Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 367: Mr. Li's Proposal for Collaboration
After being thrown off by Zhang Yuan like that, Pei Qian was in no mood at all.
He'd originally just come here to play some games, but ended up catching an employee secretly stirring up trouble again!
So annoying!
Pei Qian logged off the computer, went to sit in the café area, ordered a coffee, and sipped it while contemplating life.
Life is hard!
After carefully tallying things up, Pei Qian realized that the only projects still genuinely trying to lose money were Against the Wind Logistics and Moyu Delivery.
Getting backstabbed out of nowhere like this was way too hard to deal with.
Pei Qian figured that before the settlement period, he still couldn't let his guard down. He needed to plan ahead some more.
It was about time to think about the future development of Against the Wind Logistics and Moyu Delivery.
Especially Moyu Delivery. Right now, it was only dependent on Moyu Internet Café, so it could only deliver food to the surrounding areas of the café.
But Moyu Internet Café had already started making money. Whether it was the cut from beverage sales or the internet café's computer usage business, everything was steadily profitable now. The café had long since turned its losses into profits.
Pei Qian thought to himself: maybe he should find an opportunity to spin Moyu Delivery off into a separate business?
Try running it as a chain fast-food model, one where customers could dine in-store or order delivery.
That way, he could ditch the money-making Moyu Internet Café, expand Moyu Delivery to cover the entire Jingzhou area, and keep losing even more money…
But then again, he needed to think it through. Would this cause any hidden risks?
What if something went wrong and the originally money-losing Moyu Delivery ended up making money too? That would really be a terrible trade-off.
Yeah, better think long-term.
Pei Qian sipped his coffee while pondering.
…
"President Pei seems pretty relaxed lately."
"Looks like the haunted house project is progressing well?"
Pei Qian looked up. Li Shi was holding a cup of coffee and sat down across from him.
Pei Qian was silent for a moment. "Thanks to you, Mr. Li. It's going okay."
Relaxed? On the surface, it did look that way.
Progress on the haunted house? No news was the best news.
"So, Mr. Li, are you planning to invest in my haunted house?" Pei Qian asked.
Li Shi gave an awkward laugh. "Uh… We could consider it."
What he said was "we could consider it," but what he really thought was: please, no way.
Li Shi looked at Pei Qian and found that President Pei's expression was as calm as ever.
Not just calm, there was even a faint hint of boredom.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. President Pei was always so serene and inscrutable.
Li Shi had come today with a purpose.
He originally planned to exchange a few pleasantries, but then thought better of it, after all, President Pei doesn't seem to be the type who liked small talk.
In that case, it's better to get straight to the point!
After a brief pause, Li Shi said, "President Pei, I have a project I'd like to collaborate with you on. I wonder if you'd be interested."
Pei Qian gave a polite smile.
A project to collaborate on with me?
Any project that catches Mr. Li's eye is definitely not a bad one!
After all, Mr. Li has been in the investment world for so long. He may not win every single time, but his judgment is better than most investors, and the odds of making money are high.
And besides, once bitten, twice shy.
From their past collaborations, Pei Qian had grown extremely distrustful of this kind of partnership model.
Pei Qian sighed. "Mr. Li, the day you find a project that's guaranteed to lose money, I'll definitely invest with you."
Li Shi burst out laughing. "President Pei always manages to say such witty and humorous things with a completely straight face."
Pei Qian: "…"
Li Shi continued, "I heard that your investment company, right after it was established, poured a huge sum of money into a newly emerging overseas game company."
"It has excellent prospects!"
"May I ask, President Pei, is that a project guaranteed to lose money?"
Pei Qian: "…"
That question makes so much sense that I can't refute it for a moment.
"If I told you that this project was invested in without my knowledge at all, would you believe me?" Pei Qian looked at Li Shi with utmost sincerity.
Li Shi laughed again. "President Pei, you're great in every way, but your biggest problem is that you love to lie!"
"Sigh, I understand. In business, deception is part of the game."
Pei Qian: "…"
Li Shi clearly didn't want to dwell on it. "President Pei, let's talk business."
"This time, there really is a project we sincerely want to collaborate with you on."
"Two other friends and I would like to partner with you to open a chain of Nameless Restaurant."
Pei Qian: "?"
A chain of Nameless Restaurant?
One Nameless Restaurant has already made me bleed money in frustration, and now you want another?
Are you a spy sent by a rival company?
Hmm? Wait, that's not right—Mr. Li already is from a rival company…
Pei Qian took a sip of coffee. "Not interested."
Li Shi: "…President Pei's refusals are always so decisive."
He hadn't even explained anything yet, and President Pei had already rejected it.
Wouldn't opening another chain and happily making money together be a good thing?
And even if he wasn't interested in partnering and wanted to keep it all to himself, there was no need to reject it outright without even hearing the proposal, right?
Still, after dealing with President Pei so many times, Li Shi knew his temperament.
He steadied himself. "President Pei, we don't have any ulterior motives."
"Nameless Restaurant is your own business. You can eat there anytime you want. But for us, if we want to eat there now, we're already booked until the month after next…"
"We just want to be able to enjoy a proper meal."
"Is that wish really so unreasonable?"
Pei Qian: "…"
I can eat there anytime I want?
