Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Qi Yan sipped her coffee, not looking very happy.

Boss Pei had personally decided on the location of this branch. What did that mean?

Cold-Faced Lady would obviously be crushed by Fish-Catching Take-Out if they were to compete. Boss Pei must know this very well.

Qi Yan felt that the only explanation was that Boss Pei wanted the Cold-Faced Lady to die in the hands of Fish-Catching Take-Out!

That way, the remaining popularity of Cold-Faced Lady would be transferred to Fish-Catching Take-Out!

Sacrificing the Cold-Faced Lady, a negative asset that had been incurring losses, could allow Fish-Catching Take-Out to gain a foothold in Beijing and develop faster. This deal seemed to be very worth it.

If that was the case, Qi Yan would be facing a battle that she would never win. How could she not worry?

Qi Yan felt very disappointed. Boss Pei had clearly gone through so much trouble to kick Meng Chang away, and then hinted to her to open a roadside food competition to allow the Cold-Faced Lady to be reborn. Didn't that mean that Boss Pei valued the Cold-Faced Lady very much?

How were they to interpret the current situation then?

Qi Yan did not want to ask further, but she could not figure it out herself. After much hesitation, she said to Rui Yuchen, "Boss Rui, I'm being honest. Do you think Boss Pei wants to sacrifice the Cold-Faced Lady and focus all his attention on Fish-Catching Take-Out? If that's the case, I have no complaints. I'll cooperate unconditionally."

Rui Yuchen was stunned. He immediately shook his head. "No, no, no. You might have misunderstood."

"Boss Pei might have only decided on the location of the shop and did not explain the reason to me, but I have been around Boss Pei for a long time after all. I can guess what he means."

"Boss Pei would never give up on any of his businesses. Boss Pei would turn the losses into profits even if it seemed impossible to succeed or was incurring huge losses."

"Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Shared phone booth, Deposit Fitness… There are countless examples of this."

"Therefore, since Boss Pei will definitely not give up on Cold-Faced Lady since he had already bought it. You can rest assured about that."

Qi Yan felt more at ease after hearing Rui Yuchen's words.

That was indeed the case on further thought. She had never heard of Tengda Corporation giving up on any industry. Take Fish-Catching Take-Out for example. It had been incurring losses for at least a year after it was established. However, Boss Pei had never given up. He had finally seized the opportunity to classify the garbage in Handong Province. He had accumulated enough money and shot to success.

Cold-Faced Lady's situation was not comparable to these industries that had once suffered huge losses.

However, Qi Yan might have felt more at ease but her doubts did not lessen at all.

"However, why did Boss Pei specifically ask Fish-Catching Take-Out to open a store opposite the Cold-Faced Lady if he does not intend to give up on us? What's more, he specifically instructed that it must be a flagship store?"

Rui Yuchen was silent for a moment. "Boss Pei's plans are for the long term. Even a person-in-charge of our department, like me, would find it difficult to fully understand it. However, I can roughly guess some of it."

"I think Boss Pei chose this location with at least three considerations!"

"First of all, for guidance."

"Cold-Faced Lady had not achieved true profit since its establishment. Even the taste of the Cold-Faced Lady's dishes has not truly conquered the customers."

"In other words, the Cold-Faced Lady is still far from turning losses into profits and success. How long would you need to explore if you are allowed to explore freely? It's too slow."

"On the other hand, Fish-Catching Take-Out is a food and beverage brand of the same genre. It has accumulated a lot of experience in this area. It can provide much guidance to the Cold-Faced Lady in terms of training, internal management, research and development of new food products, and marketing."

"Fish-Catching Take-Out has also been incurring losses. Cold-Faced Lady doesn't need to go through the detours that we have taken."

"The two stores are so close to each other. You can often organize people to visit, interact, and learn at Fish-Catching Take-Out. You can definitely get on the right track faster."

"Second, competitiveness."

"Boss Pei is always of the opinion that good products should not be afraid of competition in the market. He would always choose the most difficult area and compete with mature players because he knew that flowers in a greenhouse would never thrive."

