lcionline Chapter 121 The Zhang Family's Past, The Opening of the Milk Tea Shop
Chapter 121 The Zhang Family's Past, The Opening of the Milk Tea Shop
When Hua Lichu first heard the rumors, she gritted her teeth in hatred.
But she knew that her rebuttal alone wouldn't have much effect; on the contrary, it would only embolden those who were spreading rumors.
For now, all she hopes is to find Zhang Xinran as soon as possible and make sure she is safe.
While searching for Zhang Xinran, Hua Lichu took some time to visit the hospital with some fruit.
I heard a lot about the Zhang family's past from Zhang Ma.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang married through a free-choice marriage.
Zhang Ma is a local of Tianyuan City; her parents both worked at the city's arsenal.
Zhang's father's ancestral home is in a neighboring province, but his grandfather (Zhang Zuzu) had some opportunities when he was young and moved to the capital to live.
She gave birth to Grandpa Zhang (Zhang's father) and his sister.
Zhang Zuzu had considerable wealth, but he passed away early, and all his property went to Zhang Grandpa.
When Zhang's father was very young, his grandfather sent him to the army. However, there were many talented people in the army, and not everyone could stay.
Mr. Zhang has reached the age where he can only retire from the military.
After being discharged from the army, Zhang's father was assigned to Tianyuan City, where he met Zhang's mother on the train there.
The two fell in love at first sight.
Grandpa Zhang looked down on Zhang Ma and was determined to find a woman from a better family background for his son.
Unfortunately, Zhang's father was as stubborn as a mule and was determined to stay with Zhang's mother.
Zhang Ma knew that her father-in-law was not satisfied with her.
But she figured that her father-in-law only had one son, Zhang Ba, and they didn't usually live together, so there shouldn't be any major problems.
No parent can ever win against their child.
At worst, she can just behave better during holidays and festivals. Once her father-in-law discovers her good qualities, he will naturally accept her one day.
To everyone's surprise, Grandpa Zhang turned out to be a person who was extremely sexist.
When Zhang Ma was giving birth, he heard outside the door that it was a girl, and immediately turned around and left.
They also took the things they had bought that morning, which were meant to nourish Zhang Ma during her postpartum period, to their sister's house.
Coincidentally, Grandpa Zhang's sister gave birth to a grandson in the same month.
Not only that, Grandpa Zhang didn't even attend Zhang Xinran's one-month or one-year celebrations, acting as if he didn't have this granddaughter at all.
At first, Mr. Zhang was also dissatisfied with Mr. Zhang's attitude, and he comforted Mrs. Zhang, saying that at worst they could just have another child.
But whether it was because she didn't have a proper postpartum period or something else, Zhang Ma never got pregnant again.
Grandpa Zhang has advised Zhang's father to divorce his wife and find another partner more than once, but Zhang's father disagrees, so Grandpa Zhang curses at him.
"You will die a horrible death! You are going to extinguish the Zhang family's lineage! How will you face your ancestors after you die?"
When Grandpa Zhang saw that Dad Zhang was unyielding, he laid the matter bare before Mom Zhang and openly told the two of them to get a divorce.
"Did I desecrate your ancestral grave in my past life? Why are you trying to harm my family like this? You can't have children yourself, but you won't let my son find someone else to have one?"
They even deliberately got Zhang's father drunk and sent several women to his bed.
Fortunately, Zhang Ma was cautious that day and followed them, preventing this absurd incident.
Zhang's mother knew that her husband was caught in the middle and was also eager to have another son.
She consulted many doctors in the vicinity and tried numerous folk remedies, but still couldn't find relief.
Before she could get pregnant again, the family planning policy came into effect. Both of Zhang's parents were working and had to comply with the policy, so they could not have a second child.
Grandpa Zhang's anger was completely ignited.
From then on, she stopped paying attention to Zhang's father.
But he didn't want Zhang's mother to have an easy time either, so he moved directly from the capital to Tianyuan City and rented an apartment in the same neighborhood where Zhang's family lived.
Grandpa Zhang's sister was also a shrewd woman. She had her eyes on the courtyard house that Grandpa Zhang owned, and she actually gave her grandson to Grandpa Zhang.
As the younger sister, no one knew better than her how much her brother favored sons over daughters.
If her nephew has no son, wouldn't all the properties her family owns in the capital be hers?
As it turns out, she really did know Grandpa Zhang very well.
Living in the same neighborhood, Grandpa Zhang deliberately took the little boy up and down the stairs every day, bought him snacks, held him in his arms all day, and gave him everything he wanted.
Conversely, when dealing with Zhang Xinran, he not only deliberately ignored her, but also forbade her to call him grandpa.
It was also a declaration that his things would never be left to a mere girl.
When Zhang Xinran was little, her parents were extremely busy with work.
