Meanwhile: "Cold Numbers"
The conference room in the SuperMartX Briggon branch was spotless. Everything was stainless steel, artificial leather, and scentless air freshener—designed for efficiency, not comfort.
Mr. Feng stood at the far end of the room, back to the long window overlooking the main road. From this angle, he could see The Corner Pocket's faded awning across the street, a stubborn building on an otherwise branded skyline.
His assistant, a young woman in a sharp blazer named Liu Min, flipped through her tablet with the composure of someone used to bad news.
"Week-on-week projections still falling short," she said quietly. "Coupons brought traffic, but profit per customer is tanking. Delivery logistics are burning money, two-hour windows are unsustainable."
Mr. Feng didn't flinch. "Headquarters?"
"Gave us thirty days," Liu said. "To clear the district. Their words."
Mr. Feng turned. "Then let's stop playing nice."
He walked to the digital wall display and tapped in a code. A map of Briggon lit up, dotted with data points. The Corner Pocket glowed red in the center, like a virus in a clean system.
"Here's what we do," he said, voice ice-smooth.
Mr Feng then began to lay down the plan
1. Strike the Supply Chain
"Target their backbone. If they can't stock shelves, they can't sell."
Mr. Feng's voice is calm, but there's an edge to it, he knows businesses rarely die from one blow. They bleed out when their supply chains are cut.
A. Vendor Takeover
Liu identifies 12 key vendors that The Corner Pocket relies on, local dairy farms, small produce distributors, and a popular noodle supplier known as Red Bowl Foods.
SuperMartX begins sending out "Golden Deals", contracts offering 10–20% higher margins for exclusive rights.
These contracts are only 6 months long, just long enough to collapse The Corner Pocket, then renegotiate or drop them.
"We don't need loyalty," Feng says, "just delay. After that, they'll be too weak to fight."
B. Squeeze the Stubborn Ones
Some vendors (especially older family-run farms) may resist. For those, Liu proposes a dual-pronged attack:
Step 1: Introduce SuperMartX-branded versions of their products.→ Example: "Happy Moo Milk" to rival local dairy. Flashy packaging, celebrity endorsement, bulk-discounted.
Step 2: Offer buy-one-get-one free deals, loss-leading prices designed to undercut anything The Corner Pocket can afford.
Step 3: Flood social media with ads implying poor quality or unsafe handling at small vendors.
"Let the market shame them for choosing loyalty over logistics," Liu says.
C. Strategic Scarcity
Leverage supply relationships to cause "random" delays in The Corner Pocket's deliveries.
Target essential products like rice, eggs, instant noodles, and detergent, items customers expect to always be there.
When shelves go empty, plant comments online accusing the store of mismanagement.
"Starve the lion long enough," Feng smirks, "and the jungle forgets it once roared."
2. Bureaucratic Bleed
"Every business chokes on paperwork eventually."
Feng leans back in his chair, temple resting on his fingers. This phase doesn't require open conflict just pressure from the shadows.
A. Red Tape Blitz
Liu has already prepped anonymous complaints to multiple agencies by giving them "favors":
Zoning board: Alleged unpermitted electrical rewiring from their recent renovations.
Fire safety: Reports of blocked exits or overloaded outlets.
Health department: Claims of rodents in the dry goods area, tied to "customer complaints."
Labour bureau: Rumors of underage employees or unpaid overtime.
Each inspection costs time and money and each delay chips away at community trust.
B. Infrastructure Disruption
Feng wants subtle chaos.
Coordinate with a "friendly" contact in the local power company to schedule a grid load inspection during peak hours.
The excuse? "Old wiring from the 90s might be interfering with residential usage."
This causes:
Hours-long power outages
Spoiled cold storage goods
Panic and confusion in the store
If The Corner Pocket complains publicly, SuperMartX's PR team will spin it as "whining about public safety efforts."
"Make compliance feel like drowning in invisible ink," Feng says.
C. Quiet Bribes
Minor officials are offered invitations to "corporate dinners", "consulting bonuses," or whispered gifts.
The goal: Make every step slower for The Corner Pocket, while SuperMartX clears approvals overnight.
