Chapter 329
After Lang Jun"s case, Dali and Luo Youyou grew closer to each other, often eating together and taking walks around campus. As a buddy, I felt glad for Dali.
With only one week left before graduation, the four of us roommates rented several bachelor gowns and posed all over campus. The students in our cla.s.s had a farewell dinner together. After three drinks, the boys hugged each other and sobbed uncontrollably. No matter how many obstacles and shortcomings we faced, these four years of university were our most precious memories of youth and a time we would never forget!
The day after the farewell dinner, Dali mysteriously said he would take me someplace to cheer me up, which probably meant good news.
He drove me to a drugstore that mainly sold women"s toiletries. Seeing the impressive display of sanitary napkins on the shelf, I asked, "Are you choosing something for Youyou? Don’t ask me anything, I don"t know much about this stuff."
"Have you ever seen anyone give sanitary napkins as gifts?” he said, bursting out in laughter. “Let’s go in and talk."
He dragged me into the store, and several employees who were tallying up the stock shouted, "Hi boss!"
I was so surprised I couldn’t keep my mouth closed. "D-did you open this store?"
"What’s that expression of yours?” complained Dali. “I’m not breaking the law and it"s good business. What do you think? You didn’t expect this, did you?"
I felt embarra.s.sed by my gaffe. This was indeed different from what I imagined. Picking up a pack of Little Bear Dula sanitary napkins, I suddenly recalled where I had seen them. "Isn"t this produced by Ye s.h.i.+wen"s father"s company?" I asked, scratching my head.
"Yes, it’s all thanks to his help that we’ve managed to open the store!” he laughed. “Let’s go for lunch and talk as we walk!"
Dali described the process of how the store came to be. After Ye s.h.i.+wen dropped out of school last year, he went to work at his father"s company. He practically started from the bottom and ran around looking for distributors. During the Lunar New Year, he chatted with Dali over the Internet, mentioning his plan to set up a distribution center in Nanjiang City. As it happened, Dali also wanted to start a business. Hence, the two hit it off.
Dali used the money I gave him to rent and furnish the store, as well as hire employees. After much effort, the store finally had its grand opening yesterday. All the products in the store were purchased from Ye s.h.i.+wen at factory prices. Ye s.h.i.+wen would receive 10% of the profits; I would receive 40%, and the remaining 50% would be used to run the business. Even if we didn’t sell all our stock, Dali a.s.sured me we wouldn’t make any losses. With the rich kid Ye s.h.i.+wen on our side, we were guaranteed to have a stable income.
Although sanitary napkins were nothing out of the ordinary, it was something every girl used. Thus, the product could be considered a necessity.
Additionally, the production costs were very low. As long as it was beautifully packaged, the price could be doubled. In Dali’s words, it was simply gold!
Upon listening to his eloquent words, my mouth fell agape. "You sneaky little b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Quietly doing this all by yourself! I’m really impressed."
"It"s all thanks to your startup fund,” he chuckled. “By the way, should we sign an equity agreement?"
"What equity agreement! I understand that costs can outweigh revenues in the first three months of any business,” I repeatedly motioned with my hands. “It’s not easy at the start, so don"t worry about my share. Let"s get the store up and running first."
Dali pointed to a restaurant and said, "Here we are!"
"Can"t you just find a McDonald"s? There’s no need for such extravagance."
"I won"t have to pay for this meal,” he laughed. “Let"s go."
We walked to the private rooms where Ye s.h.i.+wen came out to greet us, all dressed up in a casual suit. After coming out to work for the past six months, he was less defiant, more mature and steady, and more pleasing to the eye than when we first met.
We exchanged pleasantries after such a long separation. Ye s.h.i.+wen got the waiter to serve our food. After downing a gla.s.s of Baijiu, his eyes were slightly misty. "Song-ge, I heard that you’ve solved a lot of cases in the past six months. Compared to you, my experience seems insignificant,” remarked Ye s.h.i.+wen. “I heard that you’re graduating soon. What a pity! I wish I could stand beside you two and take a graduation photo!"
