Chapter 411: Chapter 157: Unlucky Matthew Lee, The Caravan Prototype! (Part 3)

When Cheng Ye saw Matthew Lee’s name appear inside, he immediately understood why he was cursing and swearing.

Matthew Lee chose Dongping Town, not around Happiness City, but next to the Industrial Zone.

It is an affiliated town of Xiasha County Town. Although it had some industrial base back then, its remote location kept it from being included in the Industrial Zone.

Because of the selection within a sixty-kilometer radius on both sides, Dongping Town never fell within Cheng Ye’s range of choices.

But others were different; for example, Matthew Lee clearly didn’t think too much.

He only thought about Dongping Town’s industrial base and proximity to the Industrial Zone, assuming it would naturally be prioritized for development.

Now, four inspectors have all chosen Dongping Town to conduct a round of competition.

Coincidentally, there are two Eastern People and two Westerners.

The two Eastern People, Cheng Ye was not unfamiliar with; they were Song Hai and Gu Xinjing, the two faction maniacs, just like Matthew Lee, who were third-stage Inspectors.

The other Westerner, he was even more familiar with, too familiar even!

Garcia!

"Inspector Li, you’re quite lucky, huh~" Cheng Ye held back and held back, but still couldn’t resist teasing.

What was this called?

It wasn’t enemies not meeting. When fate comes, you can’t stop it.

Matthew Lee was already fuming inside, and hearing Cheng Ye’s words, he got even darker: "This is definitely deliberate, there’s definitely some shady business, teaming me up with that idiot Garcia. I’d rather head to the Wilderness and lead refugees to build from scratch."

But not picking Garcia means choosing the Eastern People’s faction maniacs?

There was no choice, and Song Hai and Gu Xinjing were obviously longtime partners, with a high likelihood of eliminating him.

Flipping further down revealed the third round’s assessment content.

But by this point, he no longer had the qualifications to check the attachments, and could only glance at the regrettable expression on Matthew Lee’s face.

"Let’s go, weren’t you planning to go check out the store?"

"Ah, my good mood for the day is ruined by this, might as well be eliminated. I’m not going out." Matthew Lee shook his head.

Even though he was a loafer, staying in the inspection station during an all-inspectors event like this for a third-stage Inspector wasn’t being lazy.

That was called incompetence!

But there was no way, no matter how he chose or who he partnered with, it was all troublesome.

"It’s only the third round; it’s not like you’re eliminated directly. Maybe you’ll get a chance to move somewhere else later on?"

"Maybe."

After walking a few steps, Matthew Lee quickly adjusted his mood.

"I’m planning to invest in a shop here at Giant Wall, specifically for industrial fast-moving consumer goods."

"Oh? Planning to find a market for your contract point?"

"Sort of half and half." Matthew Lee sniffed, his tone carrying a hint of vagueness, "Mainly thinking that investing here at Giant Wall Station won’t lead to losses no matter what."

What he didn’t say was, if it weren’t for the contract point selection glitch earlier, he’d have outright stated "to pave the way for the contract point," but now whether he can get the contract point is uncertain, so he had to change his tune to smooth it over.

"How much are you planning to put into the investment?"

"Five thousand points. The shops here start at two thousand points. With inventory and renovation, five thousand just barely covers the base. It’s not cheap."

"Richer than I thought." Cheng Ye clicked his tongue, feeling a bit envious.

He initially thought he accumulated quite a lot of points, but didn’t expect Matthew Lee to easily produce five thousand.

"These years of running fieldwork and standing watch at the station, a little bit saved up for the old days." Matthew Lee chuckled, but it was clear he was deflecting.

The two strolled while talking, their gaze sweeping over the newly built district of Giant Wall Station.

Since that night of the Starfish outbreak, when this place was bombed to a wasteland, the rebuilding speed had been staggering.

But this time, the district was no longer the twisting and turning alleys of the past, but transformed into a modern pedestrian street:

The shops lined up one by one along the roadside, with flying eaves and wooden fence designs, somewhat resembling the Li River Ancient City Cheng Ye visited before his crossing, clearly not suitable for strolling.

