Chapter 169 The matchmaking agency opens. Mingxi is carrying a bag...
Mingxi walked home with a bag of money in her pocket, her steps light and relaxed. No one would guess that she had more than a thousand yuan in her pocket.
A familiar face walked towards Mingxi in the alley. Mingxi chatted with her for a bit before leisurely heading home.
Hearing Mingxi return, Zhao Sulan asked curiously, "Why did Lixin call you over?"
Mingxi: "Distribute dividends."
Zhao Sulan raised her eyebrows in surprise: "I didn't realize that Lixin's store was doing so well. Did it break even so quickly?"
She knew that Guan Lixin and Mingxi had agreed that they would distribute dividends every three months after the investment was recouped. However, she did not expect that Guan Lixin would recoup his investment by the end of the first quarter.
Mingxi: "I didn't expect it either, but his shop is doing well. It's even in the newspaper. I heard that when people from other places come here on business, they all make a point of visiting his shop."
Zhao Sulan nodded: "That's true. His shop is doing quite well. When I'm getting lunch at work, I hear the factory workers talking about his shop."
Mingxi shrugged. It's not hard to understand why Guan Lixin's shop is doing well and he's making a quick return on his investment.
Speaking of this, Mingxi leaned closer to Zhao Sulan and said, "Mom, what do you think about us opening a shop?"
Zhao Sulan: "Shall we open a shop too?"
She turned her head and asked, "So tell me, what do you want to sell in your shop?"
Mingxi: "Selling services."
Zhao Sulan looked puzzled, and Mingxi quickly explained, "Mom, this is what I'm planning: we'll open a marriage agency to introduce people to potential partners. We'll sell this matchmaking service."
Zhao Sulan looked blank, still confused even after Mingxi's explanation. She asked the same question as the skinny monkey: "What's the difference between a marriage agency and a matchmaker?"
Aren't they all just matchmakers?
Mingxi: "It's different. Mom, to be honest, it's like Guan Lixin setting up a stall and running a shop. Being a matchmaker is like setting up a stall; there's no fixed location. How much you can sell depends on whether the other party bargains. If they don't bargain, you earn more; if they do, you earn less. When it comes to us matchmakers, it depends on the other party's conscience. If they're willing to give you more, you can earn more. If they're not willing to give you more and only give you a few dollars, you just have to accept it."
Matchmakers don't usually charge a fixed price for their services. Instead, people give you a red envelope as a thank you after the match is successful. However, some people are more cautious and might give the matchmaker a red envelope beforehand to avoid being taken seriously.
However, the exact amount of money in this red envelope has never been certain.
Some give more, some give less. Mingxi also does this when she acts as a matchmaker; she has seen people give a lot, and she has seen people give a little.
Zhao Sulan: "So how much does this marriage agency you mentioned charge?"
Mingxi: "It's like running a business, with clearly marked prices. However, we charge in two parts. The first part is the membership fee. When someone registers and submits their information with us, we charge a one-dollar membership fee, and their information can be displayed in our store. Everyone who comes to our store for matchmaking can see their information. Then there's the referral fee. If they like another member in the store and successfully start a relationship with them through our introduction, we charge a ten-dollar referral fee. The membership fee is charged to both men and women, but the referral fee is only charged to men."
Mingxi had seen many marriage agencies operate this way in her past life, so she simply adopted the method she was using.
Zhao Sulan found this quite refreshing.
She's been a matchmaker for almost twenty years, and she never imagined she could charge like this.
Mingxi: "Besides the money, the process at the marriage agency is also different. When we introduce people to potential partners now, the matchmaker is responsible for receiving them, making inquiries, and helping to connect them. The whole process is handled by one person. In the marriage agency, it's separate. One person is responsible for receiving, collecting, and verifying information, while another person is responsible for matching people. This separation means that each person is responsible for a part, which makes the work more efficient and reduces the amount of worry."
Zhao Sulan: "Hey, that's not a bad idea."
One person handles the reception, and the other only acts as a go-between; neither of them gets in the way of the other, which is quite good.
After hearing Mingxi's words, Zhao Sulan became restless and eager to try.
But then she thought again and realized, "If you want to open this marriage agency, won't you need to hire people?"
Both she and Mingxi have jobs, so it's impossible for them to not work and open a shop, right?
Mingxi smiled ingratiatingly, finally getting to the point. She said with a smile, "Mom, this is what I'm thinking, why don't you apply for medical retirement?"
She said, "Mom, you work in the cafeteria, it's so tiring every day, and you don't even earn much money. Why don't you quit your job and come help me run this marriage agency?"
Zhao Sulan: "What, retirement due to illness, this..."
Before Zhao Sulan could refuse, Mingxi continued, "Mom, I'm serious. You've been a matchmaker for over twenty years, successfully introducing so many people to potential partners. It would be most appropriate for you to retire and help me run the marriage agency. People will definitely doubt my ability to run a marriage agency and introduce people to potential partners, but when you sit there, they can't help but believe you just by looking at you."
Zhao Sulan: "Hey, you little rascal, aren't you always trying to find ways to say your mom is old?"
Mingxi laughed and said, "No, no, Mom, you're still young."