"Since you’ve taken this path, there’s no need to regret anything,” I comforted. “While you envy others, many envy you!"
"Ah, I do regret a little still,” he sighed. “When I returned to Nanjiang City yesterday, I went to visit Ah Juan’s tomb and I stood there for a long time, remembering the past. I stared at her picture and cried my heart out," he said, eyes red with grief.
"Ye-ge, it’s our opening day so let’s not talk about this,” persuaded Dali. “Let"s drink and celebrate instead!”
Ye s.h.i.+wen raised his gla.s.s, rubbing his eyes. “You’re right, let’s forget about all that. Here’s to our happy cooperation!"
The two continued on to serious business matters in which I had no experience.
The store Dali opened wasn’t just a physical store, but also a supply and marketing center covering Nanjiang City. However, the supply and marketing channels hadn’t been set up yet. In other words, Dali and I had to visit major supermarkets and shopping malls to promote our sanitary napkins and establish everything from scratch. Only by doing so could we earn enough revenue since it was impossible to maintain our operations solely on store sales.
"Dude, we can"t stay in the dorms after graduation. I"ll rent a place outside and we can still live together and go out to sell sanitary napkins when we’re free!” suggested Dali. “Anyway, we’re bosses now so we don"t have to punch in. We can arrange our time as we like and you can go to Xiaotao-jiejie when she needs you."
At the thought of my future, I was a little troubled. "Will this really work? I"m not very good at sales."
"I believe that with your intelligence, you’ll have no problem doing anything!" Ye s.h.i.+wen rea.s.sured.
"I’ve never worked a day in my life,” I lowered my head in shame. “I don’t even have work experience in handing out leaflets, much less sales and marketing."
"You haven"t worked in sales but you earn more than any of us solving crimes, plus you’re good with people on both sides of the law!” interjected Dali. “You’re great at what you do!”
"Sales is easy,” Ye s.h.i.+wen chimed in. “I"ll show you how I usually go about it after our meal."
After lunch, we found a nearby supermarket. Ye s.h.i.+wen took a pack of sanitary napkins to the supervisor and recommended our product. The man agreed to put them on the shelves for a trial period and said he would consider cooperating with us if sales were good.
Ye s.h.i.+wen clapped his chest and grinned, "No problem at all. I"ll send you 100 boxes first."
After leaving the supermarket, Dali was eager to visit several other supermarkets to try his luck. But I received a phone call from Xiaotao, requesting my presence. "Sorry,” I said. “I have to head to the station now."
"Go ahead,” Dali replied. “I"ll teach you after I’ve familiarized myself."
When I left, I asked for a pack of sanitary napkins for Xiaotao. After all, there was nothing to be ashamed about. This would be part of my career in the future.
At the station, Xiaotao immediately noticed the paper bag I was carrying at first glance. "Did you bring me a gift?" she asked curiously.
I grabbed the sanitary napkins and handed them to her. "It’s just a little token!"
Upon seeing my unique gift, Xiaotao froze for a moment, lost for words. My explanation amused her so much she burst out laughing, "You boys are really bold to even think of starting up this sort of business! I’ll take this and let you know what I think of the product."
When I asked what the case was, Xiaotao"s smile immediately faded. She took me to the Necropsy Workshop, my very own autopsy room.
Since the last case, I had transferred all my commonly used equipment to the workshop so I wouldn’t have to carry a huge bag with me each time. Xiaotao and I were the only one with the keys, so I was a.s.sured of the security.
Upon entering the room, I was greeted by the sight of a male corpse with a slit in his throat lying on the autopsy table. A cigarette was conspicuously placed in the middle of the dead man"s lips. I put on rubber gloves and removed it for examination. It turned out to be a Hongtashan.
The unique signature immediately reminded me of one man–Deng Chao!