Success doesn’t come instantly.
Liu Fen looked at the empty house and thought about Zhou Cheng’s parents coming to visit in four days. She couldn’t sit still at home anymore.
Now that she had money, she wanted to quickly buy the necessary electrical appliances, so that when Zhou Cheng’s parents arrived, the house would look properly furnished. Liu Fen didn’t care what others thought of her, but she feared they might look down on her daughter.
However, buying appliances wasn’t so simple – Liu Fen didn’t have the necessary coupons. She couldn’t find a place to buy them at a premium price either; this was the limitation of being an outsider. Without living in one place for decades, you couldn’t build neighborhood relationships and connections. While Xia Xiaolan was off training future employees, Grandmother Yu advised her: “Ask Manager Wu for help. If you add some extra money, you’ll be able to buy the appliances.”
Those with coupons might not have money, so they would sell their coupons. Liu Fen could buy under someone else’s name – the appliances would end up in her possession anyway.
This was truly a small favor. Manager Wu now played Hu Yongcai’s former role – while Hu Yongcai had connections in Shangdu, Manager Wu influenced Beijing. Such small matters were nothing to him. Manager Wu now had close ties with Xia Xiaolan, developing many business opportunities around her. Not only could he resolve government bond issues, but Xia Xiaolan could also provide job positions.
The latter was just as important as the government bonds. One fulfilled the bank’s quotas, while the other let Manager Wu build social capital. Why did his words carry weight? Simply because he could help others. Being able to help both Xia Xiaolan and others put Manager Wu in a position to coordinate and integrate many resources.
When Liu Fen asked for his help buying appliances, Manager Wu looked at the list: “Television, washing machine, refrigerator, and air conditioner?”
Many people bought the first two items, but refrigerators and air conditioners were less common. In Beijing, with heating in winter and though summer was hot… who could afford to use air conditioning?
Manager Wu offered sincere advice: “Comrade Liu, TVs, and washing machines are easy to get, but refrigerators might need to wait. Beijing won’t get hot until after May, and vegetables won’t spoil before then. The same goes for the air conditioner – summer heat is still months away, and a fan would work just as well.”
Manager Wu spoke earnestly, seeing Liu Fen’s nervousness and trying to comfort her.
“Could we buy the TV and washing machine first, along with the refrigerator, and wait on the air conditioner as you suggest?”
Manager Wu fell silent – he couldn’t understand the world of wealthy people. If they wanted to buy, let them buy; he would just act as an intermediary. Liu Fen needed them urgently, wanting the TV and washing machine before the weekend, so Manager Wu had to consider whose connections to use.
Unable to buy the appliances yet, Liu Fen pondered how to arrange the house. She now regretted buying such simple furniture, focusing too much on saving money without considering Zhou Cheng’s family visiting. Fortunately, Liu Yong had done some basic repairs on the courtyard, making it look decent… Compared to ordinary dual-income families, having such a large courtyard for just the three of them – Xia Xiaolan’s family – meant their living conditions were already quite good.
Grandmother Yu was annoyed seeing Liu Fen’s nervous state, “Stop frightening yourself.”
Grandmother Yu needed to redirect Liu Fen’s attention. With the store opening in mid-March, there was still much to do. After the renovation, they needed to install the pre-ordered clothing racks and hooks. Seeing Liu Fen distracted, Grandmother Yu dragged her to the courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang.
“Go pick someone who you get along with.”
Luna needed six people total, three each for the Beijing and Yangcheng specialty stores. The remaining four would be for Blue Phoenix, two each for Xidan and Xiushui Street. Liu Fen would have to alternate between two stores, handling inventory and daily accounting – her workload wouldn’t be light. Originally, she and Li Fengmei managed one store together; now one person manages two stores. Grandmother Yu worried for her.
Yet she still had the energy to worry about Zhou Cheng’s parents visiting.
Grandmother Yu wanted to give Liu Fen some serious work to focus on.
Liu Fen was surprised, “Weren’t we supposed to look at their capabilities?”
Why was Grandmother Yu suggesting they first consider personalities?
Grandmother Yu resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Skills can be trained gradually, but a person’s temperament can’t be changed, so of course we look at personality first.”
What Grandmother Yu didn’t say was that she worried Liu Fen’s gentle nature might make it hard for her to maintain control over two stores and their employees.
Whether Liu Fen understood or not, she did begin taking this seriously. The three from Yangcheng couldn’t be chosen, so from the remaining seven Beijing girls, who should Liu Fen select?
Xia Xiaolan was teaching these girls about “sales.”
Sales is an art of words, a tactic of psychology, combining both IQ and EQ. Compared to state-owned shops and department stores, they needed to compete in style, price, and especially service. The rigid attitude of department store clerks would eventually be eliminated over time. Xia Xiaolan needed these shop assistants to understand that showing humility wasn’t shameful:
“When customers come to buy clothes, they’re buying beauty and good feelings, not paying money to be treated poorly. Think about your encounters with some department store clerks – spending money only to be treated rudely, wasn’t that infuriating?”
Unconsciously, their thoughts followed Xia Xiaolan’s lead.
Manager Xia was gentler than Grandmother Yu, beautiful, with a pleasant voice. During Manager Xia’s lecture, it was hard to get distracted.
When Xia Xiaolan first arrived, they were all shocked – the Manager Xia training them looked younger than them. What could she possibly teach them?
Within half an hour of Xia Xiaolan speaking, these people were completely won over.
Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu watched from the window as everyone frantically took notes, frustrated that their writing speed couldn’t keep up with Xia Xiaolan’s thoughts and speech.
Liu Fen was also captivated.
Although she had practical sales experience and Xia Xiaolan often shared sales techniques with her and Li Fengmei, it had never been presented so systematically. Liu Fen didn’t mind learning more, so when Grandmother Yu called her to select employees, she ended up attending the lecture instead.
When Xia Xiaolan returned home that evening and saw Liu Fen had also taken notes, some parts weren’t clear, but Liu Fen had an advantage – she could ask Xia Xiaolan directly.
Thank Buddha, there was nothing wrong with enjoying sales techniques, as long as she wasn’t fixating on Zhou Cheng’s parents’ upcoming visit.
Although Xia Xiaolan felt her mother needed management skills more, she wouldn’t object to Liu Fen wanting to learn more.
“I’ll find a tape recorder tomorrow and record the next lecture, so you can listen to it at your leisure.”
…
While Liu Fen’s anxiety about meeting her in-laws was redirected to learning and training, leaving her no time to be nervous, Guan Hui’e was also anxious. She worried about having nothing in common with Liu Fen and feared she might be difficult to get along with – not for her own sake, but for her son Zhou Cheng’s married life.
Even deciding what clothes to wear left Guan Hui’e uncertain.
Dress too well, and Liu Fen might think she was showing off.
Dress too poorly, and Liu Fen might think the Zhou family didn’t take this seriously.
This truly showed how parents’ hearts are full of love – career women and rural women had no differences in such moments!