Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Seeking opinions
Feng Yiping followed his sister and came to the family's first store for the first time. Looking in through the glass doors and windows, although it was already past 8 o'clock, there was still a 30% occupancy rate inside, especially on the second floor, which was almost full because the view was better.
He took a good look around. The restaurant, which he had decorated himself, was quite good, and at least up to the standard of the domestic chain restaurants that would come later.
'Come in, it's cold, what are you doing out here?' Feng Yuxuan said to him, holding the door open.
Only a few small booths on the first floor were occupied, and his parents, who were in the kitchen, had already seen him and were smiling and waving at him.
Mei Qiuping took him by the hand and walked with him to the back corridor, where they looked up and down at him in the dim light. 'You've grown taller, but you're still so skinny!'
After a while, An An, who had come down from the second floor to collect the dishes, also heard the news and came over. 'An An, I wanted to ask Changning to come with me, but he said he wanted to use the time to revise for his exams...'
'It's fine, the New Year is in half a month, you'll see him when you go back. Did you come here alone? Was the journey smooth?'
When An'an went to the kitchen to replace Feng Zhenchang, Mei Qiuping kept on nagging, 'Tell me, how did you make 50,000 yuan? You've really grown in the past two years, hiding such a big thing from your father and me.'
There was no way to hide this, so Feng Yiping simply said, 'I wrote a few songs and sent them to a company in Hong Kong, and then they sent someone over to buy them.'
'Since when can you write songs?'
'I studied with the husband of our homeroom teacher, Mr Wang, and tried writing a few songs. They picked a few that were okay.'
'So that's 50,000 yuan?' Feng Zhanchang asked.
'It's more than that,' Feng Yiping said honestly. 'I might get a share of the profits after the New Year,'
'A share? How much is that roughly?' Mei Qiuping asked.
'I don't know. They have to give me 5% of every record or tape they produce, and I don't know how many they'll produce in the first batch.'
'That means you get 5% of 100, 100...0,000, 50,000! Do you know how many they will produce in the first batch?' Feng Zhenchang asked. This was the first time he had seriously mentioned the number "one million," and his voice was a little weak.
'I don't know, but they are releasing it to the whole of Asia, and the first batch of one million is definitely more than that,' Feng Yiping said. 'Mom, I haven't eaten yet, so give me a bowl of noodles first!'
'Look at us, two money-grubbers, we've been asking questions and forgotten that you haven't eaten yet. I'll get you some noodles right away,' said Mei Qiuping, also shocked. She had been watching Feng Yiping without saying a word, and was now busy laughing at herself.
She went into the kitchen and replaced An An. Her hands trembled a little as she held the colander. What her son had just said was something she had never encountered before, and she had no idea what it was about. She only knew one thing: it must not be easy to do something like that.
Feng Yiping ate his noodles with big mouthfuls, while Mei Qiuping broke a piece of wheat bread into smaller pieces and handed it to him. 'Son, we know you're thinking of ways to get the money we need to open a shop again. It's in the past, so we won't mention it anymore, but things are different now. The second shop will open after the New Year, so you don't have to worry about money anymore. Just focus on your studies, okay?'
Feng Zhenchang also rarely patted Feng Yiping's head and patted him on the shoulder, 'Yes, as you said, next year we will also have enough money to buy a flat in the provincial capital, so don't worry about money, just study hard.'
Although Feng Yiping's words were simple, they were experienced people who knew how hard it was to make money. They knew that this matter was definitely not as simple as their son had said. They had come into contact with so many teachers and students in the university town, and they were all older than their son and knew more than he did. They had never heard of anyone who had easily made tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If their son could do that, they were sure that he had worked hard behind the scenes.
'I know, Mom and Dad.'
To paraphrase a later saying, these are the parents who only care if you fly high or not, but they care if you fly tired or not.
Because of his arrival, the work has become a bit more lively.
After closing, Feng Yiping helped with the cleaning up, setting the tables and mopping the floor. No one stopped him, as these things were really no big deal for these rural people.
Without paying attention to the fact that it was almost ten o'clock, his parents took him to see the second storefront they had rented.
It was located at the side of an intersection, with two adjoining storefronts. The shop was 4 metres wide and 5 metres deep. It had originally been a hair salon, but it seemed to have been closed down by the public security department for some reason, so they had moved out in a hurry. Traces of the mirror frames could be seen on the wall, and the floor was covered in broken glass and rags.
'Be careful,' Feng Zhenchang reminded him. 'We just got the keys too, and haven't had time to clean it yet. My brother-in-law has been busy renovating someone else's place for the past two days, and won't be able to get in for a few days.'
This shop is not bad either. Originally, there was a barber's chair on one side and a massage and shower area on the other. There is no back door, but there is a side door, which is quite good.
Feng Yuxuan was also in high spirits. When the shop was renovated, she would be in charge. She enthusiastically took An'an's hand and said what should be arranged here and what should be done there.
The next evening, Mei Yiliang and Cai Hong, who had heard the news, rushed to the shop. After the hygiene was improved, Mei Yiliang said with some shame, 'Brother, sister, I'm sorry, I may not be able to pay back the money you lent me.'
Feng Zhanchang was a little stunned. "It's okay, when I opened this shop last time, I still had some money left, and I've saved some these days, so it's almost the same. It's probably the tables and chairs, so I'll have to owe you for now," he said, looking at Cai Hong.
'It's fine. My father said that the money is not urgent. Your shop will be able to pay it back in half a month once it opens,' Rainbow said.
Feng Yiping was a little surprised. It shouldn't be like this. "Brother-in-law, is business not good?'
Mei Yiliang and Cai Hong glanced at each other. "Business is pretty good. It's just that we're going to open a company, rent office space, buy some hardware, and register with the industry and commerce bureau. We're going to need to prepare the registered capital. The money we've earned in the past few months isn't enough to invest.'
'This is a good thing, and having a company makes it more formal, but we really can't help much right now,' Feng Zhenchang glanced at Feng Yiping.
Feng Yiping took over and said, "There will be money after the New Year, how much do you need?'
'At least 50,000 yuan," Mei Yiliang said.
That much? Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping were also a bit at a loss.
'Brother and sister, we've discussed this. We'll consider the money as your share of the business. You'll have six shares and we'll have four,' said Mei Yiliang.
Mei Qiuping refused. "That won't do. We've got things to do now. If we have money, we'll help out, but you'll have to pay us back later.'
Feng Zhenchang agreed. "Exactly, we're lending money, not talking about shares.'
Cai Hong gave Mei Yiliang a look and said, 'Brother, sister, let me speak. Our main point is that we want Yiping to think more about this side in the future and help us come up with more ideas.'
'Him come up with ideas?' Feng Zhenchang looked at Feng Yiping and said hesitantly.
'Yes, I'm in this business because of Yiping's guidance. Although we're making money now, if we keep going like this, we won't amount to anything. So I want Yiping to help us think more,' said Mei Yiliang.
Feng Yiping modestly lowered his head and didn't say anything.
'Even if Yiping has an idea, you can just ask him directly if you have something to do, what's the point of talking about shareholding?' Mei Qiuping said.
'Sister, it's not like that. We can't just ask Yiping to help us make money for nothing. Besides, you know how Yi Liang is. He's a bit of a hothead, and I'm not really sure about him. My father also thinks it's a good idea. He's worried that once Yi Liang makes some money, he won't listen to anyone else, and he'll ruin a good business.' Cai Hong said.
Feng Zhenchang and the others did not know the ins and outs of this. Seeing that they had even brought up Lao Cai, they turned to Feng Yiping and asked, 'Yiping, what do you think?'