Chapter 1 Sending Off

After seeing Meng Chang off, it was almost noon.

Pei Qian finished his "Food & Harmony" work meal and wrapped himself in a small blanket in his office for a short nap. He felt that after smoothing out the situation of each department in the afternoon, he could slip away.

With only a month left before the settlement, the real battle was yet to come.

For now… he needed to recharge his batteries. How could he burn money properly without energy?

However, Pei Qian hadn't been awake for long when his phone rang.

It was Zhang Yahui, the person in charge of the snack market.

"President Pei, I have something to report to you. So far, all the preliminary preparations for the snack market have finally been completed. We originally planned to officially open for business the day after tomorrow."

"Knowing that you're very busy, I haven't asked for your instructions on this matter too much. Now that we're about to open for business, do you want to come over and take a look, give some guidance? To avoid any problems when the time comes."

Pei Qian was planning to leave work on time at 2 PM, but after hearing Zhang Yahui's words, he could only sigh silently.

"Sigh, it looks like I have to work overtime again today."

Since the snack market project was initiated, Pei Qian had completely become a hands-off shopkeeper, never asking about it at all.

One reason was that he really had too many things to do and didn't have the time or energy to pay attention. But more importantly, he didn't think this project was a major threat from the bottom of his heart.

Because the original purpose of this snack market was to poach people from Cold Noodles Girl…

Previously, Qi Yan, the person in charge of Cold Noodles Girl, had done a series of operations in the capital, holding a street food competition and hiring excellent stall owners as consultants, and it seemed that she was about to revive Cold Noodles Girl.

If Cold Noodles Girl became popular, that would be terrible.

Because Cold Noodles Girl was a fast-food model, it could be operated as a chain. Once one store became popular, Qi Yan would definitely open more branches. Once this model got rolling, it would make too much money!

Pei Qian didn't want to repeat the tragedy of physical stores like Touching Fish Internet Cafe and Touching Fish Delivery.

So, he came up with a clever idea and decisively created a snack market, poaching all the excellent stall owners from Cold Noodles Girl.

In this way, Cold Noodles Girl would not have these excellent stall owners, and the improvement of its taste would become very slow. The snack market, on the other hand, could not be run as a chain, so there was no need to worry too much about making money.

After all, no matter how awesome a stall owner was, the number of customers they could serve each day was limited. The snack market was only so big. Even if it became popular, how could it turn the world upside down?

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that this project was still stable.

The so-called stability was not to say that it wouldn't be popular, but that it would be like the Nameless Restaurant, even if it became popular, it wouldn't make much money, completely within an acceptable range.

Although he had been a hands-off shopkeeper, now that it was about to open, he still had to go and take a look.

It's better to be safe than sorry. It wouldn't take much time to go and see.

If he found any problems, he could ask Zhang Yahui and the others to seize the time to rectify them before the official opening.

If possible, Pei Qian wouldn't mind delaying the opening of the snack market for a week or two. Anyway, there was still more than a month before the settlement, and the delay wouldn't have much impact. It would also allow him to earn a week or two less.

After agreeing to Zhang Yahui, Pei Qian drank a cup of coffee to refresh himself and then took a car straight to the snack market.

…

The journey to the old industrial area wasn't very far, but there was a bit of traffic, so it took about forty minutes to arrive.

Although the driver, Xiao Sun, had excellent driving skills, the stop-and-go traffic all the way made Pei Qian feel a little dizzy.

He finally recovered after getting out of the car and taking a breath of fresh air.

"So, a developed city can't be without subways!"

Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh.

As the capital of Handong Province, a second-tier city, Jingzhou currently only had a few subway lines, connecting the key locations with the largest traffic, such as the high-speed rail station and the core business district near Yuanda Tiandi shopping mall.

But the current subway coverage rate was still far from enough. The main mode of public transportation was still buses.

In recent years, the economy of Jingzhou and even the whole country had been growing rapidly, and the number of private cars had also been increasing, so the city had naturally become more and more congested.

Currently, Jingzhou didn't have a license plate restriction policy, but if it continued to develop according to the current trend, it would probably not be far from implementing it.

In order to alleviate the traffic situation, Jingzhou was also planning and building elevated roads and more subway lines.

More than a year ago, Jingzhou also announced a batch of subway lines. Although the efficiency from demolition to construction was very high, no matter how high the efficiency was, it would still take a long time for these subway lines to be completed.

Moreover, these subway lines had basically nothing to do with Pei Qian.

Because Pei Qian was very cunning, he had intentionally or unintentionally avoided subway lines when choosing locations for physical stores and other projects.

