DouDou's mom kept praising Fang Zeyu, making him feel embarrassed.
"Sister-in-law, we need to eat early and go back early. There's a lot going on in Nancheng." He wasn't as good as DouDou's mom said; he was just doing what a man should do.
"I understand." She immediately took it to heart, showing she really cared. DouDou's mom stopped praising Fang Zeyu and instead praised Shu Yan, "You have such a great figure, you can't tell you've had two children at all. Your skin is so good, so fair and tender. How are you so amazing, managing to run a shop and make money while raising children?"
"No..." Shu Yan was taken aback by the praise and quickly shook her head.
"I really admire you. I'm also raising a child alone, but I have my in-laws helping me. It's already tough raising two children by yourself, and you also run your own shop. How tiring must that be? Have you ever thought about finding someone to help share the burden?"
The topic changed so suddenly that Shu Yan didn't even have time to react.
"Sister-in-law, the food in the pot is burnt," Fang Zeyu said, then called Shu Yan out of the kitchen, "Didn't you say you wanted to call the employees at the store? The signal isn't very good inside, go outside to make the call."
"Ah...right, I'll go make a phone call."
Shu Yan ran out of the courtyard and breathed a sigh of relief, which shows that she really wasn't good at dealing with this kind of enthusiasm.
"My sister-in-law meant no harm," Fang Zeyu said apologetically.
"I know, she's just too enthusiastic." Shu Yan called Zhang Huaxiu to tell her that she wouldn't be going back in the morning, but would be going back in the afternoon. When she went back, Dou Dou's mother was still enthusiastic, but she didn't bring up personal matters anymore. Shu Yan glanced at Fang Zeyu and knew that he must have said something.
DouDou's mom started chatting with ShuYan about everyday things, and the atmosphere became much more harmonious. ShuYan started talking more, and as they chatted, she learned that DouDou's mom had been staying at home all these years, supporting her family with the government's monthly subsidies and handicrafts.
“I also want to go out and find a job, but it’s not easy to find a satisfactory one.” Dou Dou is getting older and her expenses are increasing. Although there was compensation for her husband’s death, that money was meant for Dou Dou’s college education and cannot be used.
“If you have enough money, I suggest buying a house. First, you can earn some rent every month to supplement your household income, which is definitely higher than the interest rate in the bank. Second, DouDou will need a house when she grows up and gets married, right? You can either take it back and renovate it, or sell it to make up some money and buy another house. It’s worth it.” ShuYan felt that if she didn’t have the ability to do business, buying a house was the most cost-effective option.
DouDou is only six years old this year. It will be more than ten years before she graduates from university. By then, housing prices will be very high. A house that costs 100,000 yuan now will be worth at least one million yuan by then. Can you make that much money by depositing it in the bank? This does not even include the rent collected every year.
After carefully doing the math, DouDou's mom was instantly tempted. Doing business might result in losses, but buying a house would definitely not. Take her older sister for example, she spent 80,000 yuan to buy a house in Shangcheng District two years ago, and now it has appreciated to more than 90,000 yuan, which is more than many people earn with their salaries.
The meal was cooked early, and they started eating at 10:00 AM. They finished eating at 10:30 AM, rested for a while, and then set off back to Nancheng at 11:00 AM. I don't know when DouDou's mom prepared it, but she took a lot of things and insisted on giving them to ShuYan.
“These are all local specialties from Hangzhou, they’re not worth much. Take them back for the two kids.” DouDou’s mom put them directly into the trunk of the car. When she saw Fang Zeyu trying to stop her, she glared at him. “They’re not for you, they’re for YanYan and her child.”
I kept pushing it for about ten minutes, but I couldn't refuse their kind offer, so I had to accept it.
When Zhang Huaxiu returned to Nancheng, it was already 2 PM. She saw the car parked at the door and quickly went out to get the goods. When she saw Fang Zeyu in the driver's seat, she couldn't help but take another look.
