You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

Chapter 241: Following Mr. Lu will definitely give you good food (2 in 1 order required)

Mr. Cao sighed inwardly, a wave of emotion welling up in his heart. He hadn't expected that Mao Zhiming would change so much in just a few days, and he couldn't help but feel that his previous judgment was too hasty.

He silently admired Mr. Lu's skills.

It seems that the desolation of Mao Zhiming that he saw before was just an appearance.
The series of game collaborations and store exploration activities must have been arranged in advance by President Lu.

He deliberately showed his vulnerable side to the surrounding Liu Group stores, letting them relax their vigilance and not to block them during the critical linkage activity period.
Then he attacked unexpectedly and killed with one strike!

Now, even if other stores react and want to adopt blocking strategies, it is too late.

With the roads so congested now, it would be difficult for them to even go out.

Mr. Cao rubbed his weathered face and sighed.

His previous intelligence gathering was too superficial. He did not have a deep understanding of Mao Zhiming's potential, nor did he have insight into Mr. Lu's true strategy.

Just then, a message came from the chat group of [Huaxia Investors Club], and someone @ him in the group again.

Mr. Zhao from Tianyou Capital: "Mr. Cao, why haven't you been active lately? Have you discovered some new investment opportunities and are quietly making a fortune?"

Yingchuang Fund - Mr. Zhang: "That's where you're wrong."

Win-Win Era - Mr. Qian: "Mr. Cao, are you dissatisfied with the fact that we guys have been grabbing more red envelopes than you recently? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have sent you a few more targeted ones next time, hahahaha."

Mr. Cao did not respond to the CEOs’ jokes, but replied in the group quite seriously:

"Everyone, do you think that the current offline physical cat cafes are viable?"

Tianyou Capital - Mr. Zhao: "Mr. Cao, why are you so depressed?"

Mr. Liu from Qizhi Investment:
"The current environment generally tends to favor online consumption, and physical restaurants are on the decline. Cat cafes, as a variant of coffee shops, target a narrower consumer group.

There are extremely high requirements for the store location, nearby business districts, and product design.

The veterans in our group don’t dare to say that investing in physical catering will definitely succeed.
Lao Cao, you don’t really want to open a physical store, do you?

Mr. Cao:
"I would like to ask all the CEOs, if, I mean if, there is a cafe with cat petting as its theme,
The chosen business district is also the University Town business district with weak consumer spending power. What's worse, this store is surrounded by Liu's Commercial Plaza."

"Liu Group?"

When the bosses in the investment group heard this name, they all changed color.

Mr. Zhao: "Then it's over. It's definitely the end of the world."

Mr. Liu: "Bissa, without a doubt."

Mr. Cao silently took a picture of the crowded scene at the entrance of Maozhiming, and then posted it in the group.

The group was silent for a full five minutes, and then all kinds of messages began to flood the screen.

"!!!!!!"

"??????"

Some CEOs, having completely forgotten their identities, couldn't help but swear: "What the hell? This customer flow is ridiculous! What kind of magical business district is this?"

Mr. Zhang: "Good fellow, it turns out that Mr. Cao really has made a fortune quietly. What incredible golden land have you found? Come and lead the brothers."

Mr. Cao replied with a wry smile, "This shop is not mine. It was bought by Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township."

Mr. Li was stunned. "Mr. Lu? Is he the idiot who bought your Dark Horse Animation?"

Mr. Cao: "No, no, no, no, what a big jerk! You're actually slandering me, aren't you? Gong Qijun and his group are earning tens of millions in copyright fees every month. You're bringing up all sorts of issues. My heart bleeds."

Mr. Zhao: "Mr. Lu? Oh... yeah, yeah, I remember him. He's a big star on TV right now. The guests are all praising him like crazy, saying he's the leader of the new generation of entrepreneurs, and that he can plan and win battles from afar. I saw that episode, and he was praised like a genius!"

Mr. Cao then shared in detail in the group about his recent tracking of Mao Zhiming.

