Chapter 172: The Dilemma

Sun Tao felt helpless. Sometimes he found being the general manager quite exhausting. Li Dong was steadier than he was in many ways, but when it came to impulsiveness, Li Dong was unmatched. Many decisions were made without consulting him.

Taking a deep breath, Sun Tao decided to move on from the past. He advised, "Mr. Li, what we need to do now is stabilize our achievements. There's no need to make any more donations."

Li Dong nodded. It wasn't as if he had an unlimited amount of money to spend, so he wouldn't waste it any further.

With five million already spent, Yuanfang would be stable for at least a year and a half.

In another year and a half, Yuanfang would no longer be what it is now, and there would be no need to spend money for safety.

As they were talking, Liu Qi knocked and entered, saying, "Mr. Li, Shen Qian has returned and wants to see you."

"Returned?"

Li Dong was surprised. It had only been a few days; Shen Qian was back so soon?

Considering the survey involved all of Yuanfang's stores, did Shen Qian really finish the entire review in just a few days?

"Let her in."

After Liu Qi left, Li Dong noticed Sun Tao's puzzled expression and explained, "Shen Qian is a new employee who joined after you left. She just returned from conducting the store survey."

Sun Tao asked, "Is she the one who applied for the vice president position?"

Li Dong then remembered sending Sun Tao her resume and nodded, "Yes, that's her. But she's too young for the vice president role…"

"Mr. Li!"

Before Li Dong could finish speaking, Shen Qian had already entered the room.

However, Shen Qian's expression was not very pleasant, clearly having overheard Li Dong's remarks.

Li Dong cleared his throat and changed the subject, introducing Sun Tao, "This is Mr. Sun, the general manager of Yuanfang."

Shen Qian nodded towards Sun Tao and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Sun. I'm Shen Qian, a senior market researcher, and soon to be the vice president of Yuanfang."

Sun Tao chuckled. Was this a rebuttal to what Li Dong had just said?

As for the senior market researcher position, it was the first time Sun Tao had heard of such a title. When he was in the company, there was no mention of anything "senior."

Glancing at Li Dong, who remained composed, Sun Tao didn't say anything further. He smiled at Shen Qian and told Li Dong, "Mr. Li, you're busy. I'll leave you to it for now."

"Don't rush off; I might need to find you later."

Li Dong kept Sun Tao around and turned to Shen Qian, "So the survey is done already? You didn't just skim through it, did you?"

Shen Qian rolled her eyes but didn't respond to Li Dong's comment. She handed him a thick document and said, "This is the result of my efforts. Please review it, Mr. Li."

Li Dong took the document and flipped through a page filled with dense data and text, which was overwhelming.

Not wanting to delve deeper, Li Dong said, "I'll look at the report later. First, tell me, how was the survey?"

"Terrible!"

Shen Qian observed Li Dong's expression and, seeing he remained unfazed, couldn't help but sneer.

Li Dong, noticing this, chuckled lightly and said, "What was so terrible about it?"

"It was all bad. You could say Yuanfang has been on the wrong track from the start!" Shen Qian's words were shocking.

Li Dong and Sun Tao remained calm, unfazed by the young woman's dramatic statement.

While Yuanfang certainly had issues, it was not as disastrous as Shen Qian claimed.

If it were really that bad, Yuanfang wouldn't have been consistently profitable and maintained a fast growth rate.

Both men waited for Shen Qian to continue with her surprising statements, curious to hear her insights.

If she could only make noise without substance, Li Dong wouldn't keep her around. Although the previous report was somewhat to his liking, one report wasn't enough to say much.

"If it were up to me, I'd suggest abandoning all the smaller city markets and focus Yuanfang's efforts on economically developed cities like Pingchuan, Nanhu, and Mingcheng," Shen Qian said.

Li Dong smiled, "Go on. Why abandon the smaller city markets and fight it out in the big cities and other major marketplaces?"

"It's all about the future! While smaller cities seem to have a blank market now, and Yuanfang would profit significantly from entering them, you can't just focus on immediate gains. Once the major cities are fully occupied, Yuanfang will be stuck in the smaller, less profitable cities. If your goal is just to make money, that's one thing, but if you want to expand Yuanfang, you can't afford to ignore the big cities."

Li Dong understood this point well. Shen Qian's words weren't particularly new or insightful.

Li Dong felt a bit disappointed. He had hoped Shen Qian would offer something more surprising like last time, but it turned out to be the same old arguments.

Li Dong said, "I'll think about it. You can leave for now."

Shen Qian sensed Li Dong's dismissiveness and retorted, "Mr. Li, are you really willing to watch Yuanfang head towards its end?"

"Stop with the alarmist talk. I'm not that timid."

Li Dong scoffed and turned his attention back to Sun Tao, "Brother Sun, you should go handle your tasks."

Sun Tao didn't move immediately. After a moment of thought, he said, "Mr. Li, I think Ms. Shen's points are somewhat valid."

"You hear that, Mr. Li? Even Mr. Sun agrees. You're being too conservative!"

Encouraged by Sun Tao's support, Shen Qian perked up.

Li Dong looked at Sun Tao with confusion.

After all, the strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside had been their plan for a long time. Why was Sun Tao suddenly changing his stance?

"Mr. Li, didn't I mention large investments and big developments before? Actually, there is still room for investment in Pingchuan, especially now. If we push a bit more, Yuanfang can solidify its position in Jiangbei."

Li Dong stroked his chin, contemplating the pros and cons.

Investing in Pingchuan wasn't out of the question, but the return on investment was definitely lower compared to the smaller cities. Was it worth it?

Li Dong was torn, thinking for a long time before saying, "I'll consider it and get back to you."

Ultimately, it was still a matter of money. If he had more funds, he wouldn't have to deliberate so much.

Opening stores in both small and big cities wouldn't be an issue if he had the money.

However, with Baidu yet to go public and the funds not in hand, Li Dong had to hold back for now.