How to Buy Reputation.

The economic situation was like that and it was even more so in urban areas such as Shangwei.

Those old fellows would have a hard time surviving in the upcoming market if they still kept the same old mindset. It was not that they would not do business, but the profits they would make would continue to reduce until it was no longer worth it.

This was especially true if you looked at Supermarkets and Malls. If you add into the mix the recent craze of online shopping… it is already clear that these small stores have no future.

Most of these stores were already struggling to keep their fronts open and Han Li buying them was a very good way out. If others were hard-headed, then, Han Li could only feel sorry for them.

His idea was pretty simple. Branding.

Everything was being branded nowadays and the market was more responsive to well-established brands. Han Li was simply cashing in on reputation and his plan was simply pouring money into standardizing these small stores.

Just because they were in danger of being replaced with other platforms did not mean that they did not have potential. Some of these stores have been around for dozens of years, becoming pillars in their communities.

Don't look at the busy CBD and the other commercial regions and assume that malls and supermarkets can replace small stores.

Han Li himself used to walk quite a distance just to look for his favorite store. It was not that malls and supermarkets did not have the things that he wanted, but the store had a certain… personality that these big establishments could not replace.

Imagine going to a supermarket with a hundred yuan for a meal. It just doesn't work. But you could go to a noodle stand and fill your stomach. If you were a regular, the boss might even allow for a credit purchase. Try that in a supermarket and see what happens.

The sheer size of these mega markets made it difficult and the people working there were working for someone else. Would they have the liberty to have mercy on you?

And that was what Han Li was capitalizing on.

Unlike these other players, he did not need to make money. It was good if he did, but Han Li understood that no matter how much profit he made, it would not be worth anything compared to the amount the system could give him in one go.

Hell, he was given 1 billion just to buy 'snacks', and 10 billion just for 'rent'. Han Li thought that it was better to use that money to build an image, a brand.

All he wanted was to buy the store but leave the management to the original owners after branding it and improving it.

This was a very dumb idea because it was the perfect recipe for fraud and other financial malpractices, but he had the Asset Management System.

From what he had seen thus far, the system would never let itself fall into a disadvantage, and this idea was banking on the ruthlessness and efficiency of the system.

There was also the AMS Policy Management Sub-system that would help him manage the legal aspect of things. If anything, it would only be profitable if they tried to play dirty.

But that was already the model most cartels use. What he wanted to do however was different in that he had already come up with a credit system much like banks, but instead, he would be using this system on utilities.

It was pretty simple. Let's say a person earns 10,000 yuan a month, pays rent 3,000 yuan, settles the bills, and stocks supplies, by the time they are done, there is no money left for daily use, let alone saving.

His idea was pretty simple, just take 2,000 yuan and deposit it in an account, and the system would give you a credit allowance of 10,000 yuan per month. The catch was that this amount could only be used in his stores and they were exchanged for goods.

The account would also refresh after a month, meaning that the balance would be void after a month and you'd have to top up again.

This model looked like throwing money away at best, and a scum at worst, but Han Li had thought deeply about this.

Who would not want to get 10,000 yuan worth of goods just for 2,000 yuan? Even if there were some who'd look down on this amount, there were other plans with the 1:5 ratio. But, who in their right mind buys goods worth 10,000 while making 10,000 a month?

That was just turning yourself into a slave for his brand.

This plan was Han Li just buying a bunch of things for complete strangers and hardly making money, but Han Li was not looking at the monetary returns. What he was looking at was the Rebate returns that would give him points to spend in the System store.

The other benefit was the reputation. He was basically doing charity in everyone's eyes and that was a good thing. The more reputation he accumulates, the more untouchable he will be in the future.

Han Li had gone through changes after gaining knowledge and he understood what the truly rich were after.

Why would a billionaire go to podcasts to talk about mundane nonsense that looked pretty useless to everyone else? Why would they spend millions just to pass a point?

It was all because of reputation. Social Standing.

When one is poor, they worry about food, clothing, and shelter. When one is well off, they worry about the finer things. They start looking for the better of whatever they already have.

When one is rich, they worry about their health and posterity. When one is wealthy, they worry about their legacy.

That was why they would spend time to get more popular. That's why they'd create a whole industry that was more based on fantasy and hypothesis just to leave a mark on the world.

It was good if they succeeded, but it was foolish to think that it was their main income source. If they failed here, it would only take them a short while to start something else.

Han Li on the other hand was different. He had nothing except money. That was why he did not want to own anything. It was easier to accumulate reputation when you have nothing than when you have everything.

And the money that he had, well, see, he is still giving it back to society through his education fund and small market initiative.