Our Rise Era

Chapter 4 Starting over

Three fifteen in the morning.

The night sky is dotted with stars and the moon hangs in the sky, casting a faint silver light, adding a bit of mystery to this quiet night.

Occasionally one or two taxis passed by, their headlights streaking across the street, leaving long streaks of light.

Outside the grocery store, bags of garbage were sorted and piled at the door.

Inside the house, Zhang Yang and Fatty Yuan wiped each item very carefully, and Zhang Yang changed the Chinese labels of each item to English labels. Since it was impossible to change the ones that were already stamped, Zhang Yang simply piled them all together and placed them in the newly designed [Premium Domestic Products Area].

In just a few hours, the grocery store that was once messy and smelled strange was now clean and tidy, exuding a comfortable tea aroma.

Well, it looks a bit like that.

"Brother Zhang, is it useful if we organize it this way?"

"Whether it's useful or not, the first impression we give to customers is very important. It's always right to make it cleaner and more comfortable so that customers can stay longer. From now on, we will clean the grocery store every day and make sure it stays in its current state at all times..."

"Oh, Brother Zhang, I'm going to take out the trash, and I'll take a look at the situation at the advertising company..."

"Go!"

Fatty Yuan walked out of the grocery store and headed towards the trash can with bags of garbage.

Zhang Yang felt a little sleepy, but he did not rest. Instead, he walked to the computer, connected the speakers, and found some French light music from this world on the pirated website.

He listened carefully to one song after another, and after selecting a few melodies that Zhang Yang thought were very romantic, he adjusted the volume of the speakers to a level that would not disturb others. He simply tried the speakers, and when he confirmed that the speakers were still usable and sounded quite tasteful, he nodded.

Then he went to the mirror and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked pale, frail, and extremely haggard.

He shook his head, quite dissatisfied with his current state.

He gave an instinctive smile.

Not sure if it was because of the strange face in the mirror or some other reason, but Zhang Yang felt that his smile in the mirror looked particularly strange.

This kind of smile is definitely not suitable for greeting customers!

He lowered his head, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, recalled the feeling when he faced customers in the front line, and tried hard to find the best state every time he communicated with customers.

After a long time, he opened his eyes and practiced various smiles in front of the mirror until his facial muscles began to stiffen. Only when the smile he showed in the mirror made him feel a little more comfortable did he nod.

"Zhang...Brother Zhang, your smile in the middle of the night is really creepy...Brother Zhang, are you okay?
"fine……"

When Zhang Yang turned around, he saw that Fatty Yuan had appeared behind him at some point and was looking at him timidly.

Zhang Yang shook his head, then looked at Fatty Yuan, who looked exhausted, and said after a long pause, "What did the advertising company say?"

"They are already here, right at the door..."

"Oh, okay, you go and have a rest first, I'll talk to them about the door design..."

"But……"

"Leave it to me next. You've worked hard today. Have a good rest. Tomorrow will be more important."

"Well, then! Brother Zhang, I'm going to take a nap first. If you need anything, you can always come to me..."

"Okay, let's go."

Fatty Yuan hesitated for a while, and after looking at Zhang Yang's serious expression, he finally couldn't resist his sleepiness and nodded.

He turned his head to the bed not far away and fell asleep.

................................................

In the early morning, the golden sunlight of the rising sun shines on the roofs and streets of the small county town, creating a peaceful and tranquil scene.

The breeze blew gently, bringing a hint of coolness and waking up the small town that had been sleeping all night.

The streets gradually became lively.

Fatty Yuan woke up from a nightmare, gasping for breath in sweat.

After calming down for a long time, he got down from the simple wooden bed and walked into the grocery store.

As soon as I walked into the grocery store, I smelled a fragrant aroma.

He looked around subconsciously and saw clean and tidy counters and goods all with various handwritten labels.

These [labels] don’t seem to be in English?

Yes……

What text?
Fatty Yuan looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what the symbol on the label meant.

Well, but the handwriting is very beautiful, as if it was printed out on a computer.

Just when Fatty Yuan was in a trance, the morning light shone into the grocery store from the window, accompanied by the sound of soft music, which made Fatty Yuan, who had limited education and could not express any words of praise, confused for a moment.

In a trance, he looked forward and saw that the sign in front was already completed!

The sign is very simple, with just a pure white [ZY] and a line of small words [From1882] in the corner.

He saw Zhang Yang standing at the door with a smile on his face, greeting every passerby.

When a curious passerby walked in, Zhang Yang was particularly enthusiastic, serving tea and pouring water, and explaining the origins of each piece of equipment in great detail, mixing English and, um, a language that Fatty Yuan had never heard of...

Fatty Yuan's mind went blank. What language is this?
The customers were also a little confused by what they heard. Although they didn't understand, they showed awe to Zhang Yang and instinctively felt that this grocery store was extraordinary.

"Are these things products from the PRC?"

"Yes, every product here is carefully selected from local sources. You won't find the same ones anywhere else!"

“How much is this cup?”

"One hundred dollars!"

"One hundred yuan? Wait, so expensive? Other cups are only five yuan, why do you want one hundred yuan for this one..."

"Ma'am, I just said that every cup here is unique. After you buy this cup, please pay attention to our store. We will give you an extra mysterious gift from PRC on Member Day..."

"What gift?"

"Membership Day hasn't started yet. Sorry, I can't reveal it for now..."

"Well, then, let me confirm this cup again. Are you sure it's from the PRC?"

"Sure, I'll compensate you tenfold if it's fake. If you think this cup is not worth a hundred dollars, you can go here. This is our boutique domestic products area. The cups there are only four dollars... You should know where PRC is, right?" "Of course I know. It's a good place."

