Courtyard Houses: Starting as a Purchasing Agent

Hidden among the dense branches and leaves of the tall old locust tree in the courtyard were several cicadas chirping incessantly.

The outcome of the game slowly shifted from the west, eventually being pulled eastward by the setting sun.

Uncle San and Uncle Er played chess all day under the big tree, while Uncle Yi watched them play.

Then two days!

Three days!

In the blink of an eye, ten days or so have passed.

On July 16th, the first shop near the Clock Tower in Beijing finally opened for business.

In fact, the store here had already been renovated several days ago.

A large sign with an old man's face was erected outside. The orange and dark red colors made the store stand out, and the KFC logo could be seen from afar.

As early as five o'clock in the morning, people started lining up in long queues in front of KFC.

Unfortunately, it's not open yet.

"Hey buddy, you're here for KFC too?"

“Yes!” The two young men in the queue chatted happily: “My sister works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a translator. She has been to the United States a few times before. She said that KFC and McDonald’s in the United States are delicious, and she likes to drink Coke the most.”

"Look, she asked me to come over early this morning to queue up and buy her something. Tsk tsk tsk, I really don't know how delicious this stuff is that it could make her so hungry!"

"Hey bro, have you ever eaten here before?"

"No!" another person said, "I only came here because I heard from others that KFC is so delicious, tsk tsk tsk, just to see what it was like, hahaha..."

The line at the entrance was getting longer and longer.

Many pedestrians looked over, puzzled.

"Hey bro, what are you guys doing queuing up here?"

"Buy KFC! I heard they give you a free Coke with every meal purchase. Coke's a great stuff, I hear it's really delicious!"

"I've heard about it too, so I'll join the queue!"

A little while later, someone else came to ask.

"Hey bro, what are you guys queuing for?"

"Get a free Coke! We're giving away free Cokes here!"

What are you doing?

"Free Coke!"

"What are you doing?"

"Line up, get your Coke!"

……

One pass ten, ten pass a hundred.

This rumor is a classic case of "three men make a tiger" (a Chinese idiom meaning something becomes true over time). The first version said that you would get a free Coke (cjbf) after buying a family bucket of instant noodles, but later it became that you would get a free Coke.

Who wouldn't take advantage of such a good deal?

Anyway, I'm just killing time, aren't I?

It's done!

Fortunately, today is the first day of the new store's opening, and Yu Li and her employees arrived early, opening the store at six o'clock in the morning.

It was the middle of summer, and it was already early morning.

However, when Li and her employees appeared at the entrance, she was still shocked by the long queue of about 300 meters.

No!

Are all these people going to eat KFC?

I'm going to be busy today.

"Hurry, hurry...open the door, let's get to work!"

At Yu Li's command, the doors of KFC opened.

A dozen or so pretty young women in matching uniforms began their busy work.

"Hello, the family bucket costs six yuan and seventy cents. Please pay for it, thank you!"

"Huh!" The person being paid looked completely bewildered: "Isn't it always the case that you eat first and then pay?"

The waiter smiled and said, "This is fast food. You pay and eat at the same time. There are a lot of people waiting for us, so please consider it!"

"Good good!"

It's clear that ordinary people are very uncomfortable with this system of collecting money before meals.

But there's no other way, I have to give in.

The first person to get the family bucket meal sat down in the store with his wife and kids and started eating.

"Wow... Honey, this shop is really well decorated!"

"Look how bright it is! Look at this floor, it's so clean and smooth!"

"Look how bright this light is! It must use so much electricity!"

The man's words immediately drew the woman's displeasure.

"Eat up!" The woman glanced at him. "You country bumpkin, aren't you afraid people will laugh at you for saying that? Come on, son, have some Coke. This Coke is good stuff!"

"Delicious, Mom! These chicken wings are so good!"

"Glug glug... Mom, this cola is so delicious, I want more, I want more..."

……

"Sister Li, Sister Li..."

A young girl at the front desk rushed up to Yu Li in a panic, almost in tears: "Sister Li, you have to go and see! Something bad is going to happen! They insist that we're giving away free Coke!"

Yu Li led her people to the front desk and was immediately speechless: Goodness, did they all think we were giving away Coke for free?

Take another look at the long line: Is this it?

If you give out one cup to everyone now, there will be a long line of people waiting to get another one. Many people will get one cup and then go to the back of the line to get another.

Yu Li believes that most ordinary people are capable of doing such a thing.

It wasn't that she was stingy, but this meant she couldn't do her normal business.

We can't spoil them!

So, Yu Li immediately picked up a megaphone and stood at the door, shouting to the group of people about 300 meters behind: "Attention everyone, we are buying a family bucket, and we will get three extra Cokes. Please look carefully, it is clearly written on the promotional leaflet at the entrance of my store, it is not free Coke!"

"Let me say it again, it's not a free Coke giveaway, it's not a free Coke giveaway, it's not a free Coke giveaway! Please make sure you understand before lining up!"

Wow…

really!

Upon hearing this, the exaggeratedly long queue of hundreds of meters instantly dwindled by more than half.

These days, ordinary people mostly benefit from the deals, but few actually want to spend money.

But it didn't matter to Yu Li.

Her first store wasn't for making a lot of money, but rather to test the waters, collect various data, accumulate management experience, and prepare talent reserves and training guidance for subsequent large-scale sales.

At the same time, it was also to increase KFC's brand awareness and sales.

Of course, making money is also a given.

Even though most people have left, the line in front of KFC is still over a hundred meters long.

For a time, the clock tower was a magnificent sight.

Jingle Bell……

Wang Yongjun rode his bicycle with Yu Haitang on the back, passing by the clock tower.

The two of them were on their way to their own tailor shop. The clock tower wasn't usually a place they had to pass by, but the reason they took a detour was because Yu Haitang knew that her sister's shop was opening today and she wanted to see how it was doing.

As a result, from afar, the magnificent sight of the queue came into view.

"This……"

Yu Haitang was so shocked that her mouth gaped open.

"So many people are in line?"

Wang Yongjun gasped in astonishment: "My God, how much money does your sister make?"

Yu Haitang and Wang Yongjun were deeply shocked.

They had never seen a business so booming.

KFC is really amazing.

"Haitang!" Wang Yongjun exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go inside and look for your sister!"