Time passed quietly.
During this period, Zhou Muchen and the others had been busy raising funds.
Liu Yutong had already told them that time was tight; it was best to have all the capital ready by mid-May, along with completing all the preliminary preparations.
After all, this venture involved going abroad to, so to speak, 'shear sheep'—or more accurately, to take a bite out of someone else's pie. If they weren't properly prepared, the money might not make it back.
Therefore, ensuring the secrecy and security of the funds was absolutely crucial.
Around the beginning of the month, Liu Yutong received news that Zhou Muchen and his group's funds were fully in place.
A full 2.3 billion, three hundred million more than the originally estimated maximum.
This figure alone showed how seriously and proactively they were taking this matter.
Of course, this was also because Liu Yutong had revealed the specific timeframe to them—this money wouldn't be tied up for long, at most three or four months before it would likely be recouped.
Based on the return rate she had previously promised, in about three to four months, there was a chance to achieve returns several times over.
It would be downright strange if they weren't enthusiastic.
Three or four months, and potentially earning billions in profit. In the past, they wouldn't have even dared to think about it, as the return rate was simply terrifying.
But now, they at least dared to entertain the fantasy a little.
Naturally, even if such a high return rate wasn't achieved in the end, and it only doubled or tripled, they would still be perfectly satisfied.
Zhou Muchen and the others weren't truly holding out hope for Liu Yutong to deliver an 800% return.
They felt that while Liu Yutong was formidable, the capital in the stock account she originally operated wasn't that large. This time was different—this involved over two billion, not even counting Liu Yutong's own capital pool.
The scale of capital being managed was different, and so was the difficulty.
Their real expectation was roughly doubling the investment.
Doubling would mean over four billion in total capital including the principal. Earning over two billion in just a few months—what more could they ask for?
They were more than content.
............
Wanlong Hui Group.
On Liu Yutong's side, the second high-level group meeting of the year was convened.
She sat upright at the head of the conference table, as heads of various departments and subsidiary companies gathered to begin reporting on the first quarter's performance.
First, Yang Xin, General Manager of Wanlong Retail Co., Ltd., stood up to summarize the supermarket operations.
"Miss Liu, colleagues, our eleven Wanlong Supermarket stores are currently operating well. Total Q1 revenue reached 522 million yuan, with a monthly average of 174 million, an 8% increase compared to Q4 last year. The gross profit margin remained at 23.5%, a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points. Net profit also grew from 6.9% to 7.6%."
"The revenue share of our fresh produce category has increased to 35%, making it the largest and fastest-growing segment. Simultaneously, through optimized supply chain management and centralized procurement, cost control was 2 percentage points better than expected. Furthermore, we have increased the proportion of local fresh produce supply and supported the expansion of green, organic farming for agricultural products in Miss Liu's hometown, Duan Village..."
"Regarding cash flow, Wanlong Retail currently has 320 million yuan in available funds on its books. Apart from needing to reserve a portion for procurement and operational funds in Q2 and Q3, we plan to invest 40 million to establish a new retail brand as a supplement to our supermarket business. The new brand will focus on 24-hour chain convenience stores, with a preliminary plan to open 10 pilot stores in core urban areas."
"We have conducted research. There is very strong demand for high-quality, immediate consumption around downtown office buildings and high-end residential communities. Our 24-hour convenience stores will focus on high-quality fresh food, coffee, and heat-and-eat products, creating differentiated complementarity with our large-scale Wanlong Supermarkets."
"We have done extensive market analysis and financial projections for this plan in the early stages. The estimated investment per store is around 500,000 yuan, covering rent, renovation, equipment, and initial store inventory. We request review and approval from Miss Liu and the group."
Liu Yutong listened quietly and, after brief consideration, replied.
"Manager Yang's proposal is on the right track. Our large supermarkets cover centralized family shopping, while using convenience stores to capture immediate, fragmented consumption forms a complementary retail network. I agree with this strategic direction."
"However, I have a question: isn't the single-store investment cost of 500,000 yuan somewhat on the high side?"
In her impression, such 24-hour convenience stores shouldn't require such high costs.
Yang Xin quickly explained: "Miss Liu, there is indeed room for optimization in terms of cost. It's just that our initial equipment procurement, due to small quantities and potential need for customization, will be priced higher. The cost will decrease once scale is achieved. The rent calculation is based on a three-month deposit plus one month's rent upfront. We preset inventory turnover at 15 days. If we can better utilize the central kitchen resources under Manager Yu's purview, we could reduce costs by another 3-5 percentage points. Once the model is fully refined and mature, opening a store for around 350,000 to 400,000 yuan should be possible."
"Alright."
Liu Yutong nodded and said: "Then I have no further questions."
"I can approve the plan, but the official implementation needs to be postponed by three months."
Yang Xin was about to say, "Thank you, Miss Liu."
But when he heard the last sentence, he was taken aback.
?????
Wait, if you've approved it, why postpone it for three months?
Got excited for nothing.
And for some reason, a faint sense of foreboding stirred within him.
Miss Liu is probably planning something!
Liu Yutong then turned her gaze to the next person in charge: "Next, Yu Xin."
Yu Xin promptly stood up and reported on the progress of the projects under her responsibility, focusing on the development of Wanhui Youxuan.
"Currently, our platform firmly holds the top position among domestic lifestyle service websites. However, from what I know, competitors have already started developing rival products to compete with us. Therefore, we need to accelerate our market capture speed."
"As of last week, registered users for our Wanhui Youxuan have surpassed 2 million, mainly concentrated in economically developed first- and second-tier cities, as well as the thirteen cities within our home province. Active users remain stable at over 650,000, with daily website visits exceeding 4 million."
"Current daily order volume has broken 20,000 orders, with a peak single day reaching 28,000 orders. Since the platform's launch over four months ago, total transaction volume has reached 89 million yuan, and it is expected to break the 100 million yuan mark in the latter half of this month..."
Next, Yu Xin listed various data points for Wanhui Youxuan in great detail. Of course, what she talked about most was still the fund utilization situation.
The platform is still in the investment phase, far from profitability. All strategies are aimed at rapidly capturing market share.
"The 50 million we raised not long ago is almost depleted now, and it's estimated it can only sustain our operations for another two to three months. Our current market strategy is highly effective, but the burn rate is simply too fast. Moreover, we cannot afford to slow down our pace; once our speed drops, we risk being overtaken or even swallowed up by competitors entering the market later."
"Our next objective is very clear: we must initiate our Series B funding round before our capital runs out.
We need funding on a much larger scale—at least 500 million—to completely dominate the market, squeeze out the living space for latecomers. After establishing economies of scale and a monopolistic advantage, we should be very close to profitability."