Unfortunately, due to work reasons, Grandpa Zhang was transferred to work in a county town below.
Left with no other option, Zhang's mother had to send Xiao Xinran to kindergarten.
It could be called a kindergarten, but it's actually a privately run childcare center in the neighborhood. You pay a fixed fee of a few yuan a month to have someone look after your child.
On one occasion, Zhang's father happened to be working on a case and had to work through the night, while Zhang's mother also encountered some trouble and didn't get home until very late.
When she rushed to the kindergarten, she saw Xiao Xinran all alone, clinging to the iron railing, looking out with a forlorn and helpless expression.
Everyone in the kindergarten had long since left, and the entire area was pitch black, looking as if it might swallow people whole.
Even she, an adult, was scared; she simply couldn't imagine how Xiao Xinran had managed to get to this point.
But when Xiao Xinran saw her mother, her first words were not fear or complaint, but rather:
"Mom, slow down, be careful not to fall. I'm not scared."
Thinking of Grandpa Zhang, who came to pick up the little boy every day, and looking at her well-behaved and sensible daughter who kept comforting her, Zhang's mother's eyes welled up with tears, like a leaky bucket.
She was terrified. There were many human traffickers around at that time, and there were no adults around. Even if her little Xinran were taken away, no one would know.
But she couldn't cause trouble for the kindergarten, since they had already agreed that they would only help her stay until 6 p.m.
Later, one weekend, while Zhang's parents were working overtime, Xiao Xinran was playing downstairs alone when she actually encountered human traffickers.
They searched for three days and three nights before they finally found her.
From then on, whenever kindergarten was on holiday, Zhang's mother had no choice but to lock her child at home.
Grandpa Zhang was filled with regret after learning that Zhang Xinran had been abducted and then returned.
"Are you bored and have nothing better to do? You spent three days looking for someone! A girl, it's good that she's gone! We can just have another one."
Zhang Xinran's father initially didn't mind that she was a daughter, even saying that it was good to have the flower bloom first and then bear fruit later.
However, after the family planning policy was introduced, Zhang's father's gaze towards Zhang Xinran began to change slowly.
It was from that time on that Zhang's father became increasingly strict with Zhang Xinran, constantly scolding and reprimanding her.
One time, after drinking a little, he hit Zhang Xinran for the first time, and then... it got out of control.
Zhang Ma, tears streaming down her face, grasped Hua Lichu's hand and said, "Child, it's all my fault."
I have only one child in my life, Xinran, and she has been exceptionally sensible since she was little.
She's kind and naive, and I was afraid she'd be deceived, so I forcibly interfered with her making friends.
I was so anxious at school that day that I lost my mind. Don't ignore Xinran because of this. If you're unhappy, just yell at me.
These past few days, she's been lying alone in her hospital bed, thinking about many things.
The more I think about it, the more I break down.
It's a shame she kept saying she wanted to protect her daughter. If she had stood up bravely and resisted him when Zhang's father first laid a hand on her, would things have been different?
What's the difference between her and an accomplice?
However, my daughter's new friend has never given up searching for her all these days.
Thinking about what she said at school that day, Zhang Ma felt like slapping herself a few times.
"No sooner said than done," Zhang Ma slapped herself several times and kept apologizing to Hua Lichu.
Hua Lichu stopped her, only telling her to rest well and recover as soon as possible, before leaving the hospital.
As she walked out of the hospital, Hua Lichu looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.
It turns out that the dark cloud hanging over her head never truly dissipated; it simply scattered to other corners of the world.
Zhang Xinran needs to find a job, her studies need to be maintained, the boutique needs to be maintained, and the fried chicken and milk tea shop needs to be opened as soon as possible.
After all, they still owed Hua Yuanqing and Hua Heqiu's families a total of 3000 yuan.
Starting work sooner means starting to make a profit sooner.
It's really hard to feel like you're in debt, and the three generations of the family dream of paying off the debt as soon as possible.
In order to open as soon as possible, Hua Lichu would rush to the store after class every day to supervise the renovation workers.
In addition, we also need to order milk from dairy farms, fruit from fruit farmers, and chicken from poultry farms.
Finding stable supply channels is not easy. Seeing that Hua Lichu was too busy, Hua An Tao Hua Yuan Sheng took charge of two of them.
Even so, Hua Lichu was still so busy that she wished she had the ability to create clones of herself.
After finally managing to handle all of this, Hua Lichu suddenly realized that she didn't have enough staff!
Most of the day, the boutique is not busy, and it's just right with Hua, Qiu, and Yan Moli looking after it.
But at lunchtime and in the afternoon when students flock to the store, Hua Yuansheng and Hua Antao will go to the store to help out.
After finishing this busy period, Hua and Qiu continued to mind the shop and organize the goods.
