RGL – Chapter 57

“The shop is really quite large. It’s inside the mall, and it used to be used for display counters. After some factories shut down, their counters were left unused. Now the county has opened up many storefronts, but since the rent in the mall is high, no one has been using this space. It’s just been sitting there with the counters inside.”

Su Min hadn’t expected her dad to find such a prime location.

The rent at the mall was indeed expensive, but the foot traffic was incredible. Plus, it was located in the county center, surrounded by residential areas, and with all the people who came to shop there regularly, business would be nothing to worry about.

“Dad, I think it’s really good. What do you think?”

“I like it too, but I just feel like the price is a bit steep. Other people are selling clothes, and we’re selling general goods—maybe it’s not worth it?”

General goods were, after all, a low-margin business.

Su Min smiled, “Dad, if we can get this shop, we can sell clothes too! Not just clothes—like Mom said, we can also sell household items, toiletries, laundry supplies, all of it. Since it’s near the mall, we can even sell snacks. If there’s enough space, we could even sell vegetables.”

“That’s a lot of stuff to sell.” As Su Changrong listened to his daughter, he pictured the scene in his head and started to feel excited.

Such a big store, fully stocked, with a crowd of people browsing through their products—it really was a wonderful image.

Sun Qiufang didn’t have many requirements for expanding the store, but she was a straightforward person. Since she had already agreed to the idea, she didn’t want to dilly-dally. After all, it was just a matter of making a decision—whether to go for it or not. Seeing that Su Changrong hadn’t said anything, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t we already agree to this? Why are you hesitating again?”

Su Changrong scratched the back of his head. “I’m just thinking about how to run things once we open. This is a big deal, after all—we have to think it through carefully.”

Su Min said, “Dad, if you’re really set on opening this store, I’ll write up a management plan. It might not be comprehensive, but it should be good enough to get the store running. As for sourcing goods, that’ll be up to you and Mom.”

Hearing that, Su Changrong said, “That’s no problem. If we’ve got money, I’m not worried about finding goods. If we can’t get them in the county, I’ll go to the city’s factories—there’s always the provincial ones too.” Then, with a hint of doubt, he added, “Sweetie, can you really manage such a big store? How do you know all this stuff? You’re either at school or home all the time. They don’t teach this in school, do they?”

To be fair, some people did have a natural talent for business. But they had never seen such a big store before—how did his daughter know how to handle it?

Of course, Su Changrong didn’t think his daughter was strange or anything. He just genuinely wanted to know how she got so smart.

Su Min, however, felt a little nervous. She lowered her head and took a bite of her food before replying, “What, you don’t believe me? I heard it all from Xue Mian. You know him—he’s from B City, a big city, and he’s seen all kinds of stuff. He’s even been abroad. He’s the one who told me about supermarkets. He said stores overseas are even bigger than ours, with several floors. Our one-floor setup is like a little corner shop compared to those.”

“Several floors?” Su Changrong was clearly stunned. “That big? How do they even manage it?” Just imagining it gave him a headache.

Su Min laughed, “They didn’t start off that big either. They built it up little by little, just like we are. Remember when we thought we couldn’t even manage two stores? Now look—we’re running them just fine and even planning a third. We’re moving forward step by step. Why worry about falling?”

Listening to his daughter’s reasoning, Su Changrong beamed. “My daughter really has a way with words and action—so impressive.” Then he turned to Sun Qiufang, “Qiufang, don’t you think I’m right?”

Sun Qiufang shot him a sidelong glance and laughed, “Just hurry up and eat. I’m not getting involved in your father-daughter business schemes.”

After this conversation, Su Changrong became even more determined to open the store. His daughter was right—what was the point of worrying about setbacks when they’d come this far one step at a time? He hadn’t expected to manage even a couple of stores before, and yet here he was. Whether it worked or not, they’d just go ahead and do it.

Over the next few days, Su Changrong simply followed Su Min’s advice: let the workers manage the stores, and he’d go by once a day to collect the money. In the meantime, he wasted no time renting that large store space in the mall.

Sun Hai’s shop wasn’t far from the mall. It was in the final stages of renovation and would open once everything was done. Since the small shop wasn’t operating during this time, Sun Hai had let Li Meng and Grandma Sun rest at home while he came every day to oversee things.

After checking out the store in the mall, Su Changrong would often stop by Sun Hai’s place for a chat.

Sun Hai found it odd that someone who used to be too busy to be seen was now dropping by to sit and chat. When he had a free moment, he came over to talk.

When he heard that Su Changrong had rented a storefront in the mall to open a large store, he was stunned. “Brother-in-law, will that really work? How are you going to manage it?”

