Chapter 309 A job I've never done before
After playing badminton with Ayase Kotone, the bell for the end of physical education class rang.

After a few more classes, time quickly came to the end of school.

After school, Shimizu went to Xia Lin's bar as usual.

Because of Ichinose Shiki's departure, only Shimizu Mi and Utsunomiya-senpai were left in the bar.

Although it is a small bar, it is still a little short of staff.

After discussing with Xia Lin, it was decided to recruit another new employee.

Since they were only recruiting one person, there was no need to print and post a large number of posters. They simply posted an advertisement for recruiting new employees on the Internet.

Although Xia Lin said that all the interviews would be left to Qingshui Jian, it was unknown when he would be able to recruit people.

Fortunately, these days Sakurai Haruka comes to the bar to help after finishing her tutoring with Ayase Kotone, so there is no need to worry about manpower issues for the time being.

After the hotel closed, Shimizu Mi first sent Sakurai Haruka back to the apartment.

Although Sakurai Haruka really wanted him to stay overnight, because today was the first day that Hoshino Akiko and Sakurai Shio met, Shimizu Ken was a little worried about the situation over there, so he decided to go home early.

After returning home, Shimizu stood at the door and knocked several times, but there was still no response. Then he realized that Hoshino Akiko seemed to have not returned yet.

"You haven't come back yet so late."

The time agreed with Sakurai Shio should be around 1pm, but now it is already past 11pm, so she should have returned long ago.

"What on earth are they doing..."

Not knowing what Sakurai Shio and Hoshino Akiko were doing, Shimizu Mi complained a little, then took out the key, opened the door and walked in.

However, just as he walked into the house and closed the door, intending to call Hoshino Akiko to ask about the situation over there, there was a knock on the door behind him.

Could it be...

Qingshuijian turned around and opened the door again.

The person who appeared at the door was, as expected, Hoshino Akiko, but standing next to her was Sakurai Shio.

"Hey, good evening, junior."

"good evening."

When Shimizu finished responding subconsciously, Sakurai Shio rushed to continue speaking.

"So my junior lives here. Then Auntie Xingye, I will go back first."

"Well, bye. Remember to come and play more often next time when you are free, Xiaoxi."

"I see."

The two waved their arms at each other until Sakurai Shio got into a taxi on the side of the road.

Qing Shuijian looked at this scene and countless question marks popped up in his mind.

Xiao Xi? Are you talking about Sakurai Xi?

Also, what does it mean to remember to come and play often?
Didn't they just meet for the first time today? How come their relationship has become so good all of a sudden?
Shimizu was somewhat surprised at how quickly the relationship between Hoshino Akiko and Sakurai Shio improved after their first meeting.

Although this is not a bad thing, Qingshuijian always feels that there is something fishy.

As the temperature has been dropping recently and it is a bit cold outside, Shimizu let Hoshino Akiko in first. The two sat side by side on the sofa, and then he asked her directly:
"Mom, why are you back so late?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, because I accidentally talked too much with that kid."

Talked too much?
Isn't it just about finding a job?
"Speaking of which, that child is really good, both capable and pretty. It would be great if she could marry into our family in the future."

"But as a wife, Iori would be better, right?"

"Oh, it would be nice if everyone could marry Jian."

Hoshino Akiko touched her chin with her hand and whispered to herself.

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about..."

Qing Shuijian shook his head helplessly, somewhat speechless.

"I'm not talking nonsense. I'm really thinking about meeting you."

Hoshino Akiko suddenly called out Shimizu Mi by his childhood nickname.

"I say...you're not drinking, are you?"

Qing Shuijian asked with some doubt.

"Eh? You found me? I just drank a little cocktail. It's okay, it's okay."

Even if it is a low-alcohol cocktail, you will still get drunk if you drink too much. However, seeing that Akiko Hoshino was only slightly tipsy, she must have only drunk a little.

"Mom, what did you and Senior do today?"

Judging from Hoshino Akiko's current state and what she said, Shimizu Mi must ask them clearly what the two of them did today.

"Well, because I saw that girl liked you so much, I talked to her about you."

"that is it?"

