In some of Jingzhou’s local forums and chat groups, many people were already talking about the newest business under Tengda Life—the Sloth Apartments.
Before this, Sloth Apartments only had a simple page on the Tengda Life App. There were rigid regulations but no promotional video. In addition, Tengda Life App had only been updated a while ago, and so Sloth Apartments’ page had largely been neglected.
However, once the promotional video was uploaded, the project gained a lot more focus!
Until now, all of Tengda’s businesses—including Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Upwind Logistics, Deposit Fitness, and so on—had excellent reviews.
What’s more, young people had always been particularly fond of rented apartments.
Small intermediaries and sub-landlords were everywhere, approaching those people to rent their apartments. The chances of getting deceived in this industry were extremely high. In fact, it would be abnormal if one was not deceived.
Experienced people would advise others to look for larger intermediaries if they wanted to rent apartments. However, larger intermediaries had many tricks up their sleeves, and they would also bluff customers without any discussion. The only difference was that customers would not be too disadvantaged.
The so-called ‘larger intermediaries’ were really not that different from small intermediaries and sub-landlords. Young people, who were new to the industry, would probably also get deceived when looking for a house of their own.
Most people, who had two to three years of working experience, could only rent a satisfactory house because they had been deceived a lot before. They had learned from their experience and could use large amounts of time and energy to identify those scams. Finding a good house was tantamount to repairing the leakage in their roofs.
Now, the young in Jingzhou were pleasantly surprised to hear that Tengda had produced apartments!
All things aside, they could definitely trust Tengda not to be like all the other intermediaries. There would not be traps in contracts that would put customers at a severe disadvantage. There would not be salesmen who would pat their chests and make all sorts of promises and then forget customers the moment contracts were signed.
What’s more, the promotional video was so well done. Chen Lei had sung the theme song, and the house looked warm, comfortable, and minimalistic. The young people were all the more tempted.
However, after viewing the actual apartments and speaking briefly with the butler, many of them changed their minds. People online were no longer praising the apartments to no end but engaging in intense discussion.
“I went to see the houses today. They look exactly the same as the one in the promotional video, without a single change; however, the rent is terrifying! Compared to other exquisite houses in similar locations, rent is at least thirty percent higher!
“Is this the same Tengda that avoids materialism?”
“But the houses are very well-renovated.”
“Read my comment clearly. I’m talking about thirty percent higher rent than exquisite houses! Compared to badly-renovated houses, it’s at least fifty percent more expensive!”
“To sum up, there are four Sloth Apartment buildings at the moment. One has huge apartments and is located in the Dawn of Prosperous City. Let’s not talk about that—ordinary people wouldn’t be able to afford it, and the apartment is very oddly-shaped.
“One is a semi-commercial loft in Shundong Gardens, which has two floors. Yet, everyone knows about semi-commercial buildings.
“There are two more, which were featured in the promotional video, but they’re located in a deserted place. The living room with a 180-degree view of the surroundings looks amazing at first glance, but after you see it, you will worry about it being impractical to live in.”
“All the apartments are well-renovated, but they are very expensive.”
“To be fair, I went to see the apartments as well, and the Sloth Apartments were renovated to extremely high standards. Most people might not even be willing to spend that much to renovate their own houses!
“However, that’s not very obvious either. Take the furniture and electrical appliances, for example. They look to be of a higher class than those in ‘Safe House’, which are marketed by the intermediary, Home Corporation, but not that much higher.”
“That’s right. On the whole, the apartments look to be of higher class than Home Corporation’s Safe House, but it’s too minimalistic. I won’t say they’re stingy, but the merits of the decoration are not obvious to me.”
“Why isn’t anyone talking about the rigid regulations of Sloth Apartments? You can’t buy furniture; you can’t move the furniture; you have to rent long-term and take entire tenancies; and the rent is extremely high.
“How many people would be willing to rent an apartment? Even if they are, there’s only so much storage space. You wouldn’t be able to fit all of your things. Do they expect me to throw all of my sundries away?”
“Based on my many years of experience renting apartments, Sloth Apartments’ model is a pride project—it’s too unpractical! It’s expensive and inconvenient. Only literary and artistic youths would go in to take photographs.”
“I agree. At the moment, apart from the aesthetic, I can’t think of any other reason why people would torture themselves by renting that apartment. I would rather stay in Home Corporation’s Safe House.
“Although they do not look as beautiful, they’re a big brand that I can trust. Their apartments are also exquisitely renovated, but their rent is cheap. Moreover, I can arrange the furniture however I want.”
“I think that we can still trust this business because it belongs to Tengda. For all we know, there might be a deeper meaning behind those regulations. We might only find out after moving in.”
“You’re welcome to be the brave lab rat.”
“Actually, I wanted to diss it from the beginning. Don’t Tengda’s other businesses also focus on showing off instead of practicality? The lunch boxes by Fish-Catching Take-Out only have one added box, but it’s so much more expensive than ordinary lunchboxes. Deposit Fitness packages their sessions with Fish-Catching Take-Out’s fitness meals, so that each session is at least double the price of that at other gyms!”
