Five hours later.
Six o’clock in the morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Tang arrived at the store early, even before the sales assistants had arrived. There were only a few stores that opened so early. For the past few days since their grand opening, Mr. and Mrs. Tang had always arrived this early. People would often question why they’d open so early: who would be buying jewelry at such an hour? They’d wonder if it was a joke.
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But Mr. and Mrs. Tang didn’t see it that way as this was the new beginning of their family’s business, exciting them greatly. The vividly clean and bright interior, and the shimring pieces of jewelry under the display lights were a major upgrade from the small clothing store they used to run. The sight of all this made them truly happy.
It was like looking at the fruits of their harvest, even though they hadn’t yet cashed out.
Each ti they closed the store, Mrs. Tang would conscientiously check the locks multiple tis. Mr. Tang would often tease her about it, but she never felt tired of it. Whenever she rembered those news stories on TV about thieves robbing jewelry stores, she would worry incessantly. After all, having goods worth nearly ten million on display and no living quarters in the store, how could her worries be quelled? The only thing Mr. Tang could do was listen to her worries.
Little did the couple know that Tang Qing had already arranged for soone to keep an eye on both stores. He couldn’t afford a situation where thieves suddenly cleared out both jewelry stores. Although such a dramatic scene would probably get sorted out with his influence and they could just claim insurance, the worry it would cause the two families would be overwhelming. He certainly didn’t want to see anyone get seriously hurt from such an incident.
Then, it would be too late for regrets.
If soone dared steal from these two jewelry stores, Tang Qing’s order to the fighters was to cripple one of the thief’s hands.
He wouldn’t go so far as to kill anyone. He wasn’t that cold-blooded.
Upon arriving at the store, Mr. and Mrs. Tang checked the quantity of goods after opening the store, a process they have done countless tis and knew by heart. Seeing that nothing was missing, Mr. Tang went out to buy breakfast. They had been too busy to cook breakfast themselves these days and always ate out.
After that, Mrs. Tang began cleaning and mopping the floor. She could have asked the shop assistant to do this, but she wasn’t the kind of person who would sit back and lecture others. Plus, being around these dazzling goods every day felt a bit addictive. She thought: "I’m not disabled, so why not do it myself?" They still hadn’t switched out from the mindset of running a mom-and-pop store, and they didn’t want to at the beginning, especially when it ca to cleaning these valuables.
Just then, a young man walked in. He went straight to the Gem and Jewelry section.
"Boss, how much for this one?" The man pointed at a jade bracelet and asked.
Mrs. Tang rushed over and took a look, saying, "This one is forty-one thousand. It’s Hetian jade..."
But before Mrs. Tang could finish speaking, the young man interrupted her.
"Okay, I’ll take this. How about this one?" The fighter pointed to another jade piece next to it and spoke.
He wants to buy them?
"This one is six thousand seven hundred," Mrs. Tang said with a joyful expression.
"I’ll take this one too. Calculate the total for ," the young man nodded and said.
Mrs. Tang quickly took out the calculator and figured out the total price: "The total is forty-seven thousand seven hundred yuan. We’re having a grand opening sale, so we can give you a 5% discount. After rounding off, the total cos to forty-five thousand three hundred yuan. Our store does not offer a full refund for all the jewelry. If you want to return it within a week, we can only refund 90% of the purchase price. If it’s within a month, 85%. After a month, it will be 70%."
After Mrs. Tang finished speaking, she looked at the young man. Honestly, she was worried that he was just playing a prank on her. As for whether there would be a loss if the goods were returned, they would certainly not be at a loss, as the price of gems and jewelry had been rising over the years. Even if the goods were returned, they might even appreciate in value.
"Alright, I’ll pay by card." The young man took out a bank card and handed it over.
Mrs. Tang quickly took the bank card and started operating the card machine. Although she was not the cashier, card paynt was sothing she had mastered. After several operations...
The card wasn’t declined.
Mrs. Tang breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that this person was just playing with her. Seeing that the card had money, she was overjoyed. This sale was quite profitable. It was more than what they used to earn in several months in the clothing store.
"Goodbye."
Mrs. Tang packed the items warmly for the young man and saw him off. She waved goodbye while looking at him retreat into the distance, until his figure disappeared from her sight.
She then turned back into the store. Whether to sit or to stand, she was so excited that she paced back and forth. Today, the store had turned over the funds and wages for the month. It felt like a huge surprise.
Of course, that man was a fighter arranged by Tang Qing. They were those who protected the Tangs clandestinely. But they were in disguise just in case soone recognized them and things got awkward.