So Su Changrong explained Su Min’s method to him and chuckled, “I’ve been following Minzi’s way these past few days—just let the workers watch over the shops. I just go once a day to collect the takings. It’s going well so far. I caught someone slacking the other day and gave them a warning. They’ve been behaving since. I think I’ll use Minzi’s method to manage the new store too, no matter how big it gets—it should work.”

Sun Hai thought it over carefully and realized that Su Min’s management plan really did make sense. Each person was responsible for a specific area, and if something went wrong, you knew exactly who to talk to. Then there were team leaders, and above them, a store manager.

“Minzi’s method is solid. I might use the same approach for my own store.”

“Really?” Su Changrong asked, though he already knew the answer.

Sun Hai nodded. “Definitely. Brother-in-law, Minzi’s really something else.”

Su Changrong felt a surge of pride but didn’t want to show it. He scratched his head and casually changed the subject. “So how’s your place coming along? When are you opening? I haven’t had the time to come take a look. But hey, why can you see the kitchen from the living room?”

“Heh, that’s Minzi’s idea. The kitchen and dining area are connected with just a glass partition. That way, customers can see the cooking, and it puts them at ease. Besides, even though the shop is large, sectioning off the kitchen would take up too much space.”

“You’ve got a good spot here. If business goes well, you should find a bigger place and open a proper restaurant. Things have been improving lately—worker salaries have gone up a few times. It’s a good time to make money.”

“Yeah, we were lucky to get started early. That’s how we managed to save some capital. Otherwise, even with the ideas, we wouldn’t have had the money to do anything.”

Hearing that, Su Changrong suddenly thought of Sun Bing, who came out later than them. “Have you been in touch with Big Brother? How are they doing?”

“Mom visited them once, but it’s the same old story. And Qiangzi doesn’t want to study anymore—just hangs out all day with a group of kids. Big Brother and Sister-in-law don’t seem to care.”

Just thinking about his nephew made Sun Hai frustrated. Sun Qiang used to just be a bit mischievous—not terrible at school. But after moving to the city, he fell in with a crowd of dropouts and started running around aimlessly. His parents were both busy working and didn’t have the energy to discipline him. Who knew what the future would hold?

Hearing about Qiangzi’s situation, Su Changrong added, “He’s only fourteen. There’s still time to get through to him. Not like that kid from our old neighbor’s place—he was already sixteen or seventeen, smoking and harassing girls.”

Sun Hai shook his head. “When we go home for New Year, I’ll try to talk to Big Brother. He still listens to reason. It’s just Sister-in-law—she never listens to anyone.”

Knowing he still planned to try talking to Sun Bing, Su Changrong felt there wasn’t much hope. Even if Sun Bing agreed, a few words from Zhang Guihua would change his mind. If that family could take advice, they wouldn’t still be struggling after so long in the city.

But since Qiufang didn’t involve herself, neither would he. Better to focus on living their own lives well.

Once the shop was rented, Su Changrong started hiring people for the renovation.

Meanwhile, Su Min threw herself into drafting a management plan.

It wasn’t exactly formal—just based on things she remembered from visiting supermarkets in her past life. She wrote down her observations, sorted them into categories, and thought through the process carefully until a clear workflow emerged.

Because she had a reference point, it wasn’t difficult. In just two days, she had written several pages.

Once she was done, she gave the documents to Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang to study on their own.

Then she returned to managing things at Sanye Garment Factory.

The revised fall collection had sold well across several batches. After that, Su Min sketched out a new series for direct production—those ended up selling even better than the earlier designs. Ye Yongfu began to value her input more and more, even consulting her on important decisions.

Although she hadn’t agreed to his offer to stay at the factory long-term, she had made up her mind to learn as much as she could there. She treated the place as if it were her own business and gave it her full dedication. She wanted to see just how far she could go.

After the fall collection was taken off the shelves, she began sketching designs for the winter line and started thinking about updating the Sanye brand logo.

Previously, the “Sanye” brand label just used text—clothes would simply have the words “Sanye” printed on the back.

Su Min felt that this type of branding wasn’t modern enough and lacked a lasting impression. So she suggested changing the name into a visual logo—three connected leaves. This aligned with the image of “Sanye” (which means “Three Leaves”) and would help establish a recognizable brand image. When people saw the leaf design, they’d think of Sanye Garment Factory. Plus, if the leaf design was attractive, it could also be used as a decorative pattern on the clothing itself.

After hearing Su Min’s suggestion, Ye Yongfu immediately held an internal meeting with the factory’s publicity and production departments, and strongly requested that all the clothing from the factory be updated to use the new Sanye logo.

