Chapter 74 What Plan
Su Luo, hiding in the cash box, looked at Fatty Xue's figure and exchanged a knowing smile with Bao Zixing beside her. If she didn't make a big profit from Fatty Xue this time, she would be unworthy of all the effort she put in!
Yun Lang came over and looked at the long queue outside. He said reluctantly, "Think about it again. Don't sell it. What are you going to do after you sell the cashbox?"
Su Luo immediately pulled him aside and said, "Keep your voice down. Can we talk about our company's major business decisions? If Fatty Xue knew that we had been thinking about selling the store, would we be able to raise the price?"
Zhou Chongwen also came over. He just heard today that Su Luo was going to sell the cash box. His brows were furrowed and never relaxed. "Can't we continue to run the business?"
"Sure. But not in Zhuxian Town." Su Luo smiled and said, "Zhuxian Town's KTV market has become saturated in a very short period of time, and more diverse KTV business models are slowly growing, such as the Huagui singing system, Wengui membership system, and so on. In Zhuxian Town, the KTV market is already a fiercely competitive red ocean, while outside Zhuxian Town, it is still a blue ocean with great development potential. What reason do we have to give up the blue ocean for the red ocean? Besides, Qiangui is just the first step in our accumulation of funds. If we don't sell it while the Qiangui situation is good, when it is worthless in the future, how can we continue to move forward?"
Zhou Chongwen's brows knitted even tighter. Yun Lang scratched his head, gave up trying to figure out what "blue ocean" and "red ocean" meant, and waved his hand, "It's up to you. Anyway, I'll be leaving after the 15th."
"So fast..." Even though Su Luo was mentally prepared, he still felt a little disappointed after hearing Yun Lang say that.
Yun Lang approached Su Luo with a sly smile, "Can't bear to leave me? How about I leave after the wedding is over?"
Su Luo rolled her eyes at him, "Marriage? Are you getting married to Lao Zhou?"
Zhou Chongwen was already used to the way these two talked, and treated Yun Lang, his love rival, with a bit of "a dying man speaks kindly", so he just let them talk nonsense. Su Luo wanted to continue, but saw Su Hong and Su Jiang coming over, and suddenly changed the subject, "If Qiangui can acquire a few small KTVs in the future, with our reputation, we can compete with Huagui."
Zhou Chongwen and Yun Lang were both stunned. When they turned around and saw Su Hong and the others, they stopped asking questions.
Su Hong asked curiously, "Sister Luo wants to expand the size of Qiangui?" Su Jiang quietly pulled him, and Su Hong immediately understood and smiled embarrassedly, "Brother, I shouldn't ask about this."
Su Luo smiled and said, "We are all family, what should we not ask about? Qiangui is doing very well now, so of course we have to take advantage of this to expand our business scale."
Su Hong smiled and nodded, "Our Su family is full of talented people. Originally we had sister Jiang, and now we have sister Luo. Without mentioning anything else, just the exchange voucher and jingle you made have made Qiangui's name deeply rooted in people's hearts. It's really wonderful that we can cooperate with Qinji."
Su Luo just smiled without saying anything. Zhou Chongwen pulled her sleeve and whispered, "I've been wanting to ask, can this voucher really be exchanged for Qinji's products?"
"Of course." Su Luo glared at him dissatisfiedly, "Do you think I'm a liar?"
"Won't Boss Qin have to pay a lot of money?" The guy looked worried.
"Don't worry." Su Luo waved her hand. "Today we will only give out 3,000 free coupons, each with a face value of 10 wen, so at most we will give out 30 taels of silver. We will sell them at a discount starting tomorrow. The two sides will be evenly split, and Qin Ji will still make money. Not only can they cooperate with us to advertise, but they can also make customers feel that they have picked up a great bargain. It's a win-win situation!"
"Win-win?" Su Hong's eyes lit up and she laughed, "Sister Jiang also..."
"Brother Hong." Su Jiang hurriedly stopped him, and then noticed that Su Luo's eyes were strange, so she smiled faintly, "Sister Luo, do you really want to expand the money cabinet?"
Although Su Luo felt that Su Jiang was a little rude just now, she didn't think much about it. She nodded and smiled, "That's right, otherwise why would I put so much effort in it?" She had to spread her idea of making Qiangui bigger first to confuse Fatty Xue. "The exchange voucher is just the beginning. I have other plans."
Su Luo smiled mysteriously at everyone. Su Hong was very curious and pulled Su Luo to ask about it. Su Jiang seemed to want to avoid suspicion and asked Zhou Chongwen to take her to visit the inside of the cash box. Seeing Su Jiang leave, Su Hong felt embarrassed again and felt that she really shouldn't pry into other people's business operation procedures. The more he did this, the more Su Luo felt that Su Hong was a person of true nature, and the more she liked this cousin.
