MMJWQC Chapter 8

The theme of this episode of “Nothing is Impossible” is business, and the location for filming is an ancient town. The main focus of this program is to integrate the local culture to assist the local government’s tourism bureau in promotion.

Years ago, in order to support local tourism, the government transformed this quaint and charming town into a one-stop destination for both film and daily life.

The director first introduced the origin of the name of Huaixi Town and then began dividing the groups.

In front of the regular guests, there were two boxes.

“In this red box, there are the names of six regular guests, while the green box is for choosing your assistants for today, which will be the helpers for each young master and miss.”

Among the regular guests were Du Jiawei and five others.

Du Jiawei, being a bit older, had a background in acting. He often appeared in TV dramas that could make it to the A-list and was nationally renowned. He was the first to go up and choose a person. He wants to select a well-known young female singer. He cast a glance at the two trainees sent by the company. He didn’t want to choose either of them, hoping to draw a girl. However, he ended up drawing He Jun.

The regular guests took turns stepping forward to select their partners.

All the guests successfully formed teams one by one, and in the end, only three people remained, automatically forming one team.

These three individuals were the most popular male star, Feng Qi, the youngest among the regular guests, Zhou Zongyu, and finally, Chu Ruochun.

Chu Ruochun, a relatively unknown figure, unexpectedly ended up in the same group as Feng Qi, which made the others quite envious.

In the entertainment industry, it was well-known that Feng Qi rarely appeared on variety shows. This was his first time, and it greatly impressed the director. Feng Qi might end up with more camera time than the regular guests.

Zhou Zongyu was thrilled and exclaimed, “Hahaha, I’m in a team with my idol!”

Regular guest Yi Zhou ran over to Feng Qi to offer himself as an alternative, saying, “Feng Ge, Zhou Zongyu’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. Do you want to change your teammate?”

The relationships among the regular guests were quite good. Yi Zhou and Zhou Zongyu were close in age and often teased each other, adding to the program’s atmosphere.

Zhou Zongyu pushed Yi Zhou away and said, “Go away, don’t steal my partner! I’m sure Feng Ge won’t mind me!”

Feng Qi chuckled, “Is your brain really that dull?”

Zhou Zongyu gave him a courteous bow and said, “Feng Ge, I’ll listen to you today. Whatever you say goes. My brain might not be the sharpest, but I’m a very obedient partner!”

Feng Qi replied, “You don’t need to be so humble.”

Everyone burst into laughter, showing that Feng Qi had good emotional intelligence.

Next, the director’s team proceeded to the next step.

“Our theme for today is making money through business. Ancient merchants were quite clever. Later, in each group, please select a team leader to come forward and draw the shop you will be in charge of today. On this street, we have rouge shops, herbal medicine shops, and incense shops, all commonly seen in ancient times. The group that earns the most today will have a chance to win the mysterious grand prize provided by our producer, Coco Jie!”

The director dangled this incentive to motivate the guests.

Chu Ruochun had been standing on the sidelines, waiting for the process to unfold. Zhou Zongyu’s eyes were fixed on Feng Qi, as he was only responsible for being a background board and hadn’t said a word to the two main stars yet.

Feng Qi represented their group to draw the shop.

Du Jiawei’s group drew the herbal medicine shop and paired with two beautiful ladies, Yi Zhou’s group got the rouge shop. The other guests sequentially drew their assigned shops, while Feng Qi’s group ended up with the incense shop.

Zhou Zongyu asked the director, “Are we actually going to sell to customers?”

The director replied, “Yes, there are locals and tourists in the town, and it’s currently the peak tourism season. Today also happens to be the weekend, so there will be the highest foot traffic. It depends on how many customers you can attract to come into your shops and make purchases. However, we have a condition: no aggressive selling. You must adhere to the principle of voluntariness. Next, please move to your respective shops. There, our shopkeepers will teach you how to identify your own products. You’ll have half an hour of learning time. Additionally, if your shop’s daily sales exceed the average daily sales for the previous month, you’ll receive additional rewards.”

“Oh my, what can we learn in half an hour?”

“If you have a good memory, you can try to memorize the products and their prices, right?”

“I have a feeling this is a bit challenging.”

“The difficulty level is quite high.”

Feng Qi’s group also followed the map provided by the production team and walked to Chen’s Incense Shop.

On the way there, Chu Ruochun finally caught their attention.

Zhou Zongyu acted friendly with everyone, saying, “Ruochun, how old are you this year?”

Chu Ruochun’s face looked somewhat youthful, and his age was actually quite easy to guess. He had always avoided competing for the spotlight with the other two, which made Zhou Zongyu feel a bit guilty.

“I just turned nineteen earlier this year,” Chu Ruochun replied.

