Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
They waited for more than another hour… until noon.
A young man stood outside the door and looked inside for a very long time before he finally pushed the door and entered. The waiter that had been waiting for very long immediately went forward to greet that man.
“Welcome! Are you here to surf the net or drink some coffee?”
This was a slightly amusing way to ask; however, as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was indeed a place that combined both dining and surfing the net, how else could he have phrased the question?
The young man had evidently seen the high-tech computer setup inside through the glass and guessed that this was an internet cafe; that was why he had entered.
“You guys… how much an hour?”
The waiter answered honestly, “Ten yuan.”
The young man was a little bewildered, thinking that he had misheard. “Ah? I’m asking about the open area, not a private room.”
“That’s right, sir. The open area is ten yuan an hour; we don’t have private rooms here.”
The man was obviously lost for words. “Do you have any membership promotions?”
“Yes, we do. After becoming a member, alcohol and other drinks are ten percent off.” The waiter warmly served the menu.
The young man took a look as he staggered.
What the f*ck!
The front side of the menu listed all sorts of drinks and cocktails; all cocktails and anything with alcohol cost forty to fifty yuan a glass. The flip side contained some traditional comfort food such as tomatoes with eggs, Yuxiang shredded pork, and whatnot. They weren’t cheap either!
Even if there was a ten percent discount, he couldn’t afford these prices!
Furthermore, the internet cafe membership actually didn’t offer discounts for surfing the net, but only for drinks? What rubbish was this?
The young man coughed twice and said, “I’m sorry; my family isn’t that well-off. I’ll make a move first.”
He turned and left. The few waiters exchanged glances, not knowing what to do.
This…
They really wanted to stop him from leaving. However, Boss Pei had instructed that service had to be as natural as the spring breeze! It had to be just like the spring breeze gently floating by one’s cheeks, to allow customers to feel their sense of presence; they couldn’t make their presence too strong either.
Hence, the few waiters could only endure and do nothing.
Very soon, it was noontime; and more people stopped by. Some also came to ask about the price. In the end, three or four others came. Similar to that young man before, they heard the price of this place and beat a swift retreat.
Someone even mumbled to himself softly, “This is daylight robbery!”
Zhang Yuan had been standing by the bar counter, preparing to display his skills at mixing drinks. Alas, not even one person came in to surf the net, much less order drinks!
“Brother Qian, this cannot continue!” Ma Yang saw what was happening and grew anxious.
The opening was going so poorly; this was bad! The more deserted this place became, the fewer people would come; wouldn’t that be a vicious cycle?
Pei Qian also nodded very seriously. “En, we can’t continue like this. Someone, come. Make a sign and paste the price on the door! Everyone’s only coming in to ask about the price and leave; this is unacceptable.
“We’ll let them know the price at the door so that they don’t even have to enter to ask and then leave, what a wet blanket! If they think it’s expensive, I’d rather they not come in. We’ll have one less person to entertain; how good would that be.”
Ma Yang and company were dumbfounded.
This was what Boss Pei meant by ‘we can’t continue like this’?
If they didn’t hang a sign outside, perhaps someone might come in, ask about the price, feel bad about leaving under the watchful gaze of the waiters, and stay. This way, they might be able to keep some thin-skinned customers.
If they did a sign and everyone looked at it from outside, they would leave without even entering!
Weren’t they chasing away some thin-skinned potential customers as well?
Ma Yang was a little conflicted.
Pei Qian saw that Ma Yang was hesitating as he prompted Ma Yang again. “Hurry up and get it done. Why are you hesitating to do something that benefits everyone?”
Ma Yang stood up rather reluctantly as he arranged for someone to make a sign.
Pei Qian continued to drink his coffee. It seemed as if even this ordinary coffee smelled much sweeter than usual!
When afternoon came, customers finally arrived.
Two seemingly rich second-generation-heir young lads had come to surf the net together. Seeing the price at the door, they evidently hesitated for a while. However, after bickering between them, they still entered and sat in the internet cafe area.
A few looking like white-collar workers also went to the coffee area and ordered some coffee. This was actually within Pei Qian’s expectations. Although this place wasn’t in a proper commercial district, it after all bordered one such place. It was a street away.
As people came and went, some people might actually walk by this place to drink a cup of coffee or the likes; this was unavoidable. As this was after all a well-furnished internet cafe, even if the price was steep, it wasn’t to that extent where not even one customer would come. That type of situation was too ideal; it was unreal.
