Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 448 It’s a pity not to be a profiteer
"I thought it was a big clothing mall, but it turns out they just rented a few counters!" Tao Yumo said.

Her words immediately made Du Feng jump with anger. "What do you know? This is Xidan Department Store, don't you know? It's the most awesome department store in the country, and we have a business area of ​​1000 square meters. Do you know how much effort I put into this?"

In order to rent a space in Xidan Shopping Mall, Du Feng really put a lot of thought into it.

Not only did they use the banner of a joint venture, but they also specifically sought help from the leaders in charge of industry and commerce in Xicheng District, and only then were they able to negotiate the contract with Xidan Shopping Mall.

The total business area is 1000 square meters, and the annual rent alone is 35 yuan, which is twice the price Du Feng originally estimated.

Not only that, the contract also stipulated the total sales, tax and profit they had to pay, and employee wages they had to achieve each year. The total sales alone was required to reach RMB 1500 million.

If these figures are not met, the mall has the right to take back the contract.

The conditions are quite harsh, but once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Xidan Shopping Mall has a unique location and has become one of the best destinations for shopping and leisure for the people of Yanjing for half a century.

Not to mention 35, even if it was more expensive, Du Feng would rent it.

Seeing that he was furious, Tao Yumo asked again: "It's only 50 in total, and you spent 35 to rent a shopping mall. What are you going to do in the future? Can you still do this business?"

Du Feng glanced at her and said, "You little girl, you don't know anything. What's wrong with spending 35? We have rented the mall and have the supply of goods. We have the purchase and sales channels, and the rest are minor problems. What's there to worry about if you are short of money? We can just take out a loan."

"A loan? It's not like you don't have to pay it back. There's also interest."

Du Feng shook his head and made a clicking sound, expressing his disdain for Tao Yumo's narrow-mindedness.

"You don't understand? We are a joint venture company, and we have preferential policies for bank loans, with low interest rates. We can use the money for three to five years, and we can only pay the interest in the beginning, and we can continue to borrow in the future.

We are a limited liability company. Do you know what a limited liability company is? If we can’t pay back the money, we will go bankrupt and the bank will not be able to do anything about it.”

Tao Yumo looked at Du Feng with disdain as he showed off his pitiful legal and financial knowledge.

She was about to retort, but Tao Yushu said, "Okay, both of you stop talking about these useless things. When is the clothing store going to open?"

"The renovation is quick, it can be done in a week or two, but it will take at least a month to purchase goods, recruit people, and advertise, at least March."

Tao Yushu pondered and said, "I missed the Spring Festival!"

For ordinary Chinese people, the month before the Spring Festival has always been a time to change into new clothes, and the demand for clothing purchases released is extremely exaggerated.

"No way. It's hard to negotiate in Xidan, and we have to give them time to coordinate and make room for the store."

Just like Du Feng said, we have the venue and the source of goods, and the rest is decoration, purchasing, advertising and recruiting.

The most important thing among these is advertising. How to increase its popularity overnight may directly determine the life or death of the Asia-Europe Clothing City.

"Even good wine needs to be hidden in a bush. You need to put more effort into advertising." Tao Yushu reminded Du Feng.

Du Feng patted his chest and said, "Sister, don't worry. I have already contacted the newspapers. I will buy a full page of advertisements in the first half month of the opening."

Hearing this, Tao Yushu frowned.

“How do you advertise?”

"Just put up 'Asia-Europe Clothing City Grand Opening Promotion' and write down all our clothing categories. There is no one in Yanjing with a more comprehensive range than mine. There are also promotions, 20% off for everything."

Du Feng was full of confidence in his opening promotion, but Tao Yushu's brows furrowed even more.

It has to be said that Du Feng's ideas were too crude and had no highlights at all, especially compared with the ideas that Lin Chaoyang instilled in her.

Looking at Tao Yushu's expression, Du Feng's face, which was originally full of confidence, hesitated, "Sister, what do you think?"

