Stephen Chow scoffed, "Celebrities get paid for advertising, but our Sanmao is a minor internet celebrity now. Have you paid Sanmao for advertising?"
“That’s easy to say.” Old Du readily agreed. “How about this: once the hype dies down these next few days, I’ll bring the accounts over and we’ll settle things with you. Sanmao will get 20% of the profits. Is that alright?”
Shen Wuqiu: "You're too kind, no need."
"Even close brothers need to keep clear accounts." Old Du is a very honest man. "To be honest, I was quite surprised that this attracted so many people. I only found out last night that I benefited from Sanmao's fame. So, I have to pay this advertising fee. Don't you think so, Third Princess?"
Although Sanmao didn't quite understand what they were saying, she knew they were talking about her, so she politely meowed in response.
Seeing this, Lao Du quickly said to Shen Wuqiu, "Look, even Sanmao has agreed. Then let's make it a deal. Starting tomorrow, let all the cats come to the flower field to play. I'll cover their food and lodging."
Shen Wuqiu smiled and agreed. It was getting dark, so she didn't linger. After saying goodbye to Lao Du, she drove up Huashan Mountain.
Old Du and Mr. Shen were both action-oriented. The next morning, Mr. Shen called on the construction team to prepare to build a shed near the old ancestral hall.
The old ancestral hall used to be public land in the village. It was originally the ancestral hall, but it fell into disrepair and was never rebuilt, becoming a dangerous building. A couple of years ago, the government paid for its demolition and planned a new site for the ancestral hall. The government has temporarily taken over the management of the old ancestral hall's foundation.
However, because the site of the old ancestral hall is not large, only a small portion was used temporarily when the road was being built, and the rest has remained empty. Nearby residents use it to dry their belongings and park their cars.
As soon as construction began, many elderly villagers came and started cursing, saying that the Shen family was lawless and even wanted to occupy government land.
But regarding the matter of building a shed here, Mr. Shen already discussed it with the village yesterday while the iron was hot, and Secretary Cao also agreed.
Mr. Shen was too lazy to argue with them, so he asked Shen Yan to come over and explain things to them. However, the group of old people were still unreasonable and wouldn't allow the workers to start work. They even cursed Shen Yan along with them.
Shen Wuqiu was not surprised at all, and even said to Lao Du, "See, this is the beginning."
Although Lao Du felt helpless because these elderly people were being unreasonable, he did not back down. "I'll have Secretary Cao and Secretary Fang come over this afternoon. Don't worry, Secretary Fang was just transferred here to make achievements. Jingrong Village is currently the village with the most promising development prospects in the whole town, so he will definitely take care of these matters."
Shen Wuqiu understood. "So you already knew about the implications of this. No wonder you weren't flustered at all."
Old Du raised an eyebrow: "I, Old Du, am an old hand at this, I certainly won't do anything without a plan."
After hearing what he said, Shen Wuqiu stopped worrying about her father.
Sure enough, at eleven o'clock, Secretary Cao and Secretary Fang rushed over.
Upon arrival, they immediately tried to persuade the elderly people to go to Shen Wuqiu's old house, hoping to reason with them and appeal to their emotions. However, the elderly were completely unmoved, especially one woman named Sister Yun, who had the loudest voice and was the most vocal. Secretary Cao pulled her back, telling her to calm down and find a place to talk things out, but she immediately sat down on the ground and began wailing and crying, "Is there no law here? Can't we poor people even speak up? They're hitting people! They're hitting people..."
"..." Secretary Cao was speechless, looking at Secretary Fang with a blank expression.
Secretary Fang, however, was far less patient. He took the megaphone from Shen Yan and launched into a tirade: "Arguing and sophistry won't solve anything. It's true that the land for the ancestral hall used to be collective land, but it's now under government control. To put it bluntly, what they do with it is none of your business. Besides, Shen Xiangle and Boss Du aren't building sheds and supermarkets here for their own benefit, but for the benefit of everyone. They want to help others get rich first, acting in the best interests of the country and its people. And look at yourselves, what kind of behavior is this?"
"Anyway, this world only speaks for the rich. Everything the rich say smells sweet, so naturally you all help the rich to speak and profit, and don't care about the lives of us poor commoners."
"Superficial and narrow-minded!" Secretary Fang was so angry that his lungs ached. "Let me tell you, your village committee approved the use of this land, and it was also reported to me. It was approved. Don't act like you're old and domineering. If you keep making trouble, I'll take you to the police station for a good education."
Upon hearing that it was serious, the old people all fell silent. Sister Yun looked at this one and then at that one, and dared not make a fuss anymore. She obediently got up, but still stubbornly said, "Don't make it sound better than it sounds. You say you're thinking of the whole village, but who knows who you're actually working for."
