Chapter 0697: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The relationship between women and feelings is like cats and mice. A young girl treats feelings like a newborn kitten; the moment she sees a mouse, she thinks it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, desperate to catch it and cherish it forever. If she loses it, she cries heart-wrenchingly; if she gets it, she worries about losing it.

Only when she reaches a certain age, coupled with her own temperament and cultivation, does she understand that some people are not suitable for her.

But no matter how proud a woman is, in the end, she will bleed when cut and cry when sad, because this is human instinct, unrelated to gender.

The more you know, the fewer people understand you—this saying holds a lot of truth.

"Are you sure you don't need me to pick you up?" Zhao Fusheng asked Fan Baobao on the phone.

Winter break was about to start. As a semi-popular advertising star and newcomer in the film and television circle, to be fair, Fan Baobao was quite idle and had no problem going home alone.

But the problem was, she was his girlfriend, and girlfriends always needed to be coaxed, so Zhao Fusheng had to make a gesture.

Fortunately, Fan Baobao was easy to coax. Zhao Fusheng only hinted, and she directly refused.

The reason was simple: she wasn't a little girl like Fan Beibei who couldn't do anything without Zhao Fusheng. As an independent woman of the new era, Fan Baobao felt she had plenty of autonomy.

Zhao Fusheng firmly agreed, praised Fan Baobao profusely, and then hung up.

Walking on the snow-covered street, his mood wasn't as cheerful as it seemed.

They say time is the best cure for pain. This must come from those who have never been hurt, because someone who has truly experienced sorrow would never say such a thing.

Recently, Zhao Fusheng spent his free time reading. When tired, he went home and hung out with Fan Beibei. With him at home, Zhao's mother and Li Yuan were much more relaxed.

Otherwise, Zhao Fusheng would drag Tan Kaixuan out—not to nightclubs, but to a small restaurant near the school to drink beer and chat.

In Tan Kaixuan's own words, the past half month had been like living in hell. For someone who loved excitement, working every day or holing up in the dorm with Zhao Fusheng was sheer torture.

But Zhao Fusheng had a ready excuse: he was in a bad mood and under work pressure, so he needed company.

Tan Kaixuan really wanted to grab his head and ask him: how could someone in a bad mood spend all day on the phone with his girlfriend, and someone under work pressure be idle and not work?

But anyway, friends are meant to be used at times like this. Even knowing Zhao Fusheng was doing it on purpose, Tan Kaixuan had to obediently accompany him.

So when he heard Fan Baobao was coming back, Tan Kaixuan almost burned incense and prayed.

"Are you that happy?" Zhao Fusheng looked at his friend speechlessly, with a look of disdain.

Tan Kaixuan chuckled: "You wouldn't understand."

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes. He really didn't understand Tan Kaixuan's thoughts.

"Alright, now that your girlfriend is back, are you moving out?" Tan Kaixuan blinked and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Yeah, we're going to stay at the villa. Oh, by the way, when are you going back to Shanghai?"

After all, the Spring Festival was approaching. Tan Kaixuan couldn't stay here forever; his parents wanted to see their son too.

"Around Little New Year, I guess."

Tan Kaixuan said casually: "My parents are pretty busy too, so I'll probably go back around then."

The KFC franchise in Tan Kaixuan's hometown had been open for a while. According to him, the difference between big cities and small ones was that even with the same products, residents' purchasing power was much stronger.

In other words, it was more profitable there.

Zhao Fusheng made no comment, because it was an inevitable fact. Metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were places people yearned for largely because the standard of living there was indeed higher than in third- or fourth-tier cities.

But at the same time, this standard referred to the relatively successful group.

Zhao Fusheng didn't think a coder in Beijing or Shanghai who left early and returned late was any happier than an ordinary office worker in a small city working nine to five.

Of course, many people couldn't see this truth now. It would probably take ten years before some gradually realized that not every Beipiao could achieve success; most would only become ordinary office workers in the city, facing the risk of unemployment or being expelled as low-end population at any time.

The proportion of those who could truly stand firm and become elites was very small, almost negligible.

"One more thing: after the New Year, we need to consider whether to open branches," Tan Kaixuan said after a moment of silence.

According to the contract they signed with KFC headquarters, since sales had now met the target, the next step for Zhao Fusheng and Tan Kaixuan, who held the KFC franchise rights for the three northeastern provinces, was to decide whether to run the restaurant chain themselves or act as agents.

Zhao Fusheng hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Tan Kaixuan: "What do you think?"

This matter ultimately had to respect Tan Kaixuan's opinion. Not only were they partners, but Tan Kaixuan was also in charge of the entire KFC operation, so Zhao Fusheng felt he should hear his thoughts.

Tan Kaixuan shrugged: "I don't have any particular opinion. Whether we open stores or sell franchise rights, we'll definitely make money. But opening stores might be more labor-intensive, while selling rights is relatively easier."

He was telling the truth. Running a business wasn't easy; it required handling local relationships, storefronts, employee training, and a host of other issues. Conversely, selling franchise rights only involved training personnel, much like what the KFC Shanghai headquarters did for Ninghai.

But the problem was that franchise rights had market limitations. In short, once the market was saturated and the rights expired, there wouldn't be much profit.

And the key issue was that franchise rights, unlike stores, couldn't provide a steady, long-term income.

Thinking this over, Zhao Fusheng frowned and fell into deep thought.

This was a very important question: whether to make a quick profit and leave, or to settle long-term in the catering industry. Honestly, Zhao Fusheng was torn.

In economics, there is a famous 80/20 principle.

Proposed by Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It roughly means: in any specific group, important factors usually account for only a minority, while unimportant factors account for the majority. Therefore, controlling the important minority can control the whole. Simply put, there is an inherent imbalance between cause and effect, input and output, effort and reward. Generally, input and effort can be divided into two different types.

The first type refers to the majority, which only produces a small impact.

The second type is the minority, which produces the main, significant impact.

Under normal circumstances, output or reward is generated by a minority of causes, inputs, and efforts. The relationship between cause and effect, input and output, effort and reward is often unbalanced. If measured mathematically, the baseline is an 80/20 ratio: that is, 80% of results, output, or reward comes from 20% of causes, inputs, or efforts. For example, about 80% of the world's resources are consumed by 15% of the population. 80% of the world's wealth is owned by 25% of the people. In a country's healthcare system, 20% of the population and 20% of diseases consume 80% of medical resources.

This principle indicates an inherent imbalance between input and output, cause and effect, and effort and reward. It shows that a small amount of causes, inputs, and efforts yield a large amount of harvest, output, or return. Only a few things are important; most are trivial.

After much thought, Zhao Fusheng didn't figure out how to solve the KFC problem, but he did figure out his father's issue.