“I agree with the above comment. I don’t know why so many people say that Tengda sells beautiful goods and services at low prices. I accept that their products are beautiful, but in what way are their prices low? Is anything on Tengda Life App cheap?
“All of those businesses spent money on showing off, right? Their take-out may be expensive, but take-out is take-out so it doesn’t matter. However, renting their apartments would cost one-third of people’s wages and thirty percent more. Who could bear it?”
“That’s true. The most important thing that a house has to be is livable. No matter how cool it looks, it can’t fill your belly.”
“I think Tengda has gone astray this time. They’re focusing too much on showing off and neglecting livability. It’s gone in the opposite direction of the market.”
“That’s why I think Home Corporation’s Safe House is better. It’s an exquisite apartment with a butler as well, but it’s thirty percent cheaper than the Sloth Apartments. Just think about it. If you spend 1.5 thousand yuan on rent each month, you could save six thousand yuan each year. You could get a new cell phone with that money!
“I think Home Corporation’s apartments are more worth it, too. As for Sloth Apartments… let’s wait and see. I’m sure Tengda will realize that customers aren’t taking up those apartments. Perhaps they would reduce the rent and change their regulations then.”
…
After eating, Pei Qian sipped his coffee and read the public’s reviews of the Sloth Apartments. Finally, he relaxed considerably.
Yes, all of my safety measures are working!
What are the netizens saying? Wait and see? Tengda would reduce the rent and change its regulations if no one rents th
e apartments?
Young man, you’re imagining things!
Boss Pei is calling the shots! Boss Pei could not be happier if nobody rents the apartments. Why would I reduce rent? Impossible!
Pei Qian felt a lot more at ease. This time, things were finally developing as he expected.
Strictly speaking, Sloth Apartments’ rent was not so expensive that the working class could not afford it. However, consumers ultimately decided based on relative prices compared with competitors, and not each business’s absolute price.
Chapter 627 - Do You Know the Difference between You and Boss Pei?
Someone with a 5,000-yuan salary would definitely say that they ‘would not be able to afford the rent’ if the option was 1,500 or 2,000 yuan. However, they would definitely compare.
Sloth Apartments’ direct competitor now was the new ‘Safe House’ by Home Corporation.
Home Corporation was the most influential housing agency locally. Many people would choose Home Corporation’s houses brainlessly because there was less possibility of this company cheating them.
Two years ago, Home Corporation saw the demand for living conditions by young people increase. They, therefore, rolled out the Safe House initiative which was to sign up older and more run-down houses with the landlords, renovate themselves, and increase the rent for their clients.
These houses were rather good overall, be it the renovations or the furnishings. It might be slightly more expensive than other houses, but the comfort it provided meant that this industry developed rather well.
Compared to Sloth Apartments, the Safe House from Home Corporation might not be as good in renovations. However, it did not have so many rules, and its pricing was much cheaper. In the eyes of normal salarymen, it was obviously better suited for the public.
An increment of monthly rental from 1,500 yuan to 2,000 yuan meant an extra 6,000 yuan expense on rental per year. It was enough to buy a new cell phone. That difference was still rather obvious to most people.
Moreover, Pei Qian could detect the whiff of fake reviewers in these reviews.
Home Corporation also had many shops in Jingzhou. Every shop had many agents.
The Sloth Apartments that Tengda launched were also rental businesses. It was in direct competition with Safe House. Home Corporation would not just sit around and do nothing while Sloth Apartments increase their reputation.
They didn’t even need to hire professional fake reviewers. They could force all their employees to Jingzhou to search for similar posts and post as though they were passers-by.
These people might not know, but if someone were to have a strong review 24 hours after, that person would be able to make a large noise on the internet. It could create a fake image that ‘many people were not satisfied with Sloth Apartments’.
In short, the clients that the Sloth Apartments attracted online were generally dissuaded. However, even so, some people still went against all odds to sign up with Sloth Apartments.
The penthouse of Binhu District Block 8 was also rented by Chen Lei’s crazy female fan because his MV was shot there. The scenery in the house was exactly the same as in the MV, which was very suitable to be uploaded into WeChat moments.
Obviously, this client did not rent this unit to stay in but to chase after the celebrity. It was worth it even if it was just to sit on the sofa that Chen Lei sat in before!
Pei Qian only knew it from the butler after the fact. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He could only say that the rich chased after celebrities stupidly and for such boring reasons.
“Sigh, Chen Lei has many fans after all. Such is unavoidable. It would not make much difference to the loss situation of Sloth Apartments if it is just a meager few houses.”
Chen Lei’s influences might be able to attract some fans, but it was not a big issue.
It was rental after all, not selling away. If it was for sale, many fans might try to buy and sell it for a profit since the value would still be there. They could rent it out without staying in it; it was worthwhile either way.
