Although Pei Qian had been prepared for this before, seeing it before his eyes was still a huge blow.
Only a few short months had passed, but the change was huge! This was probably the shock that an infrastructure freak would cause.
Of course, Pei Qian was only thinking this way because Boss Li and the others had completely disrupted his original plan with their antics.
Pei Qian’s original plan had been to build a loss-incurring haunted house that no one would care about in the corner of a barren and run-down old industrial zone.
Yet, Boss Li and the other investors had built facilities around the haunted house and even repaired the surrounding ground. At once, the entire place looked different.
Pei Qian felt extremely uncertain.
It looked so reliable now. Would it still incur losses?
He had worked so hard over two cycles for nothing…
Pei Qian sighed and walked in.
Chapter 565 - Thriller Hostel is Complete
Boss Li and the other investors-along with Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong-were chatting and laughing just inside the gate, waiting for Boss Pei to arrive.
“Boss Pei!”
Li Shi was the first to step forward and receive him. Everyone was smiling brightly, and two words were clearly written on their face: ‘it’s stable’!
Before Boss Pei took action, everyone felt fearful and uncertain because the publicity had not seemed good enough.
Yet, once Boss Pei took action, all their problems were solved!
The shared phone booths and ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ had marketed Thriller Hostel to the rest of the country at once. Coupled with the other investors’ marketing campaign around Jingzhou and Handong Province, traffic flow in Thriller Hostel for the initial period was almost guaranteed!
Thus, everyone instantly relaxed. It was time for them to sit back and wait for the results of Thriller Hostel’s first day of operations.
Since Boss Pei had effortlessly done what all the investors failed to do despite trying so hard, he became the moon among the stars for them.
However, to Pei Qian, the investors’ smiles looked malicious. It made him feel like he was being forced to put a square peg into a round hole or like he was an emperor being forced to abdicate the palace.
Their passionate gazes made his hair stand.
Yet, there was nothing he could do. He had to look around. It would be best if he could do something to remedy the situation, but if he could not, he had to be mentally prepared at least.
The group surrounded Boss Pei as they walked towards the inner portions of Thriller Hostel.
The surrounding walls of the entire project were remodeled based on the old industrial zone’s original walls. On the reddish-brown brick walls, the words ‘Thriller Hostel’ were written in Mandarin and English, in what looked like blood.
It created the effect of blood flowing downwards on the wall, which was inexplicably compatible with Thriller Hostel’s logo and the vines that had been left there on purpose. None of the elements looked out of place.
Before arriving at the main door, they walked through a huge, empty space. On the right was parking, and on the left was the ticketing booth and bus stop.
The ticketing booth sold paper tickets. Of course, visitors could also choose to scan the QR codes at the entrance of each project to make payment.
Multiple buses with Thriller Hostel’s name printed on them were neatly parked at the bus stop. All of those buses were to drive to the nearby transportation hubs at specific times each day to ferry visitors in.
After all, transport was inconvenient here. Apart from visitors who had their own cars, most people would have difficulty getting here.
If a train station could be built here in the future, it would be best. However, there were no plans for that at the moment.
As they walked further in, they arrived at the main entrance. It was not tall, big, or imposing. Instead, it was relatively low-profile, and it blended in perfectly with the rest of the industrial zone.
Pei Qian had chosen to do this not because he had been afraid to spend money, but mainly because he had been afraid that—if the main door was too beautiful and eye-catching-it would attract a lot of unnecessary attention.
What would he do if the main door looked too unique, and visitors took pictures of it and caused Thriller Hostel to become viral?
There were no ticket gates at the main entrance because Pei Qian did not intend to package all the projects in the Thriller Hostel. Each of the three projects would be charged separately.
There were joined tickets, but even those would be checked at the entrance of the individual projects.
After walking through the main door, they were officially on Thriller Hostel’s premises.
There was a broad path right in front of them. On the other side of the path were the square, the fountain, and the Golden Maze.
The entire square was located in the middle of Thriller Hostel. It had also been re-done with new bricks in the ground.
In the center of the square was a fountain called the Healing Fountain. It was filled with warm water, and it had a faint and warm glow, which symbolized the elimination of ghosts and spirits and the healing of spiritual trauma.
After passing the fountain, they arrived at the Golden Maze. There were a lot of entrances and exits, just like a transport interchange, connecting the different areas of the Thriller Hostel.
The three entertainment projects of Thriller Hostel surrounded the Golden Maze, and each of them was a good distance from the others.
Pei Qian’s initial thought had been to put the three projects as far away from one another as possible and to make them as hidden as possible. The abandoned factories in between were to split the path so that visitors would have to make detours to get from one project to another.
At the same time, each of them charged separately. That way, visitors would have gravitated towards the cheapest and most fun project—the first one. The other two would have been deserted.