She hadn't expected that the landlady would be traveling with Fang Zeyu this time, and that Fang Zeyu would be driving. That meant that the two of them had gone to Hangzhou together last night. She had always known that they were friends, but this clearly crossed the line of friendship. Even the usually oblivious Zhang Huaxiu had noticed the problem. However, she wasn't one to talk much, so she kept it to herself. This was the landlady's private matter, and she was so capable that she must have thought about it more carefully than she had.
Shu Yan asked Fang Zeyu to take her to the store entrance. She didn't intend to hide it from Zhang Huaxiu. Having known Zhang Huaxiu for so long, she knew that Zhang Huaxiu was not a gossipy person. Sure enough, Zhang Huaxiu only glanced at her and didn't look at her again or ask a question.
The two newly hired sales clerks are a young woman who just graduated from high school. She's only 18 years old and very lively and cheerful with a sweet smile. The other sales clerk is married and has just weaned her child, but she's recovered her figure well, is quite tall, and looks good in clothes. She's also very friendly. Compared to the other sales clerk, who is talkative but has a lot of hidden agendas, Shu Yan prefers someone who is less calculating and has a better temper.
It's okay if she's not good with words; she can practice slowly. But having too many little schemes won't make her less cunning.
Seeing Zhang Huaxiu leave, the two men very observantly followed and helped unload the things from the car.
"These clothes don't need to be moved to the warehouse. Just take inventory and put them on the shelves. The restock won't arrive until tomorrow morning. I'll have someone deliver them over there. Xiuxiu, you can receive them then." After giving these instructions, Shu Yan lowered her head and said to Fang Zeyu, "I'm still busy here. You don't need to take me home."
"Okay, call me if you need anything." Fang Zeyu smiled slightly. Shu Yan's decision to have him deliver the package directly to the store entrance was already a very good sign.
After Shu Yan finished tidying her clothes, she was about to leave when Zhang Huaxiu quickly said, "Boss lady, my sister-in-law found a shop on Fuqian Street and would like you to help her take a look at the location."
Last year, she mentioned wanting to open a clothing store on Fuqian Street. At the time, she even had Zhang Huaxiu inquire about it. Shu Yan was both amused and exasperated. There are so many clothing stores, and it's such a long distance away, what difference does it make? But the fact that someone inquired about it shows that they value their relationship.
These days, Wu Xiuyue has been looking for a shop. Finding a shop is not easy. The ones she likes are either already rented or the rent is too expensive. The ones with reasonable rent are too remote. She wants a good location and a cheap price. It's not that easy.
Where is Fuqian Street?
"It's not far from the department store. The original owner has something to do and wants to sell it. My sister-in-law saw it and thought it was pretty good, so she wants to take it over. But she's not sure if she can make a decision, so she wanted to ask you to take a look," Zhang Huaxiu said somewhat embarrassedly.
Shu Yan nodded, "Okay, I'll go find your sister-in-law when I get back."
After taking a shower and eating something at home, Shu Yan went to find Wu Xiuyue. When Wu Xiuyue saw Shu Yan, she knew that her sister-in-law had already told her.
"I heard from Xiuxiu that you went to buy supplies yesterday. You must have had a sleepless night again. There's no rush. Go home and rest first, and help me when you have time." Of course, she was anxious and wished Shuyan could help her right now, but she couldn't ignore others.
"It's okay, I slept for a few hours last night, and now I can't sleep at night because I slept too much. Let's go take a look together," Shu Yan said with a smile.
Shu Yan used to frequent the department store, which was the liveliest place on Fuqian Street. However, Zhang Huaxiu said it wasn't far from the department store, but Shu Yan thought that "not far" should be put in quotation marks. It was about a seven or eight-minute walk from the department store to Xiaonanmen. How could that be considered not far?
"It's not exactly remote, but it's definitely not a good location. How much is the rent?" Shu Yan walked around the neighborhood.
“600 a month, 7000 a year. The landlady here is a friend of mine, so she doesn’t want me to pay a transfer fee. She still has six months’ rent left, so I’ll just pay for those six months.” Wu Xiuyue kept a close eye on Shu Yan’s expression, afraid that she might say something wrong.
