Chapter 94

Li Mu stayed in Jinling for a day before hurriedly returning to Haizhou. The goods from the Metersbonwe headquarters had already been delivered to Haizhou, and his aunt had quickly recruited seven young girls and three young men. In this era, a sales salary of 500 yuan plus a base salary was about 50 to 100 yuan higher than other specialty stores, making it very attractive to young people.

His aunt soon demonstrated exceptional management and coordination skills. She led the employees in quickly stocking the shelves while also training them. The ten young people were highly enthusiastic about their work, as Li Mu's store was the most upscale clothing specialty store in Haizhou, and working there made them feel much happier.

When Li Mu returned home, he found that his parents were not there. It was already 9 PM, and even the usual time for a walk had passed. Li Mu initially thought about calling to ask, but a sudden idea came to him. He put away his phone, went to the storage room, and pushed out the mountain bike Chen Wan had given him, heading straight for the store.

Riding to the store entrance, Li Mu looked through the large glass window and saw his aunt leading the employees in quickly organizing the goods. His parents were nearby, trying to help but being stopped by his aunt, so they could only watch the young people work.

Li Mu stood at the store entrance, not rushing to go in. The store was brightly lit and filled with a variety of goods. The mannequins in the window, dressed in T-shirts and shorts, looked almost real under the lighting and environment. The large Metersbonwe logo on the sign was also very impressive. From Li Mu's perspective, the store looked very upscale.

Seeing his store grow from nothing to something, Li Mu felt quite emotional. He didn't expect the store to make him a lot of money; he only hoped that it would bring a new chapter in his parents' careers, sparing them the economic and psychological impact of being laid off in their previous lives. He wanted them to find their value in this business, and that was all he wished for.

Afraid that the bike would be stolen if left outside, Li Mu pushed it into the store. His mother saw him first and smiled happily, "Son, when did you get back?"

"Just got home and saw you weren't there, so I came over."

Li Mu's father pointed to the shelves that were already half-organized and said to Li Mu, "Look, your aunt is really capable. In just a day or two, she's recruited people and started organizing the store."

Hearing this, his aunt laughed, "Don't tease me, brother-in-law. These methods were all taught during the training by the headquarters."

The employees were busy organizing the goods. A few female employees secretly glanced at Li Mu a few times. He was about their age, and his tall and handsome appearance made the girls a bit uncomfortable, and they worked a bit harder. Li Mu said to his aunt, "Aunt, there are still three days before the opening, right?"

His aunt nodded, "The time is tight. After the shelves are organized, we still need to set up the mannequins and displays in the middle areas."

Then, his aunt walked to his mother and whispered, "Sister, the headquarters gave us a notice today. The season is changing, and they're launching a promotion: buy 299 yuan and get a shoulder bag. The shoulder bags don't have a price tag, and the company's price is 15 yuan. The minimum order for each store is 300, and the maximum is 2000. How many do you think we should order?"

His mother thought for a moment, "So, for each customer who spends 300 yuan, we have to give back 15 yuan?"

His aunt nodded, "That's about it."

His father was a bit upset, "We haven't even opened yet, and we haven't sold a single full-price item, but the headquarters is already making money from us. The stalls in the old street sell good-quality backpacks for just a few dozen yuan."

His mother pouted, "Where did you learn this in training? This is called stimulating consumption. If we can give away a few hundred bags in a month, it would be great!"

His father still couldn't quite get over it, but his mother, who had a background in finance, saw the business opportunity.

"Can we return the excess if we order too much?" his mother asked.

"No, but we can extend the promotion until they're all given away."

His mother thought for a moment and said, "Then let's order 2000."

"2000..." His father's eyes widened, but his aunt was excited, "That's what I was thinking, but I was afraid you wouldn't agree."

His mother smiled, "In this kind of situation, ordering more is always better than ordering less."

Li Mu was impressed by his mother's decision. In his mind, his mother had always been very frugal, always carefully budgeting. This kind of generous spending was unprecedented.