Hua Yuansheng went to the square to set up a ring toss stall, while Hua Antao went home to cook. The four of them worked together perfectly.
As for Hua Lichu, she was so busy that she was practically invisible.
Therefore, if a fried chicken and milk tea shop wants to open, it must hire two more people.
Recruiting was easy; Hua Lichu took some time to go to the job market and brought back two young women.
But the shop definitely can't be handed over to two strangers; there must be someone trustworthy in charge.
After careful consideration, Hua Lichu approached Hua Heqiu and Yan Moli, asking each of them to choose a store to serve as store manager.
Hua Heqiu and Yan Moli had no ideas, so they left the decision to Hua Lichu, saying that they would absolutely obey whoever was transferred to the milk tea shop.
A qualified manager must know how to use people.
Before making personnel changes, Hua Lichu considered the personality traits of both individuals.
Hua and Qiu have fiery personalities and can shut people up with their words, but they are serious, meticulous, and patient in their work.
Anyone who tries to take advantage of the situation will not escape her keen eyes.
The most outrageous time was when the customer had already walked quite a distance, but Hua and Qiu still managed to bring him back.
Yan Moli is quick in her work, but not meticulous enough.
However, they are very good at observing people and are good at learning.
Although I was shy at first, after a few days of learning and improvement, I am now able to give customers advice based on their characteristics and needs.
She speaks softly and her suggestions always resonate with customers, and are accepted six out of ten times.
Since fried chicken and milk tea fall under the food category, Hua Lichu prefers to find someone who is meticulous and patient.
Most importantly, boutique stores rely more on sales pitches, while people who come to fried chicken and milk tea shops will generally order and leave as long as the products are explained clearly, without needing much sales pitch.
Hua and Qiu's way of speaking... is really hard to accept.
She wanted to open a shop, not make enemies, so it would be better to transfer her aunt Hua and Qiu to the fried chicken and milk tea shop.
Aunt Yan Moli was asked to help the new employees familiarize themselves with their jobs.
Hua Lichu then provided targeted training to Hua Heqiu and another new employee, covering topics including, but not limited to: making milk tea, frying chicken, familiarizing themselves with sealing machines, and understanding the products...
Although it was her first time opening a fried chicken and milk tea shop, Hua Lichu read a lot of books on management.
In addition, her eloquence and decisive personality prevented any major problems from arising.
On a Sunday during the last few days of October, Peach's fried chicken and milk tea shop finally opened.
On the opening day, Hua Lichu and her new employees stood outside the door, offering a small cup of milk tea to everyone who passed by.
The milk tea cup was specially customized by Hua Lichu, and it's about the size of a single sip.
As it turns out, no one can resist the allure of "free".
Anyone who isn't in a rush will stop and take the milk tea to savor it when Hua Lichu says it's free to sample.
While customers were tasting the milk tea, Hua Lichu quickly promoted her product, saying, "We offer both milk tea and fruit tea series."
Milk tea is mainly made from milk and tea leaves, while fruit tea has added fruit. Regardless of the type, the ingredients are all of high quality. The price is reasonable, and the portions are generous…”
Milk tea and fried chicken have managed to secure a place in the world of culinary explosions, which is no surprise. They quickly won over the taste buds of those who tried them.
After asking the price, half of the people would choose to buy a cup to try.
In addition, Hualichu also launched a "buy 8 cups, get 1 free" promotion.
She specially made a large stack of cards and a shop seal.
After a customer buys milk tea, the staff will print a corresponding number of stamps on a card based on the quantity of milk tea purchased.
Collect all 8 stamps and you can come to the store to get a free cup of milk tea.
"Please keep your card safe, or you won't be able to redeem your free milk tea if you lose it."
As this is their first attempt, Hua Li Chu didn't offer many varieties. There were only two types of milk tea: pearl milk tea and red bean milk tea, while the fruit teas were lemonade, peach four-season spring tea, and strawberry boba.
The fried chicken series only includes fried chicken and chicken skewers.
Even so, Hua and Qiu, along with their new employees and the three members of the family who came to help, were extremely busy.
If it weren't for the fact that classes at the No. 1 Middle School in the city ended at around 10 p.m., Hua Lichu felt that she would probably be busy until midnight.
Finally, when no one was around, Hua Lichu quickly closed the shop, but the voice in her ear was still ringing: "I want a bubble tea!"
The three members of the family, grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, returned home with shoulder bags full of money. They slumped in their chairs for only a few seconds before immediately starting to calculate their accounts.
After counting the money, Hua Antao smiled and said, "1678!"
Leaving aside the initial investment, let's only consider the cost of the goods themselves and labor costs for now.
Hua Antao said, "I made about 1000 yuan."
That's right, in just one day, the milk tea business generated a net income of up to 1000 yuan!