"Advertising is about creating momentum. It's not enough to just let people know that a clothing mall is opening. We also have to attract them to come and shop."

"Our clothing mall has a wide range of categories and offers discounts. Isn't this attractive?"

"It's not that it's unattractive, but that it's not attractive enough. According to your calculation, the Spring Festival was less than a month after the opening of the clothing city.

Ordinary people’s demand for clothes has only just been released. If it is not attractive enough, why would they come to us to buy clothes?”

There was some truth in Tao Yushu's words, but Du Feng still felt indignant. He thought his idea was good and would definitely attract people to come shopping.

Tao Yushu looked at his expression and knew that he had to show his true colors.

"Well, you can put up a job advertisement in a few days."

"A job ad?"

"Yes. The requirements on the ad are as follows: female, aged 18-25, between 165-170cm tall, good-looking, technical secondary school education or above, standard Mandarin, and preference given to those with Yanjing hukou."

Du Feng looked at Tao Yushu in disbelief, "Sister, we are recruiting salespeople, not holding a beauty pageant. Who would dare to apply for the job after you put out this advertisement? Besides, who would want to be a salesperson here with these qualifications?"

Each of the conditions listed by Tao Yushu may seem insignificant individually, but when combined together, it is no exaggeration to say that they are one in a hundred.

How many people would have to be screened and transferred just for the requirement of "secondary technical school education or above"? Even if the average education level of Yanjing people is high, it cannot be done this way!

"Why not come? The salary is 100 yuan per month, and the sales commission is calculated separately, which is no less than 50 yuan per month."

Hearing this, Du Feng was shocked again.

"One hundred and fifty yuan a month? Sister, please hire me as a salesperson. With your way of recruiting people, we will have to pay out one hundred thousand yuan a year just for the salespersons."

In 1985, the annual income of urban workers in China was 739 yuan. Yanjing, as the capital, had a higher income than other parts of the country, with the figure exceeding 900 yuan.

But the wages of ordinary employees in Yanjing are definitely lower than this level. A monthly salary of 40 to 50 yuan is the normal income for most ordinary people.

Tao Yushu said that the salary plus commission for recruiting salesmen would be 150 yuan per month, which was almost three times the salary of ordinary employees in Yanjing at that time. Du Feng couldn't help but be shocked.

"Our recruitment standards are high, so it's reasonable for us to pay higher salaries," Tao Yushu said calmly.

Du Feng said anxiously: "Sister, let's just hire a salesperson. You have such high requirements and such a high salary. It's not cost-effective!"

His expression was anxious, but Tao Yushu's face became more and more serene.

At this time, Tao Yumo suddenly asked, "Sister, this recruitment advertisement of yours is also an advertisement, right?"

Hearing this, Du Feng was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean?"

"What else can it mean? It's just an advertisement. You already said that my sister's recruitment requirements are higher than those for beauty pageants, and the salary is so high.

If the advertisement is put in the newspaper, how many people will talk about it?

Wouldn't our Asia-Europe Clothing City become famous immediately?"

Du Feng pondered over Tao Yumo's words and found that there seemed to be some truth in them.

Even though people are proud of having a stable job at this time, there are only so many jobs and there are too many wolves and too little meat!

Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many strange things happening after the educated youth returned to the city in the past few years. Otherwise, why would so many people go out to set up stalls? Do you think everyone loves doing business?

As for the requirements and treatments just mentioned by Tao Yushu, they will inevitably attract the attention of thousands of people after being published in the newspaper, and will also indirectly boost the popularity of the Asia-Europe Garment City.

After being inspired, Du Feng thought further that when the people of Yanjing City saw that the requirements for hiring a salesperson in the Asia-Europe Clothing City were so strict and the salary was so high, they would definitely have a high-end impression of the clothing city in their minds.

At this moment, he finally understood Tao Yushu's intention and a smile broke out on his face.

"Sister, you are trying to use the recruitment as an opportunity to advertise the clothing store!"

