Chapter 51: Planning to Open a Store

By the silent riverside, the cold northern wind was blowing, and Zhou Xuan pulled his collar tighter. Watching as Yan Lanxi finally put down her pen, he said, "All done, at last. That's the main melody of the song. As for the harmonies, I think Fan Yixuan's company can handle those themselves."

"You make it sound so simple. I've never seen anyone sell songs like you do, and at such a high price," Yan Lanxi replied, clearly exasperated.

"Fan Yixuan is lucky to get my songs at all—she won't regret it. Remind her that when her albums sell like crazy, she owes me a red envelope," Zhou Xuan thought to himself. If he weren't strapped for cash, he wouldn't sell these songs so cheaply. "Oh, and tell her to wire the two hundred thousand as soon as possible," he added.

As he spoke, Zhou Xuan took out his bank card and asked Yan Lanxi to write down the account number.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell her to wire the money. You'll have it by tomorrow," she promised.

"Then I'll head back now—I'll wait for your good news," Zhou Xuan said.

"Zhou Xuan, you're really something, you know that? I helped you with such a big favor, and you won't even treat me to a meal. It's already afternoon, and you're just letting me go home? Be careful, or we might just keep your money—after all, we've already got the songs," Yan Lanxi threatened, waving the sheets of paper with the music written on them.

Zhou Xuan laughed. "Just two songs—no big deal. But if you dare to hold back what's mine, maybe I can't do anything about it now, but I can't promise about the future..."

Yan Lanxi couldn't hold back her laughter at his words. "Zhou Xuan, now I see that besides your talent, you also love to talk big. Even if Fan Yixuan's company isn't a huge one, it's still more than a middle schooler like you can handle."

"Heh, who can say what the future holds? Come on, hotpot's on me," Zhou Xuan quipped. He didn't bother telling Yan Lanxi that the record industry was nearing its end. With Riben about to launch the first MP3 player next year, who would still buy CDs or tapes after that? For the next decade, MP3s and MP4s would flourish, all sorts of music players would appear, and eventually, smartphones would take over.

"At least you have a conscience," Yan Lanxi replied.

After the meal, Zhou Xuan returned to school and saw Liu Yixue waiting for him at the track.

He walked over. "Miss Liu, finished evening study?"

"Hmph, you took leave again this afternoon and tonight, didn't you?" Liu Yixue sounded a little annoyed.

"I was actually meaning to tell you about this. Since you asked, I'll explain. I was at PE teacher Li's place, learning about computers. Mainly, I want to build a website. Both our homeroom teacher and Mr. Li know about it, so you don't have to worry about my studies. I've pretty much mastered all the middle school material—getting into No. 1 High is a piece of cake." Since he and Liu Yixue were more or less together now, it was best to be clear to avoid misunderstandings later. As for submitting manuscripts and selling songs, that could wait. He didn't want to overwhelm her all at once.

Liu Yixue's expression softened as she listened. She smiled. "As long as you've thought it through, that's good. But you still shouldn't slack on your studies. If you don't get into No. 1 High, I’ll have to settle the score with you."

As she spoke, she raised a tiny fist in mock threat.

"Alright, I get it. I'm aiming for first place—I've got that much confidence," Zhou Xuan replied.

The two of them walked around the track for a while, chatting, before heading back to their respective dorms.

On Thursday night, Yan Lanxi called to say the money had been sent and told Zhou Xuan to check his account.

Friday afternoon, at the end of November, it was time to go home—classes ended at three. Zhou Xuan went to check his bank account first; sure enough, the 200,000 had arrived. Including his recent manuscript fees, he now had 213,000 yuan.

He had never had so much money in his life, and for a moment, it felt unreal.

He caught a three-wheeler to his uncle’s place. Now that the money had arrived, the supermarket plan could start ahead of schedule.

When he arrived, Zhou Xuan got straight to the point: "Uncle, we can start the supermarket now."

His uncle put down his chopsticks, surprised. "You've raised that much money so quickly?"

"Last week, I went to the city for the essay competition and sang one of my original songs there. A music professor from Rongzhou College happened to be passing by and wanted to buy it. Then I wrote two more songs, which his classmate, a singer named Fan Yixuan, bought for two hundred thousand," Zhou Xuan explained calmly.

There was a loud clatter as his aunt dropped her chopsticks.

"What? You sold songs for two hundred thousand!"

"Pinch me—is this a dream?"

Both his uncle and aunt were stunned, unable to believe it. Two hundred thousand was a fortune; after years of hard work, they had barely saved thirty thousand.

From this moment, his uncle and aunt could only regard Zhou Xuan with new eyes. In their view, he was something of a prodigy: so young, yet already earning so much. His parents were truly blessed.

Zhou Xuan continued, "Uncle, have you checked the rent for those storefronts near No. 4 High? Now that we have the money, we can start the supermarket plan early."

"I haven’t, but your aunt did," his uncle replied, glancing at his wife.

She recounted what she had learned. "The rents there are a bit higher than here—the larger spaces are about three hundred a month, the smaller ones over two hundred. Not exactly cheap."

Zhou Xuan knew that the larger storefronts on that street were just over thirty square meters, the smaller ones around twenty—enough for a small shop. But if they were going to open a supermarket, it couldn’t be too small. His idea was to rent two adjacent units, one large and one small, totaling about fifty square meters, and then knock down the wall between them.

"Two or three hundred isn’t too bad. Let’s rent them now before someone else does. We’ll spend a month on renovations and open for New Year’s. Aunt and I will handle the renovations; Uncle, you’ll be in charge of procurement," Zhou Xuan laid out the plan, launching the shop project right away.

According to his plan, the supermarket would use a cash register system from the start—for inventory, sales, accounting, and reporting. This was to lay the groundwork for a chain operation in the future, whether through company-owned stores or franchises. Training staff, financial oversight, and cash registers would be essential. And eventually, building a logistics network would be the real challenge.

Next, Zhou Xuan discussed key points to consider in opening the store, such as procurement. With hundreds or even thousands of products, local goods could be sourced directly from manufacturers, but the rest would have to come from major wholesalers in the province or city. They needed to pick reliable suppliers with good prices.

Originally, Zhou Xuan had thought of buying a place nearby for himself, both for now and for when he attended high school. But with funds still tight, and considering he would also have to persuade his parents to open a clothing boutique, renting would have to do for now.

After finishing, Zhou Xuan saw his uncle off and stayed home for dinner.

Since he would need to convince his parents, having his uncle there would make things easier.

And since he wanted to move out of the school dorms, his uncle’s backing would help with that as well.