Mr. Qian: "I just checked out Weibo and some reports. It's really hot. Judging by how popular this Mao Zhi Ming is, the TV show guest certainly wasn't exaggerating."

For these investors who have been working in the physical industry for many years, it is almost an impossible miracle to bring a cat cafe that was besieged by the Liu Group to the current level of customer traffic!
Mr. Cao quickly interrupted everyone's heated discussion:
“No more words, brothers, here comes your chance to make a fortune.

Let me assure you all that I have been investigating Mr. Lu’s Taoyuan Township recently and would also like to seek opportunities to invest in this company.

However, Mr. Lu holds 100% of Taoyuan Township's shares and enjoys absolute control. Moreover, the company's revenue and cash flow are quite healthy, so it is basically impossible for him to acquire shares.

but!

We can leverage our professional strengths to learn and replicate Mr. Lu’s business model!"

The big guys in the group instantly became excited!

Mr. Zhao:
"Old Cao is right. First of all, regarding the business district and location, Mr. Lu must have a reason for choosing this place.

Although, with my current limited knowledge, I still cannot understand the uniqueness of Mr. Lu's vision, and he certainly won't share his own methodology with us,

but!

We can follow their example.

Wherever Mr. Lu opens a store, we will open a store there too. We must follow suit!"

Mr. Qian:
"The success of Maozhiming is partly due to its collaboration with gaming products. Although we don't have a good gaming company, we do have many film and television companies and cultural companies with good IPs.

We can definitely collaborate with film and television companies and start targeting other catering projects, such as barbecue restaurants, milk tea shops, cake shops, and spicy hot pot restaurants.”

Mr. Liu:
"Bosses, I think the business model is secondary.
Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township personally taught us a lesson through his own shop:
Although the Liu Group is a giant, it is not invincible!

Think back to when we mentioned the Liu Group just now. Our subconscious reaction was to avoid it, because in the competition in the business circles of many cities over the years, we have been beaten to a pulp by the Liu Group.

This is bad!

And Mr. Lu, he broke the Liu Group's invincible business myth."

Seeing that everyone had made up their minds, Mr. Cao made a direct summary:

"Let's take a step back and say that even if our own collaboration fails, as long as we open a business near Mr. Lu's store and take advantage of his customer flow, we can make a lot of money. If we follow Mr. Lu, it seems like there will definitely be something to eat!"

……

In the following days, many new and unfamiliar faces began to appear in the business district outside the University Town Commercial Street.

They wandered around various shops that were on the verge of bankruptcy and transfer under pressure from the Liu Group, and bought things without thinking.

Soon, many nearby restaurants reintegrated their resources and began operating on a large scale.

Many restaurants have also released announcements about their own catering brands collaborating with various movies, TV series, and novels!

For example, Huihuang BBQ Catering Group, a subsidiary of Huihuang Investment Fund, will collaborate with the well-known director's documentary "A String of Life".

Shunfeng Hotpot Chain, a subsidiary of Shunwei Investment Fund, will collaborate with the well-known art film "Hotpot Life".

Tiantian Fruit Garden, a chain of salad fast food restaurants under Tianyou Capital, will collaborate with the recently popular online drama "The Story of the Fruit Shop".

And, most importantly,

The flagship stores for these joint activities are all located in the Jianghai University Town business district, surrounding the Liu's Commercial Plaza!

……

Liu's Commercial Company's office, Manager Sun's office.

Manager Sun sat behind his large desk, looking at the messy customer flow report on the table, feeling extremely heavy-hearted.

He didn't expect that Mao Zhiming's counterattack would come so swiftly.

On the wall-mounted TV in the office, various cute pets and food celebrities’ store exploration vlogs are played.

After a long pause, he rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Recently, a lot of the traffic attracted by Liu's Commercial Plaza has gone to Maozhiming.
He worked hard for the commercial plaza for more than half a month, but all the benefits were taken away by Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township!

