Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 376

Zhang Daya flicked Zhao Dage's head, saying, "You smooth talker, I know you too well. Okay, hurry up and tell me, if there's anything I can help you with, I'll do my best."

Zhao Da'e chuckled sheepishly, "You really can't hide anything from you, Aunt Zhang. I'll get straight to the point. I've come to you today because I need to ask you for a favor. I just renovated my shop, and I'll be hiring employees and running the water business in a few days. So I need some places for the employees to live and for them to work. I don't know anyone here, and you're the only person I know in the county, Aunt Zhang. So I thought I'd come to you to see if you have any rooms I can rent."

Zhang Daya thought it was something complicated, but it turned out to be this: "Big Goose, it's just a matter of a few rooms. Leave it to me. I, Zhang Daya, own a lot of houses. Most of the houses near the shops at the intersection of Sixth Street belong to me, Zhang Daya. I'll pick a floor for you to rent. The first two months' rent will be waived. You can pay the rent when you make money in the future."

Zhang Daya, being wealthy and generous, waived two months' rent for Zhao Dage with a wave of her hand.

First came the rent for the shop, then the rent for this entire floor. Zhao Da'e's eyes lit up instantly—this was an unexpected delight!

"Aunt Zhang, you are truly my benefactor. Without you, I wouldn't be able to run this shop..." Zhao Da'e said many words of thanks, but felt that these words were not enough. Then he stood up and massaged Zhang Daya's shoulders to make her feel more comfortable.

Zhang Daya was so pleased with Zhao D'e that she couldn't stop smiling. She grew to like Zhao D'e even more and thought that if Zhao D'e needed any help, she would help him as much as possible.

Right then and there, Zhang Daya took Zhao Dage to look for a house near the shops at the intersection of No. 6 Street.

Houses in the county town are usually three or four stories high, with several rooms on the first floor. However, renting such houses is relatively cheap. After all, Quanshui County is just a small county town. Most locals own their own houses and do not need to rent. Most of the people who rent are migrant workers from the countryside. Even so, there are still many vacant rooms in Quanshui County that have not been rented out.

Zhao Da'e rented an entire second floor of the building opposite the shop at the intersection of Sixth Street. There were five rooms in total, which was enough for now. After signing the contract, Zhao Da'e also got the keys to the five rooms.

Back in the shop, it was spotless, with no dust in sight. Several sacks of clothes lay on the floor, all of which had just arrived.

Cheng Jinxiang picked up a piece of clothing to look at. It was a red dress with a bow on the side. It looked quite pretty at first glance. Cheng Jinxiang couldn't help but sigh, "These clothes are really beautiful. If they were sold, they would definitely fetch a good price."

Just then, Zhao Da'e returned, carrying a bunch of keys. When Cheng Jinxiang saw that Zhao Da'e had finally come back, she sighed and couldn't help but say, "What have you been doing all day? You've been nowhere to be seen all day long. The shops here have been completely wiped out by me, Xiao Qi, and Master Chai."

Zhao Da'e smiled and shook the keys in her hand. "And Mom, what am I going to do? Don't you know? Am I the kind of person who likes to play around? I went out this time to look at houses that can be used as staff accommodations and offices. Look, I've already bought this house. It's on the second floor of that building across the street."

Then Zhao Da'e said to Qi Bin, "Uncle Qi, I'll buy some furniture and renovate the house later, then you can move in directly."

Qi Bin was flattered and never expected that Zhao Da'e was busy finding him a place to live. "No, no, Da'e, how can I accept this? You've already done so much for me, giving me money to stay in hotels and finding me a place to live. I haven't even started selling clothes in the shop yet and made any progress. I don't need you to be so nice to me. Besides, you probably don't have enough money. I'm shameless. I'll just move into that room and buy some bedding and stuff. I'll sleep on the floor. I'll buy some furniture when I have more money."

Qi Bin felt it was too much trouble for Zhao Da'e, and he felt a little guilty because he hadn't sold a single piece of clothing or made any achievements to repay her.

