“You would be carrying two important responsibilities on your shoulders:
“First, you would become the point of communication between Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games. The person in charge over there is Ye Zhizhou. He is overly cautious. Therefore, you have to make the decision for him when he does not dare to do so. Then, you must communicate these decisions to me. What I’m most afraid of is that they would be afraid to spend money!
“Second, you would be the carrier of the Tengda Games’ spirit. I hope that you can bring the Tengda Games’ spirit into Shang Yang Games slowly. Whether you bring them for team-building activities or increase their salaries and welfare, I hope you can slowly help them emulate Tengda Games’ example.
“If you do achieve some results, it would prove that you have the ability to handle a project on your own. Then, you wouldn’t be too far from realizing your dreams.
“That is why this role would be an extremely rigorous challenge for you. Are you going to back away in the face of a challenge?”
Lin Wan immediately shook her head. “Of course not!”
She hesitated for a second and added, “Then… can I still come back to Tengda in the future?”
Pei Qian smiled slightly. “Of course. Tengda will always be your home. We will keep your work desk empty. You can come back any time you want.”
Lin Wan pondered for a while and nodded, saying, “Alright! I accept this task!”
Chapter 195 - A New Plan!
After sending Lin Wan off, Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief.
Heh, little lass, I settled you, didn’t I?
Pei Qian knew Lin Wan’s weakness: she was overly concerned with growing and working on her own abilities through rigorous training. As long as he could make her feel that this task would train her and help her mature, she would agree to it. This would be so even if Pei Qian did not pay her.
All in all, sending Lin Wan to Shang Yang Games would ensure that she would be tormented.
What’s more, Pei Qian had already given her sufficient hints.
Pei Qian was worried that Lin Wan would feel like they lacked money midway through. What would Pei Qian do if she approached her older brother for money? Thus, Pei Qian purposely hinted this would be a huge test of Lin Wan’s skills. He said this would nurture her ability to independently take charge of a project.
This way, in order to prove her own abilities, Lin Wan would not turn to her family for aid. The chances of her succeeding would be greatly lowered.
It was a perfect plan!
Pei Qian closed his little notebook. For now, he had already dealt with most hidden dangers. He was more or less done with planning for both companies.
However, this was just the first step in a long journey. After all, his business was huge now. He had to take care of every aspect.
In order to ensure that he would finish spending all his money before the settlement period and achieve his aim to incur losses, Boss Pei had to continue working hard.
Thus, Pei Qian decided to leave and check out Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s situation.
At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s branch in Ming Yun Villas…
This branch was doing the worst out of all the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes.
Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang were already waiting inside for Pei Qian. When Pei Qian walked in, he looked around.
Yes, this was a familiar feeling.
There were a few people in the store. Many computers were not occupied, and the coffee area looked cold and deserted as well. The bartender was falling asleep while standing, and there were more waiters than there were customers.
This is what a Fish-Catching Internet Cafe is supposed to look like!
Ever since the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store became famous, Pei Qian stopped going there.
Although Chen Lei had already returned to Shanghai, the fame he won for the store still remained. Many people would visit Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store every day. The losses had been completely converted to profits.
One could say that Chen Lei had made Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store famous forever.
Thus, Pei Qian wanted to avoid the heartbreaking place.
He looked for a random seat to sit down. A waiter brought him coffee. The three Fish-Catching giants chatted as they sipped their drinks.
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan exchanged a knowing look. In their hearts, they understood.
Boss Pei had his reasons for choosing this shop.
Before this, they always met at the flagship store. Why were they meeting at the deserted Ming Yun Villas branch this time? He was hinting something to them! Since the flagship store had become famous, there was no need for them to focus on it too much.
Now, the Ming Yun Villas branch was doing the worst out of all the shops. It was incurring the most losses. The next step would be to turn this store’s losses into profits. The fact that Boss Pei had chosen to meet here out of all the stores made this problem clear to them.
They had to understand Boss Pei’s intentions. They needed to make the Ming Yun Villas branch the next successful store as soon as possible!
Ma Yang looked very energetic. He even looked like he had put on some weight.
Now that the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store’s losses had turned into profits, he felt like a completely different person in front of Pei Qian. Even his walk was more confident.
This time, he was even more confident about his own plan.
“Brother Qian, I have good news to report about the flagship store.”
Pei Qian’s left eyelid twitched violently. He tried to maintain a straight expression as he said, “Speak.”
Ma Yang was obviously excited. “Ever since Chen Lei sang at the flagship store, the income earned from the sale of drinks has been increasing. Now, we have completely made up for the losses, and we’re making a profit instead!
“Not only that, but our singers have been getting better as well. When they learned about Chen Lei, many local singers of Jingzhou jumped over to our flagship store. The quality of our singers has improved drastically!”
