Chapter 406: Scalper
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian actually wanted to complain. How come other people received bonuses when they helped solve police cases, but all he got was a banner? What’s the use of a banner anyway?
The people waiting outside the store all booed him. "Go hang up the banner then, what are you waiting for? A police officer arranged a special trip to give it to you…"
At this time, Wang Qian ran out from the store and whispered to Zhang Zian, "The shop has been cleaned up."
Zhang Zian nodded, raising his voice tell everyone, "Well, sorry to keep you guys waiting so long, please enter the store!"
People had long been impatient, and hearing that permission had been given, they started to pour into the shop. Sheng Ke frowned, for fear of a stampede. Fortunately, Wang Qian and Li Kun stood at the entrance maintaining order, and nothing bad happened.
"Captain Sheng, let's go in too. After you."
Zhang Zian made a "please" gesture to Sheng Ke, and they both went inside.
Zhao Qi headed directly towards the shelves of imported cat food once she entered the shop. She carefully observed the manufacturer's authorization documents, customs clearance materials and import approval placed next to the shelves. All materials seemed very formal with a lot of signatures and stamps on them. As a long-term office worker that had handled a lot of similar documents and materials, she quickly recognized that these were all genuine.
Looking at the price, she could not believe that the cat food was 20% cheaper than those sold on overseas shopping websites!
Since it was opening ceremony today, she could also receive another 20% discount, but she must say the code "Hottie Store Manager" to redeem the discount at the checkout.
Many people were here for the imported cat food. Though they cursed the unscrupulous Zhang Zian for setting up such a shameless code, they obediently said "Hottie Store Manager" when bringing the cat food to the checkout.
Zhang Zian was delighted to hear so many people call him a "Hottie Store Manager"!
He ordered Li Kun to find a hook in the utility room and attach it to the wall of the shop. Then he hung up the pennant gifted by Sheng Ke. At least the wall was not empty anymore.
"Hey! Why do you mean you won’t sell it to me? What’s the purchase limit for?"
"Well, Mr. Store Manager said..."
Someone at the checkout desk was arguing loudly with Lu Yiyun. Hearing that her voice was becoming increasingly thin and weak, Zhang Zian feared that she was being bullied and rushed over to check out the situation.
There was a fat man in black clothes holding several barrels of imported cat food in his arms with a few barrels placed on the register, asking Lu Yiyun to checkout his items. Lu Yiyun kept shaking her head, indicating that he couldn’t buy so many barrels.
She saw Zhang Zian come over, and as if seeing a savior, she stood up in tears, "Mr. Store Manager..."
Zhang Zian told her to sit down and said to the man, "I am the manager here, what's going on?"
"You are the manager?" The fat man looked at him and said rudely, "I want to buy your products. Why can’t you sell them to me?"
Zhang Zian calmly said, "Because the imported cat food is for the benefit of only the members of this shop, and you can’t find cat food at this price anywhere else."
The fat man frowned, thought for a moment, and asked, "Alright, how can I become a member? Pay you ten Yuan?"
"Ten Yuan for membership? You think this is an Internet cafe?" Zhang Zian bluntly replied. It’s a one-time payment of 1,000 Yuan to become a member."
"1,000 Yuan?!" The fat man was about to lose his temper, but after carefully pondering, he calmed down and said, "OK, deal. I’ll pay the 1,000 Yuan. Just give me a membership card."
Zhang Zian knew the intentions of this fat man, and he added, "Each member can only buy two barrels of cat food a month."
"Why? I have many cats in my house, can’t I buy more barrels?" the fat man argued.
Zhang Zian calmly said, "I'm sorry, but these are the provisions of this shop in order to prevent some people from buying the cat food at a low price and reselling it to gain profits. Your cooperation is highly appreciated. Please understand that two barrels of cat food are enough for three to four fully-grown cats for a month."
Other customers around the cashier desk all cast strange looks at this man who turned out to be a scalper. After all, no one liked scalpers.
The fat man’s face was flushed. He heavily threw the cat food in his arms onto the cashier’s desk. "F**k! I’m not buying, all right? You are a fool who doesn’t know how to make money!"
He lost his temper, turned his head, and stormed out of the shop.
Due to the continued postponement of the opening ceremony, Zhang Zian had had plenty of time to consider all details. He had thought in advance that the cheap imported cat food might attract scalpers, so he added the purchase restriction.
He for sure wanted to sell more cat food to make more money, but he did not do it. This cat food arrived in Hong Kong by express mail and was then transferred to mainland China. If the quantity became larger, the cat food could only go through the formal channels of importation and the price would go up, while its attractiveness to the customers would plummet.
Lu Yiyun nodded to him gratefully, She sat down again, and continued handling the checkout of cat food for other customers.
"It's not easy to conduct business." Sheng Ke sighed behind him.
Zhang Zian smiled and said, "There are difficulties in every occupation. Captain Sheng, please come inside and have a seat."
Sheng Ke paced forward while looking around. "Your shop is really well decorated! It’s so different from the last time I saw it… Hey, a bronze statue of a cat! What is it for? Do you also have a dog statue?"
He stopped and stared at the statue of the Cat Goddess.
"It guards my shop. I haven’t thought about getting a dog statue yet," said Zhang Zian.
Many customers were also interested in this cat statue. Zhang Zian had set up a nameplate next to the statue, detailing its origin and indicating that it was a perfect, out-of-print replicate of the Gayer-Anderson Cat in the British Museum, and that it was a gift from Snowy for the shop’s opening ceremony.
Girls held their cell phones high, pouted, and made peace signs to take selfies with the cat goddess statue before posting them to their WeChat Moments to show off.
Many boys also raised their cell phones or cameras to take photos with the statue, especially the three men who were arguing whose equipment was the best just moments ago.
Despite the large number of customers purchasing cat food in the pet products area, even more people were gathering behind the second glass door. Everyone was attracted to the seven Abyssinian cats that were rare and difficult to find at other pet shops.
"Wow! Look at their ears, they are so big! And their faces are so small! They are so adorable!"
"Yes, especially their eyes! They are so full of spirituality, and their bodies are almost exactly the same as the statue there — they really do look like ancient elves!"
Everyone raised their phones trying to take pictures of the Abyssinian cats. Wang Qian and Li Kun reminded them that pictures were allowed, but they must not use flash, which were harmful to the cats’ eyes.
Snowy also took a few photos of these cats. She wanted to show them to her mother when she got home.
Liu Wenying and her daughter Yue Yue were playing with a few kittens in the corner.
"I should have brought some gifts for you. I’m so embarrassed coming here empty handed..." Sheng Ke looked around at the lively store and said with regret.
"It doesn’t matter, Captain Sheng. It’s my honor to have you here. Besides, you have brought me the banner." Zhang Zian answered him casually while paying attention to what was happening in his shop.
"I heard that you showed your impressive Kung Fu again at the dog market a few days ago!" Sheng Ke praised him heartily, "Especially keeping your composure under pressure, that is quite something!"
"It was because my opponents were too weak," Zhang Zian said modestly.
Sheng Ke really wanted to invite Zhang Zian, the Kung Fu Master, to instruct the police officers at the police station when he was available, but for fear of affecting his business, Sheng Ke felt too awkward to bring up this issue to him.
And then he suddenly noticed that Famous had been lying quietly in the corner of the shop.