Chapter 231: No Madness, No Life

When Sun Tao mentioned that someone was deliberately targeting Yuanfang, Li Dong knew trouble was coming.

And this trouble was inevitable, something that couldn't be resolved by compromise or retreat.

Business is like war; the market is only so big. You want to make money, but so does everyone else. If they don't take you down, they might be the ones to fall.

Li Dong's ambition to dominate Pingchuan, and even Jiangbei, was the main source of conflict.

And this conflict was irreconcilable unless Li Dong was willing to give up a large portion of his profits. But sacrificing himself for others' benefit was something Li Dong would never do.

Li Dong thought for a moment and asked, "Do we know which company made the move?"

Sun Tao smiled wryly and replied, "It's not just one company. I suspect they're all involved."

This wasn't just the work of one or two companies. If Yuanfang's dozens of stores were to open, there would be no room for anyone else in Pingchuan.

At this critical moment, the weak naturally formed alliances.

There was no need for any formal alliance; everyone was on the same page—they couldn't let Yuanfang continue to succeed so smoothly.

With over thirty stores, plus the few they already had, there would be more than forty stores in total.

Pingchuan has four districts and five counties, with only so much space and population. If Yuanfang establishes a foothold, the others wouldn't survive.

Hearing this, Li Dong felt a bit of a headache.

One or two companies wouldn't be a big deal, but if several major supermarkets in Pingchuan got involved, it would be hard to handle.

In terms of strength, Yuanfang was currently stronger than these branch stores.

But let's not forget, those companies have strong backing, with solid financial support. If it really came down to a bloodbath, Yuanfang might not stand a chance.

Though it was giving him a headache, the issue needed to be addressed quickly.

If they delayed any longer, the trouble could grow even bigger.

Li Dong lightly tapped his fingers on the table, then picked up a map of Pingchuan and studied it for a while.

He then asked Sun Tao, "Tell me about the progress of the new stores."

Sun Tao immediately replied, "Currently, there are thirty-four stores under construction in Pingchuan. Including Longhua Store and five convenience stores, there are a total of forty stores."

"Among them, Longhua Store is a first-tier store, there are three second-tier stores, five third-tier stores, sixteen fourth-tier stores, and fifteen fifth-tier stores..."

"The thirty-four new stores are being built in two phases, with eighteen of them nearing completion. The rest should be finished by the end of the year."

Although Sun Tao had handed over store construction to Wang Yue, he hadn't completely let go of it.

When Li Dong asked, Sun Tao responded clearly, knowing every detail by heart.

As Li Dong listened, he marked the map in front of him.

Soon, the map was covered with various small dots—some red, some green, and some black.

Sun Tao glanced at the map and quickly identified what each dot represented.

The red dots represented supermarkets in Pingchuan other than Yuanfang, the green dots represented Yuanfang stores that were either operational or nearing completion, and the black dots were for stores that couldn't be completed yet.

Sun Tao hadn't paid much attention before, but now, seeing this, he frowned.

The distribution of the green dots was quite interesting. Except for Longhua Store, which was unique, the other green dots surrounded the red dots, making them stand out conspicuously.

Sun Tao first frowned, then seemed to understand, and sighed inwardly.

Am I really getting old?

When the stores were being built in phases, Sun Tao had thought Li Dong was just randomly selecting store locations. But now it seemed that Li Dong had long intended to force others into submission.

Once these green-dot stores opened, it would be impossible not to clash.

Li Dong was being too aggressive. This was clearly leaving no room for others to survive.

At this point, he couldn't blame others for causing trouble; it was Li Dong who had been too ambitious, long planning to take them down.

Li Dong didn't care what Sun Tao was thinking. Sun Tao's guess was correct—Li Dong had indeed planned to eliminate the other supermarkets.

Even if he couldn't force them to close, he wanted to prevent them from expanding.

Beating them back, confining them to their corners—this was Li Dong's goal.

But Li Dong hadn't expected their counterattack to come so quickly, before his stores even opened.

Of course, others weren't fools. A bit of analysis, and most people could guess Li Dong's intentions, so a counterattack was inevitable.

After pondering for a moment, Li Dong asked, "How's the recruitment going?"

"We've recruited a hundred employees, and they're currently interning at various branch stores."

"That's not enough!"

Li Dong frowned and said, "A hundred people are too few. A third-tier store alone requires nearly a hundred people, and second-tier stores need even more. Recruit more people. By the beginning of next month, all eighteen stores should be fully operational!"

"Mr. Li!"

Sun Tao's face turned pale, and he smiled bitterly, "That's too rushed!"

Eighteen stores—how many people would that require? There's no way they could meet that need in such a short time.

Even with some fourth- and fifth-tier stores, there were also second- and third-tier stores among them. Eighteen stores would need at least seven to eight hundred people.

Recruiting that many people at once wasn't just a logistical challenge; the financial strain would be enormous.

