Chapter 134 Miscalculation

Zhang Yuan was still showering him with compliments from every angle, but Pei Qian was drinking his coffee, not listening to a word.

He was baffled. Where exactly had things gone wrong???

Bringing Tang Yishu to the warehouse had a noticeable effect, with computers malfunctioning as expected and slowing down the assembly progress.

But… what was with the fire at the memory factory?

Could the halo effect really extend overseas?

Pei Qian couldn't figure it out.

Strictly speaking, these events weren't exactly good things, but they certainly brought a lot of trouble to President Pei…

It seemed that even a powerful weapon had to be used with caution!

One wrong move, and you might hurt yourself!

Anyway, the damage was already done; the key was how to spend the money next.

Continue hoarding? Probably not a good idea.

Now, ROF assembly's reputation was already quite high. After the New Year's "no price increase" promotion, its reputation and brand recognition would only increase.

Previous examples had proven that many customers now accepted that ROF had a certain brand premium.

In other words, even if they maintained the original pricing, ROF's sales would definitely not plummet, and because there was already a certain profit margin, making money was almost certain.

If he hoarded more, what if the graphics card prices surged again one day? That would be the death of President Pei!

It seemed that crazy hoarding wasn't reliable either!

President Pei had bought a big lesson with money.

Should he spend this money on other industries?

But then he thought about it and rejected the idea.

Pei Qian felt that he should stick to one principle:

Whoever pollutes, cleans up; whoever makes money, spends it.

He reflected that the reason everything had gone wrong before was that he hadn't adhered to this principle.

Many projects were fine on their own, losing money just fine, but when linked to other projects, big problems were likely to occur.

Therefore, the money earned by ROF should be left to Zhang Yuan to spend on his own.

Pei Qian considered for a moment and said, "Don't hand over the money earned by ROF assembly; find a way to spend it yourself."

Zhang Yuan was stunned. "Huh? President Pei, you're not handing over this large sum? Is that okay?"

Pei Qian chuckled. "Of course it's okay. It's your money, you spend it."

Zhang Yuan quickly waved his hand. "No, no, President Pei, this money was earned under your wise guidance."

Pei Qian: "..."

If you can't talk, then don't!

Pei Qian was a magnanimous person and didn't intend to dwell on this issue too much. "Tell me first, where do you plan to spend this money?"

Zhang Yuan fell into deep thought.

The businesses he currently managed were mainly Moyu Internet Cafe and ROF assembly. Of course, Moyu Delivery, as a derivative business of Moyu Internet Cafe, was also indirectly his responsibility.

At the same time, these businesses were closely related to Nifeng Logistics.

The person in charge of Nifeng Logistics was Lu Mingliang, who was deeply valued by Pei Qian.

In fact, Nifeng Logistics had been losing money all along and could only continue to operate with the financial support of other Tengda Group businesses.

This fully proved that President Pei's consistent trust in Lu Mingliang was correct.

Of course, for Pei Qian, this shouldn't be considered financial support, but rather detoxification.

Without Nifeng Logistics, President Pei might have died from poisoning long ago.

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "President Pei, I've been thinking about it. The ROF brand has now completely established itself in Jingzhou, and the online store has also gained a certain reputation."

"The Moyu Internet Cafe business is now recognized by everyone and has become the most popular high-end internet cafe brand in Jingzhou."

"In my opinion, we should continue to expand and bring the Moyu Internet Cafe model to other cities!"

Pei Qian sighed silently in his heart. Sure enough, he couldn't avoid this issue.

President Li had previously raised this question: why not open branches in other cities and earn more money?

The reason was simple. President Pei was afraid of continuing to make money if he opened them in other cities!

But now, he had to consider this issue.

Because he couldn't put it off any longer.

Since Moyu Internet Cafe and ROF assembly were making money, and quite a lot, why not continue to expand?

It didn't make sense.

Therefore, these branches would have to be opened sooner or later; the key question was where to open them and how.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and asked, "In your opinion, where should Moyu Internet Cafe branches be opened?"

Zhang Yuan didn't hesitate. "I think they should be opened in big cities, super first-tier cities like the Imperial Capital, Magic City, or Sheep City!" (Referring to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou respectively)

"There are more young people there, the population is dense, and everyone's consumption level is high, so they will definitely be more accepting of this high-end internet cafe model."

"It will be easier to open up the market there."

"Even Moyu Internet Cafe's supporting businesses, such as Moyu Delivery, will be able to thrive."

Pei Qian was silent.

What you said makes a lot of sense, so I definitely can't do it that way…

He thought for a moment and said, "My opinion is exactly the opposite."

"I plan to set the next target in Lincheng."

Zhang Yuan was stunned. "Lincheng?"

Lincheng City was the poorest city in Handong Province. Daokou County, a well-known poverty-stricken county, was located in Lincheng City.

Opening a Moyu Internet Cafe in such a poor place?

How many customers would there be?

Pei Qian continued, "Moreover, this time, it's not just Moyu Internet Cafe that will be expanded."

