Chapter 7: Drunkard
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ye Feng did not comment on Xu Tiancheng’s words.
After all, Xu Tiancheng was the sales manager. It was fine to listen to what he had to say, but Ye Feng couldn’t allow him to convince Ye Feng into tempting fate, right?
However, Ye Feng was still very satisfied with this location. Even though it wasn’t the best, it could still be considered above average.
This was because being too close to the escalator was a double-edged sword. If one made a name for themselves, there would naturally be an endless stream of customers. But if one didn’t make a name for themselves…
Customers would walk past his shop in a few steps and would not even take the time to consider his shop.
Moreover, the place was big enough!
However, for some reason, this place had not been rented out, allowing Ye Feng to take advantage of this place.
In fact, he had already seen this shop yesterday. The Tianda renovation team had already done a thorough renovation. However, Ye Feng still wanted to make some changes, so he wanted to renovate it a second time.
“Boss Ye.”
After entering the shop, Xu Bin stroked his beard and said, “Your shop is quite big. It will take a lot of time to renovate it.
“Besides, to be honest, Tianda’s renovations are top-notch in the industry. In my opinion, there’s no need to change it.”
Xu Bin’s words made it seem as if he was pushing his own business away, but this was not the case in reality.
Firstly, by saying this, it would give the customers a psychological hint that he was doing this for the customers’ own good. As a result, this would strengthen the customers’ favorable impression of him.
Secondly, and most importantly, Xu Bin had already arrived at his judgment through observing Ye Feng.
Ye Feng… Although he looked young, he was not arrogant at all. In addition, directly buying a shop meant that he was extremely liberal with his wealth and didn’t lack money!
Young men like him, who were rich but not arrogant, would typically have a mature mentality. Furthermore, once they decided on something, they would be very independent and would not easily change their mind because of a few words from others.
Sure enough, Ye Feng merely smiled slightly and rejected this suggestion.
“Tianda’s renovations are naturally top-notch in the industry, but I have my own ideas, so I need to make some changes.”
As he spoke, he stepped forward.
“I’m planning to add a partition here. Then, I want this area to be enclosed so that it can serve as a back kitchen.”
The kitchen of a hotpot restaurant was actually very simple. Compared to traditional restaurants, it did not take up much space.
“And here.”
Ye Feng pointed at a region in the middle of the shop. “I plan to split up this place into three regions.”
“Also, please add a partition at the entrance. It has to be spacious.”
“Moreover, we need to make some changes to the overhead light fittings as well. We’ll use chandeliers instead. Meanwhile, the decorations will be done in a European style. I heard that you guys will be covering the interior design too, right?”
“We have a designer in this field.” Xu Bin nodded while furrowing his eyebrows. He subconsciously wanted to light a cigarette, but when he saw Ye Feng, he put his hand back.
“However, Boss Ye,” said Xu Bin, “although I’m not an expert in design, I do know a few things. The space utilization rate of your plan is too low. It’s not worth it!”
“Furthermore, please take a look at the far side. It’s triangular, but the main area of the shop is rectangular.”
“No matter how we renovate this place, it would definitely be a waste of space!”
“It seems that when this shop was built, it was somewhat…”
At this point, he suddenly shut his mouth and glanced at Xu Tiancheng.
It was really awkward to mention the flaws of Tianda in front of a Tianda employee.
“This might be the reason why this shop hasn’t been rented out yet!”
Ye Feng instantly understood.
He noticed that the triangular area was about 20 square meters large.
It was a little too small to be used as a back kitchen. However, he couldn’t put a lot of tables in this area either because of its shape restriction.
This was equivalent to wasting a huge piece of space!
This was a loss for those merchants who wanted to maximize profits. It was no wonder that this shop was still empty.
“It’s okay.”
Ye Feng didn’t mind.
So what if the space utilization rate was low? Hedilao focused on customer experience!
Comfort was the most important thing!
Moreover, Ye Feng planned to make a private room in that triangular area.
This way, even though there were fewer tables… it could be compensated by their price.
In his previous life, there were some hotpot restaurants that were filled to the brim with customers in order to maximize profits. They were simply crowded and the experience was terrible.
As for Hedilao, he would definitely maximise the dining experience!
From the beginning, Ye Feng had wanted to make a high-end brand.
There was no need to worry that the price would scare people.
After all, this place was very close to the university. University students nowadays… were mostly single children who were not short of money!
In particular, his shop could greatly satisfy the needs of university couples!
Besides, he believed that many people would choose to hold birthday parties at Hedilao once the “birthday song singing” service was released!
“Alright then.”
Xu Bin knew his position very well. Since the one paying had no objections, he didn’t have any opinions as the one receiving payment.
“I’ve seen the workload. It won’t be too heavy. How about this, Boss Ye? Let’s exchange contact information. Then, I’ll go back and work overtime to try my best and come up with the design plan for you!”
“I’ll send it to you immediately after that. If there’s anything you need to amend, we can discuss it again… The main point is to not delay the opening of your shop!”
“Sure.”
Soon, both parties started exchanging contact information.
As the sales manager of Tianda, Xu Tiancheng had a lot of matters to attend to and naturally wouldn’t accompany the two of them all the time. Hence, after seeing that Ye Feng and Xu Bin had reached an initial agreement to cooperate, he excused himself and left.
Meanwhile, Xu Bin started to take some photos and videos of the general situation in the shop to send to the designer.
Of course, the final design had to be done on-site. However, doing a draft before would also increase the efficiency of work.
Since it was still business hours, there were many young university students walking around the entrance, either in groups or pairs.
Many people cast curious gazes at the two of them, who were inside the shop.
Ye Feng was worried that his classmates would find out and make it hard for him to explain the situation. Thus, he spoke a few words to Xu Bin and stood at the door, waiting for Xu Bin to come out.
It was 2010, and the influence of Tianda Plaza on university students was unprecedented. Therefore, even though the mall had just opened, it was already packed with people.
Once all the shops here were in place, the number of people here would definitely reach a terrifying number!
Ye Feng was a little excited when he saw the crowds coming and going. He felt like his adrenaline was soaring.
Only those who had experienced entrepreneurship would understand the excitement they would feel when their first shop was about to open.
It was similar to engaging in sex for the first time!
Ye Feng really wanted to show off and say, “What’s that outside?”
“That is my territory!”
At this moment, he suddenly smelled the extremely strong smell of alcohol.
He turned around and saw a man in a suit. The man seemed to be in his early thirties. However, he was already drunk. Even his expensive suit was stained with some alcohol.
The crowd nearby also covered their noses while avoiding him in disdain. They were probably afraid that this drunkard would suddenly vomit on them.
“I’m afraid security will be here soon.”
Ye Feng thought to himself. “Tianda’s security is quite good. A drunkard… is clearly an unsafe element.”
“Ten years, ten whole years…”
“Ever since I graduated, I’ve been working hard with you. We’ve grown out of nothing, from a small store with a dozen people to a chain store with over a thousand people!”
“The best years of my youth, my overflowing passion…”
“But now, you said that you would kick me out of the game!”
“Li Xin… you’re ruthless!”
Just as Ye Feng shifted his attention away from the drunkard and stopped looking at him, he did not notice that the drunkard had slipped and fell towards him!
Thump.
The two of them collided.