NOVPUBThe message in the group was simple: In light of the company’s development, the following plans have been made, effective as of noon today, subletting the shops in hand is strictly prohibited!!!
Although the message was simple.
For Sun Qiangdong and Liu Cheng, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Because there was less than half an hour left until twelve o’clock.
That is to say.
They had to sublet the two shops in less than half an hour. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Once the deadline at twelve o’clock passed, they would no longer be able to process the subletting.
If that time really came...
They would not get a single penny.
"President Sun, would you consider transferring the Mi Yu Tea House to me now?" Huang Zhen looked at Sun Qiangdong with a smile that was not really a smile, as if he had Sun right where he wanted him.
"You... You’re taking advantage of a crisis!" Sun Qiangdong trembled with rage, his blood pressure skyrocketing.
Liu Cheng was also furious: "Why would the shopping street introduce such a policy? What gives them the right to prohibit private subletting? This will be the death of me!"
"Old Liu, don’t get angry, I’ll call now and ask what’s going on." Sun Qiangdong immediately picked up his cell phone and dialed his friend Li Hui’s number, hoping to find out what was happening.
However, no one answered.
Left with no other choice, he called Li Hui’s office number, but the person who answered was a stranger: "Oh, you’re looking for Manager Li? Manager Li has been sent to the police station for abusing his power and taking bribes."
"If you have something to discuss, you’ll have to go to the police station to find him!"
"Whether you can see him or not, I can’t say. You’ll have to ask the police."
"What? Li abused his power?" Sun Qiangdong was completely baffled and refused to believe that his old classmate could have abused his power.
The other party said, "Yes, he privately signed a contract with someone half a month ago to rent out two prime shops for three hundred thousand and signed a contract for as long as five years."
"In reality, the price on the contract was four hundred thousand."
Boom!
A simple few words.
They struck like a bolt of lightning, leaving Sun Qiangdong and Liu Cheng stunned. They had never expected Li Hui to be so daring as to earn a hundred thousand yuan from the margin.
It was clear.
The above rule issued by the Commercial Street Management Center was aimed squarely at them.
Glancing at the time, Huang Zhen said with a smile, "There are twenty-five minutes left. If we hurry to the property center now to sign the subletting contract, there’s still time. I wonder what President Sun thinks?"
Sun Qiangdong said, trembling, "Boss Huang, can’t you raise the price a little?"
Huang Zhen shrugged, his face wearing an intriguing smile: "I can’t."
Sun Qiangdong clenched his fists tightly, his eyes revealing tears of defiance: "That’s a prime shop we leased for two million yuan, and just the facilities inside are worth more than that."
"Yet now you’re asking us to transfer it to you for a mere two hundred thousand. You... You must be out of your minds. No matter what, I won’t transfer the shop to you!"
Huang Zhen said with a challenging expression: "Two hundred thousand may not be a lot, but it’s better than nothing, right?"
"I..."
A simple sentence, like an invisible hand, suddenly gripped Sun Qiangdong’s throat, giving him the sensation of nearly suffocating.
Indeed!
Two hundred thousand was indeed not a lot.
But it was better than nothing.
Shocked back to his senses, Liu Cheng said anxiously, "President Yang, let’s hurry to the property center to sign the contract!"
Although he didn’t want to sell his shop at a low price,
he had no other choice but to do so.
"Mr. Liu is indeed decisive," Yang Jun laughed heartily as he left the tea house with Liu Cheng and took a car to the commercial street’s management center.
Sun Qiangdong was reluctant, but he drove to the management center all the same.
At the same time,
He also called the people who had previously contacted him, trying to transfer his shop to them for a million, saying they could come to the management center to sign the contract now, if they wished.
His demeanor was incredibly humble, no longer the arrogant air he once held.
However,
Everyone scolded Sun Qiangdong harshly, thinking he was playing them for fools, as he had previously insisted on a fixed price of two million, and was now suddenly willing to lower it by a million, clearly, there was a catch!
They absolutely couldn’t fall for his trick.
------
At twelve-fifteen,
Sun Qiangdong and Liu Cheng, each clutching a lease transfer agreement, walked out of the commercial street management center, looking utterly defeated.
Even the scorching sun couldn’t warm the chill that pervaded them.
They had fought so hard to establish themselves in Jizhou,
but who could have imagined that one investment could lead to such a massive loss?
"Why do I feel like there’s something very odd about today’s incident?" Liu Cheng said darkly, gripping the contract tightly in his hand, "It’s as if someone deliberately schemed against us."
Sun Qiangdong gave a bitter smile, "Who else but Chen Nan?"
Liu Cheng was shocked, "How do you know it was him?"
Sun Qiangdong sighed helplessly, "As soon as we launched our herbal tea and cut off the supplies to national tea, I considered that Chen Nan would retaliate against us."
"Only, I didn’t expect his retaliation to come this swiftly."
"If I’m not mistaken, most of those who contacted us before were shills he had found. The purpose was to give us the illusion that our popular shops were in high demand, whereas he was brewing his final move."
"To have the commercial street change the rules and prohibit private shop transfers."
"His aim is to buy our two popular shops at a low price and become the biggest winner."
"It’s a bloodless stroke of genius," he said, "I must admit!"
Liu Cheng’s pupils quivered violently as he remembered that Chen Nan was an esteemed guest of Qian Feng, and if that were true, changing the rules wouldn’t be too hard.
"We’ve lost, and it’s our own fault for being too greedy!" Sun Qiangdong sighed deeply, looking as if he had aged a decade in an instant.
Liu Cheng clenched his fists and ground his teeth, "Mr. Sun, we have worked our whole lives for what we have now, and yet we’re letting Chen Nan reap the benefits. Can you really swallow this bitter pill?"
Sun Qiangdong shook his head, "I can’t swallow it, but what can we do? Must we fight to the death?"
He paused, his bitter smile growing stronger, "Mr. Liu, we’ve faced Chen Nan twice and haven’t gained the slightest advantage. It shows that Chen Nan isn’t just an ordinary man."
"There’s a saying, ’Don’t push your luck too far.’ I feel we don’t need to keep fighting."
"Though we’ve lost everything, at least we still have our lives, right?"
"That’s all I have to say. Take care of yourself!" With that, he walked away into the crowd without looking back...
"Damn it!"
Liu Cheng spat fiercely, a vicious light flickering in his eyes, "Chen, you’ve ruined me. If I don’t make you pay a terrible price, my name isn’t Liu Cheng."
"Two hundred thousand should be enough to buy your life!"
"Let’s see who has the last laugh!"
