RGL – Chapter 115

During dinner, Su Wenwen suddenly spoke to Gao Hong.

“Why do you need more money again? Didn’t I just give you fifty a few days ago?” Mother Wang said with a frown while picking up food with her chopsticks, glaring at Su Wenwen. She wasn’t even her biological grandchild—neither sweet-tongued nor considerate—only ever causing trouble and constantly asking for money. Did she really think she was comparable to her own grandson?

Su Wenwen pouted. “Why can’t I use money? I just started high school, and there are a lot of expenses.”

Hearing her mention high school, Mother Wang got even more annoyed and snorted coldly. “You’ve got the nerve to bring that up? Who told you to score so poorly in the entrance exam? You couldn’t even get into a proper high school. Now we’re spending a fortune just for you to go to school. What, do you think money falls from the sky? If it weren’t for Mingsong insisting you continue studying, I wouldn’t give you a single cent.”

“That’s all my uncle’s money anyway.”

“Wenwen, don’t talk back,” Gao Hong quickly pulled her aside and tried to smooth things over.

But Su Wenwen said nothing more, her face full of defiance.

Father Wang hated noisy arguments. Seeing the child his daughter-in-law brought over acting out of line, he immediately frowned and turned to her. “Mingsong is usually busy and can’t manage the household. As his wife, you should be taking responsibility. Your parents are both well-educated intellectuals, and you’ve been properly raised—you should understand the rules.”

“I understand, Dad,” Gao Hong quickly replied in a low voice, sneaking a tug at Su Wenwen’s sleeve.

Since Father Wang had spoken, Su Wenwen didn’t talk back anymore.

By the end of dinner, the atmosphere at the table was gloomy.

After the meal, Mother Wang went to clean the dishes and told Gao Hong to go rest and take care of the baby. Gao Hong quickly thanked her and, when no one was paying attention, slipped into Su Wenwen’s room.

Seeing her daughter still sulking, she quickly said, “Wenwen, you mustn’t talk back to your grandma like that again, okay? Our family isn’t what it used to be. You have to hold back a little now.”

“But didn’t you use to act all high and mighty in front of Su Changgui? Why are you like this now?”

Her mother had always taught her to keep her dignity and temper in front of others—otherwise, no one would take her seriously.

Over the years, she’d seen it herself—Su Changgui always did whatever her mother said.

Hearing Su Wenwen bring up the past, Gao Hong’s heart sank. “Wenwen, I’ve told you so many times, don’t follow in my old footsteps. Things aren’t the same anymore.”

“I don’t see what’s different.” Life now was even more comfortable than before. She looked her mother up and down and finally fixed her gaze on her belly. “The only thing that’s different is that you’re having another kid. You won’t love me anymore.”

Gao Hong flushed red with anger at her words.

After leaving the room, Gao Hong couldn’t help thinking—how had things come to this? When she recalled the life she used to have, she felt the overwhelming bitterness of having once had it all and now having nothing.

Su Wenwen was equally upset.

Thinking about what had just happened at the dinner table, she felt stifled. Back when she used to ask her maternal grandparents for money, they gave her as much as she wanted without a single complaint. But now, just asking for fifty yuan brought endless grumbling.

As these thoughts swirled in her head, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

She didn’t know how long she’d slept when suddenly she felt something wet on her face.

She’d experienced something like this before—she knew exactly what was going on. She instantly opened her eyes and saw a figure bent over beside her bed in the dark, a hand reaching under her blanket.

“Who are you? What are you doing?”

Su Wenwen sprang up in shock and turned on the bedside lamp. When she saw who it was, she stared in disbelief. “Uncle?”

The man seemed startled too. When he saw Su Wenwen sitting on the bed in her pajamas, he sighed in relief. “Wenwen? Oh, it’s you. I thought you were your mom. I drank a little too much, got dizzy. It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

With that, Wang Mingsong acted as if nothing had happened and calmly walked out the room.

Su Wenwen, still frightened, quickly shut the door—but she couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.

Did her uncle… just kiss her?

Because of what happened, Su Wenwen didn’t sleep at all that night. The next morning, she looked exhausted, and when she ran into Su Min and Liao Zhaodi outside the school gate, her expression was ugly.

Su Min glanced at her once and walked into the classroom like she hadn’t seen her at all.

Liao Zhaodi looked back at her, then whispered with concern, “Su Min, she’s still staring at us. Do you think she’s planning something shady again?”

“What could she possibly do? It’s always just petty tricks. No point worrying. We’ll just deal with it as it comes.”