What's even more outrageous is that this business district, which originally had insufficient consumption power, was not considered a good place in the eyes of many investors.
The Liu Group also wants to take over this place, slowly and carefully cultivate it, and hope to recover the investment in five years.

As a result, recently, those bigwigs in the investment and catering circles, for some unknown reason, have been desperately trying to squeeze in here, sandwiching Liu's Commercial Plaza in the middle and completely buying it up! In other words, it's not just Mr. Lu's Cat Tea that's here to reap the benefits, but also the new restaurants of these bigwigs in the investment circle.

"What on earth is going on with you guys..."

Manager Sun felt a splitting headache and was about to pick up the remote control to turn off the TV when suddenly, the "Jianghai Financial Observation" program on TV started playing.

"Dear viewers, I'm field reporter Li Wen. Today, we're bringing you a business miracle. Yes, it's the Cat Tea that's been causing a stir in Jianghai University Town lately."

The screen shows images of Mao Zhiming, a bustling commercial plaza, crowds of people, and cat girls COS photos, making this place a dream check-in destination for young people.

Li Wen: "How did Cat Tea do it? We interviewed Lin Ming, the head of operations at Cat Tea."

Miss Lin Ming was still a little nervous when facing the camera. It was obvious that she was reciting the lines she had prepared in advance:

"Well, we hope to create a unique entertainment space. By combining games and dining, customers can not only enjoy delicious food, but also experience the unique cat culture... and resonate with each other emotionally."

Li Wen: "Did you formulate all these strategies?"

Lin Ming quickly waved his hands:
"No, no, no, no, no, I'm just an executor. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but our store was facing bankruptcy not long ago. It was Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township who was willing to take it over and sent professional game developers to work with us on this joint event."

Perhaps seeing that Lin Ming was a little nervous, the reporter did not embarrass her any further and ended the conversation quickly.

Li Wen: "In fact, this unique joint event has also attracted many investors, and they have all turned their attention to this commercial plaza.

As you can see, recently not only Taoyuan Township's Mao Zhi Ming has entered the market, but also catering brands under Huihuang Investment Fund, Shunwei Investment Fund, and Tianyou Capital have successively entered the market."

The scene switches to the outskirts of the commercial plaza, where posters of various joint activities appear one after another and people walk in one after another.

Li Wen: "The excitement at the event is evident. Why do so many investors choose this place?"

Then, clips of telephone interviews with the bigwigs were played on the screen.

President of Qizhi Investment Fund:

"We've seen the successful business model of Mao Zhiming, and coupled with the mature business district of University Town Commercial Plaza, we believe it will be an ideal location for our business expansion."

General Manager of Shunwei Investment Fund:
"By collaborating with renowned film and television productions, we hope to provide customers with a more diverse experience and elevate dining to a form of cultural expression."

Mr. Cao, Chairman of Huihuang Fund:
"It wasn't until I got to know Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township that I realized we were still a bit underdeveloped as investors. Mr. Lu's business model could very well revolutionize the restaurant industry."

……

After watching this show, Manager Sun slumped in his boss chair, feeling a chill on his back.

Case solved!
In his mind, he began to recall various details of the previous incident.

First, when he was reporting to Liu Lan over the phone, he inadvertently realized that the Liu Group seemed to have had one or two rounds of competition with Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township in other fields in the past, and the group did not gain any advantage.

Secondly, when the plan for the University Town Commercial Plaza was being promoted, Taoyuan Township did not make any major moves. President Lu just let the Liu Group invest a lot of financial and human resources to attract customers.

But when only a few holdouts, Mao Zhiming, were left, Mr. Lu suddenly took an unreasonable action and acquired Mao Zhiming.

Afterwards, although Maozhiming was being pressed hard by stores in the commercial plaza, President Lu remained calm and continued to allow the Liu Group to carry out various commercial promotions to attract customers.

Finally, when the passenger flow of Liu's Plaza gradually matures,
Mr. Lu suddenly released a killer move related to the game collaboration, which brought in a huge wave of traffic!
String it all together!

