After Zhang Yuan’s revelation, Pei Qian’s mood was completely ruined.

He had only wanted to come here to play some games, but ended up encountering another employee secretly causing trouble!

Infuriating!

Pei Qian logged off the computer, then sat down in the café area, ordered a cup of coffee, and contemplated life while drinking.

Life was truly difficult!

After careful calculation, Pei Qian realized that currently, only Reverse Wind Logistics and Slackin’ Delivery were still earnestly making losses.

Being backstabbed out of nowhere was too hard to bear.

Pei Qian pondered that before the final accounting, he couldn’t let his guard down and needed to plan ahead.

It was about time to consider the future development of Reverse Wind Logistics and Slackin’ Delivery.

Especially Slackin’ Delivery, which currently relies on Slackin’ Internet Café, so it could only deliver food to areas around the café.

However, Slackin’ Internet Café 1.0 was now making money. Whether it was the commission from selling drinks or the internet usage business, everything was steadily profitable now. The internet café had long turned from a loss to a profit.

Pei Qian considered, why not find an opportunity to separate Slackin’ Delivery?

Try to operate it as a chain restaurant format, where customers could eat at the store or order takeout for delivery.

This way, he could break away from the profitable Slackin’ Internet Café 1.0 and expand Slackin’ Delivery across all of Jingzhou, continuing to lose even more money…

However, he needed to think more about whether there would be any hidden dangers in doing this.

If something went wrong again, causing the originally loss-making Slackin’ Delivery to start making money, that would truly be counterproductive.

Hmm, he needed to plan carefully for the long term.

Pei Qian sipped his coffee while considering.

…

“Mr. Pei seems very leisurely these days.”

“It looks like the haunted house project is going well?”

Pei Qian looked up to see Li Shi holding a cup of coffee, sitting down across from him.

Pei Qian was silent for a moment: “Thanks to Mr. Li, it’s going okay.”

Leisurely? On the surface, it did seem that way.

Progress on the haunted house? No news was the best news.

“What is it, Mr. Li? Are you planning to invest in my haunted house?”

Li Shi laughed awkwardly: “Well… I can consider it, I can consider it.”

He said he could consider it, but in his heart, he thought, “Don’t joke around.”

Li Shi looked at Pei Qian and found that Mr. Pei’s expression was still as calm as ever.

And it wasn’t just calmness; there also seemed to be a hint of boredom.

He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly at how Mr. Pei was always so nonchalant, making him impossible to read.

Today, Li Shi had come with a purpose.

He had initially wanted to exchange pleasantries, but then thought that Mr. Pei wasn’t the type who enjoyed small talk.

Since that was the case, he might as well get straight to the point!

Li Shi pondered for a moment, then said: “Mr. Pei, there’s a project I’d like to collaborate with you on. I wonder if you’re interested.”

Pei Qian showed a polite smile.

A project to collaborate on with me?

A project that Mr. Li had his eye on—that definitely couldn’t be good!

After all, Mr. Li had been in the investment circle for so long. While it couldn’t be said that every investment he made was profitable, his judgment was superior to the average investor, and the probability of profit was high.

Moreover, once bitten, twice shy.

Based on past collaborative experiences, Pei Qian was extremely distrustful of this kind of cooperation model.

Pei Qian sighed: “Mr. Li, when you have a project that’s guaranteed to lose money, I’ll co-invest.”

Li Shi laughed heartily: “Mr. Pei always manages to say such humorous things with such a straight face.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Li Shi continued: “I heard that Mr. Pei’s investment company, just after being established, has heavily invested in a new foreign game company.”

“The prospects are very good!”

“May I ask, Mr. Pei, is this a project that’s guaranteed to lose money?”

Pei Qian: “…”

Your question is so reasonable that I can’t refute it for a moment.

“If I tell you that this project was invested in without my knowledge, would you believe me?” Pei Qian looked at Li Shi very sincerely.

Li Shi laughed again: “Mr. Pei, you’re good in every aspect, but your biggest problem is that you love to deceive people!”

“Ah, I understand. It’s just business talk, and all’s fair in business, right?”

Pei Qian: “…”

Li Shi didn’t want to dwell on this: “Mr. Pei, let’s talk about the real matter.”

“This time, there is a project that sincerely wants to collaborate with you.”

“My two friends and I want to collaborate with you to open a chain of Nameless Restaurants.”

Pei Qian: “?”

A chain of Nameless Restaurants?

One Nameless Restaurant has already made me vomit blood from the profits, and now another one?

You must be a spy sent from a rival company!

Hmm? That’s not right, Mr. Li is already from a rival company…

Pei Qian took a sip of coffee: “Not interested.”

Li Shi: “…Mr. Pei’s rejection is always so direct.”

He hadn’t even explained anything yet, and Mr. Pei had already refused.

Opening another branch, everyone happy and making money together—wasn’t that good?

Moreover, even if he wasn’t interested in collaborating and wanted to keep the profits to himself, there was no need to reject without even hearing the proposal, right?

However, having dealt with Mr. Pei many times, he knew Mr. Pei’s temperament.

Li Shi composed himself: “Mr. Pei, we don’t have any other intentions.”

“Nameless Restaurant is your own business; you can dine there whenever you want. But now, if we want to have a meal there, we have to wait until the month after next…”

“We just want to have a smooth dining experience, that’s all.”