“You’re really young. You should call me ‘Brother Yu,'” Zhou Zongyu boasted shamelessly.

Chu Ruochun smiled: “…”

His smile, in fact, seemed to indicate his tolerance towards Zhou Zongyu.

Zhou Zongyu was momentarily dazzled by his faint smile, which only made Chu Ruochun look even more handsome.

Feng Qi, at this point, finally paid attention to Chu Ruochun. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect people; he simply didn’t have as much to say to unfamiliar individuals and didn’t possess the extroverted personality of someone like Zhou Zongyu.

“What does ‘Ruochun’ mean?” Feng Qi asked.

Chu Ruochun hesitated for a moment, then realized the other person was talking to him. “Ruo “ comes from ‘The highest goodness is like water’, and ‘Chun’ means to store or keep, like ‘to have a confidant in the world’. It’s from the ‘Tao Te Ching,’ and it means something like ‘gentle and reserved, yet always there when needed.'”

Zhou Zongyu exclaimed, “That sounds really cultured.”

Feng Qi also nodded in agreement, “Quite nice.”

In reality, Feng Qi was a bit reserved, and even someone as lively as Zhou Zongyu couldn’t quite liven up the atmosphere among the three of them.

To put it simply, Feng Qi’s idol baggage was quite heavy.

After a few words, they arrived at their destination, Chen’s Incense Shop, where the shopkeeper was already waiting for them.

On the shelves, there were pellet incense, stamped incense, stick incense, and incense cakes. There were also items for handling, such as soft incense, incense bags, and incense strings.

Aside from incense, there were also high-quality spices that smelled delightful.

Next, the three of them began learning about the products, and Zhou Zongyu felt overwhelmed.

Zhou Zongyu rubbed his nose and said, “My goodness, there are so many types of incense here, I can’t possibly remember them all. And we need to differentiate their scents too. This is agarwood, this is sandalwood, this is camphor, this is agarwood…oh, I feel like I can’t handle this. Feng Ge, I know your acting skills are great, how much can you remember? I have a feeling I’ll look clueless when customers ask me.”

Feng Qi was also troubled. “I’m in the same boat as you.” He usually used perfumes and didn’t need to deal with incense products.

The director nearby reminded them, “Not only do you need to remember the products, but you also need to attract customers to the shop. That’s the most important part.”

It sounded quite challenging.

Chu Ruochun had never been on a TV show before. He listened attentively to the shopkeeper’s introduction, refrained from speaking unnecessarily, and didn’t ask random questions. He did, however, develop a liking for the frankincense¹a type of resin obtained from certain trees, particularly from the Boswellia species. It is used in various religious and cultural practices and is known for its pleasant fragrance when burned as incense. in the shop; it had a pleasant scent, and he planned to buy some after the recording of the program.

The shopkeeper said, “Now, I will take the three of you to understand the process of making incense.”

The shopkeeper led them to the backyard of the shop, where an incense-making master was already waiting.

“This is the backyard where my ancestors used to make incense ingredients…”

As the shopkeeper was speaking, both Feng Qi and Zhou Zongyu were attentively listening. Chu Ruochun, who had been playing the role of a background character, suddenly tugged on Feng Qi’s arm!

Feng Qi was caught off guard and tilted to the side. He had to take a step to regain his balance and almost stumbled.

Everyone turned to look at him, and Chu Ruochun lightly said, “Sorry, I slipped.”

Zhou Zongyu asked, “Brother, are you okay?”

Feng Qi found an excuse to defuse the situation, “I’m fine; Ruochun slipped and couldn’t stand properly.”

He knew that Chu Ruochun hadn’t actually slipped. It seemed like another young person trying to attract attention and the camera by using him. They thought that by not competing and being unobtrusive, they could steal the spotlight.

Because the path to the backyard was relatively narrow, the cameraman was in front and didn’t capture this scene.

Just after all of them had passed through the passage, a rotten wooden plank from the ceiling above where Feng Qi had just stood came crashing down.

The noise from the fallen plank didn’t affect the people ahead but was faithfully recorded by the fixed cameras inside the shop.

The filming continued as normal, and the three of them watched the incense-making demonstration.

After witnessing the incense-making process, Feng Qi and Zhou Zongyu returned to their shop and were dismayed to find it empty, with no customers in sight.

In contrast, the rouge shop across from them was bustling with activity, attracting many female tourists, while their incense shop remained deserted.

The director reminded them, “The three of you need to find a way to attract customers.”

Wasn’t this a challenging task?

Zhou Zongyu looked at Feng Qi and said, “Feng Ge, just point, and I’ll take action.”

Chu Ruochun nodded in agreement. He didn’t know much about running a business.

Feng Qi pointed to the opposite shop and suggested, “How about we go over there to observe and learn?”

