Chapter 165: A Favor

Duman wrapped dumplings that evening.

Xu Fei drank half a catty of liquor. Recently, he had been through too much, experiencing what felt almost like life and death.

Yet.

He could not speak of these things to Duman and the others.

After all.

Everything was already in the past.

Mentioning it would only cause needless worry for his family.

"You seem very happy tonight?"

Lying in bed, Duman reached out and pulled Xu Fei into her embrace.

It had been a long time since she had held him like this.

"Yes, I really am happy. Just a few months ago, that fellow Ma San was hounding me for debts, even threatening to use you as collateral."

"Mmm."

"Now, I am the general manager of a store. Would you say life is full of unexpected turns?"

Duman nodded.

"Actually, as far as I'm concerned, how much money you earn or what kind of person you become isn't all that important. What I want to see is that you've changed—that you've become more like the man of this house. That's what I longed to see the most."

Duman's words left Xu Fei slightly stunned.

The previous Xu Fei had indeed been somewhat self-abandoning and hopeless.

Xu Fei lowered his head and looked at Duman in his arms.

He thought to himself: Whatever I am doing now can be considered repaying the debt on behalf of that former self.

Duman noticed Xu Fei looking contemplative.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking that our days are going to get better and better."

"Mmm."

Duman nodded resolutely, then pressed her cheek against Xu Fei's chest.

The steady, powerful beat of his heart quickly lulled her to sleep.

...

The next day.

Xu Fei woke up very early.

After breakfast, he headed straight for the store.

He unlocked the front door himself.

Picking up a broom, he swept the shop, and by the time he finished tidying up, the employees had all arrived for work.

"Good morning, everyone."

Xu Fei smiled and greeted the incoming staff.

Zhang Mingyang had already introduced him to them yesterday.

Therefore, all three of them knew Xu Fei's identity.

"Good morning, Manager."

The speaker was Sister Du, a woman in her late thirties who had previously worked as a clerk at the old Donghai Number One Department Store before it went under due to poor management.

"Sister Du, right?"

"Yes."

Xu Fei smiled and said, "I've heard about you from Manager Zhang. You're a seasoned veteran in supply and sales with plenty of experience, so you'll need to guide the others well in the future."

As he spoke, he looked toward the other two younger employees—a man and a woman.

"Your name is Zhang Hongjun?"

"Yes."

The male employee looked to be about twenty-three or twenty-four, with a sharp and clever appearance. He smiled and bowed to Xu Fei.

"Keep up the good work."

Xu Fei then looked at the final female employee.

"You're Qi Xiaoying, aren't you?"

"Yes."

This female employee was in her early twenties, reportedly just a year out of high school with very little social experience.

"Sister Du, I'm leaving Zhang Hongjun and Qi Xiaoying in your hands. Starting today, Sister Du is the store manager of our shop."

Xu Fei said, taking the lead in applauding.

The two younger employees also smiled and clapped, and Qi Xiaoying even playfully bumped her shoulder against Sister Du's.

"You're treating us to dinner tonight!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but Xu Fei heard it clearly.

"Of course Sister Du is going to treat you. However, this meal is on me. You guys just pick the place, Sister Du."

Hearing this, the three of them smiled and clapped even more enthusiastically.

Xu Fei smiled and said, "All right, everyone back to work. Let me know the venue once you've discussed it."

With that, he turned and walked toward the back.

Just as he stepped into his office, he saw Zhang Mingyang push the door open and follow him in.

"Why didn't you stay home and rest for a few more days?"

"Oh, I knew there were a lot of things to handle here, and besides, I'm not that tired."

Seeing him say this, Zhang Mingyang pulled over a stool and sat down opposite him.

"You know what? There really is one matter on our end that needs urgent attention right now."

"What is it?"

"It's about the shop directly across the street from us. I heard they've also opened for business, and their business scope is household appliances as well."

Xu Fei smiled.

"That's great. Only when competitors gather in one place can there be more business opportunities."

"But do you know how much they're selling a television for right now?"

"How much?"

Zhang Mingyang held up three fingers.

"Three hundred?"

"You bet! At that price, is there any profit left for anyone? Three hundred! The state-run department store sells them for five hundred and fifty, and our previous price ranged between four50 and five hundred. We've only been open for half a month, and as soon as they arrived, they slashed prices to this unsustainable level. Tell me, how are we supposed to sell our televisions now?"

Xu Fei nodded.

"Are their televisions also made in Nanjing?"

Zhang Mingyang shook his head and said, "Not these. I've never seen this brand before. It seems to come from some small factory in the south. However, I quietly inquired over at the Nanjing Television Factory, and they've never heard of any domestic television factory producing that brand either."

"What brand is it?"

"Hemisphere. Yes, that's the brand."

Xu Fei thought for a moment and said, "Three hundred... actually, we could sell at that price too. But right now our procurement cost is two hundred eighty, so that would leave our profit margin far too low."

"Exactly. Rent and labor alone cost us a thousand yuan every month. Add in other expenses, and it comes out to around seventeen or eighteen hundred. We'd have to sell eighty or ninety televisions just to break even."

Xu Fei furrowed his brow slightly.

"Fourth Brother, you've got to come up with a countermeasure."

Xu Fei nodded.

"If we get into a direct, head-on price war with them over this, I think it will only result in mutual destruction."

"Then what should we do? These past few days, our customer flow has clearly dropped a lot compared to before."

"What about the situation across the street?"

"Them? Ha! They've snatched away all our customers. Right now, people are apparently crowding in there so hard they're nearly crushing their own heads."

Xu Fei said, "That's to be expected. A price of three hundred is only half the cost at the state-run department store, and it's a huge discount compared to ours as well."

"Naturally. People always hope to spend the least amount of money to buy the best things. But I feel like there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. A three-hundred-yuan television—how is that even possible? Are their televisions made of paper paste?"

Hearing him say this, Xu Fei abruptly raised his head and looked at him.

"Third Brother, you're right. Since their televisions are so cheap, there's a strong possibility that there are quality issues."

"Ah?"

Xu Fei thought for a moment.

"Third Brother, let's do this: we will continue selling at our original price."

"Continue selling?"

"Yes."

"Will that work?"

"Rest assured."

Xu Fei had already devised a plan in his mind.

He instructed Zhang Mingyang to keep selling at the original prices.

Then he left the store and headed to the cinema.

Finding Old Three An, Xu Fei asked him to help track down Feng Lun.

Xu Fei had crossed paths with this young man before and felt that he had a very sharp mind.

"Brother Xu, you were looking for me?"

Feng Lun also held a favorable impression of Xu Fei.

Furthermore.

He particularly admired Xu Fei's capability.

"Feng Lun, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"A favor? Brother Xu, why are you being so formal with me? Just say the word."