Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“My friend at Prosperous Flavor told me that the Tianda branch has promoted more than 500 membership cards over the past few days.”
Ye Feng frowned when he heard what Zhao Zhen had said.
The university students were already on holiday. Although the number of people in Tianda Plaza remained at a terrifying number, the main consumer force was much smaller.
The number 500 didn’t seem like a large number, but it meant that most of the customers in Tianda had been attracted by Prosperous Flavor.
Although these people might not top-up their membership cards, there were not many potential users left for Hedilao.
Most importantly, Prosperous Flavor was a chain store and its membership card could be used through the city. Thus, in terms of practicality, Hedilao was incomparable to them.
Therefore, even if he had used his ultimate move, the results tomorrow would not be good.
It was no wonder Zhao Zhen said that the situation was bad.
However, over the phone, Zhao Zhen had no intention of stopping.
“Furthermore…”
This time, Zhao Zhen’s words were laced with anger. “They have also pushed out vouchers that provide a 100 yuan discount with a minimum spend of 200 yuan. These vouchers will take effect tomorrow.”
Ye Feng was stunned.
“Are they targeting Hedilao?”
Ye Feng asked in a low voice.
“Yeah.”
On the other end of the line, there was only Zhao Zhen’s dull voice.
This was too much!
A wisp of rage quickly flashed through Ye Feng’s eyes.
If they had opened early to gain the upper hand, then this wave of activities was completely targeting Hedilao.
This was no longer a competition, but malicious suppression!
Logically speaking, there was no need for a large chain hotpot restaurant to plot against a newly opened shop.
“Was it just because I poached Zhao Zhen?”
However, Zhao Zhen had clearly been fired by them.
At this moment, Ye Feng finally understood what Zhao Zhen meant by Li Xin being petty.
This was simply too petty.
Even a person made out of clay would be angry at this, let alone Ye Feng.
“I understand.”
Ye Feng’s reply only consisted of a short two words.
Ye Feng didn’t doubt Zhao Zhen’s information at all. After being the Vice President for so many years, it would be strange if he didn’t know many people in the company.
Not to mention, this wasn’t considered confidential information. Thus, even if Zhao Zhen didn’t say anything, Ye Feng would still be able to find out.
As he listened to Ye Feng’s angry voice, Zhao Zhen couldn’t help but say worriedly, “Don’t be rash. We’ll discuss this later. In short, we can’t let our emotions affect our decisions. If we disrupt our own tempo, the gains won’t make up for the losses. The biggest taboo of competition is to fall into the other party’s tempo.”
“Don’t worry. Am I someone who acts on impulse?” Ye Feng said.
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment. After so many days of interaction, Ye Feng had indeed matured beyond his age. Thus, the worry in his heart inevitably lessened.
“Continue talking to the other party. Leave the store to me for now.”
Zhao Zhen was not in Quan City. At that moment, he was in Taizhou negotiating a cooperation agreement with a local factory that produced hotpot ingredients.
After ending the call, Ye Feng rubbed his face.
At this moment, his heart was suddenly filled with fighting spirit.
“I seem to like this feeling of fighting with wits and courage.”
Was this the joy of fighting with others?
It was impossible not to fight back.
Then, Ye Feng picked up his phone and made a call.
“Qi Yun, send the mass message I told you about.”
After hanging up on Qi Yun, he made another call. “Boss Zhou, help me make a poster. The content is…”
Then, Ye Feng made a third call. “Manager Xu, I have something to discuss with you…”
…
That night, all of the registered members of Hedilao received a message—
“…Based on this information, you can head to Hedilao Hotpot Restaurant at Tianda Plaza (address…) for a free meal (up to 200 yuan).”
The membership cards that Ye Feng asked the university students to promote began to show their function.
These people were the first batch of Hedilao customers. Their purpose was to spread the word about of Hedilao through word of mouth.
Ye Feng firmly believed that as long as he had the first batch of customers, with the service and taste of Hedilao, news of Hedilao would definitely spread like wildfire. Then, it would cause an uproar.
All of this required time.
Ye Feng was patient. He was waiting for the day his reputation would grow…
…
The next day, Hedilao opened for business!
On the big screen in Tianda Plaza, the screen was completely filled with messages about the opening of Hedilao’s new shop.
At the same time, a large billboard was erected in the lobby on the first floor!
Ye Feng even spent money to advertise in the bounty groups, the confession walls, and the part-time chat groups of various universities!
However, even though the promotional work was done very well, there were still not many people who were willing to eat hotpot in the morning.
At 10am, the number of occupied seats at Hedilao only exceeded half of their capacity.
There were even fewer people who held membership cards.
Ye Feng sat in the kitchen and watched all of this. He wasn’t anxious at all.
“Brother Qi.”
However, even though Ye Feng was not in a hurry, someone was getting anxious.
Jiang Yi looked at the situation in the shop and said to Head Waiter Qi Yun, “This flow of customers isn’t good at all. If this goes on, the boss will lose money.”
Although Jiang Yi didn’t know how much it cost to rent the big screen at Tianda Plaza for a day, it was definitely not a small sum.
“Then what do you plan to do?”
Qi Yun was also a little anxious.
“I plan to… go out and get people!”
After some hesitation, Jiang Yi spoke.
Jiang Yi had truly experienced what it meant to care for his employees during the time he spent at Hedilao.
The big boss, Ye Feng, was always amiable and approachable. Every few days, he even would treat him to a meal. Meanwhile, the manager, Zhao Zhen, was the same. When he spoke to them, he was never overbearing.
All of this was a stark contrast to the three-star hotel he had worked at before.
Furthermore, his salary was also much higher than before.
Therefore, the employees were the ones who didn’t want to see Hedilao go bankrupt.
“Are you planning to get people here?”
Qi Yun glanced at him.
“Yes!”
Jiang Yi was a little nervous and didn’t know if Qi Yun would agree.
It should be known that the manager of his three-star hotel would never allow himself to solicit customers. In the words of his manager, this was a disgrace!
“Go.”
However, Qi Yun simply smiled and patted his shoulder.
“By the way.” Before Jiang Yi left, Qi Yun reminded him, “Don’t invite those queuing at the entrance of Prosperous Flavor.”
“Why?”
Jiang Yi asked dumbly.
“Are you dumb!”
Qi Yun scolded jokingly, “Can’t you see that these people have been queuing here for two to three days?
“They were all invited there!”
“Huh?”
Jiang Yi’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected this.
…
On the third floor, a couple was chatting happily in the corridor.
The man was talking as he looked around, as if he was looking for a place to eat.
At that moment, they saw a young man in work clothes walking over.
“Hello.”
Jiang Yi had a bashful smile on his face, but he wasn’t intimidated. “How about some hotpot at Hedilao?”