Chapter 1 The Beginning

After saying goodbye to Manager Cui, Pei Qian left Mingyun Villa somewhat blankly and walked towards Moyu Internet Cafe.

A series of blows had left him feeling lost. All he wanted to do now was sit in Moyu Internet Cafe, drink a cocktail, and let the quiet environment soothe his restless mind.

As he walked, Pei Qian vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Wasn't it already evening? Why were there still so many people on the street?

The traffic in the Mingyun Villa area had always been light. Even on Sundays, there weren't many people out at night.

But today, the number of pedestrians on the street had actually increased!

There were groups of two or three people, mostly students, but also some office workers. The number of cars parked on the side of the road seemed to have increased as well!

Looking at the shops on both sides of the street, Pei Qian felt like he had been transported to another world.

When did all of these open?!

In the beginning, there was only Moyu Internet Cafe in this area. Most of the other shops were in a state of half-death, either deserted or already closed.

At that time, Pei Qian had planned to open a Nifeng Inn here and had a hard time choosing a location.

He could pick any shop he wanted, so he directly chose the one with the best location and the largest area.

Because back then, no one wanted to take over these shops. They were all vacant.

But now, even those shops in not-so-good locations had opened new businesses!

And the types of businesses were all kinds of things.

The bars and chess rooms that President Li had opened were now very lively.

Especially the bar; you could hear the music from inside even at the entrance, and you could feel the heat generated by the young people gathered there.

Many of the other shops had been converted into trendy snack shops, selling things like dirty buns, cloud ice cream, meat floss cakes, durian crepe cakes, and so on. They seemed to be doing quite well.

There were also some traditional restaurants, such as pan-fried buns, pot stickers, and soybean milk with fried dough sticks.

There were also milk tea shops, beverage shops, convenience stores, and so on.

What Pei Qian found most unacceptable was that a shop called "Wuming Kitchen" (Nameless Kitchen) had actually opened in a very busy location on the street, and it was full of customers!

Pei Qian almost vomited blood.

What kind of behavior was this?

This was blatant plagiarism!

This was a deliberate attempt to scam consumers who had come from afar!

But there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the name. Strictly speaking, President Pei's restaurant was called "Mingyun Private Kitchen", and its name on Quanmin Dianping was "". The name of their shop was "Wuming Kitchen", so it didn't seem to be infringing on any rights.

Pei Qian was very angry and opened Quanmin Dianping on his phone, wanting to expose this shop.

But when he saw the shop's rating, it was actually 4.3 stars.

He then looked at the consumers' reviews.

"This is a shop that's riding on the popularity of another restaurant, but the food is still decent."

"Wuming Restaurant is good, but it's hard to make a reservation, so I can only make do with this shop."

"I can only say that Wuming Restaurant has made the catering industry here popular. Everyone is riding on the popularity, and I feel like this place will soon develop into a snack street in Jingzhou."

"I don't recommend eating at this shop. I recommend going to Moyu Internet Cafe, where they have very healthy home-style dishes. If you're not full, you can come out and buy some snacks. I highly recommend the dirty buns and cloud ice cream."

"Indeed, this is just an ordinary restaurant. The food at the Moyu Internet Cafe next door might be better."

Pei Qian: "???"

He just wanted to expose this shameless shop that was riding on the popularity of another restaurant, but after looking at the netizens' reviews, he suddenly discovered an even more serious problem.

Who did this?

Who was advertising Moyu Internet Cafe here?

Pei Qian quickly found Moyu Internet Cafe on Quanmin Dianping, and when he saw the rating, his heart instantly sank halfway.

4. 8 stars!

He looked at the netizens' reviews again.

"The machines are great, the internet speed is fast, and it's completely the same standard as the flagship store. Moyu Internet Cafe chain, quality guaranteed!"

"This is my first time here. I didn't expect there to be a Moyu Internet Cafe here. It's a pleasant surprise. The cocktails are very good, the resident singer is also good, and the internet environment goes without saying. I'm as satisfied as ever."

"It's a chain, all internet cafes are non-smoking, the environment is particularly good, and the food is also very good. The recently popular Xingle Internet Cafe looks okay, but it's really nothing compared to this place."

Pei Qian put away his phone, a very bad feeling in his heart.

It seemed like there was a big problem!

Pei Qian quickened his pace, passed through this commercial street, which had been deserted but was now bustling, and arrived at the entrance of Moyu Internet Cafe.

Seeing the scene at the internet cafe, Pei Qian was stunned.

The gaming area of the internet cafe was basically full, with only two or three empty seats.

The bar area was also full of people, and the resident singer on the stage was singing a soothing folk song. People would occasionally go to the bar to order drinks and give tips.

Pei Qian stood at the door, frozen in place.

The waiter at the door saw Pei Qian at a glance and quickly greeted him, "President Pei, you're here! Please come in!"

Recently, Pei Qian had been very busy with many things and hadn't been to Moyu Internet Cafe for over a month.

Although he often went to Mingyun Private Kitchen, he had the driver take him directly there and didn't stop by Moyu Internet Cafe.

Who would have thought that this street would turn out like this!

Without even thinking, Pei Qian knew that President Li must have done this.

Pei Qian's first reaction now was not to look for President Li, but to look for Ma Yang.

