Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Investing in the Supermarket

Melody Summers walked into Crystal Mart and saw a young woman sitting by the cash register, scrolling through her phone. It was a familiar face. Surprised, she called out, "Crystal!"

Crystal Lynch, who was looking down at her phone, glanced up at the sound of her name. She looked just as surprised. "Melody?"

Crystal Lynch had been Melody Summers’s college roommate. But back then, Melody was always busy with various part-time jobs and rarely joined in on dorm get-togethers. Her relationship with her roommates wasn’t very close, and she lost contact with them after graduation.

However, Crystal and Melody had gotten along reasonably well. Crystal had a cheerful, straightforward personality and often stood in line with Melody to get food at the cafeteria.

Delighted, Crystal ran over and hugged Melody. "Melody, what are you doing here? I remember you went back to your hometown after graduation."

"I sold the place back home. I just moved here to The Metropolis Residences a few days ago," Melody replied with a smile.

"Really? What a coincidence! So we live in the same community!"

The two held hands and caught up. Melody asked, "Are you trying to sell this supermarket?"

Hearing her mention it, Crystal said with some frustration, "Yeah. The foot traffic here is low, so the store is always empty. My dad got tricked into buying the apartment and the commercial space here. He was told they were going to develop a new city district in this area."

"Did you see the Garden Community in front of The Metropolis Residences? Late last year, it was zoned for a top-tier school. It’s just two streets away from us. Because of that, a lot of homeowners in The Metropolis Residences sold their places here to buy or just rent in the Garden Community. The bottom line is, fewer and fewer people are living around here."

"Right now, the supermarket’s daily revenue is pretty low. We’ve tried running sales promotions. We get a lot of people during the sales, but afterward, it’s even emptier than before. For a while now, the store has been operating at a loss, and it’s only staying afloat because my brother subsidizes it with the money he makes as a truck driver."

"I feel bad letting my brother keep covering for me. My family talked it over a couple of days ago, and we decided to sell the supermarket. I’ll just go find a job somewhere. That way, my dad can go back to driving trucks with my brother. We’re planning to rent a place downtown, list our apartment here for sale in a couple of days, and sell the supermarket for a low price."

Crystal sighed as she spoke. "To be honest, I really like this supermarket. It’s my first real venture after graduation. If it weren’t constantly losing money, I really wouldn’t want to sell it."

’No wonder I never saw Crystal here in my past life,’ Melody thought. ’They must have moved away before the tornado hit.’

After the extreme heat began, prices skyrocketed. Later, this supermarket became the community’s supply distribution center, working with the property management office to receive and hand out government disaster relief supplies. Eventually, these people were even recruited directly into the reconstruction department to participate in the national post-disaster rebuilding effort.

In her past life, the new owner who took over the supermarket became a member of the reconstruction department and was involved in rebuilding all of Anworth. He became quite a prominent figure. Robert Lancaster even considered introducing his son, Silas, to the owner’s daughter.

This time around, Melody didn’t want to let that opportunity go to someone else.

Having made up her mind, Melody said to Crystal, "Crystal, I want to invest in the supermarket. I’ll put up the money so your brother doesn’t have to subsidize you anymore. Figure out how much you need, and let’s run it together."

Crystal was taken aback. "Did you not hear a word I just said? Melody, this place is a money pit! Why would you want to jump into it? Did you see the ’Prime Location for Sale’ sign I put up and actually believe it? That’s just for show. This location is anything but prime."

"Crystal, I’m serious," Melody said, her expression earnest. "Talk to your father and ask when he’ll be home. Let’s have our families sit down and discuss this together."

"But... why?" Crystal was still confused. "Melody, is this some kind of charity project? Are you playing angel investor and picking me as your pet project?"

Melody didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "I have my own plans. Don’t worry. It just so happens that you don’t want the supermarket to close, and my money can help you keep it open. Isn’t that a win-win?"

Seeing Crystal still hesitating, Melody urged her to call her family right away.

Melody arranged with Crystal’s father for their families to meet and talk that evening. She stayed and chatted with Crystal for a little while longer before leaving.

*

When Melody Summers got home, she saw Colin Summers and Winnie Summers busy in the yard.

Winnie Summers had already put the fish and shrimp fry into the pond and was now helping Colin Summers plant the fruit tree saplings.

After they finished, Melody called them over and told them about her plan to invest in the supermarket.

"If she said the supermarket doesn’t get much foot traffic, what if we take it over and can’t sell anything?" Colin Summers asked, sounding worried.

"Don’t worry, Uncle. Have you forgotten what I said about the abnormal weather? Everyone will need to start stockpiling supplies soon."

Melody thought for a moment before adding, "If it really doesn’t work out, you can just treat this money as a loan. If we don’t make a profit, I’ll pay you back with interest." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"What are you talking about, child? Do you think your uncle is that kind of person?" Colin Summers said. "I need to call your aunt and ask her first."

Colin Summers went to make the call, but Winnie Summers didn’t hesitate. She took out her bank card and gave it to Melody. "This was supposed to be for your dowry, but I’m giving it all to you now. You have full authority over how to use it."

Holding the card, Melody said to Winnie, "Don’t worry, Mom. Investing this money in the supermarket is a sure bet."

There was another reason Melody hadn’t mentioned. By becoming part-owners of the supermarket, her uncle, aunt, and mother would have something to do after the apocalypse began. Otherwise, with their strong work ethic, Melody worried they would get sick from sheer idleness.

A moment later, Colin Summers came back from his call. He nodded at Melody and said, "Your uncle is investing too. Your aunt agreed."

*

That evening, Grace Sutton came home as well. Leaving her grandmother and Miss Lowell to look after the house, Melody took the other three out. They met Crystal Lynch’s family at a private kitchen-style restaurant in the community.

Crystal Lynch’s father, Finn Lynch, was a middle-aged man who had been widowed early in life. He had single-handedly supported his son, Shawn Lynch, and daughter, Crystal Lynch, through college by working as a long-haul truck driver.

Driving a truck was exhausting, and as Finn Lynch had gotten older in recent years, he found the strain of long-haul trips was becoming too much for him. That was why he had bought the commercial storefront and started running the supermarket with his daughter.

He never expected the supermarket’s business to be so bleak. Since he wasn’t old enough to collect a pension yet, he had no choice but to plan on going back to trucking.

After the two families exchanged pleasantries, Finn Lynch got straight to the point. "I can’t hide this from you. The supermarket’s daily revenue is very low right now. If you really invest, you might never make your money back."

"Don’t worry, sir, we’re well aware," Melody said. "The supermarket isn’t small, but the selection of goods is a bit limited. Because of the low revenue, you had to reduce the variety of products, which created a vicious cycle."

"After we invest, we can diversify the inventory. Maybe that will be enough to turn things around."

Melody could only make up a vague justification. She couldn’t just tell the Lynchs that extreme temperatures were coming, prices would soar, factories would shut down, and it would become a seller’s market where goods would be easy to sell.

Besides, the community’s occupancy rate was only temporarily low. Looking at the near future alone, after the coming tornado, many homeowners would move here from the disaster-stricken areas.

After some discussion, seeing that the Summers family was resolute, Mr. Lynch didn’t try to persuade them any further.

The two families signed the investment agreement right then and there. Colin Summers and Winnie Summers each contributed 300,000 yuan, for a total of 600,000 yuan, to invest in the supermarket. They agreed on the equity distribution and decided to run the business together.