"That was the case at first, but I didn't expect that we would end up chatting and talking a lot. When we came to our senses, we realized that it was getting a little late, so we just had dinner together and then went shopping."

Have dinner? Go shopping?

No wonder Hoshino Akiko was carrying two large bags in her hands when she came in just now.

Hoshino Akiko opened one of the big bags next to the sofa and took out a gray coat from it.

The coat looks very warm, as if it is prepared for the coming autumn and winter seasons.

"Look, try this coat on. We picked it out for you after shopping all night."

Probably all mothers in the world are like this. Even though Shimizu showed some resistance on his face, Hoshino Akiko still forced him to put it on, then leaned back slightly, kept some distance, and looked at him carefully.

"Yeah, it looks like a good fit."

There was a gleam of satisfaction in Hoshino Akiko's eyes.

"Mom, did you really go to talk about work?"

Although she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, Qingshuijian still wanted to mention it. After all, this was the main purpose of their meeting today.

"Of course, and we talked a lot."

Hoshino Akiko said with a happy look on her face.

Judging from her appearance, it seems that Sakurai Shio's introduction to a job for her was going smoothly.

"What job did the senior introduce to you?"

Out of curiosity, Shimizu asked her a question.

Upon hearing this, Hoshino Akiko showed a somewhat hesitant expression, which made Shimizu feel a strange premonition.

"What's wrong? Is the job that the senior introduced to you unsuitable?"

"That's not the case."

Hoshino Akiko shook her head slightly, with a look of embarrassment on her face.

"What happened?" Qing Shuijian asked.

"It's not so much a matter of whether it's a good fit, but I've never done that type of work before."

A job you've never held?

Qing Shuijian was stunned when she heard this. How could this job introduction be about a job that she had never done before?

"Mom, what job did the senior introduce to you?"

Qing Shuijian asked again.

"This one……"

After some inner hesitation and struggle, Akiko Hoshino finally made up her mind and prepared to tell the truth.

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly: "Actually, that shouldn't be considered a job..." "Not a job?"

"Yes, I plan to open a store with Xiaoxi."

"Open...open a store?"

Because Hoshino Akiko suddenly said something shocking, Shimizu couldn't help but stutter.

"See? Are you okay?"

Seeing Shimizu's dazed reaction, Hoshino Akiko asked worriedly.

"You just said opening a store?"

Just in case, Shimizu Miki confirmed it again with Hoshino Akiko to make sure he had heard it correctly.

"Yes, Xiaoxi and I have already discussed it and plan to open a store together in a few months."

It seems that Shimizu Mi didn't hear it wrongly or miss anything. Hoshino Akiko really plans to open a store with Sakurai Shio, and judging from her expression, it doesn't seem like she's just talking.

"Mom, you're looking for a job to make money, right?"

"Of course, otherwise, who would be willing to go to work from nine to five every day."

Akiko Hoshino is right. If it weren’t for the money, probably no one would like to go to work.

"If that's the case, then why open a store?"

"Look at what you said. Can't you make money by opening a store?"

It is not clear whether Shimizu can make money, but if Hoshino Akiko goes, she will definitely lose money.

After all, given the current economic conditions and market environment, new stores are under great pressure to survive and may quickly go bankrupt due to lack of customers or inability to compete with competitors.

More importantly, Akiko Hoshino had no experience in opening a store.

As the saying goes, every different industry has its own difficulties. It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be for someone with no relevant experience to suddenly open a store.

And if something unexpected happens and the store goes bankrupt, not only will you not make any money, but you will also be saddled with a huge debt.

"I know Jian may not believe it, but we have to give it a try, and we have Xiaoxi to help us."

Not to mention that Sakurai Shioya, like Hoshino Akiko, has no experience in opening a store, and even with her help, it would probably be very difficult.

Therefore, Qing Shuijian decisively rejected this matter: "No."

"Eh?! How could this be... This has always been my mother's dream. I have always wanted to open a store of my own since I was a child. Don't you want to help me realize my dream?"

A look of grievance appeared on Hoshino Akiko's face.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”

Hoshino Akiko probably just made it up, and Shimizu had never heard her mention it before.

