Chapter 1446 Zoo Inspection (Bonus Chapter)

Gao Ming sighed, feeling a bit unlucky.

How did he get targeted by Tenda, by President Pei?

Now, many internet companies in China are living in constant fear, afraid of being targeted by Tenda.

Because once you're targeted by Tenda, whether you're a big company or a small one, you're in for a rough ride!

What's even more outrageous is that Tenda's ambitions are now completely out in the open. Before, they were just dabbling in areas around games, doing things like internet cafes and esports, which didn't seem to directly compete or clash with many internet giants.

But now it's different, the game has changed!

Tenda's strategy has completely shifted, starting with games and then influencing reality!

"Property Broker Simulator" and "Safe and Civilized Driving" are basically a declaration of war.

The key is that many seemingly powerful giant companies have suddenly become vulnerable, completely unable to counter!

"President Pei is truly a terrifying person..."

Gao Ming couldn't help but sigh, battling President Pei was like a nightmare.

Because you never know what move he's going to make next!

This matter seems to have nothing to do with President Pei. After all, Zhihang Studio is just a VR game company funded by Tenda and Shenhua, and it operates independently. And Sloth Apartments is just a sub-brand under Tenda, and it basically has its own development plans.

But the change in the Sloth Apartments model, this method of using games to influence reality, how could that be separated from President Pei?

To say that this wasn't President Pei's instruction behind the scenes, Gao Ming would absolutely not believe it!

But knowing that doesn't help. President Pei is too strong, he doesn't make a move until he's sure he'll win. Other companies can only lie flat when they encounter this situation.

Of course, saying "lie flat" only applies to Sloth Apartments; they need to come down harder on other companies!

After much deliberation, Gao Ming provided the higher-ups with a countermeasure.

Sloth Apartments is coming on strong, with Shenhua Real Estate and "Property Broker Simulator" as two major weapons. A turnaround in the short term is impossible. If Sloth Apartments is allowed to continue taking the high-end market that originally belonged to Zhujia Group, then market share and profits will inevitably decline, and the stock price will follow suit...

This is absolutely unacceptable.

So, Gao Ming came up with a plan to snatch business from other small and medium-sized agencies!

Although Zhujia Group is currently the largest rental platform in the country, its market share is only a little over 60%. There are still some other rental brands and countless small agencies on the market.

These people also have a lot of customers and listings.

For Zhujia Group, the high-end market is probably impossible to beat Sloth Apartments. They can't go up, but they can go down.

As long as they can squeeze out these other small agency companies, then market share and profits can be stabilized!

Of course, this can only be said to be a last resort. Because once the strategic focus is adjusted downward, then, with Sloth Apartments deeply cultivating the high-end market, the gap in the high-end market and reputation between the two companies will only widen, and there may never be a chance to turn things around in the future.

But there's no choice; Zhujia Group has no better option.

Should they fight Sloth Apartments head-on in the high-end market now, and then do useless work, leading to further declines in market share and stock price, allowing those small agency companies to take advantage of the situation? Or should they give up fighting Sloth Apartments and snatch customers from those small agencies to maintain market share and stock price?

This is a difficult choice, but after struggling for so long, Zhujia Group has realized that the former is impossible and can only choose the latter.

If there are no accidents, Gao Ming's plan should be approved soon.

"Ah, if only there was no President Pei in this world..."

Gao Ming felt that there should be quite a few company bosses who had the same thought as him.

...

At the same time, Pei Qian, the "culprit" of everything, was at home, trying hard to resist the temptation of the big TV while continuing to conceive his graduation thesis.

On weekdays, he goes to the office to write his thesis, where he's a little more efficient.

But there's no way, today is the weekend, and the office is closed.

Although Pei Qian can come and go as he pleases, as the boss, he can't set a bad example for his employees!

If everyone sees that President Pei is working overtime, they'll think that the wind has changed! And start coming in to work overtime, that would be a disaster.

"Damn! It's impossible to concentrate on the weekends!"

After struggling for a while, Pei Qian reluctantly gave up resisting.

He'll deal with the thesis on Monday.

However, he didn't succumb to the temptation of the big TV and game console. Instead, he began to consider arranging something meaningful for the weekend, such as finalizing the zoo matter that had been dragging on for a long time.

In fact, the assessment of candidates for the position of zoo director has been going on for some time, and Liang Qingfan has also given a lot of advice on the location and structure of the zoo.

But Pei Qian hasn't really made a final decision because he's been busy writing his thesis during the week.

Now that it's the weekend and he doesn't feel like writing his thesis, he might as well take two days to quickly finalize the zoo matter, so he doesn't have to keep thinking about it.