However, Li Mu also believed that such a promotional activity should be actively participated in. Although the headquarters would make money from the gifts, the promotional effect was significant. He had experienced this in college, where a brand's promotion of giving away a wallet for spending 1299 yuan was very popular. The wallet was not for sale, and when a classmate used it, others would think, "He must have spent 1299 yuan at Jack & Jones, which is not something an ordinary person can afford."

This vanity led many boys in the class to eventually own the wallet, even causing a bad trend in the school. However, the Jack & Jones store near the school made a lot of money from this.

Li Mu believed that Metersbonwe in Haizhou had the same magic.

His mother, without his future experiences, could make such a decision, and Li Mu suddenly thought that his mother might have a talent for business.

At this moment, his father calculated, "2000 bags, that's 30,000 yuan. Do you have that much money, wife?"

"No," his mother shrugged, then looked at Li Mu matter-of-factly, "My son does, right, son?"

"Right," Li Mu nodded, turning to his aunt, "Aunt, place the order with the headquarters, and I'll pay tomorrow."

His aunt had already heard from his parents about Li Mu's ability to make money, so she wasn't surprised by his generous promise of 30,000 yuan.

Thinking about the store's opening, his aunt asked his mother, "Sister, should we tell our parents and the others before the opening? So they don't find out through other channels and get upset."

His mother thought for a moment and nodded, "Xiao Mu just got his acceptance letter. I was thinking of combining the opening with this to celebrate."

His father said, "Let's do both. But let's talk about the store after dinner."

"Alright," his mother agreed, thinking that if she called to tell the relatives that her son had been accepted to Renmin University and that she and her husband had opened a clothing store, it would seem too showy, even if she didn't mean to.

His mother said, "Let's set it for the evening of August 17th, and we'll open on the 18th."

"Okay."

Li Mu had no objections. For someone with a narrow mind, he was looking forward to seeing the reactions of his uncle and aunt when they heard about the Metersbonwe store. His aunt, who always spoke with a sharp tongue and looked down on others, had previously been afraid that they were trying to copy her children's clothing store. He wondered what her reaction would be when she saw such a large store.

Li Mu didn't expect her to feel ashamed or guilty; he just wanted her to understand that there are always people better than her, and to show more respect to his father in the future.

Just as they decided on the date, Li Mu's phone rang.

Seeing that it was Zhang Kexuan calling, and knowing it was the 15th, he wondered if they had already finished the final.

Li Mu walked to the store entrance and answered the call.

As soon as the call connected, he heard a loud and chaotic noise, as if he were in a concert with thousands of people. The audience was screaming and cheering. Li Mu was still surprised when he heard a woman's voice through the speaker, "Wow! What happened? Why are the audience suddenly so enthusiastic? It must be for the next contestant, right?"

"Right!" The crowd roared like a tidal wave.

"Alright, let's welcome the last band of the 2001 Ice Power Vanguard National Band Competition final with the most enthusiastic applause—Simple Plan!"

The audience's cheers grew even louder. Li Mu heard many people cheering for Simple Plan and for Zhang Kexuan. Then, he heard a clear, fabric-like sound, which he guessed was Zhang Kexuan putting his phone in his pocket as he went on stage.

Sure enough!

As the sound of the fabric rubbing grew, the audience's cheers grew louder until Zhang Kexuan shouted, "Friends in Yanjing, how are you?"

"Great!" Even just hearing the sound, Li Mu could feel how enthusiastic the audience was.

Zhang Kexuan said, "We are Simple Plan, and we are honored to be on the final stage. This time, the song we are performing is a creation by all four members of our band. The song is called 'Fly Higher,' and we hope you can fly higher in your future lives!"

The cheers were so loud that Li Mu had to move the phone away from his ear.

Then, the synthesizer keyboard intro began, and Zhang Kexuan started singing...

Li Mu held the phone and listened to the entire song, giving it his own evaluation: a perfect performance.

That night, the well-known DJ Huang Xiaoyun of the popular evening music program "Radio Music Voice" on China Music Radio said excitedly, "I was at the final tonight and witnessed Simple Plan win the national championship. I can only say: well-deserved! Well-deserved! Well-deserved! After returning from the competition, I've been refreshing the Yi Ting website, eager to hear the official version of 'Fly Higher.' This song will definitely be one of the top ten songs of the year!"