When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 403: Chapter 146: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (33)

The rest of the merchandise arrived one after another. Chi Yun’er and Xu Chengfang had no time to greet customers; they were completely occupied with logging the goods, moving them to the storeroom, or stocking them on the shelves, so busy their heads were spinning.

The unattended customers, unless they had something urgent, simply stood there craning their necks to watch. They didn’t seem bored in the slightest; instead, they formed a long line and watched with great interest!

Zhao Jinming also brought in five cartloads of goods, one after another. With both the retail space and the warehouse filled to the brim, they had to request an additional vacant room to store the merchandise.

By the time they were finally finished, their backs aching from the labor, it was already past seven in the evening. The shelves were packed full of merchandise, and nearly half of a thick notebook was filled with entries.

After getting off work and eating at the cafeteria, the old director, Mr. Chi, and a few others packed three meals to bring over, stopping by to check on things.

At this hour, most of the employees had already gone home. Only the on-duty medical staff and the inpatient department still had their lights on; the rest of the grounds were shrouded in twilight.

The two lights at the entrance to the retail store seemed especially bright. More importantly, a group of determined customers was already lined up, wanting to be the first to take advantage of the special offers. Some had even rushed through dinner to come back and stake out their spots!

The director and his companions were taken aback. ”Old Chi, your little girl didn’t go around telling people about the store opening just to draw a crowd, did she?”

Mr. Chi shook his head. ”Did your Jinming call people over?”

The director shook his head as well. ”That boy is busier than I am. We barely see each other these days. If he had asked any relatives for help, is it possible I wouldn’t have heard a single word about it?”

”That settles it, then. Maybe it’s just that our hospital opening a retail store is such a novelty that everyone’s coming to support the unit’s new side business after work and dinner?” someone ventured.

As they drew closer, they saw Chi Yun’er and Xu Chengfang, each manning a service window and asking customers what they wanted.

They would calculate the total cost in cash and coupons based on the quantity, making a quick note in the book.

Zhao Jinming, meanwhile, was responsible for running all over the room to grab the items for customers...

One person would ask for cookies and candy, another for canned goods and brown sugar. Customers would subconsciously round their purchases up to the nearest yuan, then leave gleefully, clutching a bottle of soda!

At this, Zhao Jinming and Xu Chengfang’s hearts bled. ’A bottle of soda costs four and a half fen, and we’re just giving them away like that?’

But as much as it pained them, they maintained beaming smiles and gentle voices, making sure every customer felt warmly welcomed and valued.

The line inched forward, but as it did, new people who had heard the news would constantly join the end...

The three young people were so busy that the adults, standing off to the side, couldn’t even get a word in.

Slowly, they began to understand how the retail store, despite having just opened without any fanfare, had managed to attract such a large crowd!

”Old Chi, what on earth is your girl thinking? Is she just throwing money at this business?”

”A bottle of soda costs seven fen. She’s giving a ten-percent discount on one-yuan purchases and then giving away a free soda on top of that. Is there any profit to be made? The more she sells, the more she’ll lose...”

A ten-percent discount on one yuan was already a loss of one jiao, and then giving away a soda on top of that... The old-timers were starting to panic.

They were starting to regret placing so much trust in Chi Yun’er. Why did they think that just because she had scored a huge victory by successfully bartering for the summer heat-relief products, she would be able to launch a side business for the hospital?

Was running a business the same thing as bartering?

Other organizations deferred to Kyoto General Hospital, so things could get done easily enough through connections. But business was full of intricacies; it was a long-term commitment.

What did it matter if the business plan was brilliant and seemed perfectly feasible? Didn’t the ancients have a term for this: ’fighting a war on paper’?

A thousand yuan... Was it all going to be for nothing?

Besides, looking at the room packed with goods, its value had to be more than a thousand yuan, right?

Some of them felt their heads swim; they could barely stay on their feet...

”We opened this store to make money, not to hand out freebies to everyone!”

The old director waved a dismissive hand. ”What did I say back at the meeting?”

”The young people set this thing up, so let them run it their way. We should keep our mouths shut and not interfere. Whether it succeeds or fails is still up in the air. They aren’t worried yet, so why should we be?”

”From what I can see, Chi is the kind of person who knows what she’s doing.”

The men reluctantly fell silent. But as they watched bottle after bottle of soda being given away, one of them couldn’t help but mutter, ”We’ve been standing here all this time, and how many people have you seen actually buy a soda? They’re all just here for the free ones.”

’Once the free sodas and discounts are gone, everyone will probably just go back to shopping at the co-op outside the hospital, won’t they?’

Kids were usually rooted to the spot at the sight of soda, and most parents would have to drag them away. Only those from well-off families who doted on their children would indulge them every once in a while.