e latest issue of 'Party Style' quickly featured a special report through Su Cen's writing about Uncle Zeng Quanming's series of grassroots cadres' sense of responsibility, responding to higher-ups' c...Chapter 87 Miracle

The timeline of this summer shifted half a year forward.

The era had passed through the autumn and winter of 1999, entering the spring of 2000.

In 1999, there was a planetary alignment in the shape of a cross, but the "terror king" predicted by Nostradamus's "The Centuries" as heralding the end of the world did not materialize. Nostradamus also said that if humanity survived the year 7000 (the late 20th century on the Jewish calendar)... then my major predictions would come to an end." In simpler terms, this means: "If you Earthlings are still alive as we enter the year 2000, I'll admit it—I've been fooling you all along."

In 1999, the world's population reached six billion. On October 12th, the United Nations designated this day as World Population Day for Six Billion.

The political, cultural, economic, racial conflicts, resource crises, energy crises, and environmental crises that emerged among these six billion people continued to evolve into various global challenges.

In late December, the Chinese government resumed sovereignty over Macau and established the Macau Special Administrative Region. The situation in Macau underwent significant changes, with influential figures emerging, leading it to become the world's gambling capital in the future.

However, all these developments were far removed from Su Cen’s life.

The Xiahai City Star Sea Square had entered its final inspection phase. The newly built Star Sea Square covered an area of six million square meters and featured two main business towers and a裙樓商業中心三萬平方米，是省內城市西部第二大的城市廣場。市委市政府釋出的新城市發展白皮書中製定了今年市政府招商引資一點五億元的目標任務。省重點企業和一些國際品牌的省級銷售商早就考察過星海廣場，在外圍虎視眈眈，為此與夏海市政府進行了多輪磋商。

Shushan Chain had not disappointed Su Cen over the past half a year. After the low period during summer break, it迎來了零售的高峰。九九年九月開學當月總營業額高達八十萬，五家店平均每家一月銷售額十五萬以上，毛利累積達二十六萬。十月蜀山連鎖擴充店麵，營業額又帶來了一場飛躍。

At the end of 1999, after deducting expenses for expanding and renovating the chain stores, Shushan Chain reported a total profit of two million. On this basis, each of the five branch stores had expanded their scale by an average of 1.3 times, doubling the number of employees to nearly forty people.

The recently hired staff differed from the previous counter workers. In terms of accounting and operations within the chain stores, there were higher standards and requirements this time around. Wang Yue’s newspaper advertisement for recruitment also emphasized experience and professionalism, which Su Cen valued because Shushan Chain was currently lacking in such professional talent with relevant experience. Of course, the generous benefits offered by Shushan Chain provided assurance in screening out such talents.

Among the seven hundred resumes they received, Su Cen and Wang Yue selected eighty of them, from which they picked out more than twenty candidates. This was a meticulous selection process. The group included former state-owned enterprise employees who had been laid off, those who worked in traditional office supply stores, as well as ambitious college graduates eager to work despite the lack of experience requirements—a valuable resource compared to future university students willing to accept six hundred yuan per month and room and board. There were also some candidates seeking managerial positions.Su Cen liked these candidates' drive, which contrasted sharply with many others who appeared demotivated and would likely hinder Shushan Corporation's operations and development.Among the candidates, a few stood out in Su Cen’s eyes. One was Zhou Shao, an idealistic graduate from Rongcheng Business College who wanted to contribute to Xiahai's development by his own efforts.Another was veteran Du Dawei, known for his loyalty and hard work, but with some of his spirit dulled by life’s realities after transitioning from the military. Despite a low-key demeanor, he still shone when discussing his mechanical expertise in the army, which earned him respect across the camp. He had served in the military until 1991 before working five years at a government-affiliated mechanical unit and being laid off—a typical life story of someone born during an era of progress but transitioning through economic reform.Another candidate was thirty-two-year-old Wang Feng, former deputy manager of Xiahai Department Store's Cultural Products Division. She resigned due to conflicts with her superiors over business reforms after three months without pay. With no capital to start a business herself, she saw the opportunity in Shushan’s recruitment ad for PR Manager.The rest were individuals Su Cen specifically chose.Upon seeing their main examiner and lecturer, Su Cen, these candidates dropped their jaws in astonishment at first glance.However, when Su Cen expounded on Shushan's business philosophy, cultural branding strategy, plans to develop into a mall-style enterprise, sales methods, future market restructuring, scale expansion, and chain operation models on the blackboard in the meeting room, he earned admiration and amazement from these candidates who now viewed him differently.Su Cen’s approach was correct; discussing brand concepts with Shushan's initial employees would be impractical. Many of his ideas were beyond their comprehension and might even create an impression that he was unrealistic or exaggerated.Now, however, Shushan was no longer a questioned chain sales brand but had grown into a market presence with a well-established brand reputation, having undergone market validation as a retail enterprise. These candidates would be nurtured for leadership roles in the future.Su Cen's forward-thinking business philosophy excited Zhou Shao and other young employees like him to no end. They felt that Su Cen was more credible than professors who taught only from textbooks.With Zhou Shao leading the charge, these younger employees were full of enthusiasm.

However, Wang Feng's more experienced veterans found much to appreciate in Su Cen’s management style and proposed business models, which were undoubtedly advanced for the current time. People like Wang Feng, who had reached a certain age and possessed considerable sales experience, could easily grasp the essence of these concepts.

