Chapter 165 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

"It's a minor matter; it's already been taken care of."

Zhou Shufen took the handkerchief and wiped her face haphazardly a couple of times.

"Oh dear, what a terrible memory I have! By the way, could you check on the soap in the warehouse for me later? Miaoling said there were two boxes missing when she was checking the inventory. I suspect they might have miscounted and missed them when they were moving the goods?"

Guo Zhenyi had just opened his mouth to agree.

Before she could even speak, Wen Shuli burst in through the door carrying a crumpled piece of paper.

"Auntie! I know! Those two boxes of soap! Uncle was worried that with so many people at the entrance it would be too chaotic and the boxes would easily be knocked over if left outside, so he moved them into the innermost corner of the warehouse a long time ago!"

"Look, I just drew a mark here. The red circle shows the location of those two boxes of soap, no doubt about it!"

He proudly spread out the drawings and carefully laid them on the table.

It was a slightly worn piece of kraft paper with a crookedly drawn "soap" character on it in pencil.

Zhou Shufen stared at the words, her eyes lit up, and then she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"My goodness, this handwriting is truly unique! Our little supermarket is full of hidden talents. What kind of people don't we have? Even their handwriting is so... distinctive."

On the first day of business, there were quite a few minor issues.

After a busy morning, another group of middle-aged women came in the afternoon to buy daily necessities, and they chatted excitedly about the prices.

Jiangnan was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.

"Two and a half cents? Are you sure it's two and a half cents?"

Her voice was almost choked with sobs.

It turned out that an older woman was standing in front of the counter with laundry detergent in her hand, refusing to leave.

“I clearly saw the price tag say ‘25 cents,’ you’re completely lying! I bought it for 23 cents at the supply and marketing cooperative, and you, a newly opened store, are trying to rip off customers?”

Zhou Shufen quickly ran over from behind the shelf.

“Auntie, take a closer look. It doesn’t say ‘25 cents,’ it says ‘25 cents.’ Also, this is a new type of enzyme-added laundry detergent, different from the regular kind. The supply and marketing cooperative won’t receive this batch of goods until next week, so they don’t have any to sell yet.”

She paused, and seeing that the older woman's brows were still furrowed, she added with a smile.

"Don't believe me? I'll open a package right here and you can try it. If it doesn't work, I'll refund your money on the spot, not a penny less."

As she spoke, she deftly tore open the sample bag.

Then, I picked up the kettle, slowly poured in water, and then stirred it vigorously with a wooden spoon.

In an instant, pure white and delicate foam surged up.

The woman then paid the money.

Before leaving, he turned back and shouted one last time.

"I'm telling you, if this laundry detergent doesn't get my clothes clean, I'll come back and return it! Don't try to make excuses!"

Zhou Shufen nodded with a smile.

"Auntie, don't worry. If you're not satisfied or find anything unreliable with Zhouji's products, you can return them anytime. We mean what we say. But remember to keep the receipt and don't throw away the outer packaging. Every batch of our products has an anti-counterfeiting mark. Keeping it will make it easier to check later, and it's also a way of taking responsibility for yourself."

Many older women also came to the store one after another.

They compared and contrasted, looking at the ingredients of the products and comparing prices and lengths.

Zhou Shufen was neither in a hurry nor urged them, letting them compete as they pleased.

The shop closes promptly at 9 p.m.

Zhou Shufen let out a long sigh of relief, rubbed her aching back, and then felt her stomach growling.

She took out her wallet, dialed the number of a nearby restaurant, and ordered two tables of food.

Zhou Yujie and Jiang Nanzhi were calculating today's income in the ledger.

"Hey little sister, guess how much laundry detergent we sold today?"

Jiangnan Zhi waved the account book, her voice brimming with unrestrained joy.

"More than eighty bags! A full eighty-three bags! The enzyme-added ones are five cents more expensive than usual, so we earn five cents more per bag, which means we make more than four dollars more from this alone! This idea is absolutely brilliant!"

As she spoke, her eyes lit up.

Zhou Shufen took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of braised pork, and gently placed it into Yang Qingyan's small bowl.

"Yan Yan, are you starving? Eat up, don't just stare. If it weren't for your sharp eyes and ears, I wouldn't even know where my wallet is. I looked all morning and couldn't find it, but you found it stuck under the shelf."

The little girl chewed the meat in small bites.

Wen Shuli squatted by the table, head down, drawing intently on a large sheet of paper.

Zhou Miaoling walked over with a bowl of soup, peeked out, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, Lao Wen, are you going to do a major renovation of the warehouse? These blueprints are even more professional than those from the design institute!"

Li nodded, his expression serious.

“I noticed that many customers were wandering around today, holding shopping lists but unable to find what they wanted. Some even had to ask several people for directions. Finding things is too much of a hassle, affecting their mood and wasting time. I’m thinking we need to reorganize the plan, put the best-selling items at the front, make the categories clearer, and add a guide sign so that customers can see everything clearly as soon as they come in.”

Guo Zhenyi sat quietly beside Zhou Shufen, without uttering a sound.

He lowered his head and focused intently on picking up the steamed fish from the plate, carefully removing each bone from the fish meat with his chopsticks.

Then, he picked out pieces of fish and put them into Zhou Shufen's bowl, piling them up into a small mountain.

Just as Zhou Yufan took off his coat, he heard the soft clatter of pots and pans coming from the kitchen.

"The customer who lost his wallet came back again."

As Zhou Yufan took off his shoes, he looked up toward the dining table.

"He said that when he went home and told his wife, he felt bad about it, so he specially sent her a bag of vegetables he picked from the field and said he would recommend us to the neighbors."

Zhou Shufen paused for a moment while picking up food with her chopsticks.

She paused for a moment, her gaze slowly sweeping over every face on the table.

These days, people's hearts are still warm.

She absolutely had to catch this express train to Ningcheng.

It's not just about making some money, but also about firmly holding onto this sense of human kindness.

She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was just past ten.

Zhou Shufen took a deep breath and stood up.

"These two tables are on me today."

"From now on, our Zhou family's life will be like this wine, slowly simmered to get the right flavor."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nanzhi smiled and then placed a piece of green vegetable into Zhou Yujie's bowl.

"Yujie, I almost tore that old abacus apart today. There were so many accounts, my hands are sore. I'll have to find someone to fix it tomorrow."

Zhou Yujie took a bite of rice and chewed it a few times.

"I understand abacus."

“Let’s all learn to use calculators from now on, so we don’t have to go through all that trouble. A lot of shops in the city have switched to them now; they’re fast, accurate, and less prone to errors.”

After finishing their meal, Zhou Shufen, Jiang Nanzhi, and Zhou Miaoling cleared away the dishes.

Guo Zhenyi also stepped forward to help, rolled up his sleeves, and started brushing silently.

Zhou Yujie slapped his thigh and jumped up from the chair.

"Ouch!"

"I almost forgot! Director Huang from the supply and marketing cooperative came by secretly three times today!"

He raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention.

"The first time he pretended to be a customer ordering food, the second time he said he was just passing by and stopped in for a rest, and the third time he simply said he was there to discuss business. But every single time, he stared at our soap for ages! His eyes were like hooks!"

He gestured exaggeratedly.

"Before leaving, they even asked me where I got my goods from, asking very detailed questions."

"Let him ask."

Zhou Shufen pulled over a chair and sat down.

“Our factory is in Yuxin, and the prices are clearly marked and not disclosed to outsiders. He wants to buy goods? Sure, but it depends on my mood first.”