Chapter One: A Grand Opening for the Supermarket

Early the next morning, Zhou Xuan and his parents rose with the sun, washed up, had breakfast, and began preparing for the day’s business. Since coming to the city to start their venture, Zhou’s parents had moved into the apartment Zhou Xuan rented—after all, it was two bedrooms and a living room, spacious enough for all of them.

After breakfast, Zhou’s parents headed to the clothing shop to make arrangements for its opening, while Zhou Xuan went to the supermarket to check on its own grand opening. The clothing store wouldn’t open until around ten, so he had time. Knowing the importance of the occasion, Zhou Xuan had ordered four flower baskets the day before—two on each side of the entrance—which had likely been delivered to the supermarket already.

With a spring in his step, Zhou Xuan walked toward Fourth Middle School, passing the bustling farmers’ market. Morning was when the market was at its liveliest: customers from both within and outside the county carried bags, baskets, or rode bicycles, crowding the lanes as they bought and sold goods. Vegetable farmers from the outskirts had set up their goods along both sides of the road, making the already narrow market street even more congested.

Beyond the farmers’ market, it was another eight or nine hundred meters to the supermarket. As he walked, Zhou Xuan overheard a group of elderly women discussing his “Happy Family” supermarket.

One of them remarked, “I heard there’s a supermarket opening at Fourth Middle School’s gate today. Shall we go have a look?”

Another nodded, “You mean that Happy Family supermarket, right? They’ve been handing out flyers at the market every day lately—I’ve gotten several myself. Some things there look pretty cheap, and they’re having discounts for the grand opening.”

“Exactly! Opening day always means bargains. I need to buy laundry detergent anyway. I went to check it out yesterday, actually—the place is decorated really nicely.”

The flyer campaign was, of course, Zhou Xuan’s idea. Both the clothing store and the supermarket had printed over five thousand flyers each, distributing them around their neighborhoods for five days straight. It seemed the publicity had paid off.

Before he even reached the supermarket, Zhou Xuan could see a dozen or so flower baskets arranged at the entrance—some must have been gifts from his uncle’s friends. The ground was littered with red firecracker paper, trampled by the crowd. At both the entrance and inside, groups of customers gathered, making for a lively scene.

For today’s grand opening, all items in the supermarket were ten percent off, and shoppers received gifts for purchases of twenty, fifty, or one hundred yuan. For an industry built on small profits and high turnover, such discounts were generous.

Happy Family Supermarket stood out for its tasteful décor, neat shelves, and clearly marked prices, creating a welcoming atmosphere. It was nothing like the cramped, disorderly corner shops where goods were piled haphazardly and every price had to be asked at the counter, making shopping an unpleasant experience and discouraging customers from lingering—or making extra purchases.

At this stage, with no other large supermarkets in the county, Happy Family was unique, satisfying the locals’ curiosity and offering a place to shop quietly and independently. As a result, everyone passing by was drawn in for a look, whether or not they planned to buy anything. Once they saw the prices, most ended up buying at least a few daily necessities—items that everyone needed in their lives.

Inside, Zhou Xuan saw his aunt skillfully handling the cashier’s desk, while his uncle bustled around, restocking shelves whenever laundry detergent, snacks, or cooking essentials ran low—some items had already needed restocking twice.

Zhou Xuan approached him with a smile. “Uncle, how’s business?”

“Great!” his uncle replied, beaming and gesturing at the customers browsing the aisles. “Since we opened this morning, there’s been a steady stream of shoppers. I think today we’ll sell a lot. I’ve already restocked the laundry detergent, snacks, and all sorts of condiments twice—those are selling especially fast.”

“That’s a relief. Once school starts in a few days, there’ll be another wave of sales for office and school supplies,” Zhou Xuan said, glancing at the crowd. “Seeing so many people buying things puts my mind at ease. As more people carry purchases home, I imagine we’ll keep drawing crowds for days to come.”

His uncle nodded vigorously. “You’re right! But we need to call the wholesalers or manufacturers for another batch of certain goods as soon as possible.”

“Leave that to your judgment, Uncle. We can’t let ourselves run out of stock. Our purchasing should adjust according to the season and customer needs. This cash register we bought has powerful analytics; from the computer, we can track daily turnover and see charts of our best-selling items. That’ll help us fine-tune what and how much to reorder.”

“That’s a great feature.” Since buying the computer and cash register, and with Zhou Xuan’s training, both his uncle and aunt had become fairly proficient with it. They’d realized how much easier it made things—streamlining finances, inventory management, and sales statistics, all invaluable for running the supermarket.

“By the way, Uncle, keep an eye out for shoplifters. Even though we’ve installed two cameras, they cover less than forty percent of the store.” Zhou Xuan had a particular aversion to thieves; the supermarket’s prices were already low, and there was no need to take risks. Still, some people couldn’t resist temptation, so extra vigilance was necessary.

To prevent theft, Zhou Xuan had had his uncle purchase two security camera systems and a computer from the city. The cameras were installed in the deeper corners of the store, where visibility was lower. In the more open, crowded areas, most people wouldn’t dare try anything.

After a few more words with his uncle, Zhou Xuan went into the small storeroom in the back, which was about ten square meters in size. Most of it was taken up by shelves of best-selling goods, with a desk and computer occupying a corner.

He sat down, entered the password, and opened the surveillance software, reviewing footage from the past hour. Finding no evidence of theft, he felt a sense of relief. Then, he launched the cash register’s backend to check the real-time sales.

They’d already made 1,325 yuan—an impressive sum in less than two hours since opening. Despite the low profit margins in retail and the additional discounts for the grand opening, leaving net profits under five percent, Zhou Xuan was confident that once the supermarket’s reputation grew and a loyal customer base was established, margins would increase to between fifteen and twenty-five percent. If net profits could reach ten percent, monthly net income would easily exceed ten thousand yuan.

In an era when the average monthly income was only five or six hundred yuan, earning ten thousand a month in a fourth-tier county was truly outstanding.

Watching the supermarket operate smoothly under his uncle and aunt’s management, Zhou Xuan lingered a while longer before heading off to the clothing store around ten o’clock.