Love Apartment: Yifei is my junior aunt

Chapter 592 Mika's Birthday

Seeing the disbelief in their eyes, Zeng Xiaoxian urged, "No matter what, I'm going to compete for the chairmanship."

"As my friends, shouldn't you support me?"

"Just to be on the safe side, it's good to keep it in the suite as a backup."

Yifei snorted, "Whoever wants to buy it can buy it, I'm not buying it."

"You live in this suite too, why should I buy a fire extinguisher?"

Zeng Xiaoxian gave an awkward smile and looked earnestly at Yu Mo: "My dear Yu Mo, you are so beautiful and kind, you certainly won't stand idly by, right?"

"hehe."

Yu Mo initially felt she didn't need a fire extinguisher in her suite, but seeing Zeng Xiaoxian's pleading gaze, she could only helplessly say, "Alright, alright, just tell me how much a bottle costs?"

"Three hundred and eighty."

Yu Mo was completely stunned: "How much?"

Zeng Xiaoxian said again, "Three hundred and eighty."

Yu Mo blinked, looking at the small fire extinguisher in Xiao Xian's hand that could fit in a briefcase, and asked incredulously, "Teacher Zeng, are you sure this small bottle costs 380?"

"...You didn't take any kickbacks, did you?"

"Do you think my brother Xian is that kind of person?"

Zeng Xiaoxian pointed to himself: "I'm not Ziqiao, why would I take kickbacks?"

"Too……"

Yu Mo took out her phone and searched online for the price of carbon dioxide fire extinguishers. Then she sighed and said, "Now I understand why the neighborhood committee uses the chairman's position to lure you into selling fire extinguishers."

"A 7-kilogram carbon dioxide fire extinguisher on Taobao only costs around 200 yuan, but you're selling a 2-3 kilogram fire extinguisher for 380 yuan?"

"The neighborhood committees really know how to make money."

Upon hearing this, Yifei asked Zeng Xiaoxian, "Zeng Xiaoxian, how many bottles have you sold so far?"

"...Three bottles."

"Not bad."

Yifei joked, "I didn't expect there to be three idiots in the apartment. Tell me their information later, and I'll have Ziqiao sell them health products when they get old and scam them out of their pensions."

"Go away, you two are the only ones who love to make sarcastic remarks."

Zeng Xiaoxian pouted and complained, "Don't you guys think about it? If these fire extinguishers were really good quality and inexpensive, why would we go to so much trouble to promote them?"

"Just take them to the square, hang up a banner, and sell them, and you're done."

"Teacher Zeng, give up."

Yu Mo patted his shoulder and advised, "The price of this fire extinguisher is outrageous. If the price of something is far beyond its market value, no amount of salesmanship can save it."

Zeng Xiaoxian pursed his lips, still unwilling to give up the good opportunity to compete for the chairmanship of the residents' committee: "Then the cost of your skincare products is only so low, how come they're all sold at such high prices?"

"Can skincare products be compared to fire extinguishers?"

As a beauty consultant, Yu Mo succinctly revealed the truth about the beauty and cosmetics industry: "All skincare and cosmetic products actually make money from knowledge. To put it bluntly, most people don't understand the relevant knowledge about makeup, skincare, and beauty."

"In addition, if the entire industry sets uniform pricing standards, people will worry that if you dare to sell your skincare products cheaply, they will be concerned that they might ruin your skin."

She tapped Zeng Xiaoxian's fire extinguisher: "Even if the cost of skincare products is not high, different grades of skincare products can still be distinguished by their skincare effects."

"But the only purpose of a fire extinguisher is to put out fires, and it must be done as quickly as possible. No matter what brand of fire extinguisher it is, they all claim to be highly flame-retardant and can extinguish fires in three seconds."

"So why is your fire extinguisher so expensive?"

Zeng Xiaoxian was stunned after hearing Yu Mo's words. He realized that what Yu Mo said seemed to make a lot of sense.

Xiao Xian panicked and grabbed Yu Mo's arm tightly, saying repeatedly, "Then what should I do?"

"Yu Mo, you absolutely have to help me."

Yu Mo simply advised, "Teacher Zeng, you should give up. Selling fire extinguishers that are clearly being sold with kickbacks is too much of a rip-off."

