Siheyuan: Rebirth of a comfortable life starts with Shazhu

If you can't afford to spend money on good locations, you can only occupy those remote, secluded corners.

The key to a successful street stall business is convenience, visibility, attracting attention, and a lively atmosphere.

Selling barbecue at a cemetery—are you selling it to ghosts?

That's a method used for attracting traffic on the internet in later generations; it's not suitable for today.

Furthermore, Xu Damao did indeed use some tricks in this.

He occupies a prominent position, and every time a customer comes to his stall, Xu Damao will ask the stall owner to check the direction the customer is coming from.

If it were someone from Yan Jiekuang's position, they would just quote a bottom price.

For example, if you haven't been to Yan Jiekuang's stall before, Xu Damao will have his shop assistant quote 30, and if the customer bargains, he'll actually sell it for 25.

If you've ever been to Yan Jiekuang's stall, Xu Damao would directly ask for twenty-five, and if the customer bargained, he could get a discount of one or two yuan.

This attracted the vast majority of individual customers in the market to his stall.

In addition, Xu Damao is very good at talking and deceiving people.

The sales pitch he taught his employees made everyone who came to his stall believe that it was a factory-direct store.

Nothing else, Xu Damao promised that if the product has any problems within a week, it will be returned or replaced.

He learned this approach from foreign trade.

But his promise was rather unsubstantiated; most of the people who come here to buy things are tourists from other places.

Who has the time or inclination to come all the way here to return or exchange a product that has a problem?
But this statement naturally made those customers feel that he was more credible.

During this period, Xu Damao was approached by wholesalers from other places.

He pushed everything onto Yan Jiekuang's stall.

According to Xu Damao, Yan Jiekuang had close ties with certain people in the factory and was able to obtain goods in large quantities, unlike him who was only dealing in small-scale operations.

But so far, Yan Jiekuang has not dared to take on that kind of business.

That's normal. Even if his business is bad, he can still close a few deals every day as long as he sets up his stall.

He had just started and his expectations were low.

He was quite happy if he could earn two or three yuan, or four or five yuan.

As for when his ambition and greed would take hold, Xu Damao wasn't in a hurry.

He also introduced Yan Jiekuang to the factory's warehouse manager.

That is, the person who can ship goods to external parties.

He also subtly told the warehouse manager that he would hand over the wholesale business to Yan Jiekuang in the future.

In that case, the factory leaders can't blame Xu Damao.

Although he didn't do it, he didn't block those people's path to wealth.

Everyone has their own ambitions, and those who are experienced in social situations naturally understand why Xu Damao made such an arrangement.

To put it bluntly, they don't lack that money, nor do they want to earn it.

But no one stood in their way of making money.

That's enough. You really have to push Xu Damao to the brink of despair.

We also need to consider the person behind Xu Damao.

Although He Yuzhu is not very vocal now, if he were to say something at the Light Industry Bureau, no one could bear the consequences.

According to the warehouse manager, Yan Jiekuang was simply not a respectable person.

They're so stingy when it comes to buying goods, they want to inspect every single product.

This kid doesn't understand things like social etiquette.

Just like the accessories for roller skates, Xu Damao and his friends play with them.

If you stuff two packs of cigarettes into the warehouse, Xu Damao can take out a few more sets of those small parts.

When there's nothing else to do, I invite those leaders out for meals and drinks.

They will compensate him a little in other ways.

Xu Damao dared to publicly offer a full refund or repair guarantee, precisely because of these shady dealings that gave him the confidence.

But Yan Jiekuang's understanding of this is completely flawed.

Forget about offering cigarettes to guests; no one has ever smelled cigarette smoke on him.

Xu Damao's business was thriving, while Yan Jiekuang could only earn a meager living through hard work.

That's it.

Xu Damao sat in the gatehouse, holding a cup of hot tea.

At his feet, the host brought out a brazier for him to keep warm.

He could see his stall through the crack in the door.

Sometimes, Xu Damao would go out and call the workers who helped him set up his stall to come in, warm themselves by the fire, roast some sweet potatoes or something to fill their stomachs, and make money while having fun.

Yan Jiekuang hunched his shoulders, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and walked over shakily.

He knew Xu Damao was inside, so he simply pushed the door open and went in.

He squatted down and warmed his hands by the fire pit first.

"Brother Da Mao! You're so comfortable here, you look like a real boss." Yan Jiekuang looked up and said to Xu Da Mao in a fawning tone.

Xu Damao smugly laughed, "Being able to make money also means being willing to spend it."

You think this brazier came for free?

It was also earned by my buddy with real money.

You're still too bookish.

"Hehe... Brother Da Mao, how can I compare to you? Your business is so good, you earn tens of yuan a day, so you don't feel bad about spending these."

"Nobody goes there, how much money can I make?" Yan Jiekuang couldn't help but complain.

Xu Damao laughed and said, "You saw how I played."

I rented this stall for a little over ten yuan a month.

"You have plenty of good spots over there, so who can you blame if you're unwilling to spend the money?"

Xu Damao's words were true; apart from some shady dealings regarding the price, he hadn't kept anything else from the Yan family.

Xu Damao knew perfectly well that Yan Jiekuang was a fool, but Yan Bugui and his wife were shrewd people.

They used to set up flower stalls on the street before liberation, so they knew all about these rules.

All I can say is that this family is stingy.

What they were thinking was probably that no matter how much they earned, as long as they didn't lose money, it was fine.

Yan Jiekuang chuckled sheepishly, "We'll see. My brother's initial investment isn't substantial yet."

Xu Damao shrugged and laughed, "Then there's nothing I can do as your older brother. I've pointed out all the ways to help you."

If you don't want to do it, I can't expect you to urinate and defecate while I'm doing it.

"Brother, don't be angry!"

"I'm just learning!" Yan Jiekuang quickly softened his tone when he saw that Xu Damao had said something harsh.

Why would I be angry?

To put it bluntly, we're just old neighbors. I've seen how tough things have been for you, so I'm giving you some pointers on how to make a living.

Even Jiecheng argued with me because of you.

I don't want your food or drink; the master leads you to the door, but the cultivation is up to you.

Whether you make money or not has nothing to do with me. Xu Damao said with a sneer, and this attitude was now 80% genuine.

With two points left, the plan was naturally to push Yan Jiekuang further towards taking on big business deals.

It wasn't that he wanted Yan Jiekuang to get rich or that he wanted Yan Jiekuang to suffer bad luck.

He felt that kind of thing was unstable.

But whether it's heaven or hell, no one can say for sure.

Xu Damao had just been listening to the factory leaders' nagging a lot lately.

I wanted to give them an explanation.

"Hey, Brother Da Mao, I have something I'd like to ask you!"

Yesterday, a boss from Tianjin contacted me.

They wanted to get a hundred or so pairs of roller skates through my connections, saying they'd give me an extra two yuan per pair.

"Do you think I can take this job?" Yan Jiekuang came today to test the waters. (End of Chapter)