Chapter 185: Visiting the Shop
Translator: Lonelytree
Xiao Mingyang returned home with joy. He held a blue notebook and said excitedly, “Chunhua, what do you think this is?”
Liu Chunhua also asked curiously, “What is this?”
“It’s a driver’s license!” Xiao Mingyang said.
“Really?” Liu Chunhua immediately stopped washing the clothes. She washed her hands and took the driver’s license. When she opened it, her eyes glowed. “Mingyang, does this mean you can drive legally?”
“Of course!” Xiao Mingyang puffed out his chest proudly. Of the eight driving students, Xiao Mingyang was the oldest one. He was not as clever as the other seven, but he was hardworking and practiced diligently. Even though he had to take the exam twice, at least he passed in the end. Some of the other students still hadn’t passed the exam!
1
Liu Chunhua smiled, “Then, you can help second sister in the future.”
Xiao Lingyu was very happy when she heard the news. That night, she came to Xiao Mingyang’s house with her parents. They were very glad as Xiao Mingyang showed them his new license.
Xiao Lingyu asked, “Fourth Uncle, since you have a license, perhaps you should buy a small truck! It’ll be more convenient! After all, my car is not that suitable for transporting stock.”
Xiao Mingyang thought about it and said, “I’ve considered that. I do wish to buy a small track. In the future, I’ll be your truck driver. I’ll help you transport the stock as long as you have need of me!”
“Thank you, Fourth Uncle!” Xiao Lingyu smiled, “But, Fourth Uncle, do you plan to buy a new truck or a secondhand truck?” Then, she added, “Fourth Uncle, you can pay in installments for a new truck!”
Xiao Mingyang said, “Since I can pay in installments, I think buying a new truck is better. I don’t know anyone who has a secondhand truck to sell, and buying one from strangers doesn’t feel safe.”
“Fourth Uncle, when do you plan to buy the truck?” Xiao Lingyu asked, “I can bring you there!”
Xiao Lingyu really believed her Fourth Uncle would have a big business in the future. He would be very busy just transporting her goods. In the future, she planned to persuade him to expand into a logistic team or company.
Xiao Mingyang thought about it and said, “How about the day after tomorrow? Yu ‘Er, I saw that your crops are about to mature soon. I should get the truck as soon as possible.”
“Okay!” Xiao Lingyu nodded.
…
Xiao Lingye would face his university entrance exam in about ten days.
Some people started to cram for the exam. They needed to make up for the time they had spent playing in the past. The parents went to the temples to pray for their children so they could get into their ideal schools.
At the same time, Xiao Lingyu’s plants grew green and lustrous. They were cute, and it was near the time of harvest. However, the problem of sales became a headache for Father and Mother Xiao. Xiao Lingyu explained, “Mom, Dad, I’ve rented a shop in the county town. It’s a shop meant to sell our crops exclusively.”
Mother and Father Xiao were stunned. Father Xiao asked, “Yu ‘Er, the rental at the county town is very expensive. Isn’t it a bit of a waste to rent one just to sell vegetables? Besides, how much money can we earn just by selling some vegetables?”
Xiao Lingyu said with a smile, “Dad, others might not have faith in our vegetables, but you too? Therefore, our prices will be different from others. We’ll sell them at a higher price.”
“But will people buy them then?” Father Xiao still said worriedly.
“Dad, I’ve already planned this. We’ll have two kinds of stocks.” Xiao Lingyu explained, “The public stock and the high-end stock.
“The public stock includes the crops we planted in the fields. They will be priced slightly higher than normal, but they’ll still be acceptable to the public. Take tomatoes, for example. On the market, it’s two RMB per catty, but we’ll sell them at three RMB per catty.
“You get what you pay for.
“The high-end stock are the crops grown in the farming space. They will be targeted at rich customers. Using the same example, a tomato will be sold by units. Two RMB for one. As long as the taste is good, our target market wouldn’t even blink when they buy it.”
Father and Mother Xiao still didn’t quite get it. In the end, they got the idea. Some would be sold for cheap, others expensive.
Mother Xiao was still worried. “But, Yu ‘Er, will we be able to sell everything? These crops are not like clothes that can be kept for days. Vegetables have to be sold on the day they are harvested, or they won’t be fresh!”
The harvest from six Mu of land was huge!
Xiao Lingyu smiled. “Mom, we’re not growing just one kind of crop. We have about 20 types of vegetables over six Mu of land. When you break it down like that, we are not really selling that much.”
Mother Xiao nodded. “You’re right.”
Xiao Lingyu said, “Mom, Dad, I plan to open the shop three days later. Tomorrow, I’ll bring you to the shop and see if there’s any improvement to be made! Then, we’ll start the harvest.”
There was a reason why Xiao Lingyu picked that day. She knew as they approached the exam season, the higher the pressure on the students. They would be stressed and unable to eat, sleep, and so on. Her vegetables were blessed with spring water. Consuming them would help ease these symptoms.
“Alright!” Father and Mother Xiao nodded in agreement. “We should get your Fourth Aunt and Uncle to come along too. Your Fourth Uncle wants to buy a truck, right?”
Of course, they had to go and check out their daughter’s new shop.
The next day, Xiao Lingyu brought her parents, her uncle, and aunt, as well as Little Loach to the county town. It was a Saturday, so it was also a fun trip too.
“Yu ‘Er, is this the place?” Liu Chunhua pointed at the high-class shop and was shocked. She looked at the surroundings, and the surprise grew bigger.
“The shop is so high-class, and it’s located in the city center. The rent must be very expensive. It must have cost a lot.” Mother Xiao was concerned.
