Chapter 86

Chapter 34: The Expansion of the Starting Point

Amidst a cacophony of noisy protests, China welcomed its 51st National Day.

Lin Feng's earnings for September were also revealed at this time.

Due to the half-month suspension, Chu Feng Net City's net profit was only 120,000 yuan. However, during this period, Lin Feng, while engaging in verbal sparring with McDonald's and KFC, used the same method he had used to吞并 (acquire) Liu Yishan's and others' internet cafes, and once again acquired the newly opened internet cafes in the surrounding area. Now, Chu Feng Net City had a total of 380 computers.

Due to the release and rapid popularity of "Counter-Strike," the prices of internet cafes in Chu City unexpectedly stabilized. The price in the most competitive central area was 2 yuan per hour, and 2.5 yuan per hour in the suburbs. Chu Feng Net City still maintained a price of 3 yuan per hour, but now the majority of its customers were members who enjoyed an 80% discount. Of course, most of Chu Feng Net City's customers were members, which was also related to the free "murder game" provided to members.

The net profit of the flower tea processing plant reached a record 210,000 yuan. Part of this was due to the growth of DingDang.com, with more and more people shopping on DingDang.com, thus gradually opening up the national personal household market for flower tea. Although sales in Chu City accounted for the majority in September, Lin Feng believed that the national personal household market would eventually far exceed Chu City's sales.

The barbecue shop had a net profit of only 20,000 yuan. Although the earnings were not much, it significantly boosted the popularity of Chu Feng Net City. Most players, after enjoying the thrilling CS battles, would sit down at the barbecue shop with a few friends, have some skewers, and a pitcher of beer, and chat about their gaming experiences.

Life at this moment seemed so beautiful and comfortable!

The sales of "Counter-Strike," apart from the initial 200,000 copies sold, had drastically decreased. On one hand, it was due to the impact of piracy, and on the other hand, players who had purchased the game discs were copying them among themselves. During this period, only 12,000 copies were sold, bringing Lin Feng a net profit of 115,200 yuan. However, what made Lin Feng both laugh and cry was that the CD-key authorized by the father of CS had not completed a single order in China. With the online gaming platform provided by Tencent, no player would think of buying the expensive CD-key to enjoy the international server.

The only thing that made Lin Feng feel awkward was the Qidian Fast Food Chain, which was the most popular enterprise in China at the time. In the past ten days, each branch had a profit of only 20,000 yuan, and more than 60% of this income was from the first three days of opening. After Lin Feng's reform, changing the frying oil every six hours, the profit plummeted. Although business was booming, the estimated monthly profit for each branch was only 10,000 yuan, even without Lin Feng taking advertising fees or brand usage fees.

If Lin Feng were to take 7% of the revenue as stipulated in the contract, the monthly net profit for each branch would be around 3,000 yuan, which would be unacceptable for the relatives who jointly operated a Qidian Fast Food branch. In short, the investment and returns were not proportional.

After much deliberation, Lin Feng decided to symbolically take 1% of the revenue. Fortunately, DingDang.com's popularity was growing, and although transactions were still low, Lin Feng believed that with the introduction of a third-party payment platform and the passage of the online banking bill, DingDang.com would become a treasure trove. Compared to the huge profits of the internet industry, the earnings from the Qidian Fast Food Chain were negligible.

However, Lin Feng was somewhat uncertain about the franchise applications that were pouring in from all over the country. This was the best time for the rapid expansion of the Qidian Fast Food Chain. Missing this opportunity would mean that future expansion would not have the same effect. After all, the world is diverse, and in today's era of information explosion, people can easily forget things, and the Qidian Fast Food Chain could quickly become a thing of the past.

The current popularity of the Qidian Fast Food Chain was entirely due to Lin Feng's policy of changing the frying oil every six hours and using ample ingredients. However, this was also the reason why the Qidian Fast Food Chain, despite its booming business, had profits far lower than the controversial McDonald's and KFC branches in Chu City.

If franchisees pursued profits at the expense of Lin Feng's principles, the brand could collapse at any time. One second a hero, the next a sinner—this is the power of public opinion.

