Chapter 420: 416. The News of Victory Arrives (Please subscribe, monthly tickets!)

For a time, following the vigorous offensive by Maikai Supermarket, the business world became turbulent.

This time it was not just a competition between two major supermarkets; the impact was multifaceted. To say nothing of other things, even the suppliers suffered heavy losses.

The suppliers also began to make concessions regarding prices this time, and Jiao Zhen's personal connections became apparent, which also greatly reduced the losses for Maikai Supermarket.

Although Maikai Supermarket's offensive was fierce, Fengchao Supermarket was not sitting idle, nor were they incompetent; they also began their own counterattack.

The situation seemed to have reached a stalemate, and it appeared that the stage of competing for endurance was about to officially begin.

But just at this moment, on September 22nd, the first report of victory for Maikai Supermarket actually came from Lin'an, which was the region Geng Yichang was responsible for.

One must know that this was a core area for Fengchao Supermarket; no one expected that this side would be the first to fail to hold on and be conquered by Geng Yichang.

Zhang Ran received the news immediately and then connected with Jiao Zhen to inquire about the situation.

Jiao Zhen was all smiles at this moment; Geng Yichang, this fellow, had not disappointed him and had fought a beautiful battle.

"What happened? Tell me about it," Zhang Ran said with a smile.

Jiao Zhen said with a smile, "Geng Yichang has quite a few little tricks up his sleeve. I have already compiled the report on the specific situation; take a look at it."

As he spoke, he sent the report to Zhang Ran. Zhang Ran read it carefully, and after finishing, even Zhang Ran had to say that this Geng Yichang was truly a talent.

In fact, Geng Yichang did not use any ingenious plans or methods; it was just a very simple set of tactics.

He focused his target mainly on the Fengchao Supermarket closest to them and basically poured all the resources he had into it.

Not to mention the issue of discount intensity, just finding people to go to the side of Fengchao Supermarket every day to promote cost quite a bit.

Geng Yichang also specifically made a plan: in the morning, he arranged for some elderly people to go over and promote, saying how cheap and how good Maikai Supermarket was, and that the prices were favorable.

They even started badmouthing Fengchao Supermarket directly, saying that their fresh produce, vegetables, and the like were not fresh.

At noon, he arranged for some handsome men to catch those middle-aged women and start the same routine.

From the afternoon to the evening, he arranged for a group of beautiful women to promote. In any case, Geng Yichang basically covered all demographics, and the methods used were somewhat underhanded.

But regardless of what methods were used, the effect was truly good.

Coupled with the grand prizes he arranged, the attraction for customers was really not ordinary.

Due to the focused siege, the daily customer traffic at this Fengchao Supermarket was basically pitifully low, not to mention the turnover.

Every day it was facing huge losses, and the employees were idle, only able to watch helplessly as customers ran to Maikai Supermarket.

Under such circumstances, this Fengchao Supermarket could actually have barely held on for a while longer, but it is unknown which talent made the decision to directly close this store and then concentrate the resources here into the other stores in Lin'an.

Generally speaking, doing this was actually not wrong; after all, this was a store under heavy siege by Maikai Supermarket, and keeping it open was just a waste of money.

But this was also a bad start.

After Zhang Ran finished reading this, he said to Jiao Zhen, "Not bad, Old Jiao. You tell Geng Yichang to keep up the good work. When the time comes, I will celebrate his success, and what I promised him will not be missing."

Jiao Zhen laughed, "Alright, but we can't let this fellow get too cocky, or it might spoil things."

"How you handle that is your business; I only care about the results and providing the rewards," Zhang Ran said.

After saying a few words, Zhang Ran put this matter aside for the time being. Although this could be considered a big deal, it was just that.

"How are your preparations for the supplier conference coming along?" Zhang Ran asked.

Jiao Zhen said, "It's mostly been contacted; they should all be able to arrive by the 30th."

"Alright, I will go over on the 30th. It just so happens that our family can also go see this year's grand military parade," Zhang Ran said.

"Do you want me to arrange a place for you to stay? I have a house in Beijing that has never been lived in," Jiao Zhen said.

Zhang Ran shook his head and said, "Thanks, but no need. I also have a house in Beijing; I'll just take this opportunity to go see it."

He was talking about that Siheyuan. Up until now, he had not gone to see it. He would take this opportunity to have a good look and, by the way, pay the 'property management fees'.

Someone had told him about this matter before. Just maintaining this Siheyuan cost a huge sum of money every year. Before, Zhang Ran hadn't returned, and the house had been reclaimed, so no one mentioned it.

But now that Zhang Ran had returned and had also reclaimed the house, these costs would have to be borne by Zhang Ran himself.

"Are you sure about launching the general offensive on October 1st?" Jiao Zhen brought the topic back, his expression serious.

Zhang Ran nodded and said, "It's about time. At this point, even if Fengchao wants to retreat, they can't."

"Alright, then I'll go prepare," Jiao Zhen said and hung up the phone.

Zhuo Fan had a gloomy face. He did not expect that it was Lin'an that was the first to have a breach opened, and that they had even closed a store.

"Who told you to do this? Did I authorize you to close the store?" Zhuo Fan questioned.

Shen Guoqiang said with a serious expression, "President Zhuo, I agreed to this matter, and I also think it was correct. Right now, this store is losing too much money every day. Instead of dragging it out with Maikai Supermarket like this, it is better to close it first and take the funds from here to other stores. This way, we can hold on longer, and besides..."

Zhuo Fan interrupted him with some anger, "Besides? Besides what? Do you know that just because you closed this one store, the bank has already been calling frequently to inquire?

Once the bank thinks we can't win and comes to press for payment, can you bear this responsibility?"

Shen Guoqiang's expression remained unchanged, "I have also considered this situation. The bank is just inquiring according to the rules, and we have already made arrangements with the bank; nothing will go wrong because of this matter."

Zhuo Fan stared fixedly at Shen Guoqiang. He was a representative of the other shareholders, which actually also represented the intentions of the other shareholders.

The losses during this period had started to make the shareholders feel the pain.

"I don't care what you all think, but from now on, no matter what, no matter how difficult the situation is, you are not allowed to close a single store for me," Zhuo Fan said sternly.

Immediately, his tone began to soften slightly, "I know everyone has lost a lot during this period, but you must remember, Maikai Supermarket has lost more than us; they won't be able to hold on for much longer."