Seeing Qi Bin's reluctance, Zhao Da'e didn't press the matter. He gave him an extra 50 yuan to buy some bedding, mattress, and other daily necessities to settle down.

The mirrors and mannequins that Zhao Da'e bought have arrived, as have the clothes he bought from Buyi Garment Factory. All of these need to be packed up, and Zhao Da'e estimates that he can open the store the day after tomorrow.

She always felt something was missing. Suddenly, Zhao Da'e slapped her forehead and realized what she was missing: advertising flyers. How could she let people in the county know that a new store had opened? The best way was to spend some money to distribute flyers and attract customers to the store.

Thinking of this, Zhao Da'e immediately went to discuss with Qi Bin, "Uncle Qi, I want to print some flyers and have someone distribute them so that more people will know that we have opened a new store here, and then we can attract more people to come and buy clothes."

After thinking it over for a while, Qi Bin said, "Big Goose, your idea is good, but have you considered that the people you know in the county are mostly young people and students? Young people are one thing, but students don't have much purchasing power. As for the middle-aged and elderly people who do have purchasing power, most of them are illiterate. How are you going to get them to read the words on the flyers you hand out?"

Zhao Da'e thought for a moment and said, "This is simple. Since they can't read the words on the flyers, we can send someone to chat with them while handing out the flyers. Surely they can understand what we're saying. Once we start chatting, word will spread, and everyone will know that we've opened a new store. We can also think of some attractive features to draw them to our store. I have an idea: hire some very attractive girls to try on clothes and put on a small fashion show."

Qi Bin thought Zhao Da'e's suggestion was good. "This is a point that can attract them to come. Another point is that the best time to hold the show is on the weekend, because they will be off on the weekend and there will be too few people on weekdays. I think the best time to hold this fashion show is in the evening. There are fewer people during the day. Around six or seven o'clock in the evening, most people will come out for a walk after dinner. This is the best time to hold the fashion show."

Zhao Da'e's eyes lit up; he thought what he said made sense. If he were an ordinary customer, seeing a flyer advertising a free fashion show, he'd be more inclined to join the fun. After all, wouldn't it be foolish not to watch something free? Most people have a desire to get a good deal.

Qi Bin had another idea, "Big Goose, I'd like to hold a promotional event for the first three days after opening the store. Anyone who brings this flyer to the store will get a 50% discount on clothes. We'll put the original price on the flyer and then add the discounted price. This should attract a lot of people to buy. We also need to include the time and location of this free fashion show on the flyer. However, Big Goose, this will delay the opening by one or two days. We need to find girls to be models and print flyers, all of which take time. There are only two days left until Saturday. How about we set the fashion show for Saturday night and open the store on Saturday morning? We can try to distribute the flyers by Friday night."

This was Qi Bin's current idea, and Zhao Da'e nodded in agreement. "How about this, Uncle Qi, you find some girls to be models, and I'll take care of the flyers. Oh, and we also need to order some flower stands. If we don't want to skimp on that, we can also buy some fireworks and firecrackers. Let's make it as lively as possible. Don't worry, we have enough budget. We'll make it back when we open the shop."

Zhao Da'e and Qi Bin discussed the details again, and Zhao Da'e gave Qi Bin the thousand yuan he had, telling him not to be stingy and to spend it when necessary.

Qi Bin took the bundle of money and took out a small notebook to start keeping accounts. Zhao Da'e curiously leaned over and found that the expenses written on it were all the money she had given Qi Bin. For example, the fifty yuan she gave him for opening a hotel was written down in detail, including what she ate and how much breakfast cost. Zhao Da'e also wrote down the expenses for buying mirrors, clothes, and mannequins.

Seeing this, Zhao Da'e asked curiously, "Uncle Qi, why are you writing all this down?"

Qi Bin replied, "I'm keeping track of the expenses so I can know exactly how much we've spent and have a general idea of ​​the total cost."

Zhao Da'e remembered that opening a shop required someone who could do accounting, to prevent any of his subordinates from stealing money. However, Zhao Da'e trusted Qi Bin and Cai Xiaofeng for now, so he could deal with the accounting issue later, after the shop was opened.