Tao Yumo said: "Nonsense, didn't I just say that?"

Du Feng was not angry when his sister choked him, but he thought about it and said, "But sister, we pay tens of thousands of yuan a year for several years in a row. Isn't it enough for us to advertise?"

"The country advocates the establishment of joint ventures to utilize foreign advanced technology, capital and management methods. What does our clothing city have? Do you really think of yourself as a joint venture?

If you don’t offer higher salaries, how can you attract talent? You need to take a long-term view.”

Du Feng hadn't noticed it before, but now after listening to Tao Yushu's words, how could he not know whose idea this was?

"Sister, this is all what my brother-in-law told you, right? If he has any good ideas, tell me more about them, tell me quickly!"

At his urging, Tao Yushuo slowly mentioned a few more methods, and Du Feng's eyes became brighter and brighter as he listened.

"Sister, this modeling show is a good idea. Is it imitating Pierre Cardin? It will definitely attract a lot of attention from the people."

"Isn't the cost of this seven-day no-reason return and exchange policy too high?"

"It will definitely increase the cost a bit, can't you just raise the selling price?"

"If it's too expensive, fewer people will buy it."

“You have a misconception. If you open a clothing store in Xidan Shopping Mall, our level and style cannot be low, otherwise you will not be able to achieve the sales volume set by the mall.

What's the big deal about expensive clothes? The more expensive they are, the more face they have. He can buy two pieces of clothes with his monthly salary outside, and they are just clothes when he wears them out.

But it’s different here. It takes two months’ salary to buy one. When people ask where you bought it, you will have to worry about it.
Asia-Europe Clothing City!
High-end clothing!
This is face!

You have to study the shopping psychology of customers. They come to our clothing store to buy clothes. Can they afford to pay a few dollars?"

Du Feng was almost dumbfounded. He had been doing business for several years and considered himself to have some experience, but what Tao Yushu said was something he had never heard of before. It completely refreshed his three views.

The more he read it, the more he felt that Tao Yushu's words were very true.

But he still knew Tao Yushu, and these words were not something his sister would say.

"My brother-in-law told you all this?"

Seeing Du Feng asking this, Tao Yushu nodded, "Yeah."

"My brother-in-law is so tall!" Du Feng exclaimed in admiration.

But he didn't say the second half of his sentence: It would be a shame not to be a profiteer!
Tao Yushu smiled. She and Lin Chaoyang were just providing an idea. The final execution would still depend on Du Feng. As long as they could ensure that the Asia-Europe Clothing City could become well-known as soon as possible, it would be fine.

In the following time, Du Feng was busy with the affairs of the clothing city, and Tao Yushu also participated in it with great enthusiasm, completely considering herself as a strong woman who charged into battle.

As for the children, Tao Yumo would help take care of them during the day, and she would come back to take care of them at night, so that she could balance work and life.

It's just more expensive for my sister!
The Chinese New Year was just a few days away, and Lin Chaoyang happened to receive the royalties for "The Chess Master" on that day.

"The Chess Master" has been published for more than four years. In the first three years, the payment was made in the form of basic royalties plus royalties based on the number of copies printed. It was not until this year that Lin Chaoyang signed a royalty contract with Yenching Publishing House.

This is the largest amount of royalties that "The Chess Master" has received since its publication.

Since the end of the first China-Japan Go Challenge, the sales of the novel "The Go Master" have remained high, and in December it even set a terrifying monthly sales record of over one million copies.

This number has never been reached by any other writer, not even by Lin Chaoyang himself in his many new books.

Over the past two months, as the nation was enthusiastically discussing Go, "The Go Master" easily sold 260 million copies, and the cumulative sales easily exceeded 600 million copies.

The royalties settled by Yenching Publishing House were based on the sales of "The Chess Master" in the past three months, which naturally included the 260 million copies. The royalties from this alone amounted to 48 yuan.