It turns out that Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township had planned all of this from the very beginning!
He and Liu's Commercial Plaza have long been each other's prey.

He could even convince most of the bigwigs in China's investment circle to come out and reap the benefits together!

What kind of background does Mr. Lu have to have such a wide network of contacts?
How much power is behind him?
Manager Sun thought about the recent scandal between President Lu and Miss Liu Mengyuan, the daughter of the Liu Group, which he had heard from people within the group. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he felt like he was falling into an ice cellar.

That’s right, if a man didn’t have some background and strength, which man would dare to seduce the daughter of the Liu Group?

He has both background power and cunning means, and his actions are quick, accurate and ruthless!
Fortunately, I haven't had any direct conflicts or disagreements with Mr. Lu...

……

Just as he was thinking this with fear, several managers from the acquisition department came in to report on their work.

These people usually buy other people's shops in a show of force, and they have a bit of a ruffian temperament.

After coming in, he just found a place to sit and opened the bottle of mineral water on the table and drank it carelessly.

After all, it was his own dog and it was still useful, so Manager Sun just let them do as they pleased.

The acquisition manager glanced at the TV and casually complained:

"Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township? Hey, we just met him at Cat Tea not long ago."

"Hmm?" Manager Sun raised his eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"Hey, it's nothing serious. We just wanted to scare the girl who runs Mao Zhiming. She was already wavering, but unexpectedly, Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township suddenly intervened and acquired Mao Zhiming at a premium.

We guys didn't treat him well at the time and sternly warned him to just wait and see. Before leaving, we lined up our Audi A6s and honked our horns to scare the customers in the store. The frightened expression on the young store manager's face was hilarious.

As he said this, several of his deputies also laughed shamelessly.

At this time, Manager Sun's face had turned the color of liver.

He picked up the teacup on the table and poured it on the other person's head, soaking him like a drowned chicken.

The other party was confused: "Mr. Sun...what's wrong with you?"

Manager Sun was still not satisfied, so he picked up the folder on the table and hit the other person on the head.

"you!"

Bang!

"What the hell!"

Bang!

"You've become more capable, haven't you?"

Bang!

The purchasing manager was stunned by the slap. The small eyes under Wu Ke's big head were full of grievances:

"Manager Sun, what did we do wrong?"

Manager Sun laughed in anger:
"Do you know the background of Mr. Lu from Taoyuan Township? How dare you offend him like this?
Let me put it this way, he is not afraid at all when facing Liu Group and our Chairman Liu.
Moreover, facing those old monsters of the Liu family, he dared to sleep with the Liu family's precious granddaughter.

What's more, he knows half of China's investment circle!

Do you know what expressions those big guys, who are not wealthy people with several small goals in wealth, had when they were talking about President Lu on the TV show just now?
worship!

Unparalleled worship!
You're still driving your broken A6 to cause trouble for others,
You won’t even know how you died when you die!”

The purchasing manager then realized that he had caused trouble and offended someone he couldn't afford to offend. He cried out:
"But why would a big shot of this level insist on opening a small cat cafe?"

Manager Sun rolled his eyes and said, "They're just here to experience life, what's it to you?"

The purchasing manager suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Mr. Lu was willing to pay double the premium to snatch Mao Zhiming. He was not a sucker, he simply didn't care about the money!

"Manager Sun, then, then what should I do?"

"What else can I do? Go to Mao Zhi Ming and apologize to that little girl!"

After scolding them, Manager Sun watched these idiots leave, then sat back in his chair to calm down.

Although he is an employee of Liu Group, he no longer wants to make a hasty decision on competing with Mao Zhiming.

To put it bluntly, by that time the mother-in-law and son-in-law might still have a harmonious relationship. If you charge into battle foolishly, won't you become a complete clown?

It's just a job, why risk your life for it?

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated and prepared to send an email to Liu Lan to report and send this hot potato to the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)