"The location that the Cold-Faced Lady chose was a better location. There are no fast food restaurants nearby, and the competition environment is very weak. In such an environment, the Cold-Faced Lady has a group of fixed customers. There will naturally be a lack of motivation."

"Let Fish-Catching Take-Out put some pressure on the Cold-Faced Lady. It's good for both parties."

"Lastly, an oligopoly effect."

"Let's say that Cold-Faced Lady has withstood pressure and launched many new dishes with good taste, attracting more customers. Then, Fish-Catching Take-Out and Cold-Faced Lady would not only be competitors, but also create an oligopoly!"

"For customers, once they get sick of Fish-Catching Take-Out, they can come to Cold-Faced Lady to change their taste. The same goes for the other customers."

"The food and beverage industry is filled with competition. Even if Fish-Catching Take-Out doesn't come, other restaurants will open. Wouldn't it be even more awkward if Cold-Faced Lady loses in the competition?"

"On the other hand, Cold-Faced Lady and Fish-Catching Take-Out can work together to get rid of the other fast food and take-out shops nearby. That way, no matter how we compete, money will flow into Tengda Corporation. It's the same for us!"

Qi Yan's brows gradually relaxed after listening to Rui Yuchen's analysis.

"I see…"

"It looks like my level is too low. In other words, not only did Boss Pei not think about sacrificing the Cold-Faced Lady, but he even put in so much effort to encourage us to improve?"

Rui Yuchen nodded. "Based on my understanding of Boss Pei, that's his intention."

"It's just as well. The strategic focus of Fish-Catching Take-Out is going to be shifted from Jingzhou to these super first-tier cities. I'll stay in Beijing until all the shops are operating normally before returning to Beijing. You can look for me anytime if Cold-Faced Lady faces any problems."

Qi Yan was elated. "That's great!"

"Actually, Cold-Faced Lady has been wanting to learn from Fish-Catching Take-Out and start our own Gourmet Laboratory. I have many questions to ask."

"However, this will definitely affect the normal work of Fish-Catching Take-Out. I'm a little embarrassed."

Rui Yuchen smiled. "That's not necessary."

"Almost every department in Tengda had incurred losses before. Other departments would always lend a helping hand in time without any selfish motives. This is Tengda's traditional culture. Fish-Catching Take-Out had also received the care of many other departments."

"Everyone is working for Boss Pei after all. Tengda's internal departments have no competition or pressure from the KPI. Helping each other and making the cake bigger is definitely more in line with the long-term interests of each department."

"Cold-Faced Lady might have just joined Tengda Corporation, but you have to adapt to this environment as soon as possible."

Qi Yan quickly nodded. "Yes! I understand!"

Rui Yuchen sipped his coffee and asked casually, "So, Cold-Faced Lady's recent work is just to prepare a Gourmet Laboratory? Is there anything else I can help with?"

Qi Yan thought for a moment. "Er… Actually, we've been planning a promotional video recently. We want to record the vendors' daily lives and show the netizens their hardships. They're still filming…"

Both of them drank their coffee and discussed the future development plans of Cold-Faced Lady and Fish-Catching Take-Out. Both of them were deeply inspired.

…

At the same time, in Jingzhou…

"Achoo!'

Pei Qian sneezed in his office. He felt a little strange because the room was quite warm.

Before the Lunar New Year, Pei Qian had advertised his physical industry to super first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai. That was because Tengda had fewer physical industries in these cities. In addition, Meng Chang's publicity plan was relatively simple. The publicity effect should be relatively poor.

He did not expect that things would turn out contrary to his wishes!

The minimalistic poster that Meng Chang designed became popular because of the huge number of advertisements. It had the best publicity effect. On the other hand, Rui Yuchen, Xiao Peng, and the others saw that the publicity effect was so good and thought that it was a hint that the next batch of branches should be opened in these super first-tier cities!

Pei Qian was speechless as well. However, he had already made up his mind not to interfere with the location of Fish-Catching Take-Out and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Thus, he let them be.

