Chapter 262: The situation becomes sour

The entire office went silent.

Zhu Xiu Qin was in disbelief. “They must be talking about something else.”

They had had a fruitful discussion earlier on and insisted that the increment of rental fees was inevitable. But now that there had been a call like that, it made them feel like things weren’t as expected.

Liu Guo Qiang remained silent. Then, he asked the employee to leave the room. He looked at Zhu Xiu Qin. “What do you think of this?”

Zhu Xiu Qin frowned. “I think we have to discuss this matter again. At the same time, we should get the promotions department to call every single one of the potential shop owners and tell them that the increment in visitor flow isn’t related to Master Lin’s shop at all. It is due to an increase in the number of residents.”

“Will that work?” Liu Guo Qiang was also in doubt. Was the increase in the number of customers really unrelated to Master Lin? If they were to judge this situation fairly, it’d be difficult to say that it was unrelated to Master Lin.

Zhu Xiu Qin chuckled, “If we don’t try it, we won’t know if it’d work. Even if it doesn’t work, it has to work. If we let the headquarters know that we have to seek approval from one small shop for the increment in rental fees, I’m afraid both of us would get fired.”

“That’s true.” Liu Guo Qiang nodded. Then, he continued, “I will discuss with that guy again. If it’s not possible, we’ll take a step back and only increase it by 80%.”

“What if he doesn’t agree?” Zhu Xiu Qin asked.

“Then forget it,” Liu Guo Qiang replied firmly. They had already decided to make a compromise due to Lin Fan. It was the best that they could do. If he still didn’t appreciate their efforts, he should just get lost. Cloud Street couldn’t afford to not increase its rental fees just because of one small shop.

He had seen the changes in Cloud Street and he had noticed the large increase in visitor flow. If not for the previous news report by the government agents, he wouldn’t have believed it. Also, he had gotten his employees to conduct a check and the visitor flow had indeed increased. According to the investigations, the visitors’ purchase rate had increased to 90%.

That meant that out of 10 consumers on Cloud Street, 9 of them would purchase something.

Therefore, the increase in rental fees was reasonable. The doubling of rental fees was a result of unique calculations. It wasn’t overboard at all.

Zhu Xiu Qin nodded. “That’s what we want. We can’t be soft against these shop owners, if not, they will take advantage of us. Just tell that guy that we’ll both make a compromise and only increase the fees by 80%. We’re a commercial real estate company, not a charity.”

It’s normal for the shop owners to be wary of their profit margins. However, the visitor flow in Cloud Street had only increased over the past two months and the company already wanted to increase the rental fees. The company was clearly testing their patience.

The next day!

A piece of news was posted on the Internet.

‘The visitor flow in Cloud Street increased by 200% over the past two months. Thus, there was a request to increase rental fees by 100% but the shop owners are protesting against it.’

This piece of news attracted the attention of many people when it was posted.

Lin Fan had millions of fans on Weibo. Although many of them were there for the hype, there were also many true fans of his.

“The increment of rental fees is so ruthless. I’m a shop owner too and the visitor flow here is comparable to that of Cloud Street. However, my fees are only increased by 5% every three years.”

“Master Lin has already posted on Weibo yesterday. He said he might leave Cloud Street and now he’s looking for a suitable unit. It looks like he’s bringing everyone with him. It’s going to be a huge piece of news.”

“Cloud Street belongs to Xin Yu Commercial Real Estate Company and they mainly help to develop business districts. They’re extremely ruthless. The increment in rental fees doesn’t just apply to Cloud Street. Other places are also affected but most shop owners agreed to it.

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“How can Cloud Street be compared to other places? Those streets have always been always popular. If people aren’t willing to rent the shops, there are plenty of people that are willing to take over them.”

“That’s true too. This is Shanghai after all. As long as it is a business district, popularity would not be an issue.”

“I think this is definitely caused by the news report by the government agents. In the past, Cloud Street was literally dead. It only became popular in the past two months. After looking at the government’s report, this Xin Yu Company immediately asked for an increment in rental fees. That’s too quick and ruthless.”

Then, a post popped up on the Internet page which showed the ID of a particular user, ‘Respected Killer’.

“According to what I found out, the rental fees for Master Lin’s shop weren’t increased. Obviously, the people at Xin Yu Commercial Real Estate Company know that the increase in visitor flow has something to do with Master Lin. Master Lin can’t bear to see the rental fees of other shop owners being doubled. Hence, he is on their side and threatened to move away from Cloud Street. I am deeply touched by Master Lin’s actions but I’m afraid Xin Yu Company won’t change their stance on this matter. In the end, Master Lin will have to leave Cloud Street along with the other shop owners and Cloud Street will be dead again.”

“Bro, I think you’ve got it wrong. How can a small shop bring about so much change in popularity? It’s not possible.”

“It’s not impossible. This is the truth. The shoppers in the vicinity are willing to go to Cloud Street because of Master Lin. If not for him, they’d be looking at other business districts within the same area. Furthermore, there’s a series of business districts owned by the same company. Why would they only go to Cloud Street?”

“This analysis is reasonable. Waiting for the final outcome.”

“It’s still the same with me. Anhui welcomes Master Lin.”

“Beijing welcomes Master Lin too.”

“Lianzhou welcomes Master Lin again.”

Several internet celebrities were reposting this piece of news on Weibo. Master Lin was considered pretty famous on Weibo. Ever since the Starlight incident, Master Lin’s popularity had shot up considerably. Many internet celebrities still remembered him from the previous incident.

Famous Economist: “Doubling rental fees at Cloud Street is a normal thing. It is according to the market price. The shop owners are conflicted because it involves their profits. Meanwhile, a small shop affecting the views of all the shop owners on the street is an extremely rare sight. Therefore, there’s no concrete evidence to prove that Master Lin’s shop is the one that’s affecting the other shop owners. We have to look at other factors to determine the cause of the increase in visitor flow. This increase in the number of customers on Cloud Street is definitely brought about by something special. It has nothing to do in particular with this shop of his…”

This economist rattled on for a long paragraph but he was just stating his views.

After a short while, the netizens scolded him for it.

“What the f*ck do you know about this?”

“He forced me to use vulgarities. You people only know how to increase fees but not our salaries. You still have the audacity to say that we’re fortunate? Fortunate your mum!”

“Have you been to Cloud Street? Do you know the situation at Cloud Street? If you don’t know anything, please refrain from speaking.”

“Let me tell this stupid ‘economist’ off. The most exciting thing every day at Cloud Street is Master Lin’s shop. Everyone knows about him and his shop. Do you know what it means to everyone? It means that the queue at his shop can extend all the way to the end of the street.”

…

The economist was speechless after reading these comments. He was infuriated and he deleted his Weibo account.

Meanwhile.

Cloud Street.

Master Lin’s shop was being surrounded by a large group of townsfolk.