Chapter 177: Almost Laughed Out Loud
Li Shi quietly finished smoking a cigarette at the entrance of Moyu Internet Café.
After hearing the report from his subordinate, he began to seriously question his own judgment.
Fu Hui Capital might not be the top investment firm in the country, but in Jingzhou, there weren't many companies that didn't know its name, right?
And yet, even after revealing their identity, this President Pei still rejected them without hesitation?
That felt... a little unreasonable.
After all, in this industry, such investment offers were very common.
When an investment firm reached out, most people would at least sit down to talk first, hear what the other side had to offer, and then decide.
Worst case, if they couldn't agree on terms, they'd part ways—no harm done.
But to reject an offer outright without even asking for details? That was rare.
Of course, as an experienced investor, Li Shi wasn't shaken by this small setback. He patted the smell of smoke off his clothes and returned to the café.
He noticed that Pei Qian had stopped scribbling in his notebook, though he was still frowning at it, clearly deep in thought.
If it weren't for how much he trusted his subordinates, Li Shi would've doubted whether President Pei had even received the proposal.
'Strange… he's completely indifferent to my investment offer.'
'Could I have misjudged him?'
'Even though his café is losing money, he seems stubborn—convinced he can turn things around?'
'I could offer him funding and connections, but maybe this President Pei values absolute control more than anything else?'
'Hmm… he really does seem like someone with a strong desire for control, unwilling to let anyone interfere.'
'Tch, young people—always trying to keep everything for themselves. That's not the mindset of a good entrepreneur.'
From every angle, Li Shi found it hard to understand why President Pei would so decisively reject his investment.
The key point was: he hadn't even asked to see the proposal.
To Li Shi, there was only one explanation—President Pei was a stubborn rookie, the type of person with an obsessive need to control everything about his business, unwilling to let anyone else have a say.
Of course, that also meant that Pei Qian still believed the café had potential, that it would eventually become profitable—so he wasn't willing to share the spoils.
Li Shi could go talk to Pei Qian directly, but he wasn't planning to.
'I run an investment firm. How could I do something so low-level?'
'What if I handed him my business card and he just smiled politely and brushed me off? That'd be embarrassing.'
'And judging by how things went, there's a high chance I'd be turned down again.'
'Hmph. No one rejects my investments. You won't be the exception.'
'Some companies beg for investment. Some welcome it gladly. And some… well, they just need a little push.'
Li Shi watched Pei Qian silently, the corners of his mouth curling into a confident smile.
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June 24th
Moyu Internet Café—Flagship Store
A taxi pulled up to the front. Ma Yang stepped out and walked into the café.
"Boss Ma, done with your exam? How'd it go?" asked Zhang Yuan with a grin.
Ma Yang found a random seat and stretched out, his long face stretching even further as he yawned.
"Just some unimportant course. I'll pass for sure."
"I even let Brother Qian copy my homework. That should've helped him earn at least 10 extra participation points. I figure for at least the next month or two, he won't be looking too closely into the café and delivery service losses."
Zhang Yuan looked at him with admiration.
So this is what they mean by "It's good to have someone on the inside"!
Zhang Yuan had previously wondered how someone like Ma Yang ended up being appointed General Manager of a major operation like Moyu Internet Café. But now, it all made sense.
In fact, it felt completely justified.
Sure, you could say Ma Yang got the position through some less-than-professional connections, but from Zhang Yuan's perspective, working under someone like him was actually pretty great—
At least you didn't have to worry about being held accountable by President Pei!
A server brought over a cold drink. Ma Yang took a sip and sighed,
"That said, we still have to keep working hard."
"We were hoping the delivery side could help stop the bleeding, but now even that's running at a loss..."
Zhang Yuan nodded worriedly.
"Yeah. A couple days ago, President Pei was here with his little notebook, scribbling furiously with a super serious expression. No idea what he was calculating."
Ever since they'd gotten rid of Chen Lei, Ma Yang had been a bit listless.
To keep him busy, President Pei had handed over responsibility for Moyu Delivery.