After all, the zoo project is a top priority for spending money quickly.

After lunch, Xiao Sun picked up Pei Qian and headed to a private zoo in a county-level city near Jingzhou.

This private zoo itself is nothing special. The main reason why Pei Qian came all the way here was to assess the zoo's director.

After a long car ride of more than an hour, they finally arrived.

"President Pei, we're here," Xiao Sun said.

Pei Qian had already slept twice in the car before turning his head to look out the window.

Good heavens, this place is even more desolate than he imagined.

Of course, saying it's desolate might not be quite right, because this place looks like a very ordinary suburban area of a small county town. It's not deserted, and there's a small market nearby, which is still quite lively.

Pei Qian feels that this place is desolate, mainly because he has a preconceived notion.

Before, he heard that this was a private zoo that a retired veteran had built entirely by himself, and he figured that even if it was worse than the small zoos in some no-name cities, it shouldn't be that bad, right?

Now it seems that he was lacking in imagination.

The entrance to the zoo is quite simple, without even a gate. There's a wooden table on top of three or four concrete steps, and a handwritten sign hangs on the table, saying that the original ticket price is 20 yuan, and half price for children is 10 yuan. On the outer walls on both sides of the entrance, one side has a faded animal poster, and the other side has some precautions after entering.

The white paint on the walls has peeled off, exposing the cement pillars on one side, and the other side has become mottled. It looks like it's been around for twenty or thirty years.

This is also consistent with the information Pei Qian learned: this private zoo was founded by a veteran named Tan Yingjiu around 1979 and has been around for thirty years.

Sitting behind the sign was a man who looked to be in his thirties. He hurried to his feet when he saw Pei Qian and Xiao Sun. "Hello, are you President Pei? I'm Tan Xinzhang, the director, Tan Yingjiu, is my father."

When assessing candidates, someone from Tenda had already come before. Xiao Sun also made a special phone call before coming today, so Tan Xinzhang was waiting outside.

Tan Xinzhang never expected President Pei to come in person.

When Tenda's staff came to learn about the situation before, they just asked casually and didn't explain their specific intentions. Tan Xinzhang felt that a big company like Tenda couldn't possibly have any interaction with a small zoo like his.

At most, they might organize individual employees to visit, which would already be a great support.

Therefore, Tan Xinzhang didn't take it to heart at all.

It wasn't until Xiao Sun called today that Tan Xinzhang knew that President Pei was coming.

Pei Qian shook hands with Tan Xinzhang and took a look at him up and down.

Well, he's burly and strong, and he must have done a lot of work in this zoo.

If something really happens, it shouldn't be difficult to subdue ordinary animals.

"President Pei, please come inside. Our zoo's conditions are very simple, please forgive us."

Tan Xinzhang led Pei Qian and Xiao Sun inside, introducing the history of the private zoo as they walked.

"My father served in the army when he was young. He retired in 1979 and was originally assigned to work in a movie theater. But he didn't like this kind of work. In his words, he often remembered the instructions of the leaders in the army: after returning to his hometown, he should do something meaningful for the local people."

"My father thought, what is something meaningful?"

"We're just a small county town. The entire urban area is only less than 50,000 people, closed off and backward, without a zoo. The citizens have only seen domestic animals like cats and dogs, and have never seen or recognized wild animals at all."

"So my father had the idea of opening a zoo. At first, he simply hoped that people in our county could observe and understand wild animals up close, and that people who like to eat wild game would kill fewer wild animals. He thought this was something meaningful."

"Then my father tried it out, exhibiting a small number of wild animals in a vacant space, and it was warmly welcomed. So in 1988, my father opened a formal private zoo in this place at his own expense, and he's been doing it for thirty years."

"Currently, there are basically about twenty kinds of animals in my zoo, such as pythons, black bears, crocodiles, and macaques, as well as relatively common animals such as Tibetan mastiffs and mules."

"When it was most popular, we also raised lions and ostriches, but later there were fewer and fewer people and the expenses were high, so we had to transfer them to Jingzhou Zoo."

"Now, we only raise pythons, crocodiles, and macaques, which are relatively easy to raise."

As Tan Xinzhang introduced, he led Pei Qian to visit the animals.

Although Pei Qian had made some mental preparations before coming, he was still a little shocked when he saw the conditions here.

The so-called animal pens are just a few small bungalows. Some have fences, some have glass. Wild animals such as pythons and macaques are kept indoors, while animals such as Tibetan mastiffs and mules are kept directly outdoors.

An old man with white hair and a hunched back, who looked to be in his seventies, was carefully feeding the animals and cleaning.