The Second Store Event Begins

Mid-April.

Chen Pingsheng had accomplished two major things. One was building a massive cold storage facility in Beixinan.

The other, of course, was investing in a TV drama. As an uneducated outsider, he had now set one foot into the entertainment industry.

On the 15th of this month, the first store distributed another round of dividends.

The net profit was just over 70,000, and Song Yanxi personally took home less than 40,000.

She was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. That night, she playfully dressed up as a rogue policewoman, even bringing out a whip to "punish" this scoundrel.

Chen Pingsheng, however, felt like he was being rewarded rather than punished.

Even when he pointed it out, she stubbornly refused to admit it.

She clung to him for a full hour.

For Song Yanxi, having a stable household income meant she no longer had to live in constant anxiety.

As long as they could maintain a steady income of 30,000 to 40,000 per month, life at home would be quite comfortable.

She was easily satisfied. Chen Pingsheng, on the other hand, felt like this was just the beginning.

He was already planning to buy a fully furnished 300-square-meter apartment when little An An started primary school.

Pre-sale properties didn't interest him at all.

If he was going to buy a home, it had to be move-in ready.

After scouting around, he found that fully furnished apartments in Beixinan had already surged to 21,000 per square meter.

If he wanted a place with a prime location and a great view, it would cost at least 21,200 per square meter.

That added up to around 7 million in total.

He was confident that he could make that money by May.

The second store's daily foot traffic had already reached 500 and was still climbing.

As for the third, fourth, and fifth stores, they were still in the early stages of attracting customers.

He planned to launch a recharge campaign in June.

If he earned all that money in just one month, he was worried he might get too carried away.

Meanwhile, the headquarters remained quiet. After setting up the cold storage, the core goal for the month was to control fruit spoilage within the industry benchmark of 5%.

To achieve this, he rolled out several strategies.

First, he joined an emerging food delivery platform.

Second, he introduced a fruit slicing service in all stores.

This idea was borrowed from major chains—essentially, prioritizing convenience.

Most fruit stores that offer pre-cut fruit face high labor costs, so their fruit prices are usually at least 30% higher than those that don't.

But since he wasn't relying on profit margins to make money, it didn't matter.

At least until the recharge campaign ended, this approach had huge benefits.

Once the campaign was over and he had locked in a loyal customer base, he could simply raise the prices.

Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket was becoming increasingly well-known in Beixinan.

Time flew by, and soon it was the end of April.

The second store on East Street had successfully attracted an initial wave of customers.

With May Day approaching—a peak season for fruit sales—Chen Pingsheng had stocked up 2,000 cases of durian two weeks in advance.

When he bought them, durians were priced at 560 per case, with a net fruit weight of around 35 pounds per case.

That came out to roughly 16 per pound.

In just two weeks, durian prices had already risen to 750 per case.

This was the advantage of having his own cold storage—buying fruit at low prices and selling at high prices.

Many major fruit wholesalers operated the same way, especially with apples. Some would buy them cheaply at the source, store them for a year, and sell when prices soared.

That was how you made serious money.

His scale was still small because he didn't have many stores yet.

But these 2,000 durians were more than enough.

They wouldn't just supply the second store—stores three, four, and five would also use them for their recharge campaigns.

"Alright, same strategy as before."

In the headquarters office, Chen Pingsheng gathered Liu Jing, Chen Hao, and the others for a meeting.

"On May 1st, the second store on East Street will officially launch a major recharge event. Aside from the usual 1,000 recharge deal, this time, customers who recharge 3,000 can choose any five fruits."

One fruit for 1,000, five for 3,000—the offer was even more tempting.

Many businesses, especially hair salons, often used discount cards for recharge promotions.

For example, recharging 1,000 would get you a 20% discount, 3,000 a 40% discount, and 5,000 a 50% discount—the more you recharged, the cheaper your spending became.

While these promotions were attractive, they could easily alienate new customers later on.

Imagine getting a haircut priced at 68.

A customer who recharged 5,000 only paid 34, while a new customer had to pay double.

How would that new customer feel?

Most would think they were getting ripped off.

"Why should I pay so much more? This is a scam!"

To avoid that frustration, Chen Pingsheng refused to use discount cards.

His approach was simple: charge upfront, offer instant benefits, and ensure future purchases were priced the same for everyone.

That way, he could set fair prices without inflating them just to accommodate membership discounts.

This strategy was based on careful consideration of real-world market conditions.

"The recharge target for the second store in May: 4 million."

If he could actually hit 4 million, then with his "golden finger" system's random multiplier—even if it landed on just 5x—he would have nearly 10 million.

That wouldn't just cover the 3 million he still owed for the TV drama investment; he'd have enough left to buy a house outright.

To reach this goal, he needed his team to go all out.

Meanwhile, he could just sit back in his office and watch the money roll in.

"Listen up, if we hit this target, Store Manager Chen Hao gets a 10,000 bonus. Other employees will get bonuses ranging from 3,000 to 8,000."

For employees, that meant an extra month's salary. For the store manager, the same.

With everything set, the second store—open for nearly two months now—was ready for a full-scale push on May 1st.

—

May 1st, Labor Day.

Not only did students get a seven-day holiday, but most adults and parents were off as well.

The only ones still working were those in the service industry and small businesses.

East Street had always been the busiest commercial district in Beixinan.

On public holidays, it was packed with people.

Parents took their kids out—not just for fun, but to buy them food and supplies.

The second store wasn't located in the heart of East Street but was near a residential area.

Its storefront was spacious and well-lit.

To attract customers, Chen Pingsheng shamelessly put up a giant banner: "Free Durians!"

A total scam.

And he even stacked 200 cases of durians outside—nearly a thousand durians piled up like a small mountain.

The scent of durians filled the entire street.

Whether they intended to visit or not, people couldn't help but stop and take a look.

To handle the rush, he pulled four additional cashiers from his other stores.

Now, six people were stationed at the registers, ensuring customers paid before they had a chance to change their minds.

This kind of promotion didn't require sales tactics.

If customers wanted the deal, they recharged. If not, no one pressured them.

It was classic "fishing with no bait—only those who wanted the deal would bite."

Even with this laid-back approach, by the end of the day, Chen Pingsheng heard the most beautiful sound.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. Today's income: 160,000. Would you like to activate the random multiplier?"

A strong start—320,000 in recharge sales on day one.

Spinning his chair, he glanced at his balance, which had been drained from store investments and the TV drama.

Now, the money was rolling in again, giving him a deep sense of security.

"Activate."