However, they were only for rent, not for sale. Moreover, there were strict restrictions against subletting. Take this little girl for example. She was throwing money down the drain if she did not stay in it.
Therefore, Pei Qian felt that there should not be too much of an impact if people rented this unit to chase after celebrities because of the MV.
Moreover, not even a single person was renting the Shundong Gardens Residential-Commercial Building and his Dawn of Prosperous City.
Pei Qian concluded that while Sloth Apartments was being popularized, it was still safe. He would continue to monitor it.
He, therefore, took the car home to take a good nap.
…
Afternoon, Thriller Hostel…
Li Shi and the other investors gathered together for a meeting. The situation was not bad since Thriller Hostel commenced operations.
The current publicity works were very sufficient. It had attracted many youngsters from Jingzhou and even the Handong Province; the interesting projects within Thriller Hostel also managed to obtain a good reputation.
However, the problem was that it did not seem to be a great hit.
To the investors like Li Shi, the Thriller Hostel could only be regarded as normal profit status. It was able to have some remainder after all revenues and profits were taken into account. However, it was too early to reap returns on their capital invested.
Such popularity was mediocre at best.
Everyone might have been used to investing alongside Boss Pei, but the problem was that Boss Pei did not seem to be making heaps of money this time either. To put it accurately, Boss Pei was reaping mediocre rewards while the others could only look at it from afar.
Until now, the Thriller Hostel did not achieve the expectations.
Therefore, the investors gathered together and called Boss Li to discuss countermeasures.
“Boss Li, based on the current income, we will only be able to break even in God knows how many years! We cannot wait that long!”
“Yes, Boss Li, can you quickly think of solutions? Should we continue to push Boss Pei? Boss Pei definitely still has something else up his sleeve!”
“Or should we withdraw?”
“Withdraw? Impossible! I have been observing the situation with Thriller Hostel, and it is not optimistic. It might be able to give multiple experiences, but there would definitely come a time when you would get sick of it.
“There are not many domestic tourists currently; most people would not travel all the way to Jingzhou just because of a haunted house. Therefore, there is no possibility of a huge profit in the short term!”
“Could Boss Pei have miscalculated this time?”
“Could Boss Pei be serious when he told us that this project may not be able to be profitable?”
The investors were lost and panicky. That was because the investment into Thriller Hostel was too huge. They would only make profits after the investment breaks even. If it was impossible to recoup the investment, then it would not be profiting, it would be making huge losses.
Li Shi listened to the discussion of the investors without a word. The current situation with Thriller Hostel was not satisfying to him either.
Everyone could feel that the gap between ‘still alright’ to ‘popular’ was just too little. However, they could not close the gap no matter how they tried.
Was it the problem with the project itself?
There was no problem with the content. Desperate Escape, Haunted House Nightmare, Ultimate Horror, Golden Maze, Healing Fountain, Maid cafe… they were all very good. The response from the tourists was rather good as well.
The problem with queues was also settled with the Tengda Life App. Everyone could use the application to queue up while they eat, shop at Golden Maze, and everything else. The experience for tourists had been greatly enhanced.
Could it be a problem with publicity?
It seemed
to be alright. Most people knew about the Thriller Hostel no matter whether it was in Jingzhou or in the entire country. The publicity arranged by Boss Pei included the shared phone booth and Teacher Qiao’s video had been effective.
They really could not think of what they lacked to make Thriller Hostel a huge hit. Or perhaps, Boss Pei was not omnipotent like what some investor said. He did not manage to predict the situation?
Li Shi obviously did not agree with that.
Li Shi knocked on the table after the investors were done with their complaints. “Alright, keep it down. Do you think that Boss Pei miscalculated for the Thriller Hostel? Then, you really have no patience.
“How long has the Thriller Hostel been open for? Less than two months! You only mistakenly think that the Thriller Hostel will be an instant hit because you only saw Boss Pei’s instant hit projects.
“Haven’t you realized that most projects only became huge hits after Boss Pei persisted long enough?
“Like the Fish-Catching Take-Out, it made losses for an entire year. However, not only did Boss Pei not ax this project, but he even continuously invested in it until it exploded in popularity with the Jingzhou garbage sorting! Fish-Catching Take-Out’s future is immeasurable right now!
“How would Boss Pei obtain today’s success if he was as anxious as you and gave up in just two months? Moreover, the Thriller Hostel is not in the red; it is just making profits slowly.
“Do you know the difference between you and Boss Pei now?
“You are all in the investment field, you can’t possibly misunderstand this simple logic, right?”
The investors became quiet with Boss Li’s lecture. Indeed, anyone with a little knowledge of investment knew that investing for the short term was meaningless. They had to look far.
However, Boss Pei’s instant success investment stories were plenty which was why these investors had high hopes. They lost their patience because the Thriller Hostel was not an immediate hit.
Everyone calmed down after they were taught a lesson by Boss Li.
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