Chapter 401: Chapter 145: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (32)

He immediately called a small meeting. After a brief discussion, they gave Chi Yun’er the go-ahead for her project.

The hospital had limited funds, and the director felt rather embarrassed. He called Chi Yun’er in and said, "Ah, Chi, we discussed your proposal in our meeting. We all think you have a good idea."

"However, while we’ve approved it, the hospital can’t provide much funding. What we have is the money the organization just approved last month for renovating the building complex."

"So, you’ll have to guarantee that you won’t operate at a loss. It would be best if you could earn this money back sooner rather than later..."

In the end, they were the ones being unreasonable, and there was nothing to be done about it.

If there were no risks, no pressure, and extremely high returns, wouldn’t someone have done this long ago?

The profits from each work unit’s main operations were submitted to the organization for redistribution, but the management and profits from any side businesses could be kept in their own hands.

What work unit wouldn’t develop some side businesses to have a little extra cash?

The people who came to work at the hospital were all professionals; few of them had a head for business.

So, their hospital had always just worked and lived comfortably, and the idea of a side business was indefinitely shelved!

Chi Yun’er listened, then smiled and nodded. "Rest assured, Director. We guarantee we’ll get the job done!"

The director smiled back, though he wasn’t confident at all. ’Let the young people be bold and take the lead,’ he thought. ’We older folks will just watch from behind. If it really starts losing money, we’ll stop it in time.’

Risk and profit went hand in hand. The hospital had to try something new. Maybe, just like with the recent cooling products, it would end up satisfying everyone.

He even dared to imagine that once the side business was successfully established, the hospital would no longer have its hands tied on so many issues by a lack of flexible funds!

The director wrote Chi Yun’er an authorization slip and a letter of proof. With these two documents, she could collect the money from the finance department and negotiate business with other work units.

Returning to the office with the documents in hand, Chi Yun’er saw Mrs. Jiang sitting and drinking tea. She approached with a gentle smile and greeted her sweetly.

Mrs. Jiang smiled and pulled her close, asking how she was settling into her job. After a moment of small talk, she stated her reason for coming. "Yunyun, I came because I heard a rumor, and I was worried you might misunderstand. I wanted to explain things to you myself."

Chi Yun’er looked at her, confused.

She’d been buried in work. Including her, there were only three people in her department.

Lately, they had been absorbed in planning the store, investigating conditions at various work units. They had absolutely no time to get involved in hospital gossip.

Mrs. Jiang blushed as she explained the situation, adding indignantly, "Yihua is an outstanding young man, but he already has you for a fiancée. So what is the deal with this Fang Yuying?"

"I don’t know her from a hole in the ground, and she has the nerve to claim she’s the Jiang Family’s daughter-in-law? Yihua is my only son."

The smile on Chi Yun’er’s face faded. She ground her teeth and said, "

Auntie, I know who you’re talking about. She was in the same car with us on the way back to the city. I was obviously the only other young woman there, but every time she needed something, she went straight to Brother Hua!"

"And after we got off, she had the nerve to try and bum a ride in my car! Hmph, does she think I’m a total pushover?"

Hearing her story, Mrs. Jiang’s anger flared even higher. "What on earth did my Yihua do to offend her, to have her set her sights on him like this?"

"Yunyun, you just wait. I’m going to do some digging on her. When her mother shows up tomorrow, we’ll set things straight!"

Chi Yun’er nodded. "We need to take the initiative. We can’t let ourselves be led by the nose."

Jiang Yihua had already been through one scandal fueled by rumors. Now that he had her, Chi Yun’er would absolutely not let anyone use his name to seek their own advantage!

The two of them went straight to the Human Resources Department, explained the situation, and found Fang Yuying’s basic information. They paid special attention to getting the details on Father Fang and Mother Fang.

Father Fang was a doctor and Mother Fang was a warehouse administrator; both were part of the hospital system.

