On Monday, after a full day of classes, Liu Chen lay alone on the sofa of "Earth Mansion" and indulged for ten minutes. Then, she took out her phone from her pocket, turned over, and propped herself up on the sofa, looking at the phone in her hand.
"This is my own brand, so it's normal to call and ask!"
As she encouraged herself, Liu Chen pressed the call button to her grandfather.
"Hello? Chenchen?"
A hearty greeting, tinged with a smile, came from Elder Chen on the other end.
"Are you calling to ask about the sales of Meimei Sausages?"
"Heh heh, Grandpa, this is the first time I've had a product on the market. Although I have confidence, I'm still a bit nervous. Grandpa, don't say anything yet, let me guess. After the first batch of 1,500 boxes were shipped, no one should have come to restock today?"
Liu Chen thought so, but still said no, fearing that if she expected too much and it didn't come to fruition, her grandfather would feel awkward about telling the truth.
Hearing Liu Chen's words, Elder Chen chuckled, "You little kid, you're still not telling grandpa the truth. Don't worry, your Grandpa Zhu is very supportive. He came to order first thing this morning and asked me to deliver 200 cases to their main warehouse tomorrow morning."
Only two hundred cases...
Liu Chen pursed her lips. Although she said she didn't care, she still harbored greater expectations in her heart.
Perhaps Liu Chen's silence made Elder Chen guess her thoughts. He said earnestly, "Chenchen, do you know how long it normally takes for a new product to be launched before the second batch of replenishment arrives?"
"Grandpa, I..."
"It takes at least a week, especially if your initial stock was as ample as yours. It's highly likely to take even a week and a half. But how many days has it been since your Grandpa Zhu? In reality, the major supermarkets only put the goods on the shelves on Sunday, and another batch will be delivered on Tuesday. Including everything, they've only been selling for two days."
Elder Chen's words completely soothed Liu Chen's restless heart.
"Grandpa, thank you."
Elder Chen chuckled heartily, "When I first started my business, I was incredibly proud just to sell a ham sausage. You're already much better than I was at your age."
Liu Chen couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl up slightly. "Oh, and Grandpa, I've registered an online store. I might be promoting and selling goods online. I'll fly back this Friday. See if you can find a few people from the company, or hire a few more, and I'll set up a dedicated e-commerce department for my Meimei brand."
Elder Chen became interested when he heard about e-commerce and asked further, "So, our ham sausages can be sold online? I thought from the news, they only sell clothes online?"
Liu Chen knew from her grandfather's question that he had looked into this area. That was true; Elder Chen's success in launching the Meili brand ham sausages back then wasn't like hers now, with someone guiding her. Elder Chen had practically built his empire from scratch.
"Yes, they can. Many people don't sell food online because the weight of food increases shipping costs, compressing the profit margin. So, have you solved the shipping cost problem?"
Liu Chen smiled slightly as she held the phone. "This problem was solved quite easily."
"How?"
"Taobao is currently offering shipping subsidies to businesses like ours that have physical operations, for a period of three months. After three months, once our sales have improved and the volume increases, we can negotiate prices with courier companies."
This was all information she had received from a Taobao customer service representative that afternoon. It was often simpler to make a phone call and ask than to guess wildly.
Hearing Chen Chen's words, Elder Chen understood that his granddaughter was determined to sell Meimei Sausages online. "Alright, I'll assign two people to you to establish this e-commerce office you mentioned. They'll add you on QQ later."
After the grandfather and granddaughter finished their discussion, they hung up the phone. Liu Chen then got up from the sofa, took a shower, and skipped to the bed, throwing herself onto it. She landed on the soft down comforter, rolled around, wrapped herself up, and fell into a deep sleep.
...
C City.
Hu Xingfa had been busy maintaining relationships with his old customers lately. Unfortunately, most of them had been poached by his rivals. Hu Xingfa watched them chat and laugh, but they refused to sign contracts with him. He suppressed his anger and walked out of the office building.
Hu Xingfa walked to a second-hand Nissan, opened the car door, and just as he sat down, his phone rang from his pocket. Hu Xingfa's eyes lit up, and with great anticipation, he took out his phone. Upon checking the caller ID, it was his wife. The light in his eyes instantly vanished. He pouted and casually tossed the phone onto the seat, driving off without even looking at it.
The phone's ringing continued for quite some time, but Hu Xingfa ignored it. Instead, he first drove to a massage parlor. After a comfortable foot massage, seeing that it was already past midnight, Hu Xingfa leisurely picked up his briefcase and drove home.
A while ago, the lease for the apartment Xu Ni was renting had expired. When it was rented, the apartment was spacious, new, and in a good location. The annual rent was 36,000 yuan. Back then, 36,000 yuan was pocket change, but now, it was practically one or two months' income. He was reluctant to pay it. So, he asked Xu Ni to move in with their son and him, as the nanny they hired could also take care of his mother.
