Chapter 108: 108: Business Prodigy

Having learned about the situation with Fengcai Guild, Xu Yang left and went to Jiang De Lao, where he met with Zhao Hai.

Jiang De Lao was as busy as ever, with operations running smoothly and daily turnover remaining fairly consistent.

Zhao Hai, however, mentioned two new developments.

Recently, people from other cities had been calling to inquire if they could franchise and open Jiang De Lao restaurants in those cities.

Regarding this, Xu Yang thought for a moment and said, “No franchising. I want to run it as a company-owned operation. With franchising, it’s hard for others to achieve our level of extreme service, and it could easily ruin Jiang De Lao’s reputation.”

Franchising could indeed save a lot of money and management hassle.

But the quality of franchise stores couldn’t be guaranteed.

That was not what Xu Yang wanted to see.

Besides, the expansion of Jiang De Lao was just a matter of money.

He now had plenty of money and wasn’t afraid to spend it.

After all, it would bring a tenfold or even a hundredfold return in the future.

Zhao Hai nodded, “That’s what I thought too, so I didn’t agree to their requests. In the future, I will make sure to give them a clear answer.”

Xu Yang asked, “Dad, you mentioned two issues, what’s the second one?”

Zhao Hai answered, “There’s also a number of investment institutions and business tycoons asking whether we want to raise funds.”

Xu Yang smiled, “If it were in the past, we would indeed need to raise funds for expansion, but that’s not necessary now.”

The 1.6 billion was about to be received, completely eliminating the need for fundraising.

Zhao Hai said, “Okay, then I’ll also provide a clear answer to anyone who asks in the future.”

Xu Yang added, “By the way, Dad, the stores in Jiang City have stabilized, so I think we can start planning to expand to other cities. Start preparing and we can set the timeline for after the New Year. Once the New Year is over, we can get started on this.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Alright, I’ve been thinking about this lately as well. Given Jiang De Lao’s popularity, we definitely need to expand to other cities. I don’t think we need to rush. The first step is to expand to the four first-tier cities, and the second step is to expand to second-tier cities. What do you think?”

Xu Yang laughed, “Dad, your thoughts and mine are exactly aligned.”

After chatting for a while longer, Xu Yang took his leave.

In the blink of an eye, it was February 1st.

It was 5:45 in the evening.

Xu Yang, accompanied by Zhao Yuxin and Zhao Hai, arrived at the entrance of Wan Da Plaza.

By that time, Wu Jing and the other investors had already arrived.

Wu Jing had also brought along his wife, Xie Bei.

Speaking of Xie Bei, she could be regarded as Wu Jing’s wise and supportive partner.

It is said that Wu Jing encountered significant difficulties in the early stages of “Battle Leopard,” and it was Xie Bei’s silent support behind the scenes that allowed him to persevere.

Zhao Yuxin knew this from the news.

Thus, Zhao Yuxin admired Xie Bei. The two had met during the “Battle Leopard” wrap-up party and got along very well.

Meeting once again, they quickly struck up a conversation to the side.

They looked like a pair of close girlfriends.

Xu Yang then introduced Zhao Hai to everyone, “This is my father-in-law Zhao Hai, who is also the general manager of Jiang De Lao.”

Everyone naturally greeted Zhao Hai cordially.

Although they didn’t know Zhao Hai or his abilities, no one dared to neglect him, considering he was Xu Yang’s father-in-law.

Wu Jing said, “President Xu, Fang mentioned he’ll arrive a bit later, as there was a traffic jam on the way from the airport.”

Xu Yang nodded, “Alright.”

Just a little wait, nothing to worry about.

In fact, he had already received a message from Fang Pengtao, sounding apologetic.

Wu Jing asked, “President Xu, do you think you could get Fengcai Guild’s live streamers to promote ‘Battle Leopard’?”

The New Year’s live stream sales, along with the popularity of Jiang De Lao, made everyone recognize the power of Fengcai Guild.

Without Fengcai Guild’s promotion, even if Jiang De Lao was excellent, it wouldn’t have become so popular so quickly.

It was a powerful promotional weapon.