The karaoke preliminaries went very smoothly, and a total of 36 contestants were selected to advance to the semi-finals. Most of these 36 people were selected by the KTVs, and very few successfully registered on their own. This was of course inseparable from the fact that the KTV owners frequently showed goodwill to the judges of the competition, hoping that the contestants they selected could win the title of "King of Karaoke" and make a name for themselves.
Su Luo didn't have to do anything at all. Just relying on the face of the specially invited chief judge Qin Huai, the two contestants selected by Qiangui were successfully promoted and became the most popular candidates with the greatest hope of winning the competition.
After the top 36 were announced, they were randomly divided into four groups by drawing lots. A round of eliminations was held every afternoon, with three people advancing in each round. In the first semi-final, Su Luo proposed that the judges decide on two people, and the third candidate would be decided by the audience voting, so that the audience could fully participate in the competition. This decision was sought after by the audience, and a 100-person audience voting group was formed voluntarily, which greatly mobilized the public's participation. The number of spectators present increased day by day, Qinji's exchange coupons sold very well, and Qiangui's jingle was so popular that even children could recite it. For a time, Qiangui's popularity soared. If you randomly ask who organized this event, eleven out of ten people will tell you that it was Qiangui!
Actually... Qiangui was just the title sponsor. Fatty Xue, on the other hand, spent a lot of money on everything from layout to publicity, but ended up doing Su Luo a favor. Before the rematch was over, he already had several blisters on his mouth, which Su Luo couldn't bear to see.
No matter how reluctant she was, verbal comfort and psychological sympathy were enough. The next thing had to be done, so on the night of the 14th day of the first lunar month, at the dinner celebrating together with all the merchants and the newly selected top 12, Su Luo "accidentally" drank a little too much. At the table, she complained about the difficulties of doing business as a woman, and said that she had not met the right one. If there was a suitable one, she would really want to end her business immediately and go home to get married.
Qin Huai, who was standing by, quickly stopped her and said, "You've drunk too much." He asked Zhou Chongwen and Yun Lang to help her go back. She left, but her words were heard by someone with a purpose. So the next day, it was reported that the owner of the writing cabinet had reached a verbal agreement with Su Luo to buy the money cabinet for four thousand taels of silver. When this was heard by Fatty Xue, Fatty Xue was a little skeptical. Would Su Luo sell the money cabinet? After thinking for a long time, he slapped his thigh.
Su Luo is old after all, and she can't help but plan for her future. In this era, merchants have a low status, and it is more economical to marry with silver as a dowry than to marry with an industry that shows status. Combined with what Su Luo said before, the Su family originally did not agree with her continuing to show up in public, and they also looked down on her business and wanted her to sell the cash box. Under pressure from both sides, what reason did Su Luo have not to sell the cash box?
Fatty Xue paced back and forth in annoyance. It seemed that he had underestimated this girl. Su Luo's various actions of raising the price of Qiangui during this period were obviously to build momentum for himself, hoping that Qiangui could be sold at the best price. Now was the best time. He missed the best opportunity to acquire Qiangui. If Wengui's acquisition was successful, Wengui would not only get Qiangui and its brand value , but also Qinji behind Qiangui. However, this matter was not without doubts. For example, if Su Luo intended to sell Qiangui, why didn't he find Qin Huai, who was very familiar with him, to do the deal? For example, did the boss of Wengui really meet Su Luo in such a short time? Could they afford four thousand taels of silver? Was this another plan of Su Luo?
Fatty Xue racked his brains but couldn't figure it out, and he almost forgot that today was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Su Luo didn't forget. She was very leisurely and dragged Su Jiang and a large group of people out to visit the lanterns. She wanted to bring Su along, but she said she was afraid of the crowds, so Su Luo didn't force her. After leaving the Su Mansion, a group of people rushed to the street in front of Yuewang Temple. Qin Huai, Su Hong, Su Yi, Yun Lang and Zhou Chongwen walked in front, and Su Luo followed with Su Jiang. The closer to Yuewang Temple, the more pedestrians there were. Small vendors and hawkers could be seen everywhere on both sides of the street, and there were also people selling snacks. There were lanterns of different styles hanging on their heads. Every twenty or thirty steps, there was a large and colorful lantern. The crowds were bustling and it was very lively.
Although Su Yi is now considered a young master, he seldom encounters such a lively scene. Everything he sees is new to him. He wants to see this and eat that. Fortunately, Zhou Chongwen is following him, which saves Su Luo a lot of worries.
However, as the crowd became more and more dense, Su Luo soon lost track of Su Yi and Zhou Chongwen. After arriving in front of Yuewang Temple and watching the extremely exciting fireball acrobatics, she couldn't even find Qin Huai and the others. Fortunately, she always held Su Jiang's hand tightly so that she didn't become a lone commander.
