August is the hottest time of the year in Beijing. Early in the morning, even the cicadas on the trees lost their spirits, and there was no sound when they screamed, and people were drowsy when they heard it.

But at this time, there is no shortage of people who love to toss - no, first a few crackling sounds, followed by a series of crackling 10,000-headed long whips, in front of a house near Xuanwu Gate in the south of the Jingshi, the originally silent crowd suddenly became noisy.

"Wishing you prosperity!"

"It's a good start!"

- Obviously, this is a new shop. However, Xuanwumen, as a place for the army to enter and exit, has never been a place where commerce is developed. In the words of fortune telling, Jin Ge's anger will wash away the wealth, and those who do business in these years are more or less superstitious, who is so taboo?

- Of course, only those who have deep pockets and act without scruples.

Chen Tao is very happy today, the glasses shop he has been worrying about for a long time has finally opened. Although it took a lot of time and money more than expected, it was finally done - the key is that this matter is completely handled by himself, not just an idea by himself as in the past, and the specific affairs are all run by Chen Dalei and others. Because Chen Tao felt that this was his own business, and he would rely on this to live in the future - although as one of the 139 people on the Qionghai, the principle of equal distribution of the large collective had already theoretically turned everyone into a millionaire, but Chen Tao always felt that only the business he personally ran was reliable.

He is a very careful person and always likes to start small. No matter how big your future career plan is, it is prudent to open a small shop to test the water when you have no experience.

To be honest, in this era, it is absolutely as difficult for a foreigner to open a shop in Beijing as it is for a hillbilly to start a business in the capital. Even if Chen Tao was not short of money or manpower, the prestige of the Short-haired Army and the elite armed escort team could ensure that he was not threatened and blackmailed by various illegal forces. But all kinds of complicated affairs still made him feel a headache, and he even wanted to give up at one point. Just be a liaison between Hainan Island and Beijing.

It's just that the whole plan has already been publicized. On Hainan Island, Julie arranged for a trading company to allocate start-up capital for him. The industry group also agreed to provide support in terms of raw materials and subsequent processing. At this time, I will retreat...... Even if people don't say anything, they may laugh at him behind their backs.

Even if Hainan Island is far away, the jokes of his companions can't affect him, but there is still a Chen Yue'er dangling around in front of his eyes all day long. As a girl from a businessman, Chen Yueer certainly won't have the idea that many people look down on businessmen in this era. In fact, after learning that Chen Tao was going to open a very novel shop by himself, Chen Yue'er looked at Chen Tao with the kind of admiration and envy that made Chen Tao proud - this kind of look only appeared when they first met, and then as the two sides gradually became acquainted, and Chen Tao was relatively passive in handling many things, giving people a feeling that they were only relying on the support of the powerful forces behind them and their own abilities were limited. Chen Yue'er was not so polite to him.

This is a very subtle feeling, and only Chen Tao, who is the person concerned, is aware of it. As a big man, it feels uncomfortable to be looked down upon by the girl you like. Therefore, Chen Tao traveled this way, although he hesitated several times, he finally gritted his teeth and persevered, and finally had today's opening ceremony and the brand-new façade behind him that was completely different from the ordinary store pù of this era.

…… While thinking about all the hardships in the past few months, Chen Tao personally uncovered the red cloth covered by the plaque amid the deafening sound of firecrackers, revealing the name of the first professional optical store in the Ming Dynasty: Mingguangtang.

In fact, according to Chen Tao's original intention, he planned to use the most popular name in later generations: Guangming Glasses Store! Can it only be popular if it is close to the common people? It's just that when I went to ask Qian Qianyi to inscribe the plaque, the latter shook his head again and again when he heard this request - you shorthair wants to play unconventional, and people can't care about it, but if someone inscribes this word in my money, wouldn't it be a joke to pass it on? Besides, your glasses are not available to ordinary people, and making a name that is too vulgar will lower your value.

After all, Qian Qianyi is a great talent with a flexible brain, although he didn't completely agree with Chen Tao's idea, he also inscribed the word "Mingguangtang" to him, which can be regarded as retaining the original meaning of his word "bright".

After the red cloth on the plaque is removed, it stands to reason that it should be open to welcome customers and officially open. According to the rules of the business community in the Ming Dynasty, the first day was usually congratulated by industry colleagues from the corresponding guild, and each household would symbolically buy some items as a support for the new traders. However, Chen Tao's glasses shop was the first in the Ming Dynasty, and there was no corresponding guild at all, and of course there would be no peers coming to the door.

