Chapter 5: The Event of Opening a Store

early forty yuan; now doubling it made them hesitant."Is this a bit too much..." Xue Yiyang felt his heart jump at one yuan per card despite not knowing how Su Cen got so wealthy. Losing money to Lee...Chapter 5: The Incident of Opening a Shop

"Our class is quite diverse. There are students from the first and second middle schools, as well as those who have transferred from even further away..." On the day military training ended, head teacher Xiao Rihua addressed everyone, "I don't care how great you were in your previous schools or what scores you got on your entrance exams. Honestly speaking, I haven’t looked at the list of entrance exam scores given to me by the school. What I need is a fresh set of results. Starting tomorrow we will begin a round of tests lasting three days, which will determine your class rankings for this new term."

Immediately, everyone began complaining. They had just finished their holiday and then endured a week of military training; they had been hoping to relax during the three-day break after it ended, but the head teacher had specifically planned these exams instead. This made them all inwardly rebellious, like wild horses that can’t be tamed. Before they could even catch their breath from the excitement of finishing military training, they now had to go home for another round of studying.

Although they were unhappy about it, students at No. 1 Middle School were quite competitive amongst themselves anyway. Furthermore, their new class ranking would be determined based on this exam; no one wanted to come in behind others as that would affect their personal reputation.

In an eight-person bus, Su Cen did not go straight home but got off two stops later at the government station, outside his family’s new store.

The sign "Summer Sea Cultural Products" was cleanly hung above the storefront. Inside, shelves were filled with various items and people stood behind counters, indicating that business was quite good; Mom Chen Ke was responsible for collecting money while Dad answered questions from customers. Uncle Zeng Quanming, Aunt-in-law, and Senior Sister Zeng Na sat on stools chatting with each other.

Seeing Su Cen arrive, the aunt-in-law greeted him with a smile.

The reason why this large storefront looked full of goods and not sparse was partly due to Uncle Zeng Quanming’s efforts. After using most of Mom Chen Ke's money for one year’s rent and initial purchase of inventory, there wasn’t enough left over to fully stock an 80-square-meter shop; so the shelves on most walls seemed empty. This would give the first batch of customers a sense that the store was not well-stocked and not very professional.

Mom Chen Ke needed to make a good impression with the consumers here if she wanted her business to stand its ground in this street, and thus Uncle Zeng Quanming lent ten more thousand yuan. This not only filled up the whole shop but also improved both the exterior and interior decoration, making it look much better and giving an immediate sense of fullness.

Uncle Zeng had already withdrawn his money from the stock market; moreover, since the current market was declining, he didn’t plan on investing again. Recalling Su Cen’s contribution, lending ten thousand yuan to Chen Ke's store wasn't a bad idea either—this even won approval from Aunt-in-law Yin Shuying.

Since opening two and a half months ago, the daily turnover before renovation was around 300 to 400 yuan, rarely exceeding 500. After the renovation, the daily turnover has reached between 500 and 700 yuan, occasionally even reaching 800 yuan.

At that time, it was unimaginable. Dad and mom's combined monthly salaries were around 500 to 600 yuan. Who would have thought that the shop's turnover in just two days could equal their previous month’s salary The impact on them can be easily imagined.

Of course, turnover doesn't equate to profit. However, from this one matter alone, it has broadened my parents' perspective and understanding of profits and losses, as well as the significance of their hard work and life.

Ceng Ke gave Su Cen five yuan to go to a nearby grocery store to buy two ice creams—one for his older sister. Su Cen brought two blocks of snow ice cream to Ceng Na with a smile, but she hesitated before accepting it and ate somewhat reservedly.

Su Cen didn't pay much attention to her and took the opportunity during this period before closing time to review the accounts ledger.

The stationery store did not use a POS machine at the front desk mainly because such equipment was expensive in that era, costing several thousand yuan each. For Su Cen's family, who were currently focusing on starting up their business, it would be too costly. According to Ceng Ke's perspective, buying a POS machine wasn't as beneficial as purchasing more inventory. Besides, every sale was recorded daily in the ledger and reconciled without being overly complicated.

After calculating the overall turnover at an average of 500 yuan per day, the total monthly turnover would be around 15,000 yuan. After deducting costs and expenses, they could earn between 1,000 to 2,000 yuan in profit each month. To Ceng Ke, this was already much better than her previous job worries about being laid off.

When Uncle Su invited everyone for a meal, both Mei Lan and Jia Zheng were also at the table, which surprised Su Cen. They kept offering toasts to Uncle Su and saying many good words to my parents. It was all about one thing: they planned to open their own stationery store in the small shop they had leased. This decision was likely influenced by observing how well my parents' business was doing.

It's worth noting that before Su Cen’s rebirth, these two had strongly opposed his family starting a small business and even forced them to sign contracts prohibiting similar stationery stores in the vicinity. The conflict escalated until they fell out completely, revealing their true colors from then on.

