Chapter 152: Skilled at Making Money (Part 2)

Chen Xin did not expect the courtyard renovation to be completed all at once. She merely pointed out the essential facilities and equipment required, and then let the dark-skinned boy discuss with his parents whether they actually wanted to proceed.

"I can speak with that internet user and ask him to arrive a week later. If you can get everything ready within this week, they can stay at your place. As for the price, I suggest keeping it reasonable—fifty yuan a day should be fine. They can share meals with you or buy their own ingredients and have your mother cook them, charging a processing fee per dish. Additionally, since your father and your sister both work at the fishery, they can act as intermediaries to introduce families willing to take tourists out on fishing boats. However, there is one crucial point you must agree on with the guests in advance: how responsibility will be divided in the event of an accident at sea, and proper risk warnings must be given."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xin advised them that it would be best to have professionals conduct an evaluation and preferably involve a company to provide third-party guarantees and supervision. This way, if any uncontrollable accidents occurred, mediation could be handled much more smoothly.

"We cannot prevent risks from happening, but we must minimize the losses caused by them. It is best to discuss these matters with the elders in your family and see what your parents think before deciding whether to do this. Alright?"

This advice was equally aimed at the teenagers from the other two families who wanted to join in.

"Actually, the concept of fishing village homestays is already quite mature in the southern tourist cities. If you are willing, you can have your parents visit those places to learn the ropes. I am a translator who happens to promote travel consultation and local cuisine; I am not an industry professional. If you need my help, just say so. I certainly won't refuse if I can assist."

Chen Xin's down-to-earth attitude won the affection of the youths. Just as they were planning to return to the Zhou residence to continue eating, drinking, and making merry, the dark-skinned boy's elder sister came home from work.

"Little Pi, you brought friends over to play and didn't even give a heads-up," his sister said, her personality as crisp and direct as her short hair and slightly tanned skin. "You guys have fun, I'm going to buy some fruit. Wait for me."

"No need, Sister Pi," Zhou Yu, who was well-acquainted with her, chimed in. "We just dropped by to look around and were heading back anyway. Sister Pi, we're having hot pot tonight, you should come too."

"I won't make it. My dad is coming back tonight, so I have to go home and cook."

Upon hearing this, the dark-skinned boy hesitated, wanting to stay, but his sister gave him a pat on the forehead and gently shoved him outward.

"Go on, go play. It's rare for all of you to gather together; there will be plenty of time to help out later."

Returning to the Zhou family's home, the teenagers gathered around Chen Xin, begging her to explain more about how to set up these fishing village homestays. The youths of this small town were quite different from big-city teenagers—they were eager to contribute to their families and relieve some of their parents' burdens.

Seeing this, Chen Xin figured she might as well hold an impromptu class. It would help organize her own thoughts, and she even thought about seizing the opportunity to start a fishing village-themed blog.

Before the lecture began, Chen Xin asked the teenagers to each describe their family's location and living conditions. Since they all knew each other well, there was no need for false modesty or feelings of inferiority. Among this group, some were better off; the older family members held steady jobs and weren't strapped for cash. Others were in a situation similar to the dark-skinned boy's family, where one parent had been laid off, leaving the entire livelihood resting on a single pair of shoulders, making things much more difficult.

Fortunately, these were good kids. Even if their academic grades lagged behind, their hearts were in the right place, and they deeply cared for their parents.

Chen Xin selected three families to analyze. Having already discussed the dark-skinned boy's family, she moved on to the Zhou family, the neighboring Qian family, and the Zhao family further away, whose circumstances were the most strained.

The Zhou family was the wealthiest and least likely to open their home as a guesthouse. She simply used the Zhou family's property layout as an example to explain how houses of that structure could be remodeled.

The Qian family's house had a structure quite similar to the Zhou family's, but the Qians had many children. Currently, two sons and a daughter were living with the elderly Qian couple.

One of the Qian sons worked at the salt bureau, and the other worked at the fishery. Their daughter had been widowed shortly after marriage, and due to her posthumous child, she had a falling-out with her husband's family. In the end, the two Qian brothers took charge and brought their sister back to live with them. Consequently, the third generation of the Qian family numbered five children: the eldest was a daughter who had married far away; the second and third were boys—one in college and the other working alongside his father on a fishing boat. The boy present at the Zhou household was the younger son of the Qian family's second son, and beneath him was a younger cousin, who was the paternal aunt's posthumous child. The cousin was only seven years old and just starting the first grade.

"My aunt stays home to take care of my grandparents and my little cousin. Besides that, my mother and my aunt-in-law do odd jobs at the fishery, so our family probably doesn't have any rooms we can spare for a guesthouse."

Not only did they lack available rooms, but a household with such circumstances and too many family members was poorly suited for running a family-style guesthouse. However, Chen Xin's suggestion was that they should skip the lodging business altogether and focus exclusively on food processing.

"I previously discussed this with Brother Hao. The exterior conditions of your house are actually very good. You have a platform of over a hundred square meters in the backyard. If you install safety railings along the edge of the platform and build a staircase that leads directly to the beach, I imagine a fishing village-style kitchen at your place would attract plenty of business. The only question is how good your family's cooking is."

"My aunt-in-law is an amazing cook! She helps out in the cafeteria at the fishery. My mom's cooking is just average, but she's great at making braised dishes—my maternal grandfather's family used to sell braised food."

"That works out perfectly! You could build a path alongside your house leading directly to the backyard platform. Put up a retractable awning there; when it rains or the sun is too strong, you just pull out the awning, and otherwise leave it open-air. You can process seafood brought by guests, or purchase ingredients yourself and sell prepared dishes to customers. Doing just the food service without the lodging business will likely earn you just as much as a guesthouse."

Young Qian was thoroughly tempted. He planned to call his older brothers that evening to see what his siblings thought. If it was feasible, their family had plenty of members who weren't tied down to regular jobs, meaning they wouldn't need to hire outsiders—the family could manage it all themselves.

The Zhao family's situation was even more difficult. Their house was already too small for their own needs, and they had no suitable conditions for a catering business, leaving them practically deadlocked.

"In this world, there is only what you refuse to do; nothing is truly impossible," Chen Xin remarked, viewing the situation differently.

"Your family has fewer members and not enough space to develop a family guesthouse. However, you are locals with a very wide network of connections. Therefore, you could open a travel consultancy. You can set up a small stall near the pier, have someone stationed there during the day to attract customers, help them book guesthouses, connect them with fishing boats, and even guide them in buying seafood and local specialties. In modern terms, this profession is called being an intermediary; in the past, it was called a broker. You don't sell physical goods, but rather provide information services and charge a certain service fee. This field is a bit complex, but if you're interested, we can talk about it privately."

Little Zhao's eyes reddened with excitement as he nodded repeatedly.

"Alright, alright, the hot pot is ready, come over and eat!" the aunt called out from the courtyard. The teenagers let out cheers and rushed over to help serve dishes and hand out bowls, their excitement reaching an unprecedented peak.