Chapter 136: Tiantian Supermarket and the Direct Recruitment by Shengda

When Zhang Zhi heard that Yang Tian had arrived, he hurried down from upstairs. Yang Tian had not visited the Hongyu Internet Cafe for more than a month.

“A-Tian, you came at just the right time. The end of the month is almost here, and I need to give you your share of this month’s profits!” Zhang Zhi assumed Yang Tian had come to collect his money, so he came downstairs carrying his large briefcase. Business at the Hongyu Internet Cafe was thriving, and Zhang Zhi now had a great deal of cash in his hands.

“I’m not here to ask you for money. I’m here to ask you for something else!” Yang Tian said with a cheerful grin.

Zhang Zhi froze, unable to understand what Yang Tian meant. Zhou Bing and the others were equally bewildered. They knew that Yang Tian had a grand plan, but they had no idea what it was or how it might affect them.

“What do you want? Why are you drawing such a clear line between us? Just tell me what you need!” Zhang Zhi gave a bitter smile. It was not that he was unwilling to give Yang Tian anything. Rather, he understood perfectly well that Yang Tian would eventually go his own way. It was only a matter of time.

“The plot of land next to Hongyu!” Yang Tian pointed to the right and gave him a mischievous smile.

“What do you want that plot for?” Zhang Zhi asked in surprise.

“Exactly! That place is more than a thousand square meters. Brother Tian, don’t tell me you’re planning to open another Internet cafe?” Zhou Bing was also astonished.

“If Brother Tian opens another Internet cafe, will Hongyu still have any business?” A Gui rubbed his bald head and exclaimed in shock.

“A-Tian would never do something like that.” Zhang Zhi spoke with absolute certainty. He walked over to Yang Tian and smiled. “Whatever you want to do, we brothers will support you. I’ll let you have that plot. Besides, it wasn’t mine to begin with.”

“Thanks! I’m planning to open the largest supermarket in Binhai City. But I won’t make it large-scale right away. My first goal is to create the most popular retail market in the city.” Yang Tian revealed his plan. He and Zhang Zhi were close friends, so he had no intention of hiding anything from them. Besides, he would need their help with the supermarket.

“A supermarket?” Zhang Zhi and the others all stared at him with their mouths open. A Gui, however, looked confused. “Brother Tian, what’s a supermarket?”

“Ignorant fool. You don’t even know what a supermarket is. It’s a large retail market! I always tell you to read more newspapers, but you never listen. Now you know what it means to regret not having learned enough when you need knowledge, right? Brother Tian, am I right?” Before Yang Tian could answer, Zhou Bing had already scolded A Gui thoroughly. Then he turned cheerfully to Yang Tian.

“Yes. At present, Binhai has no true supermarket in the modern sense. I’m going to open the first one. We’ll establish the brand first, while also introducing the people of Binhai to the concept of supermarket shopping.” Yang Tian planned to begin with the format of a two-yuan or five-yuan store to attract customers, then build the brand with high-quality, fashionable products.

“That’s a great idea, A-Tian. You should have said so earlier. You’re always springing surprises on me. I thought you were planning to leave us behind! Ha-ha!” The tension in Zhang Zhi’s heart finally eased.

“I’m thinking of calling it Tiantian Supermarket. What do you think?”

Yang Tian had never intended to abandon Zhang Zhi and the others. It had taken great effort to build their friendship; how could he bear to let it be destroyed by parting ways?

“Excellent. Tiantian Supermarket is a very good name. It uses one character from your name, and it also suggests that people can visit the supermarket every day!” Zhou Bing smiled shrewdly.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll have a construction crew renovate the place next door tomorrow. Zhou Bing, I’ll give you a copy of the designs as well. Help me keep an eye on the work. I still have to prepare for the national college entrance examination.” Yang Tian smiled as he instructed Zhou Bing.

“Just say the word, Brother Tian. You can rest easy. From now until the supermarket opens, I’ll keep watch over everything every day. Anyone who causes trouble will answer to me!” Zhou Bing thumped his chest confidently. A Gui also made a solemn promise to help.

“A-Tian, this isn’t right. You’re abandoning the Internet cafe to open a supermarket, and now you’re even poaching our people. That’s going too far!” Zhang Zhi pretended to be angry. He grabbed Yang Tian and questioned him anxiously.

“Nonsense. If Brother Tian wanted to transfer all of us away from the Internet cafe, he wouldn’t open the supermarket right next door. He’s doing this so he can take care of both places at once. A-Zhi, you’re not as clever as I am anymore!” Zhou Bing patted Zhang Zhi on the shoulder, wearing a thoroughly self-satisfied expression.

In truth, Zhang Zhi could see it clearly as well. If Yang Tian were someone who cared nothing for loyalty, the Hongyu Internet Cafe would never have reached its current state. The two of them had built it up through years of hard work, and Yang Tian could never bear to watch it decline.

If they opened a large supermarket next to the Internet cafe, it would certainly increase the cafe’s profits. Customers might come online after shopping, while people who valued the convenience of using the Internet cafe might also come out to buy food, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Once the premises had been secured, Yang Tian brought in a construction crew and began renovating the building according to his plans. He returned to school to continue studying, while Zhou Bing, A Gui, and the others took responsibility for watching over the site.

Opening a supermarket was one thing if it was merely a small grocery store; that required little experience. But anyone hoping to run a large supermarket needed many qualities: broad vision, sharp coordination skills, and strong human-resources management abilities.