Secretary Fang was too lazy to argue with such a shrew. Seeing that the others were silent, he changed his tone and reasoned with them before letting the elderly go home.
After seeing off the troublemakers, Secretary Fang chatted with Mr. Shen for a while before they all left.
After the old man failed to cause any trouble, the other villagers naturally didn't want to provoke him, and within three days, Mr. Shen had set up his work shed.
However, with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday over, fewer people came to see the flowers, but there were still many people coming and going in the village.
On the day the makeshift shed was completed, Mr. Shen even gave this simple supermarket a name—Jingrong Supermarket. Then he took a loudspeaker and went around the village shouting, asking every household to put their extra items in the supermarket to sell.
I don't know what everyone's mentality was, but after Shen's father spent half a day trying to persuade people in the village, only Er Aizi brought a tricycle full of vegetables and about 100 kilograms of cantaloupes and watermelons from the greenhouse.
This was far below what Mr. Shen and Mr. Du had expected. Looking at the somewhat empty shelves, Mr. Shen couldn't save face, so he had to persuade his daughter to pick several large baskets of bayberries from the bayberry orchard to fill the shelves.
After the supermarket was set up, it was initially ignored. Local villagers didn't need to go in, and tourists from other places naturally weren't interested in such a simple supermarket.
This made Mr. Shen feel very frustrated, and he sat at the entrance of the supermarket, smoking in frustration.
It wasn't until around 11 a.m. that day, when Stephen Chow, who had woken up naturally, brought his kitten to join in the fun, that things started to improve.
Recently, Shen Wuqiu has been busy selling bayberries, Shen's father has been busy running the supermarket, Gu Miaomiao, who only cares about his wife, has been following Shen Wuqiu around, Su Yunzhi has been busy cooking and doing housework, so the cats at home have naturally been left to Zhou Xingxing to take care of.
So, Stephen Chow has been incredibly successful lately, doing live streams with his kittens all day long. Even the popular internet celebrity "Spicy But Not Spicy" came to watch yesterday and appeared in Stephen Chow's live stream, which caused Stephen Chow's popularity to soar. In just a few days, his fans grew to seven million.
Stephen Chow brought his kids to the supermarket to join the fun, but seeing that no one was buying anything, Dad could only sit at the entrance and drink tea in frustration. So Stephen Chow and his kids started "business again," doing a live stream right there in the supermarket:
"Attention all families who came to see the flowers today! My little princesses and I welcome you at Jingrong Supermarket. It may be small, but the goods are genuine and reasonably priced—you'll get a great deal!"
As soon as Stephen Chow started his live stream, many fans began to turn against him:
I knew these people would eventually end up selling products through livestreaming.
[Unfollow us! Our Third Princess is no longer pure; she's become a capitalist's sickle, ready to harvest our wealth.]
[She even pretended to be a virtuous and chaste woman before, refusing to let people send her gifts.]
...
Of course, there are also many die-hard fans:
Even the fairies in heaven drink dew, and the Bodhisattvas in the Western Paradise need incense offerings. Are you all just air, untouched by worldly concerns?
My princess, I'm going to spoil her and buy her everything!
Here's the link, my wallet's ready.
...
With more fans, more people naturally watched the live stream, and the comments scrolled by incredibly fast. She ignored the malicious comments that swiped by quickly and only picked out a few that seemed agreeable to explain: "The supermarket's products are all local fruits and vegetables. We're a small business and haven't opened online sales channels yet."
As Stephen Chow spoke, he adjusted the camera and introduced the items on the shelf to everyone, "Look at these bayberries, they were just picked from the orchard this morning. Look at these fruits, I guarantee you'll want to eat more after you try them..."
As she was introducing the place, the kittens wandered around the house. Only Da Mao sat at the door, keeping a close eye on the kittens. When she saw Er Mao run out from inside, trying to go out the door, she immediately went to the kittens. Although Er Mao was reluctant, she only stood at the door for a while before going back inside, looking disheveled, and jumped onto the makeshift cash register.
Seeing that his little sister had behaved herself, Da Mao returned to his father's side. His mother had said that the roadside was dangerous, so they had to be careful that his little sisters didn't run out.
Stephen Chow was live-streaming in the supermarket for less than ten minutes when a few young people came in. They didn't come in, but just stood at the door and looked inside.
Mr. Shen assumed they wanted to buy something and immediately welcomed them warmly: "What do you want to buy? Come in and take a look, you can sample the fruits and vegetables for free..."
"Um...can we come and see the cat?"
"..." Although a little disappointed, Mr. Shen still warmly invited them inside, "Look, there are still a few left inside."
After receiving his approval, the young men happily went inside.
After being led by Stephen Chow in live streaming for so many days, the kids are no longer shy at all. They are not afraid of strangers approaching them, and when they are in a good mood, they will even greet people enthusiastically.