After walking for a while with the crowd, there were no more lanterns ahead, and pedestrians dispersed in twos and threes. Su Luo and Su Jiang also turned back along the same route. After walking outside for so long in the winter, Su Luo's fingertips were cold. Looking at Su Jiang, her nose was red. Su Luo pointed at her and teased her. Su Jiang also showed a rare little girl's demeanor, laughing and making fun of the increasingly empty street. After a while, Su Jiang took Su Luo's hand and said seriously: "Sister Luo, you are not really planning to expand the scale of Qiangui, are you?"
Su Luo smiled and said, "Why not?"
Su Jiang's face was covered with worry. "If you still have this idea, I will advise you that it is better to sell the money cabinet as soon as possible."
"Why?"
"Excuse me for being blunt, but Qiangui is what it is today only because of your fresh ideas. You have some ideas, but you lack some exclusive secrets. That's why so many competitors have emerged in such a short period of time, especially some businesses that are much larger than Qiangui. Facing such competitors, you have no chance at all."
"Yeah." Su Luo nodded repeatedly, "That makes sense."
"So my sister must sell it when Qiangui is the most popular and accumulate the capital in the hope of long-term development."
After Su Jiang finished speaking, Su Luo immediately applauded and said with a smile: "Sister, you really deserve your reputation. You can tell at a glance where Qiangui's weakest point is." The weakest point of Qiangui is that it is too "replicable" and lacks "core competitiveness."
Su Jiang lowered her head and smiled, as if she was a little embarrassed. After a while, she continued, " I have something to say to you. Please forgive me if I said something wrong."
Su Luo nodded, and Su Jiang said, "After watching you for the past few days, I think you are a genius with great business acumen, but... some of your ideas are novel, but like Qiangui, they are easily imitated. No matter what business you run in the future, remember this: new things can only be new for a while. When they are no longer new, it is the end of the business. Instead of focusing on developing new things, you might as well focus on popular industries such as food, clothing, housing and transportation. Sometimes... you don't have to be unique to achieve great things." Su Jiang looked at Su Luo's face and said carefully, "Moreover, women... Throughout history, those who have been passed down to later generations are mostly those who use their beauty to seduce others. Even if there are outstanding women like Empress Lü and Emperor Wu, they are praised and criticized, and there is a lot of ambiguity."
Su Jiang's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Su Luo didn't seem to understand and laughed, "You are such a freak. You obviously have a very high talent for business, but you are so conservative inside. We do small business, make a little money, date handsome guys, and live a good life. Who wants to be Empress Lü or Emperor Wu?"
Su Jiang lowered his head, chuckled twice, and finally said nothing more.
Su Luo looked at her profile and sighed in his heart. How could she not know that novelty is only temporary? Without core competitiveness, she can only rely on running constantly and letting others chase her. This kind of business is too tiring. But at present, she only has the word "fresh". Without it, what capital does she have to compete with others?
The two walked for a while, each with their own thoughts. There were not many pedestrians on the road and the vendors had long since left. Without the lively atmosphere, the temperature around them seemed to drop suddenly. Su Luo tightened his arms and was about to urge Su Jiang to walk faster, when he saw a stall at the entrance of the alley not far away. In the dim light, he could see a figure squatting behind the stall. The aroma of wine wafting in the wind made people guess that this was a temporary tavern.
Su Luo called Su Jiang, pointed over there and said with a smile: "It's late at night, let's do something good."
Su Jiang understood immediately after seeing it, and followed Su Luo over. He lowered his head and took off his purse, poured out a few pieces of silver and a dozen copper coins, weighed them, and handed them to the small candlestick, "Boss, how much wine do you have left? Sell it all to us."
Su Jiang handed over the money, but Su Luo had already picked up the hot porcelain jar on the stove. Unexpectedly, it was so hot, so he quickly put it down, pinched his earlobe and smiled, "There is still a small pot, this money should be enough."
The boss squatting behind the stall suddenly stood up, startling Su Luo and Su Jiang. The man was quite tall, holding a paper stick from the Yuewang Temple, the kind used for fortune-telling, as if he had just picked it up from the ground. Su Luo had always thought that an old woman or man with wrinkles on his face would be appropriate in this situation, and would also allow her to devote her love better, but she was wrong. Following the man's tall figure, Su Luo saw a peaceful and leisurely face, a quiet temperament, and a pair of cold eyes that were unforgettable at first sight... but now there was a slight absence in those eyes.
"You? It's you!" Su Luo shouted in surprise, but the man's eyes did not move at all, and fell directly on Su Jiang beside Su Luo.
