Chapter 1 Waiting

Another hour passed, stretching into noon.

A young man hovered outside, peering in for quite a while before finally pushing the door open.

A waiter, who had been waiting eagerly, immediately went to greet him.

"Welcome! Are you here to use the internet or have some coffee?"

It sounded a bit silly to ask, but Touching Fish Internet Cafe was indeed a place that combined internet access with food and drink. How else could he ask?

The young man had obviously seen the cool computer setup through the glass and guessed that this was an internet cafe, which was why he came in.

"How much... per hour?"

The waiter answered truthfully, "Ten yuan."

The young man was stunned, thinking he had misheard. "Huh? I'm asking about the regular area, not a private room."

"That's right, sir. The regular area is ten yuan an hour. We don't have any private rooms here."

The young man was speechless. "Do you have any discounts for membership cards?"

"Yes, after you get a membership card, you get ten percent off drinks." The waiter enthusiastically handed him a menu.

The young man glanced at it, and his body visibly swayed.

What the hell!

The front was filled with various drinks and cocktails, all costing forty to fifty yuan a glass.

The back was filled with home-style dishes like scrambled eggs with tomatoes and shredded pork with garlic sauce, which weren't cheap either!

Even with a ten percent discount, he couldn't afford it!

What's more, the membership card for this internet cafe didn't give you a discount on internet access, but it did on drinks. What kind of bizarre operation was that?

The young man coughed twice. "Sorry, my family is poor. Goodbye."

He turned and left.

The waiters looked at each other in dismay.

This...

They really wanted to grab him.

But President Pei had instructed them that service should be as natural as a spring breeze!

Like the feeling of a spring breeze gently brushing your cheek, allowing customers to feel your presence, but not being too intrusive.

So, the waiters had to hold back.

Soon, it was noon, and the flow of people gradually increased.

Quite a few people came to ask about the prices.

As a result, three or four people came, and all of them retreated after hearing the prices, just like the young man before.

Someone even muttered quietly, "Highway robbery!"

Zhang Yuan stood at the bar, ready to show off his bartending skills.

But not a single person ordered a drink, let alone came in to use the internet!

"Brother Qian, this won't do!"

Ma Yang saw it and was anxious.

Such an unlucky start! What should they do?

If it was quiet, no one would come, wouldn't that lead to a vicious cycle?

Pei Qian nodded with a solemn expression.

"Yes, this really won't do."

"Someone, make a sign and post the price list outside!"

"They all come in and ask for the price and then leave, it's outrageous."

"Let them know the prices at the door, so they don't come in and ask and then leave, wasting everyone's feelings!"

"Those who think it's too expensive shouldn't even come in, it's easier for everyone, isn't it?"

Ma Yang was dumbfounded.

Is that what you meant by "really won't do?"

It would be better if you didn't put up a sign. People would come in and ask about the price, and maybe they'd be too embarrassed to leave with the waiters watching. That way, you could still keep some of the customers who were thin-skinned.

But if you put up a sign, people would look at it outside and leave without even coming in!

Wouldn't that drive away some potential customers who were thin-skinned?!

Ma Yang was a little resistant.

Pei Qian saw his hesitation and urged, "Hurry up. Why are you hesitating about something that benefits everyone?"

Ma Yang stood up reluctantly and arranged for someone to make a sign.

Pei Qian continued to drink his coffee.

It seemed like even the ordinary coffee tasted a bit sweeter!

...

In the afternoon, they finally had some customers.

Two young men who looked like rich second generations came together to use the internet. They hesitated for a moment after seeing the prices at the door, but after a little struggle, they still came in and sat down in the internet cafe area.

Several people who looked like white-collar workers sat down in the coffee area and ordered a cup of coffee.

This was also within Pei Qian's expectations.

Although this place wasn't exactly in a business district, it was still next to a marginal business district, only one street away from the shopping mall.

With people coming and going, it was inevitable that some people would come in for a cup of coffee or something.

Even if an internet cafe was priced absurdly high, it couldn't be that there wouldn't be a single customer. That kind of scenario was too good to be true. It wasn't realistic.

