Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier

Chapter 217: Chapter 135: Recruiting Troops and Buying Horses (Part 2)

"I’ll have someone transfer the final payment to you in a bit."

Qi Sheng looked at the expectant Xu Qinghui and Wang Bingqin. He naturally knew why they hadn’t left yet.

"Haha, Younger Brother Qi, you’re so straightforward. It’s a rare chance to meet your girlfriend. Why don’t I treat you to a simple lunch?"

Xu Qinghui obviously didn’t want to lose contact with Qi Sheng just like that.

He also wanted to develop a few potential clients from among Qi Sheng’s friends.

"Not today. I’ll treat you some other time, Brother Xu."

Qi Sheng glanced at the time, tactfully declining Xu Qinghui’s offer.

"Haha, no problem. Business comes first. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet up in the future."

Xu Qinghui hadn’t been paying much attention until he inadvertently spotted the Vacheron Constantin.

The sight sent a shiver down his spine.

A Vacheron Constantin with a market price of nearly 7 million was actually on Qi Sheng’s wrist.

’Oh my god,’ he thought. ’Younger Brother Qi’s family must be worth billions to support such extravagant spending, right?’

He’d just dropped 25 million on renovating a hot pot restaurant.

The watch on his wrist was a Vacheron Constantin worth nearly 7 million.

On top of that, this Younger Brother Qi also owned a Ferrari 488 worth 5 million.

This was a top-tier rich kid’s life, plain and simple.

...

Once Xu Qinghui and Wang Bingqin said their goodbyes and left, only insiders remained in the courtyard.

Qi Sheng put his arm around his girlfriend, gazing at the courtyard that now belonged to him.

’What’s a siheyuan compared to this? Could it possibly be worth as much as my courtyard?’

It was no exaggeration to say that if the Guangdong Association Hall were ever put up for sale...

...people would be fighting to buy it, even for several hundred million.

"Honey, are you really planning to open a hot pot restaurant here?"

Tan Hua felt it was a bit of a shame. "With such great decor and location, isn’t opening a hot pot restaurant a waste?"

"Do you think I’m short on cash?" Qi Sheng retorted with a smile.

"Of course not."

Tan Hua shook her head. "You buy me tens of millions worth of clothes and jewelry. How could you possibly be short on cash?"

"Exactly. So you can just think of this as me dabbling, simply fulfilling a small wish of my own."

"It doesn’t matter if it makes money or not, as long as I’m happy."

That’s what Qi Sheng said, but inwardly, he was absolutely certain his hot pot restaurant would be a massive hit.

A flavor and spiciness level twice as good as any competitor.

For the spice-loving people of Sichuan and Chongqing, it would be the treasure of a restaurant they had always dreamed of.

"Oh, right. You’re not short on money anyway. I believe in you!"

Tan Hua just felt it was a pity to use such a prime location and lavish decor...

...for a hot pot restaurant. It seemed like a waste; a Western restaurant would feel more appropriate.

But she had no doubt that a restaurant opened by Qi Sheng would lose money.

Even if the food was mediocre, the location was too good to fail.

And the decor was nothing short of extravagant.

Hermes tableware, LV furniture, tables, and chairs.

If this hot pot restaurant didn’t become a hit, it would be an offense against heaven itself.

"I’m going to be busy in a bit. Why don’t you go check out the beauty salon first?"

"Okay, okay. You get to it, then."

Tan Hua knew the initial preparations would be hectic, so she obediently left without another word.

...

After seeing his girlfriend off, Qi Sheng found a random place to sit down.

He opened the system’s talent pool and began to whale.

Of the Talent Recruitment Cards the system had previously awarded him, only two Ordinary Level cards remained unused.

As for staffing the restaurant, he took a page from Haidilao, the big boss of the hot pot world.

A 1,000-square-meter location with over 70 tables would typically be staffed with around 100 to 120 employees.

But Qi Sheng’s was a massive, 2,500-square-meter location.

Staffing it with 250 employees seemed quite reasonable.

Fewer employees would naturally lead to lower service quality.

Qi Sheng wasn’t short on money, and this was the first Spicy King location, so he naturally wanted everything to be perfect.

Not being short on money, Qi Sheng also planned to directly provide all employees with the "five social insurances and one housing fund."

Although doing so would cause labor costs to skyrocket...

...he had Lord Tong earning money for him like crazy, so he didn’t need to feel the pinch at all.

Casually upgrading his employees’ benefits was, in a way, the last shred of conscience he had left.

