novelThe Grand Opening
| ← Ch.046 | Ch.048 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the 10th of November, with much haste on the day before Singles' Day, the jewelry shop named "Forever Jewels" was finally ready for its grand opening after more than a month of busy and urgent preparations.
At 10am at the jewelry shop, customers would find floral stands placed at the sides of the shop's entrance. A bright red carpet stretched from the interior of the shop to the pedestrian walkway by the side of the road. Ad-hoc staff recruited by the event planning company wore cheongsams and stood in two lines. They cupped their palms and displayed their most beautiful smiles. Whenever someone passed by, they would all say at the same time, "Welcome ~!"
The female staff of the jewelry shop wore khaki-colored dress suits while the security guards wore full sets of black suits. They were all alert and ready for action as they displayed their best spirits.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the jewelry shop invited a leader from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. She took a pair of scissors and cut the ribbon, signifying an abundance of riches flowing in. The audio played the sounds of firecrackers being set off.
Crackle ~ pop, pop pop~!!
The ushers dressed in cheongsams at the entrance, the shop staff, and the VIPs invited to the opening shouted together, "Forever Jewels is open for business!"
"Wooahhhhh..."
Fireworks were set off simultaneously.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless streamers rained down from the air like a shower of flowers. The atmosphere became lively and busy. It attracted many people who stopped to have a look.
Clang ~ clang ~!
The two clashes of the gong signified the opening of the business. The glass doors of the jewelry shop swung wide open. The ushers in cheongsams and some of the shop staff held flyers in their hands and walked to the passers-by watching from the sides. As they gave out the flyers, they said, "Go in and have a look, we are having a free raffle today. Each person gets a free chance in the raffle!"
"Special discounts for all the gold and silver jewelry! Up to 10% off; some items up to 15% off. More than 30% off for each gram of gold!"
"20% off everything for the first 100 customers!"
"Gold bullions' special price at only $288 per gram. The cheapest in the city! Customers who want to invest can come in for a more detailed explanation."
"This is the biggest sale ever. Don't miss it as you pass by!"
Some of the passers-by watching from the side were swayed.
"Free lucky draw? I'll go in and try my luck!"
"10% off silver and gold? This is not a small discount."
"My son is getting married at the end of the year. If the price is right, I'll buy some gold jewelry!"
Many passers-by moved their feet towards the direction of the shop. As others saw the bustle of the shop's opening, they were drawn to the liveliness and were driven to join the crowd. More and more people went into the shop for a look. There was a guaranteed stream of customers.
The opening campaign of "Forever Jewels" could be said to have an auspicious start!
...
However, Chen Jin's parents were in a state beyond shock.
Especially He Li, whose face displayed a stunned and glazed expression. Her mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were full of astonishment. She thought that Chen Jin was opening a small-scale gold jewelry shop measuring 20 or 30 square meters, with only a mere few hundred thousand dollars invested into it. Hence she did not pay too much attention to it and left him to his little business. So, she came to the opening scene for a look, and found that this was no small business; this was clearly a major move!
Due to the nature of her occupation, and being an accountant for many years, the numbers quickly began to fly in her brain. The annual rental of a 300 square meter shop on a prosperous commercial strip would be at least $3, 500, 000! The jewelry filling up the display counters on the first and second stories would cost at least tens of millions! Including expenses spent on other areas, it would be impossible to open this jewelry shop without at least $15, 000, 000!
A prominent question appeared in her mind. Where did this huge sum of money come from? Since when did her son have so many funds?
She saw Chen Jin standing right in the center of the foyer. He was passionately greeting the customers, directing and coordinating the staff. That air of calmness, the presence of mind and lack of apprehension were rather similar to the characteristics of a great general. At that moment, He Li thought that her son felt more like a stranger."It seems like he's.... . More mature now." Hence, she decided to keep her suspicions under wraps. She would talk to him again after the day had ended.
During this time, with Chen Jin personally serving a customer, she became the first official client at the checkout, spending $8, 500 on a strand of necklace with 32. 8 grams of gold. Dong Lei was a leader at the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. She wore the newly bought necklace and walked to He Li, saying, "Director He, look, isn't it pretty?" Dong Lei said with an overflowing smile on her face, "I probably have to spend tens of thousands at other shops for the same necklace, but I only spent $8, 500 here. Director He, I cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of this shop today, this wouldn't be counted as corruption, would it?"
He Li smiled in return."No, no. This is called servicing the people wholeheartedly as a good leader." She could not help but praise her."The gold necklace looks great. You have good taste!"
Looking at Chen Jin who was currently busy, Dong Lei's eyes radiated with admiration, "Director He, your son is a really good catch, he looks like he can achieve big goals. Did my daughter, Lin Lin, have a misunderstanding regarding him? This fellow is not too bad in all aspects."
He Li immediately gave a pained smile."Your daughter didn't misunderstand him. It was this fellow playing mind games with me!" She explained in detail the specific reasons why the blind date between Chen Jin and her daughter, Yuan Lin, failed.
Dong Lei listened with shock. Then, she laughed so hard that she was clutching her stomach."Interesting, interesting. Director He, your son is really too interesting! Hahaha ~!"