At first, Ma Yang had been full of enthusiasm—hiring delivery staff, buying dishwashers, even getting the first version of the app developed. But in the end, they realized—
Almost no one was actually placing orders.
They were paying a whole team to sit around, doing nothing—just more operating costs.
Of course, it wasn't like no one used Moyu Delivery. There were a few loyal customers who enjoyed the food, but it just wasn't enough to break even.
There were multiple reasons for this:
First, President Pei was completely against using flyers or street-level promotions, so very few people even knew the delivery service existed.
Second, the app only offered their own meals—no third-party merchants—so there wasn't much to attract general consumers.
Third, all the food was homestyle cooking, with a very limited menu, yet the prices were higher than most comparable dishes.
In short, because of low visibility and weak consumer appeal, Moyu Delivery wasn't running anywhere near capacity. Most employees were left idle.
Originally, the plan had been for delivery staff to drop off multiple orders per trip, and for collection staff to pick up several sets of dishes at once. But because they had so few customers, each trip was just for one order.
The dishware was nice, but naturally, some got damaged or lost. Per President Pei's policy, even when that happened, they wouldn't ask the customer to pay—unless they could clearly prove intentional repeated damage.
Though they hadn't encountered any malicious customers yet, the occasional broken dish still made Ma Yang wince.
At this rate, turning a profit was out of the question.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment.
Ma Yang sipped his drink, then suddenly frowned as he looked around the café.
"That's weird... why does it feel like there are way fewer people here today?"
Zhang Yuan blinked.
"Oh? Really?"
He hadn't really noticed—after all, the café was usually pretty quiet during the day. There were always just a dozen or so people gaming, and about the same number of folks drinking coffee.
And today was a weekday morning—having fewer customers was completely normal.
But now that Ma Yang has pointed it out... it did seem especially empty.
Only two people were in the gaming section, and just one customer was in the coffee area.
"Maybe just a coincidence," Zhang Yuan offered.
As the two of them puzzled over it, the café door swung open.
A Moyu Delivery courier rushed in, holding several flyers in his hand and looking clearly panicked.
"Boss Ma! Boss Zhang! Something happened!"
"Look at these flyers!"
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan exchanged confused looks and took the flyers from the courier.
Although Moyu Delivery was struggling at the moment, it still had some customers. Clearly, this delivery guy had been out making deliveries when he spotted something on the way back.
There were several flyers—some from internet cafés, some from coffee shops and bars. A few were duplicates, likely grabbed in a rush.
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan spread the flyers out on the table and examined them one by one.
Internet café: Top-up discounts! Time-limited deals!
Coffee shops and bars: Discounted drinks, second cup half-price, and other promos!
Ma Yang looked confused.
"What does this have to do with us?"
The delivery guy, still a little out of breath, replied:
"Boss Ma, these places... they're all around us! They're all in our neighborhood!"
Zhang Yuan's brow furrowed, and his face turned serious.
He took a closer look—sure enough, these establishments were all located near the flagship Moyu Internet Café, just a short walk away.
Ma Yang's long face stiffened as he realized the seriousness of the situation.
"This... could it be that they're targeting us?"
He thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"That doesn't make sense. We haven't really offended anyone or started any price wars. Would these shops really go out of their way to target us?"
It puzzled him. If the Moyu Internet Café had been booming and stealing customers, then a competitive reaction would make sense.
But the place was so quiet these days—what's the point of all this?
Zhang Yuan's expression grew darker.
"Don't be so sure."
"Even if we're losing money, as long as our café is still open, we're still competition. Maybe they just want to kick us while we're down and won't rest until we shut our doors."
"And besides, all these internet cafés, bars, and coffee shops running promotions at the same time? It feels... coordinated. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was pulling strings behind the scenes."
Ma Yang grew tense.
"Then... what should we do?"
Zhang Yuan frowned, thinking hard.
"There's no easy solution. They've clearly come prepared."
"They're starting a price war across the board—internet cafés, bars, coffee shops—all slashing prices and flooding the area with flyers."
"If I had to guess, they've already stationed people at all the main intersections around our location."
