Back home, Song Yanxi was incredibly excited.
Her man had actually managed to secure that big fruit supermarket for just three hundred thousand yuan.
If this were yesterday, she wouldn't believe it even if she were beaten to death.
Simply because, if that shop were to be put on the market for seven hundred thousand yuan, it would have been snatched up the day after the notice was posted.
Do you know what this means? It means their family hadn't even started business yet and they had already made a profit of four hundred thousand.
How could she not be thrilled?
"Husband, you're really amazing."
Song Yanxi suddenly felt that he had a natural talent for business, which had been completely suppressed by his family before, simply because he never had the courage to take that first step.
Now that he'd boldly stepped out, his first move had brought her a massive surprise.
Actually, Chen Pingsheng hadn't thought about it that way at all.
Mainly because he had roamed around for so many years and had sold durians on the streets; he had seen all kinds of people.
And naturally, he understood the human heart.
"Wife, don't get too excited just yet. We've only managed to take over the shop, and that doesn't guarantee business success. But there's something I want to discuss with you."
"What's up?"
"About the shop."
Chen Pingsheng said, "I'm thinking of inviting Zhang Tao and others to join us. You know, over the years selling fruit, we've always been helping each other out. Of course, that's secondary. The key point is that running a fruit store involves a lot more complexity and difficulty than operating a regular small supermarket. Everyone who would be joining us knows the fruit business inside out, and with their participation, our store can only get better."
"That's no problem at all. The key is how much of a share you plan to sell to them, and at what price."
"Let's sell 49%," Chen Pingsheng said. "Our family still needs to hold the majority of the shares. As for the price, I'm planning to base it on a total valuation of seven hundred thousand yuan. However, we still need to disclose beforehand that we acquired the shop for three hundred thousand."
Song Yanxi was completely stunned—offering 49% of the shares based on a total valuation of seven hundred thousand yuan.
What did this mean?
It meant that before they even started operating the store, they could recoup the three hundred thousand they had invested.
And even make an extra thirty or forty thousand. Wasn't this essentially acquiring such a big store without spending a dime?
"There's room to negotiate on this. Sell it quickly!"
After his wife agreed, Chen Pingsheng then sent a message in the moving group; these people didn't go back for the New Year and stayed in Capital City to make money.
Chen Pingsheng: "Everyone, come to my house for dinner tonight. There's an important matter to discuss."
General: "What's the matter?"
Chen Pingsheng: "I've taken over the newly opened Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket. I want to ask if you guys are interested in investing. We can work on this together."
General: "..."
General: "Wait for me, I'll be there fast."
Village Flower is Mine: "I'm already on my way."
Isn't The Young Woman Fragrant: "Cook more rice, sister-in-law knows I eat a lot."
Please Work Hard For The Rest Of Your Life: "The tricycle is running with the efficiency of a Lamborghini, will be there in no time."
Young Marshal Zhang Tao didn't respond because he had already arrived.
"Old Chen, you sealed the deal there quietly."
"Just got it settled this afternoon, I wanted to discuss the investment with you guys."
Chen Pingsheng asked him to sit down and look at the contract; speaking frankly, as long-time brothers, they must be sincere with one another.
He had spent three hundred thousand for a deal valued at seven hundred thousand in share sales and had to explain this to them in advance clearly.
There was no deception involved; only with such honesty could brotherhood last forever.
"Sheesh... Did you play his mother or fool his father to agree to it for just three hundred thousand?"
Zhang Tao was extremely surprised. When they had inquired earlier, the asking price was one million, with absolutely no room for negotiation.
From what he knew, if the owner had sold it for eight hundred thousand, there would have been plenty of takers.
The only reason it hadn't sold so quickly was that the owner wanted to drive the price down, that's all.
After all, one million was indeed a bit too high.
Eight hundred thousand was very appropriate, and seven hundred thousand was a bit below the actual value, making it a really good deal.
Chen Pingsheng chuckled lightly, "I naturally used a little trick, but with the price of seven hundred thousand, let me know if you can accept it."
"Of course, I can, why couldn't I?"
Zhang Tao replied without hesitation, "If you can make this money, that is your own skill. My brother, I have absolutely no jealousy, only admiration and respect. The store is indeed worth seven to eight hundred thousand, and I won't be at a loss investing at this standard. Just, how much are you planning to let me invest in?"
"20%,"
Chen Pingsheng patted his shoulder, "We grew up together, and we're from the same village. I'm relieved to hear you think this way. I can't guarantee anything else, but I, Old Chen, will do my best to manage this store and make sure that when you go back this year, you can pick any girl you want, and have matchmakers breaking down your door."
"You said it," Zhang Tao laughed heartily, already beginning to fantasize about such a scene.
When the others arrived later, only 29% of the shares were left, but Chen Pingsheng still clarified things with them first.
In the end, each of the four people bought 7%, and no one fought over the remaining 1%.
