Chapter 172 Buying a car at a 4S store? Xinghai's direct-sale store opens directly in the city center shopping mall.

"Buy it out directly?"

Chu Xuan had only just climbed halfway up from the carpet.

His legs went soft, and with a "thump," he fell back down solidly.

He stared fixedly at the green plastic lighter on the table.

It was as if Lu Jingming had just said they were going to the vegetable market to buy two heads of cabbage, rather than buying out a landmark shopping mall in the city center.

"Boss Lu, do you know how much it costs to buy a Wanda?"

Chu Xuan's hands trembled as he reached into his pocket for a tattered tissue.

Lu Jingming chuckled, one hand shoved into the pocket of his washed-out jeans.

"Five hundred thousand for the deposit, one hundred billion in cash on the books."

He kicked the side of Chu Xuan's shoe with his toe.

"You tell me, if this money sits in the bank earning interest, can it breed?"

Chu Xuan was stunned on the spot.

The abacus in his mind clattered away, and he gasped.

That's right! The thing Xinghai lacks the least right now is money!

Joint-venture car companies using loans to choke us at the mall?

I'll just take the cash and take over the mall along with the land!

Chu Xuan grabbed his red-bottomed leopard-print shirt with the torn collar.

He scrambled up, rolling and crawling.

"Understood! I'll go break down their doors with the Legal and Finance Departments right now!"

Chu Xuan's face was beaming, and he rushed out with long strides.

"Tonight, I'll let them know what a brutal collision of capital really is!"

...

A week later, the core CBD business district of the capital.

In the most bustling atrium on the first floor of the World Trade Center, the 5,000-square-meter showroom that originally belonged to a luxury brand.

It was now completely covered by a huge, black, reflective curtain.

Behind the curtain.

Xia Weiliang was barefoot, stepping on the smooth silver alloy floor.

"Snap."

She crunched the strawberry-flavored candy in her mouth and spat the plastic stick precisely into the trash can.

"Those 4S dealerships with greasy repair shops and walls plastered with cheap posters should have been swept into the trash heap long ago."

Xia Weiliang rolled her eyes dramatically, her face full of disdain.

She raised her right hand and snapped her fingers crisply in mid-air.

"Hum —"

The microwave wireless power supply module at the top of the showroom activated instantly.

The entire 5,000-square-meter space suddenly lit up with deep, ghostly blue holographic light.

There were no physical display racks, nor any so-called top sales leaderboards.

There were only three silver-gray xinghai su1s.

Quietly suspended on magnetic display stands in mid-air, slowly rotating along with the faint light.

"No salespeople, no managers, no cashiers."

Xia Weiliang pointed to the ghostly blue AI Holographic Projection floating beside the car.

"As long as these bumpkins walk in, the AI will automatically scan their retinas and bind their accounts."

"Whichever one they fancy, they can just swipe to customize it on the holographic panel."

"And then?"

Chu Xuan wiped his sweat with a tissue, staring at this dreamlike scene, completely dumbfounded.

"Then just scan the code to pay, and go home to wait for our mecha factory to deliver the car to your door."

Xia Weiliang glanced at him with disgust.

"You don't even have to talk to anyone; it's a paradise for the socially anxious."

Lu Jingming stood in the holographic light.

His washed-out black T-shirt was cast with a chilling coldness by the blue light.

He took out the green lighter from his pocket.

His thumb pressed down on the striker wheel.

"Click."

A cluster of ghostly blue flames shot up, merging with the cyberpunk style of the entire showroom.

"Fine."

Lu Jingming closed the metal lid with a crisp, sharp sound.

"Remove the curtain, open the doors to welcome the guests."

Ten o'clock in the morning sharp.

The 5,000-square-meter black curtain fell with a boom.

Hundreds of media outlets that had been waiting bitterly for a week, and tens of thousands of fans who had reserved a viewing, were like a school of sharks smelling blood, completely descending into madness.

"Holy crap! Is this really a place to buy a car? This has to be an interstellar spacecraft!"

"Where are the cars? Damn, how are the cars just flying in mid-air!"

"There's really no salesperson following behind? Is this guide lady a Holographic Projection?! My hand went right through her!"

The frenzied crowd surged toward the entrance instantly.

The cordon pulled up by the security guards was like paper; it was trampled into shreds in a second.

"Bang — Crash!"

The two heavy tempered glass doors.

Were forcibly shattered into countless shards of glass by the crowd squeezing in from the outside.

The traffic in the entire CBD was declared completely paralyzed within ten minutes.

Traffic police rushed over with wailing sirens, but could only stare helplessly from outside the sea of people.

Across the street.

The BMW China region direct-sale flagship 4S dealership, covering 6,000 square meters.

The marble floor tiles were polished to a shine, and the decor was luxurious.

Regional Manager Zhao was wearing a high-end tailored suit, holding a cup of freshly brewed black coffee.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, watching the commotion across the street with cold eyes.

"Manager Zhao, they actually dared to open a store in the mall."

The sales manager beside him swallowed, his tone laced with insecurity.

"Wasn't it said that Wanda had joined forces to block them?"

"Wanda didn't dare to rent to them."

Manager Zhao took a disdainful sip of coffee, his face full of arrogance.

"That's why that Lu Jingming is an out-and-out madman; he used cash on the books to buy out that entire floor directly."

Manager Zhao snorted, his eyes filled with contempt.

"What's the use of spending a fortune to smash together an empty shell? No professional sales scripts, no financing service fees."

He pointed to his own showroom downstairs, which was empty despite being covered in banners.

"Selling cars relies on pressuring orders and brainwashing; a bunch of machines know nothing about sales!"

No sooner had he finished speaking.

A deafening scream suddenly erupted outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Manager Zhao frowned and subconsciously looked down.

In the Xinghai holographic showroom across the street.

On the huge transparent screen in mid-air, the numbers of real-time orders were scrolling crazily.

Ten, fifty, three hundred!

The speed at which the numbers jumped was so fast that even afterimages couldn't be seen.

There was no need for anyone to promote it.

That group of young consumers who had broken their heads to get in were like people scrambling for cabbage at a vegetable market.

Holding their phones, they crazily scanned the payment codes for the AI guides in mid-air.

Manager Zhao's hand shook violently.

Half a cup of freshly brewed black coffee splashed directly onto his expensive high-end suit.

The scalding liquid instantly burned through his white shirt.

Yet he stood there as if his soul had been extracted, unable to even scream.

He stared fixedly at the queue of people stretching for two streets, his eyes filled with terrifying red bloodshot veins.

Their channel blockade, in front of this unreasonable alien-like showroom, had become an utter international joke.

The sales manager was covered in cold sweat, trembling as he approached.

"Manager Zhao... our store's customer traffic statistics for this morning are out."

Manager Zhao's throat was as dry as if he had swallowed a handful of glass shards; he turned his head with difficulty.

"H-how many?"

The sales manager looked miserable, pointing to the deserted luxury hall downstairs.

"Only two old men came in, and they were just complaining that the queue at Xinghai across the street was too crowded, so they ran over here to borrow the restroom..."