They had already stretched Yuanfang's resources to the limit with these stores and the Huafu land. The bank loans were almost used up, and all of this year's profits had been invested.

Now, opening so many stores at once would create too many problems and too much trouble—personnel, funding, supply chains...

All these issues were major headaches. If they weren't careful, they might end up hurting themselves more than the competition.

In Sun Tao's view, they should take it step by step, opening three or four stores at a time, with all eighteen operational by the end of the year.

The remaining stores could open early next year when it would be easier to recruit people. By then, the employees would have gained two to three months of experience, making it the ideal time.

Another issue was supply chains.

Opening so many stores at once would overwhelm their existing suppliers. They weren't a bottomless money pit and couldn't supply Yuanfang with unlimited goods.

New supply channels needed to be developed, which would take time.

And now it was already early to mid-November, with just over twenty days left until next month. Li Dong's demands were too unrealistic.

Li Dong frowned even more deeply. He knew the difficulty was immense.

But the longer they delayed, the more likely something would go wrong.

In Li Dong's mind, the best course of action was to open all eighteen stores at once, make a big splash, and then deliver a powerful blow, ideally crushing the competition in one go.

Of course, Li Dong knew this was unlikely, but how would they know without trying?

After a moment of thought, Li Dong said, "If eighteen stores are too many, then make it ten. Ten stores should be enough."

Sun Tao looked at the map Li Dong was pointing to, thought for a moment, and said, "If we put in some effort, ten might be possible."

"But why these specific stores?"

Currently, there were six major supermarkets in Pingchuan: Carrefour, Tesco, Lotus, RT-Mart, Yonghui, and Century Lianhua.

The ten stores Li Dong had chosen surrounded Carrefour, Tesco, and Lotus.

Lotus wasn't particularly well-known at this time, so Sun Tao didn't think much of it.

But Carrefour and Tesco were strong players—going head-to-head with them seemed like asking for trouble.

Li Dong said calmly, "Because these are the only stores in the area."

With that explanation, Sun Tao immediately understood.

At this time, Carrefour and Tesco hadn't expanded yet, and in Jiangbei, these three only had stores in Pingchuan.

These stores could be considered the beachheads of the three supermarket chains. If they were forced out now, they might not continue investing in Jiangbei and might even retreat.

As for the other chains, they were already established in Jiangbei, with branches in almost every city.

They had already gained a foothold in Jiangbei and wouldn't easily withdraw. Moreover, they had deeper roots and more resources than Yuanfang. If it came to a fight, there was no telling who would come out on top.

The more Sun Tao thought about it, the more he saw the potential in the plan.

But thinking even deeper, he felt it was too risky—Li Dong's ambitions were too great.

In these times, trying to force other supermarkets out of business would ultimately lead to a price war.

Going to war with so many supermarkets at once would require an extraordinary amount of money. It could lead to mutual destruction, with both sides suffering, or even cause Yuanfang to incur significant losses.

If they managed to drive the competition away, that would be one thing. But if the situation dragged on, they could end up losing everything.

The main issue was that Yuanfang lacked the financial resources to sustain a prolonged fight. If the other three chains took advantage of their weakened state, Yuanfang would be in serious trouble.

Sun Tao advised, "Mr. Li, maybe we should negotiate with them. In business, harmony brings wealth..."

Li Dong glanced at him and said, "Do you believe that?"

Sun Tao felt a

 bit embarrassed but still said, "But we really don't have the money!"

The expansion in 2005 had been too aggressive. The original plan was for thirty stores, but that number had more than doubled, with nearly seventy stores now.

Plus, there were two major investments—the 70 million yuan in Baidu and the 80 million yuan in Huafu.

All told, their expenditures in 2005 had exceeded 300 million, nearing 400 million.

But Yuanfang's revenue was only about 100 million, including 60 million from the bank. This meant that Yuanfang had overdrawn nearly 200 million in payments!

Fortunately, Yuanfang wasn't a publicly listed company; otherwise, if these numbers got out, their stock would probably plummet.

And now Li Dong wanted to start a price war—Yuanfang simply couldn't afford it.

They had already maxed out their credit with suppliers, and now Li Dong was walking a tightrope. If it weren't for Baidu's stock giving Sun Tao some confidence, he would be in despair.

"Even without money, we have to do it! It's not that I want to fight them, it's that they won't let us live. If we don't fight now, all our previous efforts will be wasted. You were the ones who proposed the plan for full coverage of stores in Pingchuan. Now that you're hesitating, are you letting me down?"

Sun Tao smiled bitterly. There was nothing more to say.

Li Dong's words were harsh but true.

When they proposed the full coverage plan for Pingchuan, they had already put Yuanfang in direct opposition to the other supermarkets.

If you're only slightly stronger, it's fine—everyone can still make money.

But if you're too much stronger, and others can't make money, they won't let you have it easy.

At this point, even if they didn't fight, the others wouldn't just sit back and let Yuanfang gradually eat away at their market share.