CHAPTER 396: CHAPTER 391: TAKING A RISK

Yu’er expressed her concerns to Fang Pingying about their family, "I want to send some money back home to my parents. When I called last time, my parents weren’t home, and my elder brother answered the phone. He said that our dad has not been well health-wise since falling ill last New Year’s. His health has been poor throughout this year."

Fang Pingying, upon hearing this, anxiously asked, "Did Second Uncle go to the hospital to find out exactly what’s wrong with him?"

"He did go to the county’s hospital, but they never specified the illness. He just keeps coughing and has lost a lot of weight," Yu’er sighed, her tone full of worry, "Considering dad’s age, he still has to work in the fields every day. Even when sick, he still drags himself to work. My brother and his wife are not filial; they just let him be ill. I really worry that dad’s condition might worsen into something serious."

Fang Pingying was aware of the issues in Yu’er’s family. Her sister-in-law, Yu Fen, was a daughter-in-law without much conscience and likely wouldn’t care whether Second Uncle was ill or not.

She discussed with Yu’er, "How about I ask you to take a few days off to go back and check on Second Uncle?"

Yu’er hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "I won’t go back for now. My dad is very stubborn; even if I go now, he won’t visit the hospital unless he decides to. Right now, I’m thinking of sending some money back home for mom to take dad to see the doctor. Once I save up a bit more money, and if dad’s health still isn’t better, I’ll bring them to a hospital in the provincial city."

Fang Pingying thought that was a good idea, as the hospitals in the provincial city were definitely better than those in the county. She said, "Don’t wait, it might be good to bring Second Uncle to the provincial city now for a check-up. If money is the issue, you can borrow from me first."

As she spoke, Fang Pingying was about to give Yu’er some money.

Yu’er quickly stopped her, "Sister-in-law, please don’t. I still haven’t repaid you for the money for dad’s hospitalization during the New Year. I simply can’t ask for more from you."

"Forget about that money, Second Uncle’s health is more important," Fang Pingying advised Yu’er, "Make sure to clarify everything when you call home. At their age, they really shouldn’t delay treatment, or it might develop into something serious."

Yu’er nodded, "I’ll think it over in a few days."

Fang Pingying asked Yu’er a few questions about Luo Dahu’s illness, but Yu’er said it wasn’t anything serious, so Fang Pingying didn’t press further. She told Yu’er to discuss any issues with her, and if necessary, to let Second Uncle and his wife come to the city to visit a hospital for peace of mind.

Subsequently, she turned her attention back to her business ventures.

Although the income from the snack shop and the clothing store she partnered with Juzi in was not bad, with the added income from Uncle Zeng’s side, Fang Pingying was earning at least several thousand yuan per month, and in good times even over ten thousand yuan, making her quite wealthy for the time. But no one ever complains about having too much money.

Moreover, different incomes lead to different expenditures.

With more family members, naturally, expenses have risen. Now that money isn’t an issue, Fang Pingying no longer was as frugal as before, painfully scrimping and saving on everything.

Besides, Fang Pingying understood that holding money would never lead to growth in any era; money needs to make more money.

Actually, Fang Pingying had been harboring an idea—to open the first large-scale chain supermarket in the provincial city, reminiscent of those in the late previous era.

Although a supermarket functioned similarly to the department stores of the time, managing a supermarket was easier.

The department store was previously state-owned, the employees who worked there felt like they were fed by the state, and thus were not enthusiastic towards customers. They operated on the attitude of if people want to buy they can, otherwise leave it, resulting in the loss of many customers.

Later on, the store was contracted out and the service improved a lot, but it became too singular. Even though it made money, each counter was contracted to sell only specific items, leading to limited growth.

Fang Pingying was thinking of opening the first supermarket in the county, just like modern supermarkets, where there was everything, all-encompassing. Customers could freely pick what they wanted and then pay at the checkout counter, which would undoubtedly attract customers.

Moreover, in this era, supermarkets were a novel concept, and after opening one, it could indeed make a considerable amount of money.

To be honest, opening a supermarket, Fang Pingying barely had enough funds to open a medium-sized supermarket. However, to truly blaze a new trail in a field, it wasn’t enough to just have money; it also depended on connections in various aspects.

Therefore, Fang Pingying thought about it and decided to pull in Juzi and Zeng Weiguo as partners, find a spot in the provincial city, and bring something fresh to the provincial city.

Fang Pingying was impulsive, having a preliminary idea in her mind, she called Zeng Weiguo and Juzi that evening, and they agreed to meet the next day at her clothing store to discuss the idea of opening a supermarket.

Zeng Weiguo had been in business for many years, owning several counters in department stores and had similar ideas long ago. However, starting a supermarket involved investments, connections, and many other factors, not just a matter of a simple decision but involving many complexities.

He had considered it for a while, but due to not finding a partner, he gave up.

Now that Fang Pingying brought it up, he was still hesitant.

Of course, after hearing Fang Pingying’s plan, the three of them calculated together, weighing the amount of capital each needed to invest.

Zeng Weiguo knew roughly how much property Fang Pingying had since most of the significant sums of money in her possession came from his counters, and he could estimate it.

If they were serious about opening a supermarket with Fang Pingying, even if the three of them were to cooperate and set up a small to medium-sized supermarket, each would need to invest over a hundred thousand yuan.

For Zeng Weiguo, a hundred thousand was a small amount, and he could even cover Juzi’s part, but for Fang Pingying, a hundred thousand was nearly all her savings. Zeng Weiguo was worried that if the supermarket incurred losses, Fang Pingying’s hard-earned money could all turn to dust, and she might not be able to handle it.

Thus, Zeng Weiguo thought about advising Fang Pingying, "Xiao Fang, consider it a bit, see whether you want to take this risk."

Juzi had always been a pampered young lady without much ambition for making money. Now, she and Fang Pingying had opened a clothing store together, making several hundred yuan a month and up to a thousand during good times, which satisfied her.

She also advised Fang Pingying, "That’s right, sister-in-law, isn’t it good for you to earn this much money steadily every month? If the supermarket incurs losses, you’d have to start everything from scratch."

But Fang Pingying was full of determination. She laughed and said to Zeng Weiguo, "Uncle Zeng, Juzi, don’t worry. Since I came up with this idea, I am not afraid of losses."

Pausing for a moment, she added with the worst-case scenario in mind, "To put it bluntly, if it really incurs losses, at worst we’ll just start over. When I first came to the provincial city from home, I had nothing to begin with." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it and give monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)