Chapter 405 - 147: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in an Era Novel (34)

Chapter 405: Chapter 147: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in an Era Novel (34)

Chi Yun’er’s mind was brimming with ideas to keep the commissary’s business booming. However, as she chewed on the end of her pen, her thoughts turned to the earth-shattering changes that would happen two years down the road.

’I need to think long-term,’ she mused. ’A plan that can balance my own personal development with the hospital’s financial well-being!’

The next morning, Chi Yun’er rushed to the commissary with a steamed bun in her mouth.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, but Zhao Jinming and Xu Chengfang were already bustling about inside the shop.

They were cleaning, taking inventory, and writing out stock lists on paper. When they saw Chi Yun’er, they greeted her with a smile before immediately getting back to work.

Chi Yun’er put down her bag and walked around the small gatehouse, finishing her bun.

The hospital of this era was different from the ones she knew from the future. It didn’t have a modern glass facade, just a conventional brick wall set with standard-sized windows.

She mulled it over for a moment, pacing back and forth to measure the area with her feet. Once she’d finished her bun, she called Zhao Jinming outside.

"Director Chi, what are your orders?" Zhao Jinming came forward eagerly. He slung the rag he was holding over his shoulder and gave a theatrical bow, asking in a playful tone.

Chi Yun’er let out a snort of laughter. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she shot him a mock glare. "Comrade Zhao Jinming, don’t get carried away!"

Zhao Jinming chuckled and dropped the act. "I’m all ears."

Chi Yun’er shared her plan with him. "Business was pretty good yesterday. While none of us can predict how the commissary will do in the long run, I’m confident we won’t be operating at a loss."

"Since this is going to be a long-term venture, we should prepare for expansion right from the start."

"I want to build an extension onto the gatehouse. It would be as wide as the space between the gatehouse and the main corridor, and it would extend in length to the window of the first office."

Zhao Jinming traced the dimensions in the air with his hands and nodded. "We definitely need to expand. There aren’t many spots in the hospital suitable for a commissary, but this one is perfect. An expansion here would be convenient for people coming from both inside and outside the hospital grounds."

"Plus, if we put up a brand-new sign with red lettering, it’ll be super eye-catching. Think about it—cold winters, windy springs, hot summers, and rainy autumns. Is anyone really going to go out of their way when we’re right here?"

"Our stock from out of town hasn’t even arrived yet, and this tiny gatehouse is already proving to be too small. We have to expand!"

Chi Yun’er chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "So, for such an arduous and magnificent task... shall we have our very own Comrade Zhao Jinming handle the application?"

Zhao Jinming froze, staring at her wide-eyed. "Director Chi, who’s the director here, you or me?"

"You’re a deputy director," Chi Yun’er said. "Both you and Xu Chengfang are deputy directors. Shouldn’t you be the ones getting things done?"

Zhao Jinming nodded. "You’re the boss. Whatever you say goes."

Chi Yun’er lowered her voice. "I haven’t touched the one thousand in start-up funds the hospital allocated to us. That means we won’t need to apply for extra funding for this expansion."

"We just need the hospital to approve the location and maybe give us some leftover bricks and cement from when they built the staff dormitories. If we find an experienced builder, we can probably get it mostly finished in two days, don’t you think?"

Zhao Jinming rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It’s just an expansion for the commissary, not a huge area. It’s a small job, so it should be easy to get approved..."

With the matter settled, he gave a big stretch, grabbed a pen and a notebook, and quickly drafted an application. Then, he took the paper and headed for the hospital director’s office.

Less than twenty minutes later, he came striding back, grinning and waving a piece of paper covered in several official red stamps. "Success! I’ll go contact the builders now. We can get the new space built before the shipment from the south arrives!"

It wasn’t even official opening time yet, but someone wandered over, perhaps just to check. Seeing that the door was indeed open, they broke into happy little steps and hurried closer.

"Excuse me, comrade! Is it true about the grand opening sale for the first three days? A ten percent discount, and a free bottle of soda with every one-yuan purchase?"

Chi Yun’er and the others nodded with a smile.

Before long, another long line had formed outside the door.

As Zhao Jinming was about to leave, Chi Yun’er called out to him. "Jinming, see if you can scrounge up a couple of old refrigerators or freezers somewhere. We’ll need to stock ice cream bars."

Xiahua had been producing its own refrigerators since the 1950s, though consumer models would only be released in another two or three years. For now, large factories, especially food processing plants, were already equipped with them.

Even the hospital had a fair number of refrigerators and freezers for certain medicines and reagents that required cold storage.

New refrigerators were expensive, but when organizations upgraded their equipment, you needed the right connections to have a chance at snapping up the old ones they were getting rid of.

Zhao Jinming gave her a wave to show he understood.

The flow of customers finally slowed down at lunchtime, so Xu Chengfang quickly took the opportunity to go get meals. Meanwhile, Chi Yun’er used the last half hour before her shift ended to call their various suppliers and order more stock.

By this time, Zhao Jinming had already returned with a team. They had all the materials for the extension, had found an experienced builder, and were already hard at work, bustling with activity.