Tao Yumo couldn't help but be amazed when she saw the number. Her brother-in-law's royalties have always been astronomical figures, and she has become accustomed to it in the past two years.

For example, in December, Huacheng Publishing House paid nearly 12 yuan in royalties for "The Truman Show".

But it was a new book after all, and selling more than one million copies in a few months was not an exaggeration considering my brother-in-law’s achievements.

The situation of "The Chess Master" is different, as it is an old book that has been published for four or five years.

In the book market, the best sales time for a book is the year it is published. After this period, it will be drowned in the increasing number of new books. Books that can survive the selection of time and readers and remain on the shelves of bookstores are almost all works of word-of-mouth that can be circulated for a while.

"The Chess Master" is such a well-received work in the market. Although its sales have been declining in recent years, there are still many readers willing to pay for it.

Under normal circumstances, the sales of this novel would probably continue to decline until they hit bottom and remain constant at a relatively small number.

But to everyone's surprise, "The Chess Master" seemed like an indestructible cockroach. Its sales only dropped for a short while in 83, and then quickly rose back up.

Last year, the movie "The Chess Master" was released, which made the novel a small hit again, selling an additional 300,000 or 400,000 copies.

This year is even more exaggerated. After the start of the China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament, the sales of "The Go Master" have been steadily increasing, until it completely exploded after the challenge tournament ended, breaking through the 600 million copy mark in one fell swoop.

Judging from the current situation, as long as the Go craze continues, there will be no need to worry about the sales of this novel in the next few years or even decades.

"Remember, the next mainland royalties settlement for "The Chess Master" will be in May," Lin Chaoyang told Tao Yumo.

"understood."

As more and more works were created and published, it was impossible for Lin Chaoyang to take care of the publication and publication of every novel himself, so he handed all these matters over to Tao Yumo.

Tao Yumo glanced at the numbers in Lin Chaoyang's bank passbook with envy. The seven-digit number starting with "3" seemed to have a magical power that pulled her eyes and made her unable to move.

"Haven't you seen enough? Then take another look." Lin Chaoyang threw the passbook to her.

Tao Yumo took the passbook in panic, feeling as nervous as a young eunuch holding the imperial seal.

She carefully counted the numbers on the passbook, "ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands..."

Finally, he returned the passbook to Lin Chaoyang with satisfaction.

Looking at her money-obsessed look, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but recall the time when he married Tao Yushu a few years ago, when Tao Yushu also calculated their assets so carefully.

"You two sisters are really cut from the same cloth!"

Listening to his words, Tao Yumo complained: "I am different from my sister. I don't like to trouble others!"

Her words were full of resentment. Although she took the money, it did not stop her from being dissatisfied with her "employer".

"If you really don't like taking care of children, then I'll give you some money and let you start your own business like Du Feng, okay?" Lin Chaoyang asked her.

His attitude made Tao Yumo feel better. "Doing business is too troublesome. Look at my sister and brother. They run around all day and have a lot of troubles."

"What about going back to work?" Lin Chaoyang asked again.

"Going to work..." Tao Yumo hesitated.

Before she went to Hong Kong, she thought it was good to go to work, but now it would be too boring for her to go back to work.

She thought about it for a long time and finally found that babysitting was a job suitable for her. Tao Yumo felt a little uncomfortable.

Lin Chaoyang observed her for a long time and could roughly guess what she was thinking. He looked at her with some amusement.

"You, don't worry about writing new words. Even if you don't do anything right now, you have saved more money than 99% of people."

Even though Tao Yumo always cries poor in front of Lin Chaoyang and his wife, this girl is actually richer than anyone else.

When I was in college, I had several hundred yuan in my personal savings account. In the past few years, I have been working and taking care of the children, so I haven't spent much money on food, clothing, housing and transportation, and I have saved all the money.

Lin Chaoyang estimated that she now had at least 10,000 yuan in her hand.

Hearing this, Tao Yumo subconsciously became alert, "I also earned my money through hard work!"

