January 9th, Sunday.

A somewhat strange-looking phone booth was set up on the top floor of Huanyu Tiangjie Mall.

This floor mainly housed the cinema, along with some claw machines, bubble tea shops, and other establishments.

The slightly odd phone booth stood against the wall along the path that everyone must take to reach the cinema, easily visible after coming up the escalator.

The phone booth had transparent glass on all four sides with good soundproofing. Above, dedicated ventilation outlets ensured that staying inside for an hour or two wouldn’t feel stuffy.

On the side of the phone booth facing outward, the metal frames on both sides of the glass were wider than in other places, appearing like an intentionally blank space.

This was where Zhang Wang had envisioned artists would express themselves.

As for the other two sides, the left side had a more technological feel, with an electronic display screen visible through the glass displaying a poster that read “Shared Phone Booth Advertising Space Available.”;

The right side was deliberately decorated in a relatively traditional phone booth style, with a vintage-style telephone visible through the glass.

Additionally, through the glass, one could see various items on the table inside, such as a water dispenser, WiFi, a three-port charger, a bookshelf, and so on.

Because preparations weren’t yet complete, planned items such as the jukebox and beverage machine hadn’t been moved in yet.

Soon, quite a few people gathered around.

“What is this?”

“It wasn’t here the last time I came.”

“Doesn’t the advertisement say? Shared Phone Booth Advertising Space Available.”

“Pfft, what is this? A shared phone booth?”

“Hahaha, hilarious! Such a ridiculous project, quick, let’s take a photo to remember it!”

Soon, many people shopping at Huanyu Tiangjie took photos outside the phone booth and posted them on social media with mocking comments.

Many others tried to explore what exactly this phone booth could do.

This was the first and only shared phone booth in Jingzhou, a “prototype” that Zhang Wang had rushed to complete in his workshop in his hometown over the past few days.

The first batch of products ordered from manufacturers hadn’t been delivered yet. To see the effect of this shared phone booth more quickly, Zhang Wang decided to bring over this “prototype” he had made himself to test the waters.

During the moving process, he hired a moving company. Installation was quite convenient, completed in just over an hour.

As one of Jingzhou City’s core commercial areas, Huanyu Tiangjie would certainly guarantee foot traffic. This was also a test to see whether people could accept this new concept.

Soon, a couple took out their phones and scanned the QR code on the phone booth door.

“Damn, so expensive?” The young man was a bit dumbfounded.

After scanning, a rather crude page appeared, obviously hastily made, showing the pricing standard for this shared phone booth:

All facilities inside the phone booth were bundled for use, charged in 15-minute increments, at 10 yuan per 15 minutes.

This was the price of an hour at Slackin’ Internet Café.

Users could quickly log in using social media accounts or phone numbers, but to use it, payment was required first, as the shared phone booth didn’t consider collecting user deposits.

After payment, the phone booth door would automatically open. Once the user entered the phone booth and closed the door, the charging ports, WiFi, and other features inside would be powered on and available for normal use, and timing would begin.

When time was up, if the customer didn’t renew, the equipment inside the phone booth would automatically power off and become unusable.

When customers left the phone booth and closed the door, after detecting that no one was inside, the door would automatically lock.

It could be said that the initial functions were very rudimentary, barely completing the basic functions of a shared phone booth, and the usage process wasn’t particularly convenient.

Moreover, there were many loopholes to exploit. For instance, some people could refuse to leave and continue sitting inside with free hot water, as long as they were thick-skinned enough.

Not only that, but a large portion of the planned items were missing, such as the beverage machine, jukebox, AED, scale, and so on, which were temporarily unavailable.

The beverage machine was missing because the usage issue hadn’t been resolved yet. If customers were allowed unlimited refills, they would lose money, but if each user was limited to only two free cups, special beverage machines would need to be purchased, so for now, only free hot water was available as a substitute.

The jukebox required negotiating cooperation with some singing apps, and the equipment also needed to be purchased uniformly.

As for the AED, it also needed to be purchased and couldn’t be delivered in a short time.

However, Zhang Wang believed that since this was a project under development, it could be gradually improved and enhanced over time.

First, establish a presence and familiarize people with it, then slowly add various functions later.

