July 13th, morning.

Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store.

Li Shi sat in a corner, quietly drinking coffee.

“It’s much livelier here, but… I still prefer how it was before.”

Li Shi sighed softly, unaware that on this point, he and Pei Qian had reached consensus.

Although his last encounter with Mr. Pei had ended in complete defeat, leaving Li Shi utterly frustrated—so much that he hadn’t returned to Slackin’ Internet Café for over a week—he still felt somewhat unwilling to give up, hoping to reclaim his dignity someday.

Besides, coming to Slackin’ Internet Café to sit and have a few drinks had already become a habit.

So today, Li Shi came to the Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store again to see how the place was doing.

His first impression was that there were indeed more customers.

Knowing it would certainly be busy in the evening, he deliberately chose to come on a Tuesday morning.

Unexpectedly, even on a weekday morning, there were quite a few customers.

Some were quietly reading books and drinking coffee in the café area, some were taking photos, and others were browsing the internet.

Business looked good.

Daily revenue, plus the evening alcohol sales split with the singers…

Li Shi estimated that the Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store was likely profitable now. How much it earned was hard to say, but it was definitely making money.

However, he personally still preferred the previous Slackin’ Internet Café.

It was quiet, with few disturbances.

Of course, the current Slackin’ Internet Café hadn’t reached the point of being annoyingly busy; it just wasn’t as peaceful as before.

Li Shi took another sip of coffee, somehow feeling like something was missing.

Mr. Pei wasn’t there, which was normal.

But where was that long-faced guy, and the regional manager who always followed him?

Li Shi frequently visited the Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store before and encountered these two people every time, as if they were permanent fixtures there.

But today, neither of them was present.

“Strange.”

“Logically, with business so good, shouldn’t they be here keeping an eye on things?”

Li Shi had been observing the changes at Slackin’ Internet Café these past few days.

The flagship store had indeed become popular because of Chen Lei, transforming into an internet sensation. Many people came to check it out and spend money, resulting in high customer flow.

But Slackin’ Internet Café’s other chain stores hadn’t seen much improvement. Although customer flow and revenue had increased, they couldn’t compare to the flagship store.

A reasonable inference was that these branch stores, while recouping some losses, probably hadn’t reached the break-even point yet.

Shouldn’t they be focusing on the flagship store at this time, promoting its successful experience to other branches?

How come these two weren’t here anymore?

Li Shi slightly raised his hand, and the waiter immediately understood, coming to his table.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” the waiter asked with a smile.

Li Shi was a regular at Slackin’ Internet Café and had spent quite a bit here. The waiter naturally recognized this big customer and provided very attentive service.

Li Shi put on a casual demeanor and asked, “Hasn’t your Manager Ma come in today?”

The waiter smiled and said, “That’s right, our Manager Ma hasn’t been here for a while, about a week or so.”

Li Shi was stunned.

A week?

That meant after the flagship store had become wildly popular and gotten through its busiest period, once customer flow stabilized, Long Face hadn’t returned.

Logically, with a store manager in place, Long Face could indeed leave things unattended.

But since Long Face and his associates were management above the store manager, not being at this store meant they must have gone to another one.

What were they doing?

There had to be something fishy going on.

Li Shi smiled at the waiter: “It’s nothing, I was just asking.”

…

Two hours later.

Li Shi glanced at his phone, looking at a message from his subordinate.

“Boss Li, I’ve checked. They’re at the Mingyun Manor store.”

Seeing this message, Li Shi felt somewhat surprised.

But after a moment’s thought, he quickly understood.

Once Long Face saw that the Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store was successful, he shifted his focus to other branches for the next phase!

Although Li Shi looked down on Ma Yang, this Long Face, thinking him somewhat stupid, he didn’t dare to underestimate him.

After all, every move Ma Yang made surely had Mr. Pei’s instructions behind it!

After what happened last time, Li Shi no longer dared to underestimate Mr. Pei due to his age and experience.

He knew that although this Mr. Pei appeared young and acted against conventional wisdom, he had extremely clear and long-term planning, and always kept options in reserve!

Last time, Li Shi suffered a major setback precisely because he underestimated Mr. Pei.

He gently stroked his chin, considering the ins and outs of this matter.

“Last time, Mr. Pei must have been aware of my actions early on.”

“Long Face revealing false information to me was probably also secretly instructed by Mr. Pei.”

“Indeed, while Long Face may be somewhat stupid, he’s loyal enough to Mr. Pei. Trying to find weakness through Long Face was truly foolish of me.”

“This makes sense—if Long Face wasn’t loyal enough to Mr. Pei, how could he possibly have gained Mr. Pei’s favor and attained such a high position?”

“This time, I absolutely cannot make the same mistake.”

“Long Face no longer coming to the flagship store, but instead regularly staying at the Mingyun Manor store, very likely indicates that Mr. Pei’s next strategic move is in that area!”

Li Shi no longer entertained his previous wishful thinking about acquiring Slackin’ Internet Café.

He clearly understood that with Slackin’ Internet Café now thriving and having built such a good brand, investment was impossible.

While Li Shi’s interest in Slackin’ Internet Café had diminished, his interest in Mr. Pei certainly hadn’t.

Since the last incident, Li Shi’s assessment of Mr. Pei had continuously risen. He even felt that in all of Jingzhou City, Mr. Pei could be considered a first-rate entrepreneur with exceptional vision.

With such an impressive person nearby, it was natural to pay close attention to his every move.

Who knows? He might discover a business opportunity.

This time was the same—Li Shi’s investigation into Slackin’ Internet Café’s Mingyun Manor store wasn’t for investment or acquisition purposes. He was mainly curious about Mr. Pei’s next moves.

Opening the map app on his phone, he took a rough look.

Li Shi frowned.

He didn’t quite understand what was so special about this place.

The so-called “Mingyun Manor” was an upscale residential area in suburban Jingzhou, mainly consisting of detached villas.

But there was a problem with the planning of this place.

Mingyun Manor was located in the southeast of Jingzhou City, nestled among mountains and waters, with nice scenery.

But this villa area had two major problems.

First, the surrounding supporting facilities were poor. It was fine for occasional vacation stays but not suitable for long-term residence, making daily life somewhat inconvenient.

Second, the developer’s strategy had significant issues. It was built entirely as high-end villas, with average prices much higher than other villas in Jingzhou City, but their marketing capabilities were weak, and they hadn’t generated enough buzz.

Therefore, nearly a year after completion, the occupancy rate remained low.

The location choice for the Slackin’ Internet Café at Mingyun Manor left Li Shi completely baffled.

This internet café wasn’t located near Mingyun Manor but was instead at some distance from both this residential area and the nearby East Campus of Handong University of Science and Technology.

It was somewhat far for people from either location to visit this Slackin’ Internet Café.