However, Pei Qian still specifically instructed Rui Yuchen to open a Fish-Catching Take-Out flagship store opposite the Cold-Faced Lady's store in Beijing.

That way, Fish-Catching Take-Out would absorb all the customers from Cold-Faced Lady. Cold-Faced Lady would be in a worse state and might not even be able to make a comeback.

That way, Pei Qian could get Cold-Faced Lady to burn money continuously!

Pei Qian was thinking happily when he heard a knock on his office door.

He looked up and saw Meng Chang.

"Boss Pei, the promotional video for Bunny Tail Live-Stream is done. The first version has been edited. Please take a look."

Meng Chang felt very uneasy.

He knew very well that Boss Pei should have expected that he would resort to all sorts of rubbish promotional plans to obtain a higher commission after being offered such a strange way to increase his commission.

However, Boss Pei was nonchalant and seemed to not care about the direction of Tengda Corporation's publicity funds. That made Meng Chang feel uneasy.

Meng Chang was in a state of contradiction where he was afraid that he would incur losses if he did too well in advertising.

This time was no exception. While the lads under Meng Chang ran faster than the other after work, their efficiency was indeed ridiculously high. They took only a week to finish the promotional video.

Meng Chang was unsure, so he showed it to Boss Pei immediately.

Pei Qian was not interested in this. "Go and give it to Old Ma. I won't watch it."

However, on further thought, he said, "Forget it. I'll take a look since I'm already here."

Meng Chang immediately went forward and handed his tablet computer over.

Pei Qian clicked on the video.

…

The promotional video was not very long, only about three minutes. What's more, they were scenes that were commonly seen in life. There were very few characters in the video, so it was completed in less than a week.

The promotional video started with a university dormitory.

There were two students in the picture. One had messy hair and looked listless. The other was wearing glasses and looked much better.

Their appearance highlighted their identities: a flunkie and a top student.

In the first scene, the flunkie wore earphones and ate fruits while watching game live-streams at night. He would laugh from time to time. On the other hand, the top student would wear earplugs and study hard under the light of the desk lamp.

In the second scene, the lights were turned off at night. The flunkie laid in his bed and continued watching the live-stream on his cell phone. He even sent a few gifts to the live streamer lady in the late night slot. The top student immediately went to bed and set the alarm clock for tomorrow morning.

In the third scene, the flunkie slept until almost noon before waking up. He continued watching the live-stream on his computer after ordering take-out. However, he only found one that he was relatively satisfied with after flipping through more than ten live-streams since there were not many live-streamers in the afternoon. He ate take-out while watching. At that moment, the top student was in the library, reading, revising, and preparing for his exams.

In the fourth scene, both of them graduated and started their respective jobs. The flunkie became an ordinary employee of the company. He worked at his desk while skiving and watching live-streams secretly. The top student worked hard in the company and made use of every minute of his time.

In the fifth scene, the flunkie was fired by the company because of his poor performance. He stood at the entrance of the company, lost and in pain. However, he habitually opened a live-stream on the bus on the way back. The scene changed. On the other hand, the top student had just been specially hired to work in the same company as a management. He was warmly welcomed by the upper echelons of the company in the conference room…

Finally, the screen showed the logo of the bunny tail live-stream and a line of slogans. "Everyone has the same amount of time. The difference is how you control it."

…

This promotional video had some minor changes to Meng Chang's initial plan, but it did not affect much.

At first, Meng Chang had wanted to arrange for four roles in the promotional video: two students and two office workers. However, after some thought, he decided that there was no need for that. Thus, he chose only two people and allowed the entire promotional video to run through their students and working lives.

This way, the continuity of the entire promotional video would be better, but the irony would also be greater.

Meng Chang was very perturbed.

Wasn't this promotional video too explicit?

Would Boss Pei become angry?

However, Meng Chang only saw Boss Pei nod slightly. "Okay, this publicity plan is much better than the poster we made previously! It looks like you've gradually found the feeling. Keep it up!"