The first couple who tried scanning the code hesitated outside the shared phone booth for a while before walking away without paying to enter.

The main reason was that they felt they didn’t have an urgent need to enter, and the price was a bit expensive.

Compared to this narrow, cramped glass box, they preferred to find a coffee shop or dessert shop, spend money on two drinks, and sit there to rest.

There were many people taking photos around the phone booth, but as of yet, not a single person had scanned the code and paid.

After taking a few photos, many of the people who had gathered to watch the spectacle dispersed, some going to nearby bubble tea shops to buy drinks, others entering the cinema.

At this moment, another couple arrived in front of the shared phone booth.

The girl’s eyes lit up when she saw the telephone: “Oh, that phone looks cool. Quick, I want to scan the code and go in, you take photos of me!”

The girl decisively scanned the code and entered, picked up the vintage telephone inside the booth, and struck several poses.

The young man stood outside, reluctantly but helplessly holding up his phone, taking photos with “click, click” sounds.

“Alright, I’m done taking photos.”

The young man also entered the phone booth and showed the girl the photos on his phone.

“Hmm… your photography skills still need improvement. Well, these will have to do.”

The girl reluctantly accepted these photos and then turned her attention to the interior of the shared phone booth.

It looked somewhat crude, but still quite sturdy.

“The bookshelf has bestselling novels, comics, there are free paper cups, free hot water…”

After surveying all the items, the girl was silent for a moment: “So I spent ten yuan just to take a few posed photos, sit and rest for a while, and drink two cups of hot water… what a rip-off.”

The young man silently took a comic from the bookshelf: “Just consider it a tax on intelligence.”

The girl: “…Are you saying I lack intelligence?”

…

Diagonally across from the shared phone booth, in a dessert shop.

Zhang Wang and He Desheng sat drinking beverages while constantly monitoring the activity around the shared phone booth.

“It’s been three hours since the mall opened this morning.”

“It’s attracted quite a bit of attention, but the only person who paid was that girl taking posed photos.”

He Desheng sighed softly: “That’s why I suggested earlier that you shouldn’t rush, but wait until all the functions of the shared phone booth are perfected and the artistic design is in place before moving it to a large mall.”

“By bringing a half-finished product here, it would be strange if users accepted it.”

“After all, from what we can see now, this phone booth’s cost-performance ratio is too poor. Once inside, you can only sit and read comics, drink some free hot water, and it costs 10 yuan for just 15 minutes, 40 yuan per hour. With that money, you could spend four hours at Slackin’ Internet Café.”

“More importantly, the beverage machine, jukebox, and so on are all still missing.”

Zhang Wang’s gaze was firm: “It doesn’t matter. Once all the supporting equipment for the shared phone booth is in place, people will understand this pricing.”

“So… how’s the artist situation? I’m more concerned about that.”

He Desheng, shook his head: “I’ve asked around but haven’t found anyone very suitable. After all, Jingzhou isn’t like the capital or Shanghai with so many big names…”

“However, I think Mr. Pei should have a way. Tenda’s main business is making games, after all, so they must be able to contact some well-known artists.”

“But… we’ve almost spent the entire budget. Asking Mr. Pei to spend more money to find an artist, wouldn’t that annoy him…”

Zhang Wang firmly said: “Then I’ll talk to Mr. Pei myself! I believe Mr. Pei will understand.”

He Desheng was silent for a moment: “Yes, that’s true. If you just explain to Mr. Pei what the ultimate form of the planned phone booth will be, I believe Mr. Pei will understand.”

Zhang Wang shook his head: “No, I’m an honest person. I must report truthfully what the project looks like now.”

“Mr. Pei trusts me so much, how could I possibly deceive him?”

“I believe Mr. Pei will appreciate my honesty!”

“Appreciate your honesty… what a naive thought.” He Desheng, covered his face with his hand. “Fine. If this were at Fuhui Capital, you definitely wouldn’t get any money with this attitude.”

“But Mr. Pei has always had unique insight, perhaps he’ll make an exception…”

He Desheng initially wanted to give Zhang Wang some advice, but on second thought, who was he to give advice…

He hadn’t even learned a thousandth of Mr. Pei’s investment philosophy, while Zhang Wang had already created a project that Mr. Pei approved of.