Having a few customers was perfectly acceptable.

As long as they could keep it at a certain number, so that the income couldn't cover the costs, that would be fine!

Pei Qian kept an eye on things until evening.

Several people came to drink, and Zhang Yuan also went on stage to sing a couple of songs. The atmosphere was alright.

It wasn't as deserted as during the day, but there were still very few people using the internet cafe.

Pei Qian roughly estimated that this little bit of income probably wasn't enough to fill a tooth.

Excellent!

Everything was going according to plan!

Pei Qian stood up, ready to go back.

Ma Yang was clearly a bit discouraged and looked listless.

Such good computers, such a great environment, but the first day of business was so quiet!

Ma Yang couldn't accept it.

Pei Qian restrained the smile he couldn't suppress and comforted him, "It's okay, it's only the first day. Lao Ma, you have to remember, this is Tengda Group's long-term plan!"

"Don't worry if we lose money for the first three months or half a year! It will slowly get better, understand?"

Ma Yang nodded, but he obviously didn't listen much.

Pei Qian couldn't say too much, so he just patted Ma Yang on the shoulder and left happily.

...

...

March 14th, Sunday.

Evening.

Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang found a table by the window on the second floor and sat down, their faces a bit solemn.

Zhang Yuan held a pen and paper, writing and calculating.

"Rent, 315,000 a month."

"We're using commercial water and electricity, and the cost of water and electricity, various materials, and depreciation, has to be at least ten thousand a month."

"Salaries, all added up, have to be more than 60,000 a month."

"That means that even if our internet cafe does nothing, just the expenses are close to 400,000 a month!"

"Moreover, the initial investment in the internet cafe, these computers, equipment, decoration costs, etc., is also about two million."

"Based on our turnover in these three days, it's not even as good as a small coffee shop of a dozen square meters. According to the current situation..."

"Not to mention breaking even, we're probably losing about 300,000 a month..."

Listening to Zhang Yuan's calculations, Ma Yang's long face turned a little pale.

This is too exaggerated, isn't it?

But after thinking carefully about the business situation in the past few days, the number was reasonable.

There were just too few customers!

The internet cafe had dozens of machines, not to mention being full, there was often a whole row of computers with only one person playing!

And they didn't play for long.

The situation at the coffee shop was only slightly better, with a few more people.

But many people came, ordered a cup of coffee, and sat there all day, not spending much money.

What was even more terrifying was that even so, the coffee area still wasn't even half full, which showed how dismal the business was!

There weren't many people coming to drink at night either. Even when Zhang Yuan went on stage to sing a song, there were very few people cheering or applauding.

It was just a huge embarrassment!

So, Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang had been worried sick these past two days.

Touching Fish Internet Cafe was losing 300,000 yuan a month, which meant that 10,000 yuan disappeared every day without them doing anything.

This was simply a bottomless pit!

How much money could withstand that kind of spending?

Zhang Yuan said, "Brother Ma, you have a good relationship with President Pei. Should you tell him that we can't continue like this? We have to think of a way."

Ma Yang said with a bitter face, "Brother Qian told us to be calm and to see how things go after a week, no matter what."

"A week..."

Zhang Yuan looked at the date. Next Sunday was the 21st.

It felt like time was dragging on!

"Well, alright. Since President Pei has said so, then we'll take another look."

"The key is that President Pei also won't let us send people to hand out flyers, and he won't let us lower prices. This..." Zhang Yuan couldn't understand it.

There was clearly still a lot of room for profit!

If they lowered the internet fees a little, made the drinks cheaper, and had an activity for getting a membership card and recharging...

This wasn't an unsolvable problem!

But he didn't know what President Pei was thinking, not letting them do that.

So, Zhang Yuan couldn't do anything about it.

If there was a problem with the pricing, no matter how much they improved other things, it wouldn't work!

"We'll still listen to Brother Qian and see how things go after a week."

Ma Yang didn't think so much. He was only focused on one thing: since Pei Qian had specifically instructed him, he would do it honestly and never act on his own.

"That's all we can do."

Zhang Yuan was a little sad, wondering how many more months he could get his salary of more than ten thousand...