So most of the people who came to congratulate on this day just came to see the excitement, and they just wanted to see what new things Shorthair had done - and there were indeed new things. As Chen Tao is in charge, including the decoration of the store, he personally cares about the project, and the newly opened shop is very different from the store pù in this era just on the façade.

Most of the shops in this era had long counters along the street to facilitate the display of goods. Chen Tao's shop also follows this approach, but instead of counters, he sets up display windows made of large pieces of glass along the street.

In modern environments, it is a common process to use float method to make large flat glass, but it is still a high-tech technology that is being tested on Hainan Island, and the production is very limited. Chen Tao spent a lot of internal budget to order this batch of large glass from the industrial group, but it did have a very sensational effect on the façade - more than half of the people crowded in front of the door that day came to these large glasses, fortunately Chen Tao prepared in advance, and made a fence outside the window, otherwise the surging crowd might be able to squeeze the glass.

It's just that Chen Tao feels helpless that most people only care about the transparency and whiteness of the large piece of glass, but they are not very interested in the exhibits he carefully arranges behind the window: various glasses and sunglasses. At first, Chen Tao wanted to play a cow: he spent money to invite a character from a certain troupe, put on sunglasses and be a mannequin in the window, but it caused laughter. At first, the model barely sat for half an hour on the high remuneration, but then finally she couldn't stand it anymore and would rather break the contract than resolutely refrain from doing it.

On the first day of opening, Chen Tao sat in charge himself, and he sat in the store from morning to evening with hope, and the bustling crowd in front of the window has never stopped, but few people really pushed open the two glass doors to enter. It was easy for a customer to come, but he was still the shopkeeper of a nearby silver building, and he came to ask how the big glass on the window was sold...... It really made Chen Tao depressed.

At the end of the day, the turnover was a clean number: zero. And not just on the first day, but also on the second and third days...... For three whole days, Chen Tao and several service staff hired by him, together with an optician master sent from Hainan Island, sat together with big eyes and stared, no one expected that it would be such a start.

"It shouldn't be like this...... It's something that everyone needs...... How is this different from what is written in those novels? ”

This cruel reality dealt a heavy blow to Chen Tao's self-confidence, and also made him feel very wronged - this Ming Dynasty has no glasses, but there are many myopia, and even Qian Qianyi said that it is very useful after getting a pair of glasses - it is obviously a very promising project! How can no one care? When he sent a telegram back to Hainan Island to inquire, the comrades in the rear generally agreed with this idea, otherwise they would not have given him such great support. is also doing business, why Julie Lin Feng and they can do it casually, but they specially inspected the market, and specifically found a project with no competition and absolutely market demand to do, but it ended up so dismal?

When Chen Dalei and Chen Yue's father and daughter came to visit him, they heard Chen Tao chattering, saying these words to his subordinates over and over again, saying that the hired workers were one head and two big, fortunately these Ming Dynasty people had not read Lu Xun's articles, otherwise the image of "Xianglin's sister-in-law" would definitely appear in their minds.

But the Chen father and daughter are helpless about this, they know even more about this industry, even if they want to persuade each other, they don't know where to start. Chen Yue'er was naïve, in order to make Chen Tao feel relieved, she actually persuaded him: "Or, take the shop first, Quan Dang accidentally spent money to buy something he didn't like, just throw it away." ”

- Sure enough, it's the temper of a rich lady, and she spends a lot of money to open this shop, so she loses it. However, Chen Tao is really not short of money, according to the latest standard set by the accounting team, the monthly "pocket money" of their 139 people has been raised to 2,000 yuan, that is, the standard of 1,000 taels of silver a month. According to the price of the Ming Dynasty, if you consume normally, you can't spend it all. In addition, if there is a special need, you can apply for additional funding, as long as it is not too unreasonable, it can generally be met.

It's just that for Chen Tao, it's not just money that he tosses back and forth, time and energy, and plans for the future, which are the focus of his attention. It's definitely not Chen Yue'er who can throw away her hand with an understatement.

In desperation, he had no choice but to turn to the telegraph - as usual, Chen Tao once again sent a long telegram back to Hainan to ask for help from the comrades in the rear.

Being able to exert the strength of the collective in the face of difficulties is their greatest strength. (To be continued)