Li Shi quietly finished his cigarette at the entrance of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
After listening to his subordinate's report, Li Shi became deeply suspicious of his own judgment.
Fu Hui Investments might not be considered a top-notch investment company in the country, but there should be no company in Jingzhou that did not know about it, right?
Yet, even though he had reported his background, this Boss Pei was still indifferent and rejected him at lightning speed?
That did not seem to make sense.
After all, in this circle, such investment behavior was very common.
When a venture capitalist approached, most people would choose to negotiate first and see the other party's conditions before deciding.
If they were really not satisfied and could not come to an agreement, they would at most break up and find another opportunity to work together in the future. They would not lose anything.
It was rare to see someone reject him without even asking.
After all, Li Shi was a mature investor. He was not easily defeated by this small accident. He dispersed the cigarette smell on his body and returned to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe once again.
Li Shi noticed that Pei Qian had already stopped writing and drawing in his little notebook. However, he was still looking at his notebook seriously. No one knew what he was thinking.
If he had not trusted his subordinates enough, Li Shi would have suspected that Boss Pei had not accepted the olive branch he had extended to him.
"Strange, he is actually indifferent to my investment.
Could it be that my judgment was wrong?
"This Boss Pei is currently in a difficult situation and the internet cafe has been incurring losses. However, he is still stubborn and thinks that he can turn the losses into profits?
"I can provide him with large amounts of funds and opportunities to work together. Could it be that this Boss Pei thinks that absolute control is more important than that?
"No matter what, he looks like a very controlling person and does not allow anyone to interfere.
"Heh, young people will always be young people. They want to monopolize everything. This is not what a good entrepreneur should think."
No matter how he analyzed it, Li Shi found it hard to understand why this Boss Pei would reject his investment so decisively.
The key was that he had rejected it too decisively. He did not even ask for the specific plan.
Li Shi could only think of one explanation: this Boss Pei was a hothead and a very stubborn person. He had a strong desire to control his own business and did not want anyone to tell him what to do.
Of course, on the other hand, it meant that this Boss Pei still firmly believed that there was no problem with the internet cafe's route. He would definitely be able to turn losses into profits in the future. That was why he did not want to share the fruits of victory with others.
Although Li Shi could look for Pei Qian and clarify things now, he did not intend to do so.
After all, he was the boss of an investment company. How could he do such an undignified thing?
Wouldn't it be awkward if Boss Pei rejected him after a few polite words after handing over his name card?
Moreover, according to the previous situation, it was very likely that they would be rejected again.
"Hmph, young man, no one can reject my investment, and you will not be an exception."
"It's the same kind of investment. Some companies can't wait for it, some companies gladly accept it, and some companies need a little help …"
Li Shi observed Pei Qian silently as his lips curled into a confident smile.
…
…
June 24th.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store …
A taxi stopped at the entrance. Ma Yang opened the door and alighted, entering the internet cafe.
"Boss Ma, is the exam over? How did you do? "Zhang Yuan greeted Ma Yang warmly when he saw him.
Ma Yang found a seat and sat down. He stretched lazily, and his long face stretched even further as he yawned. "It wasn't a very important subject. I passed without a problem.
"I even lent Brother Qian my homework to copy. At least I helped him get ten more normal marks. I think he won't pursue the internet cafe and take-out business for at least one or two months."
Zhang Yuan was filled with deep respect.
Indeed, this was what they meant by 'having connections in the government makes things easier'.
Before this, Zhang Yuan could not understand why someone like Ma Yang could be appointed to such an important position as the General Manager of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Now, he completely understood.
In fact, he felt that it was only natural.
Although this would make others feel that Ma Yang had relied on some shady connections to get this important position, Zhang Yuan felt very comfortable following a leader like Ma Yang.
At least he did not have to worry about Boss Pei holding him accountable!
The waiter had already served him a cold drink. As Ma Yang sipped it, he sighed. "That may be the case, but we have to continue working hard.
"I had hoped that the take-out business would turn its losses into profits. Now, the take-out business is losing money as well …"
Zhang Yuan was a little worried when he heard this. "That's right. Two days ago, Boss Pei was writing and drawing in a small notebook. He looked very serious. I don't know what he was writing."
Ever since he sent Chen Lei away, Ma Yang had not been able to recover.
