Chapter 48: Working the Night Scene is Such Good Exercise?

Amidst the speechless reactions of the crowd, Lu Yao calmly said, "A fair-priced retail mall requires massive upfront investment, something ordinary people can't afford."

"Even if you manage to set it up, the operating costs required to retain customer traffic are staggering."

Ordinary people certainly could not afford it.

But Rong Nianqing had no such problem.

Lu Yao looked at Rong Nianqing: "There is a similar enterprise in Yuzhou Province called Pang Donglai. Its business model can be considered the absolute ceiling of the fair-priced retail industry."

When Lu Yao provided a specific case study,

this group of young people, who had received elite education since childhood, immediately began to analyze it through a commercial lens.

A successful case meant that the idea was indeed feasible.

Then the remaining question was simply whether it could be massively replicated.

It was Chen Yujun again. After a brief moment of thought, she said, "I know this company. It's famous for its humanistic care and high quality at low prices, but its annual turnover isn't actually that high, and its net profit is even lower."

"That's because they insist on taking only modest profits, and even distribute over ninety percent of their profits to their employees."

Lu Yao smiled and said, "Isn't that a good thing? Genuine businessmen only take limited profits; exorbitant profits never last."

With that, Lu Yao looked at Rong Nianqing: "This should also align with Miss Rong's moral values, shouldn't it?"

Rong Nianqing's earlier speechlessness vanished once more, and she regained her interest in Lu Yao's remarks.

In such a short span of time, her emotions had swung up and down.

She was being led around by Lu Yao like an obedient puppy.

When someone can manipulate your emotions, it means a good show is about to begin.

So, gentlemen, always remember this!

The moment someone can toy with your emotions and yet leaves your messages unreturned, don't hesitate—delete them straight away!

But right now,

Rong Nianqing was clearly drawn into Lu Yao's rhythm.

She asked eagerly, "So you're telling me to study someone else's model just to open another Pang Donglai?"

Lu Yao shook his head, "Of course not. Studying Pang Donglai's operating model is meant to build a solid fan base. Once you have acquired a sufficient fan base and a stellar reputation, that is when you truly exert your strength."

"Once your mall is up and running, you can leverage your resources to ally with local malls, using high volume to drive down prices."

"At the same time, you can invest in other manufacturing plants, integrating your own aesthetic sensibilities into your proprietary products. Don't you think many everyday household items nowadays are quite ugly? The slightly better-looking ones are absurdly expensive."

Lu Yao spread his hands: "Must good design always be so expensive?"

Hearing this, Rong Nianqing's eyes lit up instantly!

This was a completely fresh perspective!

Not only would it benefit and serve the people, but it would also showcase her aesthetic ambitions!

Fame, wealth, and ambition could all be achieved through this direction.

Especially Lu Yao's final remark, which had a miraculous effect akin to a Roman emperor casting his own portrait onto copper coins.

Lu Yao continued, "This is just the beginning. Once your supply chain matures, you can entirely open your own e-commerce accounts, using a single physical mall to leverage traffic from across the entire country."

Chen Yujun suddenly understood: "So this is your true intention!"

Using physical entities to leverage virtual traffic, thereby capturing nationwide traffic and wealth.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yao shook his head and said, "No. Since it's a fair-priced mall, various home goods are definitely a must. Once we've accumulated enough wealth, I believe Miss Rong can venture into the tech sector, combining technology and daily life to build the concept of a 'smart home'."

A smart home?

In the year 2013, this was an absolute novelty of a concept.

With Apple still only on the iPhone 5 generation, smart homes were a completely unheard-of concept to everyone present.

Thus, Lu Yao managed to thoroughly impress and astonish them all in one go.

Lu Yao smiled: "At the current rate of iteration for electronic products, it probably won't be many years before various smart devices deeply permeate every aspect of our lives."

"Successful individuals who pursue a high quality of life, especially newly minted internet elites, will definitely be very interested in these things."

"Miss Rong, if you start laying out your plans from now on, you will effectively be leading internet manufacturers by more than a decade. By the time they realize this potential, their primary partner of choice will undoubtedly be Miss Rong."

Step by step, through the concept of the fair-priced mall, Lu Yao painted a picture for Rong Nianqing with a grand enough prospect and a sufficiently magnificent blueprint!

If it were anyone else, it would be hard to say whether this blueprint could ever be realized.

But for Rong Nianqing, this vision was within arm's reach.

This was a concept capable of building a veritable business empire!

Lu Yao's vision left everyone present stunned.

Jian Xiaojie looked at Lu Yao in surprise, wondering why he possessed such insight and vision.

Gan Xiaoxi's eyes shimmered with watery light, thinking this guy was simply fascinating!

As for Rong Nianqing, her scalp tingled slightly...

Because the concepts and visions proposed by Lu Yao perfectly resolved her needs!

So Rong Nianqing said seriously, "I will seriously consider this proposal."

What started as casual chit-chat among peers had somehow transformed into a formal proposal right here with Rong Nianqing.

Rong Nianqing continued, "If we truly start preparations, would you be willing to accompany me on market research? As compensation, aside from your annual salary, I will grant you a portion of sweat equity."

Hearing this,

Lu Yao smiled.

Although he had never actively initiated the conversation and had even been passively answering questions the whole time,

he had actually been in complete control of the conversational rhythm the entire time.

Utilizing his future-bred vision, cognitive insights, and conceptual frameworks, he had successfully achieved his goal.

It even slightly exceeded his expectations!

Lu Yao looked at the aloof and refined Rong Nianqing, flashing an utterly harmless smile: "Accompanying you is not a problem, but—"

"I don't have your contact information yet."

Rong Nianqing was taken aback, then slapped her forehead: "My fault! I got so caught up chatting with you that I haven't even added your contact info yet."

Saying this, she retrieved her personal phone from the two devices on the table, opened WeChat, and said, "Scan me."

"Sure."

For someone of Rong Nianqing's caliber, her personal contact information was far more than just a simple way to get in touch.

It was also a permit to enter her inner circle.

It represented unimaginable resources as well.

Therefore, had Lu Yao simply asked for her contact information directly, Rong Nianqing likely would have picked up her other, professional phone instead.

But now,

through Lu Yao's meticulous groundwork and the immense value he had demonstrated, Rong Nianqing had not only actively added Lu Yao's contact information, but even intended to bring him along to work on the project.

Key takeaway:

In interpersonal interactions, the first step to obtaining contact information must involve choosing a method that compels the other party to act proactively.

Otherwise, even if you add each other face-to-face, you'll just end up being deleted later.

With this skillful maneuver of Lu Yao's, the surrounding circle of people watched in utter bewilderment.

Especially Zhu Junyan, whose mind was practically blown.

He still didn't even have Rong Nianqing's personal contact information!

How on earth had he just pulled that off?

How did he manage to add her directly?

Rong Nianqing was even going to take him along for market research and give him equity!

Zhu Junyan had always moved smoothly through Shangnan City's social circles, boasting that "all men within the four seas are brothers" and considering his emotional intelligence and wits to be top-notch.

Yet compared to Lu Yao, why did he suddenly feel so naive and amateurish?

Zhu Junyan kept replaying the conversation in his mind.

"His vision and insights do have some substance, but how on earth did he manage to make Rong Nianqing as happy as if she'd just found her soulmate?"

"Does hanging out in nightclubs really train a person that well?"

"Damn it, I need to go too!"