Chapter 221: Chapter 137: The Trouble with a Boss Who’s Too Rich (Part 2)
But when faced with the insanely spicy hot pot base Qi Sheng had made,
her tolerance was clearly no match for the assault of spiciness, and she couldn’t help but put on a pained expression.
"Wow, this is so good!"
The three little ones were the first to give their praise. They usually went to Haidilao often.
But the flavor at Haidilao was a far cry from Qi Sheng’s hot pot restaurant.
"It really is delicious. This soup base recipe is incredible!"
Zong Rui also gave it a rave review, deciding she had to bring Qu Man to try it once she was back from Shanghai.
"Honey, your restaurant doesn’t just taste good—the atmosphere is amazing and the service is so wonderful. It’d be hard for it *not* to be a hit."
Tan Hua was also stunned by the flavor of the hot pot base, her gaze on her boyfriend filled with growing admiration.
’It’s one thing to be handsome and rich, but he’s successful at everything he does.
How can someone be so amazing?’
"Let’s be low-key."
The corners of Qi Sheng’s mouth curled up uncontrollably. All the praise from the women almost made him grin from ear to ear.
By the time they had eaten and drunk their fill, two hours had passed.
Outside the restaurant, there were still many customers waiting for a table.
This terrifying table turnover rate shocked Tan Hua and the others.
Many of the staff inside were eating in shifts; they were simply too busy to keep up.
Thankfully, Qi Sheng had the foresight to hire 250 people.
"Manager Yuan."
Qi Sheng waved to the busy Yuan Li.
"Boss, what are your orders?"
Yuan Li hadn’t even had time to eat, and her throat was raw from shouting.
"Have the greeter outside inform the waiting customers that the restaurant will be taking a break at three o’clock."
"We’ll reopen at five. Let everyone get some rest."
"Give Heytea a call. Everyone on staff gets a drink, my treat."
"Also, starting today, we’ll be selecting three ’Stars of Service’ every day."
"This includes both the front-of-house and the kitchen staff. Everyone is eligible."
"First place gets a 300 yuan bonus, second place gets 200, and third place gets 100."
Yuan Li hesitated. "Boss, why don’t I just have everyone rest in shifts?"
"You can’t earn all the money in the world. We can’t neglect our employees’ health. Just do as I say."
Qi Sheng knew Yuan Li meant well and wanted to help him make more money.
But no matter how much money the hot pot restaurant made, could it possibly be faster than fleecing Lord Tong?
For Qi Sheng, opening a hot pot restaurant was just a way to have some fun.
Later on, when he had friends to entertain, bringing them directly to his own restaurant—now *that* would be impressive.
"Alright. On behalf of everyone, thank you, Boss!"
Yuan Li knew everyone was exhausted, but her loyalty would always be with Qi Sheng.
A boss as considerate as Qi Sheng would naturally earn his employees’ devotion.
...
Sure enough, when Yuan Li relayed Qi Sheng’s announcement,
the staff inside erupted in cheers, shouting, "Long live the boss!"
This surprised many of the customers who were still dining.
"Miss, what’s all the excitement about?"
A male customer in his thirties called over an excited-looking waitress, feigning curiosity to scout out the situation.
"Our boss ordered Heytea for us! Is there anything else you’d like to add? The kitchen is about to take a break soon."
The young waitress’s smile was warm; she clearly cherished her job.
"Your boss is really generous. Heytea isn’t cheap."
"Yup, our boss is the best! We also have the ’Star of Service’ award. The daily winner gets a 300 yuan bonus. If you think my service was good, could you please leave a good review later?"
"Sure."
Li Yu nodded with a smile, secretly pondering the situation.
As the newly appointed manager for Haidilao’s Southwest Region,
it hadn’t been long since he was transferred back from overseas.
He had replaced none other than Yuan Li, who was on the verge of being promoted to manager of the Southwest Region herself.
He had, of course, heard of Yuan Li’s capabilities.
Starting as a greeter, she had been rapidly promoted to manager.
She was even included in Haidilao’s young executive training program.
She had the potential to become a top executive at Haidilao in the future.
Yet, a talent like her had resolutely chosen to resign.
You have to understand, Haidilao only had seven regional managers.
Not to mention a starting monthly salary of 100,000 yuan, plus stock dividends.
As soon as Li Yu took office, he rushed over to investigate the situation.
He wanted to see if this restaurant Yuan Li had opened was worthy of Haidilao’s attention.
