501: Chapter 501: Four Trending Topics! The Popularity is Off the Charts! Who Disturbed Mr. Qian's Rest in the Middle of the Night?

Chapter 501: Four Trending Searches! Popularity Exploding! Who is Disturbing Mr. Qian's Rest in the Middle of the Night?

"Then what about your boss?" Chen Xiao asked curiously. "Does your boss not care about investment either? Does he not want to go public?"

"Our boss?" Ji Guoxiong smiled. "Our boss doesn't care either. He told me that as long as I don't resign, as long as the company's operations don't lose money, and as long as I can provide a bit of living expenses for him every year, he'll let me do whatever I want..."

"Let you do whatever you want?" Chen Xiao said in surprise. "Your boss seems to trust you very much!"

"I suppose so!" Ji Guoxiong said with a smile. "He achieved financial freedom long ago and doesn't care much about money. He went off on a trip at the beginning of the month, and I don't know when he'll be back..."

Ji Guoxiong's words also surprised the netizens in the livestream room:

"I thought Mr. Ji was the boss?"

"Mr. Ji should be the general manager. Didn't you see the introduction? Jiuxiang Catering is backed by Jufan Holdings!"

"What kind of divine big boss is this? I want one too!"

"You can tell by Mr. Ji's expression that he respects the boss a lot... It must be a case of gratitude for recognizing his talent!"

"Mr. Ji's big boss must be one of those old men who achieved financial freedom, right? He doesn't care about money anymore!"

"The big boss definitely values Mr. Ji. I feel like Nine Fragrance Hotpot wouldn't have made it without him!"

"Mr. Ji is certainly capable, there's no doubt about that. He opened Nine Fragrance Hotpot across four provinces in just two years!"

"Why does this feel like the story of Bole and the Thousand-Mile Horse?"

"Like boss, like general manager... They were meant for each other!"

"..."

After everyone's emotions had stabilized a bit, Chen Xiao moved on to the next question: "Netizens are saying that wages for service staff in the catering industry are generally low, the work is hard, and many don't even have social security... Companies like the Jiuxiang chain that treat their employees well are rare. Mr. Ji, do you think servers' salaries should be increased?"

"This is a sensitive question!" Ji Guoxiong sighed. "I think catering businesses increasing salaries depends on their own profitability! The catering industry as a whole is currently in a slump. I know many restaurants are losing money; asking them to give employees raises is something they simply can't do..."

The host followed up: "Then why does your Jiuxiang pay such high salaries?"

"Because so far, all the stores in our Jiuxiang Hotpot Chain are profitable..." Ji Guoxiong said with a smile. "Out of our eighty-seven stores across four provinces, there isn't one that isn't profitable. That's why we have the confidence to share more profits with our employees. If we were losing money too, we would certainly be calling on our employees to tighten their belts!"

At Guodilao headquarters, Lei Mingwei and other executives didn't look very happy.

They felt like Ji Guoxiong was taking a dig at them, but they had no proof!

And the fact that all eighty-seven stores across four provinces were profitable also put a lot of pressure on them.

Chen Xiao was surprised: "All eighty-seven stores in four provinces are profitable?"

"Yes!" Ji Guoxiong nodded. "Almost every store that has been open for more than a month is profitable."

Chen Xiao marveled: "And you didn't do much marketing?"

"We did, but we spent very little money. We only took this opportunity to make a big name for ourselves!" Ji Guoxiong smiled. "But even without much marketing, many customers are still willing to come to our stores often for hotpot!"

As soon as Ji Guoxiong said this, many netizens were astonished:

"I finally understand why Mr. Ji's boss said that as long as Mr. Ji doesn't leave, he can do whatever he wants... Mr. Ji is a genius!"

"I'm willing to pay 400,000 in franchise fees, I just beg Mr. Ji to open up franchising!"

"I can pay 500,000!"

"You bunch of paupers, I'm willing to pay a million in franchise fees!"

"Good heavens, are there so many rich people in the livestream?"

"Damn, I'm really salty. I only have seven yuan and forty-five cents in my pocket!"

"I still owe the bank over a million!"

"But if all Jiuxiang stores are profitable, I might consider taking a loan for the franchise fee!"

"Brother, is it necessary to use leverage? Going that hard?"

"Forget it, you guys! Mr. Ji will definitely not let you have your way!"

"Right, right, right! I support Nine Fragrance Hotpot not opening for franchising. We can't let you guys have your way!"

"I'm very curious, just how delicious does Nine Fragrance Hotpot have to be for every store to be profitable every year?"

"..."

In the livestream, Chen Xiao continued to ask: "How did you manage to make all dozens of stores across four provinces profitable?"

Ji Guoxiong replied with a smile: "Whether it's the taste, the service, or the ingredients, we try our best to do the best within a reasonable range!"

Below the bullet chat, the livestream viewers began leaving comments again:

"I can confirm this; Jiuxiang's servers have the most cordial smiles!"

"Damn, if someone gave me a monthly salary of seven or eight thousand, or even ten thousand, bought me social security, gave me weekends off, and provided food and housing, I could smile brilliantly every day too!"

"Don't even talk about the service, Jiuxiang's taste is even more exceptional. It's definitely the top-tier flavor among all hotpot chains on the market... Many old-brand hotpot restaurants aren't as good as Jiuxiang. Say no more, I'm craving it again!"

"I'm getting more and more curious. When will Jiuxiang finally open in Magic City?"

"Forget it, I'll just go to Rongcheng to eat! I'll go there for a trip!"

"I'm going too! Me too!"

"This is what a truly good store is. Marketing is all empty; only the taste is what matters most!"

