The spacious boss's office featured a display screen embedded in the center of a white porcelain desk.
Isabelle sat by the desk, reaching out to tap the screen. "Customer traffic data," she said, "a graph from opening to now."
A string of graphs immediately popped up on the screen, time on the horizontal axis and number of people on the vertical, showing data for all restaurants in the fourteen towns.
On the first day of opening, customer traffic had surged to four thousand!
The second day, it rose again to six thousand!
It continued to climb every day thereafter, peaking and stabilizing at twelve thousand, equivalent to everyone in the city dining out daily. Of course, the reality wasn't that everyone came, but rather that some ate at the restaurants for two or three meals, and others just came in for a drink and left. Regardless, the overall data was impressive.
However, at the end of the data graph, it began to plummet!
On Monday, it dropped to ten thousand.
On Tuesday, a sharp decline, leaving only five thousand!
On Wednesday, yesterday, it plummeted again, falling to a mere one thousand.
Today's data also popped up: 518.
With a total of 14 restaurants, only 518 customers, meaning each restaurant had only 37 diners a day.
Ninety-nine percent of the seats were empty, and the staff were idle. The food printers remained cold, untouched for extended periods.
Isabelle sighed again and again, her face expressionless, numb.
When she first noticed the drop in customer traffic, she had been furious all day, wishing she could strangle someone. But as the data continued to fall for several consecutive days, and her various attempts to revive the customer traffic graph failed, she gradually realized she was raging pointlessly. The anger had vanished, leaving only a deep sense of dejection.
She had genuinely believed she could make a fortune in the restaurant business, but now they had all become zombie restaurants. The reason was that one person had gone head-to-head with her.
The reason for the drastic drop in customer traffic was simple: Jiang Ye's five restaurants had opened simultaneously!
Five restaurants against fourteen, and in the end, Jiang Ye had won by having more forces. And it wasn't a narrow victory, but a complete and utter triumph!
Isabelle knew very well that if things continued this way, she wouldn't be able to repay her loans, and the restaurants would inevitably close, leaving her with nothing.
She had to do something.
She changed into an inconspicuous black dress, put on a mask and sunglasses, left her office, and headed straight for the restaurant across the street.
Jiang Ye's restaurants had been open for several days, but out of pride, she hadn't visited.
Now, there was no other choice. She had to experience firsthand why everyone was flocking to the competition.
As dusk settled, the restaurant building lit up with orange light, its grand facade appearing as if illuminated by the sun.
At the entrance, high steps were surprisingly adorned with a red carpet, and numerous diners were entering and exiting with smiles on their faces.
Isabelle stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at her rival's restaurant, then back at her own small restaurant in the distance. Her spirit immediately faltered. The difference in the buildings was too great; they were not on the same scale at all.
Ascending the steps and entering, she was momentarily stunned.
The aroma of various foods wafted towards her, golden light cascaded from above, and the interior space was as vast as a palace. The overwhelming impression was one word: upscale!
Walking further inside, she looked around. It was indeed a high-end establishment, with ample space, grand decor, and immaculate cleanliness.
High-end had its advantages, but also its drawbacks, such as persistently high prices.
Isabelle immediately had an idea. She could engage in a price war, lowering the prices of her own restaurant's dishes.
Her thought process suddenly halted as she happened to reach a price list at a food serving window.
"So cheap!"
She was dumbfounded, utterly bewildered. Some of the dishes on the price list were also sold in her own restaurant, but the prices here were only half!
"How is this possible? With such high-end decor, why are the dishes so cheap?"
After a brief moment of shock, Isabelle reacted again, thinking that perhaps the portion sizes here were small, adopting a strategy of large plates with small servings.
A few servers happened to pass by with plates. The plates were indeed large, but the food on them was astonishingly abundant, almost spilling over. The portion sizes were about a third larger than those in Isabelle's restaurant.
"Damn it." Isabelle couldn't help but curse.
