I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

Since we're going to open a fruit shop, some preparations need to be done in advance.

First, there's the storefront. Yan Jiefang's courtyard house is right next to the alley, and just a few steps to the east is the bustling Jiaodaokou South Street.

After discussing it with his wife, they decided to use two vacant rooms in their yard as the shop.

In this day and age, setting up a legitimate sole proprietorship is quite troublesome and time-consuming.

Even at the fastest, it will take nearly a month and a half.

If you encounter any difficulties, it might take up to six months to complete the process.

Fortunately, with Yan Jiefang around, everything is proceeding at the fastest speed.

Putting aside his status as an Olympic champion, he could easily resolve any difficulties he encountered.

While processing the documents, Yan Jiefang also took the documents to the street office to obtain a house renovation permit.

The next step is to hire a construction team to start work.

This time, he plans to renovate three rooms with a reverse-facing layout.

The room on the far end that used to be used for bicycles has been converted into a car garage, so that people will have a place to park their cars when they buy one.

The two rooms in the middle were connected to form the storefront of the fruit shop.

Everything else remains the same.

After obtaining the retail individual business license, he used this document and other certificates to apply for the purchase of a BJ212.

Buying a car in those days was very troublesome, unlike in later generations when you could just pick it up directly from a 4S store.

First, it must be registered under a sole proprietorship name, and cannot be registered under an individual's name.

Apart from foreign guests, it was virtually impossible for private individuals to own cars under their own names during this period.

Secondly, it is necessary to investigate the source of funds and the purpose of the vehicles.

Once all of this is done, you can go back and wait for approval.

Even after the approval process is complete, you can only take the documents to purchase a car.

Then comes the tax and insurance process, all in one go.

Finally, it is also necessary to apply for very important gasoline supply coupons.

At that time, fuel rationing was in place, and private individuals without fuel coupons couldn't get fuel at all.

Issuance of creditworthiness certificate and berth certificate: 3-7 days.

The city's vehicle purchase approval process takes 15 to 30 days.

Payment, vehicle pickup, tax payment, and insurance purchase: 3-5 days.

Vehicle inspection, registration, fuel receipts, and road maintenance fee processing: 7-10 days.

The entire process went smoothly, with all flights arriving within 40-60 days.

Even Yan Jiefang spent more than half a month to get all these things done.

Afterwards, he hired a driver to take the 212, which cost him more than 30,000 yuan, to the garage that had already been repaired.

He doesn't have a driver's license yet, so the car will have to be left for now until he comes back from his trip south and gets his license.

This matter is not that easy.

As for Liu Ruyan taking her driver's license test?

just forget it.

After all, the BJ212 of this era did not have power steering or power brakes.

With her small arms and legs, she really couldn't do something like that.

And you also have to learn car repair when you take the driver's license test...

On this day, Yan Jiefang rode a borrowed tricycle back to the store entrance, carrying various fruits he had bought from the Dazhongsi Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Market, and "just happened" to meet Liu Lan, who was there with her child.

She walked over very enthusiastically.

"Jiefang, are you back from delivering goods? We've run into you, let us help you move them."

She pulled her daughter to the back of the truck bed and deftly picked up the fruit.

Yan Jiefang could tell from her expression that something was wrong, so he didn't refuse.

"Thank you very much, Sister Liu."

With Liu Ruyan from the store joining them, the four of them quickly moved all the fruit from the truck into the store.

Liu Ruyan took the oranges and handed them to the two of them:

"Sister Liu, Tingting, thank you so much for your help today. Have some oranges to quench your thirst."

Liu Lan quickly waved her hand:

"No, it's just a small favor, this is too much of a expense."

Liu Ruyan insisted on putting oranges into their hands:

"Hey, these are all items from the store, just normal wear and tear, they're not worth much."

Liu Lan and her daughter then accepted the offer.

She looked at the brand-new fruit shop and the neatly arranged fruits on the shelves, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:

"Jiefang, Ruyan, do you need any more staff? What do you think of my daughter?"

Yan Jiefang and his wife glanced at Zhao Tingting; both families used to live in Mianhua Hutong.

Moreover, they are located directly opposite each other.

Although we don't interact much, I know Zhao Tingting quite well.

The child is now in her twenties and looks quite like Liu Lan; she is quite pretty.

She's a bit introverted, so being a sales clerk might not be a good fit for her.

However, during this period, there is basically no need to hawk fruit.

All you need to do is place a Yanwu tape recorder at the store entrance.

Yan Jiefang realized that Liu Ruyan couldn't possibly run the shop on her own; at least two employees would be needed to help.

They know Zhao Tingting very well, so recruiting her shouldn't be a problem.

The two looked at each other and nodded.

Yan Jiefang said to Liu Lan:

"Since Sister Liu has spoken, and we've been neighbors for many years, recruiting Tingting is naturally no problem, but there are some rules we need to agree on in advance."

To avoid making things awkward for everyone later.

Upon hearing Yan Jiefang's words, Liu Lan was immediately delighted and quickly responded:

"Thank you so much, Liberation! Please tell us the rules, we'll listen and promise not to break them."

...

Shortly after hiring Zhao Tingting, they hired another employee.

This girl is Liu Guangtian's eldest daughter, Liu Jingjing.

Liu Jingjing is only 18 years old this year, just one year older than Yan Xueqian.

She is as tall and thin as her father, Liu Guangtian.

After observing for a while, Yan Jiefang found that both girls were very diligent, which reassured him.

Because Liu Jingjing's home was quite far away, for safety reasons, the Yan family also prepared a side room as a staff dormitory for her to live in.

Normally, this fruit shop is managed by Liu Ruyan and two other girls.

Yan Jiefang continued living a similar life as before, basically detached from worldly affairs.

The business was fairly good for the first month.

After all, there are only two stores nearby, including theirs, and most customers buy from those two stores.

After deducting all costs, the net profit for the month was over 2100.

The amount of money startled Liu Ruyan, and she counted it many times before confirming it.

This is the first time I've ever seen someone make so much money running a fruit shop.

That's more than she earned in three years!

In the second month, business improved even more as the number of regular customers increased.

However, the fruit shop owner on the Jiaodaokou side noticed that someone was stealing his business and started to have some ulterior motives.

This situation is actually very common in this era; it can be said to be a frequent occurrence.

As long as I don't catch anything, I'm a legitimate businessman.

But this time...