Su Min didn’t even glance back at Su Wenwen, treating her like a stranger.

She had no interest in getting tangled up with Su Wenwen. She knew the girl saw her as an enemy and blamed her for all the misfortunes her family had suffered. So whatever Su Wenwen had to say now wouldn’t be pleasant.

Knowing all this, Su Min had no intention of interacting with her.

She smiled and said, “Don’t worry. We’re going to check out the new storefront this week. Let’s have Yanyan come too. We’ll pick a good spot—maybe our business will thrive even more.”

“You mean the building Mrs. Wu’s family owns?”

“Yeah, this time we need a prime location. Let’s do a nice renovation—once we open, we might attract wealthy clients from the city.”

Liao Zhaodi’s jaw dropped when she heard it was in a commercial building. “Wow, you’re amazing. You can even get a place like that!”

Su Min smiled. “The rent’s not cheap, though. That’s why we need to really think it through and see if it’s worth it.”

“Of course it’s worth it!”

Su Min nodded with a smile. In her heart, she was already considering—if this place really worked out well, maybe she could even help her parents rent the first floor of the new building and turn it into a supermarket.

Their current supermarket business was doing okay, but it wasn’t in a top-tier location. This new building, however, was right in the heart of the new city district. Once completed and open for business, it would definitely outperform their current store.

The location of the Wu family’s new building was excellent—right in the center of the city. The design was also quite different from older styles. It stood tall and modern, making it stand out prominently.

When Liao Zhaodi and Sun Yan saw the building, they were stunned.

“Last time we came by, it was still under construction. I didn’t expect it to look this amazing once finished. If our shop ends up in here, the level will go up instantly,” said Sun Yan in awe.

Su Min was also a bit stunned.

It was only now that she realized the renowned Tianyue Building, which had dominated the city for years in the future, actually belonged to Ke Wan’s family.

In her previous life, she had wanted to go in and have a look but felt embarrassed. The items inside weren’t cheap, and while wealthier families in the city all aspired to shop there, she couldn’t afford anything. On holidays, the place was packed with customers.

In such a location, there was no worry about selling things at high prices.

Su Min didn’t even finish touring the building before she decided—she had to rent a storefront there. Buying one would be even better if she could manage it.

The building’s interior was almost fully renovated. Though not as luxurious as it would be in the future, compared to many buildings at present, it was already quite impressive.

After leaving the building, Su Min told Sun Yan and the others to go back and watch the shop while she went to find Ke Wan and quickly settled the matter of the store rental.

Ke Wan was almost due to give birth, so she was staying home awaiting labor. When Sister Ping told her that Su Min had arrived, she immediately had someone bring her in.

When Su Min entered the living room, she was sipping water from a cup and thinking about how to bring up the idea of securing a large storefront in the building to open a supermarket for her family.

Ke Wan slowly came downstairs, supporting her belly. Once in the living room, she sat beside Su Min on the sofa. “Perfect timing. I was just about to call you.”

Su Min was taken aback. “Is there a problem with the clothes?”

“Well, it is about the clothes, but there’s no problem. The outfit you made last time has been delivered to B City. The recipient was very pleased and even wants another one. This time, she wants a peony design, and the color should be dark navy.”

Hearing that it was this matter, Su Min let out a sigh of relief.

She had just been worried the client hadn’t liked the outfit. But if even someone as picky as Xue Mian’s mother appreciated her work, then it truly must’ve been well made.

Su Min realized that she might have found a path better suited for her.

Fashion design was too broad, and she didn’t have the skills to tackle it all. It would be better to specialize—focus solely on traditional formal wear and suits, with some fashionable gowns on the side. If people could associate “Xiuse” with qipaos and Zhongshan suits in the future, that would be a strong direction to develop.

Ke Wan smiled. “So, what brings you here today?”

Su Min came back to herself at the question and smiled a bit sheepishly. “I wanted to ask about Tianyue Plaza. You mentioned last time that you’d rent a shop to me—did you mean it?”

Ke Wan was drinking milk. At Su Min’s question, she smiled and set her glass on the table. “You think I’d lie to you? Have you decided which one you want?”

“Anything is fine. In our line of work, good products will draw people no matter where they are.”

“Then let’s go with the second floor.”

Su Min had already checked it out today. Everything above the second floor was for high-end clothing and jewelry, so the second floor was already quite prime. She was deeply grateful for Ke Wan’s support and smiled. “Thank you! I’ll design a custom outfit for you for the New Year.”

Ke Wan laughed. “Then I won’t be polite about it. It’s settled—I won’t be buying clothes for New Year.”