"..."

In the early morning light.

Fatty Yuan looked at Zhang Yang, who was smiling and seemed polite.

Zhang Yang's flamboyance at this moment made Fatty Yuan feel extremely unfamiliar.

like……

He has an oriental elegance and refinement mixed with a bit of western gentlemanly temperament. He looks like an international student who has lived abroad for many years, or a scholar who has studied art.
but!
What shocked Fatty Yuan even more was that the purchase price of that cup was only 3 yuan, but he dared to ask for a sky-high price of 100 yuan!
Is this a joke?
These are clearly from the same batch of cups as those in the so-called [Fine Domestic Products Area]. Apart from the different patterns and some extra English letters, everything else is exactly the same.

Then, the customer just took a look at the cups in the [domestic area] and shook his head, unable to let go of the so-called PRC-produced cups.

"Boss, this cup can be cheaper, how about 90?"

"Sorry, we don't bargain in our store..."

"95?"

"I'm really sorry, our shipping costs are very high. Actually, the cups in the [Fine Domestic Area] are also good. Both models are of the same type. In fact, strictly speaking, their textures are..."

"Forget it, forget it, one hundred is one hundred!"

"Okay, I'll help you pack it."

"Okay. By the way, let me take a look at these bamboo artworks. The prices of these bamboo artworks are..."

“This price is one thousand yuan!”

"What, one thousand dollars, so expensive?"

"This is a work designed by Mr. Rutherford in the 19th century. We don't have many samples here... Of course, there's no point in buying these. Many people won't know the value of them if they are placed at home. You can go to our [Fine Domestic Area], where the bamboo artworks are cheap, ranging from fifty to sixty yuan, with a high cost-performance ratio, and..."

"Can it be cheaper, 1,000 yuan?"

"Feel sorry……"

"Boss, can you give me a lower price? I'll take 950. I'll bring you some clients. My friends are all rich. You can rip them off. They'll still want you even if the price is doubled... You can think of it as small profits but quick turnover..."

"Ma'am, thank you for your support of our [ZY Grocery], but I'm sorry, we really can't offer it at a low price. The head office has given us a specific price. Ma'am, in fact, the [Fine Domestic Area] also has similar ornaments. If you need them, we will buy them from the [Fine Domestic Area]. What do you think?"

Zhang Yang's smile was still polite, without any emotional fluctuations.

The woman's face turned slightly red, as if she had been shocked by something. She shook her head without even looking over there: "Forget it, forget it, one thousand yuan is one thousand yuan! You help me pay for it!"

"Row!"

Fatty Yuan was stunned.

He wiped his eyes and thought he was dreaming!
Oh shit!

Didn't I wake up?

The purchase price of bamboo artworks is 30 yuan. It would be considered a big deal if others could double the price, but Brother Zhang's price increased by dozens of times!

This is such a money grab!

But seeing that middle-aged woman paying for the item, she looked so happy...

Fatty Yuan began to not understand.

Even after watching Zhang Yang enthusiastically send the middle-aged woman to the door, he still felt his ears buzzing.

"Brother Zhang, this..."

"One thousand dollars, do you think it's expensive?"

"Yes."

"Fatty, did you see that car?"

"I see. Yes, it's Audi?"

"Did you see that woman getting into the car?"

"Ah, I saw it!"

"Have you observed the woman's attire?"

“Um…Brother Zhang, I don’t know what dressing up means…” Fatty Yuan nodded, but still asked in confusion.

Zhang Yang did not speak. He waited until the woman got into the car and drove away before he smiled. “Some vain women tend to excessively pursue perfection in their appearance, whether it is clothing, hairstyle, makeup, or body curves. They always pursue higher standards and more praise. They will blindly shop for the pursuit of fashion and work hard to lose weight. What they pursue behind these behaviors is often the eyes and praise of others…”

"From her clothes, the way she walks, and her appearance, I can tell she is a vain person. After chatting with her, I can tell she pursues vanity, but doesn't want others to treat her as a vase. Although she lacks culture, she longs for some artistic recognition to make herself less vulgar..."

"For people like this, you don't have to lower your price by even a penny. Just talk to them about art, stories, origins, cultural differences between China and the West, and quality..."

"..."

Zhang Yang patted Fatty Yuan on the shoulder and said meaningfully: "For every customer, we have to start with their appearance and conversation, conduct a simple analysis of them, and then prescribe the right medicine... Don't think of us as sellers, you should think of us as service personnel. Our responsibility is not to sell things, but to package each product, find a suitable owner for them, and collect a part of the service fee..."

Fatty Yuan nodded, not quite understanding.

Seeing Zhang Yang come to the computer and make an account for 19 yuan, he began to wonder, "Brother Zhang, but our bamboo artwork was clearly brought from the local area. It was just something an old man tinkered with. You lied to him and said it was designed by Mr. Rutherford in the th century. Would this be..."

"We never lie to anyone. Do you remember the old man's last name?"

"It seems like, the surname is, Lu?" Fatty Yuan was stunned.

"Did that old man's ancestors ever go to France? Was there a person named Lu Yifu? Did he proudly introduce his ancestors?"

"It seems, it seems..." Fatty Yuan widened his eyes, then took a breath and said, "Brother Zhang, you..."

"You ask the old man to come over, I'll talk to him, and you can say... um, wait a moment..."

Just as Zhang Yang was about to say something, he suddenly saw his mailbox shaking.

After a while, he saw the reply from Youth Digest. He pushed his glasses and smiled strangely: "Tell the old man that I hired a great writer to write a great article for him to help him become an artist!"

"????"

(End of this chapter)