The limit that Tang Qing allotted was RMB 500,000 per store per month. However, this money would not be spent all at once, but in several installnts of differing amounts. Going to the store every day would make them seem suspicious. Although they could hire a ’personal buyer’, those people weren’t reliable. His own people were more trustworthy. Plus, they were good at disguise; a slight change in appearance and voila!
The limit of RMB 500,000 was not absolute. According to Tang Qing’s plan, so months would have more spending, others would have less, but on average, it would work out to about that amount. He had already transferred the ’activity funds’ for the next year to Little Two, so that the fighter could take directly from there whenever need be. That way, they wouldn’t have to bother Tang Qing all the ti.
Five minutes later, Mr. Tang returned with breakfast.
Seeing Mrs. Tang pacing anxiously in the store, he thought sothing was wrong. He quickly rushed to her, saying with urgent concern:
"Wife, what happened?"
"You and your bad mouth! What could’ve happened? Wouldn’t I have called you if anything went wrong?" Mrs. Tang responded, sowhat annoyed.
"Hehe, well yeah." Tang’s father said sowhat embarrassed, and then asked, "What happened?"
As soon as this was ntioned, Tang’s mother spoke excitedly, "We made so good money today."
Upon hearing about the profit, Tang’s father lost all interest and walked over to the cash register carrying breakfast. He then put it down and said, "Well, yeah, if we’re open, we’re open. What’s there to be so excited about? How much did we earn? A few hundred?"
"Guess again," Tang’s mother laughed.
At this point, even Tang’s father knew he had guessed too low. His face brightened with interest and he asked, "Could it be a few thousand?"
"Guess again," Tang’s mother shook her head.
Tang’s father’s expression beca more animated, and his heart began to race, "It’s not ten thousand, is it? Ten thousand... that’s equal to our inco from two or three months before."
Tang’s mother quickly nodded, eager to share the news. She grinned, "Hehe, you guessed right. A young man just ca in and spent over forty thousand on a jade bracelet and pendant, the most profitable items. I did the calculations and we made close to sixteen thousand profit."
"Sixteen thousand? That much?" Tang’s father exclaid in astonishnt.
"Indeed! The bracelet has the highest profit margin. I sold it," Tang’s mother proudly claid.
"Lucky," Tang’s father grumbled.
"What did you say?" Tang’s mother ’angrily’ asked.
"I said, we were lucky today."
"Hmph, that’s more like it. If we continue this way, just by maintaining our previous level of sales, we could be making tens of thousands by the end of next month. Wow, that’s like our earnings for an entire year.." Tang’s mother beca more excited the more she thought about it. But she didn’t lose her mind and go around showing off, especially to her in-laws.
What she didn’t realize was that Tang Qing treated everyone equally. On the third day, a young woman visited the Lin family’s Jewelry Store and bought nearly sixty thousand worth of items.
When they finally calculated the monthly earnings, the difference between the two shops wasn’t too much, but at least they had a steady base.
That evening,
As soon as Tang Qing returned to his room,
Qin Shiqi barged in again. "Brother, red packet."
"What red packet?" Tang Qing asked, puzzled.
"Auntie made a lot of money today, shouldn’t you give her a red packet?" Qin Shiqi asked cheekily.
"It’s not who made the money." Tang Qing was speechless.
"Well, it was your parents who earned it," Qin Shiqi said confidently.
Tang Qing didn’t matter, and asked, "How much do you want?"
"You decide," Qin Shiqi wasn’t sure how much was earned, because Tang’s mother didn’t tell her, for fear that she would blabber out.
Tang Qing took out all the money from his pocket and started counting, "Let’s see, hmm, seventy... six dollars... and twenty cents." Tang Qing rarely carried large bills in his pocket; the system would cash out as much as he needed.
"Hmph, why is it always spare change? Where are the big bills?" Qin Shiqi complained.
"In the bank," Tang Qing replied annoyedly.
"Alright, the seventy is mine, the six dollars and twenty cents is yours." Qin Shiqi took all the money, counted out the larger bills, and returned the change to Tang Qing.
"You might as well take it all." Tang Qing said, laughing and crying.
Qin Shiqi pocketed the seventy dollars, shook her head and said, "No thanks, this money is for you to bulk up your wallet, see ya."
With that, she turned and left, leaving behind a ’joyful’ silhouette.
Looking at the six dollars and twenty cents in his hand, which included two old fifty-cent bills, Tang Qing could only tuck it back into his pocket. This little amount was still money, good enough to buy a bunch of sunflower seeds.
...
PS: The battle is imminent.
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