Watching Jia Zheng, who was constantly saying flattering words and cunningly eyeing the surroundings to adjust his sails according to the wind, as he timidly proposed opening a stationery store, it was somewhat amusing.

"I think you guys opening a stationery store is not bad. It does have some sense of running a family business..." Su Cen spoke up, which slightly surprised Uncle and Mother who were frowning.

Mei Lan and Jia Zheng were naturally overjoyed; they had just praised Su Cen's grades at the table as well, but their true intentions weren't in that. They didn't take Su Cen seriously either, and were unaware of what he did during his holiday.

Su Cen’s suggestion immediately prompted everyone to ponder, all because of how drastically he had changed over these few months. Even Uncle Zeng Quanming, who was the authority in the family, now took Su Cen seriously; though still a sixteen-year-old middle school student, at times his thoughts were more mature than adults.

Su Cen agreed with Mei Lan and Jia Zheng partly because he had some ideas. By having his parents operate the stationery store, it was building on the experience of his previous life; after all, they initially discovered this market, so using their knowledge wasn't unreasonable. Furthermore, blocking them wouldn’t be wise.

After all, if Mei Lan and Jia Zheng decided to do it, with their style of disregarding family ties, Uncle’s face would not matter either.

No one had expected Su Cen to agree, so Mei Lan and Jia Zheng capitalized on the momentum to open up a breakthrough, forcing Mother and Uncle to more or less accept the idea.

After settling the bill, Jia Zheng said, "I'll pay! I'm treating everyone!" while searching his pocket for a long time. He found that everyone took him at his word, so he had no choice but to tough it out and pay up.

The moment he paid, he shot a mysterious glance at Su Cen; originally, he was worried that the old conservative Zeng Quanming would be unhappy and think of him as someone who shifts according to circumstances. However, since this was proposed by the foolish kid Su Cen himself, it couldn't be blamed on him. This meal wasn’t wasted; someday, he wouldn’t have to bow down to you Zeng Quanming, nor listen to your annoying nagging and scolding!

On their way home, Aunt Yi Shuying kept complaining that Su Cen was an idiot.

Through these incidents, they have already seen that Mei Lan and Jia Zheng both put on a different face behind closed doors, liking to engage in backdoor maneuvers.

About renting the small storefront, actually Jia Zheng had bypassed his aunt beforehand and contacted her higher-ups. However, it was unexpected that the director would tell the entire incident to his aunt, even saying how much he despised people who guarded against their relatives like this. The decision rested entirely in his aunt Yu Shuying's hands. Originally, his aunt was very unhappy with them today, but無奈蘇燦橫插一腳，反倒讓他們從理上說不過去，隻能夠認可。Su Cen intervened unexpectedly, leaving them no reasonable grounds to reject him, and they had to agree.

"You brat! You're usually so clever; what's going on with you today!" Upon returning home, his mother was also upset due to what his aunt said about Mei Lan’s couple's misdeeds and scolded Su Cen.

Su Licheng, his father, couldn't hold back either. From Su Cen's previous behavior, he had noticed how grown-up and sensible his son had become. He no longer often criticized or interfered with him but found himself compelled to speak today.

Su Cen smiled at his parents. "According to urban economics principles, opening the same type of store next to one's own home does not necessarily mean that business would be split; it could actually stimulate market activity and yield greater benefits. When our store expands, it will also cause many people to envy us, leading others to open stores beside ours. So why should we object"

Zeng Ke and Su Licheng stared blankly at Su Cen; they were unfamiliar with this theory. If in the past, they would definitely say, "You kids know nothing!", but now, both of them tacitly accepted it and let out a sigh: "Even so... alas, Mei Lan's couple..."

"I know Mei Lan’s character and Jia Zheng's, dad, mom. But do you think merely disapproving can stop them" Su Cen saw his parents in thought and continued with an obvious negative answer expected: "Even if we reject them, they won’t be willing to submit beneath us; there are still many shops along that road due for expiration, allowing them to find new storefronts and continue opposing us. Instead of that, shouldn't we let them stay at this small storefront next to ours On one hand, it can attract more people to the market here; on the other, with our financial strength, store size, and competitiveness all surpassing theirs, we can firmly keep them in check."

This was Su Cen's idea: controlling them is better than waiting for Jia Zheng’s couple to gain funds and find a larger storefront later, leading to direct competition.

Fair competition can stimulate development; however, vicious competition will lead to collapse.

Mei Lan and her husband are ambitious individuals. It's better to let them get entangled in this small predicament themselves rather than allowing them to strengthen their competitiveness.as well as the coke last time."When Xiao Yunyun blinked her bright eyes, she said, "Coca-Cola... Do you like it Otherwise, I can bring one to you every PE class."The PE classes of Class 3 and Class 5...