Xiao Lingyu smiled. “It did cost some money, and I do owe some people money.”
“You owe people money?” Mother Xiao frowned. “Yu ‘Er, do you need money? Your dad and I have saved some money over the years.” That was the mindset of the rural people. They would feel uneasy owing people.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, “Mom, there’s no need. Believe me. We can pay back this money very quickly.”
“Yu ‘Er, how much do you owe? And who do you owe?” Father Xiao asked.
“It’s mainly the renovation company. However, the company is introduced to me by a friend. The renovation company’s owner is a good friend of my friend.” Xiao Lingyu didn’t hide anything. Then, she added, “Mom, Dad, don’t worry. Many people owe money in the business world. I’ll pay him back the moment I have the money!”
Father Xiao nodded and seriously said, “I do not know how to do business, but I still want to tell you something. We have to be honest. I believe that applies to doing business too.”
“Dad, thank you!” Xiao Lingyu nodded.
Xiao Mingyang said, “Second Brother, Yu ‘Er has always kept her promises. Don’t worry.”
Father Xiao said, “I’m just reminding her.”
“Dad, Mom, fourth uncle, fourth aunt, let’s go in and take a look!”
Once they entered the shop, Mother Xiao and Father Xiao noticed the place was quite large. It was more than 60 square meters, which was relatively big compared to an ordinary shop. And to think this place was going to be a vegetable store.
The shop had been renovated. The orange and white walls were decorated with some cute and watery vegetable pictures. Below each picture was extra info about the vegetables and the price they were sold at. Even the cashier was well designed.
“Wow, eldest cousin, this place is so beautiful!” Little Louch exclaimed, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this is a hotel!”
“You always have such a sweet mouth!” Xiao Lingyu smiled and patted the back of Xiao Xiaohui’s head.
“This is not bad.” Mother and Father Xiao didn’t know what to say, but they were quite satisfied.
“Yes, it is brilliant!” Xiao Mingyang said, “This is the most beautiful shop I’ve ever seen!”
He really couldn’t think of any words to describe it, so he could only say it was beautiful.
They hadn’t been to any high-end place before. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so shocked.
“Yu ‘Er, can you manage such a big store on your own?” Mother Xiao asked with concern. “We don’t know how the business will be. How about I come to help you?”
“I can help too!” Liu Chunhua also volunteered.
“Me too.” Xiao Mingyang added.
Xiao Lingyu thought. “Alright, I’ll have to trouble mom, Fourth Aunt to help me for a while then. Dad, you’ll have to handle everything at home then. Fourth Uncle, you might have things to do when the shop opens.”
Fresh vegetables had to be delivered early. This meant that the delivery person had to wake up early! So when they were not working, they needed to rest to prepare for the long journeys!
“…” Xiao Mingyang nodded in confusion, “Okay.”
Father Xiao immediately waved his hand and said, “Yu ‘Er, don’t worry. I’ve already recovered. Leave the family matters to me. You and your mother should stay in the county town. But…” Father Xiao looked around again, “Yu ‘Er, can you handle such a big shop? Don’t tire yourself out. Yu ‘Er, you can’t be too tired.”
Mother Xiao immediately said, “I’ll be here. Plus, we also have Chunhua. It’ll be fine.”
Xiao Lingyu said, “Dad, we’ll see first. If we can’t handle it, we’ll have to hire people.”
“That’s fine, but how are the crops going to be delivered?” Father Xiao asked. “Yu ‘Er, you can’t be driving back and forth every day.”
Xiao Lingyu smiled. “Dad, have you forgotten about fourth uncle?”
Father Xiao slapped his forehead and said with a smile, “If you don’t remind me, I really have forgotten all about that. Fourth brother knows how to drive now!”
“…” Xiao Mingyang was speechless before saying, “Second brother, how can you forget about me when I’m standing right here? It looks like you don’t care about me at all!”
Xiao Zhengyang said self-deprecatingly, “I think I’m getting senile!” He forgot that they were in the county town to help Xiao Mingyang buy a truck too.
“Haha…” The other laughed.
Xiao Lingyu chuckled. “I’ve planned this beforehand. I asked Fourth Uncle to get a license to help me transport the crops.”
Everything was ready at the shop. They were just waiting for the stock to arrive. Father Xiao and the others didn’t feel like anything was missing. After walking around, they left.
At noon, Xiao Lingyu brought her parents and fourth uncle’s family to the Gu family’s hotel for a meal.
Mother Xiao said hesitantly, “Yu ‘Er, I heard that it’s very expensive to eat at the hotel. Why don’t we go to a small restaurant? Or we can buy some ingredients and go home to cook.”
Xiao Lingyu said, “Mom, you’ve been cooking every day. It’s rare for us to eat out, so we have to treat ourselves better. The Gu Family Hotel is our big client. Mom, do you remember Gu Ziye who came to our home last time?”
“Of course!” Mother Xiao nodded. “I’m not that old yet. I can still remember the guests we’ve entertained. Gu Ziye runs a hotel. He asked for our wine. He said it could be his hotel’s house wine.” Mother Xiao had a good memory.
“That’s right. Gu Ziye is the general manager of this hotel.” Xiao Lingyu said, “And Mom, your wine is now the house wine. Why don’t we go in and take a look!”
When Mother Xiao heard the wine she brewed was the hotel specialty, she was excited.
Father Xiao glanced at Mother Xiao. He nodded and replied, “Alright then. Yu ‘Er, let’s go in and have a big meal today!”
Xiao Mingyang’s family of three didn’t have any objections, especially Xiao Xiaohui. He really wanted to go into the hotel!