491: Chapter 491 Sky City! Altitude Sickness! Nine-Fragrance Hot Pot is Not for Sale!

"Certainly!" Chen Qingzhou knew the difficulties faced by Jiuxiang Food; factories couldn't just recruit people casually.

Swallowing so many new employees at once would cause Jiuxiang Food's production capacity to explode, putting immense pressure on sales.

Otherwise, why would factories love labor dispatch?

Recruit when needed, lay off when not.

It's very convenient and flexible!

"Schedule it for the middle of this month!" Su Yang thought for a moment and said, "Coordinate well with Jiuxiang Food, the PR team at Spark Entertainment, and Advertising Company to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Recently, there were many marketing tasks for Spark Entertainment Group, and Chizhu Wine Industry could only be scheduled for the end of the month.

"Understood, Boss!"

"Have the school's major adjustments been finalized?"

"They should be approved in the next few days; the higher-ups said there shouldn't be any issues!"

"Alright then!" Su Yang asked again, "What about funds? Are there any issues with the funds?"

"If we make the payments to the construction workers on time, after paying next month's wages, there won't be much money left in the account!"

"Make the payments on time. Next month, I will have the headquarters send you money; don't worry!"

"Understood, Boss!"

After hanging up, Su Yang chatted with Tan Yanghong, the General Manager of Jiuxiang Food.

To facilitate enrollment for Yanhu Vocational School, the plan was moved forward, and he was told to have Yanhu Vocational School prepare.

Not long after hanging up, Su Yang received the promotional plan jointly formulated by Jiuxiang Catering and Spark Entertainment Group.

After carefully reviewing it and using Business Deduction to recommend it, he found that with this promotional plan, the performance of all Nine Fragrance Hotpot branches would collectively skyrocket in the short term.

Although performance would drop afterward, the decline wouldn't be too significant, and it would still retain many customers.

This was already enough!

This was the effect of brand recognition; otherwise, why would companies desperately spend on advertising?

Just to waste money?

With greater fame, wherever a hotpot restaurant opens, it can capture a wave of traffic, saving a lot of promotion costs.

It also reduces trouble encountered locally!

After all, as a well-known enterprise, many places have to consider the impact.

In the past, they didn't do much online marketing because of limited funds and because Spark Media wasn't strong enough.

Nine Fragrance Hotpot could earn decent profits based on location, taste, and service alone.

Su Yang needed to spend money on the cutting edge of expansion, so he had to tighten his belt and reduce marketing expenses!

Now he had more money, and Spark Entertainment Group had become systematic.

He replied to Ji Guoxiong and Yu Siying in the wechat group: "You may proceed!"

Yu Siying: "Received, Boss!"

Ji Guoxiong: "Received!"

Kang Xuyan: "Received!"

Wang Haolin: "Received!"

Cheng Jinhua: "Received!"

"..."

After adding six points to his constitution, Su Yang glanced at the beautiful scenery on the grassland, feeling truly refreshed.

At this moment, Tao Xue came to his side and acted coquettishly: "Brother Su, I want to sing a love song with you too!"

"Sure!"

In the evening, the group enjoyed the starry sky over the grassland before returning to the hotel.

It was also on this afternoon that local official self-media in Rongcheng, as well as a few out-of-town media outlets, disclosed a piece of news—the domestic hotpot industry giant, Guodilao, wanted to spend 3 billion to acquire the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain!

Regarding Guodilao, most of these media outlets just mentioned it in passing.

After all, this hotpot giant was already extremely well-known domestically, almost reaching the point of being a household name. Including Guodilao was just to drive traffic; who made their traffic so high?

This company was inherently good at marketing; even their waiters could often make it onto trending topics, so who wouldn't want to piggyback on that?

However, these media outlets were almost all detailing the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain.

Local media in Rongcheng were praising Nine Fragrance Hotpot, saying that Nine Fragrance Hotpot had conquered the picky appetites of the people in Rongcheng and Shancheng with its top-tier deliciousness and high-quality service, opening branches across four provinces in a short time, and had officially entered Xiang Province!

Nine Fragrance Hotpot was swimming against the current at a time when the catering industry was generally declining, showing strong competitiveness and was expected to become the next hundred-billion-level catering giant!

And the fact that the Guodilao Group offered 3 billion to acquire this Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain, which had been established for less than two years, just happened to prove this point!

Incidentally, local media also praised the local business environment, briefly mentioning Weimeijia and Jiuxiang Healthy Catering, the sister companies of the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain.

As for various out-of-town media or financial media, besides introducing the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain, they also took the opportunity to analyze the reason for Guodilao's acquisition of the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain!

After all, the businesses of these two companies were completely conflicting, so conspiracy theories emerged.

Perhaps Guodilao felt threatened by the expansion of the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain...

Guodilao wanted to nip the threat of Nine Fragrance Hotpot in the bud!

After these situations were disclosed by the media, many other self-media accounts began to forward them. Relying on the gradually increasing influence of Spark Entertainment, Su Yang's financial resources, and the influence of Guodilao, this news quickly rushed onto the trending lists of several platforms.

Many people noticed the name Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain!

Jiuyue: "3 billion! They are really f***ing rich! Is this Nine Fragrance Hotpot that delicious?"

Liuyue Feihua: "Let's put it this way! The Guodilao headquarters is in Rongcheng, yet Nine Fragrance Hotpot has beaten Guodilao into submission in Rongcheng. Do you think it could be anything but delicious?"

Gaoshan Yishui: "No wonder Guodilao wants to acquire Nine Fragrance Hotpot!"