"Look at what you have accomplished!" Lin Chaoyang looked at her with disdain, and then said, "If you really want to pursue some value in life, think carefully about what you want to do. Your sister and I will definitely support you!"

Feeling the sincerity in Lin Chaoyang's words, Tao Yumo nodded and said, "I'll think about it."

In the evening, after Tao Yushu returned home, Lin Chaoyang told her about his sister-in-law's current confusion.

Tao Yushu said helplessly: "I'm not so cruel as to tie her up at home. She just likes to play. She's already so old, but she doesn't have any goals in life."

Lin Chaoyang teased, "There are three children in the family. Yumo and the eldest brother are the same. Who do you think you look like? Did you occupy all the struggle targets of the two of them when you were born?"

His words provoked Tao Yushu's criticism. The couple laughed and joked for a while before Tao Yushu summarized his sister's character.

"She has never suffered from hardship since she was a child. She has lived in a honeypot and has never had any sense of urgency or pressure. Naturally, she has no motivation to make progress."

Lin Chaoyang agreed deeply with what he said.

"By the way, there is something I want to discuss with you." Tao Yushu said.

"what's up?"

"The clothing store is opening. Du Feng wants to invite some singers and dancers from the song and dance troupe to perform. It would be best if he could invite two movie stars."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "He is willing to spend money."

“It shouldn’t cost much, right?”

The couple's words sound contradictory, but in fact they are standing on different starting points.

What Tao Yushu meant by “it won’t cost much” was based on their family’s income, while Lin Chaoyang’s words were from the perspective of the working class.

But honestly speaking, it is much more cost-effective to invite celebrities and hold performances these days than in later generations.

At that time, there was no entertainment industry, it was called the art industry. Everyone earned a fixed salary. If artists wanted to make some extra money, performing at various events was the fastest way. This kind of thing has only become popular in the last two years.

Even if you invite a famous actor or singer, it only costs a few hundred dollars, and they perform very hard.

Moreover, these people all have jobs, and doing this kind of work usually involves risks.

"It depends on who you invite. If you invite famous people, it will probably cost several thousand dollars."

"What about Liu Xiaoqing's?" Tao Yushu asked.

Lin Chaoyang looked at her strangely, "Is it you who wants to treat me, or is it Du Feng who wants to treat me?"

Tao Yushu said: "You ask even though you know the answer!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled. They were all men, so of course he could understand Du Feng’s little thoughts.

He has no filter for Liu Xiaoqing, but Du Feng is different. He spent his youth watching movies of actresses such as Liu Xiaoqing, Zhang Jinling, Gong Xue and Fang Shu.

Liu Xiaoqing, in particular, has produced many excellent works in recent years and knows how to market herself. Two years ago, she published an autobiography called "My Road", which became a bestseller. She can be said to be extremely popular in the domestic film industry today.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that Liu Xiaoqing is the goddess in Du Feng's heart, but it will definitely not be wrong to take advantage of the opening of the clothing city to get a chance to get close to a movie actress.

"If he really wants to invite her, I'll ask someone later. Besides Liu Xiaoqing, who else does he want to invite?"

"I don't have any specific candidates for the other options. See if you can find one that's both cheap and famous."

Lin Chaoyang smiled bitterly, "Your requirements are really not low!"

Tao Yushu put his arms around his neck and said, "This is all for business."

Lin Chaoyang gently put his arm around her waist.

Vice Chairman Tao made great sacrifices for the sake of business.

Before Du Feng went into the entertainment industry, he worked as an art soldier in the Comrades Art Troupe. He could find singing and dancing actors by himself, but if he wanted to invite movie stars, he really had to ask Lin Chaoyang for help, since he had cooperated with Yanying Studio a lot in the past two years.

However, the Chinese New Year is coming soon in the next two days, so Lin Chaoyang is not in a hurry and will wait until after the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, Lin Chaoyang went to Yanda early in the morning to pick up the Tao family and take them to Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

He and Tao Yushu have been away from home for half a year this year, so they should get together this New Year.