Where was Lao Ma?

I entrusted Moyu Internet Cafe to you with such peace of mind. What have you been doing?

You're also the CEO of Moyu Internet Cafe and my most trusted right-hand man. Is this how you're sharing my worries??

Pei Qian's gaze quickly swept across the internet cafe and soon spotted Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan in a corner seat.

Ma Yang was leisurely drinking a cocktail, listening to the melodious folk songs of the singer on stage, with an indescribably contented expression.

Pei Qian was furious. How dare you be so contented!

The waiter quickly came to Ma Yang's side: "President Ma, President Pei is here."

Ma Yang turned his head and a smile instantly bloomed on his long face: "Brother Qian, you're here? Come and sit!"

"Business has gotten better recently, and I've suddenly become a little busy. It's just that school has just started, and I was thinking of waiting until I saw you at school to tell you the good news, but you found out first."

Pei Qian was speechless.

Lao Ma, Lao Ma, you've always been the person I trust the most. How did you let me down too?

"You didn't even tell me that the number of customers at the internet cafe suddenly increased?" Pei Qian was very unhappy.

Ma Yang was stunned: "Huh? Brother Qian, isn't this all within your plan?"

"You said at the last meeting that the Moyu Internet Cafe Mingyun Villa branch was the focus of work for the next period, and then you opened Nifeng Inn here, bought a villa, and opened a private kitchen, weren't you doing all of that to heat up the commercial environment here?"

Zhang Yuan happily added from the side: "Yes, isn't this all within President Pei's plan?"

"I originally thought that you deliberately leaked information to trick President Li into coming here just to make President Li lose some money. Now I realize that I was thinking too simply."

"President Li not only invested money, but also drove other people in Jingzhou's investment circle to invest here. In addition, with the brand effect of Wuming Restaurant, this place was instantly transformed into the 'Jingzhou New Business District' and 'Jingzhou Food Street'. As a result, Moyu Internet Cafe was naturally brought along!"

"In fact, Moyu Internet Cafe's losses before weren't because Moyu Internet Cafe itself was bad, but because there was too little traffic in this area. Now that the traffic problem has been solved, the Mingyun Villa branch has naturally stood out!"

Looking at the two people's excited expressions, Pei Qian was a little speechless.

And he fell into deep self-doubt.

What's going on? Could it be my own problem?

Pei Qian did say that the focus of Moyu Internet Cafe's future development would be on the Mingyun Villa branch, and he did trick President Li into investing, but...

His real purpose was not the same as what everyone thought!

But thinking from Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan's point of view, it seemed reasonable that these two people didn't report to Pei Qian.

Everyone knew that Tengda now had too many businesses and President Pei was very busy, so unless it was a very important matter, they generally wouldn't ask for instructions.

Why did the commercial environment near Mingyun Villa improve this time?

Because of the popularity of Mingyun Private Kitchen;

Because of President Li and Fuhui Capital's investment in this area;

Because President Pei bought a villa in Mingyun Villa, and Mingyun Villa used this to promote itself.

In the final analysis, it was all related to President Pei.

So Moyu Internet Cafe's Mingyun Villa branch became popular. Wasn't this the result that President Pei expected?

Since President Pei had already foreseen it, then what was the need to report such a small matter as the increase in traffic at Moyu Internet Cafe?

"President Pei, your drink."

The waiter had already brought up Pei Qian's favorite Aurora cocktail.

Pei Qian silently took a sip and began to shut himself off.

This time, Lao Ma's performance seemed to be as steady as ever, slacking off from beginning to end and doing nothing.

It seemed that this time, he really couldn't be blamed no matter what...

Pei Qian was both sad and happy.

He was naturally sad that his own business was suffering, that Mingyun Private Kitchen and Moyu Internet Cafe were both making money, and that the villa was about to appreciate in value.

He was happy that Ma Yang was still reliable.

It seemed that the blame was still on himself this time...

Pei Qian silently took a sip of his drink and sighed to himself.

Okay, then let it be my fault.

Ma Yang didn't know that Pei Qian, who was lost in thought, was currently doubting his life. He excitedly asked, "Brother Qian, then have we completely achieved our strategic goal at the Mingyun Villa branch?"

Strategic goal?

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes."

It was more than just completely achieved, it was simply overachieved.

It had completely exceeded my expectations!

Ma Yang smiled triumphantly and continued, "Brother Qian, I told you that I didn't work for nothing as the CEO of Moyu Internet Cafe, right? I can still share your worries!"

"I think that since the least profitable Mingyun Villa branch is already popular, it's about time to expand the market!"

"We should strike while the iron is hot and open more Moyu Internet Cafes in Jingzhou to further capture the market!"

Ma Yang lowered his voice slightly: "President Li's Xingle Internet Cafe has been frantically opening chain stores recently."

"Brother Qian, the high-end internet cafe model was pioneered by Moyu Internet Cafe. We must not be surpassed."

Pei Qian couldn't help but shudder.

Open more stores?

Two profitable internet cafes were already a headache, and more were coming?

Would I be able to lose money properly this cycle?!

Hmm?

Wait a minute.

Pei Qian suddenly realized a problem.

The situation now had changed!

So, should the strategy be adjusted slightly as well?