Super Rich: It all started when I met a young woman in a sleeper car.

The office lights were still on, illuminating the map and tablet spread out on the table.

Chen Xun pointed to a location on the map: "Right here, the east entrance of the University Town Commercial Street. Meet at the entrance at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Received!" Yang Xiaotao immediately raised her hand, like a primary school student actively participating in class.

Lin Xinyue looked down and wrote in the spreadsheet on her tablet: "Nine o'clock, east entrance. Understood."

Li Qian didn't speak, but simply nodded, her purple hair appearing serene under the light.

Chen Xun looked at the three of them: "Remember your tasks. Xin Yue, keep an eye on foot traffic, calculate rent, and try to get on good terms with the local business owners. Li Qian, see if there are any shops that are similar to ours, and find out who's behind them. Xiao Tao, just observe the people, see what they're buying, eating, and talking about."

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Yang Xiaotao shouted again.

Chen Xun waved his hand: "Alright, meeting adjourned. Get some rest, don't be late tomorrow."

The three women packed their things and left.

Chen Xun sat alone in his office, looking at the circled location on the map.

Chain launch.

First stop.

He turned off the main lights, leaving only a small table lamp on.

The light fell on the tabletop, and it was very quiet.

The next day at 8:50 a.m.

The east entrance of the university town's commercial street is already quite lively.

The breakfast stalls smelled delicious, and students strolled by in twos and threes.

When Chen arrived, the three women were already there.

Lin Xinyue was dressed in a neat shirt and jeans, holding a small notebook and pen. Li Qian was still in the same outfit, her purple hair tied in a low ponytail, her eyes scanning the surrounding shop signs. Yang Xiaotao carried a backpack and held a cup of soy milk, looking around curiously.

"Are you all here?" Chen Xun walked over.

"I arrived early," Lin Xinyue said. "I checked, and the foot traffic is okay at this time, but it's not peak yet. Most of the people are in class."

Li Qian pointed to a shop across the street that was under renovation: "That one, the storefront is covered, but the outline looks pretty big. I asked the owner of the milk tea shop next door, and he said it's a 'themed restaurant,' but he doesn't know what the theme is."

Chen Xun looked in the direction she pointed.

The shop's entrance was completely covered by construction tarpaulin, but some decoration materials were piled up at the entrance.

"Let's go take a look," Chen Xun said.

Four people walked over.

Yang Xiaotao peered through a gap in the construction fence: "Wow, it's huge inside! It looks like they're setting up those...school desks?"

Li Qian walked over to a nearby snack shop that was already open and struck up a conversation with the owner: "Boss, could you tell me what that shop across the street does?"

The owner, a middle-aged man, was wiping the table when he looked up at Li Qian and said, "I heard it's some kind of 'campus nostalgia' themed restaurant. The owner is from out of town, he must have a lot of money to rent such a big space."

"Nostalgia for school days?" Lin Xinyue frowned.

"Yes." The boss finished wiping the table, straightened up, and said, "Why are you asking me about this?"

"It's nothing, I was just curious." Li Qian smiled and walked back to Chen Xun's side.

Chen Xun didn't speak, but glanced at the obscured shop a few more times.

【Ding! 】

[Potential investment target detected: Shops at the east entrance of the university town's commercial street.]

[Investment Nature: Site selection for chain expansion.]

[Triggered pre-assessment...]

[Under evaluation...]

[Warning: Highly similar competing products have been detected in this area (theme style similarity estimated at over 85%), and the investors of these competing products are suspected to be from out-of-town capital with considerable financial strength.]

If the chosen location is maintained, the investment risk rating is medium-high.

[Potential return coefficient: Estimated to decrease by 30% due to competition and customer diversion.]

Recommendation: Reassess or adjust the strategy.

The system notification sounded in my mind.

Chen Xun's face remained expressionless.

He turned to the three women and said, "Let's go to the next spot."

"Huh? Not watching anymore?" Yang Xiaotao asked.

"Let's not look anymore," Chen Xun said. "A wolf has taken the pit; let's find another place."

Lin Xinyue immediately understood: "You're afraid you can't win a direct confrontation?"

"It's not that I'm afraid," Chen Xun said as they walked, "it's just that it's unnecessary. We open this shop to make money, not to fight with people. If he does campus nostalgia and we do the same, that's just cutthroat competition. In the end, nobody makes any money."

Li Qian chimed in, "Shall we go to that new commercial district I looked at last time?"