Renjian Fugui: "I can testify to this. Nine Fragrance Hotpot is genuinely delicious, better than Guodilao. I can't comment on the service; it's a different style, and both have their own merits!"

Shuangjiegun Yong: "We don't seem to have Nine Fragrance Hotpot in Hangzhou!"

Zui'ai 2017: "This is a newly emerged hotpot chain; it probably hasn't opened in Hangzhou yet!"

Chengshi toke: "I like eating hotpot. When will it open in Magic City so I can taste it?"

"..."

The next day, at the Guodilao headquarters in Rongcheng, Lei Mingwei, the CEO of the Guodilao Group, saw the information compiled by his secretary and then looked at the news hanging at the tail end of the trending topics. His face was quite gloomy.

The secretary said somewhat angrily: "Mr. Lei, Jiuxiang Catering is using our reputation to hype themselves up!"

"I certainly know that!" Lei Mingwei narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "I didn't expect that I still underestimated Ji Guoxiong. I thought he wasn't good at marketing!"

Lei Mingwei had heard of Ji Guoxiong's name before, but only knew that he had strong capabilities in catering management and supply chain.

But being strong is just being strong; he didn't care. There was no shortage of talent in the domestic catering industry!

And since Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurants were almost all directly operated, there was little need to recruit franchisees, and online marketing revenue wasn't high, which caused this misconception.

"It might be that Spark Entertainment Group made a move!" the secretary thought for a moment and said, "This is also an entertainment company under Jufan Holdings, which is very strong in self-media and has recently entered the film and television industry."

"Hmm!"

"Mr. Lei, what should we do now? Should we just deny it?"

Lei Mingwei shook his head: "We sent our Vice President over. Now there are cameras everywhere, and many people in the circle already know... It's possible that guy even has recordings in his office!"

"Then what should we do?"

"Wait, let me see what that guy Ji Guoxiong has to say first!"

Lei Mingwei dialed Ji Guoxiong's phone directly.

Seeing that Lei Mingwei had called, Ji Guoxiong leisurely took a sip of tea before picking up the phone:

"Mr. Lei, how come such a busy person as you is calling me?"

Lei Mingwei got straight to the point: "Mr. Ji, you are not being very authentic!"

Ji Guoxiong feigned ignorance: "What's wrong, Mr. Lei?"

Lei Mingwei: "It's those reports online. Don't tell me you haven't seen them!"

Ji Guoxiong realized suddenly: "So that's what it is! I saw it. I am currently conducting a thorough investigation of the company. I want to see who leaked our company's confidential information... Mr. Lei, don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Lei Mingwei: "..."

Ji Guoxiong: "Many media outlets wanted to interview me early this morning. I am already preparing to hold a press conference to refute the rumors!"

Lei Mingwei was surprised: "Are you really going to refute the rumors?"

Ji Guoxiong said righteously: "The price you offered was clearly 700 million, but it was rumored to be 3 billion by that group of media. Our company certainly has to refute the rumors!"

Lei Mingwei was already cursing in his heart!

After hanging up, Lei Mingwei took a deep breath, trying hard not to lose his temper!

"Mr. Lei, what should we do now?" the secretary asked in a low voice, "Many media outlets are now spreading that we are afraid of the threat posed by the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain!"

"Handle it with cold treatment!"

"Is that okay?"

"We can only handle it with cold treatment!" Lei Mingwei calmed down quickly, "If we get into an argument with Jiuxiang Catering, they will be the ones profiting. They are dying for us to do this... The marketing team behind Ji Guoxiong shouldn't be weak!"

"Alright!"

When Su Yang saw the trending topics about Guodilao and the Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurant in the morning, he was in a pretty good mood.

However, they were still led by a tour guide to visit one of the famous monasteries of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism on the Tagong Grassland—Tagong Temple.

Inside the temple were Tibetan-style reliefs, colored sculptures, murals, butter products, and a forest of stupas with different shapes.

After admiring this temple, the group set off for the Gedilamu City in the Sky.

"Gedilamu" is a transliteration from Tibetan, meaning "the mountain god that many goddesses rely on," and it has the reputation of being a "City in the Sky."

The Gedilamu City in the Sky viewing platform is located in mid-air at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, offering a panoramic view of the beautiful snow-capped mountain groups such as the Gongga Snow Mountain, Yala Snow Mountain, and Qingrao Snow Mountain in Western Sichuan.

However, at Gedilamu, Liu Kai, the security guard transferred from Jiuxiang Food, developed a relatively strong case of altitude sickness. Following the advice of Dr. Chen, Su Yang sent him to Kangding Hospital.

Besides Liu Kai, Jiang Yan and Chen Li also experienced altitude sickness, but it wasn't very severe.

They also insisted on staying!

Su Yang thought for a moment and decided to respect their wishes; the support vehicle was already equipped with oxygen generation equipment.

Oxygen bottles were also sold everywhere here!

The route was a well-developed tourist attraction with relatively complete medical resources for treating altitude sickness.

The occurrence of altitude sickness was completely within the expectations of Su Yang and the tour guide.

However, because everyone drove in, it gave the body a process of gradual adaptation.

After asking Dr. Chen to keep a close eye on everyone's condition, the group headed to Mugecuo to soak in hot springs.

At this time, Ji Guoxiong of Jiuxiang Catering also officially held a press conference, confirming to everyone the authenticity of the news that Guodilao intended to acquire the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain.

However, Guodilao's offer was not 3 billion, but 700 million!

But Ji Guoxiong also stated that the Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain was not for sale.

Even if Guodilao offered 10 billion, they would not sell!

He always believed that the development potential of Nine Fragrance Hotpot was not inferior to Guodilao!