It had been quite harmonious at first. Xu Ni called him "Mom" affectionately, took care of the child daily, and the cooking and cleaning were done by the aunt. They seemed to get along well. But now...
Arriving at his doorstep, Hu Xingfa stood there for a long time. On such a cold day, he didn't want to sleep in his cold office. He took out his key, opened the door, and the living room was already dark. Hu Xingfa couldn't help but sigh in relief, took off his leather shoes, and put on the winter slippers from the shoe cabinet. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, then as quietly as possible, he opened the master bedroom door, walked to the bed, and lay down.
As soon as he lay down, the person sleeping on the bed sat up abruptly and turned on the bedside lamp. The light illuminated the previously dark master bedroom, and Hu Xingfa couldn't help but squint and mumble, "Xu Ni, what's wrong? Not sleeping at this hour?"
Xu Ni, wearing thermal underwear, sat at the head of the bed, her arms crossed over her chest. She exhaled through her nostrils and said, "Hu Ge, tell your mom to go back to her own place. Your mom and I just can't get along."
Hearing this, a flicker of impatience flashed in Hu Xingfa's eyes. He gritted his teeth and sat up with a cold expression, pulling the quilt around him as he leaned against the headboard. "Why can't you get along? My mom is paralyzed, what can she do? Xu Ni, you need to have some conscience. As a daughter-in-law, it's your duty to take care of your mother-in-law. Do you prefer being a mistress like you were before?"
Xu Ni looked at Hu Xingfa, who was sitting beside her, with disbelief at the last sentence. "Hu Xingfa, back then, I was a mistress because you coaxed and deceived me! I was naive and fell for your trick!"
The continuous contract negotiations not going smoothly, coupled with Xu Ni constantly probing about increasing household expenses, all the accumulated dissatisfaction in Hu Xingfa erupted at this moment. Hu Xingfa got out of bed, put on his down jacket, and then his pants, saying as he dressed, "Yes! You were naive. Weren't you quite enjoying flirting with a man more than forty years old, who could be your father, back then?"
Xu Ni was truly stunned this time. Sitting on the bed, looking at Hu Xingfa, she felt as if she was seeing the true face of this man for the first time. "If you don't want to take care of your mother-in-law, fine. You go out to work, and you pay for the nanny yourself."
Hu Xingfa continued speaking, but Xu Ni's eyes turned cold. Looking at the man in front of her, Xu Ni's hands, hidden under the quilt, slowly clenched into fists. As the man was about to leave the room, Xu Ni smiled coldly and said, "Hu Xingfa, you'll regret this."
Hearing this, Hu Xingfa walked out of the bedroom without looking back. The bedroom door was left ajar. Xu Ni lay on the bed, turned to her side, and a past text message flashed in her mind. Perhaps this Sunday, she could go to the Southern City Prison to see what Zhang Lili wanted to tell her.
...
At seven in the morning, Liu Chen's eyes fluttered open. She looked at the slowly rising sun outside the window, stretched out her hands from under the covers, turned off her phone alarm, and stretched languidly. "Good morning! Beijing!"
After saying this, Liu Chen got out of bed, put on her flannel robe, and padded to the bathroom in her slippers to wash up. While brushing her teeth, she mentally activated the lottery draw. She had specifically checked before going to sleep last night; the 305 lottery tickets had now become 325. Seeing this number, Liu Chen's heart pounded. Her mother's shop had moved to the new wholesale market, and due to her pregnancy, her mother's opening time had been pushed back to 7:30 AM. This meant that the reason for the increase in lottery tickets from last night to now couldn't be from the goods sold in the store. Moreover, the twenty lottery tickets perfectly matched the 200 cases her grandfather had mentioned for restocking yesterday. So... the number of cases sold for the food brand I created also counts?!
Thinking of this, Liu Chen even forgot the foam in her mouth as she quickly calculated: "Oh my goodness, if that's 30,000 cases, that's 3,000 lottery tickets! Plus what my mom's shop sells, that's 4,200 lottery tickets a month?!" "If it doubles, that's 8,400 tickets, and the minimum would be 15.12 million!" Thinking of her pending D-level mission, an extra ten million would significantly boost her budget. The mission was set to start on December 10th. Three days had passed today, and 2,200 cases had been sold. At this rate, selling 30,000 cases a month seemed a bit tight, but manageable. However, Liu Chen knew this was impossible. Just as Elder Chen had said, such a quick restock, and such a large quantity of 200 cases, was already an impressive achievement. But now that she knew selling one case of Meimei Sausages would give her a guaranteed profit of at least 200 yuan, Liu Chen's mind was completely opened!