Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier

Zhou Meng never expected his boss to have such a huge appetite.

A nightly room rate of over a thousand yuan was not something just any hotel brand dared to attempt.

If the market response was poor, it would have a serious negative impact on the brand’s value.

But his boss, Qi Sheng, had given the order.

Even if it was a mistake, he would see it through unwaveringly.

”I’ll proactively negotiate with the property owners. The hotel renovation will take at least a year.”

”If the restaurant’s performance is good enough, I’m sure they’ll support us downgrading the brand.”

Zhou Meng believed his boss must have his reasons for daring to make such a play.

As a loyal subordinate, all he had to do was appease the property owners.

As long as they saw how wildly popular the Banyan Tree Group’s restaurant was and how it could bring higher occupancy rates to the hotel, Zhou Meng was confident he could get them to happily agree to the brand change.

As long as Yuechun could establish a firm foothold in this thousand-yuan price range, it would be an excellent boost to Banyan Tree’s luxury brand positioning.

Banyan Tree might even be able to go a step further, testing the four-thousand-yuan price bracket and going head-to-head with Aman.

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Banyan Tree Group’s 680-million-yuan acquisition of the West Lake Hotel caused quite a stir in the hotel industry.

There were quite a few buyers interested in the West Lake Hotel.

Even though the West Lake Hotel had opened in ’03, making it sixteen years old, its occupancy rate still crushed many other five-star hotels, with an average room rate approaching a thousand yuan.

A prime property like this was a guaranteed profit for whoever bought it.

Banyan Tree Group’s sudden acquisition had clearly caught many people off guard.

At the same time, news of the change in Banyan Tree Group’s equity structure also caught the attention of more people in the hotel industry.

The founding He Clan and numerous shareholders had all cashed out and exited.

The new owner was a true-blue Chinese boss.

Regarding the details of the acquisition, the shareholders who cashed out all remained tight-lipped.

The answers they gave all pointed to normal business operations.

But the public clearly didn’t believe that, not until some persistent individuals traced the matter back to Tiansheng Capital.

Only then did they discover, to their surprise, that Banyan Tree Group was wholly owned by this recently established investment firm.

And the owner of Tiansheng Capital was shockingly young.

The 23-year-old Qi Sheng had officially entered the sights of many capital magnates and venture capital firms.

Besides Shengxuan Financial Center, a Grade A office building, Qi Sheng’s Zhuangyu Catering Company boasted particularly eye-catching performance.

This was especially true for the Spicy King Taikoo Li Main Store.

Its immense popularity had countless hot pot industry bosses drooling with envy.

Those interested in franchising were blowing up Zhuangyu Catering’s customer service phone line.

In the current business climate, finding the next big thing was difficult.

And high-quality companies were as rare as a needle in a haystack.

Spicy King’s explosive success undoubtedly thrilled many investors who favored the catering sector.

This was especially true after they conducted on-site inspections and experienced Spicy King’s terrifying charm firsthand.

They were overcome with the feeling that not investing would mean missing out on a fortune.

For a while, Qi Sheng’s phone was nearly blown up with calls.

Eventually, Qi Sheng simply set his phone to reject calls and even disabled new contact requests on WeChat.

Many investors couldn’t reach him, the ultimate decision-maker.

So naturally, they could only go to Yuan Li, the head of Zhuangyu Catering.

At first, Yuan Li didn’t take them very seriously.

Valuations of a few hundred million were especially laughable.

It was true that Spicy King only had one location.

But its monthly revenue reached a terrifying 20 million, with a net profit as high as 5 million.

For context, Bunu, which was always trying to ride Haidilao’s coattails, only had an annual revenue of 1.5 billion from its 75 directly-operated stores.

The monthly revenue of the Spicy King Taikoo Li Main Store alone was enough to match the annual revenue of an entire Bunu store.

How terrifying was that?

Even knowing that the success of this main store was impossible to replicate, if other branches achieved even half its performance, it would be enough to crush Haidilao.

The allure of a ”second Haidilao” alone was enough to drive them into a frenzy.

The valuation also soared, skyrocketing from under 1 billion to 3 billion.

Even Yuan Li didn’t dare to make a decision on her own and had to consult Qi Sheng.

”Three billion?”

Qi Sheng rejected it without a second thought.

”Too low. If someone offers seven billion, then you can give them my personal number.”

”Understood.”

Yuan Li was secretly astounded. ’I never expected the boss’s appetite to be so huge.’

Facing the expectant founder of Black Ant Capital, He Yu, Yuan Li shook her head apologetically.

”President He, I’m very sorry, but Chairman Qi isn’t satisfied with the valuation your company has offered.”

”If he’s not satisfied, we can negotiate. What is Chairman Qi’s expected valuation?”

He Yu, sitting across from her, clearly hadn’t noticed Yuan Li’s strange expression.

”Seven billion.”

”How much?”

He Yu was dumbfounded. He couldn’t help but angrily question Yuan Li.

”You only have one store right now! Even if business is booming, isn’t a seven-billion-yuan valuation a complete joke?”

Yuan Li gave a faint smile. ”I was surprised too. But perhaps you should calm down and really think about Spicy King’s single-store revenue and net profit.”

”Our twenty new branches in the Southwest Region are also currently undergoing intensive renovation. If you feel the price is unreasonable, you could always wait a few more months.”

”As for whether there will still be a chance to get on board then, well, that I can’t guarantee.”

He Yu fell silent. Good projects were often fleeting.

Who knew if he’d get another chance to get on board if he missed this one?

Based purely on the potential Spicy King had shown, surpassing Bunu—the self-proclaimed number two in the hot pot world—would be no problem at all.