In the office of Mingcheng Supermarket’s store manager.
Li Huai’s face was flushed with anger as he slammed a stack of documents onto the desk, roaring furiously.
"Who’s going to give me an explanation?! I even handed you the promotional strategy on a silver platter, so why are sales still stagnant? We haven’t even made a dent in Wanlong Supermarket’s business! What the hell have you all been doing?!"
His rage wasn’t just directed at the incompetence of the supermarket’s management—it was also fueled by the fact that Yang Xin had once again outshone him, leaving him seething with frustration.
The store manager, assistant manager, supervisors, and other members of Mingcheng Supermarket’s management team stood with their heads bowed.
Deep down, they knew part of the problem lay in their service quality.
Wanlong Supermarket’s service was leagues ahead of theirs. From the moment customers walked in, they were treated with meticulous care.
At Mingcheng, even though they had repeatedly emphasized the importance of good service, the staff’s attitude remained half-hearted, devoid of any enthusiasm.
With wages barely exceeding a thousand yuan and grueling twelve-hour shifts, five employees had already handed in their resignations within the first week of opening.
If business had been slow, they might have been able to slack off a little. But now, they were swamped from morning till night—yet their pay remained pitifully low. And on top of that, they were expected to treat customers like royalty? Who in their right mind would put up with that?!
As the saying went online: "With pay this low, why would anyone go the extra mile?"
Meanwhile, over at Wanlong Supermarket, employees only worked six-hour days. And because the opening promotions had kept them busy, Store Manager Yao had openly handed out extra cash bonuses—100 yuan per person—right in front of everyone.
Six-hour shifts, plus a daily 100-yuan bonus. Meanwhile, at Mingcheng? Nothing. The fact that their staff hadn’t all quit already was a miracle. Expecting them to improve service? Forget it.
So, faced with the reality of demotivated employees and lackluster service, the store manager of Mingcheng Supermarket had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
After all, with such low wages and exhausting workloads, no one was in the mood to act like enthusiastic customer service champions.
Of course, they weren’t about to explain this to Manager Li. Doing so would only invite a scolding—he’d accuse them of making excuses and shifting blame for poor performance onto the staff.
Just then.
One of the supermarket supervisors suddenly spoke up, a gleam in his eye. "Manager Li, the reason we can’t surpass Wanlong Supermarket is that we launched our promotions later. Customers have already formed shopping habits there. But—we still have a chance to turn things around."
Li Huai’s interest was immediately piqued. "Go on."
The supervisor quickly laid out his plan. "I’ve heard that Wanlong’s customer dividends can’t be cashed out—they can only be used to top up membership cards. Some customers are unhappy about that because if they want cash, they have to sell their cards at a discount or act as personal shoppers for others. Manager, if we offer cash rebates instead, those customers will definitely switch to our supermarket."
"Also, why don’t we add another incentive? For example, customers who top up a certain amount can participate in dividends even without making purchases. We can use their top-up funds to create a dividend pool—without touching the actual sales revenue. That way, we can present a stellar financial report to the company..."
The store manager felt a twinge of unease upon hearing this. Something about the plan felt off—almost like the illegal fundraising schemes he’d seen reported in the news.
But before he could voice his concerns—
Li Huai slammed the table in excitement. "Brilliant idea!"
"Wanlong wants to hoard customers’ money without letting them cash out? We’ll do the opposite—be generous and give them real cash!"
"We’ll stack a million yuan in cash right at the entrance. That kind of spectacle will make a huge impact—customers will flock to us!"
"Excellent! Absolutely excellent!"
Li Huai looked at the supervisor with approval. "Who knew a small supermarket like this had someone as sharp as you? You’ve got vision. Let’s do it your way. If this succeeds, I’ll promote you to store manager at another branch!"
"Thank you, Manager Li!" The supervisor was overjoyed.
Truthfully, he’d overheard a customer discussing this idea earlier that morning and thought it made sense. He never expected it would align perfectly with the manager’s ambitions.
What an unexpected windfall!
They wasted no time.
That very afternoon, Mingcheng Supermarket displayed one million yuan in crisp bills, neatly arranged in a glass showcase at the entrance. To deter any would-be thieves, the supermarket even hired a team of security guards.
Sure enough.
The move worked like a charm. Business at Mingcheng Supermarket picked up noticeably.
By the next day, their revenue had matched Wanlong Supermarket’s.
And that wasn’t even counting the membership top-ups. If those were included, they’d already surpassed Wanlong.
After all, the opening promotions had been running for days. Most nearby residents had already stocked up on essentials, and continuing to splurge would strain their budgets—no household needed that many groceries.
But topping up was a different story.
So when people saw that Mingcheng Supermarket offered dividends—and even cash rebates—on top-ups, many elderly customers treated it like an investment opportunity. They eagerly poured in three thousand here, five thousand there.
To them, this wasn’t just a supermarket promotion—it was free money falling from the sky.
Once again, Mingcheng Supermarket’s revenue crushed Wanlong’s.
Yang Xin was well aware of their tactics but remained unfazed. He’d already received confirmation from Zhao Tianyi—they had gathered enough evidence and were ready to act.
But first, they needed to wrap up their own promotion.
The situation at Mingcheng Supermarket was growing dangerously volatile, like a powder keg about to explode. If it blew up now, Wanlong Supermarket might get caught in the fallout—even though all their own practices were fully compliant and they’d never dabbled in cash rebates. Public opinion wasn’t always rational.
With Mingcheng doomed anyway, there was no point in prolonging the competition.
After distributing the final round of dividends to their micro-shareholders, Wanlong Supermarket announced the end of their promotion.
When Li Huai heard the news, he interpreted it as surrender and grew even more smug.
"Giving up already? Yang Xin, you’re not so tough after all."
He then reviewed the performance report for Mingcheng Supermarket’s university branch, his eyes gleaming. In just half a month since opening, membership top-ups had neared ten million yuan—a dazzling financial report.
A thought struck him, and he slapped his thigh. "Why limit such a successful model to just one store?"
That same day, all six Mingcheng Supermarket branches in Bright Pearl City launched identical "top-up cash rebate" promotions.
One month later.
The accountant at Bright Pearl City's branch office held the financial report with trembling hands: "President Li, the total membership prepayments across our six stores have exceeded 80 million, but this month alone we have to distribute over 8 million in rebates... Meanwhile, our actual sales revenue shows almost no significant growth..."
The implication was clear—the gap between real earnings and membership prepayments had become unsustainable. If this continued, disaster loomed.
"What’s there to panic about?" Li Huai waved his hand dismissively. "As long as prepayments keep growing, the financial reports will look impressive. Once I’m promoted to vice president by year-end, I’ll find a way to handle it."
Of course, that was just his outward bravado. Inside, he was sweating bullets. The scheme had spiraled so far out of control that even he couldn’t stop it now.
Meanwhile, Yang Xin, though well acquainted with Li Huai’s unscrupulous ways, was still stunned by the sheer audacity of his operation. This was outright madness.
If this blew up without anyone to shield him, Li Huai would be looking at a lifetime behind bars.
Then again, Li Huai had one advantage—he wasn’t the legal representative of the company. That might shave a few years off his sentence. The real fall guy would be the legal representative of Bright Pearl City Trading, saddled with a colossal mess they never saw coming.
As Yang Xin mused over whether Li Huai would grab a bucket and flee once he realized the catastrophe he’d created, The Young Lady called.
"I’ve secured the funds. Prepare to take over Bright Pearl City Supermarket’s assets in full."
Yang Xin’s excitement was immediate: "Understood, Young Lady!"
