Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  There were so many cities in the country, and every city had countless stalls. So many vendors had tried different ways but only a few ways prevailed. How long would it take for the chef to figure it out on his own?

  The skills and attitude made it impossible for the chef to win by making the cold noodles.

  Customers felt that the Cold-Faced Lady did not have an obvious taste compared to ordinary roasted cold noodles sold at the roadsides. Moreover, the prices were higher so they felt that they had paid an IQ tax since it was not more delicious.

  Qi Yan could not help but feel emotional. Sure enough, there were specializations in the industries.They did have to hire professionals to do the job.

  They were both chefs. It was one thing to make regular dishes taste good, but another to make snacks that tasted good.

  Qi Yan suddenly realized that this was probably what Boss Pei wanted to convey.

  One of the key reasons for Meng Chang’s failure was that he did not understand this point. He thought that he could just find an expensive chef to make delicious roasted cold noodles.

  However, he had never thought about whether the expensive chef was good at making roasted cold noodles. Would the chef be willing to consult the vendor about the details and techniques of making cold noodles?

  Meng Chang had been emphasizing on the taste of the cold noodles, but it was all verbal and he had not taken any action.

  Qi Yan felt that Boss Pei was obviously hinting to her not to walk down Meng Chang’s old path. She had to be down-to-earth and honest!

  The other vendors also began to share their insights.

  Qi Yan could tell that even though these vendors had not undergone professional cooking training, their common point was that they had a certain taste, strong hands-on ability, and loved to further develop the tastes.

  Otherwise, they would not have been able to teach themselves and make ordinary snacks so popular.

  They had attitude and ability. As long as the Cold-Faced Lady paid to train them with some culinary knowledge, and then streamlined their cooking methods and refined them… it would definitely improve the taste of snacks of the Cold-Faced Lady!

  At that time, not only would they be able to make roasted cold noodles, they would also be able to make other types of snacks!

  Qi Yan immediately decided on that thought. “I think everyone’s abilities are good enough to be a Gourmet Adviser. I guarantee that the Cold-Faced Lady will be able to provide a bigger platform for everyone to fully utilize their talents!”

  …

  At the same time, in Jingzhou…

  Li Shi was talking to the author of the article about Boss Pei, Dream Realization Ventures, and Cold-Faced Lady through voice chat.

  “That’s all I know.”

  “There might be some other hidden aspects. Boss Pei is good at scheming after all. What we see might only be a part of his plan. However, we have no way of knowing these things.”

  “You can use these materials according to your needs.”

  A male voice came from the other end of the line. “Thank you very much. These details are really exciting. I didn’t expect the Cold-Faced Lady to have so many stories behind!”

  “May I ask who you are and where you obtained this insider information? Don’t worry, I’m just curious. I won’t write it in the article.”

  “Of course, it’s okay if you don’t want to reveal it.”

  Li Shi chuckled. “I’m just an ordinary investor with a student mentality.”

  The person on the other end of the line did not continue asking seeing that Boss Li was unwilling to speak. Instead, he said, “Don’t worry, I will write this article very soon. It will definitely be very exciting!”

  Li Shi suddenly thought of something and said, “Oh, there’s something else. I heard that Meng Chang is at his wits’ end now. Boss Pei intends to give him some work to do, but I’m not sure what position he’s in charge of.”

  The person on the other end of the line pondered for a moment. “This…”

  “Alright, I understand. This seems to be a very important piece of information.”

  “I’ll start writing now so that the story behind Cold-Faced Lady can be revealed to the world!”

  Chapter 829 - Meng Chang’s Magical Cloud, Boss Pei’s Five Finger Mountain

  In the afternoon…

  After a busy morning, Qi Yan finally arranged everything that she had planned.

  She had officially offered to hire these outstanding vendors as the Cold-Faced Lady’s gourmet consultants. Zhang Yahui immediately agreed. The other vendors were still hesitating. They said that they would give their answer after a few days.

  Obviously, many vendors were bringing their families along. They had to communicate with their families before making this decision.

  However, Qi Yan was very sure that this would be a win-win decision for the Cold-Faced Lady and the vendors.

  These Gourmet Consultants would follow the proper recruitment process. Qi Yan also intended to learn from Fish-Catching Take-Out. She wanted to set up a small gourmet laboratory that included professional chefs, outstanding food vendors and nutritionists who would be in charge of chemical testing and nutritional balance. They would develop new snacks together.

  Fish-Catching Take-Out was Boss Pei’s business, and he would definitely approve of it.

  Boss Pei would probably be very impressed if she created a food laboratory for Fish-Catching Take-Out, right?

  Even though she had never met Boss Pei before, Qi Yan could roughly guess his intentions based on her understanding of him.

  The Gourmet Laboratory was also very important to street food.

  Meng Chang was not wrong to compare local snacks to fast food in China. However, at the same time, he had to realize that there was a long way to go before local snacks became a real fast food brand.