Whatever, it’s not my concern…

He Desheng changed the subject: “The manufacturers responsible for producing the phone booths, the karaoke app, the beverage machine manufacturers, and so on have all responded to me. Once the money is in place, there shouldn’t be any major issues. The first batch of AED defibrillators is also on the way.”

Zhang Wang nodded: “Besides that, this app still needs to be improved.”

“In short, once the artist is in place and all those purchased items arrive, we can announce that the shared phone booth is officially operational!”

“I’ll call Mr. Pei first.”

Zhang Wang took out his phone and called Mr. Pei.

Then, in a calm tone, he reported the current situation of the phone booth in great detail.

…

On the other end of the phone, Pei Qian broke out in a cold sweat when he heard that Zhang Wang had set up the phone booth in a mall.

But soon after, he felt considerably relieved.

According to Zhang Wang, he had modified the structure of the phone booth, making it larger, and placed it in a mall.

However, so far, after being displayed all morning, only one girl had scanned the code for a photo opportunity, earning just 15 yuan.

The initial investment for this phone booth was around 40,000 yuan, with the site rental alone costing nearly 1,000 yuan per month.

Of course, Zhang Wang also briefly mentioned that he was “working hard to improve customers’ consumption experience, and believes results will be seen soon.”

Finally, Zhang Wang got to the main point, hoping that Mr. Pei could help find an artist to paint on the front of the shared phone booth, adding a touch of artistic atmosphere to it.

Hearing this, Pei Qian discovered that the prospects of the shared phone booth were even better than he had imagined!

According to Pei Qian’s original assumption, with an investment of less than 10,000 yuan placed by the roadside, this single phone booth would lose at most just over 10,000 yuan if left for half a year.

In the end, dismantling it and selling the scrap iron and glass might even recover some of the cost.

But at the current rate, if it stayed for half a year, it would lose around 50,000 yuan!

If one phone booth lost that much, what about a hundred?

Thinking of this, Pei Qian felt invigorated and almost decided to immediately allocate 5 million yuan to Zhang Wang, letting him set up a hundred phone booths and go all out!

But on second thought, rationality prevailed over emotion.

Zhang Wang’s statement that he was “working hard to improve customers’ consumption experience, and believes results will be seen soon,” although it sounded like a perfunctory phrase or a deceptive statement to appease leadership and get money, which was very untrustworthy, Pei Qian still felt uneasy.

Because many of his employees had said similar things, and almost all of them had delivered on their promises…

Thinking of this, Pei Qian decisively controlled the devil within his heart, feeling that he shouldn’t readily trust an employee’s one-sided words.

“Take a photo of the shared phone booth as it is now and send it to me.”

A moment later, the photo arrived.

Pei Qian looked at it and found that the phone booth looked quite large, but upon closer inspection, it was very crude.

Moreover, inside was just a table, two fold-up chairs that could be folded against the wall, a few lonely books on the bookshelf, and a very basic water dispenser.

Some people were watching, but obviously, they weren’t interested in entering.

He didn’t lie to me, it is this desolate.

I haven’t misjudged him. Such an honest employee is rare!

Pei Qian was very pleased. Since an artist was mentioned, he had to find a way to meet that need!

Conveniently, Ruan Guangjian was in Jingzhou.

Pei Qian considered: “Let Ruan Guangjian go and paint a large oil painting? The kind that’s two meters tall? Given his current rates, would 50,000 yuan be unreasonable?”

“And no matter how good the painting is, most people will just take photos and observe from outside. It won’t have any direct impact on the income of this shared phone booth.”

“Hmm? If one phone booth costs 50,000, then ten phone booths would be 500,000?”

“This is a great idea!”

Pei Qian originally thought this matter was quite absurd, but after analysis, he found that it was an unexpected joy, a great way to spend money!

Having Ruan Guangjian paint twenty phone booths would instantly cost 1 million yuan.

Even if Ruan Guangjian insisted on charging a friendship price, it would still be 500,000 yuan, right?

The only question was whether the master’s physical condition could withstand it, but Mr. Pei’s money was not a problem.

With this in mind, Pei Qian immediately said, “Alright, I’ll take care of the artist matter.”

“Additionally, I’ll invest another 500,000 yuan. The originally planned 20 phone booths, not a single one can be missed!”