Nobody objected to the change—those who might have had concerns didn’t dare speak up while Su Min was in the spotlight.

After the meeting, Ye Yongfu asked Su Min to quickly design several winter clothing items, intending to have her designs lead the launch of the first batch.

“The autumn styles you designed before weren’t just popular with local retailers—merchants from the provincial capital even came to source goods. This time the winter line isn’t even out yet, and they’ve already asked several times to see samples.”

Su Min had already heard about this. Especially with the autumn line, she had earned a significant commission. It definitely wasn’t just from the county alone.

However, relying only on the city and provincial capital meant the sales channels were still quite limited. If only they could expand their reach further.

Su Min thought about mentioning it but ultimately decided to keep quiet for now. She hadn’t been at the factory long, and although she had made the factory a lot of money, there were certainly still people who didn’t accept her. If she proposed expanding distribution and it didn’t go well, she could easily be backstabbed. It was better to play it safe for the moment.

To reinforce the impact of the new Sanye logo on customers, Su Min incorporated it into the design of each new item. On simpler designs where a visible logo might not fit, she placed it discreetly on the inside of the sleeve.

As soon as her design drafts were ready, buyers from both the provincial capital and the city came to choose styles and place orders. Ye Yongfu immediately pushed the factory to speed up production and make sure their products hit the market before other factories.

Meanwhile, Sun Hai’s restaurant officially opened.

On opening day, Sun Hai specially invited Sun Qiufang and her family to support the new store, and even hired performers to dance the yangge at the entrance, creating a lively atmosphere.

He also launched an opening day promotion—free marinated eggs for anyone entering the store.

Now, Sun Hai’s restaurant didn’t just sell stir-fry dishes; it also offered mini hot pots. A section near the entrance was enclosed in glass to create a small private room, with a window facing the street where they sold skewers and various marinated snacks.

This type of restaurant was the first of its kind in the county. Its interior was minimalist and cozy. Though the tables weren’t large, they were spotless. Compared to the greasy, smoky small eateries, it felt much cleaner. Customers could see into the kitchen from the dining area, giving them confidence in the ingredients being used. After one visit, some of the more discerning young customers were already planning to bring friends next time.

Some young folks even came just to rest and order a little food after walking around. Even if they weren’t hungry, they could satisfy a craving with some skewers or marinated snacks.

From the moment it opened, Sun Hai’s restaurant was packed for several days in a row.

Unable to keep up with demand, Sun Hai quickly hired a few people to help. He added two kitchen assistants, a dedicated person for the skewer stall, plus servers and cleaners—six people in total.

That evening, as the family sat down to eat at the restaurant, Sun Hai joked, “At first I said I couldn’t bear to hire anyone, and now I’ve brought on six people and still feel short-handed. It’s been non-stop every day.”

Su Changrong smiled with envy, “A busy shop full of staff—that’s a sign of a thriving business.”

Grandma Sun said, “If business keeps going like this, that would be great. I even offered to help so you could hire one less person, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“Mom, with me and Sun Hai doing okay financially, how could we let you work hard?” Li Meng quickly responded. Regardless of how capable her mother-in-law was, even her sister-in-law Sun Qiufang wouldn’t approve of making the elderly help out.

If she and Sun Hai really let the elder come to work, her second sister-in-law might very well complain about it.

Grandma Sun laughed, “Alright, since you all want me to enjoy life, I’ll enjoy it. Besides, the baby will be born soon—I can help with the grandchild then.”

Hearing this, Li Meng grew a bit worried. She instinctively touched her belly, thinking to herself, We don’t even know yet if it’s a grandson or granddaughter…

Sun Hai held her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

Only then did Li Meng feel at ease.

Seeing that she was fine, Sun Hai turned to ask Su Changrong how his shop was coming along. Su Changrong smiled, “It’ll still take some time. We’re still installing shelves. A few days ago I went into the city to buy soap and shampoo—what a headache. They say selling is hard because you have to flatter customers, but even buying means running around trying to please people. Doing business is really no easy job.”

Sun Qiufang said, “Ignore him—he’s just showing off. He went to the city once and came back talking about all the amazing things he saw.”

Su Changrong tilted his mouth, “Hey, I just wanted to talk shop with Xiao Hai. But seriously, the city and the county are really different. They have several shopping malls over there. Our county still feels pretty small.”

Sun Qiufang laughed, “Don’t tell me you want to move to the city?”

“I might want to, but I don’t have the ability.”

Su Min chuckled, “If you ask me, no one can predict the future. Maybe someday Dad really will be doing business in the city.”