That being said, Zhao Sulan had come to her senses by now. Mingxi probably wanted to open this marriage agency because he was afraid she wouldn't want to retire, so he deliberately gave her something to do.
Zhao Sulan's heart softened, and her gaze towards Mingxi became incredibly tender.
Mingxi: "Besides you, I think we could also bring in Aunt He. Aunt He is well-informed and good at gathering information, which would make her perfect for receiving people and getting information. Mom, what do you think?"
Zhao Sulan: "Marriage agencies are still in the works, and you've already decided who to hire?"
Mingxi chuckled and said, "How can this be considered as not being a sure thing? If you agree, the marriage agency can open right away."
Zhao Sulan stared at Mingxi for a long time before finally nodding, "Alright, let's start."
She didn't want to retire because she felt she was still young and capable, and wanted to save up some money for Mingxi while she was still young. In fact, she was also aware that her back injury was already very serious. When she went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor said that if she didn't take care of her back, she was very likely to develop a severe herniated disc, making it difficult for her to stand up.
She was also afraid that if she really couldn't stand up in the future and was paralyzed in bed, it would delay Mingxi's recovery.
Now that Mingxi has gone to such lengths to get her to retire, if she doesn't appreciate it, she'll really be seen as a difficult old lady who's deliberately making things hard for her children.
Seeing Zhao Sulan nod, Mingxi immediately cheered. She turned around and started making arrangements, saying that she needed to rent a house and choose a shop. Zhao Sulan smiled and went with Mingxi.
Mingxi was quite interested in opening a marriage agency, and the very next day she started taking Weining all over the north of the city to look at houses.
Marriage agencies are different from clothing stores. They don't need a large storefront or a prime location. Since people come and go, it's best to find a detached house with its own yard.
You wouldn't believe it until you look; once you do, you realize how much housing prices have risen in the northern part of the city.
Mingxi remembered that when she helped Meng Dongchun look for a house last year, a small courtyard house with a detached house could be done for one or two thousand yuan. This year, the price has doubled. Mingxi and Weining looked at a courtyard house near the steel mill's residential compound. The courtyard house was not big, with three main rooms and two east wing rooms. The house house was only three thousand five.
Although Mingxi had earned a lot of money from Guan Lixin, in addition to her salary and extra income, she had saved up quite a bit of money. But when she heard about this price, she felt a pang of pain.
So, Mingxi and Weining searched for a while but couldn't find a suitable house.
In the end, it was Aunt He who heard about Mingxi looking for a house and quietly told her that there was a house for sale nearby.
With the help of Aunt He, Mingxi got in touch with the other party. When they met, she realized that the place Aunt He introduced was the same one that had initially asked for 3,500 yuan.
Seeing that Mingxi had connections and was indeed in a hurry to sell, the other party offered a discount of 500 yuan, saying the price was 3,000 yuan.
The location and size of the house are quite suitable. Mingxi has been to see it. The house was renovated last year and is a proper brick house. After buying it, there is not much to do. You can move the furniture in and use it immediately. She can accept the price of three thousand yuan.
However, it's just that people are used to haggling when doing business.
Mingxi immediately offered a discount of five hundred: "Three thousand is too expensive, how about two thousand five?"
The woman across the street looked troubled, but her family was indeed in a hurry to sell. So, after some back and forth, the house was finally sold for 2,800.
The other party had some connections at the housing management bureau. Mingxi paid them money, and they quickly completed the formalities and transferred the property to Mingxi.
Actually, Mingxi initially wanted to put the house in Zhao Sulan's name, since Zhao Sulan only had one daughter, so it didn't matter whose name was on it, but Zhao Sulan disagreed.
Zhao Sulan was worried. She was not young anymore, and who knew what might happen to her one day? Although she had stopped contacting her relatives, they were not all dead. If they found out that she still owned a house, they might cause trouble for Mingxi.
Mingxi couldn't go against Zhao Sulan's wishes, so she listened to Zhao Sulan and put the house in her own name.
Once the house was settled, Mingxi started applying for a license. Since a marriage agency is considered a sole proprietorship, it definitely needs to go through the business registration bureau.
The problem was that there were no marriage agencies in Beicheng yet, and matchmakers operating independently didn't need licenses. So even the Industry and Commerce Bureau didn't know what her paperwork was for. Eventually, Director Shen found out about it by chance and took the initiative to help Mingxi get a license.
Next is hiring. The matchmaking agency is just starting out and doesn't need many people. Besides Zhao Sulan, Mingxi plans to hire Aunt He as an employee.
She went to Aunt He's house and told her about it. Aunt He agreed immediately without any hesitation.
At her age, there are still people willing to let her work, so why would she disagree!
Mingxi didn't mistreat Aunt He; she paid her thirty yuan a month, which is quite good these days.
The business license has been obtained, all the employees have been recruited, and the signboard ordered by Mingxi has arrived.
The following Sunday, she hung up the signboard, set off a string of firecrackers, and with everyone as witnesses, the Sincere Marriage Agency quietly opened for business.
No one would have imagined that such a small marriage agency would one day develop into one of the top ten enterprises in Beicheng.
Even Mingxi herself couldn't have imagined this.
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