Chapter 178 - Beating Him at His Own Game (1/2)

Pei Qian could not be sure that the nearby shops were holding various promotions to pick on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. After all, he could not malign others without any proof.

What if they were all holding their regular promotions at the same time out of coincidence?

Pei Qian also could not be sure whether Boss Li was causing trouble behind the scenes. He did not have a proof for this either.

However, what he could be sure of was that Boss Li took this to be a good opportunity for himself. He wanted to gain from all of this.

This made Pei Qian anxious; yet, it seemed so inconsequential.

However, Pei Qian could not blame Boss Li for being silly. This was because it was a carrot-and-stick approach.

On the one hand, Boss Li would never directly admit that he was picking on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. However, he would stick out an olive branch and make it seem like there was money to be made for everybody. He would be careful not to anger Fish-Catching Internet Cafe too much. This was the carrot.

On the other hand, this Boss Li was hinting to Pei Qian that if he continued to act stubbornly, he would fight all the way to the end. He would lower his prices and cause Pei Qian to lose all his customers. So what if Pei Qian knew that Boss Li was behind it? In order to cut his losses, wouldn’t Pei Qian still have to give in eventually? This was the stick.

If other people had been in the same situation —without any way out, they might really have accepted the investment.

However, Pei Qian was completely different.

You’re willing to spend money to help me incur more losses? I have to thank you for that!

Pei Qian wanted to reject him at first. However, on second thought, he realized that would not be right.

This Boss Li took joy in helping others. Shouldn’t Pei Qian cooperate with him?

If he turned Boss Li down directly once again, Boss Li might give up sooner. After all, this man was the boss of an investment company. He had many things to do, and he could not afford to keep chasing after Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

The moment he lost Boss Li’s interest, the businesses around Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would stop burning money, too. Then, the human traffic in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would revert to the way it was.

Pei Qian would not be able to incur this much loss anymore!

Pei Qian smiled and came up with a plan in his mind.

“Old Ma, do you really think that Boss Li is doing this for our good? Do you think he’s really being kind? Think about it carefully. The shops around us are all holding promotions at the same time. Are you sure there isn’t someone helping them behind the scenes?”

Pei Qian said a couple of simple sentences to enlighten Ma Yang.

Of course, this was not really considered enlightening him. Ma Yang was very easy to lie to. If people were trying to lie to him one after another, the last one would have the greatest advantage.

Pei Qian said a couple more sentences to make matters sound worse. He exaggerated the dangers of selling shares in the business and immediately managed to turn Ma Yang around, just as he expected.

“Holy sh*t! I didn’t know this Boss Li had such venomous intentions! I’ll turn him down at once!”

Pei Qian said, “You don’t have to do that. If his frustration turns to anger and he decides to squeeze Fish-Catching Internet Cafe dry, we’ll be in trouble.

“Tell him that I am very frustrated by the fact that we are making losses now. Say that I didn’t want to accept investments, but I’m faltering. Tell him that I’m struggling to decide and that as long as the internet cafe continues to make losses, I might change my mind…”

Ma Yang sounded confused. “Brother Qian, you want us to continue to make losses? That wouldn’t be good for us, would it? I don’t think we can afford it.”

Pei Qian smiled. “If we make losses, wouldn’t the same happen for them?

“These shops are incurring losses like us. At the very most, we’ll drag all of them down with us. What is there to be afraid of?

“What’s more, if they continue burning money in this way, all the customers nearby would be attracted to come out. The people in other areas of Jingzhou City might even be attracted to go there and spend their money.

“In the long term, this would improve business in the area. We will not be making losses at all.”

A realization dawned on Ma Yang. “I see! I understand, Brother Qian!”

“That’s good. Go and tell Boss Li this, then…”

Pei Qin hung up, smiling.

Boss Li, you must have been so proud of your own ability to hoodwink Ma Yang. You were wrong. Anybody could have lied to him…

You threw him a couple of simple lies, but all I had to do was lie more to bring him back to my side.

Pei Qian hoodwinked Ma Yang by telling him a mixture of truth and lies. What he said about improving business in the area, especially, was a bunch of bullsh*t.

The business environment was affected by different factors working together. How could the business environment be changed just because a few shops were holding promotions at the same time? Just the thought of it seemed impossible.