's credit, it wouldn't be bad to invest 100,000 yuan in Zeng Ke's store, this point even Auntie Yin Shuying had no objection.

  In the past half month since the opening, the daily turnover before renovation was about 300-400 yuan, rarely exceeding 500 yuan. After renovation, the daily turnover has reached 500-600 yuan, and occasionally even exceeded 800 yuan.

  It was unimaginable at that time, my father and mother used to earn a monthly salary of around 500-600 yuan, who would have thought that the turnover of two days' business now can offset their monthly salary in the past, and the shock and impact on them can be imagined.

  Of course, turnover does not represent profit, but from this matter, it has already changed the level of thinking and vision of parents. They had never looked at these profits and losses from such an angle before, so much so that they have found new meaning in their hard work and life.

  Mother Zeng Ke gave Su Can five dollars and asked him to buy two ice creams from the food store next door, bringing one to his older sister. Su Can handed over two snow ice bricks to Zeng Na with a smile, who hesitated for a moment before taking them, eating with some reserve.

  Su Can didn't bother with her either. Taking advantage of the time before closing the store for dinner, she opened the account book and began to review it carefully.

  The stationery store does not use a POS machine at the front desk, and one of the main reasons is that this kind of POS machine is expensive in this era, with prices ranging from 70,000 to 80,000 yuan. For Su Can's family, who are currently in the midst of re-starting their business, it's a bit too expensive. From Zeng Ke's point of view, buying a POS machine is not as good as stocking up on more goods. Besides, every sale is recorded in the account book, and daily calculations are not that complicated.

  After calculating the total turnover, it is estimated that with an average daily turnover of 500 yuan, the monthly turnover is around 15,000 yuan. After deducting costs and profits, the current shop can make a profit of around 1,000 to 2,000 yuan per month, which is much better than when Zeng Ke was working in a company and worrying about being laid off every day.

  When Eldest Uncle invited everyone to dinner, Mei Lan and Jia Zheng were also at the table, which was unexpected by Su Cai. The two of them kept toasting Eldest Uncle and saying many nice things to their parents, all because they had a plan to rent that small storefront and open a cultural goods store. Apparently, they too had noticed how well their parents' shop was doing.

  To know that in the later generations after Su Can's rebirth, their family was suppressed by Mei Lan and Jia Zheng to open a small shop, and they were forced to sign a contract not allowing them to operate a stationery store of the same type as theirs, which led to a rift between the two families.

  A person's mouth will reveal their true face.

  Looking at Jia Zheng, who was talking about pleasant things in front of him, with a sly face and looking around everywhere, making decisions on the spot, proposing to open a stationery store, it's really quite amusing.

  "I think it's great that you're opening a stationery store, it has a bit of a family business feel to it..." Su Can said, which made the furrowed brows of his uncle and parents slightly surprised.

  Mei Lan and Jia Zheng were naturally overjoyed, they had just praised Su Can's grades at the table, also to flatter themselves, their intention was not in the wine, nor did they take Su Can seriously, and they didn't know what Su Can had done during the holidays.

  As soon as Su Can spoke, he was able to provoke the thoughts of the whole family. This was because Su Can's changes over the past few months had been too great. Now, even the authoritative eldest uncle Zeng Quanming in the house attached great importance to his words. He knew that although his nephew was still a 16-year-old junior high school student, sometimes his thoughts might be more mature than those of adults.

  Su Can thought that Nuo Mei Lan and Jia Zheng also had some ideas, letting their parents run the stationery store was also inheriting the experience of the previous generation, after all, they were the first to develop the market, and he was just borrowing from them. If so, it would be too narrow-minded to shut them down.

  Moreover, it's better to let things go rather than blocking them. Now Mei Lan and Jia Zheng have set up a wine table to seek everyone's opinion, and people can still laugh and talk at the table. If they really want to do something with their ruthless style, they won't care about the face of their elder brother-in-law either.

  Never thought Su Chan would speak out in agreement, Mei Lan and Jia Zheng took advantage of the momentum to open up a gap, forcing their parents and eldest uncle to almost agree.

  After dinner, Jia Zheng said "I'll pay, I invited the guests!" while putting his hand into his pocket for a long time. He found that everyone present took his words seriously, and he couldn't take back this gesture, so he had to force himself to pay up.

  As he finished paying, he gave Su Can a vague glance. He thought to himself that he was originally worried that Zeng Quanming, this old antique, would be unhappy and think that he was opportunistic, inserting himself into the competition. However, this was something that stupid kid Su Can had brought up on his own initiative, so it wasn't his fault. This meal wasn't wasted, and one day he wouldn't have to lower himself in front of Zeng Quanming, nor would he have to listen to his nagging and scolding!

  On the road, Auntie Yin Shuying kept complaining that Su Can was an idiot.

  They have already seen through Mei Lan and Jia Zheng's behavior in this series of events, that they are two-faced, liking to make some behind-the-scenes moves.

  Jia Zheng had already bypassed his aunt and contacted her superior beforehand regarding the issue of renting the small front door, but he didn't expect the director to tell his aunt about the whole thing, saying that he looked down on such petty people who even schemed against their own relatives. The decision-making power was entirely in Aunt Yin Shuying's hands. Originally, she was not very pleased with them today, but Su Can intervened and turned things around, making it impossible for them to reason with her, so they could only acknowledge defeat.

  "What's wrong with you today, you used to be so clever!" As soon as she got home, her mother also scolded Su Can because of what Auntie Mei had said about the Mei and Lan couple.

  "You're really helping your uncle and aunt today, aren't you? They were already dissatisfied with Jia Zheng, but now you're taking their side?" Father Su Licheng couldn't help but say, previously he had thought that Su Can was growing up to be a responsible person, and he didn't often scold or interfere with his thoughts and actions, but today he had to speak out.

  Su Can smiled at his parents, "According to the principles of urban economics, opening a similar store next to our own home doesn't mean that business will be divided, on the contrary, it can stimulate the market and bring greater benefits. When our store expands, it will also attract envy from many people, and someone will open a store next to us, so what's wrong with acknowledging them?"

  Zeng Ke and Su Licheng stared blankly at Su Can, it was their first time coming into contact with this theory. If it were in the past, they would have definitely said "What do you know, you're just a kid!" But now, both old men tacitly acknowledged it, took a deep breath, and said "Even if that's the case... Ah, Mei Lan and her husband..."

  "Mei Lan and Jia Zheng's personalities I also know, but dad, mom, do you think that just by not allowing it, you can stop them? Su Can saw his parents' hesitation, clearly getting a negative answer, and continued to say, "Even if we refuse them, they will definitely not be willing to yield and live under us. There are still many shops on that street that are about to expire, they can find new storefronts, and similarly compete with us in playing cards. Rather than this, it's better to let them nest in the small storefront next to us. On the one hand, it will gather popularity for the market here, and on the other hand, we have more funds, storefronts, and competitiveness than they do, so we can firmly control them."

  This is Su Can's idea, controlling them is better than letting Jia Zheng and his wife get funding in the future, finding a big storefront, and forming a head-on competitive situation.

  Beneficial and reasonable competition can stimulate development, but vicious competition will lead to collapse.

  Mei Lan and her husband are ambitious people, rather than letting them grow their wings, it's better to let them dig into this small set, balance their development, and make it difficult for them to form a strong competitive force.

  Moreover, Su Can also knew that in this period of time, the only one who had the strongest regularized home store would soon have an opportunity. With this opportunity, Mei Lan and her husband would be even more difficult to deal with and pose a threat.