As Pei Qian listened, his heart began to hurt. He had already guessed that this would happen, but at that moment, he still felt pain inside.
Chen Lei had become famous and had attracted a big group of fans to the flagship store. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store was now a mini tourist attraction. Naturally, outstanding singers would approach them for gigs.
Even if Chen Lei was not around anymore, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store would still maintain a high volume of alcohol sales!
For a long period in the future, the singers in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store would probably be the best in Jingzhou City or even in the entire Handong Province. This was akin to a golden signboard!
The good thing was that there was only one flagship store. The other stores were not enjoying the same benefits for now.
Ma Yang continued, “Brother Qian, that is why I feel that we should make this model popular!
“Actually, we can turn the internet cafe into a bar entirely. That would further increase our income from the sale of alcohol…”
Pei Qian immediately shook his head. “No, Old Ma, you are too short-sighted.”
Ma Yang was speechless.
Zhang Yuan, on the other hand, smiled without saying anything.
See, I told you Boss Pei would not agree!
Zhang Yuan could not help but admire Ma Yang. Until now, Boss Ma could not understand Boss Pei’s intentions. His comprehension skills were truly hard to describe in a few words.
Even so, Boss Pei had not given up on him. Their relationship was indeed very solid!
Could Brother Ma have taken a bullet for Boss Pei before?
It was obvious that Boss Pei wanted a multi-faceted layout; he did not want to run a singular business. Turning the internet cafe into a bar in order to increase the volume of alcohol sales was short-sig
hted indeed. It would be surprising if Boss Pei agreed to something like that!
Zhang Yuan guessed that Boss Pei’s plan would be to make the other Fish-Catching Internet Cafe branches popular by riding on the popularity of the flagship store. This new internet cafe model would then be famous across Jingzhou and spread to surrounding cities as well.
Zhang Yuan could not help but feel overjoyed.
He realized that he had improved significantly ever since he started working for Boss Pei!
Initially, he had difficulty understanding Boss Pei’s intentions. Subsequently, he began to understand partially. Recently, he was finally able to predict what Boss Pei’s next move would be. From time to time, he would even get it partly right.
All of this showed that his vision was expanding. Finally, he was getting close to Boss Pei’s way of thinking!
Pei Qian sipped his coffee and casually asked, “How is Fish-Catching Take-Out doing?”
Ma Yang quickly answered, “Fish-Catching Take-Out’s reputation is good! People who have tasted our food have left us good feedback. They say that the food is healthy, and there are no concerns about hygiene… er, they also left good feedback about our delivery men.
“However… we are still a distance from making a profit.”
‘A distance’ was an understatement; they were a long way from making a profit.
Zhang Yuan secretly looked into this model as well. The outcome of his analysis was that it would be impossible for them to make a profit in the short-term.
This was unless they expanded their business and covered a larger area in the future. This would allow them to reap the economies of scale from hiring manpower for delivering food, collecting utensils, disinfecting utensils, and the like.
Pei Qian nodded his head, obviously satisfied by this update.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Zhang Yuan began analyzing the situation.
It’s strange. Boss Pei did not ask about how the other stores are doing. Instead, he asked about Fish-Catching Take-Out. Could his main focus for the next stage be the take-out? Does he want Fish-Catching Take-Out to ride on the flagship store’s popularity and become more well-known?
As Zhang Yuan gave him a puzzled look, Pei Qian confidently announced the next stage’s plan.
“After this, we will take a step in the logistics industry. We’re going to start a new company, called Headwind Logistics!”
Chapter 196 - Benefit Society While We’re at It
Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang exchanged a look.
The corners of Ma Yang’s lips twitched. “Brother Qian, let’s not talk about anything else first. The name alone has a negative underlying meaning… is it meant to express that we handle logistics slowly?”
Pei Qian shook his head. “Old Ma, you’re being uncultured. Going against the headwind is ideal for flying, understand? Our name means we are getting ready for flight!”
Zhang Yuan blinked hard but said nothing.
He did not understand Boss Pei’s thinking at
all!
Earlier on, Zhang Yuan tried to predict what Boss Pei’s next target would be. Would he improve on the other branches? Would he work on Fish-Catching Take-Out?
In the end, it was neither. Boss Pei was expanding his business even more.
Both of them looked at Pei Qian in disbelief.
Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, “I know. This plan might sound too big. Based on the amount of funds we have, it might even be beyond our reach.
“However, I’m not in a rush to build a large-scale logistics company with a nation-wide scope. I don’t even plan to make deliveries between cities.
“We’ll focus on Jingzhou City alone. We’re going to focus on the problem of the ‘last kilometer’!”
There were already many e-commerce platforms in the world at the time. The only problem was that they had not yet become so popular that everyone was using them as would be the case later on.
