novelraw Chapter 84 : Tearing Off the Mask, Confrontation
Chapter 84 : Tearing Off the Mask, Confrontation
Chapter 84: Tearing Off the Mask, Confrontation
The atmosphere in the private room was somewhat quiet.
The six bosses looked at each other, feeling a bit lost.
"You... want to go against Zhang Xiaojun?"
One boss muttered: "Going against him, the consequences could be very tragic."
Chen Fan shook his head.
"It's not about going against him. I'm just resisting injustice."
"I do business legitimately, why should I hand over a portion of my earnings to him?"
"Are you all really willing to let him control and bully you?"
These words struck a chord with a few of them.
It's not possible that they didn't harbor resentment towards Zhang Xiaojun.
However, they were intimidated by Zhang Xiaojun before, so they didn't dare resist and could only obediently pay the money to maintain stability.
Now, someone suddenly emerged to rally everyone to unite, and they were momentarily at a loss.
At this time, the boss from Lanjisu spoke up.
"You... really have a way to resist him?"
"You have to understand, if he finds out about this, none of us will have a good ending. Zhang Xiaojun's retaliation will be even worse."
Chen Fan said: "I'll handle this. You don't need to do anything."
"I just hope you can help me with one thing."
"What is it?"
"It's simple. Starting tomorrow, I hope your internet cafes can join me in lowering prices."
Upon hearing this, their expressions changed slightly.
"You want to start a price war?"
"Isn't that a bit childish?"
"Even if we lower prices, can that really solve the problem with Zhang Xiaojun?"
Chen Fan calmly said: "Lowering prices is an attitude, not a means."
"I just need everyone to lower prices together to show our stance to the outside world."
"As for the rest, I'll handle it. I can promise you all that within a month, I will completely resolve the problem with Zhang Xiaojun."
Hearing this, the expressions of the bosses changed again.
"What makes you so sure? How can we trust you?"
Chen Fan smiled.
"It's up to you whether you believe me or not."
"I want to remind you all again, I'm not begging for your cooperation, but rather providing you with an opportunity to get rid of Zhang Xiaojun."
"You can choose to cooperate together, or... you can choose to continue paying protection fees to Zhang Xiaojun..."
"In the end, the decision is still in your hands."
At this time, someone couldn't help but ask: "If we lower prices, how much should we lower them by?"
Chen Fan didn't hesitate and said directly: "The internet fee should be five mao cheaper than Huiteng Internet Cafe."
"Wouldn't that mean lowering it to one yuan per hour?"
One boss complained, "With that, how are we supposed to make money?"
Chen Fan glanced at the boss who spoke and calmly said: "Gentlemen, please take a longer-term view."
"As long as we resolve the problem with Zhang Xiaojun, you will no longer face any obstacles in the future."
"Also, I said that I'll help you upgrade the computers in your internet cafes for free. At that time, your customer base and occupancy rate will increase, and you won't earn less than before the price reduction."
Seeing the bosses looking at each other, still undecided, Luo Wenjie couldn't help but complain.
"You're all bosses, can't you just make up your minds?"
"If you don't want to do it, then we'll do it ourselves."
"At worst, we'll go our separate ways in the future, but let me say this in advance, don't feel bad if we at Starry Sky Internet Cafe take away your business after we get rid of Zhang Xiaojun."
Hearing this, the expressions of the bosses changed slightly.
"I'm in."
The boss from Lanjisu was the first to slam the table and stand up.
"I've always disliked Zhang Xiaojun. I'm in."
"I don't believe he can monopolize everything."
With someone taking the lead, the other bosses who were still hesitating also made up their minds.
"I'll join too."
"I'm in."
Seeing all six of them choose to unite, Chen Fan nodded.
"I'll copy the internet cafe management system to the cloud drive, and send it to you later."
"As for what's next, let's have a good competition with Zhang Xiaojun."
After saying that, Chen Fan raised his glass.