It was considered as the future massage fee for the brothers' clubhouse.
The contracts hadn't been signed yet, but the money transferred quickly. Mainly because over the years, they all trusted Old Chen.
He was reliable in what he did.
That was very important.
"Ding, the host has received a payment of 336,000, with a net income of thirty-six thousand today. Would you like to activate the random multiplier?"
This Golden Finger was really high-end.
He had spent three hundred thousand to take over the store, and now by selling 48% of the shares, he not only recouped all the money he had spent.
He also made a net profit of over thirty thousand, which also became his net income for the day.
Feeling like his luck was exceptionally good that day, Chen Pingsheng couldn't help but click "Activate" in his mind.
Two Golden Dice appeared once again, the first with an impressively high number... 4.
The second was even higher, actually the maximum of five.
"Congratulations host, you have obtained a nine-fold random increase."
"Ding, your Alipay has received a payment of three hundred and twenty-four thousand, with a balance of three hundred and twenty-four thousand."
Goodness...he had earned back the Audi he bought before the new year.
His family's total savings were back to around seven hundred thousand.
The money was hard to explain, so Chen Pingsheng thought about keeping it on his side for now, and to find an opportunity to give it to his wife later.
Seeing everyone complete the transfer, Song Yanxi was incredibly happy. Her family now had their own fruit supermarket.
Life was getting more and more promising. She would go to the company to resign on the eighth day, working for herself was much better than earning a fixed salary elsewhere.
The next day, Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket was closed for one day.
Mainly because Li Zehao came for the handover, and the person in charge here was one of his distant relatives.
If there was anyone who least wanted the store to be transferred, it definitely had to be this person.
No other reason, he was making a killing while the store was losing money.
Now that the store had been transferred, he still wanted to stay, but that was naturally impossible.
Isn't that what they say about rich second-generation entrepreneurs not lacking money?
The two cash registers were Apple computers, and all the lights in the store were branded.
Even the fruit racks were the best you could buy.
The most outrageous was that delivery truck; since the store had been transferred, the truck naturally came along with it.
A 4.2-meter Isuzu box truck, priced at around one hundred and sixty thousand.
It's likely Li Zehao didn't even remember he had such a truck.
Anyway, when signing the contract, everything related to the fruit supermarket was handed over to him.
As long as he kept his "boss" facade intact, it was fine.
Speaking honestly, Chen Pingsheng himself was also a boss for the first time.
To say he was nervous would definitely be true, but more than that, he was full of anticipation.
This large supermarket had nearly one to two hundred customers flowing in every day before it even opened.
One month after opening, that number dropped to a hundred.
Two months after opening, it successfully dropped to fifty.
By now, those who visit are either those who don't want to go far or those who don't know about this store.
He had basically managed to entirely ruin his reputation within this community.
Although the fruit store was also a traditional retail industry, the biggest difference from ordinary supermarkets was that fruits couldn't be preserved for too long.
If the fresh goods brought in weren't sold within three days, they would become not fresh.
These kinds of fruits not only couldn't be sold at a good price, but they also greatly affected the customer experience.
After all, for such a large store, if word got out that the fruits sold were not fresh, who would want to come?
This brought great operational difficulties to the fruit shop.
It could be said that the biggest operational costs of the fruit store, aside from the store rents, mainly stemmed from the loss of fruits.
Those were the fruits that had to be discarded when their time was up without being sold.
"Old Chen, I've looked around, and if we want to replenish this store with fruits, we need at least fifty thousand yuan,"
Fruits are like merchandise piled into mountains; the fuller the display, the more it ignites the desire to buy.
This simple truth was understood by all of them.
The critical thing was that it was easy to bring in fifty thousand yuan's worth of fruits, but hard to sell them.
Given the current customer flow, one could only sell seven or eight thousand a day at most.
If the turnover was like that, the losses would be extraordinarily high.
So the key was to first solve the traffic problem.
The store covered nearly four hundred square meters, besides a very large cold storage, there was also a sizable office.
Being a boss for the first time, Chen Pingsheng sat on the sofa inside and called everyone together to discuss strategies.
"We must stock up fully; otherwise, even if people come in, it would be tough to retain them,"
Chen Pingsheng tapped his pen and said, "Look, how about this plan, for the next half month we first plan to take out a hundred thousand to cover losses to drive traffic, as for the traffic-generating project, we could set up a promotion outside, three apples for one yuan, free choice."
Apples could be considered the number one fruit category.
Every household would buy them, and using them to drive traffic was undoubtedly the best choice.
"That's no problem. We can get the stock from the wholesale market, smaller apples cost just over two yuan per kilogram."
The purchase price was roughly good, coming down to a loss of just one or two yuan per person.
Totally acceptable.
