Free Web NovelChapter 260: Chapter 260: Progress
Zhou Erpao led Zhou Mei away, a miserable departure completely unlike the high spirits they’d had on arrival. Zhou Mei might still be dreaming of marrying a man from the city, but none of that had anything to do with Gu’er and her partners anymore.
"This village is really something," Li Zhi said, shaking his head.
"There are good people and bad people everywhere. You can’t do much when you run into ones like that. I actually thought Zhou Feng’er and Zhou Duo’er would be the ones to show up. I never expected them to stay away, and for Zhou Mei to come instead."
Gu’er sighed as well.
"Don’t say that! You’ll jinx us. It’d be a real pain if they actually showed up."
Li Zhi quickly waved his hands. He had no desire to see anyone like that again. ’Gu’er used to live with these people for so many years,’ he thought. ’I have no idea how she managed to get by.’
Gu’er just smiled.
In truth, it wasn’t that Zhou Feng’er and Zhou Duo’er didn’t want to come. The reason they hadn’t was that Zhou Mazi had beaten Zhou Feng’er the day before, leaving her face bruised. Zhou Feng’er didn’t want Gu’er to see her in such a miserable state.
As for Zhou Duo’er, she had planned on coming but was stopped by Zhou Feng’er. Otherwise, they certainly would have shown up to cause trouble.
With those people gone, they returned to their previous discussion: who to entrust with the technique for baking dalieba.
"You and Jia Ming should decide. If the baking is going to be done in the village, I can’t help. I don’t know anyone there, and I don’t have any relatives on this side. I have no idea who’s a good person and who isn’t. You and Jia Ming just need to find a few honest folks."
To Li Zhi, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
Dingzi nodded as well. He had also been born and raised in the city.
"Aunt Zhao’s family would have been trustworthy, but they’re all in the city now. If we’re choosing from our village, I think Uncle Erliang and his wife are a good option. His wife is a great cook, so they’re worth considering. Gu’er, were you thinking of your mother’s side of the family? If you think they’d be a good fit, we could set up a bakery there too. But we’d have to make them promise not to leak the recipe. You know what your third uncle’s wife is like. I’m not worried about much, but I am worried about her."
Sun Jiaming understood what Gu’er was thinking; she wanted to help out the Li Family. But he didn’t think they were a good choice. Forgetting Cui Feng for a moment, they were all relatives, which would make things awkward if any problems arose. And Cui Feng herself couldn’t be trusted. If she told the recipe to her maiden family, it would be a huge mess. Besides, even if she didn’t tell her family, what if a competitor showed up and offered money for the recipe? Cui Feng would absolutely sell it behind their backs. When that happened, could Gu’er really take the Li Family to court? Even if Cui Feng was in the wrong, she was the Li Family’s daughter-in-law. It would probably destroy their family ties.
Gu’er had indeed wanted to help the Li Family, but after hearing Sun Jiaming’s reasoning, she agreed it wasn’t a good idea. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Alright. In that case, Brother Jia Ming, could you talk to Uncle Erliang’s family? A contract will be necessary, and you should explain the potential consequences as well. If they’re okay with everything, I’ll give them the recipe."
Gu’er agreed with Sun Jiaming’s choice. As for helping the Li Family, she didn’t have to give them the bakery. She could hire Li Ying and her sister to work at the department store. The two of them were decent people; with a bit of training, they’d have no problem working as salesclerks.
"Okay. Leave it to me. What about the Gewasi?"
Sun Jiaming asked Gu’er.
"There’s no rush with the Gewasi. We’ll definitely sell it once the department store opens," Gu’er said, unconcerned.
Once they had finished their discussion, they returned to the city and went to check on the department store first. The renovations were still underway, and the place was dirty and chaotic.
"Huang Tou told me the work should be finished around August twentieth. We’ll have to clean the place up then. Gu’er, you all should pick a date in September for the grand opening. Also, we can start training the new employees." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Liu Yuan was on-site every day, so he was up to date on the construction schedule.
’A September opening would be good,’ Gu’er mused, a smile spreading across her face. ’If Dad’s position is going to change, it should happen in September. We could open before he goes to the countryside for his assignment and have him do the ribbon-cutting.’
"But where are we going to do the training? I originally thought we could do it here since the place is big enough. But look at it, it’s too filthy right now. There’s no way we can train anyone here. We need space for about fifty people; most places can’t accommodate that many."
Li Zhi was vexed. He originally thought training was unnecessary. ’It’s just selling things, who doesn’t know how to do that? You get the hang of it after a couple of days. Besides, if you have the inventory, you’re golden. People are practically begging to buy things, and some can’t even buy what they want because they don’t have the right ration tickets.’
But Gu’er had set him straight. She explained that their department store was a private enterprise, not a state-owned one. The state paid the wages for state-run businesses, but they were different. They, the owners, would be the ones paying salaries. If business was bad and they didn’t bring in enough money, they wouldn’t just miss out on profits—they wouldn’t even be able to pay their employees.
What was the key to good business? Besides having a large, complete, and novel selection of goods, they also had to rely on their service.
When you went to the big department stores these days, the salesclerks were all scowling. Their attitude was "take it or leave it." Some were even downright nasty. You could buy something and still leave fuming. If their salesclerks were that cocky, they could just prepare to shut down.
In the future, as the economy developed and ration tickets were phased out, people would have more spending power and more options. If your service was bad, customers wouldn’t put up with being treated poorly.
That was why Gu’er insisted on training. She wanted the salesclerks to greet every customer with a smile and make them feel completely at home. Gu’er didn’t just want their store to be filled with a wide variety of high-quality, novel products; she also wanted it to provide first-class service. She wanted anyone who walked in, whether from this city or another, to immediately feel the difference. She wanted them to visit once and be eager to return, to have her store be the first place people thought of when they went shopping.
Once Gu’er explained her vision, it wasn’t just Li Zhi—Sun Jiaming, Dingzi, and Liu Yuan were all in strong agreement. This wasn’t a short-term plan; it was a strategy for the future, so they all backed her. The problem now was finding a place for the training. On top of that, they didn’t have a suitable trainer. Hiring experienced salesclerks from other stores was unrealistic, and besides, they had no idea where to find clerks with good service attitudes. Their only hope was Gu’er.
"It’s fine. The fourth and fifth floors aren’t being changed much, and those two are already finished. When the time comes, we can just hold the training on the fourth and fifth floors."
Gu’er had already figured out a location. The first, second, and third floors were all going to be retail space. The fourth floor would be used for general offices, and the fifth floor would be their own executive offices. As a result, those two floors required minimal renovations and were nearly complete.
"Okay. Then let’s all come here tomorrow when the new hires arrive. I’m curious to see what kind of people the city and district governments have assigned us."
Li Zhi nodded in agreement with Gu’er’s plan. The group arranged to meet up, and then they all headed home.