Mr. Li, it seems you have a slight misunderstanding about how Mingyun Private Kitchen operates…
I can only eat there five times a month myself!
But on second thought, that's true in a way.
If even the President himself has such a hard time getting a table, let alone everyone else.
Right now, reservations at Mingyun Private Kitchen are already booked two months in advance. For ordinary diners, it's practically an unbearable burden.
Pei Qian sighed softly. "Mr. Li, you've misunderstood me."
"I've never had any intention of keeping it all to myself."
"Fine, go ahead and tell me your proposal."
Li Shi nodded. "This idea comes from the resentment of not being able to eat good food. And in Jingzhou, I'm not the only one who feels this way."
"Others with this strong resentment include Xue Zhebin and Wang Peng."
"President Pei should know these two, right? One is Xue Yuanqing's only son, he's a professional rich second-generation. The other is a co-founder of AllReviews."
Pei Qian: "…"
Know them? I know them all too well!
The ones who made Mingyun Private Kitchen go viral were precisely these two!
Pei Qian still clearly remembered what happened that day.
Xue Zhebin, that rich second-generation, was attracted over by Zhang Zuting's Weibo post, and then he brought Wang Peng along with him.
Wang Peng personally wrote a review of Mingyun Private Kitchen on the AllReviews website, and then… well, that was that.
As for what happened later—how Mingyun Villa used Mingyun Private Kitchen as a promotional gimmick, how Mr. Li seized the opportunity to hype up the surrounding property prices, and how the Moyu Internet Café Mingyun Villa branch also became popular as a result…
Those were stories for another time.
In short, whenever these two were mentioned, Pei Qian's teeth itched with resentment.
And now they even wanted to drag him into making money together?
Not a chance!
Li Shi didn't notice the subtle change in President Pei's expression and continued, "President Pei, the three of us are all loyal customers of Mingyun Private Kitchen!"
"But there's no helping it, the wait is just too painful!"
"It was fine when there weren't many people at first, but later more and more people started coming."
"Booking a week in advance was acceptable. Booking a month in advance? That's a completely different story!"
"We used to arrange restaurant reservations around our schedules. Now we have to arrange our schedules around the restaurant!"
"If we want to host a large business banquet at Mingyun Private Kitchen now, we have to plan way ahead—book first, then when the reservation date is close, invite our business partners to come to Jingzhou."
"It's so inconvenient!!!"
Pei Qian silently sighed.
You three can only blame yourselves…
Sure enough, happiness is all relative.
Pei Qian already felt it was inconvenient enough that he could only book the entire place on the 20th of each month and reserve the largest private room once a week.
And yet, Mr. Li and the other two had it even worse.
Hearing this, Pei Qian couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for them.
Li Shi continued, "So the three of us hit it off immediately and want to cooperate with President Pei to open another branch of Mingyun Private Kitchen!"
"We've already discussed it. The three of us will provide the capital, manpower, and handle the operations. President Pei only needs to provide the 'Nameless Restaurant' brand. Then we'll give you monthly dividends!"
"Or, if President Pei is worried about the profit prospects, we can also adopt a franchise fee plus dividend model. We'll first pay a franchise fee, just for the 'Nameless Restaurant' golden signboard."
"As for the location, we've already selected one. We plan to open it in a large shopping mall nearby, which will definitely guarantee foot traffic."
"In short, the prospects are excellent!"
Pei Qian fell silent.
This project sounded a little too reliable!
So reliable that he didn't dare get involved at all…
After thinking for a moment, Pei Qian spoke in an extremely sincere tone. "Mr. Li, I truly can't participate in this project. And the Nameless Restaurant brand isn't anything special. As long as your dishes are excellent and your service is in place, you can absolutely build a brand-new high-end dining brand."
"However, Mr. Li, rest assured, I will support you in spirit!"
"If you encounter any problems while opening the restaurant, you can ask me anytime. I'll definitely share everything I know!"
Li Shi sighed softly. "Alright, President Pei, I understand."
"If I were you, I wouldn't easily hand over this golden signboard either."
"After all, the brand value of Nameless Restaurant is something President Pei painstakingly built…"
Pei Qian: "…"
A misunderstanding. A complete and utter misunderstanding!
But there was no way for Pei Qian to explain it. He could only maintain his polite smile.
Li Shi said with a hint of regret, "Alright then, we'll have to rely on ourselves. When the restaurant opens, I hope President Pei will come and show his support by giving it a try!"
Pei Qian nodded vigorously. "Of course! I'll definitely go!"
"Not only will I go myself, I'll bring all my employees with me!"
"And not just once in a while. We'll go every few days!"
Li Shi smiled. "The only person who can make polite pleasantries sound this sincere is you, President Pei."
Pei Qian was speechless.
What do you mean polite pleasantries? I'm being completely sincere!
If you can really get this restaurant up and running and divert some of Mingyun Private Kitchen's customer traffic—so I can eat there anytime without lining up—I wouldn't even know how to thank you!
Li Shi said goodbye to Pei Qian and turned to leave.
Pei Qian silently offered him his most heartfelt blessing.
"Go for it, Mr. Li, do your best to take down Mingyun Private Kitchen as soon as possible!"
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