Chapter 29 - The store opens for business.

The eldest brother called several friends to clean and paint the three storefronts thoroughly. He then spent a week learning to drive, and after that, he drove a Crown car to purchase goods. Despite not having a driver's license, he dared to drive the car and wander around the city. Fortunately, there were no traffic police officers to check him at that time, allowing him to escape a potential trouble. When he returned, he brought back ten trucks, all fully loaded with various goods. Since the store couldn't hold all the goods, he rented a warehouse. He hired two unemployed friends as porters, offering them a monthly salary of 200 yuan, which was considered a high wage in those days. He also hired two young women as salesgirls and assumed the role of a big boss himself. Only after everything was ready did he drive home, intending to confess to his mother and, by the way, ask his younger brother to pick an auspicious day for the grand opening of the store. However, as soon as he got home, he was severely scolded by his mother, who accused him of showing off and said that she hadn't seen a trace of him for over a week since he started driving that car. Liu Heping quickly explained to his mother that he had opened a store and had been busy with it recently. Zeng Wenxiu immediately questioned, "Didn't they confiscate all your money? Where did you get the money from?" Liu Heping could only say that he had secretly saved some money to start a business, otherwise she would always scold him for being idle. Seeing that her son was finally doing something legitimate, Zeng Wenxiu didn't pursue the matter further. The two brothers exchanged a glance, almost breaking into a cold sweat. When they saw that their mother wasn't asking any more questions, they heaved a sigh of relief. Zeng Wenxiu asked where the store was located. Liu Heping quickly took his mother's hand and said, "I'll take you to see it now." The whole family got into the car and went to the store beside the railway in the town. When Liu Heping opened the door of the store, Zeng Wenxiu saw that all the goods were neatly arranged and the store had a large floor area. She asked Liu Heping if he could manage it all by himself. Liu Heping replied that it was impossible for one person to handle everything, so he had hired four people, two men and two women. The two men could stay and take turns keeping watch at night, while the women, who were from the town, would go home after work. Zeng Wenxiu nodded and didn't ask about the salary. She was truly relieved to see that her son was finally engaged in a proper business. Although the family had money now, she couldn't let her son spend every day playing cards and gambling. Therefore, she used to take all of Liu Heping's money away, because without money, he couldn't play cards. Now that her son had started a business and was on the right track, she decided not to take his money anymore. Her next task was to find a daughter-in-law for him so that he could start a family, which would mean fulfilling her duty and being worthy of her deceased husband. Zeng Wenxiu said, "You're grown up now. Hurry up and find a girlfriend. If you don't find one yourself, I'll hire a matchmaker to do it for you. Anyway, you must get married before you're 25. I've been tired for so many years and I want to have a grandson." Liu Heping patted his chest and said, "Mom, don't worry. I'll definitely find you a good daughter-in-law." Liu Heping said to Xiaojiu, "Little brother, here comes your job. Help me choose an auspicious day for the opening of the store." Xiaojiu replied, "No problem, but give me a red envelope and I'll calculate the date for you. Even between brothers, we should keep our accounts clear. There's no such thing as a free lunch in the world. I'm not going to calculate the date for you for nothing." Xiaojiu smiled and said, "You know my price. You know how much Boss Xu gave me for naming his business. I don't want as much from you. Just half of that amount will do. Since we're brothers, I'll give you a 50% discount." Upon hearing this, Zeng Wenxiu wasn't pleased. She slapped Xiaojiu on the back of his head and said, "You little rascal, why so much nonsense? Hurry up and calculate. Later, I'll ask your elder brother to let you eat for free as your reward." Xiaojiu was just joking, but he got slapped by his mother. He wasn't happy and said, "Fine, then I'll eat free meals from him for the rest of my life." Liu Heping generously said, "No problem. I'll cover all your snacks for life." Xiaojiu closed his eyes and calculated. Combining his elder brother's birth date and time with the calendar, he told his elder brother, "The 18th of this month is an extremely auspicious day for you. If you open the store on that day, you're sure to make a fortune." At noon, the three of them had a meal at a restaurant in the town and then