Sanmao, the most popular cat among the sisters, was currently lying on a watermelon, occasionally showing her little paws and scratching the watermelon. The once beautiful watermelon skin was now covered in scratches. When she saw someone coming, she immediately retracted her paws, used her whole belly to cover the scratches on the watermelon, and meowed at the person as if nothing had happened.
"Waaaaah, the real cat is even more beautiful than the pictures online! Are those eyes real gemstones...?"
"These cats are so cute."
...
Sanmao slightly raised her chin, watching as several people crowded around to look at her. She then adopted a princess-like demeanor, meowing softly.
"So cute, I want to pet it..."
As a result, Sanmao seemed to understand her words, and then stretched out a foot towards the beautiful woman squatting in front of him.
"..." The woman paused, then tentatively reached out and slowly approached. After touching Sanmao's little feet, she looked at her companions behind her in disbelief: "Did you see that? She actually shook hands with me?!?"
"Meow~" Sanmao meowed at her again.
The woman didn't understand what she meant, but she really wanted to interact with her, saying, "You're so cute~"
"Meow~" Sanmao looked arrogant, and thought she was too stupid, so he turned his head to the side.
"???" The woman was puzzled. Just then, she saw Zhou Xingxing coming over, so she immediately stood up to greet her and asked, "Sister, what's wrong with the Third Princess?"
Although Stephen Chow couldn't understand cat language, he had developed a kind of telepathic connection with these little darlings after spending so much time with them. He laughed and said, "She wants you to buy watermelons, hahaha!"
"???" The woman was somewhat skeptical, but still a little surprised. "Third Princess, do you want me to buy a watermelon?"
Sanmao glanced at her furtively, then turned back to look at her two seconds later, meowing.
The woman was particularly surprised, "Then the Third Princess will let me choose one?"
Sanmao immediately jumped off the watermelon he was lying on, and then stuck out his little foot and poked the scratched watermelon.
Unfortunately, the watermelon, having already suffered so much at her hands, could no longer hold on. With a single tap of her foot, the watermelon burst open with a "pop."
"Meow~" Caught off guard, Sanmao startled himself, his cat face blank as he stared at the exploded watermelon.
"...Hahahaha...Quick, take a picture! This meme is amazing..."
Realizing he had made a mistake, Sanmao quickly fled the scene and hid behind a shelf.
Chapter 160
The empty shelves couldn't hide Sanmao's guilty little figure; his tail was drooping so low it was almost touching his belly.
Several people couldn't help but chuckle. Humans have an unusually high tolerance for cubs, especially furry ones. Instead of condemning cubs for their guilty behavior, they would praise them for being clever and cute.
However, Sanmao was already tired of hearing such clever and cute praise. At this moment, she only wanted to hear something different. So, she continued to hide behind the shelves and pretend to be dead, completely ignoring the common compliments.
Zhou Xingxing knew her "mythical beast" nature. Looking at her lonely little figure huddled in the gap between the shelves, he felt quite sorry for her and comforted her: "Baby, I'm not blaming you. A watermelon bursting open means it's ripe."
The young woman quickly chimed in, "Yes, our Third Princess is so good at picking watermelons! She picked one so well; it looks so sweet. I'm very satisfied..."
After hearing what the pretty lady said, Sanmao cautiously turned her head towards them, meowing.
They were both innocent and pitiful.
Her cute appearance is simply irresistible.
The young woman quickly picked up the watermelon that had exploded on the ground and assured her, "I'm really very satisfied with this watermelon."
As she spoke, she carried the watermelon toward the cashier to pay.
Hearing the commotion outside, Mr. Chen came in. Unaware of what had happened, he saw someone holding a burst watermelon and assumed they had accidentally damaged it before buying it. He kindly explained, "Watermelons grown in the countryside ripen naturally without pesticides. They're picked when fully ripe, so they easily burst with the slightest bump. You didn't do it on purpose, so it's fine. Just put it on the shelf; you don't need to buy it. But when you're looking around inside, please be careful..."
“Uncle, this watermelon was specially picked out for us by our little Sanmao.” Before Mr. Shen could finish speaking, Zhou Xingxing interrupted him mercilessly, pointing to the little baby still huddled in the gap between the shelves, “It’s all because the watermelon was too ripe, it couldn’t withstand our little baby’s kick.”
The implication is that the watermelon exploded, and it has nothing to do with anyone else.
Mr. Shen felt even more embarrassed to let people buy the melon. “My kids are used to being naughty. Please forgive them. There’s no need to buy this melon.”
"Uncle, it's alright. It's hot, so we're just looking to buy a melon to quench our thirst. Could you weigh it for us and cut it for us while you're at it?"
"We'll leave it to us. If you want some, I'll cut it for you." Mr. Shen took the watermelon from her and went to find a fruit knife.
They quickly sliced the burst watermelon and distributed it to them.