"I know this is a trap, but... but the position of chairperson of the residents' committee is really tempting."

Zeng Xiaoxian asked anxiously, "Isn't there a way to have the best of both worlds?"

"Forehead……"

Yu Mo hesitated, clearly having a solution but finding it difficult to voice it for some reason.

Seeing this, Zeng Xiaoxian had a sudden inspiration. He leaned closer to Yu Mo and said, "Yu Mo, you're learning to make homemade heart-shaped chocolates, right?"

Yu Mo nodded. It wasn't that she didn't want to deny it, but this was something she simply couldn't deny.

I can't exactly tell them that Yifei is going to make homemade chocolates for Valentine's Day, can I?

She didn't even have anyone to give a gift to on Valentine's Day.

Zeng Xiaoxian smiled confidently: "How about this, you teach me how to sell fire extinguishers, and I'll teach you how to make homemade chocolates?"

"Hello!"

Yifei immediately became dissatisfied. If he was going to teach Yumo how to make homemade heart-shaped chocolates, what would she do? How was she supposed to get through this Valentine's Day period when no one was going to ask her out?

She glared at Zeng Xiaoxian, her tone carrying a hint of threat: "You, a grown man, can make homemade chocolate?"

"That depends on who Yu Mo trusts more."

Xiao Xian grinned at Yu Mo: "Yu Mo, do you trust me more, or do you trust this guy next to you, the developer of Fei's Innovative Cuisine, the uncrowned king of the dark cuisine world, who grinds meat with a juicer and soybeans with a meat grinder, Hu~ Yi~ Fei~?"

Yu Mo was completely stunned after hearing Zeng Xiaoxian's words.

Seeing this, Yifei quickly advised, "Yumo, my dear sister, don't listen to Zeng Xiaoxian's nonsense. How could a man like him possibly make homemade chocolate?"

"Good heavens, is making your own chocolate really that hard to learn?"

Zeng Xiaoxian was going all out for his chairmanship, directly confronting Yifei: "Give me some time to search for tutorial videos online. I can't guarantee anything else, but I guarantee I can make chocolate better than you!"

"Zeng Xiaoxian, you!"

Yifei was instantly furious, especially when she saw Yu Mo's tempted expression. She asked nervously, "No way, Yu Mo, you believe him but not me?!"

"How is that possible!"

Yu Mo held Yi Fei's hands tightly, her eyes filled with sisterly affection: "We're best friends, how could I not trust you?"

"Yu Mo..."

Before Yifei could even smile, Yumo turned to look at Teacher Zeng with great interest.

"Teacher Zeng, it's a deal!"

Yifei was instantly struck dumb.

W(Д)w！！

"I have three strategies to sell this fire extinguisher: the best, the middle, and the worst."

Zeng Xiaoxian scurried over to pour water for Yu Mo, saying, "Please speak, Strategist Qin."

Yu Mo casually took a sip of water and said to Zeng Xiaoxian, "The best strategy is very simple: fight fire with fire, and use kickbacks to fight kickbacks."

"What do you mean?" Zeng Xiaoxian was completely confused. "You mean you want me to take a kickback?"

"Idiot, I'm not asking you to take a kickback, I'm asking the person who buys this fire extinguisher to take a kickback."

Yu Mo covered her mouth and whispered a suggestion to Teacher Zeng: "If you want to sell fire extinguishers, you should go to public facilities like bars and restaurants now, sell them for 680 yuan a bottle, and then you only need to buy them back for 380 yuan."

Zeng Xiaoxian still didn't understand: "What's the difference between this and me selling it for 380 yuan directly?"

"You're so stupid!"

Even Yifei understood what Yu Mo meant: "Yu Mo means you should go to the store managers of these shops and ask them to buy your fire extinguisher for 680 yuan."

"The money they used to buy fire extinguishers went through the store's public account, and the three hundred yuan you returned ended up in the store manager's own pocket."

"Oh……"

Zeng Xiaoxian suddenly realized: "So this is how you fight kickbacks with kickbacks. Yu Mo, you really are the heart and soul of sales."

Yu Mo's face darkened: "Teacher Zeng, how many times have I told you, I am a senior beauty consultant!"

"Besides, I wouldn't have come up with this idea if you hadn't pressed me for it."