In that respect, Yang Tian was not especially capable. Although he had been reborn and knew much about future events and trends, allowing him to seize certain opportunities ahead of time—and giving him something resembling foresight—

As for coordination, that largely came down to money and manpower. Yang Tian had no shortage of either. He was not worried about lacking funds to build the supermarket. The money earned from the land in Daliushu Village would be more than enough to expand it. Nor did he need to worry about staff. He had plenty of relatives and friends. Yang Bao and his wife, as well as Huang Biao and his wife, could all work as managers at the supermarket.

However, he was unfamiliar with the practical aspects of supermarket management—suppliers, transportation, inventory, and the like—as well as human-resources management, including salaries, incentives, and attendance. Being reborn did not make him omnipotent. He felt that he should first find somewhere to work for three months and accumulate some experience.

His first thought was to spend several months at Carrefour. Later, however, he remembered that Carrefour had often supported certain forces during the early years of the twenty-first century, and this left him deeply disdainful of the company. He was therefore unwilling to work there.

Besides, Walmart was the world’s leading retail enterprise, and its management model was the most advanced. Unfortunately, Binhai City did not yet have a Walmart. He could not travel to Guangzhou or Shanghai to study their operations, since he still had to prepare for the college entrance examination.

After considering the matter from every angle, he thought of an excellent place: Zhang Xiuxiu’s investment company. The company had officially opened under the name Shengda Investment Group. Although it had only just begun, it used an advanced management model learned from Taiwan, and there were many aspects of it worth studying.

Yang Tian called Zhang Xiuxiu.

“What? You want to come work at our company? Wonderful! Wonderful! I’ve been saving a position as an investment consultant for you. I’ll drive over and pick you up right now!” The moment Zhang Xiuxiu heard that Yang Tian wanted to join her company, she became so excited that she nearly danced with joy.

“Wait a moment! There are a few things I need to make clear first. One, I’m not coming to be an investment consultant. I simply want to familiarize myself with your company’s management procedures. Two, I can only work for three months. Three, you don’t need to pay me.” Yang Tian hurriedly stopped Zhang Xiuxiu and explained his intentions. Inside, he found the situation amusing. Zhang Xiuxiu probably really did regard him as an all-purpose genius. If she wanted a senior consultant, all she had to do was publish a recruitment notice, and investment professionals would come swarming in. After all, her father’s investment company was famous both on the mainland and in Taiwan. Shengda Investment Group was currently the Zhang family’s new force on the mainland, so plenty of people would be eager to join and secure a promising career.

“What? You want to study our company’s procedures? Don’t tell me you want to start an investment company too?” Zhang Xiuxiu laughed delightedly. She had originally thought Yang Tian had no interest in this field and that the two of them would never find much common ground. Now everything had suddenly changed.

“No. An investment company isn’t something you can start on a whim. Your father has hundreds of millions in liquid assets, while I have nothing like that. I simply want to learn about modern corporate management. I’ll study for three months, then go back and open a small supermarket.” Yang Tian did not hide his intentions from her.

“A small supermarket? If you open one, it probably won’t stay small! Fine, come on over. I’ll teach you everything I learned in Taiwan.” Zhang Xiuxiu smiled radiantly. Running an investment company on the mainland was already a rather dull business, but now she would no longer have to endure the boredom. At the very least, she would have something entertaining to do over the next three months.

“All right. What position are you planning to give me?” Yang Tian asked with a smile.

“Investment consultant, my personal assistant, my personal bodyguard, and the personal assistant to the managing director. How does that sound?” Zhang Xiuxiu listed every position she could possibly offer him in one breath.

“…” Yang Tian was speechless. He gave a bitter smile. “I’d like to start from the grassroots level. At the same time, I require the freedom to attend your company’s strategic decision-making meetings and quarterly review meetings.”

To truly understand a company’s management procedures, one had to work at the grassroots level. Management involved the formulation of rules on one hand, but the most crucial issue was the rate at which those rules were actually implemented. Yang Tian wanted to see how Shengda balanced the two.

“Fine, fine, fine. As long as you’re willing to come, you can do whatever you like!” Zhang Xiuxiu immediately hung up, ordered the personnel department to prepare an appointment letter for Yang Tian, and then personally drove to wait for him outside the First High School.

When she hurried to the school entrance, classes had not yet ended. She picked up the makeup case from her car and began touching up her appearance while looking into the rearview mirror. She had gotten drunk that night and ruined her image. This time, she intended to rebuild her refined, ladylike persona.

A short while later, the dismissal bell rang. She quickly put away her makeup case, pretended to act naturally, and stepped out of the car. Standing at the school gate, she raised her head and waited eagerly for Yang Tian to appear.

What she never imagined was that Yang Tian had not gone to class at all that afternoon. He was sitting in a small teahouse across the street, drinking tea with Zhang Zhi. From the second-floor window, they had a perfect view of Zhang Xiuxiu below, and her every movement sent Zhang Zhi into peals of laughter.

Yang Tian had intended to go downstairs and meet Zhang Xiuxiu as soon as he saw her, but Zhang Zhi stopped him. He said that he had not seen his sister this nervous in a long time and wanted to watch a little longer.

Yang Tian could only shake his head helplessly. Those siblings were both complete oddballs!

P.S. This is the second update. Please keep voting!