Why?

Not grounded!

He casually asked about a shop near the inner side, and its rent was astonishingly three thousand points.

As for the two thousand-point ones, they were hidden deep in the district, places no one would wander to.

Thus, those investing here were basically wealthy individuals, not allowing small things to come in.

So don’t even think about doing business with ordinary people from the Satellite City; you can only sell to the "dignitaries" with institutional arrangements in the Buffer Zone, just as Elder Zhou said.

"How’s this shop of mine?"

Matthew Lee stopped, and Cheng Ye examined it. The shopfront was spacious with bright street-facing windows.

And it was centrally located on the entire street, so hardware-wise, it wasn’t bad.

"Do you want the truth or a lie?"

"Of course the truth."

"This shop is garbage; at most, it can break even, but making money is basically impossible." Cheng Ye spoke bluntly.

Matthew Lee was a bit taken aback, then sideways gestured him to speak inside the shop, tone full of surprise: "Oh? Do explain how it’s garbage?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"First, let me ask you, what is the main traffic at Giant Wall Station?"

Matthew Lee thought for a moment, confidently said, "Definitely two types, newcomers to Happiness City curious about the Inner City, and large and small trade caravans traveling between the Buffer Zone and the Wilderness."

"And you’re planning to sell industrial fast-moving consumer goods to them?"

"What else?" Matthew Lee countered, "Let the caravans buy in bulk, and then they take it to Satellite City and refugee camps to sell to ordinary people. Could I directly engage with Satellite City’s consumers?"

"Sounds fine, but you’ve missed one calculation." Cheng Ye shook his head, "Your goods transferred by caravans will definitely be marked up for profit. If I open a direct outlet near Satellite City, selling directly to consumers at a price lower than the caravan’s quote, do you think anyone would still buy your goods?"

Matthew Lee’s expression shifted slightly; he hadn’t considered the impact of "direct sales by manufacturer."

Goods passed through middlemen, no matter how the price is, can’t compete with direct sourcing from the origin.

"And don’t forget, now there are more people looking to build factories and make fast-moving consumer goods near Satellite City, not just you." Cheng Ye added, "Unless you can guarantee your stuff is of exceptionally high quality or cost especially low with absolute competitiveness, otherwise it’s easy to be squeezed out."

Seeing Matthew Lee silent, Cheng Ye continued: "That’s point one, and point two is even more crucial—there’s too much competition here. Look at this street, there are dozens of spaces waiting for rent, and once all are rented, over a hundred shops crammed together, selling all sorts. Customers wouldn’t know which shop to visit. Eventually, either the whole street would be deserted, or everyone would undercut prices, and no one would make money, further isolating ordinary people."

"I hadn’t considered that." Matthew Lee furrowed his brow in thought, "But the Buffer Zone is only so big. If rented elsewhere, ordinary people might visit, but the caravans wouldn’t bother coming. It’s inherently contradictory."

"Wrong. This isn’t the Buffer Zone of the past, but the Buffer Zone of the future."

Cheng Ye shook his head, not promoting his concept of a pedestrian street though.

Even regarding a pedestrian street, he had no intention of building something in this form—erecting many shops for the sake of selling things.

To construct as the center of the Buffer Zone, it must have unique competitiveness.

His understanding of a pedestrian street boiled down to one point, a large information hub complemented by high-end service facilities. Even if selling goods, it must be something scavengers absolutely cannot afford. Things that everyone can see truly show the pedestrian street’s strength!

As for places targeting ordinary folks, that’s precisely the key task he intended to delegate to Long last night.

Building image and establishing trust among ordinary people requires starting small, step by step.

Once enough is accumulated, finding a place to establish a presence, whether in South Suburb or North Suburb, wouldn’t lack ordinary visitors.

And on this point, Happiness City has shown no sign yet.

"I’m planning to form a trade caravan, running only transportation routes between Satellite Cities, taking a path no one has ever traveled. Would you like to invest?"

...