4: The loss is not severe enough

A wonderful day was spent playing games.

Day after day, the game knew no time, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

On this day, his mother called.

“Qian Ziyong, you haven’t called home in a month. Have you been tricked into a pyramid scheme?” His mother’s familiar voice came through the phone.

Qian Ziyong said with full confidence, “I found a very good, legitimate job. I estimate I’ll be able to buy a house by the end of this year.”

“Buy a house? Buy a house in Han City? You’re dreaming! How much is your salary a month, a few thousand? Have you been tricked into a pyramid scheme?!” His mother yelled anxiously.

Only then did Qian Ziyong realize that hearing him say he would buy a house by the end of the year would surely make his mother suspect even more that he had fallen into a pyramid scheme.

“Forget it, let’s video call!” Qian Ziyong thought of using a video call to prove his innocence.

After speaking, he hung up the phone, opened the video call, and the other side almost instantly picked up.

“Mom, look, this is where I work.” Qian Ziyong aimed the camera at the office computer.

He also roughly scanned the surrounding environment.

Only then did his mother feel a little relieved.

“Where do you work?” his mother, Chen Huilan, asked.

“I’m a Manager at a supermarket.” Saying this, Qian Ziyong scanned the Manager’s badge next to him.

Chen Huilan’s face was full of smiles: “My son has made something of himself.”

Qian Ziyong opened the room and also briefly filmed the outside environment. Seeing countless shelves and full goods, he was indeed in a large supermarket, and only then did Chen Huilan completely relax.

“Ziyong, when you’re at work, work hard. Don’t keep making calls; your Boss won’t like it.” Chen Huilan warned.

Qian Ziyong: “…”

Chen Huilan asked, “Do you have enough money to spend this month?”

“Enough, more than enough!” At this time, he naturally couldn’t reveal the truth. Qian Ziyong said proudly, “Your son’s salary is currently ten thousand a month!”

“Look at you showing off, go back to work!” Not giving Qian Ziyong another chance to show off, Chen Huilan had already ended the video call.

Qian Ziyong: “…”

Qian Ziyong finally stopped playing games today and checked the balance on his phone.

“Only one hundred thirty left.” Qian Ziyong frowned.

So poor.

So poor he could barely afford to eat.

His old rental house had already been vacated, and the landlord had returned his five hundred deposit.

Adding that to the original thousand-plus, that barely got him through a month.

Being a Boss, he didn’t get a single salary; he had to wait three months for the system to settle his accounts.

Moreover, even if he took goods from the supermarket, he had to buy them at their original price.

So he could only eat out.

Food expenses alone used over nine hundred a month, plus phone bills, and toilet paper, all sorts of miscellaneous expenses, another five hundred gone in a month.

Now he was so poor he only had one hundred thirty left. If he didn’t get some money soon, he would starve to death in a few days.

With over six hundred thousand lying in his card, yet starving to death, that truly was a joke.

“Wait a minute! How is there six hundred thirty thousand?” Qian Ziyong was greatly alarmed.

He had just accidentally opened the supermarket account and found over six hundred thirty thousand inside.

Salaries were just paid yesterday, so his bank card should have been empty. How did this six hundred thirty thousand come about?

Qian Ziyong hurriedly had an employee call Zhu Daqiang over.

Zhu Daqiang pushed open the door, and Qian Ziyong quickly asked, “What’s the deal with the six hundred thirty thousand in the bank card?”

“I told you salaries were paid yesterday, didn’t you get paid?”

Zhu Daqiang shook his head: “Boss, everyone was paid according to your request, and in addition to their normal salaries, everyone also received a full attendance bonus.”

“The over six hundred thousand on this card is what we earned this month.”

“Wait, hasn’t the supermarket always been losing money?” Qian Ziyong retorted.

To keep the supermarket losing money, he did nothing, just afraid of breaking the supermarket’s luck.

Qian Ziyong nodded: “It is indeed losing money.”

“The store rent is four hundred sixteen thousand a month, staff salaries are close to five hundred thousand a month, and electricity and other expenses are eighty to ninety thousand. The supermarket’s monthly cost is around one million.”

“And our income is only a meager over six hundred thousand. This month we lost over three hundred thousand!”

“But I believe that under the Boss’s leadership, we will definitely be able to turn losses into profits.”

Qian Ziyong sat on the sofa, frowning.

Only losing over three hundred thousand a month, plus the equipment he received from Boss Li, after depreciation, the system calculated it as two hundred fifty thousand for him.

If he continued to operate normally, he should be able to lose over one million two hundred thousand!

The losses were considerable, but far from reaching his expectations!

What should he do?

Qian Ziyong frowned with worry.

“Boss, Boss Li is here!” an employee came over and said.

Boss Li?

Qian Ziyong’s eyes lit up.

He had no experience running a supermarket, but Boss Li did.

He could ask Boss Li for advice, ask him how supermarkets make money, and then do the exact opposite of everything, and he would definitely lose money.

He would lose much, much more than now!

Qian Ziyong sprang up, and seeing the portly Boss Li, he immediately rushed over, grasping his hand, treating him even more intimately than his own father.

“Boss Li, I’ve been looking forward to your arrival!” Qian Ziyong was overjoyed.

Seeing Qian Ziyong so enthusiastic, Li Lian felt guilty and shook his head, saying, “If I had known, I should have stopped you from taking over this supermarket.”

Boss Li is a good person!

Qian Ziyong welcomed him in, poured him tea, and lit a cigarette for him.

“Little brother, did the supermarket lose money?” Li Lian sat down, took a sip of tea, and asked.

From the first day he met Qian Ziyong, he knew this kid knew nothing about running a supermarket.

Qian Ziyong nodded, raising his thumb in praise: “Boss Li is truly prescient.”

Li Lian shook his head and sighed: “It’s still not too late to stop now. Losing a hundred thousand or so, just consider it a lesson learned.”

Qian Ziyong shook his head firmly: “I’m not resigned to this!”

“I don’t regret losing this much money; I just want to learn some experience in running a supermarket.”

“As the saying goes, once you enter an industry, you love it. Since I’ve entered the supermarket industry, I must make something of myself!”

Losing so little, he was naturally very unwilling.

Seeing Qian Ziyong’s firm and persistent gaze, Li Lian empathized and was deeply moved.

He had been in the supermarket business for half his life, from the very first small convenience store to a five-thousand-square-meter large supermarket.

He also had a very deep affection for supermarkets.

“This past month, I’ve visited large supermarkets all over the country and learned a lot of experience, which I can share with you.”

Hearing that Boss Li was going to share his experience, Qian Ziyong was very excited. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said to Zhu Daqiang, who was standing by, “Manager Zhu, please buy us two boxed meals, the most expensive ones!”

He only had one hundred thirty left. The most expensive boxed meal was thirty-one per serving, so two would be sixty. To learn management experience, he was really going all out.

Without Manager Zhu having to move, an employee immediately went to buy them.

Hearing that Qian Ziyong wanted to buy him a boxed meal, Li Lian repeatedly refused.

“Boss Li, don’t be so polite with me. Last time you treated me, this time it’s my turn to show my appreciation!” Qian Ziyong said, patting his chest.

Li Lian: “…”

In the past, when others invited him to eat, his refusal might have been polite, but a boxed meal… This stuff was unhealthy and not tasty; he truly wasn’t being polite.

Seeing Qian Ziyong’s sincere gaze, Li Lian said helplessly, “Since you insist, then I’ll have one.”