She calculated in her mind. At the prices of Jiang Ye's restaurant, each dish likely yielded only a few dollars in profit, with margins squeezed to almost nothing. He was using a loss-making strategy to capture the market.
But there was nothing she could do. Isabelle couldn't afford to cut costs. She still had loans to repay, while Jiang Ye had plenty of money. He could afford to be patient and take his time, perhaps raising prices later to become profitable.
Thinking this, Isabelle was so angry she wanted to stomp her foot.
"This is too brutal!
"Having money makes you so arrogant!
"How can he use such despicable tactics!"
At this point, only one option remained: to test the quality of the dishes here.
If the taste of the dishes was mediocre, perhaps she could still compete on flavor.
Fearing recognition, Isabelle cautiously found a window in the furthest corner.
Even though it was the corner window, there were still over a dozen people queuing; the popularity was inexplicably high.
After waiting patiently for a few minutes, it was finally her turn.
"Give me one of everything," Isabelle said generously.
The server stared at her, bewildered. This window only served water.
Isabelle froze, then looked up at the price list. The information on the list made her collapse.
[Free Water Station]
[You can collect 300ml or 500ml of clear water, with options for ice, room temperature, and hot water.]
She turned and left, stamping her feet in anger.
Wandering around, she found another window. This time, Isabelle saw clearly that it was selling proper, substantial dishes.
After queuing for a few minutes, she ordered all the dishes in one go and received a numbered ticket, 677. The server would find this number to deliver the food, and she could sit anywhere.
Isabelle scurried to the top floor of the restaurant, to an inconspicuous small table by the window.
After a short wait, a server arrived.
Plate after plate of substantial dishes were served, a total of twelve plates, filling the entire table. Isabelle kept her head down, and the server didn't pay her much attention. After serving the food, they said, "Enjoy your meal," picked up the numbered ticket, and left.
Isabelle looked around cautiously, ensuring no one was paying attention, then pulled down her mask and began to taste.
After sampling each dish, Isabelle's expression was one of grief and indignation.
"How can it be this delicious!
"There's no justice!
"Such a well-decorated establishment, such low prices, such generous portions, and it's incredibly delicious!"
She was outmatched in every aspect. How could she compete?
She was very angry and wanted to leave, but as she stood up, she hesitated for a few seconds, then couldn't help but sit back down and, pathetically, started eating.
As she ate, she felt miserable, thinking, "Why is it so delicious? Why should it be so delicious? Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Suddenly, someone pulled out a chair and sat beside her.
Isabelle frowned, thinking, "Didn't they see someone was already sitting here?"
As she looked up, she froze.
Jiang Ye was sitting quietly beside her, a smug, infuriating smile on his face.
"How did you know I was here? I was wearing a mask," Isabelle tried to keep her voice calm.
"It's rare to find someone with your figure. Every man notices you. What good is a mask?" Jiang Ye paused. "I plan to acquire your restaurant."
"Dream on!" Isabelle blurted out reflexively.
"Don't rush. Think about it carefully," Jiang Ye maintained his infuriating smile, looking extremely pleased. "You're drowning in debt, and I have plenty of money in my account."
Isabelle was so angry she couldn't speak. She slammed her fist on the table. "You!"
"Surrender, sister. Sell me your restaurant at a low price, and I'll give you a dividend. If you can't beat them, join them. After all this, you have to cooperate with me, don't you?" Jiang Ye calmly dealt cards, like a teacher instructing a student. "After going in circles, you still have to cooperate with me, don't you? What have you learned from this experience, sister?"
"Learned my foot," Isabelle was still furious, but her tone had softened.
"What you should have learned is to always listen to me. Listening to me has never harmed you, but not listening to me is certainly detrimental. If you had let me partner with you earlier, we wouldn't be in this situation today," Jiang Ye smiled and extended his hand. "Let's shake hands and discuss the specific cooperation."
Isabelle glared at him indignantly for a long time, then reached out to slap his hand away.
"Shake hands? What a joke. Tell me, what are your plans?" Her voice was completely resigned.