Zhang Tianxing worked until two in the morning. He, Zhu Dayong, and Gao Tianming tallied their earnings.
They had struck it rich; the day's business was good.
Over forty pots of crayfish were sold, with a profit of two yuan per pot, netting eighty yuan.
Currently, the crayfish were advertised at a sixty percent discount. If sales remained this strong at full price, Zhang Tianxing and his friends' tuition and living expenses would be a mere trifle.
Coupled with the grilled skewers, beer, and other items sold, their earnings were substantial.
Preliminary estimates placed the day's profit at around three hundred yuan. Had they not offered discounts, they would have earned even more.
However, divided among five people, each would only get about sixty yuan.
Still, they were content. A couple of days' work would cover their parents' monthly wages; what more could they ask for?
Contentment was key. The next steps were to acquire fresh, large crayfish and ensure their shop's reputation spread.
The spicy crayfish venture had started well, at least achieving an initial victory.
The five, weary but satisfied, returned home. Zhang Tianxing, suppressing his joy, tidied himself up.
As he was cleaning, Zhang Qiang emerged from his bedroom.
"Dad, you're still awake?" It was already three in the morning. He hadn't expected his father to still be up.
"Xiao Xing, running a business isn't easy. Losses and gains are normal. Honestly, I didn't want you to open a shop because we have no capital, and I could only afford losses, not gains."
Hearing his father's words, Zhang Tianxing's heart warmed.
Zhang Qiang's tone shifted. "But this money came from a lottery win, so it was easy come. It's good for you to experience more. Life always requires experience. Our family has never won a prize; good taste doesn't guarantee popularity."
At this, Zhang Tianxing immediately pulled out the money from his pocket. "Today was our first day, a grand opening with good profits, more than your monthly salary."
As the words left his mouth, Zhang Tianxing realized his mistake; that was a hurtful thing to say.
He quickly plastered a smile on his face. "We haven't split the profits yet, and I haven't paid the others. It was just a small profit of a few dozen yuan."
Zhang Qiang had nearly been scared to death. Three hundred yuan in one day? Impossible. This kid was trying to fool him; otherwise, it would be too much for his ego.
Zhang Qiang nodded with satisfaction. "Good. The most important thing in business is repeat customers. While I haven't run a business myself, I know one thing: business is about reputation."
Zhang Tianxing nodded and quickly agreed. Paternal love was like a mountain; no matter what his son did, his father would express his feelings in his own way, even if he wasn't always adept at expressing them.
"Dad, you should go to bed. You have work tomorrow morning."
Zhang Qiang responded, "You should sleep early too. It's late. I'll leave breakfast for you tomorrow. You can make something for lunch."
...
Zhang Tianxing woke up and ate the breakfast his parents had left.
He prepared to go out and check on the shop. He was planning to open a seafood store, primarily selling crayfish.
As Zhang Tianxing left his house, he encountered his neighbor, Aunt Zhou.
"Good morning, Aunt Zhou!"
"Tianxing, you're really something. I never imagined a university student like you would also sell barbecue!"
Zhang Tianxing looked astonished. "No way, the news spread that fast? We just opened last night, and the neighbors know today?"
With this kind of dissemination speed, would he even need advertisements?
He then heard Aunt Zhou say, "But I heard from your second uncle that you didn't seem to have many customers. How much did you sell yesterday?"
Damn it, this second uncle isn't a good person, actually saying I had few customers. Fine, let me get rich quietly and avoid boasting. Let others say what they will.
He opened his mouth to argue, but what came out was, "Aunt Zhou, it was just the first day. How many customers could there be? They were mostly friends and classmates supporting me."
"That's what I thought. Business needs to be long-term. Tianxing, you just graduated from high school and are going to college. How about selling the barbecue stall? A friend of mine wants to open a barbecue place and asked me to find a location."
"Oh, Aunt Zhou, please keep looking. That place belongs to my second uncle," Zhang Tianxing said casually, brushing her off. This Aunt Zhou was really something.
Before he had walked far, Gao Tianming came running towards him in a hurry.
"Tianxing, Tianxing, my dad has something to discuss with you. Their canteen wants to buy a batch of crayfish. Can you give them a good price?"
Business was coming to them. The customer is God.
"No problem. I'll send it over later. By the way, Xiaoming, will you teach them how to prepare it there?"
"Don't worry about it. The last time I took some home, my dad praised it highly and demanded the recipe on the spot."
Aunt Zhou, who hadn't gone far, heard Zhang Tianxing's words and nearly tripped.
"This Tianxing looks so refined, but I never thought he'd be so cunning. Not a word he says is true. They just opened, how many customers could they have? I doubt this barbecue stall will last long."
Someday, he'll realize he's meant for academics and that not everyone can succeed in business.
Every day, shops opened and closed on the streets, each owner dreaming of making a fortune.
But reality would teach them a lesson: there's always a gap between ideals and reality.
Just then, Liang Cheng arrived, pedaling a tricycle, sweating profusely, his clothes drenched. Seeing Zhang Tianxing, he called out.
"Tianxing, give me a hand, I'm dying of exhaustion."
Zhang Tianxing quickly took over. His second uncle had just recovered from a serious illness, and now he was pedaling this heavy tricycle such a long distance. What if he collapsed? Then Empress Dowager Liang would skin him alive.
"Second Uncle, you haven't fully recovered yet. Don't overexert yourself, or my mom won't let me off."
As Zhang Tianxing spoke, he glanced at the tricycle.
Good heavens, the crayfish this time looked of excellent quality, uniformly large, generally about one liang each.
"Second Uncle, the quality of these crayfish is excellent. How many pounds are there?"
Liang Cheng panted, "About five hundred pounds."
"Second Uncle, you didn't catch all of this yourself, did you?" Zhang Tianxing suddenly thought of a possibility.
His second uncle was a practical man. If he had heard that Zhang Tianxing was preparing to sell crayfish, and the daily volume was only a few hundred pounds, his uncle would surely have caught them himself.
Liang Cheng waved his hand. "I've recovered, and I was idle anyway. Crayfish are easy to catch; they're everywhere in the fields and ditches."
"Second Uncle, you don't need to work so hard. We can pay you for them. I plan to supply various restaurants in a couple of days."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Liang Cheng fell silent. He could only catch a few hundred pounds a day himself; if he was unlucky, two hundred pounds at most.
These were unwanted in the countryside. In the past, some people bought them for animal feed, but it wasn't cost-effective. Therefore, crayfish had virtually no natural predators.
Coupled with their astonishing reproductive rate, they had become a nuisance in the fields, to some extent affecting grain production.