Wu Xiuxiu's friend is quite generous. Shu Yan glanced at the shop and saw that it used to sell clothes, the cheaper kind. Overall, it was not bad, but it was a bit far from the university town, so business was probably just so-so.
"I heard that Xiaonanmen area is going to be demolished. Will this area be demolished too?" Shu Yan asked.
It's not impossible. She had heard of several similar cases before, where people received notices from landlords about demolishing properties and then tricked their relatives, friends, and fellow villagers into taking over.
"I don't think so." Wu Xiuyue was startled, but it wasn't impossible.
She quickly asked people in the neighborhood for information and also asked acquaintances to inquire. She only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the area would not be demolished.
"I knew she wouldn't lie to me," Wu Xiuyue breathed a sigh of relief.
"I was being petty."
"No, it's better to be safe than sorry. You reminded me too. You can't rush into opening a shop like this. I need to stay calm. It's not easy to save money. What if I lose it? How can I face my husband?" Wu Xiuyue was under immense pressure. This was money meant for buying a house, and if she lost it all, she would lose everything.
Excluding these possibilities, Shu Yan felt that this store was a good option, but the clothing positioning needed to be changed, and a new lease agreement needed to be signed in front of the landlord if the transfer was to take over.
"You said I wouldn't know any of this if you hadn't been there," Wu Xiuyue said with immense gratitude.
After signing the contract, Wu Xiuyue asked Shu Yan for help on how to open the store.
"I think you could totally open a boutique women's clothing store," Shu Yan suggested.
"A boutique women's clothing store? Something like that won't do. Can the people around here afford it?" Wu Xiuyue felt that the people around her didn't have much money, and even the students didn't have much money. A single piece of clothing cost almost half a month's salary. Who could afford it?
"I think you underestimate people's spending power these days. Not to mention that college students have more and more pocket money, the area near Xiaonanmen is about to be relocated. Those people are all nouveau riche. They won't be unable to afford clothes. You should take advantage of this gap in the high-end women's clothing market and seize the opportunity. Once you've made a name for yourself, all the high-spending people in this area will come to you to buy." Shu Yan felt that Wu Xiuyue was really underestimating others.
"High-spending groups?"
"Yes, we divide our customers into three categories: A, B, and C. Category A consists of high-spending customers, Category B consists of customers who occasionally buy expensive items, and Category C consists of ordinary consumers. When opening a store, you definitely need to focus on which group you are targeting. This area is close to the university town, and many clothing items are relatively affordable. I think we can open a more upscale store. There are still high-spending customers among students. Besides, you are not only targeting students. There are also many residents in this area, so there must be quite a few Category A customers."
"Then... opening a store like this must require a huge investment, right?" Wu Xiuyue worried that she didn't have enough money.
"It's alright. I'll help you plan an event. Xiuxiu actually knows quite a bit about it. My opening event was quite successful. You can use it after a few minor modifications. Let Xiuxiu help you for a couple of days, and then it'll be done. Don't be afraid to invest in the early stages. The bigger your initial investment, the bigger the return later. Don't be stingy. With me helping you plan, be bold." At this point, being bold really can make money.
“Okay, I’ll listen to you,” Wu Xiuyue said firmly.
Chen Fei is Wu Xiuyue's brother-in-law. Whenever Wu Xiuyue asks him for help, he always prioritizes her, no matter how busy he is. He definitely won't charge design fees, and both labor and materials are at internal prices. Shu Yan thinks Chen Fei might have to subsidize some things himself.
Wu Xiuyue wasn't the type to complain after getting a good deal. She provided two snacks in the morning and afternoon, and a full meal at noon, all at the level of hiring a master chef. She also provided cigarettes and alcohol, making sure that Chen Fei wouldn't lose face in front of her employees.
The style here is somewhat similar to Shu Yan's. Chen Fei asked Shu Yan about it when he was designing it, but Shu Yan didn't care. Not to mention that it's so far away, there are quite a few shops on Chengnan West Road that have been renovated to look similar to hers. China is very prone to following trends, and she can't argue with that.
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