Chapter 262 - 224: Note: Xu An, an Especially Tricky Customer (Part 2)

Chapter 262: Chapter 224: Note: Xu An, an Especially Tricky Customer (Part 2)

Tang Wen exported the backend data again. This time, she made sure to include the column for transaction times.

From 10:00 to 10:30: three cards. From 10:30 to 11:00: twelve cards. From 11:00 to 12:00: thirty-eight cards. From 12:00 to 1:00: two hundred thirty-seven cards! From 1:00 to 2:00: two hundred twenty-nine cards! From 2:00 to 2:40: two hundred twenty-two cards!

The number of online membership cards seemed to have started growing around 11:00, then began a period of sustained, rapid growth starting at noon!

Tang Wen also noticed another piece of data: the view count for the "Brand Story" video. It had already surpassed eight thousand views!

She quickly opened the Xu’s Catering account, which had uploaded the video at around the same time. 17,000 likes, 3,200 shares, and 4,300 comments!

’Could it be because of this video? Is this what’s causing the surge in online membership cards?!’

’I have to tell the manager! If it really is because of the video, then the growth in membership cards won’t be slowing down anytime soon!’ She shot up from her seat, wanting to go downstairs to find Xu An.

Just as she took a step, Tang Wen suddenly remembered that Xu An was out on business. He had mentioned something about going to a financing guarantee company to get help with a loan...

Tang Wen quickly grabbed her phone from the desk, found Xu An’s number, and pressed the call button.

「Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company.」

A loan of over a million yuan wasn’t a small deal for this financing guarantee company, but it wasn’t a huge one either. As a result, the assigned staff member wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. He wasn’t rude, of course, just excessively, unnaturally polite.

"...Boss Xu, I’ve reviewed your situation. Based on your store’s operational performance, our current assessment is that the guaranteed loan amount will be between 1 and 1.2 million. Anything over 1.2 million will require fixed assets as collateral for the bank to process it..."

The man took out a sheet of paper with the Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company letterhead, his black pen gliding quickly across it.

"Currently, the bank’s one-year interest rate is 6.58%, and the one-to-three-year rate is 6.4%. We primarily handle guarantees for one-to-three-year loans. Based on a 1 million loan, the interest over three years would be 192,000. Our company’s service fee is half of the loan interest, so you would need to pay a service fee of 96,000. Do you agree to this, Boss Xu?"

Xu An and the man stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Xu An finally asked, "Is it not possible for me to apply for a one-year loan?"

A formulaic smile appeared on the man’s face. He laced his fingers together, rested his hands on the desk, and said rigidly, "Given your shop’s situation, we can only process a one-to-three-year loan for you."

He was the one asking for a favor, so the other party held all the cards. Faced with such a firm rejection, Xu An had no recourse. His shop wasn’t some famous corporation, after all.

"If I decide to go through with it, can the funds be transferred to my account by September 10th?" Xu An asked after some deliberation.

"Hmm... the timeline is a bit tight. It’s not impossible, but it would require a rush fee..."

The man didn’t specify the exact cost of the rush fee, but from his drawn-out tone, it was clear it wouldn’t be cheap. The two of them suddenly reached a standoff.

Xu An glanced at the man, then at the paper covered in calculations, and finally at the enormous clock hanging in the lobby. The time was 12:32 PM. Lunchtime.

"I need to think it over. I’ll give you a definitive answer this afternoon at... three o’clock." Xu An gathered the various documents from the table, stood up, and then delivered the polite line.

"No problem, Mr. Xu. Here’s my card. Contact me anytime once you’ve made up your mind." The man handed Xu An a business card with one hand, then suddenly lowered his voice and spoke into Xu An’s ear, "You need these funds urgently. Wait a day, and the service fee doubles. You know how it is—the bank’s approval process isn’t short. Even though our company has a partnership with them, we still have to go through the proper channels..."

Finally, the man gave Xu An a look that said, *you know what I mean*, then robotically escorted him to the door.

