Chapter 248: Chapter 247: Mutual Benefit
Zhao Meimei happily spent her brief Spring Festival holiday, completely unaware of her parents’ anxieties over establishing themselves in the provincial capital.
After the Spring Festival, the supplementary classes suddenly accelerated their pace significantly. The elite teachers settled their accounts and left, with Robber Hao taking over the existing teaching team to continue the educational mission.
With the start of the new school term, the term "college entrance examination," which hung over them like Mount Tai, finally officially took center stage.
Endless piles of papers and exercises were quickly passed between teachers and students at a high-intensity pace.
When Shi Yang returned from the provincial capital for a few days, he picked up Zhao Meimei at night with her increasingly heavy school bag, feeling a pang of concern. The next day, he made a special trip to the mall to buy lots of nutritional supplements, and every morning and evening he provided Zhao Meimei with various nourishing treatments. Despite this, by springtime, Zhao Meimei’s oval face had thinned down visibly.
After the New Year, Shi Yang had to rush back to the provincial capital to plan the spring merchandise promotion activities. Before leaving, he made sure to fill the refrigerator and instructed Liu Xiue on how to consume the numerous nutritional supplements, feeling very uneasy as he departed for the provincial capital.
As soon as Shi Yang arrived at a temporarily leased office behind the maternity store, Zhao Wendada grabbed his arm tightly, as if seeking family from a thousand miles away, and headed straight for the manager’s office.
Zhao Wendada closed the door, took a stack of documents from the drawer, and handed them to Shi Yang. His first sentence stunned Shi Yang: "I’ve run through all the districts in the provincial capital these days and I plan to open a branch here. And here, we can make it a flagship store. As long as these two stores can open, I guarantee by the end of the year, we can officially expand our franchisees."
Shi Yang: "..."
Being able to talk about opening a branch as if buying a towel is likely something only Zhao Wendada, with his whimsical spirit and audacious nature, would do.
Shi Yang organized the stack of documents in his hand and returned them to Zhao Wendada, feeling weighed down.
Zhao Wendada’s eyes pierced through like torches, gazing at Shi Yang with shining eyes: "Mr. Shi, I specifically made two plans. Take a look and let me know if anywhere is off. I’ll modify them later."
Zhao Wendada placed the two thick plan books in front of Shi Yang, covered with layers of covers. Since starting the company, Shi Yang had never made a serious plan book. Suddenly seeing two, he silently took them.
Shi Yang didn’t open them; he felt it necessary to have a good chat with Zhao Wendada about the company’s revenue, the specific amounts needed for store openings, and the astronomical figures involved in later decoration and stocking.
Zhao Wendada did not see the reason for Shi Yang’s silence and excitedly said, "Mr. Shi, you know, the West District’s storefront is right at the core of an intersection commercial street, facing a department store entrance. Because the location is some distance from the main entrance, the price is very low. But next to this storefront is the side entrance of another large shopping center. Once we develop, we can even set up another maternity store in the shopping center. These two stores, inside and outside, will be particularly easy to manage together. The most crucial point is, this shopping center has a large Naughty Castle."
Shi Yang froze: "The shopping center in the West District? Isn’t that Li Shuren’s flagship store for Naughty Castle?"
Zhao Wendada wasn’t very familiar with Li Shuren, having only heard from Qu Chaozong occasionally, and didn’t react immediately. But that did not prevent him from explaining the major advantages of the West District storefront to Shi Yang.
Zhao Wendada patted his chest with a resounding thump: "Mr. Shi, trust me, as long as we open these two stores, I guarantee next year our company can officially start expanding franchisees. Within five years, we’ll grow this brand strong in the province and affiliated cities and counties."
Holding the two heavy plan books, Shi Yang’s previously brewed complaints about poverty suddenly got stuck in his throat, unable to utter a syllable.
Because lack of money wasn’t an excuse, when he started planning for the company, he had no money either, and now he’s gotten through it. If there’s no money, you have to figure out a way to get it.
Shi Yang spent the entire afternoon in the office, meticulously reviewing Zhao Wendada’s plan book and discussing all the items with him research.
By the time they finalized all the plans for the year, Shi Yang had to admit, Zhao Wendada was indeed a talent in this regard; he had found a gem.
The next day, Shi Yang followed Zhao Wendada to check out those two storefronts, where the price was indeed very reasonable. Plus, he could utilize Li Shuren’s nephew-in-law connection to possibly lower the price further.
Shi Yang stayed up all night, listing all the budgets, ultimately staring at the seven-figure amount, lamenting: "Ah, the vigor of youth, charged by dreams of fame and fortune, really lost his bearings."
At the end of March, early April, the weather warmed up, plants flourished.
Zhao Wendada found a rental property in a residential area in the West District, a three-bedroom two-living room on the second floor, just across the street from the shopping center. In the future, when turning the storefront into a flagship store, it could serve as the main employee dormitory base.
Zhao Wendada and Shi Yang discussed, he wanted to rent this house with Qu Chaozong and Mrs. Qu. For him, this house was like a hostel to just spend the night; there was no need to add extra company budget to rent another house just for himself.
Shi Yang, being meticulous and attentive to life’s details, understood Zhao Wendada’s true intention as soon as he suggested this.
Who wouldn’t want a warm home to rest after a tiring day? Zhao Wendada was alone in the world without parents; he could gain familial warmth from Qu Chaozong and Mrs. Qu, and when Qu Chaozong was busy, he could help take care of Mrs. Qu, achieving mutual benefit.
Seeing through Zhao Wendada’s deep inner yearning, Shi Yang didn’t point it out, patting his shoulder with a smile: "Since you’re going to stay, tidy up well. If you need any help, feel free to ask." After speaking, he added: "I’ve spoken to Chaozi already, you just go ahead and rent the house."
This put Zhao Wendada at ease, bringing a smile to his face: "Alright."
Zhao Wendada was always a man of action. As soon as he told Shi Yang of his plan, he immediately went to find the landlord, paying a year’s rent upfront to secure the house, then returned the original rental property he shared with Qu Chaozong.
Actually, Zhao Wendada was quite a puzzling person. His rough exterior and delicate interior seemed like two contradictory entities, yet they blended perfectly within his robust framework, harmonizing without any conflict.