Chapter 228: Opening and the Police
Translator: Aristophaneso
“Have you taken care of everything?”
The next morning, Chu Xian arrived at the store and met up with Zhang Xiaohua.
“Yes. Everything is prepared, and we have already confirmed the plan with the real estate developer. We’ll set up a platform in front of the store tomorrow. Will Yan Wenwen, Ren Penghui, and Yan Zekun really come?” Zhang Xiahua asked curiously.
“En. They’ll get here tonight. This time we’re going to establish our Paradise brand. The more famous and popular we are, the more smoothly our franchising will go.” Chu Xian replied.
“Don’t worry, boss. We have already bought advertisements at good locations in the subway, and on top of the people who already know about us, Yan Wenwen and the others have helped us advertise on Weibo.”
“We’ve opened up an official Weibo page for Paradise Aquariums, and with Yan Wenwen’s help and the other mentions, we already have over a hundred thousand followers, and many of our customers have left excellent reviews about our tanks.”
Chu Xian nodded. “Good. Let’s finalize some things and prepare for our sales tomorrow. How many tanks do we have in stock?”
“Two thousand. It’s more than enough to support this store.” Zhang Xiaohua replied. “We still have three thousand in Hai Qing City, and we can make about a hundred everyday.”
Chu Xian nodded. Some time ago, he’d had Old Huang and the others go out to sea everyday to get material for their tanks, and had also hired a stoneworker and designer.
Now they could make about a hundred designer aquariums every day.
A hundred a day was not a very fast production, and in the future when their chain spread to dozens of cities, they would need a couple hundred new tanks a day.
Moreover, they would need a decent stock of some hundreds for the beginning inventory of new stores. Their current supply was quite tight.
“Hire some more people to work on new aquariums in Hai Qing. We’ll need to prepare for stores in Shang Jing, Zhen Zhou, and the other cities.” Chu Xian said.
“We’re opening new stores so soon?” Zhang Xiaohua asked with surprise.
“It’s not too soon. Since I have money on hand, we can just open the stores ourselves, but I’ll be troubling you in the coming weeks.” Chu Xian smiled and replied.
“Okay. Are you planning on opening stores in all the large cities, and then franchise the others out?” Zhang Xiaohuao asked.
“That’s right.” Chu Xian nodded. “But we can work on both plans at the same time.”
“En, okay!” Zhang Xiaohua nodded.
After talking over some other things, Chu Xian turned away and looked over his store with satisfaction. The five hundred plus square meters was very large, and a couple hundred people could easily fit without crowding.
That evening, Chu Xian arrived at the airport to pick up Yan Wenwen, Duan Ke, Ren Penghui, and Yan Zekun.
This time, Yan Wenwen and the others were coming to show their personal support for Chu Xian’s store. They were originally prepared to announce their arrival on Weibo, but Chu Xian stopped them.
He didn’t want the opening of his store to turn into a fan meet.
The next morning, Chu Xian arrived early at the store. Zhang Xiaohua and the other staff were already there, and a small stage had been set up near the checkout counter.
“Everybody, you have to prepare well for today. We’ll definitely have a lot of business. Don’t be nervous, and be patient.” Zhang Xiaohua called out in reminder to the other eight staff members.
“Boss, do you have friends coming over today? If there are people, we can ask them to help us cut the ribbon.”
Zhang Xiaohua turned to Chu Xian and smiled.
“Other than Yan Wenwen’s group, there are only two others. We can just do something simple.” Chu Xian replied.
“En, alright. If you can, ask Yan Wenwen and the others to stay for a while before leaving, that way we’ll be able to attract more people.” Zhang Xiaohua requested.
“Alright, I’ll let them know.” Chu Xian nodded.
Very soon, Yan Wenwen and the others arrived and were at the entrance of Chu Xian’s store.
“Wow, Chu Xian, your store is huge!” The group was amazed as they walked into the store.
“Incredible, what a beautiful store. This one is much more attractive than the Hai Qing City one.” As a woman, Yan Wenwen was immediately caught by the store decorations and the aquariums, and although she had already seen a similar store in Hai Qing City, that one could not at all compare to the store she saw before her. Whether it was the renovation of the storefront or the quantity of the aquariums, everything here was multiple times those of the store in Hai Qing.
“I’m really thankful that you all made it today.” Chu Xian said to them.
“There’s no need. As your friend, it’s normal that we come out to support you.” Ren Penghui smiled and shook his head.”
“Xiao Xian. At that moment, Xiao Ying had also arrived. Since it was a saturday and she did not have classes, she had flown in from Hai Qing City.
“Madame Xiao Ying, come in. What do you think of our store?” Chu Xian smiled and walked over, hugging Xiao Ying before sweeping his arm and gesturing to the store.
“Very beautiful. You did well.” Xiao Ying chuckled and patted his back, jokingly magnanimous.
“Thank you very much, boss.” Chu Xian laughed.
“Hello everyone.” Xiao Ying turned to Yan Wenwen and Duan Ke’s group and greeted them, nodding her head.
Everyone greeted each other, and they stood around and began chatting.
A few minutes later, Hong Chenghai also arrived, and soon after, Fai Daiyue also joined them with a woman and a 30 something young man.
“Big Brother Fa, and this must be your wife.” Chu Xian smiled and immediately walked over and greeted them.
