Chapter 146: Boss, You’re Playing Favorites

“Boss, is your method really effective?”

In the car, Wang Jianguo looked at his boss with a face full of doubt.

“Whether it’s effective or not, I don’t know. But as long as it can disrupt some people’s train of thought, that’s enough.”

Jiang Ning didn’t expect a few sentences in the Sichuan dialect to derail everyone’s thinking completely. What she needed right now was time. If she could just buy two or three more years—

No.

Even just a year or half would be enough for her to build a substantial amount of capital to hedge against the possible impact of the entertainment industry.

So for Jiang Ning, the most important thing right now was time.

“But you’re not even attending the follow-up allocation meeting. Won’t that affect the planning for future resource distribution?”

Wang Jianguo’s meaning was clear. After all, she came from Top Entertainment herself. She knew how those old-timers in the company were—always prioritizing profit. Give them even the tiniest opportunity, and they’d try to squeeze out the maximum benefit.

Jiang Ning understood that as well. But she didn’t mind if a portion of her interests were taken.

Because her focus was never really on entering the entertainment circle. Holding company shares was only a means to better release music in the future.

Plus, she had Liao Liao keeping an eye on things. That group wouldn’t dare go too far—unless someone or something more valuable than ‘Jiang Jiang’ came along.

But if that time really came…

Jiang Ning fell into thought, her mind involuntarily calculating the entire equity structure of Top Entertainment.

——————

The next day.

After a busy morning, Jiang Ning took a simple meal from the back kitchen and sat alone by the window on the second floor.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, she ate while watching the people coming and going below.

She recalled her past life.

After work, she liked to sit with one of her old buddies by the window of a McDonald’s, eating while people-watching—especially pretty women walking by. They’d often comment on their different body types, sometimes even fantasize a little.

But in this life, she realized—

That “sneaky glance” she thought was subtle at the time? The people being looked at could often feel it.

Take now, for instance.

At a table about seven or eight meters away, two young guys sat laughing and chatting. But Jiang Ning had already caught them stealing glances her way several times.

Way too obvious.

Jiang Ning sighed softly.

And sure enough, as she expected, one of the guys eventually got up and walked over.

He spoke in a tentative tone:

“Hi, my friend thinks you’re very elegant and would like to get to know you. Is that okay?”

Imaginary friend?

Jiang Ning turned her head slightly and glanced at the other guy, who was clearly itching to come over himself. Then she looked back at the one in front of her with a blank expression.

“Sorry.”

With that, she turned her gaze back toward the window, her eyes as clear as still water.

Seeing this, the guy clearly wasn’t ready to give up.

“Just wanna say hi—”

Before he could finish, another voice cut in.

“Hey, if you’re going to flirt, do it with class.”

“You’ve already been rejected, don’t keep pestering.”

Recognizing the voice, Jiang Ning let out a small, amused snort. She turned to glance at the bold and boisterous Store Manager Xia.

With a third party stepping in, the young man obviously had no choice but to back off.

Seeing this, Xia Ling dragged over a chair and plopped herself down beside Jiang Ning.

“Boss, you’re playing favorites.”

Huh?

What’s that supposed to mean?

Jiang Ning was momentarily confused by the bold social queen’s complaint.

“Why does the Jinrui store get to recruit so many people?”

“Our Times Square store is the flagship, yet we didn’t get a single extra person!”

Ah.

So that’s what she meant.

Jiang Ning chuckled and explained, “They’re recruiting people for the delivery team. You’ve got a few here too, don’t you?”

But Xia Ling wasn’t having any of it. She pouted like a spoiled girl and said, “I don’t care. I already filed a report with Manager Tian. I want to recruit a few handsome guys too!”

“Alright, alright.” Jiang Ning playfully pinched Xia Ling’s round cheek.

“Recruit away! I’ll get you more handsome guys, serving you every day.”

Satisfied with the answer, Xia Ling giggled gleefully.

But then, as if remembering something, her expression suddenly turned serious.

“Boss.”

“Recently McDonald’s and KFC have teamed up for a joint campaign.”

“If you spend 48 yuan at either location, you get a 5-yuan voucher usable at both.”

“There are some limits, but it’s a strong promotion. I heard their sales volume has doubled.”

“In comparison, our business has dropped quite a bit. I was thinking we should do a similar discount campaign…”

A discount promo?

Spend 38, save 5?

Or use vouchers?

Jiang Ning instantly thought of those future retail promotions with tons of vouchers flying around—but which barely helped with overall sales.

In fact, they often just increased the operational burden on the supplier. And if customers are already using vouchers at the competitors, and you use the same trick? There’s no way you’ll outdo them in impact.

So Jiang Ning mulled it over for a while—then eventually shook her head.

Xia Ling didn’t understand and frowned.

“Boss.”

“Are we just going to do nothing and let our competitors steal our customers?”

“Who told you we’re doing nothing?”

Jiang Ning only rejected the idea of using vouchers—because she already had a better, more eye-catching promotion in mind.

——————

Yang Xia sat in her office, holding the latest weekly sales report.

After studying it for a long while, her brows remained tightly furrowed.

Just then, the girl respectfully standing next to her asked curiously:

“Manager Yang, is there a problem with the report?”

“No problem,” Yang Xia replied in a low voice, putting the report down with a sigh.

“Sales have indeed gone up significantly.”

“Foot traffic has nearly doubled.”

“But the average spending per customer has dropped sharply.”

“We’re actually slightly in the red.”

The girl thought for a moment, then asked suspiciously:

“Because of the vouchers?”

Yang Xia didn’t respond—but her silence said everything.

After a while, the girl asked again:

“Should we cancel the promotion?”

“No need.”

Yang Xia immediately dismissed the idea.

Even though she knew the campaign was like drinking poison to quench thirst—unsustainable in the long run.

But with such a massive traffic boost right now—

If they could hang in there just a little longer, it was bound to create a siphoning effect on customer flow, driving up overall sales volume.

That was exactly why she insisted on partnering with McDonald’s for the campaign.

Especially now that she’d discovered that ‘Shi Ning Ji’ had somehow managed to firmly establish itself in Times Square.

Some of her original strategies targeting McDonald’s now had to be redirected toward Shi Ning Ji.

And McDonald’s? They were reacting the same way.

Originally, only those two stores were real competitors in this market.

Now, with a sudden new player coming in to share the pie, it was bound to stir up some waves in the pond.

Although Liu Ju from the station side had already warned Yang Xia that this new store wasn’t one to mess with—

But then again, anyone who could rise to become the flagship store manager for KFC wasn’t someone easy to mess with either.

(End of Chapter)