According to the five dimensions they always used to assess a competitor’s strength:
Product quality was impeccable, as the staff were all trained by Haidilao.
Timely and error-free food delivery was the most basic requirement.
Atmosphere. Needless to say, it was perfect.
Even Haidilao’s own locations wouldn’t be willing to spend this much money.
Service. Also impeccable.
The employees and the manager all came from Haidilao, so you could say they were on par.
Flavor. This was what Li Yu found most unbelievable and alarming.
He had to admit, the taste of this Spicy King restaurant...
far surpassed that of their Haidilao locations.
Li Yu could reach this terrifying conclusion just by looking at the surprised expressions on other customers’ faces.
As for the 199 yuan per person price point, it was a bit on the high side.
But considering the location, the decor, and the flavor,
it was an absolute bargain!
’This is trouble.’
Li Yu rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was a huge headache.
The Southwest Region was already Haidilao’s worst-performing region.
The competition among hot pot brands in Sichuan and Chongqing was white-hot.
Besieged by a host of local brands,
Haidilao’s service-oriented model had some trouble adapting to the local market.
You could say that the people of Sichuan and Chongqing prioritized the flavor of their hot pot above all else.
As for service, they didn’t care as much.
Many hole-in-the-wall joints, the hot pot places on the ground floor of apartment buildings,
had been open for decades, relying solely on repeat customers.
These were customers Haidilao couldn’t attract.
In recent years, Haidilao had been targeting a younger demographic.
They focused on capturing the young consumer group that cared more about quality and atmosphere.
It was with this strategy that Haidilao gradually gained a foothold in the Southwest Region.
Now, the competitor they dreaded most had appeared.
Spicy King’s service, flavor, product quality, atmosphere, and price...
had all reached a level that had them sitting on pins and needles.
Li Yu had a gut feeling.
Spicy King would become Haidilao’s most threatening challenger.
Fortunately, the brand was just starting out.
They still had plenty of time to respond and adjust.
...
When the ordered Heytea drinks were delivered to the restaurant,
the staff, who had been smiling at customers for hours,
all collapsed exhaustedly into their seats, relying on the Heytea to revive them.
Behind the cashier’s counter, Qi Sheng and Yuan Li looked at the day’s revenue, also a bit surprised.
From eleven to three, the restaurant’s table turnover rate reached 2.5.
And this was just the data from the lunch period.
When dinner time came, the turnover rate would likely be even more absurd.
"Boss, I’m confident our turnover rate will exceed 5 today!"
Although Yuan Li was tired, seeing these numbers filled her with excitement.
Her body was renewed with Vitality, and she was full of drive.
"Look how exhausted everyone is."
"Tonight, we’ll operate from five to ten at the latest. Let everyone get plenty of rest."
"Otherwise, the bit of money we earn won’t even be enough to cover medical bills."
Qi Sheng was quite satisfied with the revenue but not particularly surprised.
’So what if the turnover rate hits five?’
’That’s only five or six hundred thousand yuan in revenue. It’s not even enough to match the base salary Lord Tong gives me.’
"Alright."
Yuan Li nodded, though a bit reluctantly.
She had wanted to aim for the small goal of breaking one million in revenue on their first day.
But Qi Sheng was the boss, so his orders had to be followed.
’Sigh, having a boss who’s too rich isn’t all good.’
"By the way, I have an office building over on East Main Street, and two restaurant spaces just became available."
"The combined area is about 1,700 square meters. They can be new branches for Spicy King."
Qi Sheng laid out his plans for Spicy King according to his own ideas.
"I plan to open six branches in first-tier cities, four in second-tier cities, and two in third-tier cities."
"Later, depending on the performance feedback from each city, we’ll decide whether to add more branches."
"I think that’s feasible."
After careful consideration, Yuan Li expressed her support for Qi Sheng’s idea.
Blindly opening dozens of branches in a single city, like Haidilao does, was not advisable.
It didn’t offer much benefit besides bloating one’s own management system.
Spicy King’s per-person spending was already higher than Haidilao’s, so it was destined to follow a boutique model—small but excellent.
Controlling the number of new stores and striving for high sales density per store was the core development strategy for Spicy King’s future.
"Good. I’ll have to trouble you with the subsequent store openings. I’m confident you can handle the job well."
Qi Sheng had neither the interest nor the time to handle the specific management and operations of the stores.
With Yuan Li around, he could be completely at ease.
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