77: Cut and cut again

Inside a luxurious villa in Shen City.

Shi Yongchang, the owner of Qingyue Milk Tea, was woken up by a phone call early in the morning before he even got out of bed.

The general manager of the Milk Tea Shop called him to inform him that something major had happened at the Milk Tea Shop.

"What? All the Milk Tea Shop employees collectively jumped ship?"

"They all ran to the Bingmi Milk Tea Shop next door?" Shi Yongchang was greatly alarmed.

He didn't even know what was going on with the Bingmi Milk Tea Shop.

First thing in the morning, he rushed to the company at the fastest speed and immediately found the manager to clarify the situation face-to-face.

The general manager reported everything that had happened, as well as the results of his own investigation, truthfully to his boss.

After listening to the general manager's report, Shi Yongchang's face turned ashen.

"So, it's all the fault of my 'precious' son!" Shi Yongchang trembled with anger.

The general manager said nothing.

Shi Yongchang's lungs were about to explode with rage.

"How do we solve this?" Shi Yongchang asked.

The general manager said, "Boss, now that all the employees have jumped ship, we can only recruit people as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing this, Shi Yongchang said, "Can't we transfer some people from our other shops to temporarily fill in?"

They had quite a few Qingyue Milk Tea Shops, not only in Shen City but also in other cities.

Transferring one employee from each shop to help out urgently shouldn't be too big of a problem.

The general manager shook his head with a bitter expression: "I'm afraid not."

"The people from Bingmi Milk Tea Shop are right next door, and with Bingmi Milk Tea Shop's salaries, for every one person we bring in, it's estimated one will be poached."

"If all the transferred employees are poached by the Bingmi Milk Tea Shop, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Shi Yongchang shivered.

If employees were transferred from other shops and they all ran to the Bingmi Milk Tea Shop next door.

Not only would they be unable to reopen the shops that had already closed, but their other shops would also be affected!

The general manager added, "Boss, besides the shops that have already closed, our other shops have also been greatly affected!"

"The Bingmi Milk Tea Shop accepts all our Qingyue Milk Tea Shop employees without rejection."

"I'm worried that if we transfer employees from other provinces, they will directly poach them, taking them all!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Yongchang angrily slammed the table.

What a fierce, fierce offensive!

Are those few shops just going to stay closed indefinitely?

The general manager continued, "Boss, we can't keep them closed like this indefinitely!"

"The Bingmi Milk Tea Shop poached our people, and after changing their name, they are directly making the same milk tea as us."

Shi Yongchang was furious!

Making exactly the same milk tea was a direct snatching of their shop's business!

If they closed for two more days, customers would probably only recognize Bingmi Milk Tea and not their Qingyue Milk Tea.

The general manager continued, "The most hateful thing is that the other party's price is much lower than ours."

"We sell for sixteen, and they only sell for six."

"This price isn't just cut in half, it's cut again and again!"

Hearing that the same milk tea was only selling for six yuan, Shi Yongchang was stunned.

"Selling at such a low price, do they make any money?" Shi Yongchang asked.

The general manager shook his head: "From what I understand, the other party definitely isn't making any money."

Shi Yongchang frowned: "So, the other party isn't making money; they're losing money just to spite us!"

"No, it's not just as simple as spiting us!"

"The same product, half our price, and stealing our customers—this is an attempt to pull the rug out from under us!"

Shi Yongchang immediately felt that something was seriously wrong.

Now it wasn't just about reopening the shops.

Even if they reopened, what then?

With Bingmi Milk Tea Shop engaging in such targeted vicious competition, even if they reopened, they wouldn't have any business!

The general manager said, "This isn't even the most serious part."

Shi Yongchang was startled.

It's already like this, and it's not the most serious?

The general manager continued, "The most serious part is that Bingmi Milk Tea Shop is still opening new shops."

"Before long, there will be two Bingmi Milk Tea Shops near, or even right next to, all our Milk Tea Shops in Shen City."

"The same milk tea, much lower price than ours, we only have one shop, they have two."

"And the service is even better; I really can't imagine how we can win in competition against them."

"Once our business is dismal, the inevitable result will be a sharp drop in stock price."

Hearing about the sharp drop in stock price, Shi Yongchang stumbled backward repeatedly and slumped into a chair.

Their Qingyue Milk Tea had five thousand stores across the country.

But Shen City was their stronghold.

If all their Milk Tea Shops in Shen City weren't making any money.

If the Milk Tea Shop entrances were deserted.

How could they give confidence to the shareholders?

The stock would inevitably plummet.

They had pledged a large portion of their shares to the bank for loans, and if the stock plummeted, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Shi Yongchang paced back and forth in the office, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Shi Yongchang was indeed a businessman with assets over ten billion, capable of maintaining composure at critical moments.

"First, reopen those few shops, and immediately recruit new people. I refuse to believe that Bingmi Milk Tea Shop will even poach the new people we hire."

"Even if they do poach them, we'll just recruit more."

"Shen City has as many people as we need!"

"Salaries can't be increased, but we can offer some subsidies!"

Soon, Shi Yongchang set down the countermeasures.

However, this could only stabilize the situation temporarily; it couldn't make the business better, nor could it instill confidence in the shareholders.

"Yes." The general manager immediately went to carry it out.

"It's all Hongzhuang's fault, that bastard!" The more Shi Yongchang thought about it, the angrier he became.

Unable to bear it any longer, he rushed home at top speed, dragged Shi Hongzhuang, who was still sleeping, out of bed, and raised his hand to deliver several hard slaps.

Shi Hongzhuang was dazed from the beating.

He was still dreaming!

A slap when he opened his eyes, another slap when he closed them, hitting him until he was disoriented.

The woman next to him, startled awake, huddled in the covers, looking in terror at the raging Shi Yongchang.

"Who dares hit me!" Shi Hongzhuang roared angrily.

He had drunk too much yesterday and hadn't fully sobered up yet.

"Dad!" Seeing it was his father, Shi Hongzhuang didn't understand why he was so angry.

"I'm not your dad, you're my dad!"

Hitting with his hand wasn't enough to vent his anger, so Shi Yongchang unbuckled his belt and furiously whipped him.

Shi Hongzhuang trembled all over from the lashing.

Since he had become an adult, his father had never hit him like this again.

Shi Hongzhuang scrambled away: "Mom! Mom! Save me, my dad's gone crazy!"

He shouted and ran, not even having time to put on his pants.

Their family villa was very large; he had one building, and his parents lived in another, with a distance of over a hundred meters between the two.

Shi Hongzhuang ran all the way, with Shi Yongchang chasing behind him.

Two aunts who saw this couldn't help but say, "These young people nowadays, they really play wild!"

Soon, Shi Hongzhuang ran to his parents' villa and threw himself into the arms of his mother, who was eating breakfast.

"What happened?" Shi Hongzhuang's mother, Chen Wanbai, saw the belt marks on her son's body and was heartbroken.