  Those fast food brands looked very simple. They were nothing more than fried chicken, fries, hamburgers, and so on. However, the entire supply chain, crafts, and research ability of the new products could not be underestimated. They had accumulated over a decade or even decades. They could not be caught up in a day or two.

  Perhaps Meng Chang knew this very well and felt that it was impossible for him to do it. That was why he chose the conceptualization and the path of earning quick money.

  There was a saying that there were only two ways in the world: one was the right way, and the other was the easy way.

  Meng Chang chose the easy way while Boss Pei chose the right way.

  Qi Yan felt that she had to carry out Boss Pei’s will in her position and strategy since Boss Pei had already found a way to break out of the situation, giving the cold-faced lady a chance to be reborn, and had already given a clear path to this terminally ill brand.

  While Qi Yan did not know what the Cold-Faced Lady would become in the future, she was suddenly filled with confidence!

  She stood up to get a cup of coffee after she was done with her work. At the same time, she checked on her colleagues in the office.

  The overall situation was more complicated.

  Apart from the store front, Cold-Faced Lady also had an office area. She rented a workstation in an office building near the store. Meng Chang was quite willing to spend money on the project. There was coffee, drinks, afternoon tea, snacks, fruits, and so on. The working environment was also very good.

  After Tengda took over, everything remained the same. There were no signs that they were going to cut down on benefits. Everyone was very satisfied.

  However, everyone’s current working attitude was different.

  Some of them were obviously trying to slack off. They looked confused and lost. Some of them looked complacent and wanted to find something to do, but they did not know where to start.

  After the Cold-Faced Lady changed boss, the original marketing activities were basically cancelled. Those in charge of marketing activities went all out to organize the Street Food Contest. However, now th
at the contest was done, they naturally had nothing to do.

  There were also some people who were filled with worry for the cold-faced lady’s future.

  They might not have seen the article, nor did they know about Boss Pei’s plans for the Cold-Faced Lady. They only felt that the company was going to fail sooner or later based on the current state of idling around. They would survive one day at a time, thus, they were more passive.

  Qi Yan felt that she had to think of a way to boost everyone’s morale.

  She had some ideas after being enlightened by Boss Pei. However, these ideas needed to be carried out and needed the cooperation of the others. If everyone continued to be so negative, Qi Yan would not be able to complete the tasks very well even if she were to assign tasks.

  However, if she wanted to boost morale, she had to find an opportunity to convince everyone.

  However, if she were to give a speech or inject steroids, the effect would definitely not be good. It might even backfire.

  Qi Yan thought about it. That article was good.

  Now, her colleagues did not have any fighting spirit and felt lost. The main reason was because they were unclear about the Cold-Faced Lady’s past, present, and future development. They would know about Boss Pei’s plans for the Cold-Faced Lady as long as they read this article, everyone’s working condition would definitely improve!

  She immediately found the author online and was shocked to find that he had published another article!

  What’s more, the title of this article was even more explosive than the previous one: Cold-Faced Lady: Meng Chang’s Magical Cloud, Boss Pei’s Five Finger Mountain!

  Qi Yan was stunned. Cold-Faced Lady again?

  Publishing two reports in such a short period of time, was he going against the Cold-Faced Lady?

  Qi Yan was as confused as she was surprised.

  That was because she knew very well that this author only wrote real articles. There was no need for him to write two or three essays for the same issue, repeatedly rubbing salt onto the wound.

  From this point of view, this author was much better than those marketing accounts.

  This was another article about the Cold-Faced Lady, which must be because the author had found a new content and angle.

  However, the article on ‘The Breaking and Rebuilding of the Cold-Faced Lady’s Reputation Through The Street Food Contest’ had already detailed the difference between Meng Chang and Boss Pei’s management concept. It seemed to have been written very clearly on the topic of Cold-Faced Lady.

  The new article was titled ‘Magical Cloud’ and ‘Five Finger Mountain’. What was he trying to do?

  Was he filming Journey to the West?

  Qi Yan clicked open the article with confusion.

  …

  At the beginning of the article, he briefly mentioned the previous two articles. They were ‘Cold-Faced Lady’s so-called Internet thinking is nothing more than an act’ and ‘The Breaking and Rebuilding of the Cold-Faced Lady’s Reputation Through The Street Food Contest’. These two articles predicted the bankruptcy of the Cold-Faced Lady led by Meng Chang and the series of changes that Boss Pei would undergo after taking over the Cold-Faced Lady.

  The author even added a link between the two essays as a reminder to the readers. It was also a hint to the readers: I’m not trying to ride on your popularity and kick you while you’re down. I had already raised my doubts when the Cold-Faced Lady was at her peak. This article of mine is full of good stuff. It’s completely different from those marketing accounts that look for information online!

  Then, he entered the main text.

  However, before that, the author had specially used a short paragraph to hint to the readers that the article this time was different from the previous two times.

  “I decided to change my writing style after much consideration due to the content. I’ll review the entire Cold-Faced Lady’s rise and fall from Meng Chang’s point of view. There might be some subjective views and historical references by this author, but I can guarantee that the key plot of the entire story is objective and practical. If there are any flaws or fallacies, I welcome everyone to criticize and correct me.”

