Since Kraft was finally happy with his new agenda, Jin can finally concentrate on the business side of his job. People were still elated with the store's current event as the Demopolis raids were continuously raking money for Jin not to worry about the health of his store.
Instead, he was rather concerned with the current Tree Mall owners and how they cope with the influx of people coming into the area. But more importantly, the thought of bringing in more revenue into his wallet. Even though he rejected major brand and retail companies, they were relentless in their offers and even up their quotations just to have a piece of Jin's Tree Mall, specifically because of the crowd he brought in.
Apparently, it all started because an owner within the Tree Mall Owners had leaked the details about the amount of rent they were paying for and it was one of the cheapest within the district. And even with the constant rejections, the major retail companies were pushing for more incentives just to have a presence in this upcoming new major shopping location or possibly hub.
Jin's Pandapolis Hotels, which were separated away from the actual Pandapolis Domes and the main city, were also flooding with cash compared to the hotels within the vicinity and because of that, the rest of the hotels had to compete more creatively to get their customers. However, it eventually became a non issue when Jin commenced his huge raid events because it was instantly heavily advertised by the various hotels to attract people to try out the dungeon instances by giving substantial promotions.
But this was also sufficient for major chain hotels like Hillton and Shangria hotels to started applying leases in the area. Yet, the more surprising thing was that these hotels were looking into getting a patch of land not within the Tiangong District, but inside the Tree Mall.
Aye, their scouts and business spies had individually seen and experienced the wonders of the Tree Mall and being an iconic business location, they could see how the Tree Mall might eventually be the centrepiece in boosting Shenzhen's economy to the next stage.
That was also one of the reasons why the Tree Mall owners were a little jittery since all these major brands could potentially break their business if Jin was too engrossed in earning profit and hence the meeting for Jin to calm them down.
———
All of the Tree Owners were around for the meeting as invited by the System and they were all present within the Conference Room Instance because they had the capability to employ Jin's penguins and other 'copied' minions to do their jobs efficiently without much supervision. When Jin came in, the rest of them greeted him simultaneously as if he was the big boss in the room and that caused Jin to be taken aback for a moment before sitting right at the centre of them all.
Yes, he finally get to have a big boss moment when the rest of the store owners sat along the sides of the long conference table. It was a little scary at first but the constant minion meetings which he had (and the dinner meetings with his bellators and Sub System Users) kind of got him to fit right in almost too quickly that some of the store owners who were eyeing him thought he was a natural at it.
"Thank you for taking time to have this first ever Tree Mall Owner meeting. Let's firm up the agenda and have this meeting done as quick as possible so we can carry on with our businesses." Jin said but the mixed rice stall owner, San Sun immediately raised his hand and objected to Jin's way of handling the meeting.
"Boss Jin. I understand that you are busy in your own store too, especially the volume of customers coming in but I believed today's meeting will be touching on a few delicate issues that should not be overwritten quickly with just minutes and notes. A fairly thorough discussion should be put out for the owners." San Sun said and the other food stall owners hastily nodded their heads in agreement as if they were threatened by the rumours and gossips that were floating around the Tree Mall for some time.
"Basically, we heard rumours that major brands and super giant retailers are aiming for the spots in Tree Mall. From food franchises to major shop franchises. They all want a piece of this Tree Mall because of the booming dungeon supplier store that you have." Lai Fu, the Boss of Fresh Price said bluntly that everyone has been wanting to say. But as blunt as his words are, they were the truth even though they knew that ultimately the Landlord was Jin and he could do whatever he likes with his Mall.
Besides, he was the one who had decided to cover most of the expenses for their shops and while they wished to be grateful for the hand that feeds, they were all business people who always wished to stretch and grab every opportunity there were given.
But Jin was no longer that young innocent boy he once was.
Upon going through many encounters with devious schemes and cunning people, the only people he would trust are the people under him and his System. It was a flawed way of thinking since those minions were under the control of the System but that was why he put that much faith in them than these business people who were willing to bite the hand that feeds if it benefits them.
"And so?" Jin leaned backwards and sat similarly to how Kraft usually does. Furthermore, his demeanour in his newly changed business shirt and pants gave the impression of power to the entire group. The rolled up sleeves, his new rimless sliver spectacles, the gel up hairstyle and that white t-shirt complemented his office wear. (After all the fight with Kraft nearly made him shirtless!) It instantly reminded them that he was in charge of the Tree Mall while not being very overpowering about it.
Plus, if he wants to, all Jin needed to do was kick them out and bring in the major brands, making what they feared come true.
In any case, Jin had also checked that the shops had already earn sufficiently within the past few months that was equivalent to what they could have got if they were to remain status quo in the old Tiangong Shopping District for ten years. So, if Jin were to kick them out, he did not have to do it with a heavy heart since they already earnt more would have.
Also, Jin had the upper hand in this particular situation.
Upon allowing them to rely on the dungeon dimensional instances and copied minions like the penguin NPCs who were considered to all rounder staff, it made them very complacent. (Moreover, they would lose the connection of the Pandafull delivery system which were bringing in a hefty sum of profits into their coffers.)
As much as Jin does them things with his own goodwill, he had purposely tied the convenience perks into the whole shopping ecosystem and made the owners dependent on his help, allowing the Landlord of the Tree Mall to have an upper hand in any negotiations if there was one.