In 1998, about 66% of China's two hundred large department stores experienced negative growth in total sales revenue, while approximately 29.8% were operating at a loss. This industry-wide contraction persisted until 2003, leading to the retail sector being referred to as a "sunset industry" and a "declining empire." Many had ideas about the current state of department stores during this period but lacked maturity in their thinking, only having rough outlines. Now, they found that Su Cen's ideas were more comprehensive and well-thought-out than theirs, making them regard the seventeen-year-old Su Cen as a prodigy.

However, when considering that Shushan Chain’s leader was Wang Yue, it became somewhat easier to accept these new ideas. After all, it was highly likely that such innovative thinking originated from Wang Yue. For a twenty-year-old who appeared mature and sophisticated like Wang Yue, their acceptance level was clearly higher compared to Su Cen.

This also spared Su Cen much unnecessary explanation.

After school, Su Cen headed straight for Xia Hai Stationery Store in City No. 3 High School. The usually supreme figure of Shushan Chain was now helping her mother manage the shelves.

Seeing Su Cen arrive, she came out to accompany him as they walked towards Zeng Ke’s main store.

The way there, many students from No. 3 High School carrying schoolbags envied Su Cen more and more for being by Wang Yue's side, who now exuded a mature intellectual charm.

Wang Yue smiled at Su Cen, "From just the scale of the five Shushan Chain stores, we currently have too many employees. The people we’re training all think you're about to make big moves; your speech left them feeling that everything is in place except for the final push—waiting for you to lead them onward... A first effort gains momentum, a second effort wanes, and by the third it's exhausted. If we don't take action soon, morale will plummet."

"I’ll try to accelerate the process. Before I leave, at least I need to set up contingency plans." Su Cen let out a calm breath, "Xia Hai Star Sea Square will have considerable business opportunities; we must promote our Shopping Mall concept. For other stores opening for business, their brand image promotional investments can be saved. Now, brands from both inside and outside the province are lining up to enter this second largest city commercial center in Xia Hai City. If we seize this opportunity, it would be unprecedented."

"I really am a bit worried about starting a shopping mall... After all, what you propose is too advanced for present-day Xia Hai City. In terms of management experience with large malls, we can't compare to Wangfujing, Moer, or Pacific Department Store; our roots are in stationery goods chains. Much still needs exploration... We don’t know if it will work out in Xia Hai."

Wang Yue was an extraordinary talent. Although her performance under the exam-oriented education system was abysmal, she was a prodigy in areas that interested her. Over these past six months, Su Cen had introduced her to economics books, and according to his previous plans, most of what Wang Yue read were related to shopping mall operations and retail management.

"Think about the Kansas City Country Club Plaza from 1923 or Houston’s Oaks River Center from 1937. Did these early American rural area shopping centers have all the marketing and management experience they now do This advanced model eventually spread worldwide, with shopping malls capturing over half of commercial sectors in America, the world's economic powerhouse. Its superiority is beyond doubt; old-fashioned department store models will be replaced by this new market trend sooner or later. If we don’t act quickly, these opportunities will vanish."

Wang Yue sighed, "I really can't imagine how many astonishing ideas and thoughts there are in your head... Have you arranged everything with Uncle's side yet"

Su Can knew that Wang Yue was asking about the arrangements for him leaving Xia Hai.

After Xinghai Square entered its later stages, Tong Jianjun started to handle the transition of procedures at the headquarters company for Su Licheng. His older sister Zeng Na got accepted into medical college, and his aunt and uncle Zeng Quanming had already bought a ready-to-move-in apartment in "City Story" within Fuzhou's first ring road; similarly, Su Can’s family also purchased one there. Recently, while Su Licheng was handling the relevant matters to move to Fuzhou, he was also dealing with the renovation of their new home, so moving would likely happen within the next one or two months.

Su Can smiled lightly, "There's still some time left; at least enough for me to see the mall take shape."

Wang Yue looked at him with a sorrowful gaze, "I'm the legal representative of Shushan Chain and my name is on all bank accounts. With so much money in the account now, aren't you afraid that I might embezzle funds and run away"

Su Can was momentarily stunned but then smiled at her, "In one's lifetime, there must be a few people they believe in; if you were to abscond with the company’s money, it wouldn’t matter much. I could start over, although it would take some time."

Wang Yue lowered her head, and sadness flashed across her eyes, "Can't you get angry at me for having such thoughts Are you really so indifferent about everything"

Su Can was speechless, "Alright then, I am angry. How could you have such a rebellious thought as an employee under my command!"

Wang Yue burst into laughter, "What's the big deal"

Then she gently linked her arm with Su Can’s; her face looked more mature than his, making them look quite adorable together at this moment. It was clear how close they were as brother and sister.

Wang Yue’s voice softly whispered in his ear, very pleasant to hear, "I wonder what kind of outstanding girl will be by your side when you grow up"

Then she stared at Su Can with her autumn water-like eyes as he was about to speak. "Everything I have now and everything I’ll have in the future is because of you. You promised to let me see a bigger world, a broader sky; before that happens, even if you wanted to kick me out, I wouldn't leave... Because I believe in you, always creating some so-called miracles.k. Li Lumei was startled and pulled Chen Lingshan to return early on the way. She closely observed Chen Lingshan, who seemed lost in thought: "Are you regretting it"Chen Lingshan looked at Li Lumei an...