Of course, there was no way to choose the location of the GPL league, as there were only a few large shopping malls in Jingzhou, and only the multi-purpose hall in Yuanda Tiandi was suitable for long-term competition venues.

But these were not big problems. Anyway, as long as the large projects like Sloth Apartments, which involved buying buildings, could stay away from the current subway line planning in Jingzhou, then there was no problem.

While Pei Qian was thinking about these things, he walked towards the snack market.

However, he had only taken a few steps when he was shocked by the scene in front of him.

This place… was the snack market?

Pei Qian had never been to this place before. He had only heard that the snack market was located in a farmers' market in the old industrial area.

As soon as he heard the two keywords "old industrial area" and "farmers' market," Pei Qian was relieved.

He could imagine what it would be like!

It must be like the vegetable markets in the suburbs of third- and fourth-tier cities or small counties, dirty, messy, and poor, maybe with vegetable leaves all over the floor.

Of course, to be on the safe side, Pei Qian also deliberately searched for pictures of this farmers' market online.

From the pictures, the situation of this place was slightly better than he had imagined. It was relatively clean and hygienic, but it was nothing more than a vegetable market.

Therefore, Pei Qian was completely relieved.

He thought that even if Liang Qingfan was an architect who could turn decay into magic, how magical could he be?

As a result, after getting out of the car and looking up, Pei Qian almost thought he had come to the wrong place.

Did the current state of the snack market have anything in common with the previous vegetable market?

It was completely unrecognizable!

A large number of neon lights composed of strongly contrasting warm and cold colors covered the outer walls. A large number of cyberpunk-style designs made the entire snack market seem to be independent from the entire Jingzhou. Crossing this street was like entering another world.

All kinds of billboards emitted red and green lights, intricate and layered, making full use of the space above.

However, because it was daytime and the sky was only slightly gloomy, not cloudy or rainy, the visual impact of these lights was not very strong.

But from the current state, he could also imagine what the scene would be like at night.

The cyberpunk feel would definitely be off the charts!

Moreover, this kind of setting gave Pei Qian a very strong sense of déjà vu.

Where did this sense of déjà vu come from…

Pei Qian recalled carefully and quickly remembered.

It was the feeling of *A Beautiful Tomorrow*!

Many of the store names and the style of the signs were based on the scenes in *A Beautiful Tomorrow* where the male and female protagonists came to the surface world to eat. Although the structure was not exactly the same, it still gave people a strange sense of déjà vu, as if they had seen this place somewhere!

These were not the most excessive things.

The most excessive thing was that at the entrance of this snack market, there was even a technological racing car model. He didn't know where it was ordered from, but the workmanship was quite detailed, and you could even open the car door and sit inside to take pictures.

Some large domestic electronic toy factories specialize in making these static devices, from racing cars to tanks, and can be imitated, specifically supplying some amusement park projects.

If the requirements are higher, such as strict requirements on the shape design, appearance and interior materials of the entire model, you can also customize it overseas.

These big toys are not cheap, ranging from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand, after all, they have to be airlifted back from overseas if they are customized from overseas.

Although this model cannot be driven, the cost should be more expensive than some entry-level luxury family car brands.

However, for the funds invested in the entire snack market, this money is nothing.

…

Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan had heard that President Pei was coming and were already waiting at the door.

Zhang Yahui asked in a low voice, "Huh, why didn't Brother Bao come today? Wasn't he here all the time before?"

During this period of time, Bao Xu could be said to have been busy with this snack market, racking his brains.

The division of labor among the three of them was very clear: Liang Qingfan was responsible for the layout and division of the entire snack market and the decoration of the general style; Zhang Yahui was responsible for contacting the stall owners, helping them improve the taste of the snacks, so that they could prepare in advance, as well as other communication and coordination work; Bao Xu was responsible for improving the operating mechanism of the entire snack market and proposing various needs.

And Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan unanimously believed that it was Bao Xu who injected soul into the entire snack market with his game design concepts.

Bao Xu put forward many very bold ideas, many of which were so whimsical and imaginative that customers could enjoy the food in the snack market while also gaining some fun.

Bao Xu's contribution was so great, but President Pei came to inspect and he was not there, which was a pity.

Liang Qingfan said, "In my opinion, Bao Xu doesn't plan to compete with us for credit."

"I found out when I traveled with him before that he is actually a very introverted and low-key person."

"He is not very interested in money, nor is he very interested in job promotion. Maybe the only two pleasures are playing games and traveling."

"Although he keeps saying that he doesn't like traveling at all, can a person who doesn't like traveling run out five times out of ten and maintain this enthusiasm and vitality?"