But if franchisees strictly followed Lin Feng's principles, including his commission, the profit would be extremely thin, which was something that franchisees eager to make money would not be willing to accept. If Lin Feng did not take a commission, it would not benefit the development of the Qidian Fast Food Chain. Without continuous advertising to build brand awareness, the Qidian Fast Food Chain would soon become a forgotten boat in the vast sea of commerce.

The issue came back to the same point—morality or profit.

After deep consideration, Lin Feng chose morality again. Money could be earned through other means, but one's conscience could not be lost. Without a conscience, a person loses their humanity. Especially since his fast food chain mainly served the Chinese people, the carcinogens in the frying oil, though not comparable to opium and drugs, would have long-term and fatal effects on the body. Perhaps this generation would be fine, but the next generation might inherit some diseases.

Lin Zexu's heroic act of banning opium in Humen was a great example! Now, Lin Feng could not, in good conscience, provide food containing carcinogens to the Chinese people.

In the end, Lin Feng signed contracts with many franchisees, with a franchise fee of 30,000 yuan per branch, and a 3% monthly commission on revenue to be used for advertising and brand promotion. This amount was far from enough for advertising, as McDonald's and KFC took 17-23% of revenue, with most of it used for advertising and brand promotion.

However, Lin Feng also considered that there were two ways to advertise—spending money and not spending money. He had ways to achieve high brand awareness with minimal spending—this was the advantage of being reborn.

Initially, Lin Feng signed contracts with 50 franchisees, all in prefecture-level cities, with none in major cities or coastal developed cities. This was because the competition in prefecture-level cities was much less, allowing Lin Feng to observe the actual sales performance of each branch. After all, the sales performance in Chu City could not fully represent that of other places. If the sales performance was good and the profit of each branch was sufficient, Lin Feng would add 100 more franchisees. McDonald's took three years to enter the Chinese market, but Lin Feng aimed to expand the Qidian Fast Food Chain nationwide within a year, with over 300 branches.

Secondly, Lin Feng adopted Chairman Mao's strategy—surrounding the cities from the countryside. The Qidian Fast Food Chain followed a low-price route, with a broader market than McDonald's and KFC, not limited to the prime locations in major cities and prefecture-level cities. After all, Lin Feng was not like the "bloodsuckers" McDonald's and KFC, with much lower franchise fees and commissions, making the initial costs for each franchisee much lower.

After seven days of intense negotiations during the National Day holiday, the 50 franchisees left Chu City satisfied, returning to their hometowns to renovate their stores and open for business as soon as possible.

To prevent franchisees from altering the Qidian Fast Food Chain's principles for profit, Lin Feng decided to hire "mystery customers" in each franchise location. Their job was to taste the food and check if the ingredients were sufficient. He also hired several inspectors to randomly check the frying oil in Qidian Fast Food branches across the country to ensure it was changed every six hours.

After completing all this, according to the accountant Zhang, Lin Feng had 2.8 million yuan in liquid funds. After paying off the remaining 1.5 million yuan owed to Chu Zixuan for the acquisition of Chu Feng Net City, Lin Feng still had 1.3 million yuan in liquid funds.

When Lin Feng paid the money to Chu Zixuan, he could clearly see the regret and frustration on Chu Zixuan's face. It was evident that he regretted his initial decision, but it was too late, and he would regret it even more in the future.

"Believe in him, and you will become a billionaire; do not believe in him, and you will regret it for life." This was a phrase Chu Zixuan often muttered with regret in the years to come.

As Lin Feng's wealth grew, Liu Yingying, who owned 10% of Lin Feng's company, became a small millionaire with assets in the hundreds of thousands, making her eyes smile. Among her classmates, many had joined well-known companies and earned much higher salaries than her. However, in terms of status and prospects, no one could match her. This made Liu Yingying feel proud and accomplished when she occasionally contacted these classmates.

However, at this moment, someone unexpectedly came to Chu City and made a request to Lin Feng that he could not refuse but had to refuse.

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