To give him something to do again, Pei Qian had specially given him the responsibility of managing Fish-Catching Take-Out.
At first, Ma Yang was indeed full of fighting spirit. He had hired deliverymen, bought a dishwasher, and found someone to develop the first version of the application. In the end, he realized that not many people were ordering food.
He had been feeding a group of people for nothing. That was another sum of money.
Of course, it was not that no one ordered Fish-Catching Take-Out. There were still some customers who liked the taste. However, it was difficult to recoup the cost.
There were many problems.
Boss Pei was very averse to distributing flyers and other promotional methods. That was why not many people knew about Fish-Catching Take-Out.
Fish-Catching Take-Out's application only provided its own food. It did not integrate with other businesses. It was not very attractive to ordinary customers.
They were all home-cooked dishes. The dishes were relatively simple, and the prices were much more expensive than ordinary home-cooked dishes.
All in all, due to the lack of exposure and the perception of ordinary consumers, Fish-Catching Take-Out was not operating at full capacity. Many employees had nothing to do.
According to the original plan, the deliverymen could deliver food to several shops at once. The cashiers could also collect cutlery from several shops at once. However, there were too few customers now. They had to make one trip after one set of cutlery.
Although the cutlery was good, it was inevitable that it would be damaged or lost. According to Pei Qian's instructions, even if something like that happened, he would not pursue the responsibility of the customers unless they found out that the cutlery was deliberately damaged.
Although there were no customers who were deliberately looking for trouble, the occasional broken cutlery still made Ma Yang's heart ache.
From the looks of it, it was basically impossible to earn money.
Both of them were silent.
Ma Yang sipped his drink and looked around the internet cafe. Suddenly, he frowned. "That's strange. Why do I feel that there are very few people in the shop today?"
Zhang Yuan was stunned. "Oh? Is that so? "
He had not noticed it at first. After all, there were not many people in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe during the day. There were only about ten people online all year round. The number of people drinking coffee was also about the same.
What's more, it was a weekday morning. It was normal for there to be fewer people.
However, now that Ma Yang said that, Zhang Yuan did notice that there were very few people in the shop today!
There were only two people playing in the internet cafe area. There was only one customer in the coffee area.
"Maybe it's a coincidence," Zhang Yuan said.
Just as the two of them were feeling puzzled, the door to the internet cafe opened. A Fish-Catching Take-Out deliveryman rushed over with a few flyers in his hands.
"Boss Ma, Boss Zhang, something has happened!
"Quick, look at these flyers!"
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan were confused. They took the flyers from the deliveryman.
Although Fish-Catching Take-Out was not doing very well, it still had some customers. Obviously, this deliveryman had gone out to deliver food and had seen something on his way back.
There were quite a few flyers. Some were from the internet cafe, some were from the cafes, and some were from the bars. There were a few duplicates. Perhaps the deliveryman had taken the duplicates in a hurry.
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan spread out the flyers on the table and looked at them one by one.
Internet cafes had top-up discounts and limited time discounts!
Cafes and bars also had discounts on drinks and half-price for second drinks!
Ma Yang was confused. "What has this got to do with us?"
The deliveryman was still panting. "Boss Ma, these … these shops are all around us!"
Zhang Yuan frowned. He immediately realized that something was wrong!
On closer inspection, he realized that these shops were indeed around Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store. They were not far from each other.
Ma Yang's long face tensed up. He realized the seriousness of the problem. "This … could they be targeting us?"
He pondered for a moment and shook his head. "That's not right. I don't think we offended anyone. We didn't even start a price war with them. Why are these shops targeting us?"
Ma Yang was confused. Logically speaking, it would be fine if Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was doing well and snatching other people's business.
The key was that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was so quiet now. Was there a point in targeting them?
Zhang Yuan's expression turned even more serious. "That might not be the case.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe might be incurring losses, but as long as our shop is still open, we will be competing with these shops. For all we know, they might want to kick us while we're down. They might not rest until Fish-Catching Internet Cafe closes down.
"What's more, internet cafes, bars, coffee shops … so many shops are doing promotions at the same time. It's as if they have a tacit understanding … someone might be behind this!"
Ma Yang looked like he was facing a formidable enemy. "What should we do, then?"