Zhao Da'e still had a lot to deal with. She first approached Cai Xiaofeng about making flyers. Cai Xiaofeng had been promoting Kangxi Spring Water in the county town for the past few months and had gotten to know several big bosses. She also knew how to make flyers.

Cai Xiaofeng took Zhao Dage to the factory, talked to someone about the matter, paid the money, and then someone would help her make flyers on a computer.

Zhao Da'e's eyes lit up when she looked at the computer. She knew she had to buy one when she had the chance, and find some technicians. But she needed to have the money.

Zhao Da'e made a few requests.

"This flyer should include the store address: the store at the intersection of Sixth Street, called 'Goose is Here.' The original price of the clothes is 24 yuan, but with this flyer you can get a 50% discount, making it 12 yuan. Make these lines bigger, more eye-catching, and darker. Also add these sentences: 'A fashion show will start promptly at 6 pm on Saturday night, right in front of the store.'"

Zhao Da'e pointed out a few details, and the flyer was almost done. Zhao Da'e chose color printing, which was a dozen yuan more expensive than black and white printing, but Zhao Da'e didn't care about the money at all. As long as more customers came, she could earn more money. She just hoped that this would go smoothly and that she wouldn't lose money.

It was already evening when Zhao Da'e received the printed flyers. He put the flyers in the shop and said to Chai Zhiyong, "Master Chai, you don't need to come tomorrow."

Chai Zhiyong was stunned when he heard this, and asked in astonishment, "Big Goose, why don't I need to come tomorrow? Didn't you say you wanted me to build a new house in your countryside? Are you just going to say you won't build it anymore?"

He finally found a big job that would last for several months, but then he was fired just like that. What's more, Chai Zhiyong had already told several of his brothers that they would come to work, and now they suddenly said they wouldn't come. How was he supposed to face his brothers?

When Zhao Da'e heard that Chai Zhiyong had misunderstood him, he couldn't help but laugh several times. "Master Chai, you misunderstood. I'm not firing you, I'm letting you rest for a few days. You've been busy in my shop for the past week, you should take a good rest. As for building a new house in the countryside, we can deal with that later. The materials I bought have arrived, and all that's missing is you and your brothers to go and build the new house."

Upon hearing Zhao Dage's explanation, Chai Zhiyong breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be a misunderstanding. Fortunately, he wasn't being fired. It's really not easy to have such a considerate boss.

"I thought it was something serious. I'm perfectly healthy and don't need to rest. I could work for several more months without any problem. Anyway, I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so it's fine for me to come and help out."

Chai Zhiyong felt that since he had received so much money from Zhao D'e, he wanted to do more work, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease taking the money.

Cheng Jinxiang said from the side, "Master Chai, you've gone to so much trouble these past few days. You should rest well and don't need to come to the shop to work anymore. I'll be busy at the shop with Da'e these days."

Before Chai Zhiyong could say anything more, Cheng Jinxiang added, "I'm just hoping you get some rest so you'll have more energy when you come to Dongtaizi Village to build the house."

Hearing this, Chai Zhiyong couldn't refuse anymore. Besides, what Cheng Jinxiang said made sense. He was tired after being busy for so long, so he should rest for a day or two and then he would have more energy to work.

After saying goodbye, Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiang rode in Xiangzi's rickshaw with Cai Xiaofeng to the city.

Taking advantage of this break in time, Zhao Da'e said, "I've rented the second floor of the building in front of the shop to use as a rest area and office space for the employees. Once I have enough money to buy furniture in a few days, you can go to the employee dormitory in the county town to rest, and you can even stay overnight there without any problem."

Zhao Da'e needed to rent the entire second floor, but furniture and cooking stoves needed to be purchased, which would cost another sum of money. Zhao Da'e only had a few thousand yuan left to spend. He wasn't sure what problems he might encounter when opening the shop, so he kept a few thousand yuan as a reserve. This way, he could feel at ease and open the shop with peace of mind. It was always good to be prepared.