Mrs. Jiang was well-connected. She made a single phone call, asking someone to relay a message to Father Fang and Mother Fang, telling them to come to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning to discuss their children’s major life event!

After seeing Mrs. Jiang off, Chi Yun’er held a meeting with Zhao Jinming and Xu Chengfang. Waving the documents in her hand, she said with a light laugh:

"Our hard work over the last few days has paid off. The proposal we wrote, backed by solid data, has been approved. We’ve also secured a thousand in startup funds."

Zhao Jinming and Xu Chengfang were so happy they jumped up right where they stood. Then, they eagerly rubbed their hands together, waiting for Chi Yun’er’s instructions.

Chi Yun’er sat down and opened a copy of the proposal. "Actually, our proposal is already very detailed; we’ve considered every step. But without practical experience, no one can guarantee success."

"So, before we’ve actually turned a profit and earned back that thousand, we’re going to focus on running the store seriously. We’ll source the goods ourselves, learn from experience, set the prices, and act as the salesclerks."

"Once the store is on the right track, we’ll select suitable salesclerks and give them special training. After they can run it well, we’ll pull ourselves out of the store’s operations and move on to the next project!"

The two of them nodded, their hearts pounding with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. "We’ll do as you say."

Chi Yun’er chuckled. "Then let’s get the store open as soon as possible. The sooner we open, the sooner we start making money."

"We’ll split up the work like before. I’ll make a list of the goods the store needs to stock. We’ll divide it into three parts, and each person will be responsible for one part..."

"We’ve done most of the preliminary work. This time, we’ll contact the manufacturers directly to negotiate and sign contracts..."

Chi Yun’er assigned the tasks.

Opening a store wasn’t easy. It involved countless details, all of which had to be considered: market prices, demand, sourcing, product variety, and more.

They had written their proposal only after compiling a vast amount of research data.

Now, they were practically semi-experts, which would make the subsequent work much easier.

Kyoto General Hospital was quite large. It was divided into three main areas based on patient and visitor flow: the Outpatient Department, the Inpatient Department, and the Rehabilitation Department. Next to the Rehabilitation Department was an internal guest house.

The rest consisted of warehouses, research facilities, a pharmacy, office buildings, and so on.

Separating them were the single staff dormitories, which had been converted from former hospital wards and office buildings.

At the back of the hospital, a large gate provided access to the staff family quarters.

There were no general stores, state-run restaurants, or other public amenities within the hospital grounds or the family quarters. Instead, such establishments were concentrated on a single street outside the hospital, serving several different work units in the area.

Chi Yun’er planned to first set up a store in the Outpatient Department. Once it was up and running, she would open another one at the junction between the hospital and the family quarters. This would ensure they captured the business of the hospital’s patients, their families, the staff, and their families—keeping it all in-house!

She had already scouted out a location. The ground floor of the outpatient building had several entrances, each with a sizable guard post. However, two of them were unused, and she planned to requisition them.

One would serve as a warehouse and the other as the shop. This had all been mentioned in the proposal, and the director and the others had nodded in agreement.

Chi Yun’er found some dilapidated hospital beds, tables, and chairs in a warehouse. After paying a small labor fee, she had them converted into shelves. A quick cleanup and a new sign reading "Kyoto General Hospital Store" made the place look quite proper.

While negotiating for and stocking other goods would take time, it was easy to strike deals with the Capital City manufacturers who had previously bartered with them.

The manufacturers from the south they had bartered with were also just a phone call away. They even agreed to accommodate Kyoto General Hospital by delivering the goods first and only settling the bill upon the second delivery.

So, that very afternoon, they placed two desks in the store, had a couple of phone lines installed, and Chi Yun’er borrowed several warehouse employees to pick up goods from a dozen local factories. Then, she and Xu Chengfang settled in to manage the new headquarters.

The two of them flipped through newspapers while making calls to manufacturers to discuss procurement.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jinming began preparing for his second trip south.

"Huh?" A passerby looked curiously at the sign outside, then at the empty, office-like room. "This is a store?"

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