3. Divide the Community
"Their strength is loyalty. So we poison it."
This tactic is psychological. Feng wants Briggon to turn on The Corner Pocket—not with hate, but with disappointment.
A. Fabricated Grassroots Movement
Liu launches a campaign called "Local Mart for Local People" a false community group that claims The Corner Pocket is no longer truly local.
Stage fake town hall meetings with paid actors.
Create a website and Nestwork account filled with smiling faces and soft accusations:
"We miss when shops cared about us, not old investors."
Circulate rumors that Mr. Duan is being funded by a mysterious real estate group planning to flip the property.
B. Influencer Barrage
Feng allocates 100,000 yuan to pay local micro-influencers and bloggers.
Sponsored posts with lines like:
"Why settle for slow checkout and spoiled veggies?"
"Briggon deserves better than a store stuck in 2005."
Invite popular food reviewers to make side-by-side comparison videos showing:
SuperMartX's automated pricing
Bright lighting
Clean uniforms
Versus shaky footage of The Corner Pocket's flickering ceiling lights
Even if inaccurate, the damage is done: perception becomes reality.
C. Manipulate Locals with Loyalty Perks
SuperMartX rolls out a "Briggon Belonging Card"—exclusive to Briggon residents.
Points system, birthday discounts, and monthly giveaways for those who sign a pledge to shop local (aka, shop at SuperMartX).
They post subtle slogans:
"You support who you shop for. Don't give your money to ghosts."
Final Phase: "The Offer"
Once the community is uneasy, the vendors are compromised, and the inspections have drained morale, Mr. Feng closes the digital map and nods.
"Then, and only then, we walk in—suits pressed, numbers printed—and make them an offer they can't refuse."
The Offer:
A generous buyout, framed as a "lifeline."
Enough money to make Mr. Duan hesitate. Enough to tempt Eli to "start over somewhere else."
Non-negotiable expiration date to pressure them.
Liu glances up. "What if they still say no?"
Feng doesn't blink.
"Then we bleed them until they're too weak to crawl. And we buy the ashes for half price."
Midday The Corner Pocket
Back office of The Corner Pocket, early morning. Rain taps against the back window. Mr. Duan sits at the desk, invoices spread across the surface like a losing poker hand. Eli stands by the filing cabinet, scrolling through a supplier's text thread on his phone.
Mr. Duan grimacing said "Red Bowl just cancelled this week's shipment. No explanation—just a refund and a 'restructuring notice.' What restructuring? We've been with them for eleven years."
Eli mutters "They won't even answer my calls now. Just blue ticks." He said has he lowers his phone."And Happy Moo dropped off samples again. Third time this week. Flashy packaging, QR codes for 'family farm videos,' even a loyalty giveaway."
Mr. Duan shakes his head slowly "Happy Moo didn't exist last month."
A beat passes. The overhead fan creaks.
Eli "They're crowding the shelves, Mr. Duan. Even our regulars are asking if we'll 'match the milk deal' at SuperMartX."
Jin, now working part-time, is wiping down a produce stand when two older customers, Mrs. Yao and Uncle Gen, stand by the fruit, whispering.
Mrs. Yao quietly said"Did you hear? Someone said Duan's daughter is planning to sell the place… They say it's all being run from out-of-district now."
Uncle Gen responded"Heard the same. All that Block Day fuss might've been a last hurrah. It's too bad. But SuperMartX gives my grandson free snacks on Sundays."
Jin overhears, shoulders tensing. He looks toward the register, Eli isn't there. His hands ball into fists around the cloth.
32 minutes to closing time
Eli and Mr Duan who have begun feeling the early pressure of SupermartX plans, were feeling Down like they could do nothing about what had been coming their way from cancelled contracts to bad publicity to rumors and a lot more.
Mr. Duan finally speaks after several minutes of staring out the window."I always thought if we failed, it'd be our fault. Bad business choices. Market changing. Old bones."He taps the desk once, then turns to Eli.)"But this feels… rigged. Like someone's moving the ground under our feet before we know we're falling."
Eli quietly, almost to himself said "Then we find our footing before they finish the quake."