Luo Honglan’s eyes reddened with emotion, she hugged Fang Pingying and cried for a while, then was comforted by Li Yuchun and the others.
Li Yuchun sighed, wanting to complain a bit, "This Zhou Yunmei..."
Before she could finish, Fang Pingying gave her a look that stopped her from saying more, as Luo Honglan would feel even worse if she continued.
Luo Honglan stopped crying, glanced at the small study room, and muttered, "Doesn’t that mean Big Brother no longer has a study room?"
Fang Pingying reassured her not to worry about it, smilingly she said, "I’ll just move the desk and such to my room, besides, your Big Brother spends more time at the office anyway, don’t worry about him."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Luo Honglan felt fortunate; although she was not clever, insisting on following Fang Pingying turned out to be the right decision, otherwise her own mother would probably have sold her by now. Get full chapters from novel{f}ire.net
After sorting out the family affairs and the house rent, by November and December, Fang Pingying went to the supermarket.
During these days, the supermarket had always been under Zeng Weiguo’s watch. Even though Zeng Weiguo always said there was nothing particularly demanding and that he could handle it, Fang Pingying knew that managing such a big supermarket, especially in its initial stage, was exceedingly taxing. She wasn’t sure if she could manage it alone.
Indeed, Zeng Weiguo had a tough time during the New Year period.
Fang Pingying planned to bring juzi to the supermarket to oversee things, allowing Zeng Weiguo to rest for a few days and to simultaneously check on how the supermarket was doing and how much money it was actually making.
When she arrived, the supermarket was already open for business. She walked around; since it was still during the lunar new month, business was extremely good, with crowds of people everywhere. The sales staff, all formally trained, performed to Fang Pingying’s satisfaction.
After making their rounds, Fang Pingying returned to the office at the back.
Both juzi and Zeng Weiguo were there, discussing something. Upon seeing Fang Pingying, juzi happily gave her a bear hug, "Sister-in-law, our business is really flourishing."
Fang Pingying looked at the ledger on the table and guessed, "Has the income these recent days been good?"
juzi nodded and mentioned a number that indeed surprised Fang Pingying, who hadn’t initially expected that setting up a supermarket could be so lucrative.
Zeng Weiguo, usually stoic, looked at Fang Pingying in amazement and said, "Pingying, I didn’t expect that after so many years in business, my vision and courage would be inferior to yours, a young girl. This supermarket’s turnover in less than a month has surpassed the total of my other businesses."
He paused, then added, "It looks business has potential, we should strike while the iron is hot and open another one."
"Uncle Zeng, let’s not rush," Fang Pingying hesitated, "Our current supermarket can only be considered mid-sized, and the range of products isn’t comprehensive enough, we’re not making as much money as a large supermarket."
"What do you suggest?" Zeng Weiguo picked up on Fang Pingying’s further intentions.
Fang Pingying nodded and said to both of them, "Let’s not rush. We need to observe the city’s spending power and habits first. If things look up, we can discuss expansion; if not, we can plan for the second half of the year."
She paused, then shared with Zeng Weiguo and juzi something she had been considering recently, "Think about it, our biggest expenses in running a supermarket right now, besides labor, are the premises we rent. If we had our own place, we could save a lot."
Zeng Weiguo quickly grasped Fang Pingying’s implication, "Pingying, are you planning to buy land and build a supermarket?"
"Yes, that’s the plan," Fang Pingying thought for a moment, then took a pen and paper, wrote down a few locations, and handed them to Zeng Weiguo, "Uncle Zeng, you know a lot of people, pay more attention to these places and see if there’s any land for sale. We could buy directly and then build a commercial center. Construct it with four or five floors, the upper floors for shops and the ground floor for our use."
Although Fang Pingying wasn’t very clear about city matters in her previous life, she was aware of the significant rise in housing and land prices later. Before, due to lack of funds, she didn’t dare think big, but now that the supermarket was making money, it naturally made sense to aim higher.
First, buy some lands in good locations, then later develop them into shopping centers, or simply hold onto them for future profits just by flipping them.
After all, living a second life, she was certain about which places would develop.
Zeng Weiguo looked at the locations; initially, it seemed that these areas were not yet developed, and purchasing them might seem futile; he somewhat disagreed.
He hesitantly looked at Fang Pingying, "Pingying, wouldn’t this require a substantial amount of capital?"
"If we can secure land in these areas, and if funds are short, we can consider borrowing from a bank," Fang Pingying saw Zeng Weiguo’s hesitation and didn’t push him, just said, "Uncle Zeng, if you trust me, I’d be glad to have you and juzi join me. With more capital, we can buy more land. If you have concerns, I can buy them myself, you could just help me inquire."
Zeng Weiguo nodded, saying he would think about it.
juzi, hearing that Fang Pingying was not content merely to run a supermarket and was even considering buying land, was surprised and clung to Fang Pingying, "Sister-in-law, you really have big ambitions, aiming to become a strong businesswoman."
Fang Pingying laughed and tapped her lightly, "Not just me, you too."