“Is this wish too much to ask?”

Pei Qian: “…”

Can I dine there whenever I want?

Mr. Li, it seems you have a slight misunderstanding about how Mingyun Private Kitchen operates…

I can only eat there five times a month!

But thinking about it, it was indeed the case.

Even Mr. Pei himself found it so difficult to dine there, let alone others.

Now, reservations at Mingyun Private Kitchen were booked up two months in advance, which was simply an unbearable burden for ordinary diners.

Pei Qian sighed lightly: “Mr. Li, you’ve misunderstood me.”

“I’ve never had any intention of keeping it all to myself, never had that thought.”

“Alright, tell me about your proposal.”

Li Shi nodded: “This idea stems from the frustration of not being able to enjoy the delicious food, and in Jingzhou, I’m not the only one with this frustration.”

“Others with strong frustrations include Xue Zhebin and Wang Peng.”

“Mr. Pei should know these two people, right? One is Xue Yuanqing’s only son, a professional second-generation rich, and the other is a co-founder of All-People Reviews.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Know them? I know them too well!

These two were the ones who made Mingyun Private Kitchen famous!

Mr. Pei still clearly remembered what happened that day.

Xue Zhebin, the second-generation rich, was attracted by Zhang Zuting’s Weibo post, and then he brought Wang Peng along.

Wang Peng personally wrote a review for Mingyun Private Kitchen on the All-People Reviews website, and then… There was no “then.”

As for how Mingyun Manor later used Mingyun Private Kitchen as a marketing gimmick, and how Mr. Li seized the opportunity to heat the low prices nearby, causing Slackin’ Internet Café’s Mingyun Manor branch to become popular…

That was a story for another time.

In short, at the mention of these two, Mr. Pei felt his teeth ache with hatred.

And now they wanted to make money together with him?

No way!

Li Shi hadn’t noticed the anomaly in Mr. Pei’s expression and continued: “Mr. Pei, all three of us are loyal customers of Mingyun Private Kitchen!”

“But it can’t be helped; the waiting is too painful!”

“It was still okay when there were fewer people initially, but later, more and more people came.”

“Booking a week in advance is still acceptable, but booking a month in advance is completely different!”

“Originally, we would book restaurants according to our schedule; now we have to schedule our plans around the restaurant’s availability!”

“Now, if we want to book a large business dinner at Mingyun Private Kitchen, we have to plan way ahead, book first, and then, as the reservation date approaches, invite business partners to come to Jingzhou.”

“It’s too inconvenient!!!”

Pei Qian sighed silently.

All he could say was that the three of them were reaping what they had sown…

Indeed, happiness does come from comparison.

Mr. Pei could only book the entire restaurant on the 20th of each month and reserve the largest private room once a week, which already felt very inconvenient.

But Mr. Li and the other two had it worse.

Hearing this, Pei Qian couldn’t help but feel very sympathetic towards these three.

Li Shi continued: “So, the three of us immediately agreed and want to collaborate with Mr. Pei to open another branch of Mingyun Private Kitchen!”

“We’ve already discussed it. The three of us will provide the capital, the staff, and handle the operations. Mr. Pei, you just need to provide the ‘Nameless Restaurant’ brand, and we’ll give you a share of the monthly profits!”

“Or, if Mr. Pei is concerned about the profit prospects, we can also use a franchise fee plus profit-sharing model. We’ll pay an initial franchise fee upfront, just for the golden signboard of ‘Nameless Restaurant’.”

“As for the location, we’ve already selected it. We plan to open it in a shopping mall nearby, which will guarantee foot traffic.”

“In short, the prospects are excellent!”

Pei Qian fell silent.

It sounded like this project was a bit too reliable!

So reliable that he didn’t dare get involved at all…

Pei Qian thought for a moment and spoke with a very sincere tone: “Mr. Li, I truly cannot participate in this project, and the Nameless Restaurant brand isn’t worth much. As long as your dishes are excellent and your service is in place, you can completely create a new high-end dining brand.”

“But, Mr. Li, rest assured, I will support you in spirit!”

“If you encounter any problems during the process of opening the restaurant, you can ask me anytime, and I will certainly tell you everything I know!”

Li Shi sighed lightly: “Alright, Mr. Pei, I understand.”

“If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t easily hand over this golden signboard either.”

“After all, the brand value of Nameless Restaurant is what Mr. Pei has painstakingly created…”

Pei Qian: “…”

Misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding!

But Pei Qian couldn’t explain, so he could only maintain his polite smile.

Li Shi said with slight regret: “Alright, then we’ll have to rely on ourselves. When the restaurant opens, I hope Mr. Pei will come and give it a try!”

Pei Qian nodded vigorously: “Of course, I will go!”

“Not only will I go myself, but I’ll also bring all my employees!”

“Not just once in a while, but frequently!”

Li Shi smiled: “Only Mr. Pei can say pleasantries so sincerely.”

Pei Qian was speechless.

What pleasantries? These were my true feelings!

If you can really open this restaurant and divert some customers from Mingyun Private Kitchen, allowing me to dine anytime without queuing, I would be grateful to you!

Li Shi bid farewell to Pei Qian and turned to leave.

Pei Qian silently sent him his sincere blessings.

“Go for it, Mr. Li, strive to outcompete Mingyun Private Kitchen as soon as possible!”