"So, Teacher Zeng, tell me if you want to do this or not."

Zeng Xiaoxian was quite intrigued and began to ponder it.

He knew that Yu Mo's method would definitely be effective immediately, but he still felt that the idea of ​​selling fire extinguishers by enticing people to take kickbacks was too dirty.

"Military Advisor Qin, let's change our minds. I can't do this kind of thing."

Yu Mo nodded. Although the idea came from her, she wasn't really comfortable with Teacher Zeng actually doing it.

Even if all crows are black, she still hopes that the people in this small circle of the apartment can be worldly-wise but not cynical.

"The middle strategy is the same method that merchants often use to sell skincare products: creating anxiety."

"Only if you can arouse people's panic about fire and their attention to fire safety, making them feel that they need a fire extinguisher to feel at ease, and even make them unable to wait to buy it from Taobao, will you be able to sell this batch of ridiculously expensive fire extinguishers."

"Forehead……"

Zeng Xiaoxian's face almost scrunched up after hearing Yu Mo's words: "This idea is only slightly more ethical than the last one. Strategist Qin, don't you have any other way that doesn't require selling your conscience?"

"Yes, I have."

Yu Mo sighed: "The worst option doesn't require you to sell your conscience. You just need to make up the difference in price for the fire extinguisher yourself."

She then posted a picture of the same type of fire extinguisher on Taobao and searched for similar products: "The normal price of this fire extinguisher is eighty yuan, which means you'll lose three hundred yuan for every bottle you sell."

Zeng Xiaoxian froze upon hearing this.

[In his inner world, Zeng Xiaoxian scratched his head and muttered to himself while holding a calculator.]

The apartment building has 375 households. To guarantee a win, you need to sell 188 bottles, which means you'll lose 300 yuan per bottle...

[No, each household might not just buy one bottle, so the losses will only increase...]

【ah!!!】

Zeng Xiaoxian, in a fit of despair, threw down the calculator and stomped on it furiously through gritted teeth.

"What's this?!"

Zeng Xiaoxian shouted angrily, "The three strategies—superior, middle, and inferior—are either unscrupulous or involve throwing money at the problem. Yu Mo, why do you keep coming up with such terrible ideas?"

"It's not that I'm giving bad advice, it's that the fire extinguishers you're selling are counterfeit products. You can't sell them without bad advice."

"Even the neighborhood committee knows that these fire extinguishers can't be sold through normal channels, otherwise why would they send the three of you to promote them door-to-door?"

Yu Mo wasn't annoyed. She just patted Xiao Xian's hand reassuringly: "Teacher Zeng, it's illogical to think you can sell a fire extinguisher that costs eighty yuan on the market for three hundred and eighty yuan without losing your conscience."

"If you can do that, then they'll have gotten their kickbacks for nothing, won't they?"

Seeing that Zeng Xiaoxian was a little disappointed, Yifei offered some rare words of comfort: "Actually, the chairman's position isn't that great. This competitive selection process can be seen as a reminder to you."

"This is the chairman's job. He faces pressure from landlords and neighborhood offices above, and bears the will and interests of the residents' committee and all the tenants of the apartment below."

"If you can't even solve this problem, even if you become chairman, you'll just be a mascot and a punching bag."

"what?"

Yifei suddenly realized why Nanfeng liked to use those two words to describe the chairperson of the residents' committee.

Zeng Xiaoxian waved his hand dejectedly: "Let me think about it some more."

After Yu Mo and Yi Fei pointed it out, he realized that besides enjoying free parking and having his photo displayed in the apartment lobby, the chairman of the residents' committee also had a lot of responsibilities behind the scenes.

Just as Yifei and Yumo were wondering how to continue comforting Zeng Xiaoxian, Wanyu came out of the room.

"Wow, it smells so good! What are you all doing so early in the morning?"

Wanyu smiled and sat down at the dining table, casually asking, "By the way, what birthday presents did you all prepare for Meijia?"

"A birthday present for Mika?"

Yu Mo and the other two exclaimed in unison.

"Yes." Wanyu blinked. "February 12th, isn't that today?"

Yifei and the others exchanged a glance, then immediately rushed out the door without caring about anything else.

I'm coming

(End of this chapter)