Naturally, logistics and express delivery services had already begun serving the entire country. What’s more, they were developing quite well.
However, most express delivery services were still living in the moment. They did not deliver parcels on time, lost them occasionally, and always dumped them at pick-up points where customers could collect them on their own. These were all common occurrences.
In other words, few delivery companies delivered parcels to customers’ doorsteps.
In simple terms, this was the problem of the ‘last kilometer’.
Even ten years down the road, this problem would not be well-resolved. Apart from good-hearted companies like SF Express and JD.COM, most delivery companies continued to dump parcels at collection points as they did before.
Hive Box, Cai Niao Courier, and the like were started in order to solve the problem of the ‘last kilometer’. However, in reality, they were doing very badly.
The root of the problem was capital.
It required a lot of effort to deliver every parcel from a local warehouse to the customer’s doorstep. That was why most delivery companies chose to transfer this expense to their paying customers.
Pei Qian’s thinking was quite simple: The reason why everyone was unwilling to do a dirty job like that was that it did not make a profit, right?
I don’t mind!
In any case, he had to incur losses. Taking on dirty jobs like that could ensure that he would incur losses. On top of that, he would be able to bring convenience to his customers. Why would he turn down an opportunity to help others?
“I have already decided. We will start off by opening a hundred Headwind Courier stations in Jingzhou City. We will cover most districts in Jingzhou City.
“Then, we will talk to various express delivery companies about working together. They can ask their delivery men to drop parcels off at our stations. Our delivery men will then deliver these parcels to customers’ doorsteps.”
To put it plainly, they would be Cai Niao Courier stations that could deliver parcels to doorsteps.
However, the problem was some Cai Niao Courier stations were profitable.
The initial investment required for Cai Niao Courier stations only amounted to about twenty to thirty thousand yuan. All they needed to do was rent a space in the district. Each month, rent would cost about a thousand yuan or two (this was based on Jingzhou’s rental market). They would have to spend an additional ten thousand yuan on shelves, a front desk, a computer, a cabinet, and renovations. Then, they would be able to open for business.
They would have to negotiate a suitable price with the delivery men, but they could earn about twenty to forty cents per delivery. If they accepted two to three hundred deliveries per day, their monthly income could add up to about three thousand yuan.
Ordinarily, Cai Niao Courier stations would be managed by two people. The other ways to earn income included selling products, providing marketing and advertising options, making express deliveries, and the like.
All in all, there were ways for Cai Niao Courier to make profits. That was why so many people participated in starting Cai Niao Courier.
However, this did not pose a problem for Pei Qian since he was starting Headwind Courier stations. This was because they had to take the initiative to deliver parcels to customer’s doorsteps.
On one hand, this would increase the costs of hiring delivery men alone. If they delivered three hundred parcels a day, they needed at least one or two hardworking delivery men. Pei Qian would be paying their salaries.
On the other hand, customers would not need to pick up their parcels from the courier station. With less traffic, the income that the courier stations would earn from the sale of products, marketing, and the like would fall.
In order to maintain a courier station like that, they would need at least three people: one branch manager and two delivery men. Districts with more people in them would probably require three delivery men. If each person had to be paid three thousand yuan per month (that was the sum of their
base salary and their commission), he would be able to spend at least nine thousand yuan per month.
In addition to paying two thousand yuan for rent, he would be spending a total of eleven yuan per month. Assuming they would barely be able to earn three or four thousand from revenue, they would be making a loss of seven to eight thousand yuan.
If Pei Qian started a hundred courier stations, he would have to make an initial investment of about three million yuan. The monthly losses that he would incur could reach up to seven or eight hundred thousand yuan.
What’s more, this would just be the beginning. As Pei Qian expanded his business, he would have more employees. That would mean he would make more losses.
The best part of it all was that he would have some extent of control over the losses he incurred in this business!
For example, if Pei Qian did a rough calculation a month before settlement and found that he still needed to spend about a million yuan worth of System Funds, he could immediately open twenty new Headwind Courier stations. As long as he opened the shop a week before settlement, the money would be considered spent. This would not delay settlement either.
Headwind Courier stations would not be like Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. It would not take much time to open or close these stations. As the saying went, ‘the smaller a boat is, the easier it was to turn around’. This made it much easier for Pei Qian to spend money.
Pei Qian had thought of it all. When the time came, he would open Headwind Courier stations near Tengda, Fei Huang Workspace, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, and his own home first.
Then, no matter what he or his parents bought online, there would be no need for them to collect the parcels on their own. Everything would be sent to their own home.
Since this business was going to benefit society, he might as well start with blessing his own home.
Not only would he be incurring losses, but he would be doing good deeds. This was perfect!
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