Having a few customers was still completely acceptable.
As long as it was controlled within a certain number such that the intake could not cover the costs, that was fine!
Pei Qian kept a watch till night time. A few people came to drink alcohol while Zhang Yuan also took the stage to sing two songs; the atmosphere was still not bad. It wasn’t as desolate as in the daytime. However, very few people actually came here to use the internet.
Pei Qian made a rough estimate: this amount of earnings was not going to cover anything.
It was great! Everything was within his plan!
Pei Qian stood up and prepared to leave. Ma Yang, on the other hand, seemed to have received a shock; he was a little dispirited. They had such good computers, such a great environment. However, the first day of operations had been so deserted!
Ma Yang couldn’t really stomach this.
Pei Qian tried his very best not to smile as he comforted, “It’s alright; it’s only the first day. Old Ma, you must remember that this is a long-term operation for Tengda Corporation! Don’t mention one day; even if in the first three months or the first half a year were all losses. That was fine! Things will slowly get better, understand?”
Ma Yang nodded; however, it was obvious he hadn’t really taken these words to heart.
Pei Qian also couldn’t say too much as he patted Ma Yang’s shoulder and left gleefully.
March 14th, Sunday…
Nighttime…
Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang found a table on the second floor near the windows and sat down; their faces were very dark. Zhang Yuan took a pen and was doing some sums.
“Rent, three hundred and fifteen thousand a month. As for water and electricity, ingredients purchases and consumption; all these are at least ten thousand a month. Wages are around sixty thousand a month.
“That means that even if our internet cafe doesn’t do anything, we would have expenses of four hundred thousand a month! Furthermore, the initial investments for computers, equipment, furnishing, etc; that amounted to two million yuan.
“Based on our revenue for these three days, we can’t even compare to small coffee shops that are only ten-odd square meters big. If this situation continues…
“Don’t talk about recouping our capital; we would at least have losses of three hundred thousand a month…”
Hearing Zhang Yuan doing the math, Ma Yang’s huge and long face grew pale. This… this was a little too much, right? However, thinking about the past few days of operations, this figure also actually seemed reasonable.
Too few customers had come!
For the tens of computers in the internet cafe, most of the time at most one person was playing in each row of computers, much less it being full house! Furthermore, these people also didn’t stay for long.
As for the coffee area, it was just barely slightly better and had more people. However, many people came, ordered one cup of coffee, and sat the entire day. They didn’t spend much. The worst part was, be that as it may, the coffee area couldn’t even fill up half of the seats available! Business was that poor!
During the nighttime, not many people came to drink alcohol. Even when Zhang Yuan went and sang a few songs, only a mere few people would be listening and praising him, with the applause being pitiful.
It was very embarrassing!
Hence, these two days, Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang were very worried. If Fish-Catching Internet Cafe lost three hundred thousand a month, that meant that ten thousand yuan was flying away daily even if they did nothing.
This was a bottomless pit!
How much money was needed to fill this hole?
Zhang Yuan said, “Brother Ma, you have a solid relationship with Boss Pei; should you inform him of the situation? We can’t continue like this; we have to think of something.”
Ma Yang became glum, “Brother Qian had said for us to stomach this regardless for at least one week; then, we’ll talk.”
“One week…”
Zhang Yuan took a look at the calendar. Next Sunday was the 21st.
It felt… so far away!
“Aye, alright. Since Boss Pei has said that, let’s wait and see how things go.”
“The crux is Boss Pei isn’t letting us distribute flyers while we can’t lower our prices; this…” Zhang Yuan couldn’t understand this.
There obviously still was a small space for profit-making!
If they reduced the per-hour charges a little and made the drinks cheaper while did a membership promotion. The situation could be turned around! However, for some reason, Boss Pei wasn’t letting them do this.
Zhang Yuan was now out of ideas.
If a problem with price existed, no matter what he did in other areas, it was useless!
“Let’s listen to Brother Qian and regroup after a week.”
Ma Yang did not think that much. He was adamant in believing something: since Pei Qian had specifically given such instruction, Ma Yang would follow them obediently; he would not act on his own.
“We can only do that for now.” Zhang Yuan was a little worried; he wasn’t sure how many more months he could draw his over-ten-thousand-yuan salary.