Chapter 246: Qi Yunna's Persistence

Wang Jie's internet café hadn't opened yet, but eight stores under Yuanfang had already opened.

These eight stores were leftovers from the previous opening.

Last month, eighteen stores had finished their renovations. Due to insufficient manpower and resources, Li Dong had initially chosen only ten to open.

The remaining eight stores were scheduled to open at the end of the month.

December 31st.

On the last day of 2005, these eight stores quietly opened their doors.

The opening of these eight stores was very low-key.

So low-key that Li Dong almost forgot about it. If Liu Qi hadn't mentioned it, Li Dong might have completely forgotten.

When Liu Qi brought it up, Li Dong suddenly remembered, "I almost forgot about this. It's quite a situation!"

With eight stores opening simultaneously, Li Dong, as the boss, had forgotten about it. He felt quite embarrassed.

He had set the opening date himself, but recently, Li Dong had been focused on the price war, so he had genuinely forgotten about this.

However, it wasn't entirely his fault. These eight stores were just not significant enough.

Among the eight stores, one was a Level 3 store, two were Level 4, and five were Level 5. In terms of scale, the combined size of these eight stores was still less than a single Level 2 store.

It was understandable for Li Dong to forget about them.

Besides the small scale, there was another point: five of these eight stores were located in the Yao Hai district.

Since the Longhua store opened, Yao Hai had become Yuanfang's stronghold.

With a few small stores opening in the stronghold, it was understandable that not only Li Dong but also the senior management at Yuanfang had little interest.

Everyone's attention was focused on the ten frontline stores, which were crucial for Yuanfang. Winning would solidify Yuanfang's leading position, while losing would mean losing significant market share in Pingchuan.

At this juncture, who had the time to care about a few small stores opening?

It was not a big deal if others didn't care, but Li Dong had to.

Performance was one aspect, and there was also a special position among the Level 5 stores—the store manager.

Li Dong thought for a moment and asked Liu Qi, "Has Qi Yunna started her position?"

Liu Qi might not know about others, but she certainly knew about Qi Yunna.

Hearing Li Dong's question, Liu Qi quickly replied, "Yes, she has started. Manager Qi is currently overseeing the Yao Hai Four store."

Li Dong tapped the table, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Let's go take a look."

…

Yao Hai Four Store.

Qi Yunna, who Liu Qi mentioned was overseeing the store, was currently busy carrying goods.

After moving the last box, Qi Yunna was sweating profusely. She gasped and asked the girl next to her, "Xiao Xu, is anything missing?"

The girl called Xiao Xu quickly responded, "Manager, nothing is missing."

Then, with admiration, she added, "Manager, you're so strong. Both Chen Jie and I couldn't move it, but you did it all by yourself."

Qi Yunna felt a bit disgruntled by the compliment. She would have preferred not to receive such praise.

When did Qi Yunna fall to the level of relying on physical strength to get by?

Ignoring Xiao Xu, Qi Yunna turned to the girl by the cash register and asked, "Xiao Yu, what are the sales figures?"

Xiao Yu glanced at the computer, checked it, and after a moment said, "Thirty-two thousand. Manager, business is really good!"

Upon hearing the sales figure, the few employees in the store looked excited.

Of course, there weren't many people in Yao Hai Four Store.

Besides Qi Yunna, there was one cashier and two sales assistants, making a total of just three employees. Otherwise, Qi Yunna wouldn't have had to personally handle the goods.

While others were excited, Qi Yunna was frustrated.

Thirty-two thousand in three hours of opening was too little!

At this rate, if the store closed today, the sales wouldn't exceed eighty thousand.

The Yao Hai Four Store wasn't very large, about a hundred square meters. The location was decent, so eighty thousand would only be considered slightly above average.

Even if it were above average, Qi Yunna wouldn't be satisfied. She aimed to be number one!

Other Level 5 store managers might be content with their position, without pressure or ambition.

But she had been a city manager before, once standing at the pinnacle and enjoying great success. How could she be content being overshadowed by other Level 5 store managers?

If she wanted to rise again, she had to outperform everyone else, and it had to be indisputable.

Otherwise, if she couldn't even manage a Level 5 store, what right did she have to be a manager? She couldn't afford to lose face.

Thinking this, Qi Yunna glanced outside the store, gritted her teeth, and said, "Move some items outside to set up a display. I'll attract customers!"

Others were stunned. It was winter, and the cold wind outside was biting. The manager was going to set up a stall outside? Was she risking her health for performance?

…

Not considering others' thoughts, when Li Dong and Liu Qi arrived, they saw a splash of red in the cold wind.

The red was the standard work uniform for Yuanfang's openings, not very warm and suitable for air-conditioned environments.

But with the outdoor temperature approaching freezing, Qi Yunna was out there setting up a display in her work uniform.

Li Dong was taken aback, while Liu Qi looked on with sympathy and said, "Manager Qi is working so hard. I hope she doesn't catch a cold."

Li Dong raised an eyebrow and told Zhou Haidong to stop the car.

From across the green belt, Li Dong watched Qi Yunna for a while. In the cold wind, Qi Yunna was loudly trying to attract passing pedestrians.

Li Dong stroked his chin, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Liu Qi said, "Mr. Li, I'll go and persuade her to come back inside for a rest. Her voice is almost frozen."

Li Dong glanced at her and said淡淡, "I didn't force her. This is her choice. If you feel sorry for her, you can join her outside."

Liu Qi pouted but didn't say anything. Though she felt sympathy, she wasn't inclined to share the hardship.

In the middle of winter, without even a windbreak, standing outside for even half a day would be enough to give her frostbite. Liu Qi had no desire to endure that.

Li Dong watched for a while longer and told Zhou Haidong, "Let's go back."

Liu Qi couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to take a look?"

"Have looked. What's the point of looking again?"

Li Dong replied淡淡ly and leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes to rest.

Liu Qi muttered something under her breath, which Li Dong didn't catch clearly, but he could guess it wasn't flattering.

Li Dong couldn't be bothered with what she said, but he had a higher opinion of Qi Yunna.

Whether it was for show or ambition, at least Qi Yunna hadn't given up.

Li Dong cared about this core store manager.

Otherwise, for a Level 5 store, no matter how impressive the performance, Li Dong wouldn't have come in person.

Now seeing Qi Yunna's efforts, though it seemed somewhat reckless, this was exactly the kind of determination Li Dong wanted.

But this was just the beginning. Li Dong wasn't sure if Qi Yunna could maintain this effort. If she could keep it up for a year or so, Li Dong wouldn't mind helping her further.

For now, it was up to Qi Yunna herself, Li Dong thought to himself.