Suppressing the Protagonist at the Start to Seize the Heroine

Chapter 83

Upon reaching the supermarket, Xia Shiyu came with good news. “Su Lin, Xiaowan, we’ve hit three million in sales!”

“Already?” Su Lin asked, surprised.

“That’s three million now?” Lin Xiaowan echoed.

Xia Shiyu nodded. “Yes, the backend data just came in. We’ve just hit three million, and four million isn’t impossible by closing time tonight.”

Su Lin then asked seriously, “Xiaoyu, can you calculate the gross profit?”

Xia Shiyu replied with a giggle, “I’ve already done the math on the way here. Excluding labor and electricity costs and just considering the cost and selling price, our gross profit is about 1.3 million.”

“That much?” Su Lin was astonished.

Xia Shiyu, holding onto Lin Xiaowan, said, “This is all Xiaowan’s achievement. She managed to negotiate lower prices with many suppliers, providing us with substantial profits. Items like rice cookers and induction stoves brought us multiple times the profit.”

“Wow… one can only imagine how much others overcharge,” Su Lin said with a laugh.

Xia Shiyu playfully remarked, “With you entering the market, Su Lin, I bet they won’t be able to sell at such high prices anymore.”

Su Lin, frowning, noted, “That’s not certain. We can handle business competition, but we need to watch out for their schemes.”

“Let them scheme. We’ll just report them and get them imprisoned,” Lin Xiaowan said lightly.

Su Lin shook his head. “It’s not that simple in business. Many schemes are legal yet can make life very difficult.”

He then asked Lin Xiaowan, “Do you want to stay with us till closing at nine, or should I take you home earlier?”

Lin Xiaowan, giving Su Lin another glare, finally said, “Let’s wait until closing. I’m curious to see how much we’ll make today.”

Xia Shiyu, astonished, said, “Wow, to think we’ve recouped our two million investment in just one day. Supermarket profits are really substantial.”

Su Lin agreed, “Walmart didn’t become a retail giant for no reason. Supermarket profits are indeed substantial.”

He remembered from his past life that many supermarkets seemed unprofitable yet were making money. He was just beginning to understand some of these business dynamics.

“Do you want to turn Quan Le Gou into a supermarket like Walmart?”

Su Lin shook his head, “That’s unlikely. The national conditions are different. In a year or so, domestic chain supermarkets will start expanding aggressively, leading to price wars that could kill many small supermarkets.”

“Are we going to fight them in these wars?” Xia Shiyu asked.

Su Lin nodded affirmatively, “Definitely. If we’re going to expand beyond Jiangnan, we’ll have to face local supermarkets. Then, it will be a real business war. Xiaoyu, Xiaowan, I’ll be counting on you then.”

Xia Shiyu, looking embarrassed, said, “I… I can’t do that, Su Lin. I still have so much to learn just doing finance. Business warfare isn’t my strength.”

“Exactly… What are you planning, Su Lin? You want Xiaoyu to fight those unscrupulous businessmen? She’s too innocent for that,” Lin Xiaowan chimed in.

Su Lin just smiled mysteriously without explaining.

By nine o’clock, the final sales figure was out: over four million in turnover with a gross profit of 1.7 million.

With the total investment in Quan Le Gou, including property purchases, being just a little over two million, it meant that in just two days, Su Lin not only recouped his investment but also made a significant profit.

This demonstrated why many protagonists in rebirth-themed novels prefer opening supermarkets.

Su Lin knew this was the result of an initial frenzy and that sales would decline on the second day and drop further on the third. Still, such astonishing profits were staggering.

After a brief moment of excitement, Su Lin turned to Chen Yang and said, “Yangzi, I still have some money left. I plan to open branches in six districts simultaneously. Make sure we have enough talent in reserve, and choose the store managers carefully.”

Chen Yang nodded, “Don’t worry, Brother Lin. I won’t let you down.”

“Good, I trust you with that. We need to move the Yulin office out of the supermarket, too. We’ll rent an office nearby for now and move to Donghai in the second half of the year.”

“Got it!”

“Xiaowan, make sure you communicate with the suppliers. We’re launching the plan for six branches at once, so make sure they don’t drop the ball.”

Lin Xiaowan nodded, “Our supermarket sells daily necessities, they wouldn’t dare mess with us. If there’s any hint of trouble, we’ll just switch suppliers, so they all behave very well.”

“Hehe, I never doubted your abilities, Xiaowan,” Su Lin said with a smile.

“Next, Yangzi, start scouting locations, and then we’ll prepare for the college entrance exams. After the exams, we’ve got a big battle to fight.”

After assigning some tasks to Chen Yang, Su Lin took the girls back home.

“Su Lin, can Yangzi handle all this? Isn’t it too much?” Lin Xiaowan asked worriedly.

“Yeah, Su Lin, you’re really pushing him too hard. Xiaoyu and I can’t stand to watch it,” Lin Xiaowan added.

Su Lin tapped each girl on the head, “You two think too much. Yangzi, like me, knows how to delegate. He looked busy today, but he was actually quite relaxed since he just directed the heads of departments. He’s just under a lot of pressure.”

“You’re different, Xiaowan. You could have prepared earlier, but you ended up making and receiving hundreds of calls today. There’s a clear difference, okay?”

Lin Xiaowan retorted, “It’s your fault for not explaining things clearly at the start. You said suppliers were important and not to let others handle them.”

“Alright, my bad. I’ll make sure to explain things more clearly in the future.”

“Hehe, Su Lin, Xiaowan was so tired today, and you’re still picking on her,” Xia Shiyu said playfully.

Lin Xiaowan’s cheeks reddened. Although Xia Shiyu meant verbal teasing, Lin Xiaowan’s thoughts were elsewhere.

Just earlier, Su Lin had indeed teased her quite a bit on the way back, and she hadn’t resisted much. Looking back, she felt foolish for believing everything Su Lin said.

Over the next three days, the trio spent most of their time at Quan Le Gou’s first store. The total revenue for these three days also successfully broke ten million, and Su Lin had not only recouped his investment but made a considerable profit.

Meanwhile, many others were eyeing this profitable supermarket model, contemplating opening their own in Zhongjiang.

Su Lin didn’t mind others copying his methods, but many of his strategies were too advanced, and some were quite risky. Like the simplest strategy of giving discounts – if it weren’t for Lin Xiaowan securing low prices, could he have recouped his investment so quickly?

Without getting the lowest prices from suppliers, discounts would have been suicidal. Two calm days after school resumed, the final monthly exam arrived as scheduled.