Zhang Yuan frowned and pondered for a long time.
"This is not good. The other party obviously came prepared!
"These few shops have started a price war first. Be it internet cafes, bars, or coffee shops, they are all lowering their prices. What's more, they are desperately distributing flyers.
"If I'm not wrong, the few roads near our internet cafe have already been occupied by them.
"That way, people who want to spend money in our internet cafe would definitely see their flyers and promotions.
"There are not many customers in this area to begin with. Now that they have taken all the customers away, our internet cafe would naturally become even more deserted.
Ma Yang suddenly understood and felt a little angry. "No wonder there are so few customers in the internet cafe today!"
Zhang Yuan continued, "That's not all!
"I feel that the other party came prepared. This move is aimed at our weakness!
"According to Boss Pei's plan, our internet cafe has always been high-end. That's why our prices are higher.
"The other party wants to drag us down and start a price war with us. This is going to be difficult to deal with.
"If we don't lower our prices, we will be at a huge disadvantage in terms of price.
"For example, our original prices were forty percent higher than other places. However, we have a better environment and better service. Many customers would be willing to spend more money to enjoy better service.
"However, the other party is burning money to lower their prices. Our prices are sixty percent higher than theirs. Would customers still be willing to spend so much more for our environment and service?"
Ma Yang frowned. "What if we lower our prices as well?"
Zhang Yuan shook his head again. "No! We are going for the high-end route. Lowering our prices would damage our reputation. What's more, we are burning money as well. We have been incurring losses. How can we outspend them?
"What's more, have you forgotten what Boss Pei said the last time we suggested lowering our prices?"
Ma Yang was speechless.
Previously, when Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had started incurring losses, Zhang Yuan had suggested lowering their prices. However, Boss Pei had rejected it.
This time, he guessed that the outcome would be the same.
However, they had no choice but to lower their prices. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store was now completely surrounded. As long as these shops distributed flyers at the few intersections near Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, they would be able to attract most of the customers.
Even if a few ballers were very loyal to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, it would be useless. After all, customers who did not care about price were the minority. Most people still had to consider the quality-price ratio.
Zhang Yuan's expression was very serious. "Report to Boss Pei. This is not something we can decide!"
…
In the rented apartment, Pei Qian was sleeping soundly.
His phone rang.
Pei Qian was woken up from his dream. He was very unhappy.
However, seeing that it was Ma Yang, Pei Qian forgave him considering that Ma Yang had just lent him his class homework.
"What's wrong, Old Ma?"
Over the phone, Ma Yang quickly explained the crisis that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was facing.
"Brother Qian, that's the general situation.
"Zhang Yuan and I analyzed it. Everything is not that simple. Someone must be behind this!
"What should we do now?"
Ma Yang's voice was anxious.
Pei Qian instantly lost all his sleepiness.
How could there be such a good thing?
Pei Qian almost laughed out loud. He was already under a lot of pressure to incur losses for this cycle. He was still wondering if he could successfully incur losses.
In the end, just as he was about to sleep, someone sent him a pillow!
At the moment, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store was incurring losses of about three hundred thousand a month. However, this was under the premise that the alcohol and internet cafe businesses were generating a certain amount of income.
Although Chen Lei had left, his influence was still there. Many old customers still liked to visit Fish-Catching Internet Cafe when they had nothing to do. Thus, compared to the beginning, the internet cafe's losses were much lower.
Now, the surrounding shops were engaging in price wars. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's customer flow had been cut. That meant that Pei Qian would lose some income before settlement!
If these shops could persevere, that meant that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's income would continue to plummet in the next cycle. That was really …
That was great!
There was only a week left until settlement. A portion of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's income would go down the drain. It could reach seventy to eighty thousand yuan.
One should not underestimate this seventy to eighty thousand yuan. For all they knew, if they lost this seventy to eighty thousand yuan, their profits would become losses. That was a world of difference!
Pei Qian tried his best to calm himself down. He did not allow himself to laugh out loud.
Ma Yang heard Pei Qian's silence and felt that the situation was serious. "What should we do, Brother Qian?"
Pei Qian rubbed the corners of his mouth that he could not stop smiling. Using the calmest voice he could muster, he said, "Don't panic. At a time like this, it's better to stay put.
"Don't do anything. I have my own plans!"
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