He Li gritted her teeth in anger, "This is interesting? I wanted to give him a good hard smack! He missed such a good lady!"
Dong Lei praised Chen Jin."Young people are like that nowadays. They're busy with leisure activities or vacations or chilling out. They're just not busy about getting married. Your son is still ok, at least he's busy with work and a career...." Turning her gaze towards Chen Jin, her tone changed as she said, "As for the missed opportunity, I don't think it's over. My daughter still doesn't understand the real situation regarding your son."
With gleaming eyes, He Li turned towards her."Director Dong, do you mean there's still a chance between my son and Lin Lin?"
Dong Lei nodded, "Yes, with the matching backgrounds and qualities of our families, we should create another chance for them!"
He Li was ecstatic."Dong Lei, I agree with this!"
...
As the volume of customers was so great, the shop was kept busy past 10 pm. Finally, business slowed down. Most of the staff had not had lunch, including the boss, Chen Jin. They had only eaten some bread in the middle of the day. At least, until He Li ordered a feast at the adjacent 5-star hotel as supper for them. They finally had their first bite of hot food for the whole day.
The revenue from the first business day had basically been confirmed. The cashier, Fan Chen Xi, said happily, "The shop's revenue has reached $10, 170, 000. Our sales on the first day are over a million!"
Store Manager Chiu Wan-Ting cheered loudly, "Good! That's not bad at all! We got an auspicious start on our opening day! It's Singles' Day tomorrow on double 11. Sales revenue should increase. It won't be a problem to surpass $15, 000, 000! We'll definitely be even busier tomorrow. We're almost running out of stock for some gold jewelry." Chiu Wan-Ting expressed that she would call the manufacturers later and replenish the stocks.
In her heart, Guo Yan sighed emotionally. There are too many rich people in Shang Hai. She felt very heavily impacted by the day. The spending power of the "hillbilly rich" in the city was shocking. For example, that afternoon, there was a middle-aged man dressed in low-key, simple clothing who came into the shop. In one breath, he had bought a 100 pieces of gold bullions for investment. He did not even blink once at the checkout. Even with a discounted price of $288 per gram, one tiny gold bullion was 50 grams. Hence, one bullion would cost $140, 000 and 100 bullions would cost $1, 440, 000. However, he simply bought them with a straight face, as if he had spent $5 or $10. There were a few other "hillbilly rich" who also contributed many millions to the sales revenue.
Chen Jin nodded his head in satisfaction. If business continued going in this direction, he would join the ranks of those who had more than a hundred trillion dollars in a few days. Hence, he raised his glass again and again, expressing his thanks to his audience. Encouraging them to strive harder, he promised that if the sales numbers were great for the following month, he would give everyone a red packet of at least $10, 000. Even their salaries would be raised!
"Thank you, Boss!"
"Hurray, Boss!"
"Another round of cheers for our next excellent results!"
The staff was very excited. Not only was the young boss able to do things himself, but he was also easy-going and generous! In their opinions, they met a good boss, and they were determined to work hard in their jobs. Everyone was filled with vigor.
...
On the way home, as He Li was driving, she turned to Chen Jin and asked, "Son, where did you get the money to open the jewelry shop?"
"Mom, didn't I already say? A friend loaned it to me."
"Which friend? Son, you should know that I work as a cadre in the government department. You should never accept money with unclear origins!" He Li was worried that some businessmen or business owners were planning to make her son a victim in their schemes. As the general accountant in the tax bureau, she was in charge of calculating and monitoring the accounts and tax returns of many business enterprises. Her position may be small, but it was still very important!
"Mom, I'm not an idiot. Will I do something that you've reminded me countless times not to do? I can lie to anyone, but will I lie to my own mother?" Chen Jin promised again that the money was loaned from a friend. But, the specifics around the identity were still a secret. He slowly chipped away at her suspicions.
Finally, she stopped asking. Thinking of another matter, He Li asked again, "Son, does your shop have an accountant?"
"No, but I've found a nominal accountant. The shop's finances are handled by Gu Ya Qing. She has many years of experience in finance and accounting."
"Son, you've opened such a large jewelry shop. The sales amount on the first day of operations is already more than 10 million. This is not child's play. You can't fully hand over the accounts to someone else. How about this, I can take off two days every week and go to the shop to manage the accounts. I'll personally help you check that everything is in order!" As someone who had checked through countless reports and supervised countless financial tasks, she did not believe that anything fishy could get past her eagle eyes as an experienced accountant.
It was merely a jewelry shop, it would not even take up any of her time off on the weekend.
"This...." Chen Jin started to reflect on this and seemed to be slightly hesitant.
Looking at his lack of response at length, He Li was somewhat upset."Son, I'll help you do the checks and make sure everything meets the standard. Isn't it better than an outsider doing it for you? I won't be taking any salary from you either."
"Ok, ok. Mom, I'll let you handle the checking of all financial affairs. I'm just worried that it would affect your rest."
He Li smiled."Silly child, why stand on ceremony with your own mother?" She was confident that under her strict supervision, his jewelry shop would only profit. It would be impossible for it to make a loss!
| ← Ch. 046 | Ch. 048 → |