I Treat You as My Sister, But You Want to be My Wife?!
Chapter 124: Scheduling Issues_1

Chapter 124: Chapter 124: Scheduling Issues_1

Many people left messages on Shuidilao’s official Weibo, asking when Shuidilao would open stores in other cities.

Regarding this issue, Chen Yuanxiang had communicated with Shen Dong.

Seeing how popular Shuidilao was, many people called them, expressing their desire to franchise.

The two held the same view, to operate a self-owned brand and not to franchise.

Although developing Shuidilao through franchising could allow store fronts to cover the nation at the fastest speed.

And there would be no need to worry about labor, store management or rent—just send someone to guide them, and then collect the franchise fee.

However, this method made it impossible to unify management, which could easily cause problems and ultimately affect Shuidilao’s reputation.

Once the reputation collapsed, it would be very difficult to restore.

Therefore, pursuing the self-operated path was the most reliable.

It allowed for vertical management and ensured that the service in every city’s Shuidilao was consistently of extreme quality.

Such a path would naturally be much more difficult, and it would require more capital as well.

Chen Yuanxiang also told Shen Dong that there were calls inquiring about financing.

Regarding this, Shen Dong had his father-in-law decline directly.

Now Shuidilao’s daily turnover was substantial, and even if expansion was necessary to open stores in other cities, the required funds could be obtained from Dongyan Company.

The current Dongyan Guild was an absolute cash cow, as the hosts earned quite a lot from daily live-stream sales.

And once he mined the gold from this goldmine, earning at least eight hundred million, money would be even less of a worry.

His plan for Shuidilao was to start in Hai City, then move to other top-tier cities, before expanding to second- and third-tier cities.

His father-in-law also told him that since Shuidilao became popular, Xingwang Hotpot’s business had become increasingly bleak; they even adopted Shuidilao’s high-quality service model and hired several top streamers for promotion.

But even after watching the promotions by these top streamers, customers who went to Xingwang Hotpot were dissatisfied with the service and complained online.

Shen Dong also saw those opinions online, mainly stating that the servers at Xingwang Hotpot served customers unwillingly, and sometimes even conflicts arose.

Such service, naturally left customers unhappy.

As a result, Xingwang Hotpot not only failed to learn from Shuidilao’s service but also worsened its reputation, leading to even bleaker business.

The underlying reason was that Xingwang Hotpot demanded high-quality service from servers without increasing their wages, which naturally made them discontented.

Dong Qikang was not incompetent and quickly recognized this problem.

However, raising wages was not a decision he could make on his own; it required the approval of the boss.

Dong Qikang approached the boss to discuss a pay raise, and the boss’s face turned ugly.

"Dong Qikang, now that Xingwang Hotpot is in such a state, you still have the nerve to ask me to increase the staff’s wages?"

"Why didn’t you consider this when you said to replicate Shuidilao’s service?"

"Do you not think it’s already too late to raise wages now?"

"In the eyes of the customers, Xingwang Hotpot is a joke. You haven’t even managed to replicate Shuidilao’s service properly."

"With such an image, it’d be very difficult to turn things around. A pay raise is out of the question; you’d better figure out a way to solve the problems."

"I don’t need you to reach Shuidilao’s level; no one can achieve that. Just managing an average standard would be sufficient."

"If you can’t do that, I think you know the consequences!"

The boss was furious, unleashing a torrent of chastisement on Dong Qikang.

Though Shuidilao’s service was excellent, with such a large market, not everyone would go to Shuidilao for hotpot. Other hotpot restaurants also had customers.

But now, with Xingwang Hotpot reduced to this state by Dong Qikang, it infuriated him.

It was all because Dong Qikang wanted to compete with Chen Yuanxiang, leading him to locate many Xingwang Hotpot stores right beside Shuidilao.

In this way, it would be strange if customers chose to eat at Xingwang Hotpot.

With a face full of bitterness, Dong Qikang left the boss’s office.

It meant that if he couldn’t figure out a way to turn things around, he wouldn’t be talking about being a general manager anymore, he might not even be able to keep the position of vice president.

"What should I do, how can I turn the situation around?"

Back in his office, Dong Qikang racked his brains for a solution.

...

"The Battle Tiger" investors’ WeChat group.

This group was created by Wu Jin, with all the investors in it.

Wu Jin @everyone: Gentlemen, "The Battle Tiger" is planned to be released during the New Year holiday season, but we’ve encountered a problem now.

Du Zhenqi: What problem?

Han Deming: What’s the situation?

Fang Xing: Could it be that it didn’t pass censorship?

Loo Gang: "Impossible, we all saw the sample film, there was nothing inappropriate.

Wu Jin: The current situation is that, while communicating with major cinema chains about the release, the other cinemas are progressing smoothly, but when it comes to Qianda Cinemas Chain, there’s a problem—they say they can’t allocate screens for "The Battle Tiger."

Han Deming: Oh come on, if "The Battle Tiger" can’t get on Qianda Cinemas Chain, won’t that be a huge loss?!

Du Zhenqi: Qianda Cinemas Chain is the biggest cinema chain in Dragon Country, basically equivalent to the sum of other cinema chains. If it can’t be screened there, "The Battle Tiger"’s box office will be halved.

Fang Xing: That won’t do, we must get it onto Qianda Cinemas Chain, otherwise, we’re definitely at a loss.

Loo Gang: So what should we do? We must sort this out.

Wu Jin: @Du Zhenqi, you’re a big shot in the film circle, you must have friends at Qianda Cinemas Chain, right? Can you talk to them?

Han Deming: Mr. Du, whether we can make money or not is up to you.

Fang Xing: Mr. Du, please.

Loo Gang: Mr. Du, success or failure is in your hands now.

Du Zhenqi is the boss of Splendid Film and Television, which used to be very impressive. Even if it’s declining now, Du Zhenqi’s connections are still there.

Du Zhenqi: Let me see.

He wasn’t very confident. He knew Xu Caijun, the general manager of Qianda Cinemas Chain, but whether Xu would do him a favor was really hard to say.

If it had been before, it certainly wouldn’t have been a problem. Many films by Splendid Film and Television had done very well at the box office, and Qianda Cinemas Chain would have been eager to screen them to make money.

But in recent years, many films produced by Splendid Film and Television had not been of great quality or reputation, which led to not being treated well, and Qianda Cinemas Chain was less willing to allocate screens.

Five minutes later.

Du Zhenqi: I called Mr. Xu from Qianda Cinemas Chain. He said he wasn’t optimistic about military action movies and wouldn’t allocate screens.

Wu Jin: Mr. Du, it’s true that military action films haven’t been very successful these past few years, but everyone has seen the sample of "The Battle Tiger" and should have confidence in our film. "The Battle Tiger" will have a preview screening in a few days. Why don’t you invite Mr. Xu to it? Once he sees it, he might change his opinion.

Du Zhenqi: I’ve already mentioned it to Mr. Xu, but he made excuses about being too busy and having no time. You all know what that means.

Han Deming: So what do we do? If it really can’t get onto Qianda Cinemas Chain, "The Battle Tiger" will be in real trouble.

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