However, what he had not expected was for Boss Li and the investors to join in and ruin the entire plan! Boss Li and the others used all the empty factories around the three projects. Some had been turned into restaurants, some had been turned into hotels… some had been turned into toy stores and clothing stores…
The most ridiculous thing was that the big factory in the center had been made into the Golden Maze. It was a huge shopping mall that sold everything, and it had exits facing every other region in the Thriller Hostel!
Now, while the three projects were still far away from one another, visitors could shop at various stores along the way. There were also long benches by the side for them to rest.
After walking out of a specific exit from the Golden Maze, they would arrive at the entrance of the other two projects. It was all very convenient.
What’s more, there was a healing and comforting maid cafe near the third project. Visitors could easily and seamlessly go there to heal after being terrified.
Boss Li’s prison restaurant and the other investors’ stores selling ghostly and magic props were scattered around the area, making full use of the land. Not a single square meter was redundant.
This layout… was too freaking reasonable!
Pei Qian was speechless. At first, he had thought that Boss Li and the others were like a mob. He had expected them to fight for the best plot of land, and that it would be impossible for the shops to be arranged in such a logical fashion.
Yet, now, it seemed like he had underestimated those people. Pei Qian instinctively sighed.
The group made a big round around the square as Chen Kangtuo pointed and introduced each item to them. He looked extremely proud of himself.
Inside, he was elated. If I had not used my facial expressions to drop hints to the investors back then, would the entire layout have turned out this harmonious?
I deserve the most credit!
If not for the fact that Boss Pei d
oesn’t like people who claim credit, I would be boasting and showing off in front of him right now!
All the investors, including Li Shi, were very happy with the layout. However, they knew full well that they owed it all to Chen Kangtuo’s facial expressions. Thus, they felt too ashamed to claim any credit.
As a result, to this day, Boss Pei had no idea who to blame for all of this. He could only push everything to Boss Li, the most likely culprit.
Thriller Hostel’s reasonable layout and complete facilities would give anyone a good first impression. Pei Qian could not help but frown as the cogs in his brain turned quickly.
Calm down. The biggest merits now are that the Thriller Hostel’s layout is reasonable and that the initial traffic is guaranteed.
As long as I can minimize avenues to generate income, there would be a good chance to incur losses!
Quickly, think of something! I can’t give up just like that!
After some consideration, Pei Qian realized that the first project was extremely cheap, and it would probably attract the most customers. Not many people would try the second and third projects, and he would probably not be able to earn much from the sale of their tickets.
That meant that the biggest problem at the moment was the Golden Maze!
Although he had tried to keep visitors away from the goods as far as possible by creating a maze, the Golden Maze was in too good of a location. One could say that it was like a transport hub that was accessible from all directions.
It was not safe enough.
“Boss Pei, why don’t we go into the Golden Maze to take a look,” suggested Chen Kangtuo.
That was exactly what Pei Qian had been thinking. He immediately nodded. “Alright.”
Publicity had already been rolled out, and there would be a significant number of visitors at the start. The income earned from sales in the Golden Maze would come close to income earned from ticket sales. He had to think of a way to lower that.
From a distance, the Golden Maze’s factory looked like it was full of holes. There was a circle of entrances and exits on the first floor, and there were hollow descending stairwells made of glass on the second and third floor, which made the entire Golden Maze look like a strange, Cthulhu[1]-like, colorful beast with many legs—which would cause anyone to go insane.
On that point, it fit in well with the horror theme of Thriller Hostel.
Everyone chose an entrance at random and then arrived inside the Golden Maze.
The interior was decorated magnificently.
After all, Pei Qian had originally intended for Boss Li and the other investors to spend as much as possible. When Liang Qingfan designed this place, he had not considered a budget at all. From the outside, the factory building looked Cthulhu-like and dilapidated. However, once they entered, they immediately felt like they were in a palace. Of course, it was not a complicated, luxurious, and ancient palace… but a more modern one.
Liang Qingfan had picked this style, mainly to ensure that visitors would have a good shopping experience.
Obviously, this was a misunderstanding of Boss Pei’s original intention as well.
The interior of the Golden Maze had been split into many small, individual spaces. Liang Qingfan had designed the spaces to look intricate and confusing. By staggering them, the space inside was also maximized.
More importantly, the resting areas stood at a height of seven or eight meters, giving people the impression of a wide and open space. From there, one could see where different shops were located and observe a part of the structure of the Golden Maze.
The shops were more than three meters in height, and there were various shelves set up for visitors to have an excellent shopping experience.
The ordinary passages were only about two meters tall. The routes were tortuous, and they could be closed off by a mechanism. The intricate and complicated structure made full use of the factory’s space and allowed it to accommodate more customers.
