In this era, all small and medium-sized stores across the country were called Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.
All large stores nationwide were called Department Stores.
But there were rare exceptions, like Friendship Stores and Overseas Chinese Stores.
In this province, there was a famously renowned Qiulin Shopping Mall.
Qiulin was the surname of a Russian businessman whose chain of shopping malls were all named Qiulin. It had opened here in 1900, becoming China’s first department store.
It had been preserved since the founding of the nation, later converted into a public-private partnership, and was now fully state-owned.
As the industry leader, it naturally carried an air of arrogance.
The perennial runner-up Department Store was more suitable for her current needs.
Not knowing the way, Cheng Hui asked a newspaper kiosk attendant for directions—after all, she had a mouth under her nose. She obtained the address.
It was only a few hundred meters behind the train station, easily reachable on foot.
Tao Juan supported Cheng Hui while carrying a basket of cakes.
Wang Hui carried an even fuller basket, and Li Yan huffed and puffed under the weight of a long table and a bag of miscellaneous items.
After walking for over ten minutes, the four arrived at the Department Store, where crowds flowed in and out at the entrance.
With the lunar December underway, business had picked up at all major Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and shopping malls. Whether people had money or not, they had to buy some New Year goods to celebrate the festival.
The three arrived at the Department Store entrance with excited hearts, found a corner to set down the table and baskets, then looked at Cheng Hui.
“Shall we start selling now? How do we sell? Just set up like this? Will anyone buy?” Tao Juan asked, both excited and apprehensive.
Cheng Hui looked up. The weather was nice today, the sun glaringly bright, but dry and cold. She estimated the outdoor temperature was around -20°C.
While walking, they hadn’t noticed, but standing still for a minute or two left them thoroughly frozen.
“Follow me, let’s go inside the Department Store,” she said.
The three immediately hesitated and didn’t move.
They weren’t allowed to sell goods privately to begin with. Being forced to sell at another unit’s entrance was frightening enough—now they were going to sell inside? Instead of being stealthy?
This wasn’t going to sell; this was poking the bear, wasn’t it?
Cheng Hui’s face hardened, her boss aura fully unleashed: “Do as I say. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Managing subordinates wasn’t about patiently reasoning with them.
Sometimes commands worked better.
Sure enough, the three no longer dared to object and picked up their things to follow her into the Department Store.
Far from feeling resentful, they were actually quite pleased… Look at the deputy factory director’s commanding presence! Her family must have officials—high-ranking ones at that! Following her was definitely the right move!
Inside the Department Store, the warmth felt like spring. They had their own boiler room, with radiators lining the walls.
The four entered laden with bags and bundles, immediately drawing the attention of several salesclerks near the entrance, but no one said anything.
They clearly looked like country folk—carrying loads was normal for them.
Cheng Hui found an unobtrusive spot near the main entrance and said, “Wait here. Don’t set up the table yet. I’ll go find their manager.”
The three now only nodded, staying silent, not daring to voice any disagreement.
Cheng Hui then took a white lab coat from Li Yan’s bag of miscellaneous items and put it on.
This was their Food Factory’s uniform, meant to appear clean and hygienic, though no one actually wore it… Cheng Hui had borrowed Guo Dajun’s yesterday.
It was new and clean, and the size just accommodated her pregnant figure.
Mainly, she wanted to cover her overly rustic padded jacket and trousers!
Clothes make the man, she’ll dress the part when she has the money!
She took out a metal tray, cut five Weifeng Cakes on the spot, placed them inside, and stuck in a few toothpicks.
Modern people would understand—this was for product sampling.
But people at this time didn’t get it. When they bought things, they relied on rushing, allocation, begging, or sheer luck—they had never experienced product sampling before.
“You should put your clothes on too,” Cheng Hui said to the others. Then, carrying the tray and a bag of ten cakes, she walked away.
She didn’t ask any of the salesclerks where the manager was. Instead, she confidently headed upstairs.
The Department Store had only three floors, with two open to the public. Without asking, she knew the manager’s office would be on the third floor.
When she reached the third floor, no security guard stopped her. She checked each office one by one and soon spotted the manager’s office in the middle.
The door was open. Inside sat a man in his forties, with a well-proportioned figure and a shrewd expression, writing something with his head down.
Cheng Hui took a few more glances at his physique and formed a favorable impression.
She had been worried about encountering a pot-bellied man—dealing with such a person usually required a drinking session to get anything done.
She knocked on the door. When the man looked up, she flashed a bright smile and said in a clear, crisp voice, “Hello, Manager. I’m an employee from the Xian Food Factory. You can call me Xiao Cheng.
“Our factory has developed a new pastry, and all the top leaders who’ve tried it say it’s excellent! Now, we’d like to run a new product promotion here.
“We’ll only sell 20 jin per day at half price, available until sold out, and the promotion will last just three days.
“This is our new product, Weifeng Cake. Please have a taste.”
Cheng Hui walked in naturally, placed the tray in front of him, and sat down in the chair opposite.
Casually, she set the kraft paper bag on the table, with the large brush-written characters facing the manager.
Cui Degui glanced at it, and his eyelids twitched.
Retail price: 10 yuan!
He hadn’t intended to eat anything random, but 10 yuan…
“Is it 10 yuan for this bag? Or per jin?” he asked, somewhat surprised.
“Manager, you guessed right—it’s 10 yuan for this bag. There are 10 cakes inside, 1 yuan each. Right now, they’re on sale for half price, just 5 mao each.
“The top leaders who’ve tried our Weifeng Cake all say it’s worthy of being called the number one cake in the world. Selling it for a few mao per jin would be an insult to its value, and it wouldn’t even cover the cost.
“Please try it and see if the taste lives up to the title of the world’s best cake?” Cheng Hui smiled, pushing the tray a little closer to him.
A light, sweet fragrance wafted over—it certainly smelled better than Caozi Cake, and the golden-yellow color made it look appealing too.
Cui Degui picked one up and asked casually, “The top leaders have tried it? Which leaders?”
Cheng Hui looked at him, revealing a radiant smile, but instead of answering directly, she replied in a flawless Jingcheng accent, “I’m an Educated Youth who just came from Jingcheng last year. I provided the recipe for this cake.”
So, this “top leader” is far more important than you might think~
Cui Degui’s eyelids twitched again, but he wasn’t so easily fooled. He glanced at Cheng Hui’s noticeably pregnant belly.
If she were really the daughter of a top leader, even if she were sent to the countryside, she wouldn’t get married and pregnant there!
There was no need to explain this to him now.
Cheng Hui smiled and said, “Since this is our first promotion, we’re only testing the waters with 10 jin today. The Department Store is close to the train station, so we came here first.”
“If you find it inconvenient, we can go check out Qiulin Shopping Mall right away.”
Cui Degui had already put the cake in his mouth and chewed it.
The taste was truly excellent! It closely resembled the birthday cakes he had eaten abroad. He never expected someone here had managed to recreate it, and even mass-produce it.
“With your health condition, going back and forth would be quite troublesome. Let’s just promote it here,” said Cui Degui.