Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

July 13th, afternoon…

At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store…

Li Shi sat in the corner, quietly sipping his coffee.

“This place is much livelier, but… I still prefer the way it was before.”

Li Shi breathed out gently. He did not know that he and Boss Pei had similar thoughts in this area.

His negotiations with Boss Pei had completely fallen through back then. Li Shi felt absolutely defeated, and because of that, he avoided Fish-Catching Internet Cafe for more than a week. However, he remained indignant; and he harbored hopes of making a comeback in the future.

What’s more, when he had nothing to do, he used to come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to sit around and have a drink or two. He had already developed a sort of habit.

That was why Li Shi came to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store today. He wanted to see what things were like here.

The first thing he realized was that there were indeed more customers.

He knew that the place would probably be much more crowded at night. Thus, he purposely picked a Tuesday afternoon to visit. He did not expect that there would be this many customers, even on a workday afternoon. Some were reading and sipping their coffees quietly in the coffee area, some were taking photos, and some were surfing the net.

It looked like business was booming.

They earned revenue in the day and profited from customers’ alcohol tips for the singers at night.

Li Shi guessed that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store was probably making a profit now. It was not easy to determine if they were earning a lot or a little, but they were definitely earning profits.

Yet, personally, he liked what Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was like before. It was quiet, and nobody was there to disturb him.

Of course, the current Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was not so crowded that people would feel frustrated just being there. Still, there was no peace like there was before.

Li Shi took another sip of coffee. He could not help but feel like something was missing.

Boss Pei was not here. This was normal.

Yet, where was the man with the big, long face and the regional manager who always followed the former around?

Li Shi used to always come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store. Each time, he would bump into those two people. It was almost as if they lived in the flagship store. Today, none of them were there.

“Strange. If the business is doing so well, shouldn’t they remain here to keep an eye on things?”

Li Shi had been observing the changes to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe over these few days.

The flagship store had indeed been made popular by Chen Lei. It was now famous on the internet. Many people came here to check in and purchase things. Traffic flow was high.

However, the other Fish-Catching Internet Cafe branches had not changed much. Although there were more customers and they earned more income, they were a far cry from the flagship store.

It was logical to guess that these branches could reduce their losses, but they would not be able to turn the losses into profits.

Shouldn’t the two men remain in the flagship store and apply the lessons they learned here to the other branches? Why were they nowhere to be found?

Li Shi raised his hand slightly. The waiter beside him immediately noticed and walked to his table.

“May I help you with anything?” The waiter asked, smiling subtly.

Li Shi was a regular customer in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe after all. He had spent a considerable amount of money here. Of course, the waiters recognized this major customer and ensured that they served him well.

Li Shi put on a nonchalant expression and asked, “Boss Ma isn’t here today?”

dIISI

The waiter maintained his smile and answered, “Yes, Boss Ma hasn’t come to visit for a while. It’s been about a week, I think.”

Li Shi paused.

A week?

In other words, from the time Fish-Catching Internet Cafe became extremely popular and saw the most customers it ever had until the traffic flow stabilized, the man with the big, long face had not visited.

Logically, since the flagship store had a branch manager, the long-faced man could fold his hands and sit back. However, he was part of the management team above the branch managers after all. If he was not in this branch, he was likely in another branch. What was he doing there?

There was something fishy going on here.

Li Shi smiled at the waiter and said, “It’s alright; I’m just asking.”

Two hours later, Li Shi glanced at his handset. A subordinate had sent him a message: “Boss Li, I’ve found out that he’s at Ming Yun Villas.”

When he saw this message, Li Shi was shocked. However, after some consideration, he finally understood. Obviously, the long-faced man and his companion had turned their focus to the other branches now that the flagship store was doing well!

Although Li Shi looked down on the long-faced Ma Yang for being stupid, he did not dare to underestimate him. After all, Ma Yang’s every action harbored Boss Pei’s deeper intentions!

With what happened the last time, Li Shi no longer dared to belittle the younger and less-experienced Boss Pei. He knew that this Boss Pei seemed young and acted illogically, but he had a clear, far vision. What’s more, he always had a back-up plan!

Li Shi had incurred a great loss the last time precisely because he belittled Boss Pei.

He gently rubbed his chin, thinking about everything going on behind the scenes.

“Boss Pei must have had some clue about what I had been doing earlier. He must have been the one who instructed the long-faced man to give me false information. Indeed, the long-faced man may be stupid, but he is extremely loyal to Boss Pei. It was a mistake for me to begin executing my plan from there.

“This is logical. If the long-faced man were not loyal to Boss Pei, how could he earn his favor and be placed in such a high position?

“I must not make the same mistake this time.

“The long-faced man can no longer be found in the flagship store. Instead, he’s staying at the branch in Ming Yun. There’s a high chance that Boss Pei has laid down a new plan for that region!”

Li Shi no longer engaged in wishful thinking like he did before. He did not even dream about buying Fish-Catching Internet Cafe over. He knew very well that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was excelling now. Its reputation and quality were good. It would already be very difficult for Li Shi to invest in it.

Li Shi’s interest in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was dissipating, but his interest in Boss Pei was not.

After what happened the last time, Li Shi’s comments about Boss Pei kept improving. He even felt like the latter was one of the top entrepreneurs in Jingzhou City. With someone so awesome within reach, Li Shi naturally had to keep a close eye on his every move.

What if a business opportunity presented itself?

The same thing was happening this time. Li Shi was looking into Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s Ming Yun Villas branch not because he wanted to invest in it or buy it over… but because he was very curious about Boss Pei’s next move.

He opened the map on his phone and roughly scanned it. Then, Li Shi frowned. He did not understand what was promising about this place.

The so-called ‘Ming Yun Villas’ was a high-end residential area in Jingzhou. It was mainly filled with free-standing villas.

However, there was a problem with the layout of this place.

Ming Yun Villas was located in the south-east region of Jingzhou City along mountains and waters. The views there were not bad.

Then again, there were two big problems with a place like that.

First, the surrounding facilities were not good. The villas were good as holiday homes for a day or two but not as long-term accommodation. It would be extremely inconvenient.

Second, the developer’s strategy was problematic. They filled the entire place with high-end villas. The average price of a villa in this place was considerably higher than other villas in Jingzhou City. Yet, marketing was not done well; and the place was not very popular.

Thus, almost a year after the villas were completed, there were still few people living inside.

The location that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe chose was even more confusing to Li Shi. The internet cafe was not built near Ming Yun Villas. In fact, it was built a distance away from Ming Yun Villas, as well as the East Campus of Handong Jiaotong University. If people wanted to go to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe from either of these places, they would have to travel a good distance.