Chapter 531 - 389: You Gotta Make Them Compete! Fourth in Sales in Beibing Country! The First Step to Internationalization

It was March, a time of fleeting warmth and lingering chills.

One moment, the sun was warm and gentle; the next, a fine, dense rain began to fall.

Bronze bells on the eaves clanged erratically in the spring breeze, making urgent sounds. Rainwater slid down the crenellations of the city wall, spreading across the bluestone pavers like layers of black ink.

Pedestrians on the street hurriedly opened their umbrellas. Those without one either quickened their pace or ducked into a small shop by the roadside.

Wang Bin stood at the entrance of a beef soup restaurant, his mood as foul as the weather outside.

Although Kuai Pao was already a leader in the Group Buy industry, it was still getting the cold shoulder in the small county of Chunshen.

He had made cold calls to over a dozen restaurants along North Street, and the owners’ replies were basically all the same: "Never heard of it," "We don’t do partnerships," and "Not interested."

In an era before Group Buy and food delivery became popular, almost all restaurants relied on handing out flyers for promotion, establishing their market presence through the quality of their food and their relationships with regular customers.

’What the hell is Kuai Pao?!’

’Wanting to take a 5% cut of our revenue right off the bat?’

’They must be dreaming!’

’How much does it even cost to hire a few part-timers to hand out flyers for a day?’

"Why is this nothing like I imagined!"

With a frown, Wang Bin pulled out a pack of Huangshan cigarettes, lit one, and took a deep drag.

"Hey, young fella. Seeing that suit and those shiny leather shoes, I’d guess you’re in real estate, right?"

The owner of the beef soup restaurant, a balding, middle-aged man, had struck up the conversation with a grin.

"Nope. I sell insurance," Wang Bin replied curtly.

"Heh heh, you’ve got a bit of an attitude, don’t you, kid!" The owner could tell what was going on. It was obvious this young man was just messing with him.

"Just kidding, man," Wang Bin sighed, offering the owner a cigarette and speaking wearily.

"Having trouble selling houses?" The owner took the cigarette, but instead of lighting it, he tucked it behind his ear.

’Shit!’

Wang Bin cursed inwardly and glanced down at his outfit.

’Do I really look that much like a real estate agent?’

He had specifically spent eight hundred yuan on this suit from Hailan’s Home for his new job.

"Sir, I’m a business manager for Kuai Pao," Wang Bin couldn’t help but admit, deciding to come clean.

"Chen Yansen’s company?" the owner’s eyes lit up as he quickly asked.

"You’ve heard of him?" A look of delight crossed Wang Bin’s face.

"Are you recruiting merchants for the Group Buy or the food delivery side of the business?" the owner asked with a nod, looking like he was in the know.

"The Group Buy business. You really know your stuff, sir!" Wang Bin said with a wide grin, leaning in to build rapport.

"What the hell! What’s with that look, kid? I keep up with the news, you know," the owner said, rolling his eyes.

"My apologies, my apologies! Sir, I can see business here isn’t exactly booming. Any interest in joining Kuai Pao?" Wang Bin asked dryly.

"Now I see why you were so down in the dumps earlier. With a mouth like that, you’re lucky you haven’t gotten yourself punched."

The owner retorted, his face darkening and his tone displeased.

Since Chunshen was right next to Zhou Lai, its most famous local dish was beef soup. The locals only trusted the old, established brands, so a new shop like his was naturally dead.

Wang Bin gave an embarrassed laugh. Realizing his blunder, he quickly apologized.

The owner waved it off, apparently not taking it to heart, and cut straight to the chase. "So, what’s the fee structure?"

"A five percent commission. For example, if Kuai Pao brings you an extra 10,000 yuan in sales, the platform takes a 500 yuan technical service fee," Wang Bin explained, holding up his right hand and spreading his fingers.

"Is it legit? I’ve only ever come across news about Kuai Pao on Toutiao," the owner asked.

"There was this one beef soup place in Luzhou. They had no business at first, only selling twenty to thirty bowls a day. Guess how many bowls the owner started selling per day after he got on Kuai Pao?" Wang Bin said, his eyes darting as he started bullshitting.

"Fifty bowls?" the owner guessed offhandedly.

"Five hundred!" Wang Bin declared loudly.

He’d gotten his job at Kuai Pao entirely thanks to his glib tongue. What he lacked in EQ, he made up for with bravado.

During his interview, he’d bragged to Wang Tianming that he was the head of the student council and the president of the university’s entrepreneurial league.

In Old Wang’s eyes, the guy was so shameless it would’ve been a waste of talent for him not to be in sales.

"That’s complete bullshit!" The owner said, unconvinced. And yet, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up. He was clearly tempted.

"We have over a hundred thousand Kuai Pao users in and around Chunshen, with only a few dozen merchants signed up. Once you go live, I guarantee your business will blow up," Wang Bin continued to hype.

"My shop mainly sells beef soup and beef noodles. A large bowl is eight yuan, a small is six, and handmade shaobing are one yuan each," the owner said, rubbing his hands together and beaming.

’Five hundred bowls a day!’

’I’d make a killing!’

"We could start with two meal deals: a large bowl of beef soup plus one shaobing for 6.9 yuan, and a small bowl plus one shaobing for 4.9 yuan," Wang Bin suggested tentatively.

"No way, no way. I’d lose too much," the owner said, shaking his head.

"Fine, then forget it. There’s another beef soup restaurant just up the road, anyway," Wang Bin said nonchalantly, not a hint of panic in his voice.

The moment he heard that, the owner’s brows knitted together. He was afraid that if his competitor joined the Group Buy, they’d steal all his business. He asked cautiously, "How about we raise it by a yuan?"

"How about this: we drop it by another yuan, and I’ll sign you up for a flash sale promotion, free of charge," Wang Bin countered.

"..." The owner fell silent. He turned to glance at his thirty-square-meter dining area. ’Could I even handle that much business?’

"Let’s not rush the promotion. We can just test the waters first. But I can only handle 300 Group Buy customers a day," the owner said after a moment of thought.

It was a husband-and-wife operation. Even if he worked himself to death, there was no way he could make five hundred bowls of beef soup in a single day.