At the Slackin’ Internet Café, Mingyun Villa store.
Pei Qian was scouting locations for the new high-end restaurant together with Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan.
They had already toured all the nearby commercial spaces and had a general understanding of the business environment in this area.
In short, the environment was deserted, and Mr. Pei was very satisfied.
Around Mingyun Villa, some commercial spaces had originally been planned, but because this place hadn’t been hyped up and the occupancy rate of the villas was low, many stores had closed down due to low customer flow and inability to recover costs.
Now, the rent for many of these commercial spaces was very cheap, generally available at about 70% of the market average.
A few days ago, Pei Qian had roughly identified two or three desirable commercial spaces, all located in positions even further inside than the Slackin’ Internet Café Mingyun Villa store.
These commercial spaces had several common characteristics. First, they were all very spacious with large areas, meeting Mr. Pei’s needs for large-scale team-building gatherings. Second, they were all situated among a cluster of closed shops, making the surrounding environment appear extremely desolate and unlikely to attract attention under normal circumstances. Third, transportation wasn’t particularly convenient.
There were many places to park nearby, but after parking, one still needed to walk some distance to reach the restaurant site.
So today, Pei Qian planned to scout the location one last time to finalize the choice, after which they could sign the contract and begin renovations.
If all went smoothly, perhaps they could bring employees over for their first feast next month.
Zhang Yuan continued to follow silently behind Mr. Pei and Ma Yang, marveling at how Mr. Pei’s actions were becoming increasingly unpredictable.
The restaurant location choice was truly out of this world…
When Zhang Yuan first heard that Mr. Pei wanted to create a high-end dining establishment, he was quite pleased, feeling that he and Mr. Pei were finally thinking along the same lines.
Slackin’ Delivery would handle low-end, everyday dining, complemented by a high-end dining brand—they would complement each other perfectly!
According to Zhang Yuan’s thinking, this high-end restaurant should be opened directly in the city center, where it would be popular and bustling with customers!
However, Mr. Pei’s next move left him completely baffled.
Choosing commercial space near the most dismal Mingyun Villa store?
Mingyun Villa was located in the southeast of Jinzhou City, already a very remote position.
If this restaurant were opened in the city center, it could serve the entire Jinzhou City. Even for those in peripheral remote areas, driving to the city center could be controlled to about an hour or so.
Of course, assuming there was no traffic jam.
But now, with the restaurant opening in the southeast of Jinzhou City, customers from the north and west of Jinzhou City who wanted to dine would have to drive across the entire city, possibly taking over an hour, or nearly two hours.
Then, after finishing dinner and hitting the evening rush hour, another two hours to get back…
This was suffocating…
Moreover, the commercial environment around here was terrible, with no supporting facilities. Would people come all this way just for a meal?
No matter how one thought about it, it seemed a bit outrageous.
However, Mr. Pei had already explained his reasons for choosing this location: he determined that the area around the Mingyun Villa store would inevitably become Jinzhou City’s new commercial center, so this was early positioning.
From this perspective, Mr. Pei was consistent in his words and actions.
But no matter how Zhang Yuan looked at it, he didn’t see how this place could become a new commercial center; it looked decidedly bleak from every angle…
The three of them walked and looked around.
Suddenly, Zhang Yuan’s eyes lit up.
He saw that there was a shop under construction and renovation!
It was a two-story storefront that looked quite impressive.
Zhang Yuan remembered that the last time they came, this place had been closed, presenting a desolate scene.
How come in just a few days, someone had taken over?
Zhang Yuan went to the entrance and casually stopped one of the workers to ask a couple of questions.
Only then did he learn that this was going to be a coffee shop!
From the looks of it, it seemed targeted directly at the high-income population of Mingyun Villa.
Predictably, this coffee shop would impact Slackin’ Internet Café’s business, diverting some customers, especially since it was closer to the Mingyun Villa residential area, only about a ten-minute walk away.
But it would also make this place seem less deserted!
Mr. Pei maintained his usual expression and continued walking forward.
At this point, they arrived at the first location they had previously identified.
The commercial space that Pei Qian had chosen was originally situated among a large number of closed shops. These closed shops were cold and desolate, which would have perfectly hidden the restaurant.
However, a large storefront closest to the road was also under renovation!
Zhang Yuan went up to ask again and found out that a bar was going to open there. Judging from the size of the storefront and the luxurious nature of the renovations, this bar was not a small one!
Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but look at Mr. Pei with eyes full of reverence.
Mr. Pei’s business vision was truly exceptional!
Just a few days ago, he had said that the commercial environment here would develop rapidly and become Jinzhou City’s next popular commercial district. And sure enough, a few days later, someone came to invest!
Although at present this area still looked cold and deserted with few visitors, as long as the supporting facilities could keep up, it would gradually become lively.
By then, having a high-end restaurant here, where customers could go to the bar at the entrance for a few drinks after dinner, would suddenly make it much more attractive!
Mr. Pei’s vision was indeed as sharp as ever; everything was within his grasp!
Meanwhile, the corner of Pei Qian’s mouth was twitching slightly.
Who the hell was this???
I finally found a quiet place, and you come over to mess things up? What’s that supposed to mean?
This place is already so deserted, yet you’re still investing money here, setting up coffee shops and bars. Aren’t you afraid of losing money?
If I lose money, the system compensates me, but if you lose money, isn’t it a pure loss?
Harming others and yourself—simply ridiculous!
Pei Qian was speechless. I just wanted to find a quiet place to lose money peacefully; how is it that people are coming to join the excitement even here?
The key issue was that, with both a bar and a coffee shop nearby, there was a real possibility of attracting some customers from Mingyun Villa.
Putting his high-end restaurant in this place would make it too easy to expose!
Later, if people finished drinking and wanted to wander around nearby, what if they stumbled upon his restaurant?
That would unnecessarily increase the customer flow!
Who the hell was so bored that they would invest money in this place…
Pei Qian suddenly remembered something and immediately had a moment of clarity.
Oh, it must be the person who had been probing for information about Slackin’ Internet Café!
He took my false intelligence seriously!
He probably truly believed that the area around the Mingyun Villa store was about to boom, so he came here to invest in opening shops, thinking he would make a fortune in the future.
Pei Qian couldn’t help but remark inwardly, “Brother, you moved quite quickly…”
“I just released this false information not long ago, and you’ve already taken the bait. You must trust me…”
The confusion on Pei Qian’s face quickly turned into a smile.
If that’s the case, I couldn’t ask for more!
You’re coming here to burn money opening shops, diverting customer flow from Slackin’ Internet Café, you’re simply burning yourself to light my way!
Although it caused some interference with the location of my high-end restaurant, increasing the risk of exposure, it didn’t matter. I haven’t finalized this location yet, so I can just change to another place!
Pei Qian directly abandoned the current site and continued walking forward.
Ma Yang immediately followed, while Zhang Yuan was a bit confused, looking at the bar under renovation and then at Mr. Pei resolutely leaving, feeling somewhat at a loss.
After hesitating for a moment, he took a couple of quick steps to catch up.
What does this mean?
Wouldn’t more shops in this area be better for our restaurant? Shouldn’t we finalize this location right away?
Why did Mr. Pei walk away without looking back?
Despite his confusion, he didn’t dare to ask and just silently followed behind.