"Gentlemen, for the sake of our future business, let's toast together..."
All six bosses stood up and raised their glasses.
......
The next morning, the six internet cafes simultaneously issued announcements, declaring that their internet fees had been reduced to one yuan per hour.
This stabbed Huiteng Internet Cafe, which charged one yuan and five mao per hour, right in the back.
Within a day, their occupancy rate was reduced by half.
By the second day, Huiteng Internet Cafe had almost no customers left, except for a few die-hard members.
The spacious hall was almost empty, with only a few students playing games.
The employees hurriedly reported the situation to Zhang Xiaojun.
When Zhang Xiaojun arrived at the internet cafe and saw the situation, he was stunned.
After the employees explained the situation, Zhang Xiaojun immediately realized what was happening.
"The six internet cafes issued announcements at the same time?"
"Yes."
"Hmph. It seems they've united to resist."
Zhang Xiaojun let out a cold laugh.
"A few days without taking action, and these people think they can act tough again."
"It seems I need to teach them a lesson."
"Only by beating them up will they know how formidable I am."
A nearby employee asked in a low voice, "Boss, you plan to punish these bosses?"
"Going against all of them at once, won't that provoke public outrage?"
Zhang Xiaojun sneered, "Do you understand the concept of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys?"
"I suspect this time they lowered prices together has something to do with that guy from Starry Sky Internet Cafe."
"The little punk wants to unite everyone against me. I'll personally show him that he's still too green to fight me."
"This time, we'll start by targeting Starry Sky Internet Cafe."
Zhang Xiaojun acted quickly.
That very night, he sent people to dump a pile of garbage in front of Starry Sky Internet Cafe and even smashed their glass door.
Faced with such dirty tactics from the opponent, Luo Wenjie was so angry he started cursing.
Chen Fan, however, remained calm.
"First, clean up the garbage, then find someone to replace the door."
Luo Wenjie was displeased.
"Are we just going to let it go like this?"
"Why don't we go smash the door of Huiteng Internet Cafe tonight?"
Chen Fan shook his head.
"No need. Such tactics are too low-level. It'll only be a minor annoyance to the opponent, with no real meaning."
Luo Wenjie was unwilling to accept it.
"So we're just going to sit and watch without doing anything?"
Yet Chen Fan remained calm.
"Don't rush. Let's wait a little longer."
Luo Wenjie didn't know what exactly Chen Fan wanted to wait for.
Nevertheless, on the third day, the fire department showed up and conducted a fire safety inspection specifically at Starry Sky Internet Cafe.
A few inspectors in broad-brimmed hats strolled around the internet cafe and casually pointed out a few areas that didn't meet the standards.
Chen Fan questioned them, "Exactly what didn't meet the standards? You have to provide specific reasons, right?"
However, that worker just sneered.
"I said it didn't meet standards, so it doesn't. Can you afford the responsibility if a fire breaks out?"
"A fine of ten thousand yuan, and the internet cafe will be closed for a week for rectification."
"You can only reopen after passing the fire safety inspection a week later. If you still don't pass, then you'll be shut down for a month."
After that group of people left swaggering, Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully.
"So, this is the opponent's trump card."
Luo Wenjie was so angry his face turned red.
"What do we do now?"
Chen Fan, however, didn't seem too upset.
"Let's close down as they said."
"Damn, closing for even a day will lead to huge losses."
Chen Fan shook his head, "It's fine. Let's close down first."
"In fact, closing down at this time is beneficial for our internet cafe."
"At least during the closure period, Zhang Xiaojun won't have any other ways to target us."
Luo Wenjie was still displeased.
"Think of a solution! Are you really willing to let the opponent step all over us like this?"
Chen Fan calmly said, "Don't rush, a solution will come very soon."
He then leaned over and whispered something to Luo Wenjie.
Luo Wenjie's eyes suddenly widened with excitement.
"Hey, that's a good idea."
"If it works, that bastard will really get what he deserves."