headed back home. There were still six days until the opening of the store. Zeng Wenxiu rushed to inform their relatives and friends. The two brothers didn't bother to care and decided to let their mother have her moment of glory. On the 18th, both of Liu Heping's sisters and their husbands came, as did his aunt and uncle. They had heard that Liu Heping had made a fortune but didn't believe it and came to see for themselves. His uncle and aunt also arrived, along with some other relatives and friends. The village head also brought more than a dozen villagers to watch the excitement. Liu Heping specially invited a lion dance troupe and a gong and drum team. At 10:08, Xiaojiu set off firecrackers, and the lion dance and the gong and drum performance became lively. People from the town also came to watch the excitement. Xiaojiu even saw Zeng Cuicui in the crowd. After the excitement, Liu Heping led everyone to a restaurant for a meal. He had reserved the entire restaurant, with at least 20 tables. By the time they saw off all the guests, it was already 2 o'clock in the afternoon. His mother and two sisters had already finished their meal and gone to the store to help out, because the store was extremely busy. It was announced that all items were 10% off on the first day. Since the prices were already a bit lower than those of other stores, there was a rush among customers. This was all Xiaojiu's idea. He said that if they followed his plan, the business would definitely be booming, and he claimed that it was all calculated. Even his aunt and uncle came to help with collecting money, and his two brothers-in-law helped carry goods from the warehouse. Xiaojiu stayed by the side to keep an eye out for any potential thieves. When his elder brother came back, he led several people to relieve the four sales staff so that they could go and have a meal. From the opening of the store until then, they hadn't even had a sip of water for a full four hours. The whole family and relatives came to help, otherwise they really couldn't manage. Customers, seeing the low prices, desperately stuffed things into their arms, fearing that they wouldn't be able to buy them. Some people even went back to inform their neighbors to come and buy. The flow of people didn't decrease until 6 o'clock in the evening, and there were no more goods to sell. Those who didn't manage to buy anything refused to leave. Xiaojiu could only ask his elder brother to inform them that the prices would remain the same for three consecutive days and ask them to come back the next day. As soon as the people left, they quickly closed the door. Everyone was exhausted. They set up four tables at the restaurant and invited the relatives and friends who had helped out to have dinner. Xiaojiu asked his elder brother to give everyone a red envelope of 20 yuan, saying that it was the first day of business and everyone should share in the good luck. Only after hearing this did everyone accept the red envelopes, otherwise they would have felt too embarrassed to take the money. After dinner, the friends who had helped out went home. Only his two sisters and their husbands, as well as his aunt and uncle, were left. His uncle and aunt asked his elder brother to drive them home. Soon, his elder brother came back, and they all counted the money together. They used more than 20 red plastic buckets to hold the money. Each person was assigned a bucket and started counting. It took them a full two hours to count the money clearly. In total, it was over 200,000 yuan. His mother asked his elder brother how much goods he had purchased. Liu Heping said it was probably about 120,000 yuan, and he had probably earned 80,000 to 90,000 yuan. This amount of money shocked everyone. Becoming a "ten-thousand-yuan household" in just one day seemed almost like robbing! This amount of money didn't impress Xiaojiu and his elder brother. They had already earned hundreds of millions, so they didn't think it was a big deal. But for others, it was an astronomical figure. Xiaojiu reminded his elder brother, "Aren't you going to purchase more goods? What are you going to sell tomorrow?" Only then did Liu Heping come to his senses and said, "Right, I haven't purchased goods yet." He quickly pulled his eldest brother-in-law and went to purchase goods together. His eldest brother-in-law had driven in the army, so he could help with driving. After Liu Heping left, everyone was still in a state of shock. Xiaojiu said to his two sisters and his aunt, "You should all open a storefront of this size in your own towns. When you make money, it will be yours. If you don't have the money, you can borrow from mom. She has the money." The three of them looked at Zeng Wenxiu. Zeng Wenxiu said, "Okay, I'll lend each of you 200,000 yuan. After all, we're family. Two of you are my daughters and one is my sister. Since my youngest son suggested it, I can't refuse."