"No." Chen Xun shook his head. "That place has a lot of white-collar workers, so it's suitable for something more sophisticated and business-like. But the theme model we have now is 'nostalgic campus,' and it wouldn't be suitable to just move it there."

"Where to?" Yang Xiaotao asked after finishing the last sip of soy milk.

Chen Xun took out his phone, swiped the map a few times, and then pointed to a location: "Here."

Lin Xinyue leaned closer to look: "The secondary business district in the old city? The customer traffic there... is okay, but it can't compare to the university town and the emerging commercial district."

"As long as the customer traffic is decent," Chen Xun said. "The key thing is, I heard there's an old cinema over there that's not doing well and is being sublet. It's spacious, has a high ceiling, and a lot of room for renovation."

"The cinema?" Li Qian's eyes flickered. "You mean...?"

"Right." Chen Xun put away his phone. "Let's change our approach. Instead of a street-side shop, let's be a destination shop. Opening the shop in a large, distinctive space is an attraction in itself."

"But the renovation budget will skyrocket," Lin Xinyue said immediately. "The structure of a movie theater involves water and electricity renovations, fire protection upgrades, and space division—it all costs money."

"Let's take a look first," Chen Xun said. "We'll decide after we see it."

Four people got into the car.

Yang Xiaotao drove, Lin Xinyue sat in the passenger seat looking at the navigation, and Chen Xun and Li Qian sat in the back seat.

The car headed towards the old town.

On the way, Li Qian suddenly spoke up: "That bubble tea shop that does campus nostalgia might have investors from out of town. I asked the owner, and he said he overheard the construction workers talking, and the owner is from the next province, and it seems to be some kind of catering group."

"The group?" Chen Xun looked at her.

"Hmm." Li Qian nodded. "If it really has a corporate background, then they have no shortage of money or standardized experience. If we go head-to-head, even if we win, we'll be badly hurt."

Chen Xun didn't speak, looking out the window.

The car drove into the old town.

The buildings here are noticeably older, but the streets are wider and the greenery is quite nice.

The old movie theater was located at an intersection. It was a four-story building with old-fashioned ceramic tiles on the exterior, some of which had already peeled off. A large sign hung at the entrance that read "Entire building for rent, price negotiable," with a phone number below it.

The cinema doors were tightly closed, and the glass doors were sealed with tape.

"It looks... a bit run-down." Yang Xiaotao parked the car, got out, and looked up at the cinema building.

"I'm not afraid of being broken," Chen Xun said as he walked over. "What I'm afraid of is lacking uniqueness."

He walked to the door, looked at the seal, then took out his phone and dialed the number on the sign.

The phone rang seven or eight times before it was answered.

A middle-aged man's voice, a little hoarse: "Feed?"

"Hello, I saw the information about subletting the cinema and would like to take a look at the venue," Chen Xun said.

"Now?" the other person asked.

"Is now a convenient time?"

The other person was silent for a few seconds: "Okay. Wait a minute, I'll come open the door. Ten minutes."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Xun put away his phone and said to the three women, "Wait a minute."

Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man wearing an old jacket and with messy hair rode over on an electric scooter.

He got out of the car, took out his keys, unlocked the cinema door, and pushed it open.

"Come in," the man said. "It's dusty inside, be careful."

The four people followed him inside.

The cinema lobby was spacious, with a layer of dust on the floor. The high ceilings had sections of suspended ceiling material that had fallen off. The ticket window remained, its glass shattered. Several massive pillars supported the space.

"There are four floors in total," the man said as he walked. "The first floor is the lobby, the second and third floors are the original screening rooms, and the fourth floor is the office area and equipment room. The total area is about 3,500 square meters. The fire protection system is old and needs to be upgraded. The water and electricity systems also need to be redone."

Chen Xun didn't speak, but walked and looked around.

Lin Xinyue took out her phone and started taking pictures, muttering to herself, "The ceiling height is okay... there are a lot of pillars, but we can utilize them... the fire safety renovation is the main part..."

Li Qian walked to the window and looked at the street and the flow of people outside.

Yang Xiaotao was the most excited. She ran behind the original popcorn counter and pretended to be selling tickets: "Sir, what movie would you like to see?"

Chen Xun ignored her and walked to the man's side: "How much is the rent?"

The man gave a number.

Lin Xinyue immediately did some mental calculations and frowned.

"What about renovation?" Chen Xun asked again. "If I wanted to completely renovate it and turn it into a themed restaurant, how much would it cost?"