While Ke Wan was in a good mood, Su Min hesitated, then probed gently, “Is there still any large space available on the first floor?”

Ke Wan asked, “Why the first floor?”

“My mom opened a supermarket. I want to move it here,” Su Min answered honestly.

“Oh, I see! That’s a smart idea.” Ke Wan smiled at Su Min, genuinely impressed by the teenager’s foresight. “I’ll need to check with Wu Zhe first. Many people already reserved spaces on the first floor, so I’m not sure if anything is still available. Actually, Shu Jing—remember the friend I visited in B City—she mentioned something too. She and a partner opened a well-known supermarket in B City and are now planning to expand into provincial capitals. But they’re still in early stages, and she might not need this spot after all. If Wu Zhe hasn’t promised it to anyone yet, I’ll arrange it for you.”

Even though it wasn’t a firm answer, Su Min was already very satisfied. At least Ke Wan hadn’t rejected the idea outright.

She was curious about the other supermarket and asked, “They’re opening a supermarket too? What’s it like? My parents’ supermarket just opened recently, and it’s still not very developed.”

“It takes up several floors in the city center in B City. It’s huge and very well managed—everything you can think of is available.”

It sounded just like the large supermarkets she had seen in her previous life. Su Min was curious—she didn’t remember seeing such big supermarkets at this time in her past life.

Then she realized that the supermarket was currently only in B City and planning to expand. Back then, she was just a worker in a small county town—she wouldn’t have had the chance to encounter such a place.

But now that competition was already this fierce, it seemed her family needed to start evolving too—or else they’d be left behind.

That night, after returning home, Su Min discussed the idea of relocating the supermarket with Sun Qiufang and the others.

Hearing Su Min’s analysis of Tianyue Building, Su Changrong looked intrigued. “Minzi, you’re saying that building is like the malls we have in the county?”

Sun Qiufang said, “You can’t compare the two. That mall in the county has been around for decades and is packed with people. If our supermarket were there, we’d be raking in money.”

Su Changrong waved a hand. “It’s different, Qiufang. You don’t get it. According to Minzi, there will be tons of people around the new building, so our supermarket wouldn’t be short on foot traffic. I’ve actually been thinking about bringing in more inventory to expand our product range.”

Su Min thought of the massive supermarket in B City that Ke Wan mentioned. Although she had seen supermarkets in her past life, she had never managed one herself. When talking to her parents, she couldn’t explain things in much detail. She thought it’d be best to have her parents go see how a real supermarket operates.

“Dad, Mom, I heard there’s a five-story supermarket in B City, and they’re planning to open branches in other provincial capitals.”

“A five-story supermarket? That’s huge! And they’re opening more? How do they manage all that?” Su Changrong was stunned, and Sun Qiufang widened her eyes too.

They were still struggling with managing just two stores. How could someone run something that big?

Su Min shook her head. “I don’t know either. But since we’re also running a supermarket, why not go see how they arrange their goods and manage things? We’re not expanding like them, but we can at least improve our own operations first.”

Su Changrong nodded thoughtfully.

Running a store, they had little experience. Although Minzi often gave advice, he and Qiufang could only grasp bits and pieces. If they could see how other people ran things, it might give them a clearer picture—so they wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark.

The next day, Ke Wan called.

There was still space on the first floor of the mall, but it was in a more secluded corner near a side entrance—not facing the main entrance. However, there was a side door nearby.

Just hearing that there was space, Su Min didn’t care about main entrances or side entrances. She immediately reserved it.

They set a time, and Su Min and Su Changrong went to Tianyue to sign the lease agreement.

Seeing the offices of Tianyue Building, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang finally realized—this was what real wealth looked like. What they had was just small-scale business.

They had thought they were living comfortably, but now they realized that, in the eyes of others, it wasn’t much at all.

Because this matter had been instructed by Wu Zhe himself, the department manager in charge was very enthusiastic. He first led them to inspect the location.

As Ke Wan had said, the space was near the side entrance. While not as popular as the main entrance, Su Min knew supermarkets weren’t usually placed at the front of a mall—doing so would diminish the mall’s overall image.

After inspecting the layout carefully, Su Changrong made up his mind. “Minzi, this spot’s great. We’ll treat that side door as our main entrance to serve outside customers. Then we’ll open another entrance inside the mall so shoppers can see our store from within.”

That was exactly what Su Min had in mind. Hearing her father say it out loud, she smiled and nodded. She was genuinely happy for her parents. It seemed that after years of doing business, her father had truly transformed from a simple farmer into a real businessman.