"That means anyone heading our way is going to see their flyers and promo ads first."
"This area didn't have much foot traffic to begin with. If they suck away what little there is, our café will be even more deserted."
Ma Yang, half in shock and half annoyed, exclaimed:
"So that's why there are so few people here today!"
Zhang Yuan nodded grimly.
"And that's not all!"
"They're attacking our biggest weakness."
"From the beginning, President Pei positioned this café as a high-end business. So our prices are higher than average."
"Now they're trying to drag us into a price war. That's very hard to counter."
"If we don't lower prices, then we'll be at a serious disadvantage."
"Think of it this way: our prices were already 40% higher than the average. But we justified that with a better environment and premium service—many customers were willing to pay a bit more for that."
"But now that they've started slashing prices, we're suddenly over 60% more expensive—or even higher. Will customers still think it's worth it to pay so much more just for ambiance?"
Ma Yang frowned.
"Then... should we cut prices too?"
Zhang Yuan immediately shook his head.
"No way! We're positioned as a premium brand. If we slash prices, we'll damage our reputation."
"And besides, they're burning money. We're already bleeding losses—how can we possibly out-burn them?"
"Also, did you forget what President Pei said the last time we suggested lowering prices?"
Ma Yang was speechless.
Back when the Moyu Internet Café first started losing money, Zhang Yuan had already suggested a price reduction strategy—but Pei Qian shot it down immediately.
Suggesting it again now would probably lead to the same result.
But keeping prices high wouldn't work either. The flagship store was now completely surrounded. Those other shops only needed to keep bombarding the nearby intersections with flyers, and they'd siphon off most of the customer traffic.
Even if a few rich, loyal customers stayed faithful to Moyu Internet Café, they wouldn't make up for the majority. Most customers would still be looking for the best value for their money.
Zhang Yuan's expression was grim.
"We need to report this to President Pei. This is beyond what we can decide on."
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Inside Pei Qian's rental apartment, he was sleeping soundly.
The phone rang.
Pei Qian was jolted awake from his dreams, extremely annoyed.
But when he saw it was Ma Yang calling, he forgave him—mainly because Ma Yang had recently lent him his homework to "reference."
"What's up, Old Ma?"
On the other end, Ma Yang quickly explained the major crisis currently facing the Moyu Internet Café.
"Brother Qian, that's basically what's going on."
"Zhang Yuan and I think this can't be a coincidence. Someone must be pulling strings behind the scenes!"
"What should we do now?"
Ma Yang sounded very anxious.
Pei Qian was instantly wide awake.
Wait—this kind of thing is actually happening???
He almost burst out laughing. He'd been under a ton of pressure this cycle, desperately trying to find ways to lose money. Just a few minutes ago, he was racking his brain over how to manufacture more losses.
And now? He hadn't even gotten out of bed, and someone had already brought him the solution on a silver platter!
Currently, the flagship Moyu Internet Café was losing about 300,000 yuan a month—but that was with some income from drinks and internet usage.
Even though Chen Lei had left, his influence lingered. Quite a few regulars still liked hanging out at the café, so the losses were less severe than at the beginning.
But now, with nearby shops launching price wars and stealing traffic, the café's revenue would drop again—just in time for settlement!
If those shops could keep this up, then in the next cycle, the café's revenue would plummet even further, which would be...
Perfect. Absolutely perfect!
There was only one week left before settlement. Losing this week's revenue—perhaps 70,000 to 80,000 yuan—could be the tipping point.
Don't underestimate that kind of number. Losing that amount of income might be the difference between showing a profit or a loss. And that's everything.
Pei Qian worked hard to suppress his joy and stop himself from laughing out loud.
On the other end, Ma Yang was growing even more panicked at Pei Qian's silence.
"Brother Qian, what do we do??"
Pei Qian rubbed the corners of his mouth to hide his involuntary smile. In the calmest voice he could manage, he said:
"Don't panic. In situations like this, sometimes it's best to remain still rather than act rashly."
"You two just sit tight. I've got this."
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