Chapter 39: Sun Tao's Ambition

Since there were still some tasks to wrap up from closing the stall, Li Chengyuan and his wife didn't stay long in the supermarket and went to the market.

Li Dong sent his parents off and then walked to Sun Tao's office.

Sun Tao's office was on the third floor of the supermarket.

Initially, the second floor and above of the Blue Sea Shopping Mall were planned to be divided into small shops for rent. By the time the construction was completed, most of the walls had already been built.

Although Li Dong bought the place and demolished some of the walls, he still kept a few shops as offices.

When Li Dong entered, Sun Tao was discussing matters with Yang Yun.

Seeing Li Dong, both of them quickly stood up to greet him.

With Yang Yun present, Li Dong felt a bit awkward and signaled for them to sit down.

Although he reminded himself that Yang Yun was now just an employee and not his future mother-in-law, he still felt uneasy.

Sometimes, he really wanted to fire Yang Yun, but thinking about the consequences made him abandon that thought. He was afraid that if he did, his future mother-in-law might hold it against him.

Turning his head to avoid looking at Yang Yun, Li Dong said to Sun Tao, "Brother Sun, am I interrupting?"

"Hehe, not at all. Mr. Li, you arrived just in time. We were actually planning to look for you."

"What's up?"

Li Dong asked. He tried to give Sun Tao more autonomy regarding the supermarket and didn't involve himself in minor matters.

"Let Manager Yang explain first. I'll talk about my matter later," Sun Tao said, signaling for Yang Yun to speak.

Li Dong nodded and turned to Yang Yun, "Manager Yang, is there a problem on your end?"

He instinctively wanted to call her "Aunt Yang," but held back. Work was work, and trying to curry favor with his future mother-in-law wasn't the right time.

Yang Yun didn't notice Li Dong's hesitation and said, "It's not a big deal. The supermarket has a large cash flow. Recently, several banks have contacted me, hoping we would move our company account to their bank. Mr. Sun asked me to get your opinion on this."

Sun Tao rarely involved himself in financial matters, so even though the issue was minor, he didn't make a decision on his own.

Li Dong was pleased with Sun Tao's approach. He could leave other matters to Sun Tao but preferred to handle financial issues himself.

Changing the bank account wasn't a big deal. Li Dong shook his head and said, "Forget it. The Construction Bank has been working well with me, and my loans are with them. No need to trouble ourselves with this for now."

He didn't ask what benefits the other banks offered; he wasn't interested in petty gains.

Most likely, it was something like waiving management fees. Li Dong couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.

Hearing Li Dong's refusal, Yang Yun didn't say more.

This wasn't a big deal and wouldn't affect the supermarket. If Sun Tao hadn't insisted on avoiding suspicion, there wouldn't have been a need to ask Li Dong.

...

Yang Yun didn't leave after reporting and Sun Tao didn't directly address his matter. Instead, he said to Yang Yun, "Manager Yang, please tell Mr. Li about the recent profitability."

Li Dong realized Sun Tao's matter was related to this and nodded for Yang Yun to continue.

Yang Yun then took out her notebook and reported, "Since the end of the month hasn't arrived yet, we haven't finalized the detailed accounts. I'll give you a rough overview. We opened on the 1st, and as of yesterday, we've been operating for eight days."

She paused and continued, "In these eight days, the total sales of the supermarket amount to 4.8285 million, with a gross profit of around 1.2 million."

As soon as Yang Yun finished speaking, Li Dong's face lit up with excitement. "So much! A profit of 1.2 million in just eight days?"

In just eight days, the profit exceeded one million—almost like printing money!

"Cough, cough!" Sun Tao interjected, breaking Li Dong's excitement. "Mr. Li, Manager Yang mentioned gross profit."

"Oh, then what about net profit?"

Li Dong then remembered that employee expenses hadn't been accounted for yet and asked.

"Excluding rent, the net profit is about 800,000," Yang Yun answered after calculating for a moment.

Li Dong was taken aback. The difference of 400,000 was quite shocking!

The Yuanfang Supermarket didn't have rent, so how could there be such high expenses in just eight days?

Both Yang Yun and Sun Tao knew Li Dong might not fully understand and explained to prevent any misconceptions. Yang Yun clarified, "Just the taxes amount to about 300,000."

"Damn!"

Li Dong couldn't help but curse, "Such high taxes, the tax authorities are robbing us!"

Originally, he thought making so much money in eight days was akin to robbing others, but it seemed the authorities were even more impressive, demanding money from you willingly.

Sun Tao and Yang Yun didn't comment. Taxes were unavoidable unless one falsified accounts.

Li Dong complained a bit but wouldn't engage in tax evasion. He still hoped to earn big and enjoy life without risking everything over this.

After the initial shock, Li Dong stopped dwelling on it. Paying more taxes just meant making more money, so there was no need to be unhappy about it.

Sun Tao waited for Li Dong to calm down before continuing, "Since it's just the start, the sales figures might be somewhat inflated. Based on my estimate, the average daily sales in the future should be around 300,000 to 350,000. After expenses, the monthly net profit should be around 1.2 to 1.5 million."

"So that means the annual net profit could be over ten million?"

Although Li Dong had done some calculations, hearing about an annual profit exceeding ten million was still hard to believe.

Excluding the 4 million for the property, the supermarket's investment wasn't too high, totaling just over 2 million.

Moreover, expenses like renovation were one-time, meaning no further investment was needed for at least five years. It seemed the initial investment could be recovered in the first month—this was incredible!

"If the market doesn't change much, a ten million profit should be achievable."

Saying this, Sun Tao also felt some regret. While he knew the first to enter the market would profit, he didn't expect it would be this lucrative.

To be honest, Sun Tao regretted not being the one sitting and counting the money.

If not for the accident back then, perhaps he would be the one profiting now.

But there's no use in regrets; it's pointless to dwell on what's happened.

The main issue was he lacked the capital and was still in debt, unable to borrow money. Otherwise, Sun Tao really wanted to leave Yuanfang and start afresh.

Of course, these were just fleeting thoughts.

Yuanfang Supermarket had already established a foundation. If it could grow bigger, his 10% share might be worth as much as going solo.

These thoughts quickly passed through Sun Tao's mind. Seeing Li Dong still immersed in surprise, Sun Tao interrupted, "Mr. Li!"

Li Dong finally came back to his senses and said awkwardly, "Brother Sun, please continue."

"I think, since the supermarket's profitability can't be hidden from those with keen eyes, someone might already be interested. Shouldn't we consider implementing our chain plan earlier?"

"So soon?"

Li Dong finally fully realized. The chain supermarket plan was part of the future vision he had discussed with Sun Tao when inviting him to join.

But Yuanfang Supermarket had only been operating for a week. Li Dong hesitated for a moment and said, "Isn't it too rushed? We haven't prepared many things yet."

Sun Tao shook his head, disagreeing. "Though it's a bit hasty, time waits for no one. Yuanfang Supermarket's success is due to being the first in Dongping, capturing the entire Dongping market. Currently, large domestic and international stores are fighting for market share in second- and third-tier cities. Once that settles, their focus will shift to county-level cities."

Li Dong fell silent. He understood Sun Tao's point, but taking such a big step seemed risky.

If things went wrong, all the efforts so far could be wasted. Was it worth it?

As Li Dong pondered the risks and rewards, Sun Tao and Yang Yun remained silent, waiting for Li Dong's decision. Yuanfang Supermarket was Li Dong's responsibility.