  Qi Yan was even more surprised.

  The previous two articles were written from a bystander’s point of view. They were mainly objectively narrated and analyzed. The articles themselves might be filled with laughter and curses and there were some ‘divine metaphors’ that people took delight in talking about and were generally in more traditional ways.

  However, this time, the author was going to write from Meng Chang’s perspective?

  Qi Yan felt that the article was not simple and continued reading.

  …

  “November 8th, 2011, was a Tuesday. On this day, a young man named Meng Chang came to the building of Dream Realization Ventures in Jingzhou. He wanted to start his career there.”

  “He had a very grand plan and a very loud slogan, but almost no one can guess what he was really thinking about.”

  “Meng Chang should be someone with a performance personality and his acting skills are not bad.”

  “However, what he did not know was his heart must be filled with regret two months later, when he looked back at this Tuesday morning.”

  “The Cold-Faced Lady went from being established to becoming popular all over the internet, and then to being doubted and destroyed. That’s exactly what the ancient saying goes: ‘A country falls as abruptly and rapidly as it rises.’”

  “Before the Cold-Faced Lady, no one would have thought that such a popular online restaurant brand would fail so quickly and completely.”

  “The fate of the Cold-Faced Lady has been decided since that Tuesday morning.”

  “Meng Chang chose Dream Realization Ventures as his first target for a very simple reason: he felt that the money there would be easy to obtain.”

  “Meng Chang will be called a ‘perfect entrepreneur’ in the near future, however he is not qualified to stand in front of the table now. His resume is not bad, but he has nothing else. His resume and eloquence alone are not enough to support him in fulfilling his dreams and goals. Other investors will give him money, but this money will definitely be accompanied by an unlimited liability agreement or buyback agreement. That is something Meng Chang cannot accept.”

  “In fact, Meng Chang only took ‘hot money’ in one instance from the beginning to the end. What’s more, he is only in debt for a few million yuan. He’s completely incomparable to entrepreneurs who are in debt for hundreds of millions.”

  “However, other entrepreneurs might not have signed similar agreements because of recklessness. It could also be because they still believe that their entrepreneurship can succeed. Meng Chang might not have signed similar agreements because he was cautious. It could also be because he knew from the beginning that his entrepreneurship was just a performance: He would be left with nothing after all the glory.”

  “As Tengda Corporation expanded, Boss Pei, the ‘God of Investment’ who would reap profits with every investment, decided to transfer his energy to other places. Dream Realization Ventures would follow the rules he set and invest money in those startups step by step. This allowed Meng Chang to see an opportunity.”

  “Meng Chang got the money as he wished and used ‘Boss Pei Investments’ as a topic to create hype. He even held a special news conference to explain the beautiful future of the cold-faced lady to the investors. From this, it can be seen that Meng Chang’s passion for marketing is deeply ingrained in his bones. He desperately pursued popularity without considering the possible backlash in the future.”

  Chapter 830 - : Boss Pei’s Seven Deadly Sins

  “What Meng Chang did not expect was that his cheap tricks did not escape Boss Pei’s eyes at all.”

  “At the news conference for all investors, Boss Ma of Tengda asked two soul-stirring questions: Is the cold noodles delicious? What does’ multidimensional fusion ‘mean?”

>   “This was a direct hit on Meng Chang’s soft spot. It’s equivalent to pointing out the two huge hidden dangers of the cold-faced lady in front of all the investors: bad taste, excessive marketing.”

  “Obviously, Boss Ma has two purposes for sending a message to Boss Pei: one is to remind investors of the risk of the cold-faced lady, and the other is to remind Meng Chang that the current cold-faced lady is just an empty building. She will definitely fail. It’s not too late to make changes now.”

  “It’s a pity that the high-spirited Meng Chang did not realize the severity of the warning this time. He continued to follow his script stubbornly.”

  “However, what he doesn’t know is that he would not be walking on the script that he had thought of, but the script that Boss Pei had arranged for him.”

  “Boss Ma’s questions at the news conference gave Meng Chang a blow to the head. He could only spend all his money on the Cold-Faced Lady’s shop and use marketing, popularity, and beautiful financial reports to exchange for investors’ trust.”

  “However, the process was not smooth because the nail that Boss Ma buried at the news conference was still hurting the investors. The investments that Meng Chang could obtain had harsh contents such as valuation adjustment mechanism agreement. Meng Chang still lacked the bargaining chips to bargain with the investors.”

  “At that moment, Meng Chang fell into a dilemma. He knew that the Cold-Faced Lady was still far from what he wanted. If he took the hot money now, there would definitely be a huge problem.”

  “It’s not too late for Meng Chang to give up now.”

  “However, at that moment, Boss Pei extended a helping hand again and invested six million yuan. This allowed Meng Chang to once again possess bargaining chips in hand to deal with the other investors and his confidence was reignited.”