Chapter 72: New Developments

“Dad, Mom, there’s another Feiteng Supermarket—do you want to go take a look?”

As they walked out of the supermarket, Zhao Fan clasped his hands behind his back, smiling as he asked the question.

Father and Mother Zhao exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief in the other’s eyes.

Mother Zhao pulled Zhao Fan aside. “Xiao Fan, be honest with me—is that supermarket really yours?”

Zhao Fan smiled. “You just toured it with me. Don’t you already have the answer in your hearts?”

He didn’t mind letting his parents know about his business. On one hand, it was to earn their trust; on the other, it was to reassure them that he, Zhao Fan, truly had the skills and ability.

Mother Zhao was in a daze, unable to believe that her son, who just a few months ago couldn’t scrape together two hundred thousand yuan, had managed to build something so impressive.

Just looking at the crowd inside made clear how popular the supermarket was. And at times like this, popularity meant good business.

“Good, that’s wonderful.”

She couldn’t help but wipe tears from her eyes as she spoke.

Father Zhao clicked his tongue. “Look at you, getting all sentimental. It’s a good thing our son is capable, but why are you crying?”

He grumbled, but turned away to hide his own emotions.

Zhao Fan stood silent for a moment, feeling both amused and a little sad.

After a while, he said, “Dad, Mom, your son now owns two supermarkets. You really don’t need to keep working.”

Father Zhao waved his hand. “Your supermarket is your business. It doesn’t conflict with us having jobs.”

Mother Zhao nodded in agreement. “Your father’s right. You having supermarkets doesn’t mean we can’t keep working.”

“That’s true—but have you considered changing jobs?”

“Changing jobs?” Mother Zhao looked puzzled. “Change to what?”

“Help me look after the supermarket.”

“Don’t you already have someone in charge? Why would you need us to watch over it?”

Zhao Fan put an arm around each of their shoulders. “It’s true I have someone managing things, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help. The first supermarket is in a small location because of how quickly it was set up. Chen Da is very capable, and I want to move him to another site.”

Father and Mother Zhao weren’t slow to catch on. They understood as soon as Zhao Fan explained.

“You want your mother and me to look after the first supermarket?” Father Zhao asked.

“It’s not so much ‘look after’ as it is letting you manage it.”

The two exchanged another look. Their earlier joy suddenly gave way to a heavy sense of responsibility.

“We’ll have to think this over,” Father Zhao said, neither agreeing nor refusing outright.

Zhao Fan knew he was rushing things, so he didn’t press for an answer. Instead, he took them to visit the second Feiteng Supermarket, and after the tour, saw them home.

“I have some other things to take care of, so I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

After Zhao Fan left, his parents sat down together to discuss. Mother Zhao wiped her eyes. “Our son has truly made something of himself.”

Father Zhao said nothing. The more he thought about it, the less willing he felt.

“If the supermarket is handed over to us, whose will it be in the end?”

“Of course it’s still Xiao Fan’s. We’re just helping manage it, not taking ownership,” Mother Zhao shot a look at her husband. “Don’t just think about Hai Tian. When it comes down to it, we’ll have to side with Xiao Fan in the future.”

“What about Hai Tian?”

“Hai Tian… now that Xiao Fan’s capable, he won’t neglect his older brother, will he? Don’t overthink it. If it comes to that, we can always give our savings to Hai Tian. He’ll never starve. What do you think?”

“That works.”

As the Zhao parents pondered how to balance between their two sons, Zhao Fan arrived at Feiteng Company.

Just as he entered the gates, he heard cheers inside, and faintly, Han Chen’s voice.

“President Zhao!”

“Hello, President Zhao!”

All along the way, he was greeted by countless employees, to whom he responded with a nod.

“What’s got everyone so happy?” Zhao Fan asked with a smile as he pushed open the development room door.

Han Chen quickly turned. “Good news! Do you remember when you talked to me about online shopping?”

Zhao Fan nodded. “Of course.”

Then, realization dawned on him. “Is it done?”

“Yes!” Han Chen pulled Zhao Fan over to the table and demonstrated the process.

“Of course, we’ve considered everything we could think of, but there are still a few issues: one is promotion, another is cross-regional delivery, and then there’s… the banking side.”

“For promotion, we can advertise on a large scale. For cross-regional delivery, we can turn to National Postal Bank—they already do express deliveries. As for the banks, I’ll handle that.”

“Great, then I’ll leave it all to you. I’ll go over the program with the team again.”

“Alright.”

Han Chen and several students from Jingdu University buried themselves in code review. Zhao Fan rubbed his chin. If he remembered correctly, the banks were about to launch online banking services. It was time to sound out Mu Tianrong.

No sooner thought than done, Zhao Fan immediately called Mu Tianrong, inviting him to dinner that evening at Old Hong’s Private Kitchen. Mu Tianrong readily agreed.

By dusk, Zhao Fan arrived early at Old Hong’s.

Not long after, Mu Tianrong showed up.

“Feiteng under Boss Zhao has certainly made waves in Yang City lately,” Mu Tianrong remarked.

Zhao Fan smiled modestly. “It’s all thanks to the support of others. Please, Director Mu, have a seat.”

“Please.”

After some polite conversation, Zhao Fan asked the waitstaff to serve the dishes.

Once they’d had a few courses and some drinks, Zhao Fan finally brought up the real reason for the dinner.

When he mentioned online banking, Mu Tianrong smiled. “You’re well-informed, Boss Zhao. Online banking is indeed being rolled out at all the banks, but it’s still in the testing phase. At the latest, it’ll be available everywhere by the end of the year.”

By the end of the year at the latest.

Zhao Fan’s eyes flickered. There were still nearly six months until then, but what Mu Tianrong meant was that the announcement could come sooner.

“May I ask, Director Mu, is there a chance it’ll be launched earlier?”

“I’m not sure about that. One thing’s for certain, though.”

“And what’s that?”

“Once online banking is available, aside from being able to transfer funds on your own computer, it won’t be much use. After all, not every household owns a computer.”

Mu Tianrong’s tone held a trace of disdain. With the current level of computer ownership, online banking wouldn’t have much impact.

Zhao Fan’s lips twitched. From Mu Tianrong’s perspective, online banking wasn’t a big deal. But for him, it was essential.

Just then, Mu Tianrong caught on and asked, “Why are you so interested in online banking?”

“Oh, it’s not that I’m particularly interested. I just happened to hear about it and thought it sounded interesting, so I wanted to ask.”

“Is that really all?” Mu Tianrong was skeptical.

“Or what else would you think, Director Mu?”

Zhao Fan’s counter-question left Mu Tianrong with nothing more to say. He let out a few laughs and let the matter drop.

After that, neither of them mentioned online banking again, as if the earlier conversation had never happened.

When the dinner ended, Zhao Fan saw Mu Tianrong off at the door, then turned back with a sigh.

Online banking—it would still be a while yet.