"Oh, the in-laws are here!"

Lin Erchun greeted the Tao family at the gate with a hearty laugh. He first shook hands with Tao's father warmly, and then led everyone into the yard.

"Come on, come on, have some tea. Yucheng, would you like a cigarette? What do the two little guys want to drink, Coke or Arctic Ocean?"

After entering the house, Lin Erchun began to entertain them warmly again.

Having been a landlord for two years, Lin Erchun's way of dealing with people now has less of a farmer's simplicity and more of a businessman's tactfulness.

When the family members get together, some are responsible for working, some are responsible for looking after the children, and some are responsible for chatting. Lin Erchun is responsible for chatting with Tao's father and Tao Yucheng, and the content of the chat is nothing more than daily matters.

Tao Yucheng was very interested in Lin Erchun's life as a landlord, so he asked a few more questions.

In his opinion, Lin Erchun's life, where all he had to do every day was collect rent, was as happy as a god.

"Well! You'll know when you start working here. No job is easy. If it's just about collecting rent, that's fine, but with dozens of houses and hundreds of tenants, how can it be just about collecting rent?
You have to do some repairs in the spring and autumn, right? You have to clean up the house when someone moves out, right? You also have to think about renting it out again.

There is a dispute between neighbors. Small conflicts are nothing, but can you ignore big conflicts? If something happens in your yard, can you avoid responsibility?
Those who still owe rent should also be urged to pay it back...

Day after day, I have no time to rest, and I am always worrying about things.”

Lin Erchun talked about his work as a landlord in great detail. Although his words showed annoyance, his expression showed a sense of contentment.

What made him proud was not anything else but the fact that he was able to handle so many troubles. He vaguely felt the same vigor and vitality as when he was galloping across the production team.

As they chatted, Tao Yucheng brought up the topic that interested him the most, "Uncle Lin, you've been busy this year, you must have earned tens of thousands of dollars, right?"

Tao's father looked at Tao Yucheng with dissatisfaction, "Yucheng!"

Lin Erchun smiled and said, "My dear relatives, it's okay. We are all family."

He then said to Tao Yucheng: "The net amount left is less than 2 yuan."

In the past two years, Lin Erchun spent 24 yuan just on buying houses. When Tao Yucheng heard this number, he did some calculation in his mind.

With such a huge investment, this business doesn't seem to be as profitable as he imagined!
His video hall earned more than 10,000 yuan this year. After deducting the share with Du Feng, he still had more than 4,000 yuan left.

"You invested so much money, but only got this little return in a year. Have you ever thought about doing something else?"

Tao Yucheng thought that the investment return rate of Lin Erchun's business was too low and couldn't help but give him some suggestions.

"You're so old now, why are you still struggling? It's enough if you can find a job to make a living." Lin Erchun said with a smile.

Then he complained again: "Speaking of this, it's also because the housing prices in Yanjing have risen too fast. Otherwise, I could have saved at least another 30,000 or 40,000 yuan on buying a house."

There are still few commercial houses in Yanjing City nowadays, and housing prices are relatively stable.

However, after private housing transactions were liberalized in the past few years, although housing price assessment still uses the "dead points" and "dead estimates" methods of the 1950s, the transaction flexibility of buyers and sellers is no longer something the government can control.

The current actual situation in Yanjing is that there are many people but few houses. Therefore, in the process of private house transactions, the bargaining power of homeowners has increased significantly compared with the previous two or three years.

The rise in private housing prices has led to a hidden increase in Yanjing's overall housing prices. Yanjing City has also discovered this trend this year and is planning to impose a maximum price limit on house purchase and sale prices to stabilize housing prices.

Lin Erchun has been dealing with real estate for the past two years and is well-informed. He said: "I estimate that the policy will be released in the early spring of next year."

Listening to his clear and logical talk, Tao Yucheng couldn't help but nodded slightly. After a while, he suddenly reacted.

its not right!
(End of this chapter)