Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 998 Stop Right Now

Several people ran into the nearby camp management office building and went upstairs to look for Zhang Jun, but he wasn't there.

Xiao Wei took out his phone book and used the phone in Zhang Jun's office to page his sister-in-law.

A moment later, the phone rang, and Xiaowei answered it.

Who made the pager call?

Xiao Wei said, "Xiao Wei, sister-in-law, where's my brother?"

My sister-in-law said, "I knew it! Your brother's home. Why is he being paged at his office? He's home. Come over here, see if you can find him?"

Xiao Wei said, both amused and exasperated, "Where am I supposed to find you? Where do you live?"

My sister-in-law chuckled and said, "When you built this building, take the elevator up from the northeast corner to the top. There are only two houses up there. We live in number one, and number two is reserved for you."

Xiao Wei put down the phone and said, "Let's go, let's go upstairs and take a look, my brother has moved in."

Several people got out, got into the car, drove to the square, and pulled into the underground parking lot through the side entrance. They parked in the southeast corner. Surprisingly, there was a guard post with soldiers on duty at the parking lot entrance; if the car didn't have military license plates, it seemed it wouldn't have been able to get in.

The parking lot was full of cars, from SUVs to Jeeps, with both military and local license plates. Chen Hui said, "It looks like quite a few people have moved in."

Taking the elevator to the top floor, the door to apartment number one was open. The older sister-in-law was holding a child and looking out. When she saw Xiaowei, she waved to the child's little hand: "Second Uncle is here! Quickly call him in. Come on, come play at our house!"

Several people changed their shoes and went inside. Zhang Jun sat on the living room sofa, looking over. Xiao Wei asked, "The house was sold? Why are there still soldiers guarding it downstairs?"

Zhang Jun said, "They sold out as soon as they were built, but the money hasn't arrived yet. We'll have to wait until the end of the year."

Chen Hui touched the child's face and said, "Wow, impressive, brother, you sold so fast!"

The older sister-in-law laughed and said, "What a load of rubbish! They didn't even need to sell it. They just bought it all as soon as it was built."

Xiao Wei was taken aback for a moment: "Who is it? The military?"

Zhang Jun said, "The northwest corner was for the military, while the northeast, southwest, and southeast sides were bought by the government. I kept five units, these two, and there are three downstairs."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "I figured the military and the government would have to buy it, but I didn't expect them to cover everything. That saves a lot of trouble. How much did they pay?"

Zhang Jun said with a smile, "The military pays 1,100, and the government pays 1,320. Housing prices are low here."

Chen Hui opened his mouth but then hesitated. Xiao Wei said, "The money was supposed to arrive before the New Year? Is that reliable?"

Zhang Jun said, "That's definitely accurate. Come on, let's go out to eat. It'll be a good opportunity to treat ourselves to something nice. Son, let's go to a restaurant, are you coming or not?" The child laughed heartily.

Xiao Wei asked, "What's your name? What character does our family use in this generation?"

Zhang Jun said, "Haitao, meaning 'vast sea'. What do you want to eat? The two little girls say, today you two decide what you want to eat?"

Shi Li was a little embarrassed, but Li Wen didn't care and said, "We came here to eat lamb, of course! Everyone says the lamb here is delicious!"

Zhang Jun said, "Okay, let's go eat lamb. No dietary restrictions, right?"

Everyone shook their heads to indicate no, then packed up, put the kids' bags on, and went downstairs. They didn't drive; they just went straight out from the first floor and onto the street.

The elevator on the first floor requires a card to activate, which is quite advanced and safe technology these days.

The streets are more bustling than before, with many more privately owned shops selling restaurants, clothing, and small general merchandise. The lights are on now, illuminating the streets brightly, making them much more lively than before.

After walking less than two hundred meters, Zhang Jun led everyone into a restaurant, which was a halal restaurant.

Everyone sat down, and the eldest brother asked the boss to arrange the dishes. The waiter came over and poured hot water for everyone.

Xiao Wei asked his sister-in-law, "How much is the rent usually at the Liberty Market around here?"

My sister-in-law asked, "What is a free market?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's about dividing the entire shopping mall into sections and renting them out to privately-run malls."

My sister-in-law shook her head: "No. Both shopping malls here are state-owned; the private ones are just small shops."

Xiao Wei asked Manager Chen, "Brother Chen, do you think this supermarket will be successful?"

Manager Chen said, "Supermarkets and convenience stores don't matter, they can be anywhere. But shopping malls are a different story. This city isn't big, and there are already two. If we open another one, it'll be a battle of money, and we'll have to compete on price."

Xiao Wei said, "My idea is to have half of the first floor as a farmers' market and half as a supermarket, the second, third and fourth floors as a shopping mall, half of which will be self-operated and half rented out. The fifth floor will be for imported goods, and we'll leave the sixth and seventh floors for later. We're not afraid of lowering prices; we just want to establish a foothold right away. We're the biggest shopping mall around here, so we should be able to do it."

Chen Hui said, "The sixth and seventh floors can be used as warehouses. We didn't have this concept before, but now we realize that warehouses are quite important."

Xiao Wei said to Manager Chen, "If we can buy everything we need in life here, we'll be halfway to success. Then we can set up a discount area and regularly arrange targeted discount sales on some products. This activity should never stop."

Manager Chen nodded slowly and said, "That's feasible. Although I haven't observed it, I have a good understanding of state-owned department stores in small cities. If we improve our service, offer a full range of products, and have a slight price advantage, it won't be difficult to attract customers."

The older sister-in-law was breastfeeding Zhang Haitao while lying on her side. She said, "We need to have a full range of Mongolian products. There are quite a few Mongolians here, so they are a significant source of customers. You should go to the grocery store tomorrow and take a look."

Xiao Wei asked Zhang Jun, "Are there any legitimate and long-term suppliers of fresh beef and mutton, fresh horse and sheep milk, milk wine and milk tofu, highland barley, and fried noodles?"

Zhang Jun nodded and said, "I'll make the contact; it shouldn't be difficult."

Xiao Wei said, "Regarding output and quality, you can tell them that we can promote our products throughout Northeast China."

Chen Hui said, "After all this talk, the problem is still unresolved. How will the rent be calculated?"

Li Wen said, "Let's not collect rent yet. Let's get people in and open the mall first. If it's successful and we make money, then we can collect rent."

Manager Chen glanced at Li Wen and said, "That's one way to do it. It doesn't matter to us if we collect one year less rent."

Shi Li said, "I don't know if my thinking is right, but I feel that we can not have a fixed rent. We can set up a unified cashier counter in the mall, and then each merchant can settle accounts monthly. Couldn't we collect a percentage of the rent? Ten percent, or five percent?"

Manager Chen turned to ask, "Sales revenue or profit?"

Shi Li said, "How would we know how much profit they actually make?"

Huang Laowu gave Shi Li a thumbs up: "Impressive. I think it works too. More sales mean more revenue, less sales mean less revenue. It's actually better than fixed rent, and it makes business more balanced. There's always a peak and off-peak season."

Manager Chen sipped his tea and thought for a while before saying, "We can try that, but there has to be a bottom line. If a merchant's price falls below the minimum requirement for two consecutive months, the contract will be cancelled."

Huang Laowu said, "So, you'll have to give extra rewards for the higher ones?"

Manager Chen said, "Absolutely. We can hold a year-end merchant conference, praising some, criticizing others, and rewarding others. This will motivate them to work harder and also bring people together. The biggest problem with the Free Market is that people are scattered and each is looking out for themselves."

(End of this chapter)