Chapter 165 - The Relationship between a Like and Tengdas Boss! (1/2)

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…

At the coffee area…

A mildly aged man sipped his coffee, nonchalantly singing. Another middle-aged man, who looked over fifty years old, walked into the internet cafe and sat down in front of him.

“Boss Liu.” The first man stood up slightly as a sign of respect.

“I’m sorry, Boss Li. I was busy at work; that’s why I arrived late. Speaking of which, this place is really difficult to find.” The slightly older Boss Liu sat down across Boss Li and pulled a cigar out of habit.

Li Shi held up his hand at once to stop him. “Boss Liu, this place prohibits smoking.”

Boss Liu paused. “Prohibits smoking?”

He turned around and saw no ‘No Smoking’ signs, but one of the young waiters was looking at him and smiling apologetically. Smoking was indeed prohibited here.

Boss Liu did not mind. He kept his cigar.

“Boss Li, this is the place you said you wanted to invest in?” Boss Liu looked around. “This place… looks like an ordinary cafe.”

He hesitated, looked slightly confused. “But there are rows of computers. What’s the meaning of this?”

Li Shi sipped his coffee and smiled slightly as he replied, “Boss Liu, you don’t understand. The boss of this place has foresight beyond our times. To me, whether this place is purely an internet cafe, a bar, or a cafe; it would be unique and promising.

“Unfortunately, for some reason, the boss of this place has mixed all of these businesses into one. Now, they are dragging one another behind and leaving the place cool and empty.”

Li Shi described what he had observed about Fish-Catching Internet Cafe during this period once over. He also talked about what Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was like when Chen Lei was around.

“However, after that singer left, the new singer was not as popular. The crowd here gradually dissipated. Now, it’s back to what it was before—lifeless and lackluster. However, my judgment of this place remains the same. At the very least, the high-end path that this internet cafe is taking might be the future of internet cafes.”

After listening to Li Shi’s words, Boss Liu nodded slightly.

“So you want to invest in this place?”

Li Shi sipped his coffee again, looking confident. “That’s right. As an investor, I need to have my instincts about me. Boss Liu, you work in the property market. I think that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s high-end models would be popular if it’s opened in the right location. That’s why I asked you here today. I want to talk about this.”

Boss Liu pondered for a moment and then quickly understood the main point Li Shi was making. “En, that’s right. Whether this place generates a profit or incurs losses does not make much of a difference. However, allowing its high-end service to increase the property prices of the property in the area would make a good deal.”

“Have you spoken to the boss of this place?”

Li Shi shook his head. “Not yet. I’m waiting for a suitable time. This place has only been open for two or three months. I feel like the boss is not lacking money. What’s more, from the way he has been doing things, he seems to be quite stubborn. I don’t think he’ll listen to our opinions.

“According to my knowledge, even while this place was incurring losses, the boss kept pouring money into it. He opened three or four more branches in Jingzhou City. A hard-headed person like that is rare.

“Of course, I did not study him very closely. I’ve only put together everything I’ve heard and witnessed during this period and made an inference.”

Boss Liu nodded slightly, expressing his agreement.

Many people probably tried to stop this man from pouring three or four million yuan into creating a unique place like that. However, this shop stood nonetheless. What’s more, there was not just one of its kind. All of this evidence showed that the boss of this place did not lack money; what’s more, he probably acted in a very arbitrary fashion.

Otherwise, he would not have done something like that.

Li Shi continued, “So if I talk to him now, I might be rebuffed. The boss would not accept my investment for sure. I want to keep waiting. I want to wait as this shop continues to do badly. I will wait until all its branches incur losses, and when the boss begins to doubt himself and starts to plan for a change…

“I will decisively offer to invest a huge sum of money as assistance. Then, I will acquire a shareholding in this place systematically. When that time comes, Boss Liu, we can talk about cooperating.”

Boss Liu laughed, neither agreeing nor rejecting the proposal. “Good planning, Boss Li. However, I feel that we have to observe this business model for a longer time.”

“Boss Li, don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to be a wet blanket. I’m just slightly more conservative. I’m not like you investors; I don’t know how to see too far into the future. Once you—Boss Li—achieve your objective, I don’t mind discussing this deal.

“For all we know, Boss Li, you might not succeed. Then, it might be someone else hoping to work together with me.”

Li Shi smiled and sipped his coffee once more. “Don’t worry, Boss Liu. I think the boss of this place would have no reason to reject me.”

…