Two Ordinary Level Talent Recruitment Cards were, of course, far from enough.

A store this large needed an Elite Level manager at the helm, at the very least.

Qi Sheng selected an Elite Level female manager.

He also recruited two Ordinary Level deputy managers, one male and one female, to assist her.

As for the regular staff, Qi Sheng planned to recruit them directly from the general public.

In less than half an hour, the three of them appeared before Qi Sheng.

The manager, Yuan Li, was dressed in a sharp women’s suit.

Her confident and composed gaze made Qi Sheng trust her a little more.

The two deputy managers were also quite young, around twenty-eight or twenty-nine.

They had come over from Haidilao with Yuan Li.

"Manager Yuan, I’m entrusting all hiring matters for the restaurant to you. If you need funds, contact Director Lei directly."

Shengxuan Property wasn’t usually busy, so Qi Sheng had Lei Ting temporarily take charge of the finances for the Spicy King restaurant in Taikoo Li.

"Chairman Qi, I was wondering, what are your plans for the restaurant?"

In the memories the system had implanted in Yuan Li...

...when her father was critically ill and needed surgery, it was Qi Sheng who had paid his medical bills.

She had thought she would never be able to repay him for saving her father’s life, but she never expected Qi Sheng would need her.

Yuan Li submitted her resignation without a moment’s hesitation and brought two of her most valued subordinates with her.

"I’d like to hear your thoughts."

Qi Sheng didn’t state his own position right away. He wanted to hear what brilliant ideas this star manager from Haidilao had.

"Chairman Qi, in my experience, there are five key areas we need to excel in to make customers want to come back."

"The most important is definitely the taste. If the flavor isn’t appealing, even the best service is pointless."

"Second is the product: whether the preparation time, quality, portion size, and proportions are up to standard."

"Third is service. Haidilao does this very well, and it’s worth learning from them."

"Fourth is the ambiance. Our restaurant is the pinnacle of the Chengdu hot pot scene. I’d give it a perfect 100."

"Fifth is price. This is up to you to decide. If the hot pot is too high-end, foot traffic will definitely be lower."

"Additionally, I think we should establish a clear and reasonable salary progression system."

"For our most junior employees, we must ensure the base salary is no lower than our competitors."

"Performance-based pay needs special attention to prevent situations where hardworking employees earn the same as those who slack off."

After her eloquent and extensive speech, Yuan Li waited for a response from her boss, Qi Sheng.

It could be said that this was all the hard-won experience she had gained working her way up from a server to a manager at Haidilao.

But with Qi Sheng, she naturally held nothing back.

She wanted this restaurant to be even more successful than a Haidilao location even more than Qi Sheng himself did.

"Not bad. You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought."

Qi Sheng nodded in satisfaction, deeply impressed by Yuan Li’s competence.

’Worthy of a 5-million-yuan talent. The money was well spent!’

"You’re too kind."

Yuan Li just pressed her lips together, not looking particularly pleased.

Qi Sheng didn’t mind and began to explain his own ideas.

"Here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll keep the staff at around 250 people, and we’ll pay the full ’five social insurances and one housing fund’ for everyone."

"All employees will work eight-hour days with two-day weekends and receive overtime pay."

"As for the average spending per person, I plan to set it at 199 yuan."

"Wait, boss, providing the full ’five social insurances and one housing fund’ for all employees... do you know how much that will increase labor costs?"

"Also, an average of 199 yuan per person is a bit steep. Foot traffic definitely won’t be very high."

Yuan Li couldn’t help but interrupt Qi Sheng. She felt her new boss was being a bit fanciful.

Normally, when a company hires an employee and pays their "five social insurances and one housing fund,"...

...it has to pay an additional 45% in labor costs.

For example, if an employee’s pre-tax monthly salary is 10,000 yuan...

...the company’s actual cost is 14,500 yuan.

Providing these benefits for a few management-level employees is one thing.

But providing them for everyone? Not even Haidilao could do that.

An eight-hour workday and two-day weekends were even more unrealistic.

In the restaurant industry, she had never heard of a single place that dared to do that.

’Come on,’ she thought, ’this is the restaurant business, not a government institution!’

And an average of 199 yuan per person was also a bit too high-end.

The average spending at Haidilao was only around 120 yuan.

Even at that price, many people complained that it was unreasonable and too expensive.

If their restaurant set the price at 199 yuan per person, the online backlash would probably be even worse.

Sure, their restaurant’s ambiance was good enough.

But if the price didn’t match the taste, it would all be for nothing.