"..."

Over the next while, Ji Guoxiong answered a few more of the host's questions and took the opportunity to promote the hotpot restaurant that was about to open in Changsha, Xiang Province!

Many netizens from Xiang Province expressed that they would definitely go to support the Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurant when it opened!

Ji Guoxiong also briefly mentioned the other two brands under Jiuxiang Catering.

He emphasized that Jiuxiang Catering currently only has these three catering brands.

If there are any new catering brands, they will definitely be updated and announced on the official website!

He hoped everyone wouldn't believe the calls from those scammer fast-franchise companies, and since Jiuxiang Catering has not opened for franchising, he hoped no one would be deceived!

This also served as an advertisement for Weimeijia and Jiuxiang Healthy Catering.

But they were certainly not the focus!

At nine o'clock, the livestream interview officially ended.

Ji Guoxiong shook hands with Chen Xiao, thanking the host for her full cooperation!

Chen Xiao also said happily: "This can be considered a win-win!"

This time, the number of people in the livestream peaked at over a million, so she got some great exposure!

Don't ask—the truth was she also had her own self-media accounts, which were just a bit mediocre!

These days, who doesn't have a side hustle?

Next, Ji Guoxiong expressed his gratitude to the TV station staff.

The TV station leadership was also very happy, and finally, Ji Guoxiong invited everyone to a sumptuous dinner!

At Guodilao headquarters, Lei Mingwei and the other executives realized after watching the livestream interview that Jiuxiang Catering was even harder to deal with than they had imagined!

One executive whispered: "They actually don't want investment, don't want to do franchising, and don't want to go public... This must be fake!"

"It's definitely fake!"

"Are they at odds with money?"

"Anyway, I don't believe such people exist in this world!"

"..."

Lei Mingwei said to the group: "I didn't expect them to proactively break their own 'golden body'... Jiuxiang is even harder to deal with than we imagined. Moral kidnapping definitely won't work. They are a non-listed company and don't need to publish financial reports, while we are a listed company and must publish them, and they have to look beautiful... In other words, whether Jiuxiang is profitable and how much it profits is all up to Ji Guoxiong. Whether to give employees raises and whether to implement an eight-hour workday is also up to them!"

"If we dare to morally kidnap them, they will surely turn it around and deal with us... Netizens will probably speak up for them too!"

Lei Mingwei sighed: "However, the only good news is that Ji Guoxiong probably won't break his word in the short term. At least for a while, Nine Fragrance Hotpot won't expand too quickly!"

"..."

That very night, because of this livestream interview and riding on the previous heat, Nine Fragrance Hotpot hit four trending searches in a short time.

Nine Fragrance Hotpot Admits It Is Far Inferior to Donglai Supermarket but Will Work Hard to Learn!》

《A Legend Going Against the Current! All Eighty-Seven Nine Fragrance Hotpot Stores in Four Provinces are Profitable!》

Nine Fragrance Hotpot: Refusing Franchising! Refusing Capital! Seriously Building a Catering Enterprise!》

Nine Fragrance Hotpot's Way to Success: Quality Taste! Quality Service! Quality Ingredients!》

Netizens generally gave Nine Fragrance Hotpot positive reviews and expressed their willingness to support them, hoping for more companies like this.

Although far inferior to Donglai at this point, at least Nine Fragrance Hotpot was the catering company that treated its bottom-level employees the best in the country, and this Mr. Ji was also working hard!

...

Spark Entertainment Group, standing behind the scenes, hardly spent any money... the popularity was simply off the charts!

They even managed to piggyback on some of Donglai Supermarket's traffic!

Currently, Donglai Supermarket, as a representative of conscientious enterprises, had explosive popularity and name recognition!

Many companies were piggybacking on Donglai Supermarket's popularity in various ways, and Jiuxiang Catering naturally wouldn't let the chance slip by.

Lying in bed in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, Guodilao's general manager Lei Mingwei opened his phone and saw the first trending search... For some reason, he felt a sense of loss in his heart.

Why didn't they piggyback on Guodilao's popularity this time?

Are they looking down on us?

"Uh..." Lei Mingwei rolled over, staring at the ceiling and muttering, "Why the hell would I have such a thought? It must be because the pressure has been too high lately, I'm not resting well, and my brain is muddled!"

As for those shareholders who had previously invested in Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurants, seeing these trending searches made them feel like they had struck gold.

One-million-yuan franchise fees were being offered online!

They had only put in a few hundred thousand to cover all the store opening expenses.

Although they only held a 40% stake, this was something others couldn't get even if they begged for it!

Zhou Fuhai, the owner of Chuhe Food, stood in front of a Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurant. Seeing the long queue of customers, he made up his mind: Cooperation! They must cooperate!

Jiuxiang Catering was definitely a high-quality backer!

He had already tasted Nine Fragrance Hotpot long ago; it was definitely top-tier deliciousness!

Coupled with Nine Fragrance Hotpot's marketing ability and explosive popularity, becoming their supplier would definitely allow his company to come back to life in a short time.

Furthermore, he also discovered that Jiuxiang Catering actually had another potential growth brand—Weimeijia.

Weimeijia had small profits but quick turnover, and its daily sales volume was staggering, consuming countless ingredients, which appealed to him even more!

This was a golden thigh; he had to latch onto it!

If their Chuhe Food didn't latch on, other food companies would surely scramble to do so!

"Tomorrow... no, today!"

Zhou Fuhai took out his phone and dialed Qian Xiaochang's number...

But after calling, he realized that Qian Xiaochang's line was constantly busy!

Who the hell is disturbing Mr. Qian's rest so late at night?

Curse them!