The man glanced at Chen Xun: "That depends on what kind of changes you want. A simple renovation will cost a few million. If you want a better one, it'll easily cost tens of millions. Just the fire protection and structural reinforcement alone will cost that much."

He made a gesture.

Lin Xinyue's brows furrowed even more.

"Tens of millions?" she couldn't help but ask. "That's a huge investment. The payback period will be very long."

Li Qian walked over: "But the spatial advantage is also obvious. This sense of openness is something that street-side shops can't provide. If it's renovated well, it can become a landmark experience store, attracting not only customers from the surrounding area, but possibly from the entire city."

"But the risks are also high." Lin Xinyue turned to her, "If we invest tens of millions and the customer traffic is not as expected, the cash flow will collapse. We have money now, but we can't burn it like this."

"So we need to do a feasibility study," Li Qian said. "It's not something you can just decide to do on a whim."

"Feasibility studies also cost money and time," Lin Xinyue said. "And even after the study is completed, the conclusion may still be unacceptable, then the research costs invested in will have been wasted."

The two of them talked back and forth, their voices echoing in the empty hall.

Yang Xiaotao ran out from behind the counter, looked at Lin Xinyue, then at Li Qian, and whispered, "Um... could we renovate in installments?"

Chen Xun looked at her: "Installment payment?"

"That's right," Yang Xiaotao said. "For example, we could renovate the first-floor lobby and part of the second floor first, and open for business then. Once we've made some money, we can gradually renovate the third and fourth floors. Wouldn't that reduce the initial investment?"

Lin Xinyue and Li Qian were both stunned for a moment.

Chen Xun looked at Yang Xiaotao and suddenly smiled.

"That's great, Xiaotao," he said. "That's a good idea."

Yang Xiaotao blushed: "I...I was just thinking nonsense."

"This isn't just wishful thinking," Chen Xun said. "It's practical."

He turned to the middle-aged man: "Boss, if we renovate in phases and rent out a portion of the area first, can we negotiate the rent?"

The man hesitated for a moment: "Well... I need to discuss this with my superiors. But theoretically, if you're truly sincere, we can talk."

"Okay." Chen Xun nodded. "Then let's work out a preliminary plan first, and then we can talk about the details."

The man nodded: "Okay. Contact me when you've thought it through."

The four people walked out of the movie theater.

The sunlight was a bit too bright.

Chen Xun stood at the entrance of the cinema and glanced back at the old building.

【Ding! 】

[The host was detected flexibly adjusting its strategy in chain expansion site selection, abandoning high-risk direct competition and shifting towards potential differentiated alternatives.]

[Investment Nature: Strategy optimization and risk mitigation.]

[Triggering a 10x rebate calculation...]

[Calculation in progress...]

[Due to high decision-making efficiency and the team's collaborative efforts in proposing feasible compromise solutions, additional factors have been added...]

[Rebate amount: 80,000 yuan.]

[The money has arrived.]

Three hundred thousand has been received.

Not much, but it's a form of recognition.

Chen Xun withdrew his gaze and looked at the three women.

"Today's trip wasn't a waste," he said. "There are wolves in the university town. There are opportunities here at the cinema, but also pitfalls. But at least we saw the pitfalls and know how deep they are."

Lin Xinyue took a deep breath: "So, the next step is to start a feasibility study for the cinema renovation?"

"Yes," Chen Xun said. "Xin Yue, you take the lead. Detail the phased renovation plan and calculate the budget accurately. Li Qian, you cooperate with her, focusing on researching the marketing model and customer attraction points for this type of large-scale themed store. Xiao Tao, you also think about what kind of large-scale events can be held in this kind of place."

All three women wrote it down.

"So, our first chain store might be located here?" Yang Xiaotao asked.

"Not necessarily," Chen Xun said. "It depends on the research results. If it's feasible, we'll stay here. If it's not, we'll look elsewhere. But at least, we have a more realistic understanding of how to implement a chain store model."

He paused for a moment: "Opening a store isn't just about making empty promises. Rent, foot traffic, competitors, renovations, budget... these are all real issues. Today, we'll examine each of these issues one by one."

Li Qian nodded: "You need to see it clearly before you start."

"Yes," Chen Xun said. "So when you get back, each of you should organize what you saw and thought about today. Next week, we'll have a meeting to decide on the next steps."

Four people got into the car.

The car drove away from the old town.

Chen Xun sat in the back seat, watching the street scene recede outside the window.

Chain launch.

The first stop wasn't smooth sailing, but it didn't capsize either.

At least, the ship has sailed out.

His lips twitched.

Where is the next wave?