No sooner had Xu An stepped out the door than the glass door swung shut behind him. He glanced back and saw that the man had already turned and was walking back into the office.

’Looks like my little deal isn’t worth this guy’s time,’ Xu An thought. ’And his attitude is pretty terrible.’

After leaving the Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company, Xu An found a nearby restaurant for lunch. He took out a notebook and pen and quickly began to analyze the situation. The guarantee company’s service fee was nearly 100,000, the agent’s commission was 60,000, and his own membership promotion was barely breaking even...

’Hmm... after this whole series of moves, not only am I not saving money, I’m actually losing it!’

’But I really do need a bigger office space right now. The current one is too small, and I can’t even recruit the essential personnel I need, like admin and finance staff. The cooking process for Hellish Braised Flavor is another thorny issue. Right now, we have to move the cooked food to the back alley to cool down and get packaged, and the neighboring shops are already starting to complain...’

’Besides, the value of that property far exceeds these service fees, interest, and rush fees. And once I have a fixed asset, if I ever need urgent cash again, I can use it as collateral to get a loan directly from the bank. I won’t need a guarantee company anymore...’

Sigh!

The black pen in his hand finally scrawled a large word on the notebook page: BUY. After that, Xu An put the notebook and pen back in his bag, drained the lemonade in front of him, and stood up. He left the restaurant and headed back toward the Han Nan Financing Guarantee Company.

When he sat down at the meeting table again, the large clock on the wall showed the time was exactly 2:40 PM.

"Mr. Xu, have you made your decision?" The man crossed his arms, looking utterly confident, as if he had expected Xu An to return all along. "If you’ve made up your mind, we can discuss the specific details of our cooperation..."

RING RING—RING RING—

A sudden ring from a cell phone interrupted the man. A flash of displeasure crossed his eyes. Just as he was about to ignore the sound and continue speaking, Xu An shot him an apologetic look, took his phone, and walked away from the table to a secluded corner of the lobby to answer the call.

"Hello, what’s up?" Xu An asked, keeping his voice low.

"Boss, the membership cards..." Tang Wen started, then trailed off. Xu An could hear the CLICK-CLACK of a mouse.

"What about the membership cards?"

"The number of online membership cards has already surpassed eight hundred! Including the offline ones, the total top-up amount is over two hundred thousand!" Tang Wen took a huge breath before continuing, "And the number of cards is still increasing at a rate of 3.5 per minute!"

’In less than four hours, the top-ups have already reached two hundred thousand, and they’re still growing fast!’

’This means my hasty, even non-profitable, membership drive to raise funds is actually working!’

’Even though I’m still far from my goal, there’s still a day and a half left in the promotion. I can afford to wait and see, and make a decision tomorrow!’

’Worst case, the service fee will just be a little higher!’

"Okay, I understand."

After saying that, Xu An hung up the phone. He took a deep breath, put on a standard smile, and walked back to the meeting table. Standing there, he answered the man’s earlier question: "Yes, I’ve thought about it. And I’ve decided to think it over one more night. If necessary, I’ll be back at your company tomorrow at ten in the morning with all my documents to handle the cooperative procedures."

With that, Xu An extended a friendly right hand, quickly shook hands with the dumbfounded man, and turned to leave the guarantee company, leaving the man standing there, stunned.

’Seriously, is there something wrong with this guy?! He came all the way back just to tell me he’s decided to think it over some more? Isn’t he just messing with me?!’

’Damn it! It’s just a one-million-yuan loan—a small amount, and he needs it urgently. Like hell I’m going to wait on him!’

’Whoever wants to take his case tomorrow can have it. I’m sure as hell not taking it!’

The man grumbled and cursed as he returned to his office. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He silently gave Xu An a one-star rating in the system, adding the note: [Extremely Troublesome].

"Next time you come back, let’s see who’s willing to take on an ’Extremely Troublesome’ client like you. Then you’ll be the one begging me, and I’ll make sure to charge you the highest possible service fee! A dinky little fast-food joint dares to come here and mess with me..."