CHAPTER 1497: CHAPTER 1496: BUSINESS ISN’T GOING WELL

Ye Qiu just woke up. It’s Saturday, no need to go to school, and he’s planning to relax a bit.

After washing up and having breakfast with his parents and sister, as the three returned to the dining room, Ye Qiu planned to first check out the two new supermarkets opened by Liu Lingxiu’s parents, which should be up and running by now.

Ye Qiu got in the car, and his phone rang. It was a call from Ling Fei.

"Ling Fei, it’s me."

"Ye Qiu, I just heard from my dad that there’s a rumor of ghosts at the old house." Ling Zhengwei had already heard that several neighbors near the old house had encountered ghostly occurrences, two consecutive nights already.

Ling Zhengwei was feeling a bit scared, thinking Ye Qiu might have orchestrated it. But it seemed unlikely.

"Ghosts? Let them be!" Ye Qiu said.

Is there really such a thing as ghosts in this world? Many people believe, but haven’t really encountered them. Ghosts are actually spirits lingering in the world, existing in another form.

Like the abandoned building site that the Su Family bought in the suburbs, there’s a massive ghost market underneath it, but not everyone can encounter it.

"Do you think it’s true? If so, maybe we shouldn’t build there," Ling Fei said.

Now, all sorts of rumors have been spreading around there.

Ye Qiu thought Ling Fei was really too naive, so he said, "Ling Fei, just tell your dad to pick another place for an apartment building instead, leave the old house as it is, and best to tell those neighbors—if they want to sell, I won’t buy."

"Okay, I’ll tell my dad right away."

Their own people are fooled; by that time, the neighboring owners will be scared.

Ye Qiu wouldn’t need to use any force to make those neighbors leave. He believed that eventually, those people would beg him to buy the surrounding houses.

After Ling Fei hung up, Ye Qiu headed to the small supermarket run by Liu Daqing and his wife, Zhang Yuehong was there alone.

"Auntie, where’s Uncle Liu?"

"He went to check on the two new supermarkets. They’ve opened but business hasn’t been great," Zhang Yuehong said.

"When did they open?"

"Last week!"

Once the renovation was done, they opened for business.

Ye Qiu hadn’t noticed.

But now, he definitely needed to take a look.

Ye Qiu didn’t stay there and drove to one of the new supermarkets.

Upon arrival at the supermarket, he parked the car and went inside, recognizing two staff members—a cashier and a manager he’d met before.

However, there really weren’t many customers inside.

Ye Qiu went in and noticed a strong smell of fresh paint, which was unpleasant. If left to disperse naturally, it might take over half a year to go away.

With that smell, no wonder there were no customers.

"Where’s your boss?" Ye Qiu asked.

"We don’t know," the female manager replied.

"Close the door for now," Ye Qiu said.

The strong odor was surely affecting business. Although regular people might not notice, customers would feel uncomfortable and subconsciously choose not to stay and shop. They wouldn’t return next time either.

The two women couldn’t understand why they were closing the door.

After the last customer left, Ye Qiu pulled down the shutter, let the two women out, and completely absorbed the toxic gas inside, significantly changing the atmosphere.

When he raised the shutter again, he said, "Come back inside and take a sniff."

The two women went in and indeed, the unpleasant odor was gone, making it much more comfortable inside. Previously, it had been suffocating and somewhat nauseating.

Ye Qiu didn’t leave soon, but sat there waiting for Liu Daqing to arrive.

About twenty minutes later, he saw Liu Daqing arriving on an electric scooter. For the past week, he and his wife had struggled to sleep due to poor business at both supermarkets, doubting whether they were cut out to be business owners.

Seeing Ye Qiu there, Liu Daqing was surprised and asked, "Ye Qiu, when did you arrive?"

"Uncle Liu, come in and smell if there’s any scent left in here?"

"It’s gone; it feels much better in here."

"Uncle Liu, you should have informed me before opening. The smell hadn’t been dealt with and it affected normal business."

"I did ask Lingshow to inform you, but you were off on a trip to Lianyungang," Liu Daqing said a bit sheepishly.

So that’s why. No wonder, without taking care of the toxic gases here first, it would affect the supermarket’s business.

"Uncle Liu, let’s go check out the other one."

Having just come from the other supermarket, Liu Daqing went back with Ye Qiu, this time riding in his car. "Both places aren’t doing well, and we have to pay four people’s salaries."

"Uncle Liu, don’t worry. Business will pick up soon."

Even if the first location was bad, they did well. These two should fare better.

Liu Daqing found it hard to believe, but trusted that Ye Qiu knew what he was talking about.

At the third supermarket, Ye Qiu parked the car and went in with Liu Daqing, finding it mostly empty with a strong odor.

Then, after the last two customers left, Ye Qiu asked the two women to leave, pulled down the shutter, and absorbed all the noxious odors.

After about fifteen minutes, Ye Qiu finished his task, opened the shutter.

"Uncle Liu, don’t worry; business will definitely improve next week," Ye Qiu said.

Liu Daqing didn’t know what to say, just realized there was no more unpleasant smell inside.

Ye Qiu didn’t stay longer, got back in the car with Liu Daqing, dropped him off at the second supermarket where he picked up his scooter. Ye Qiu didn’t linger either.

Leaving there, Ye Qiu headed to an Imperial Cuisine Restaurant branch. Arriving, he noticed the building had already risen three stories high, with workers busily engaged.

It should be fully completed by the first half of next year.

Seeing the hustle, Ye Qiu didn’t stay, recalling what his father mentioned last night about wanting to take a photo with Mr. Bernard for memory.

Since, according to his father, that racing "prince" was quite a celebrity.

Ye Qiu called Mr. Bernard, asking, "Sir, where are you? I’d like to treat you to a meal."

"Dr. Ye, we’re resting at the hotel." the elderly gentleman replied.

With that, Ye Qiu drove to the four-star hotel near the Affiliated Hospital. Arriving there, he found Mr. Bernard and the younger Bernard had just gotten up.