Our Rise Era

Chapter 5 You are the Artist
11 month 3 day.

Saturday.

After the heavy rain, although the sun came out in the morning, the temperature dropped sharply in the morning.

A gust of wind blew, bringing a bit of chill.

After simply changing the sign to an English one that was difficult to understand, Fatty Yuan clearly felt that the store had attracted a lot more customers.

No matter where they were going, pedestrians along the way would subconsciously stop and look at this strange sign that suddenly appeared out of curiosity...

Some of them came into the store to drink a cup of chrysanthemum tea under Zhang Yang's warm invitation, and looked around the clean and tidy store...

Some asked about the price, drank their tea, said a few words of praise, but left without buying anything...

Some people looked at the sign and were curious, but they didn't dare to come in when faced with the ostentatious smile, fearing that this was some high-end place...

……

Zhang Yang always smiles.

Whether buying or not, he always looks as cheerful as spring breeze, introducing each product to everyone gently and carefully, and making cup after cup of chrysanthemum tea and handing it to every customer who enters the store or stops to watch.

Gradually, the grocery store sold a lot of goods. Although most of them were cheap goods in the domestic area, the turnover and profits increased several times compared to before, and it was even busier than when it first opened.

In the endless stream of people.

Fatty Yuan felt like a mute.

At first, she followed Zhang Yang and imitated him, trying hard to put on a warm smile and clumsily making cup after cup of chrysanthemum tea.

But later on, I became increasingly aware of my many shortcomings.

He stood behind Zhang Yang and helped diligently while keeping a close eye on the way Zhang Yang communicated with different guests, forcing himself to memorize everything. He even took out a notebook when he had some free time, wrote down every word Zhang Yang said, and practiced it over and over again in his mind, putting himself in Zhang Yang's shoes.

[I'm not smart, and I can't help Brother Zhang much right now, but please don't hold me back]

【The more I learn now, the better! 】

[Don’t be shy. You absolutely cannot be shy when doing business! ]

【I must serve the guests well! 】

【…】

Looking at Zhang Yang busy in the distance, Fatty Yuan silently cheered himself up.

After resting for a while, he walked over and helped Zhang Yang as much as possible.

noon.

There is a slight decrease in customer traffic in the store.

Zhang Yang looked at Fatty Yuan's serious expression, smiled slightly, and then counted the morning's turnover.

In the morning, thanks to the large order received in the morning, the total sales volume was about 1500 yuan.

With a turnover of 1500 yuan, the total profit is 1312 yuan!
Zhang Yang pushed his glasses, then took out 800 yuan from the drawer and handed it to Fatty Yuan.

"Brother Zhang, this is..."

"Here's the 800 yuan for you. You can deal with some urgent matters first and have a good talk with the bank. Try to repay the loan in installments. Tell the bank that our store and people are here and we will not run away. We will pay back the money every day and will never be a deadbeat..." Zhang Yang said, looking at Fatty Yuan.

"it is good!"

Fatty Yuan nodded, and then saw Zhang Yang took out 400 yuan and handed it to him: "Keep this 400 yuan for your pocket money. We are going to live a hard life in the future, and the expenses will be high. You should spend it frugally, but there is no need to blame yourself. Haven't you been craving for seafood recently? Let's go and have a good meal at noon today. Leave the store to me..."

"But, Brother Zhang, you only have one hundred yuan left, and you still have to pay for the store expenses. You...you haven't slept since yesterday...How about I come to the store at noon and you can go and have a rest."

"It's okay, you go first..."

"But, Brother Zhang, I don't want this money. Let's fix the store first, and then we can..."

"Don't talk nonsense! There are many things I need you to do next. You should eat and drink well first and conserve your energy. I can't hold on any longer tonight, so you have to take over!"

Zhang Yang stuffed 400 yuan into Fatty Yuan's hands without giving him any chance to refuse.

Fatty Yuan took the 400 yuan with a sour nose, but after seeing Zhang Yang's irresistible expression, he finally nodded: "Then I'll bring you some!"

"it is good."

After Fatty Yuan left, Zhang Yang took a short rest in front of the counter.

Then, the mailbox vibrated.

Both articles were accepted by "Yilin" and "Reader's Digest".

The other party also quoted a price for the manuscript fee. Yilin was 200 yuan per article.

One of the articles, "The toilet water in the French [ZY] head office is drinkable!", is planned to be placed at the top of the page, with an additional 30 yuan, a total of 430 yuan, and is planned to be published in the next issue, 20071108.