If Fengcai Guild could promote “Battle Leopard,” that would be fantastic.

It would likely attract nationwide attention.

Moreover, promotion by Fengcai Guild could save a significant amount of promotional expenses, truly a win-win situation.

Now the publicity budget for “Battle Leopard” really isn’t much.

The production team was genuinely poor, and Wu Jing had to mobilize all his connections, as well as personally participate in various events and interviews.

Xu Yang said, “No problem, even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have had them promote it.”

As the largest investor, holding a twenty-five percent stake, the higher the box office for “Battle Leopard,” the larger his profits would be.

Even if Wu Jing hadn’t mentioned it, he would have had the hosts of the Fengcai Guild promote it.

Wu Jing was overjoyed, “I’m so grateful for that.”

Xu Yang waved his hand and smiled, “Director Wu, there’s no need for formalities, I’m an investor in ‘Battle Leopard,’ it’s only right that I do this.”

The other investors, upon hearing that Xu Yang would get the Fengcai Guild’s hosts to promote “Battle Leopard,” also showed smiles on their faces.

With the Fengcai Guild’s promotion, this publicity move was a sure bet.

It must be said, having Xu Yang as an investor was truly their luck.

As they chatted idly, time silently passed, and it wasn’t until 6:15 PM that Fang Pengtao finally arrived, late.

“I apologize, the traffic was terrible, and I made everyone wait,” Fang Pengtao expressed his apology.

Everyone said it was no problem.

“Mr. Xu, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Fang Pengtao came especially to Xu Yang, leaned slightly forward as a sign of respect to Xu Yang, and apologized again.

Seeing this scene, everyone was shocked.

They all understood what Fang Pengtao’s actions meant.

Initially, they were already surprised that Xu Yang was able to contact Fang Pengtao.

They hadn’t asked about the nature of the relationship between Xu Yang and Fang Pengtao, guessing that Xu Yang might have sought Fang Pengtao’s help through a friend.

In their view, even with companies like the Fengcai Guild and Jiang Bottom Fishing, Xu Yang’s status still wouldn’t match Fang Pengtao’s.

After all, with the backing of Wan Da Group, Fang Pengtao’s status was not ordinary at all.

At least while Fang Pengtao still held his position, the owners of typical enterprises wouldn’t match his status.

But now it seemed not to be the case.

Judging from Fang Pengtao’s respectful attitude towards Xu Yang, Xu Yang’s status might be much higher than Fang Pengtao’s, and to receive such respect, Xu Yang must have some connection with Wan Da Group.

Everyone was very curious about what other status Xu Yang might hold.

However, this was not the time to inquire; they would have to ask later.

“It’s nothing, you’ve put in a lot of effort for the release of ‘Battle Leopard,’” Xu Yang said with a casual smile.

“It’s only right,” Fang Pengtao repeated.

“Let’s go have hotpot.”

Xu Yang led everyone to Jiang Bottom Fishing at Wan Da Plaza.

Upon arriving at the entrance.

It was still as busy as ever.

Many people were also queuing up.

“Business is booming here.”

“To run a hotpot restaurant like this, only Mr. Xu has such capability.”

“Mr. Xu is truly a marvel in the business world!”

“In the future, Mr. Xu might yet create companies that will surprise us all.”

Seeing the bustling scene, everyone repeatedly expressed their amazement.

This was both candid speech and flattery towards Xu Yang.

Ever since they saw Fang Pengtao’s attitude towards Xu Yang earlier, they were even keener on establishing a good relationship with him.

“Brother Xu, do we need to queue? If we do, I’m afraid we won’t make it to the ‘Battle Leopard’ screening,” Tang Zhengqi asked.

“No need, I’ve already instructed them to reserve a private room for us,” Xu Yang replied.

“That’s great,” Tang Zhengqi breathed a sigh of relief.

As a resident of Jiang City, he had been to Jiang Bottom Fishing before with friends and had waited in line for over half an hour.

But the taste was genuinely good and the service was genuinely excellent.

Waiting for that half-hour didn’t feel like a waste of time.

Waiting half an hour in line to experience Jiang Bottom Fishing’s supreme service was quite worth it.