"Besides, Jian will be going to college in a year, and he will need a lot of money by then. If I continue to be unable to find a job, won't I become a burden to Jian and a burden to you?"

There was a hint of self-blame and concern in Hoshino Akiko's words, but from her expression and tone, Shimizu could feel that she seemed serious about opening a store.

But why did she suddenly come up with such an idea?

You know, she had never had such an idea before.

Shimizu began to suspect whether Sakurai Shio had instilled some strange ideas into Hoshino Akiko.

"It has nothing to do with Xiaoxi. Mommy really wants to try to do it herself once."

Seeing Hoshino Akiko's rare serious expression, Shimizu was stunned for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"So what kind of store do you want to open?"

"For now, I want to try to open a small clothing store."

Clothing store... Now that it sounds like this, it seems quite reliable.

Qing Shuijian thought about it, and then asked: "Then do you know how to open a store?"

As a matter of fact, Akiko Hoshino had never done or engaged in any related work before.
And since you want to open a store, renting a store will cost a lot of money.

"Don't worry about that. Xiaoxi said that we can just open an online store because online shopping seems to be quite popular now. And this way we can save the cost of renting a store, and it is more convenient to run the business."

In other words, Sakurai Shio wants Hoshino Akiko to try to do e-commerce online...

Shimizu Mi thought about it for a while and decided that if he opened an online store, he could indeed save a lot of costs. Moreover, Hoshino Akiko only needed to run the business at home, which was very convenient and saved him a lot of trouble.

However, although it seems feasible, there is actually a very critical problem.

“What about the start-up capital?”

Since Akiko Hoshino wants to open a store, whether it is an online store or a physical store, she will need some capital, especially at the beginning, when money is needed in many places.

Even though online stores can save a lot of costs, it is still not a small amount.

Given the current situation of the Shimizu family, although the daily expenses are not a big problem, it is still a bit beyond their means if they want to open a store.

"Although it's not much, I have saved some money in the past few years. Xiaoxi said that I can just give the rest to her."

In other words, did Sakurai Shio use her money power...

In this regard, Qing Shuijian felt helpless and a little envious.

Then from Hoshino Akiko's narration, Shimizu finally understood something.

Simply put, Sakurai Shio seemed to only intend to invest money. Although nominally the two of them opened a store together, in reality most of the time the management and affairs would be handled by Hoshino Akiko.

To put it bluntly, the 'job' that Sakurai Shio introduced to Hoshino Akiko was directly creating a 'job' for her.

As for the future income sharing, since it is still a bit far away, the two have not discussed it yet, but that is not Qingshuijian's business.

After learning that the two of them actually had certain plans and considerations, it at least felt more reliable than when I first heard Akiko Hoshino suddenly say that she wanted to open a store.

"So what type of clothes do you want to sell?"

General clothing stores sell a wide range of clothing types, such as ordinary coats, shirts, sweaters, suits, etc., and the types of clothes also change with the change of seasons.

However, most online stores are still divided into men's clothing stores and women's clothing stores. Of course, there are also some stores that specialize in selling children's clothing.

However, after hearing Shimizu Ken's question, a trace of guilt appeared on Hoshino Akiko's face.

"what happened?"

"Well, it's hard to say..."

Hoshino Akiko seemed a little embarrassed and seemed reluctant to speak, which made Shimizu Mi feel strange.

"Is there anything difficult to say?"

"It's hard to say, it's hard to say..."

Hoshino Akiko looked like she didn't want to talk to Shimizu in detail.

Qing Shuijian became more and more confused. Is there anything wrong with opening a clothing store?

"If you really plan to open a store, it's useless to hide it from me now."

If Hoshino Akiko really plans to open a store in the future, then even if she is hiding something from Shimizu now, it will naturally be exposed then.

Hoshino Akiko was silent for a moment, then looked at Shimizu Ken.

"That's right..."

She seemed to agree with this and nodded slightly while organizing her words and thinking about how to start her speech.

"Actually... Xiaoxi and I discussed it and decided to open a lingerie store."

"Inside……"

When Qing Shui heard this, he was stunned.

(End of this chapter)