Reader's Digest was a little more generous, charging 220 yuan per article, but neither of the two articles was published at the front page, a total of 440 yuan, and was scheduled to be published in the next issue, 20071108.

As for publications such as Story Club, both articles seemed to have been rejected and there was no response. Zhang Yang did not plan to wait any longer.

The total shortfall was 10 yuan, one for the header and one for the non-header. Zhang Yang hesitated for a while and fell into thought.

The magazine's standard payment for manuscripts is 300 to 600 yuan per thousand words. Zhang Yang's two articles are less than a thousand words, and he is a newcomer, so it is a reasonable price.

However, Zhang Yang still chose to reply to the email of "Yilin" to discuss the issue of royalties, and said that he could write many more similar articles.

Yilin responded quickly and officially, saying that this was the price unanimously decided after the leadership meeting and that the manuscript fee could not be changed. However, they promised that if there were similar "high-quality" manuscripts in the future, they would increase the manuscript fee...

After seeing this response, Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes.

Nowadays, these magazines are big and powerful, and newcomers have no qualifications to negotiate royalties at all. At the moment, I have a grocery store to run and I am heavily in debt. I really can't go there in person to negotiate for a few dozen dollars.

Zhang Yang finally nodded in agreement.

However, there was one request, he wanted to provide the illustrations for [ZY]'s store.

This request was not excessive, and the other party didn't have to look for materials, so they quickly agreed.

Afterwards, Zhang Yang went to the next door to borrow a camera and pointed it at the door of [ZY] and some of the goods in the store. After taking the photos, he uploaded them to his email and sent them.

The other party quickly sent an online contract. Zhang Yang printed it out and mailed it out from the nearby post office. Next, he waited for the other party to send sample issues and royalties after the contract was in place.

After doing all this, Zhang Yang couldn't resist the sleepiness any more and took a nap in front of the counter.

But I didn't expect that I would doze off until three o'clock in the afternoon.

Waking up from a trance, Zhang Yang saw Fatty Yuan had changed into a brand new outfit without him knowing when. With a silly smile on his face, he clumsily imitated himself and greeted every customer.

Although he didn't exaggerate anything like himself, his sincerity helped him sell many orders for the products in the [Premium Domestic Area].

When he saw Zhang Yang wake up, he hurried over after serving the client and picked up the thermos box next to him: "Brother Zhang, the lunch is still hot, have a bite first!"

After he finished speaking, he scratched his head awkwardly: "I couldn't sell that batch of PRC products, but I kept the price of [Premium Domestic Area]. This is the bill for what I sold, take a look..."

Fatty Yuan gave Zhang Yang a bill.

Zhang Yang didn't look at the bill, but stared at Fatty Yuan and said seriously: "You are the boss too, from now on we just need to check the turnover every day..."

"Okay! Brother Zhang, we have guests. You eat first and I'll go get busy... Or, you can take a rest this afternoon. Brother Zhang, trust me, I can do it!"

Fatty Yuan looked at the guests who walked in from outside.

After hesitating for a while, he seemed to be talking to Zhang Yang and to himself, then he walked over with a warm smile.

"it is good."

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

at dusk.

sunset.

Zhang Yang woke up.

After he walked out, he saw Fatty Yuan coming in and excitedly showed him his afternoon sales: "Brother Zhang, I sold 200 yuan this afternoon, with a profit of about 120 yuan. These are some items..."

"pretty good!"

"Brother Zhang, that old man Lu who makes bamboo art products is here. I asked him to come in through the back door. He is sitting in the warehouse now..." After putting away the bill, Fatty Yuan spoke again with great interest.

Zhang Yang nodded, then frowned, and after a moment he stared at Fatty Yuan seriously: "From now on, no matter what the occasion, we must call him Teacher Lu. This is a respect for others and for ourselves."

"Ah? Okay, okay, I understand!" The fat man was stunned at first, but then nodded quickly, and followed Zhang Yang towards the warehouse.

In the warehouse, Fatty Yuan saw Zhang Yang smiling and stretched out his hand: "Teacher Lu..."

The dirty, lame old man was stunned. After a moment, he stretched out his hand awkwardly: "Well, just call me Lao Lutou, Lao Lutou will do... I used to be a basket weaver, making some small things to sell for money, I can't be a teacher, I can't be a teacher..."

"No, from now on, you are Teacher Lu!"

Zhang Yang looked at the lame old man, but his eyes did not contain any mockery or contempt. Instead, he shook hands with him very seriously, then carefully helped Old Man Lu to sit down at the tea table not far away, and made him a cup of tea solemnly: "In art, there is no high or low, no old or young, only the wise can be the teacher..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)