Chapter 82: Losses?

Eighth Day of the Lunar New Year

On the third floor of the Dongping Supermarket.

The small conference room was crowded. Qi Yunna, the manager of the Nanping store, was asking Sun Tao, "Mr. Sun, I heard that Mr. Li is giving out year-end bonuses today, is that true?"

"Mr. Sun, can you reveal how much it will be?" Guo Mingzhi, the manager of the Hechuan store, chimed in with a smile.

Xie Hong, the manager of the Qingyang branch, glanced at the two and teased, "Even if there are year-end bonuses, with your performance, there probably won't be much."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yunna quickly dismissed Sun Tao and retorted, "Old Xie, don't stand there and act smug! The Qingyang branch has such good conditions and the most resources from Mr. Li. With your performance, you still have the nerve to show off!"

"Exactly!"

"If I were the manager of the Qingyang branch, the performance would definitely be better."

...

Other managers chimed in to refute, as Xie Hong had incurred everyone's ire.

Xie Hong looked embarrassed, scratched his head, and muttered, "So what if my performance isn't as good? You might not do better if you were in my place."

Seeing them argue, Sun Tao continued to smile and remained silent. He turned to Fang Hao, who was quietly standing by, and asked, "Manager Fang, are you feeling much pressure?"

Fang Hao, the newly appointed manager of the Dongping store, responded nervously, "Mr. Sun, to be honest, I am under a lot of pressure."

Everyone knew the situation in Dongping; it was the place where Li Dong started.

Doing well was expected, but failing would be seen as incompetence.

Fang Hao had previously resented Yang Yun, believing she had taken his position.

However, once Yang Yun left and he became the store manager as he wished, he felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him. In just half a month, he felt almost overwhelmed.

Seeing this, Sun Tao patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Do well. Since Mr. Li has entrusted you with this important role, he has confidence in you. Trust yourself. Over the past half month, both Mr. Li and I have seen your performance, and you've done very well."

Fang Hao immediately expressed his gratitude, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed a bit.

As everyone chatted, Li Dong walked into the conference room.

He scanned the room and, seeing that everyone had arrived, cupped his hands and smiled, "First, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you all for your hard work last year!"

"Not at all, not at all."

"Happy New Year, Mr. Li!"

"..."

Everyone responded enthusiastically, and Li Dong waved for them to sit down.

Once the room quieted, Li Dong continued, "We've been too busy before the New Year, so we didn't have a chance to gather everyone. Today is a belated annual meeting."

"I won't say too much idle talk. Today, I have a few things to discuss. Of course, distributing bonuses is one of them."

As soon as Li Dong finished speaking, the room erupted in applause.

Seeing this, Sun Tao immediately said with a smile, "Mr. Li, once you mentioned bonuses, everyone's spirits lifted."

Li Dong also smiled, "We didn't give bonuses at the end of last year. These guys must have been secretly complaining about my stinginess."

"Not at all, Mr. Li, please don't accuse us," Qi Yunna quickly interjected with a smile.

Li Dong didn't refute but just smiled and said, "Since Manager Qi said so, Manager Qi's year-end bonus will not be issued."

Qi Yunna immediately wilted, making everyone laugh heartily.

After the laughter subsided, Li Dong continued, "We're not rushing to distribute the bonuses. It will happen eventually. First, let me report on the performance of Yuanfang last year."

The crowd first laughed, then settled down to listen attentively to Li Dong.

"The first store, Dongping branch, opened on August 1, 2004. As of February 8, 2005, which is New Year's Eve, it has achieved a profit of 8.2 million yuan."

As Li Dong finished speaking, the room erupted in applause.

Everyone congratulated Fang Hao. Though the achievement wasn't entirely his alone, as the current store manager, it was attributed to him.

Eight million profit in half a year made Dongping store truly number one.

Li Dong then continued, "The Qingyang branch opened on December 8. By New Year's Eve, it had a profit of 3.25 million yuan."

Everyone congratulated Xie Hong again. Although 3.25 million was less than Dongping's figure, it was important to note it had only been open for two months.

Li Dong did not interrupt and waited for everyone to settle down before continuing, "The Nanping branch had a profit of 2.82 million yuan."

"The Hechuan branch… earned 2.48 million yuan."

"The Yanghe branch… earned 2.3 million yuan."

Li Dong listed the profits of the Qingyang branches in one breath and then continued, "Finally, the Longhua store, which had the shortest opening time. It opened on January 24 and, as of February 8, in just half a month—earned 2.6 million yuan!"

"Clap, clap, clap!"

The applause in the conference room grew even more enthusiastic. Half a million in just half a month was truly unexpected.

Even with the end-of-year peak driving the profits, earning over five million in a month was astonishing.

What excited everyone even more was seeing a bright future. With such high revenue-generating capability, Yuanfang had a promising future.

Li Dong cleared his throat and waited for everyone's excitement to calm down before smiling, "So, the total profit of the six stores last year was 21.65 million yuan."

As if fearing that people wouldn't be surprised enough, Li Dong threw another bombshell, "The total amount of shopping vouchers sold for the six stores was 26 million yuan!"

"Boom!"

The crowd was truly stunned this time.

Although shopping vouchers didn't count as profit, they still represented cash reserves.

In just six months, Yuanfang Supermarket accumulated nearly 50 million yuan in cash revenue. This number was enough to shock people.

To be honest, even companies ten times larger than Yuanfang might not be able to produce 50 million yuan in cash.

Retail cash flow is usually the most significant. Even though some IT industries are valued more than Yuanfang by ten or a hundred times, their available cash might not match Yuanfang's.

Everyone was whispering and discussing, with joyful smiles on their faces.

Seeing their excitement, Li Dong added, "However, there were considerable expenses last year. The major costs were renovations and rent, totaling around 20 million yuan."

Everyone was prepared for this, as just the renovation and rent for the Longhua store exceeded ten million yuan.

Despite this, Yuanfang still had ample funds remaining.

Li Dong saw their excitement and didn't rush to speak.

After waiting for the excitement to die down, Li Dong turned to Liu Dongjian and asked, "Director Liu, tell everyone how much money we have on the books now?"

Hearing Li Dong's question, Liu Hongmei, the newly appointed financial director, stood up and said, "After deducting other expenses, we currently have 56.65 million yuan in cash, with 32.2 million yuan in pledged funds."

After Liu Hongmei finished speaking, everyone remained excited, but Li Dong sighed and said, "So, after subtracting the money from shopping vouchers and pledged funds, I actually lost 1.55 million yuan last year?"

Everyone knew Li Dong was joking and laughed.

On the books, it appeared Li Dong had indeed lost money. In reality, however, he had acquired six stores, a logistics company, and a house.

These alone were worth over 20 million yuan, meaning Li Dong had a net gain of over 20 million in just half a year.

For an ordinary person, this amount was astronomical.