Chapter 32: Negotiating a Deal

“Before, the cleaner only needed to sweep and mop once a day.”

“But now? Look, can they not sweep or mop after each movie ends?”

“They’re causing trouble and demanding a raise!”

“Who’s going to pay me? These people?”

The boss was furious. Chen Jianguo glared at Su Ai.

“Did you hear that?  The boss said your food is seriously affecting our business. From now on, no more stalls here. Understand?”

“Get lost!”

“And you all, get out of here! Do you hear me?”

The people who had only set up their stalls for a day turned pale.

Su Ai, however, handed the boss a cup of Sweet Honey (presumably a drink): “Boss, have some milk tea to calm down.”

“I always thought the boss who could open such a large cinema would be a man in his fifties or sixties. I didn’t expect you to be so young.”

“You’re really accomplished for your age.”

“I really didn’t expect that our little stall would cause you so much trouble. We’ll leave now; please don’t be angry.”

“I’m also willing to give 100 yuan to the cinema’s cleaners. They’ve been really troubled these past few days.”

Faced with Su Ai’s smile, the gift, the praise, and the solution to the problem, the boss’s anger subsided considerably, and his expression improved.

“Sister, it’s not that I don’t want you to do business.”

“It’s just that this is causing me trouble.”

“Really.”

“So I’m really sorry.”

Su Ai continued to smile and nod: “I understand, I understand.”

“We both understand.”

“But I want to talk to the boss about a business deal.”

“There’s a solution to everything, don’t you think?”

“You can’t just chase everyone away.”

“Think about it, hasn’t your business been much better these past few days?”

“Ask Big Brother Jianguo.  Lately, haven’t many people come to our cinema because of Sweet Honey?”

You know, there’s more than just this one cinema in the city. Why would people specifically come to yours?

“Is that so?” The boss didn’t know about this.

He looked at Chen Jianguo questioningly.

Chen Jianguo sold the tickets. If there were more customers, he would be the first to know.

“Yes, cousin, recently, there have been significantly more people watching movies than before about a third more.”

The boss’s eyes widened.

He hadn’t checked the accounts this month yet.

A third more?

That means a lot more money!

“Is it all because of Sweet Honey?”

Chen Jianguo shook his head: “I don’t know.  The movies are still the same; they haven’t changed, but there are definitely more people.”

“Besides the addition of Sweet Honey, nothing else has changed.”

The boss immediately looked back at Su Ai.

Su Ai smiled and leaned closer to the boss, whispering: “Boss, I can make 800 yuan a day setting up this stall.”

The boss’s eyes widened.

What does 800 yuan mean?

His cinema, with so many employees and such a large size, only makes how much in daily revenue?

A few thousand yuan.

It seems like a few thousand yuan, but he still has to pay employees’ salaries, buy films, and buy equipment, which costs a lot of money. The net profit for a day is probably less than a thousand yuan.

She can make so much money just by setting up a stall?

“How much are the costs?” the boss quickly asked.

“Less than one-tenth,” Su Ai didn’t hide it.

“Boss, I’m only setting up this stall because my husband is having surgery at the hospital, but my home is far from here.  In a few days, after my husband is discharged, we’ll go home.”

“About this business, would you have time to discuss it?”

“Discuss!”

The boss understood Su Ai’s meaning and immediately broke into a smile.

“Discuss! I was just saying that when I got up this morning, magpies were chirping at my doorstep. It turns out a God of Wealth has come to my door! Sister, please come in, let’s talk in my office.”

Knowing how to speak is the first lesson for a businessman.

“Jianguo, you watch over the stall for the sister for a while, we’ll be right back.”

“Okay, cousin.”

Su Ai followed the boss into the office and drank a cup of high-quality Biluochun tea.

“Sister, how do you want to cooperate?”

“This is my first time meeting the boss, but I feel familiar, like meeting my own brother.”

“I won’t beat around the bush.”

“My husband still needs to be hospitalized for ten days.”

“We’ll go home after ten days.”

“These few days, the boss has helped me drive away other vendors, letting only me have the stall.”

“I’ll only set up for ten days. After ten days, I’ll give the boss all the recipes for free.”

“After that, the boss can stop letting others set up stalls and sell it themselves, making a large profit every day.”

“And this small business has a quick return on investment.”

“What do you think, boss?”

The boss held his teacup, narrowing his eyes.

“Sister, actually, this shouldn’t be very technically demanding. I could just chase you away and do it myself.”

So why should I let you earn extra money for ten days? That’s not just one or two hundred, that’s several thousand.

“Food is a matter of personal taste. If it’s not from the same source, the taste will always be different.”

“And the boss also saw that the stall across from me has been researching for five days, only selling sugar snowballs. Their milk tea isn’t as good as mine, and their popcorn is even worse.”

“If you chase me away, and you find someone else to research how to make it, it will take at least five days.”

“What’s the difference between that and me setting up for ten days and then giving you everything?”

“And if I weren’t here these past few days, your cinema business would have declined, which is also a loss, isn’t it?”

“You’re the boss; you’re better at accounting than I am.”

“Don’t you think?”

Su Ai could have offered two more snacks to strengthen her bargaining position, but she wasn’t willing.

If her products were too cheap, it would give others the opportunity to exploit her.

The boss stared at Su Ai for a long time, then laughed twice.

“Sister, you’re right.”

“Ten days?”

Su Ai conceded a day: “Actually, it should be nine days. On the last day, we’ll be packing up at the hospital and won’t have time to set up the stall.”

The doctor originally said they could go home after a week.

But for this business, Su Ai planned to stay two more days, allowing Ji Yang to recover in the hospital for two more days.

“Good!”

“Then let’s write a contract!”

“No problem.”

Su Ai and the boss signed a contract on the spot.

“With this business, the boss can give the cleaners a raise. These things are all sweet; they really need to be cleaned up after each showing, otherwise, they’ll stick to shoes, and in summer, they attract mosquitoes and spoil easily.”

“But it’s simple to solve this problem. The boss can put two large bins at the exit.”

“After each movie ends, have the cleaners put out the bins. People will naturally throw their trash into the bins.”

“It won’t be so difficult to manage.”

The boss nodded.

“Sister, your plan is thorough.”

“On the seventh day, the boss should arrange someone to learn how to make popcorn from me. The corn needs to be processed in advance; otherwise, if I leave and you start making it, you won’t be able to keep up.”

The contract was signed, and Su Ai didn’t mind doing the boss a favor.