Chapter 164: Unfortunately, it cannot be returned.

Jin Zhiyuan had already investigated the alcohol situation. If Red Rose chose to source from other cities now, the price might be relatively lower, but the time and transportation costs would be higher, which is a typical case of putting in effort without reaping the rewards.

Most importantly, Red Rose's entire staff base had been poached, and they had all jumped ship together.

For such a large venue, there was no team left. Counting Jin Zhiyuan, there were only five people in total.

Two cleaning ladies.

One cashier.

One porter.

"Damn, that dog Tian Kaixuan, don't let me see him again!"

Jin Zhiyuan was so angry he cursed aloud. He had known years ago that Tian Kaixuan wasn't a good person, but since everyone was in the same circle and did similar business, Jin Zhiyuan had maintained contact with Tian Kaixuan.

It was mainly to show respect to the big shot behind Tian Kaixuan.

Ever since the Yezhou Incident twenty years ago, when a large group of people was taken down, Tian Kaixuan's backer had also gone inside. He himself, however, was like a fish in water, smooth and successful, holding onto Red Rose until now.

In Red Rose's current situation, let alone fifty million, even if it were given to Jin Zhiyuan for free, he wouldn't want it.

Many shop owners were unwilling to take over places that had previously been bars or nightclubs, feeling they were bad luck. They couldn't even be sold, as everyone said the feng shui was bad.

"Uncle Jin, don't worry yet. It's not a dead end; if we think of a way, we can always solve it," Zheng Qian comforted him.

Jin Zhiyuan was a bit puzzled; Zheng Qian was really able to keep his cool.

Red Rose was in such a state, yet he still said it wasn't a dead end.

That was true; getting angry couldn't solve problems, he still had to find a way.

If a bar wants to stay open for a long time, there are many tricks to it.

Whether in the past or now, a bar's decor must be good, and the style must be ahead of the curve.

Red Rose did quite well in this regard. Jin Zhiyuan looked through the financial statements; Red Rose was renovated on average once a year.

As for the decor, it wasn't a problem for now and didn't need to be touched.

The most critical issues now were alcohol and personnel.

Alcohol was the most important thing for a bar. The Seattle Club monopolized the alcohol, and by raising their purchase prices, it was equivalent to exploiting their profits.

No matter how good the business was, it was just giving money away for nothing.

"I actually have an idea for this."

"A few days ago, when I was on a business trip in the Maldives, I discovered a local homemade wine. It comes in many flavors, tastes great, and is inexpensive."

During the few days Zheng Qian was in the Maldives, he drank this wine almost every day. Drinking a lot of this homemade wine didn't cause any problems; it wasn't easy to get drunk, and the taste was very stimulating.

It wasn't like Western foreign liquor that could make people black out instantly and had such a strong aftereffect that it gave people a headache.

If this wine were introduced to Red Rose, Zheng Qian believed there would be a great market for it.

"The Maldives? That place is so far away, how would we transport it?" Jin Zhiyuan was a bit puzzled. The Maldives was thousands of miles away; this wouldn't be an easy task.

"Oh... Uncle Jin, you forgot, I'm in the shipping business. I know some bosses of shipping companies in the Maldives, and they have a good relationship with me. With one phone call from me, they can get this done."

Zheng Qian indeed had this capability. Back when he set off fireworks for Xu Shuyun, that grand gesture had terrified the bosses of this small country of the Maldives, and they treated Zheng Qian like the richest man in the Nine Provinces.

He only needed to make one phone call, and there was no need to mobilize a ship from Qianhe Group; they would obediently ship the wine over themselves.

"Look at my memory, I'm getting old. Xiao Qian, don't take it to heart." Jin Zhiyuan had just been confused by anger and explained, "But will this homemade wine you mentioned sell well?"

"Uncle Jin, you have to trust me. I am a young person and can represent the tastes of young people. 85% of the customers Red Rose targets are young men and women, so there is a high probability they will like it."

Jin Zhiyuan nodded. He had just been released from prison and didn't know what young people liked to drink nowadays, so he would listen to Zheng Qian.

Besides the alcohol, the staff base was equally important.

Many people who come to a bar to have fun will look for sales staff they are familiar with to open a table. These people are veterans of the nightlife scene; the key is that they know how to handle things, and if the guests have a comfortable time, they can become repeat customers.

Almost half of a bar's customers are repeat business. Running a shop long-term isn't about one-off deals; if people have a bad experience, they naturally won't come back next time.

Male sales staff need to know how to handle things, while female sales staff need to be beautiful and know how to talk well.

Red Rose is a legitimate bar and doesn't deal with illicit substances; income mainly relies on selling alcohol and tickets.

Besides promotions, discounts, and event planning, there also needs to be a group of eloquent people to form the backbone of Red Rose.

With a backbone, the bar can have a steady stream of customers.

The problem was that Red Rose's original staff had already been poached, and now, including Jin Zhiyuan, there were only five people in the bar.

"Actually, this is easy to handle too." Zheng Qian smiled. "If they, the Seattle Club, can poach people, we can too."

"Uncle Jin, in a moment I'll have people spread the word: Red Rose is hiring with high pay. A 30,000 yuan cash bonus upon hiring, salary level doubled from the industry standard, and alcohol sales commission increased to 30%."

"The commission for captains and managers is negotiable and can be relaxed up to 50%."

"All the above positions include social security and housing provident fund, paid in full."

After Zheng Qian finished introducing the recruitment benefits, he thought for a moment that there needed to be an event to prove Red Rose's credibility.

"Tomorrow night we can also organize a big party."

"A big party?" Jin Zhiyuan didn't quite understand this trendy term.

"It's just hosting an event," Zheng Qian explained simply and clearly.

"For tomorrow night's big party, alcohol is unlimited, and the whole venue is free. Anyone can come, and after that, we'll hold this kind of big party once a month."

Zheng Qian's words left Jin Zhiyuan completely confused.

The recruitment benefits were already several times the industry standard; if they really did it this way, the monthly operating costs would also be several times that of others.

The key was, tomorrow night, unlimited alcohol and the whole venue free?

Jin Zhiyuan knew that Zheng Qian had a certain business acumen and certainly wouldn't be throwing money away for nothing.

"What is the purpose?" Jin Zhiyuan asked, puzzled.

"You'll know when the time comes," Zheng Qian said, deliberately keeping him in suspense.

"The main thing is that there's no money in the bar's account; it was all taken by that kid Tian Kaixuan. If we do it the way you said, the free event, stocking up, hiring, we need to invest a lot more money at the very least. Will this work?"

Jin Zhiyuan was worried about the financial situation. Zheng Qian certainly had his ideas, but doing this required adding very high costs.

"This is the only way for now; apart from this, I have no other options."

The two of them roughly calculated that they would need to add at least 100 million in costs to maintain the bar's operation for three months.

Doing this was better than having the whole bar stuck in their hands.

Judging by Cui Jinghui's tone, Red Rose's closure was only a matter of days.

Zheng Qian had spent 50 million to buy Red Rose; investing 100 million into it might give it a chance to come back to life, which was better than losing tens of millions.

"100 million, Qian'er, can you come up with that?"

"I can. 100 million isn't much, I can easily get it. I'll transfer it to the bar's public account in a moment."

Strictly speaking, this bar belonged to Jin Lu.

Jin Lu's venue was about to lose money; shouldn't Zheng Qian help out a bit?

To help out, he had to invest.

If Jin Lu's Favorability toward Zheng Qian wasn't full, his additional investment of 100 million could actually yield a cash return of 1 billion.

It was a pity it couldn't be returned.