“That’s right. This is my wife, Chen Yue, and this is a younger cousin of mine, Wang Zhixing.” Fa Daiyue introduced his guests.
“Thank you for saving Daiyue.” Chen Yue said gratefully, nodding towards Chu Xian. She turned to look at the store and was astonished. “What a beautiful store, and what beautiful aquariums.”
“Hello, nice to meet you.” Wang Zhixing approached, taking Chu XIan’s hand and shaking it.
“You can look around, and if you like one just point it out and you can have it.” Chu Xian smiled at Chen Yue.
“Brother, your aquariums are beautiful. Your business will be very good.” Wang Zhixing was also surprised as he looked around at the store.
“Our business in Hai Qing City is doing quite well, so I think our store here will not suffer.” Chu Xian replied, and waved Xiao Ying, Yan Wenwen, Duan Ke and the others over.
“Let me introduce you to my friends. This is my girlfriend, Xiao Ying, and this is Director Dan Ke. These people you might recognize, this is Yan Wenwen, Ren Penghui, and Yan Zekun.” Chu Xian turned to his acting friends. “This is an older brother that I just met, brother Fa Daiyue, and his wife Chen Yue. This is his cousin, brother Wang Zhixing.”
“Brother Chu Xian, where did you find these celebrities to help you advertise your store? Aren’t these all super stars who we only see in the movies?” Wang Zhixing nodded to Chu Xian’s friends and inquisitively asked.
“They are my friends, and have come to celebrate the store’s opening. Just a few days ago, we were busy together filming a movie.” Chu Xian smiled and replied.
Fa Daiyue’s wife was also amazed.
“Yan Wenwen? Director Duan Ke? Aren’t you all part of the Blue Sea Starry Sky Film Crew that has gone viral recently?” Chen Yue asked, looking at the group with surprised astonishment.
“Hehe, Missus, this is a film I’ve invested in, and I’m actually playing the male lead.” Chu Xian answered her.
“I’ve seen the Weibo posts that the gorgeous Yan Wenwen put online. Those dolphins really are adorable! I had no idea that you are playing the main character! Now I’m looking forward to this movie.” Chen Yue smiled as she spoke.
“Hehe, I was forced to step up. You have to promise to not laugh at me when it comes out.” Chu Xian shrugged with some bitterness.
“What happened? I thought that the male lead was supposed to be that boy Feng Huo, and then he quit. How did you guys start fighting online?” Chen Yue asked, interested in the gossip.
“That kid was always putting on airs, and his acting skills are terrible, and his attitude is bad. We kicked him off the cast, but never imagined that he would talk bad about us on the internet.” Duan Ke spoke up, and when the topic came to Feng Huo, he grew heated and angry.
“I taught him a lesson.” Chu Xian added, chuckling.
“Haha, no wonder he was so harsh to you guys. I never imagined that you really hit him.” Chen Yue replied, smiling, her whole person carrying a personable feel.
“I admire Brother Chu Xian a lot, but Feng Huo really did deserve it. He is terrible at acting, but he still blows up about another actor’s skills, and refuses to apologize.” Duan Ke smiled and responded.
“I’ve been reading about this on Weibo. You’ve all had a lot of heated debates these past couple days.” Chen Yue laughingly replied.
“Hehe.” Fa Daiyue laughed along somewhat awkwardly, grabbing Chen Yue’s arm. “Alright, don’t bother the gentleman. Brother Chu Xian is going to open his store soon; do you need to prepare anything else? You don’t need to stay here and entertain us.”
“Everything is finished, and we can start immediately. If I can trouble you all to help me cut the ribbon.” Chu Xian laughed and replied, shaking his head.
“Not a problem.” Fa Daiyue nodded.
“Boss, it’s almost time. Come get ready.” At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua entered the store and called over to Chu Xian, her gaze containing something strange as she swept her eyes over Fai Daiyue and the others.
“Alright. Thank you very much everyone for coming, let’s head out!” Chu Xian nodded, and announced to his group.
Bouquets of flowers lined both sides of the store entrance, and when Chu Xian exited the main door, he immediately noticed a bouquet and its card. Quan Hai Transportation Group was prominently displayed on the cluster of flowers, and Chu Xian glanced at Wang Zhixing, understanding filling his heart.
Quan Hai Transportation was the only second to the Yuan Yang company in the shipping business, and had a market value of over ten billion.
At that moment, over a hundred people had gathered around the entrance of the store. Some had come because of the ads taken out in the subway, and others had come because of the various celebrity Weibo posts.
For a gathering at 9 am in the morning, over a hundred people was already a lot of people.
Chu Xian looked around with satisfaction, and walked over to the stage.
But at that moment, a police car suddenly pulled up near the store. Five policeman exited the car, following a fat middle-aged man and a young man wearing a hat and sunglasses. Two guards accompanied the pair, and they immediately headed towards Chu Xian.
Chu Xian looked over at the policemen with confusion, and stood still waiting for them to near.
“Is this the brat that hit you?” The middle-aged man walked in front of Chu Xian, glaring at him coldly.
“Yes dad, this is the guy who hit me.” The young man nodded.
When he heard the familiar voice, a small smile appeared on Chu Xian’s face. “It’s you?”