Chapter 39

After buying the tools, the two were ready to go home and celebrate, with the business officially opening the next day.

However, as the saying goes, when one thing goes well, everything else follows. After buying the tools, Ye Lao and Tang Zhendong passed by the small alley where they usually set up their stall. They planned to cross the train station square and take a bus to Ye Lao's place on the other side. But before they even reached their usual spot, their neighbor, an older woman who sold hair accessories and small trinkets, called out from a distance, "Old Ye, where have you been? There's business waiting for you!"

When Ye Lao heard there was business, he, who had been walking quite fast, slowed down without showing any emotion. As the saying goes: if you chase after business, it's not a deal.

The more you act like a big shot, the more people will treat you as a master! If you rush forward at the mention of business, you're definitely a fraud.

Ye Lao was a master at reading people's minds.

Tang Zhendong immediately thought of this issue as well and followed Ye Lao, walking not too fast and not too slow. "Are you Master Ye? Do you have time now?"

A middle-aged man in his forties seemed very anxious waiting for Ye Lao. He hurriedly came forward even before Ye Lao arrived.

"Brother Ye, this person has been looking for you to check the feng shui. He has been waiting for you for quite a while. Go and see him quickly!" The woman selling hair accessories was in her thirties. Her stall was near where Tang Zhendong used to sell fruit. There were many small hotels here, and many young people came to rent rooms. These young people were mostly workers or students, not very well-off, so hair accessories and small trinkets sold quite well.

"Thank you, sister." Ye Lao politely thanked her but didn't say a word to the middle-aged man.

Ye Lao was well-versed in the art of dealing with people. The more someone came to him for business, the more he would make them wait. The longer the wait, the more it showed his status and ability.

Ye Lao chatted with the woman selling hair accessories for a while, making the middle-aged man beside him extremely anxious, constantly rubbing his hands, like an ant on a hot pan.

Tang Zhendong watched Ye Lao's skill in making people wait and the anxious look on the middle-aged man's face, finding it quite amusing. He had long learned this trick from Ye Lao.

Finally, when Ye Lao finished chatting with the woman, the middle-aged man, Wu Kun, had a chance to speak. "Master Ye, look at me. I was introduced by Li Zhiyong. He said you are a master and can definitely help me."

Only then did Ye Lao turn around. "Oh, who? Who is Li Zhiyong?"

Wu Kun slapped his head. "Look at me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Wu Kun. We call Li Zhiyong 'Old Li.' He is an old employee of the coal company, and we are old colleagues. A while ago, you cured his headache. Today, I met Old Li, and he told me to come find you, Master."

When Wu Kun said this, Ye Lao and Tang Zhendong remembered who he was. It was the person whose wife was seriously ill a few days ago, who gave Ye Lao 3,000 yuan to help treat her. Ye Lao and Tang Zhendong went to help and solved the problem, curing her. Of course, Tang Zhendong found the cause of Old Li's illness, which was a fiery fire element overpowering the metal element on his head. Tang Zhendong thought it would take at least ten to fifteen days to see results, but unexpectedly, Old Li was much better in less than a week.

Of course, Old Li wasn't completely cured, but he was much better. Usually, when people are sick, they feel like they are about to die, but once they get better, they feel completely refreshed. The difference between being sick and not being sick is very clear.

Old Li wasn't completely cured, but he was much better and was recovering quickly.

When people are happy, they feel great. Old Li was in high spirits and naturally boasted a lot to his old colleagues. So when he heard about his colleague's troubles, he immediately mentioned Master Ye.

"Come, come, Master Ye, let's find a place to eat and talk."

Without waiting for a response, Wu Kun pulled Ye Lao and walked away, with Tang Zhendong naturally following behind. They found a private room in a restaurant and sat down. Wu Kun then began to tell his story.

Wu Kun, like Old Li, was an employee of the coal company. The coal company was struggling, and unlike Old Li, who clung to the nearly bankrupt company, Wu Kun left the company years ago and chose to take a leave of absence to start his own flower shop. However, Wu Kun was very resourceful. While running the flower shop, he also started a wedding planning business.

Wedding planning and flowers have always been closely related. Wedding cars need flowers, the bride and groom need flowers, and even the petals scattered are flowers. Moreover, you don't need to own the wedding cars; some wedding car fleets will contact you directly. The emcee, photographer, and host are all readily available. The flower shop acts as a mediator, integrating these resources and turning them into a wedding planning service. Many wedding planning companies started as flower shops.

Although Wu Kun said he ran a flower shop, Ye Lao could tell that his wedding planning business was doing well, and that was his main focus.

With the development of the wedding planning industry over the past few years, Wu Kun's small flower shop had grown into a medium-sized wedding planning company with five or six employees. When there was work, the six people could split into two teams to arrange and set up, and the business had been very prosperous over the years.

However, things started to go downhill when a real estate company opened across the street from Wu Kun's flower shop. His business began to decline, and it was almost deserted. It seemed that from that time on, the flower shop was plagued with problems.

At first, there was still some business, but it always encountered various issues. Either the wedding cars would have an accident on the way, or the emcee who was booked would suddenly have an emergency and couldn't come, or the hotel would suddenly raise the price. From that day on, nothing went smoothly, which caused Wu Kun a lot of headaches.

In theory, the wedding cars and Wu Kun were just in a cooperative relationship, not under his direct control. If a customer booked an Audi, Wu Kun would help contact the Audi fleet; if they booked a Mazda, he would contact the Mazda fleet. Each car was driven by its owner, and if an accident happened, it should be the responsibility of the fleet or the driver, not Wu Kun. However, the customers who booked the wedding planning services didn't see it that way: "I booked the wedding planning from you, so you are responsible."

In fact, the customers were right to find Wu Kun, but Wu Kun felt very wronged. When they came to him, he had to find the driver, and the legal process would follow the same procedure. But since the contract was directly signed with his flower shop, when something went wrong, they naturally came to him. If he felt it was unfair or couldn't bear the cost, he could then go after the car. However, when the car had an accident and the driver was gone, who would care about a small wedding planning dispute?

Wu Kun could only suffer in silence.

Moreover, issues like the hotel raising the price or the emcee not showing up also caused problems for the customers, who would then come to Wu Kun. Wu Kun was overwhelmed with complaints, not only losing money but also damaging his reputation.

With so many problems, how could his business not be affected? Thus, Wu Kun's flower shop and wedding planning business declined. Now, even paying the workers' salaries was a problem. Fortunately, he had earned a lot in the past few years, so he wasn't bankrupt, but it made him very bitter.