Chapter 33: Frenzy

Cao Fang paid no attention to what Li Dong was thinking. With a cheerful face, she pushed the shopping cart into the promotional area. 

Since the supermarket had a lucky draw event where customers who spent over one hundred could draw a prize, the activity area was crowded with people. 

Li Dong occasionally heard surprised exclamations, indicating that the prizes were quite appealing. 

Cao Fang handed the cart to Li Dong and squeezed into the crowd to enjoy the excitement. 

After a while, Cao Fang managed to squeeze out of the crowd, looking quite excited. "Dongzi, shopping here is such a bargain! After buying everything, you can still enter the lucky draw. I just saw someone win an induction cooker!"

Li Dong rolled his eyes; his mother was really naive. 

He had planned the lucky draw event himself and knew better than anyone how low the chances of winning were. 

There were a total of ten thousand raffle tickets, and the number of prizes worth over one hundred was fewer than thirty, so the person who just won the induction cooker was extremely lucky. 

But despite the low chances of winning, the enthusiasm of the crowd was unabated. The cheers in the activity area were continuous, and even those who won consolation prizes—such as a pair of socks worth only a few cents—were thrilled. 

Cao Fang was eager to try her luck again and, with the receipt in hand, squeezed back into the crowd. 

Li Dong didn't pay her much attention and waved to Fang Hao, the operations manager, who was maintaining order nearby. 

Fang Hao had actually seen Li Dong earlier but didn't approach him, assuming Li Dong was busy with family shopping. However, he had kept an eye on Li Dong, and when Li Dong waved, Fang Hao quickly came over and greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Li!"

Li Dong nodded and asked, "Are the employees managing alright? Is there any problem?"

"Other than a bit of initial confusion, they've adapted pretty well now. The main issue is that there are too many people, and the cash registers are a bit overwhelmed. Also, the lucky draw area is crowded. Mr. Li, do you think we should set up another raffle box?" Fang Hao asked cautiously, keeping an eye on Li Dong's reaction.

Li Dong looked at the layers of people around the raffle area and thought for a moment before nodding, "Set up two more boxes. There are too many people, and it's not safe. Try to get these customers who have finished shopping out quickly."

Fang Hao nodded and said, "Understood. I'll get it done. Also, please call Manager Sun over."

"Okay, Mr. Li!" Fang Hao turned and hurried off to make the arrangements.

Li Dong waited for a few minutes and saw that his mother was still in the crowd waiting for the lucky draw, so he left her to it.

After about three or four minutes, Sun Tao walked over briskly.

Seeing Li Dong, Sun Tao didn't waste time with pleasantries and said urgently, "Mr. Li, there's a bit of trouble!"

"What trouble?"

Li Dong frowned; the last thing he wanted on the first day of opening was an accident that would not only harm the reputation but also dampen the employees' morale.

Seeing Li Dong's concern, Sun Tao quickly waved his hands to explain, "It's not an accident, but we're running out of stock!"

Li Dong's mind momentarily went blank, and he asked in disbelief, "Running out of stock?"

At first, Li Dong thought he misheard. It had only been just over an hour, and the warehouse had merchandise worth five million. How could they be running out of stock already?

"It's not all of it, just some popular items that are about to be sold out. The inventory staff just informed me that a few types of products are running low."

Sun Tao was both happy and worried. Selling quickly was good news, but running out of stock was problematic.

Li Dong sighed in relief, glaring at Sun Tao for not explaining clearly. He had thought the entire warehouse's stock was almost gone.

He knew that there was nearly five million worth of merchandise. If it were really sold out, he'd be ecstatic, as the profit would be nearly one million.

"Don't panic. Call the suppliers to send more stock, and temporarily remove the out-of-stock items from the shelves. We just need to get through this peak period today."

Most of today's shoppers were probably just curious onlookers. After this shopping frenzy, the flow of people would stabilize.

As Li Dong was explaining his plan, he asked, "Do we have the sales figures yet?"

"We took stock half an hour ago. Mr. Li, you might not believe how good the sales are!" Sun Tao's earlier worries had faded, and his face was radiant.

Although he had anticipated good business for the supermarket, seeing the financial report still left him somewhat incredulous.

"Alright, stop keeping me in suspense. How much have we made?" Li Dong, already aware of the bustling crowd, wanted a straightforward answer.

"One hundred fifty thousand! In just one hour, that's a miracle, even in Pingchuan City center!"

"One hundred fifty thousand?"

Li Dong was indeed shocked. The sales figure was so high just one hour into the opening. 

Considering it was 2004, and the supermarket was less than 3000 square meters, it was truly miraculous!

Despite the fact that this was the first supermarket in Dongping, and despite the various promotional efforts and the surprising spending power of the locals…

There were many reasons to believe this data, but Li Dong still found it hard to believe.

A sales figure of one hundred fifty thousand in an hour was something Li Dong could boast about. It would be hard to break this record with a supermarket of the same size in the next ten years!

Despite the shock, Li Dong kept his head clear and said, "Don't get too excited just yet. The initial rush of customers was mostly those who were interested in shopping. The flow of people will probably decrease later, and sales will likely drop."

"I know, but today is Sunday, and there will be another peak in the evening. The sales won't fall much today."

Sun Tao, clenching his fists in excitement, said, "We're aiming to break a million today. I want to create a legend, one that no one can break!"

"Breaking a million might be unlikely…"

Li Dong started to say but noticed Sun Tao's disappointed look and couldn't help but smile. He hadn't expected the usually composed Sun Tao to show such enthusiasm.

Li Dong paused and reassured him, "I believe you can do it. Let's see if you can reach a million. If you do, I'll give everyone a big bonus this month!"

Making a million in a day would mean a pure profit of at least one hundred fifty thousand, so Li Dong didn't care much about the bonus.

But Li Dong didn't hold out much hope. The initial surge in sales was due to the buildup of customers from the extended promotional period. Once these customers were gone, the remaining ones would likely be scattered, making another miracle nearly impossible.

As Li Dong and Sun Tao were talking, the supermarket's PA system suddenly announced, "Congratulations to Ms. Cao Fang for winning a mobile phone! Congratulations to Ms. Cao Fang…"

The announcement was repeated three times, and cheers of surprise erupted from the crowd.

Li Dong's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Sun Tao, seeing this, didn't think much of it and said with a smile, "There were only three mobile phones in total. I didn't expect one to be won so quickly. The luck is pretty good."

Li Dong rolled his eyes and said nothing, but he shot a glare at Fang Hao, who was smiling ingratiatingly from nearby.

He wasn't naive; he didn't believe his mother had such good luck. Even with a one-in-thousand chance, it was still too absurd.

Fang Hao, caught by Li Dong's glare, felt a bit intimidated and quickly turned away with an awkward laugh.

Sun Tao noticed Fang Hao's reaction and frowned, "Is this his doing?"

The lucky draw was managed by the operations department. Although a mobile phone wasn't worth much, internal cheating changed the whole situation. 

Both Li Dong and Sun Tao had not planned any deceit. The supermarket was newly opened, and maintaining a good reputation was crucial. Fang Hao's actions would be detrimental to his future.

Li Dong, seeing his mother pushing her way out of the crowd, waved his hand and said, "Let this one slide since the winner is my mom. But make sure to warn Fang Hao later. I don't want to see this happen again!"

Even though Fang Hao's intention was to please him, Li Dong didn't like rule-breakers. Fang Hao cheating to make his mother win disrupted the rules.

Li Dong was the only one with the authority to break the rules, not others, even not Sun Tao!