Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

A waiter plucked up the courage to say, “Don’t worry, Boss Pei. We will never betray Fish-Catching Internet Cafe! I will turn him down at once!”

Another waiter nodded and said, “That’s right! Boss Pei, you have treated us exceedingly well. As long as you don’t give up on us, we will never sell information about any of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s branches!”

Looking at these people’s determined expressions, Pei Qian cursed in his heart.

Don’t! You should sell as much as you can. That’s exactly what I want!

What is the other party buying information on the Ming Yun Villas branch for? Isn’t it to do harm to it?

That’s just as well! It could help Ming Yun Villas incur more losses. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

When the time comes, a few waiters would have made more money and Pei Qian would have lost more money. Wouldn’t that be a win-win situation?

Pei Qian waved his hand and said, “No need. Sell the information for as much as you can earn. Don’t be kind to them. Otherwise, negotiate and ask them for more than three thousand yuan.”

The waiters were confused.

What’s this? Was Boss Pei giving them permission to sell information?

One of the waiters thought about it, and a realization dawned upon him. “I know, Boss Pei! You’re going to come up with a scheme! Do you want us to sell fake information and lead them on?”

Pei Qian smiled without saying a word.

Fake information?

Not fake information – I’m talking about true information. Just do your best to sell information about this branch.

Pei Qian took out his phone and started recording without changing his expression.

“Coincidentally, I wanted to tell all of you about the future arrangements for Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

“In the next few months, the branch at Ming Yun Villas will become our utmost priority among the entire Fish-Catching Internet Cafe business. At the same time, our internet cafe business is going to continue in full force!

“Although the flagship store is doing extremely well now, only the bar is doing well. The internet cafe is not.”

He turned to Ma Yang and said, “Old Ma, didn’t you always hope that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would be turned into a bar? I never agreed because of this. High-end internet cafes do not seem as popular now, but they will definitely be the future of our business!

“I predict that in less than a year, these high-end internet cafes would replace traditional internet cafes. They’ll become the mainstream in the market!”

There was some truth to what Pei Qian was saying, but there were also lies.

Cheap internet cafes would indeed have to be converted to high-end internet cafes in the future in order to remain competitive and stay mainstream. However, this transition would not be complete in the next one or two years.

According to Pei Qian’s memory, such high-end internet cafes would only begin to get popular in 2012. In about 2014 to 2015, they would expand outwards from first-tier cities to second tier-cities. Only they were slowly and increasingly accepted by the majority.

Thus, as Pei Qian understood the situation, he would be incurring losses for another two years or so.

So what if this was the future of internet cafes? He could incur losses for two years, and that was great. He could talk about the future next time.

Pei Qian continued speaking. “What happened with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, it was not within my plans.”

This was 100% the truth.

“Given the flagship store’s success, there has been a huge disturbance in our customer traffic and the like. We can no longer test out our internet cafe model at the flagship store. That is why I chose the Ming Yun Villas branch to test out the internet cafe model. At the moment, it looks like this branch is doing the worst.

“Our goal is to focus on the surrounding high-end villas and university. We will fully display the benefits of a high-end internet cafe like Fish-Catching Internet Cafe here.

“Please believe me, everyone. Ming Yun Villas will become the next core commercial district in Jingzhou City. It will be a place where high-class people gather to relax!”

After hearing Pei Qian’s speech, the waiters turned to look at one another.

Is Boss Pei speaking the truth or not? He’s saying all of these to his opponents – most of it must be fake, right? Yet, why didn’t it sound fake? Why did it sound like the truth?!

What’s more, it seemed to completely match the way Boss Pei had been acting recently.

One of the waiters raised his hand weakly and asked, “Well, Boss Pei… What should we do, then?”

Pei Qian smiled subtly and said, “Treat our customers well and wait patiently.”

After the meeting, Pei Qian sent the recording to Ma Yang

“Send this recording to one of the waiters.”

Pei Qian was afraid that the waiters would leave out something that he had said. Thus, he very considerately recorded everything down. With this recording, the other party was more likely to believe it.

Of course, even though Pei Qian had gone to this extent, the other party could be suspicious. He might think that this was fake information. He might not take it seriously.

However, whether he took it seriously or not, Pei Qian would stand to gain and not to lose.

That night…

Li Shi collected the updates that one of his subordinates bought from three different waiters. There was even a recording. He was pleasantly surprised to have received this recording.

Overjoyed, Li Shi instructed his subordinate to reward the waiter who gave him the recording with another five hundred yuan. The information and recording verified one another. The contents of the messages were all the same.

However, since the information had been paraphrased, Li Shi feared that there may have been gaps. The most important of all was the recording. It contained Pei Qian’s actual words.

Li Shi went into his study and sipped his tea as he listened to the recording.

“Boss Pei’s speech can be summarized into two points. First, high-end internet cafes will be the mainstream model in the future. It is now very promising. Second, Ming Yun Villas will be Jingzhou City’s next core commercial district where all the high-class people would gather…

“I am on the same page as him on the first point. Indeed, high-end internet cafes will definitely be the mainstream model in the future. People’s standard of living would improve, and personal laptops would be common. People would begin to visit internet cafes not because it is necessary for gaming but because it is necessary as a means of socialization and playing with their friends. Their demands for the environment would naturally become higher as well.

“The second point, however, was up for discussion. It is well-known that Ming Yun Villas has failed as a high-end residential area. The nearby Handong Jiaotong University’s East Campus is also a far cry from Handong Jiaotong University’s main campus. Thus, there were not many students there.

“Is Boss Pei hoping to make this branch popular based on these two groups of people alone? That seems too idealistic and positive.

“What’s more, this Fish-Catching Internet Cafe is quite a distance from both places. It’s almost two kilometers away; it would take twenty to thirty minutes for them just to get there.

“This is such an awkward distance. It’s too far to walk, and it’s too troublesome to take public transport. Both means of transport don’t seem to make sense. The students in the East campus would probably lean towards the internet cafe at the entrance of their school. The rich folk in Ming Yun Villas would also likely not drive all the way here just for a cup of coffee.

“Did he hope to draw customers from both sides? He might be too ambitious. If this was a high-end restaurant, perhaps people might travel the distance to get there. However, the internet cafe is just not attractive enough.

“Yet, given Boss Pei’s strategizing skills, this doesn’t seem impossible…”

Ever since Pei Qian made Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store famous with one resident singer, Li Shi prostrated himself in admiration of Boss Pei’s marketing skills.

Boss Pei might have said in the recording that it had been a surprise for him, but he was obviously being overly-modest.

Was it possible for such a good surprise to take place?

Thus, Li Shi only believed 80% of what Pei Qian said. He even suspected that this might be fake information. However, on further thought, it would not have made sense.