"Selling vegetables? What's going on? Why are you selling vegetables instead of going to work?" Xu Minghan was completely bewildered. Hadn't his father been growing and selling vegetables his whole life enough?
"Yes, an old man who works as a cleaner with him said he wanted to rent a stall at the market to sell vegetables, saying it would be better than cleaning. That's why he's interested!"
“Selling vegetables is very tiring, and he’s not young anymore. Doesn’t he know whether his body can handle it?” Xu Minghan was really angry. Does his family lack him for food or clothing? How can he be so restless!
Zhang Xuemei shrugged. "Anyway, he won't listen to me. You see for yourself!"
"Wait, I..."
“Minghan, I’m at home. I just told the property manager that I’m quitting at the end of this month. I’m going to be the boss soon.”
As soon as Old Xu entered the door, he shouted. He was quite clever; fearing that his third son wouldn't let him resign, he had already reported to the property manager. Now, he couldn't do the job even if he wanted to, since the cleaning work in the community was still quite lucrative.
"Dad, how old are you? Can't you just sit still for a while? If you really can't, you can go for a walk in the park every day. I'll pay you a salary every month, how about that?" Xu Minghan had no choice but to use his trump card. His father loved money, so surely he could get away with giving him money.
“I don’t want it. What you give me is yours. I want to earn my own money. I’m not old. I can work for another twenty years. Anyway, I’ve already resigned. What you say won’t make a difference.”
Old Xu is now completely focused on the vegetable market. Old Chen, who used to work with him, said that the newly opened vegetable market is doing very well. He had to wait a long time to get a spot, and he doesn't know if there are any other spots left.
"Stop talking. If you're really filial, go find me a stall at the Yongwang Market. I don't want to hear anything else."
Xu Minghan was at his wits' end with his father, but he still asked, unwilling to give up, "Have you discussed it with Mom? What did she say?"
"What else can your mother say? She can't make decisions for me."
Zhang Xuemei shook her head at her husband. Her mother-in-law didn't strongly object. In her opinion, as long as her father-in-law had something to do and didn't cause any trouble, he could do whatever he wanted.
"Dad, selling vegetables is hard work..."
"How could I not know? I've been selling vegetables my whole life, I know more than you. I just love the feeling of making money, you don't understand my joy."
Although he gets paid for his job, it's only paid on the appointed day. He prefers the feeling of receiving money every day.
"You really want to go?"
"I really want to, but if you won't help me, I'll go myself," Old Xu said firmly.
Xu Minghan had no choice but to compromise, "Alright, I'll take a look for you when I have time."
"Don't miss a moment, hurry up, the stalls are in high demand, you need to pay attention."
Zhang Xuemei took her husband's hand and patted it, "You go ahead with your work, I'll go find a stall for Dad."
Her own online store is now officially registered, so all she has to do is keep an eye on the computer. She'll let Mingwan watch it for the next few days while she goes to help her father-in-law find a stall, otherwise the old man will cause quite a fuss.
Old Xu didn't care, as long as someone helped him find it, he didn't care who it was.
The next day, Zhang Xuemei got up early and went to the market with her mother-in-law who needed to buy groceries.
As soon as Zhang Xuemei entered the market, she realized that her father-in-law had excellent taste. The market was clearly newly built, with each area clearly divided and white floor tiles laid on the ground. It was spotless and looked different from other markets.
"Mom, I remember this market wasn't like this before, was it?" Zhang Xuemei had been to this market a few times, and she didn't remember it looking like this.
Grandma Liu wasn't in a hurry. She carried her small vegetable basket and headed straight for the beef stall. She had asked the owner to reserve a beef shank yesterday, and now that she had it home, it would be perfect for braising beef, which her two children loved.
He stopped when he heard Zhang Xuemei's question and explained, "The last time you came here was before Xiaowan got married. This market was renovated last year, right? Although it was renovated, I feel like it was rebuilt from scratch. The quality is completely different now."
"Really? It looks much more upscale now, it doesn't even look like a vegetable market anymore. Didn't Dad say he wanted to rent a stall to sell vegetables? Mom, you buy the vegetables first, and we'll go to the management office together later."
Granny Liu wanted to stroll around at her own pace, so she waved her hand and said, "Go by yourself. Meet at the entrance later. I need to check if they have any free-range eggs."
Now that we're in the city, even eating eggs has become more elaborate, and the price of free-range eggs has increased significantly.
"Okay, I'll go by myself then." After saying that, Zhang Xuemei followed the signs to the management office of the vegetable market.
At that moment, a middle-aged woman was sitting at the entrance. When she saw Zhang Xuemei coming over, she raised her eyelids and said directly, "There are no empty stalls, they are all full."
"Gone? Not a single one left? How about buying one?" Zhang Xuemei thought that if there were none to rent, she could at least buy one!
"You want to buy a stall?" Sister Wang immediately stood up when she heard Zhang Xuemei say this. "There is one, but it used to be a grocery store. The location is quite large, and the price is not cheap."
"Aren't there any vegetable stalls?" Zhang Xuemei was thinking of buying a small stall to appease her father-in-law.
Sister Wang shook her head. "No, and we don't sell those stalls. There's only one empty spot left. If you want it, you'd better hurry. It was just released. You're lucky to have asked today. If you're late, it will be snatched up."
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xuemei decided to go and take a look. "Can I go and take a look?"
Sister Wang patted her fanny pack and said with a smile, "Come on, let me open the door for you."
Zhang Xuemei followed her to the empty stall, which was square and had a fairly regular layout, looking to be about thirty square meters.
Sister Wang turned on the lights in the shop, and it immediately became much brighter. "Look, this shop is 28 square meters, a fixed price of 150,000 yuan. But there's one condition: it can only be a grocery store, nothing else."
"What, is this the only grocery store in the whole market?" Zhang Xuemei thought that if that were the case, it would be a monopoly, so she immediately paid.
"Of course not. There's another one at the other end of this road, making a total of two. How could we let you have an exclusive business? There has to be competition. Exclusive business is prone to problems."
If a market only has one stall selling groceries, the owner will likely become arrogant over time, and the customers who come to buy things will suffer. There needs to be healthy competition.
"Sister Wang, you brought people to look at the stall. I told you the feng shui of this stall is bad. The last one didn't last long before they quit. You can't lie to this lady. Everyone works hard to make money. If you lose money, you'll have nowhere to cry."
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