Chapter 170 – Busy Fruit Season

Ji Jianyun nodded. “Then do what you need to do. If there is anything you need, ask Manager Feng to report it.”

There was a reason why Sister Hong picked Manager Chen. With her there, there was no need for him to manage the day to day work for the department store. He was busy with purchasing and delivering goods to the department store.

Manager Chen agreed with him.

Ji Jianyun asked her about the factories in the county.

“The factories are still discussing it, but I think it will be fast. Once we come to an agreement with them, it will be time to recruit workers. Our department stores should be set up before the factory is opened. We will do a discount for three days. The factory workers will deliver the goods for it,” Manager Chen said.

Ji Jianyun saw that she had everything planned out, so he said nothing more.

After that, the department store opened.

On the opening day of the department store, there were some fireworks at the door, and then it was opened.

All goods were sold at a 20% discount for three days during the opening.

There were two floors in the department store, but the second floor had not been completed yet. It was going to be left for the future.

The first floor was big. The things in the department store were displayed like glittering jewels.

It was everything anyone could want. It was all transported from the college town. The people over here did not have a lot of these things before, and it was very new. Many people in the town looked at the goods with wide eyes.

But they were just looking. Some people didn’t buy anything. If they did, they were buying something they did not have. After all, it was on sale now. Everything was clearly priced, and it was relatively inexpensive.

There were some people who did come to buy things. For example, the clothing factories had opened recently and recruited young male and female workers. There were also dormitories in the factory. If a person moved to the dormitories, they had to buy new things.

Things like bed sheets could be brought from home, but many people bought toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste and towels.

The 20% discount was for three days. If they bought something now, even if it was not used immediately, it could be kept for later on.

There were three clothing factories, all of them were relatively large. One factory had about 40 workers, which meant that the three factories had more than 100 workers.

And it was still in the beginning phases. Once it is fully running, they would have to recruit people in the future.

Because of these factories, many families in the town had a way to advance in life. The factory wages were good. It was said that wages were calculated by how many pieces they finished. As long as they were not lazy, they could earn 20 yuan a month.

If they were lazy, then that was another matter.

There were two managers and two cleaners in the department store. Additionally, there were three sales employees, for a total of seven workers.

Manager Chen and Feng Fangfang also had to do the same work as a sales person. In the past, all the people who sold goods in this department store looked down on people. Now, they were very friendly to all the customers.

Because of this, everyone seemed to enjoy shopping there.

In the next few days, the amount of sales they had were not very high, but it was still a good start.

However, Ji Jianyun frowned when he saw the report. The sales were really not high. During the first five days, there were three days of discounts, and two days of normal prices.

But after five days, and after deducting the capital cost, profits were reduced to almost half. Among the things sold, the watermelon and strawberries he shipped were the best sellers, and the other items that sold well were some knitting wool balls and some homegoods.

In short, after deducting the labor costs, the profit was very small.

But Ji Jianyun was not discouraged. The department store was still empty. As long as it wasn’t losing money, he would continue to run it.

Ji Jianyun became even busier. It was because the watermelons were ripe. At the same time, cherries were about to hit the market.

Since Ji Jianyun was very busy these days, when Lao Qin asked for the new products, he had to come and pick them up the day before. When he was selling strawberries, he also had to come and pick them up. It took several large baskets. Each time he came, all of them were sold out at the end of the next day. It was the same for the watermelons.

The watermelon was good. It was sweet and refreshing. It was delicious, so it was very popular.

Aside from Lao Qin, some other vendors would also come to pick up goods, but not a lot. There was also Su Jindang, who also came to take some goods back.

Although Ji Jianyun’s department store was also in the town, the price of the fruits were the same. It did not affect the sales of Su Jindang’s shop.

When the department store opened, Ji Jianyun greeted all the customers. In order to attract them, eggs were discounted. Live chickens were not sold, but watermelons and strawberries were also discounted. Everyone would definitely come to buy things because of the discounts, so Su Jindang told them about the discounts and not to go to his shop.

Su Jindang naturally supported Ji Jianyun.

Once the prices went back to the original prices, Su Jindang continued to sell things from his shop. The department store was near the factory. It was about half an hour away from Su Jindang. Generally speaking, as long as the price was equal, people nearby would not go to the department store to buy things.

What’s more, there were so many businesses in the town. How much effect was there with one more store?

The businesses all did their own things.

Ji Jianyun asked Ji Jianye to start delivering goods to the college town.

He should be making two deliveries in one day.

After breakfast in the morning, he was to take the truck to the shop, and then he could have lunch when he came back. After lunch, he was to take a second trip to Jiangshui City to set up a stall. For this second trip, Ji Jianyun had to go with him.

Ji Jianye was in charge of selling, and Ji Jianyun was in charge of collecting money.

It was going to take about four or five days before all the watermelons were sold out.

Since Ji Jianye started working, he didn’t really have any time to rest. Every day, he had to drive everywhere.

Ji Jianyun had intended to give him a break, but the cherries were ripe.

Cherries could not be delayed. After picking them, they had to be sold. After quickly picking a batch in the morning, they would deliver them to Jiangshui City to sell. As for Lao Qin, Su Jindang, and the others, they had to go over to pick up the goods. Father Ji was left to deal with them.

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Ji Jianyun and Ji Jianye continued to be busy. They went to Jiangshui City and the cherries sold out. Everyone in the orchard had picked a lot of cherries. Ji Jianyun and his brother took a break during lunch time, and then drove to the college town.

Generally, when they were driving back home, it would be nearly seven o’clock in the evening.

They were so busy. The entire fruit season would take about two or three months. When one fruit was ripe, it would soon be time for another fruit to be ripe. In short, even if they had free time, it would not be long.

He was busy until there were only a few persimmon trees bearing fruits. The timing for ripe persimmons was a little late, so Ji Jianyun gave Ji Jianye a few days off to rest.

Next time, his job was to just deliver the goods to the college town.

Ji Jianye was blunt with his brother. He thought that driving would not be tiring, but unexpectedly, it was harder than his farm work!