In case of emergencies, people would also be able to find the nearest exit as quickly as possible. Each area had been decorated differently, giving hints on the kind of shops and goods one could find in that area.
Chen Kangtuo held the map of the Golden Maze in his hand. He stopped at almost every step to make sure that they would be able to reach the right destination.
Otherwise, they could walk and walk and suddenly realize that they were exiting the mall.
First, everyone arrived at one of the resting areas. Rows of benches were neatly arranged, and spaces by the sides were reserved for vendors to sell snacks, drinks, and so on.
The ceiling of the resting area was very high. They could see a few shops, but whether they would be able to get there depended on their own skill.
Chen Kangtuo said, “There’s one problem now. We’re not entirely sure what to sell in the golden zone yet.”
The Golden Maze was split into five main zones. The types of shops and goods to be sold in the other four zones had more or less been decided. There would be souvenirs, clothing, toys, custom-made figurines, and so on. What’s more, most of the stocks had already arrived in the city and could be delivered to the mall in the next two days.
However, they had not decided what to sell in the golden zone in the middle.
The investors all turned to look at Boss Pei.
Boss Pei had thought of the Golden Maze, and half of the income generated by the shopping mall would go to him. Obviously, his words were the most authoritative.
Pei Qian sniggered inwardly. If I could, I would hope that nothing would be sold here. I would give everything away for free…
Yet, that was impossible.
After some thought, Pei Qian asked, “What’s the golden zone like exactly?” Chen Kangtuo looked at the map in his hands. “The Golden Maze has five zones, and each zone has one big shop. “They are the orange, blue, wine-red, purple, and golden zones. There are also small and moveable shops that can be configured according to the existing products in the mall.
“The plan for the first four zones has already been more or less decided. They would sell figurines, quality souvenirs, themed costumes with headwear, and interesting gadgets.
“The golden zone is located in the central, innermost area. We’re not sure what can be sold there.”
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and then said, “Take me there to see.”
[1] This a beast created by H.P. Lovecraft and appeared to be a creature with the head of an octopus whose mouth area had a lot of tentacles.
Chapter 566 - Being Stabbed in the Back with No Warning
With the guidance of the map, everyone arrived at the shops in the golden area.
It was very spacious, and it was not that different from the shops in ordinary shopping malls. However, the road that led here was so winding and twisted that the place felt like a silver lining of a dark cloud.
If not for the map that they had, it would have taken all of them eons to locate this space.
All the shelves had already been neatly set up, but they were all empty. What would be sold there had not been decided yet.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and asked, “What are the other shops selling? Do we have a list of goods?”
Chen Kangtuo nodded. “Of course. It’s right here.”
As he spoke, he handed the list of goods that he had prepared earlier to Pei Qian.
Pei Qian took it and briefly flipped through it. Every type of good listed was accompanied by a picture and a price. What’s more, they had obviously been purchased according to the four zones that Chen Kangtuo had spoken about earlier.
For example, the orange zone represented…
The blue zone represented…
Headwear and themed costumes were sold in the wine-red zone, and interesting magic props or gadgets were sold in the purple zone. A portion of those goods had been bought, and anything that looked slightly scary or horrific was included. The other portion had been custom-made using material related to Th
riller Hostel and Be Quiet. Those included cell phone cases, pendants, and postcards which would be sold once the mall opened for business.
Pei Qian scanned all of those products and studied the prices closely. His mind worked very quickly.
The golden area was in the center of the Golden Maze. One could say that it was akin to a transport hub. The distance from any entrance to this place was the same. However, from another angle, it could be said that it was the innermost zone that was harder to find than all the other zones.
That meant that he could forget about selling luxurious goods here.
That was because all the goods were priced at a set percentage above their cost. The more expensive a good was, the more money Pei Qian would earn upon selling it.
The golden area was extremely difficult to find. If customers expended so much effort to get here, and they saw goods that were expensive but looked well worth their price, they would surely buy them.
After all, there was an ancient saying: “We’ve come all the way here anyway.”
If more people bought those goods, Pei Qian would earn more income. On top of that, he could not sell products that were exclusive to the golden zone. According to Chen Kangtuo and the other investors’ plan, a few goods from each of the other zones could be transferred to the golden zone to be sold there. That would ensure that no two zones would have the same goods.
However, that would make the goods in the golden area rarer and more valuable, right? Then, people would buy as much as they could, wouldn’t they? Pei Qian could not allow that!
After conducting this simple analysis, Pei Qian quickly decided on several strategies for the goods that would be sold in the golden zone. They could not be too expensive. At the same time, people had to be able to buy them in other regions.
That way, consumers would not feel the need to buy anything there. They would be forced to pause and spend less money. Boss Pei would also be able to incur more losses.
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