"Zhang Tao, you and Liu Jing will specifically handle procurement for this half month, also, we all know some people around this area, let's get them to help promote it in the homeowners' groups,"
Chen Pingsheng said, "We won't just use apples for our special sale, other fruits will also be sold at cost price, we first need to build up the customer flow,"
Everyone assigned their tasks, they got on with it immediately.
Zhang Tao and Liu Jing were responsible for procurement, Song Yanxi learned to operate the cash register, as she would be in charge of finances moving forward.
As for the others, they were initially responsible for clearing and displaying the goods, which was not difficult.
Mainly because they were all familiar with it, so they worked quickly and efficiently.
By the afternoon, the first truckload of goods was pulled back from the fruit wholesale market.
Song Yanxi, watching her man busily moving things, even took a little time to snap a few photos.
The first photo was of him on the truck, bending over continually moving goods.
The second photo was of him directing the arrangement of goods in the store.
The third photo was of him at the cashier learning the cash register system.
As for the final photo, it was of the two of them in front of the store making the peace sign with their hands.
They took a couple's photo together, and Song Yanxi even added a caption.
"2013, a new beginning, Tengsheng Fruits."
Just as she had posted the photos, Du Juan was the first to respond to her.
"What's the situation, Chen is opening a supermarket?"
"Yes," Song Yanxi replied with a smile.
Du Juan immediately commented below, "You didn't even tell me about such an event, I am going to stop talking to you."
She said that, but she still immediately ran over.
Then, those who responded to her messages were some classmates. She only had a high school education, mainly because Old Chen had wooed her and married her right after she graduated from high school.
Many of her classmates are now studying for their master's degrees in Capital City.
There wasn't much competition among the classmates; most just exchanged greetings and wished her business prosperity.
The most outrageous had to be Mrs. Song, Liu Fen.
She was at a relative's house, and whenever the roomful of relatives gathered, it was all about comparing one another.
Like how someone's daughter got a manager at a multinational company.
Or someone's daughter married a civil servant or something.
Every time she heard these things, Liu Fen wished she could bury her head in the ground. Her oldest daughter had married the most hopeless guy from another place, a street vendor at that.
There was no hope for her in this lifetime.
However, her younger daughter, Song Wu, had managed to get into an arts school and might become a big star in the future.
That indeed made her quite proud.
"I'm saying, Liu Fen, why didn't Yanxi come?"
Visiting relatives during the New Year was only fun when you were a kid.
As an adult, if you were successful, it was fine; if not, the snide remarks from relatives felt like snow in June.
They hurt so much you couldn't stand it.
"She had something and couldn't make it."
"What could she be up to, just helping Little Chen sell durians, right? Speaking of which, since you sell durians, why didn't you bring a couple with you?"
The speaker was Liu Fen's cousin, perhaps unintentionally, but the words sounded terribly offensive to Liu Fen.
It was like sitting on pins and needles.
She didn't even eat but found an excuse to go home.
Her younger daughter, Song Wu, was already a senior, and she would be graduating in half a year.
She was currently busy networking with classmates to meet various assistant directors and producers.
She was pretty, but the entertainment industry was never short of beautiful girls.
There were so many opportunities, but why they should fall to her was a whole science.
Some of her female classmates, Song Wu knew, had met somewhat famous directors.
And they could always find a way in.
They could still get some opportunities.
For instance, one girl in her class, whom everyone secretly bad-mouthed.
Yet in class, they couldn't help but fawn over her, simply because she really did get some good resources later on.
She started off much higher than the rest of them.
Liu Fen, filled with indignation from the visit, was not in a good mood around Song Wu either.
"Mom, look, Auntie was talking about Chen Ping—you shouldn't be taking it out on me!"
"Hmph, the older one's useless, and the younger one's no less worrisome."
Liu Fen sat down huffily. This was only because Mr. Song wasn't around; otherwise, she would have definitely taken it out on him.
Speaking of the Devil, and he shall appear.
Song Huamin came home with some gifts in his hands.
Liu Fen was about to speak when he interrupted her, "Since you're all here, that's great. Pingsheng has opened a big fruit supermarket, and it's opening tomorrow. Let's all go there and check it out."
"He opened a fruit supermarket?" Liu Fen was stunned, "How come I didn't know about it?"
"With that attitude of yours, what can you know?"
Song Huamin had called them over also brought a couple of bottles of wine.
"I just spoke with Yanxi over the phone. Their supermarket is very big, I wouldn't even know about it if it weren't for the pictures she posted on social media."
Again, she found out through social media. As a mother, she couldn't help but feel she had failed.
Her daughter was undertaking such a big venture and she knew nothing about it, not even discussing the supermarket plan with them beforehand.
It was utterly unilateral; she needed to go there and give some guidance.
Song Wu reacted quickly, immediately opened her older sister's social media profile, and then exclaimed:
"Is this sister's project? This couldn't have been opened without spending tens or hundreds of thousands."
Song Wu was somewhat knowledgeable, hearing about the tens or hundreds of thousands, Liu Fen's ears perked up.
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