"All the supporting facilities attached to Moyu Internet Cafe will be moved there together!"

Looking at Zhang Yuan's confused expression, Pei Qian couldn't help but smile slightly.

He wasn't eager to open Moyu Internet Cafe branches.

He hoped to open more Nifeng Stations.

However, Nifeng Stations were already basically all over Jingzhou. Opening the map would reveal a dense network of locations, almost nowhere left to set foot.

If he wanted to open more, he could only open them in other cities.

However, only opening Nifeng Stations in other cities without opening Moyu Internet Cafes would be too strange and easily arouse suspicion.

If he was going to do it, he had to do it together to cover his tracks.

Moreover, Moyu Internet Cafe had a great advantage compared to Nifeng Stations, which was that the initial investment was relatively large. Whether it was store rent, decoration, or the cost of purchasing computers, it was a huge expense.

Even if it gradually became profitable in the future, it would take a long time to recover the huge initial investment.

At least not in this settlement cycle.

What if he considered the location a little more carefully and didn't replicate the failed experience of Jingzhou, so that these stores would continue to lose money?

That would be even better!

Therefore, Pei Qian chose Lincheng City, the poorest city in Handong Province, after careful consideration.

Being poor meant that the local residents' consumption level was not high. Internet cafes with relatively high consumption, like Moyu Internet Cafe, would naturally not be easy to thrive.

And fancy deliveries like Moyu Delivery would definitely not sell.

And projects like Nifeng Logistics, which were stable and consistently unprofitable, would definitely continue to lose money.

In short, he had to choose a poorer place.

As for why… Pei Qian didn't intend to explain. Anyway, these people would fill in the blanks themselves.

Pei Qian continued, "My plan is to move all of the current physical industries, as well as the supporting industries attached to the physical industries, over there."

"One Moyu Internet Cafe 2.0 opened in the core business district, coupled with three Moyu Internet Cafe 1.0s opened in second-tier business districts, coupled with Moyu Delivery, and then 20 Nifeng Stations in the surrounding area, as well as a large warehouse prepared for ROF assembly and four distribution points opened around Moyu Internet Cafe."

"All of these things will be prepared at the same time and opened all at once!"

Zhang Yuan looked shocked. "President Pei, that's a big investment…"

"Although the rent in Lincheng is much cheaper than in Jingzhou, it's unlikely that you can get this whole set up without an initial investment of around ten million…"

Pei Qian sighed silently.

I don't want this either.

Who told your assembly business to make so much money???

I have to hurry up and spend it so that I don't get caught in a panic and can't spend it all by the time the settlement cycle arrives, right?

Pei Qian said earnestly, "This little money is nothing. If it's not enough, ask me for more."

"Moreover, 20 Nifeng Stations is only temporary. In the future, we will definitely continue to open more, striving to fill Lincheng with Nifeng Stations, just like we filled Jingzhou!"

"You have to make one purpose clear."

"Earn money yourself, find a way to solve it yourself, and work hard to spend it;"

"If you lose money, report to me as soon as possible, and I will cover you."

Zhang Yuan originally thought that President Pei was just saying polite words, but after careful examination, he felt that President Pei's eyes were very sincere.

"President Pei, I… I'm really… so touched!"

Zhang Yuan's gratitude was somewhat beyond words for a moment.

Pei Qian quickly raised his hand, signaling him to stop.

"Okay, no need to say more. I have something to do, so I'll leave first."

Pei Qian was annoyed when he saw the long line at the entrance of the internet cafe.

Zhang Yuan quickly said, "Okay, President Pei, take care! Happy New Year!"

Pei Qian: "..."

Sorry, my New Year is not happy at all!

…

…

January 4th, Tuesday, 11:00 AM.

Pei Qian came to the company as leisurely as usual, while everyone else had already started their day's work.

Perhaps because it was the first day back to work after the holiday, everyone seemed very busy.

Li Yada and her tourist squad had already returned.

Pei Qian saw Li Yada and Bao Xu. For some reason, he didn't see much of the aftertaste and joy of returning from a trip on their faces. Instead… there was a sense of having experienced the vicissitudes of life?

Pei Qian couldn't help but wonder if the US was so uninteresting.

But he didn't ask too much, because Pei Qian was also a relatively homebody and didn't like to go out and run around, nor did he care whether the US was fun or not. Anyway, he didn't plan to go.

Arriving at the office, Pei Qian first checked the unread messages.

There was a message from Zhang Yuan saying that he and Lu Mingliang had already set off for Lincheng today to conduct an inspection. Counting the early site selection, decoration, recruitment, and a series of other links, it would take at least mid-February to complete the whole set.

Pei Qian felt that this time point was well-timed. It would be even better if it was delayed a little more.

It was best to open all of these internet cafes, stations, and the like in the week before the settlement, which would both spend a lot of money and not earn too much money in this cycle.

As for the next cycle…

He would talk about the next cycle. If it really didn't work, he would find a poorer city to open some branches in and repeat this cycle indefinitely.