Zhou Zongyu immediately agreed, “Great idea. Ruochun, you stay here to watch the shop. We’ll go and learn.”

Chu Ruochun nodded; he enjoyed watching the shop.

Feng Qi was dressed in all white today and had an air of elegance, looking every bit like a wealthy young man.

Zhou Zongyu, on the other hand, appeared like a playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun.

However, he himself was also from a wealthy family, entering the entertainment industry as a form of amusement. Little did he know that he would become popular while having fun.

With the departure of the two big stars, a group of staff left with them, and the shop returned to its quiet state.

Chu Ruochun stood in the shop, looking around. He was particularly interested in stick incense.

The shopkeeper from earlier approached him and asked, “Do you like stick incense?”

Chu Ruochun picked one up and said, “This frankincense smells nice. It seems to have added some agarwood and sandalwood powder.”

The shopkeeper was somewhat surprised and nodded, saying, “Yes, I didn’t expect you to know about incense.”

Chu Ruochun replied, “I make a bit of incense in my free time, although I’m not very knowledgeable.” He didn’t mention that he used it for purposes other than relaxation.

The shopkeeper sighed, “Young people nowadays seldom have an interest in making incense, or you could say there aren’t many young people who appreciate incense. They prefer perfumes.” Perhaps touching on a sensitive topic, the shopkeeper added a few more words, “If the shop doesn’t improve soon, I’m thinking of closing it down within the year.”

Chu Ruochun took a seat across from the elderly shopkeeper and looked at this century-old shop. He said, “Your shop has the blessings of your ancestors; it won’t come to this.”

The elderly shopkeeper sighed, “Ah, it’s tough doing business.”

Chu Ruochun knew the shopkeeper wasn’t just being polite; there was indeed a hint of worry about the shop in his furrowed brow. Despite the show’s promotion, modern tourists had embraced the concept of rational spending, and they wouldn’t buy things they didn’t like.

He said, “Your ancestors must have been virtuous to bless their descendants like this.”

The shopkeeper smiled in resignation, “I’m getting old, and my children are all working in the city, building their own careers. They’re not willing to come back and inherit this old shop. Plus, the incense we use here is all based on traditional recipes, and we adhere to our ancestors’ principles. We can’t compromise on quality, and the operating costs are too high. We’re selling at a loss now.”

Chu Ruochun liked the incense products from this shop and asked, “Shopkeeper, didn’t you undergo a major renovation of the shop’s layout about three years ago?”

The shopkeeper, Chen, was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t mentioned the renovation when introducing his shop earlier. He said, “That’s right, there was indeed a renovation about three years ago. We wanted to promote tourism in this area and attract more young people.”

Chu Ruochun proposed, “If you trust me, I can help you adjust the layout of the shop. Would you be willing?”

The shopkeeper chuckled. He had lived for most of his life and had seen all kinds of people. The young man in front of him gave him a unique impression.

“Sure, why not? After all, my shop can’t get any worse than it is now.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself, shopkeeper. I’m sure your ancestors also went through tough times back then, but they eventually built up the family business.”

“You’re right; our ancestors had to move the family due to wars in the past.”

Chu Ruochun glanced at the incense beads on the shopkeeper’s wrist and asked, “The war and the incense shop, these incense beads have been with you for quite some time, haven’t they?”

“They were passed down from my grandfather. He said they symbolize his achievements, but I’ve never understood where those achievements lie.”

Chu Ruochun smiled gently, “These incense beads contain mysteries related to the war. Please take good care of them. It’s a secret related to the war.”

The shopkeeper took off the incense beads and examined them closely. “Really?”

Chu Ruochun nodded with certainty, “Yes, it’s true.”

The shopkeeper looked into Chu Ruochun’s eyes with a hint of excitement, “In that case, young master, please help me see where I need to make changes to my shop.”

Chu Ruochun got up and took a tour around the shop. He looked at the cash register counter, which already had Alipay and WeChat QR codes displayed.

“Your cash register counter can be moved to the northeast corner, which is diagonally across from your main entrance.”

The cash register counter in Chen’s Incense Shop was a movable table that could be lifted by both the shopkeeper and Chu Ruochun.

The newly arranged location was in a corner with a wall blocking the front, separating the cash register from the flow of people, creating a symbol of wealth gathering in the corner.

After moving the cash register counter into place, they were done.

Two girls dressed in traditional Chinese clothing entered the shop with curious expressions.

The girl in a light green outfit said, “Yiyi, come and look, they have the frankincense you wanted.”

Her friend in a pink outfit followed closely and approached the counter, saying, “It really is frankincense!”

• 1
  a type of resin obtained from certain trees, particularly from the Boswellia species. It is used in various religious and cultural practices and is known for its pleasant fragrance when burned as incense.