Even when Jiang Cheng pulled Lin Qingxue along and turned to leave the shop right in front of him, he didn't dare say another word.
He could only watch Jiang Cheng's back in silence, glaring at him wordlessly.
As soon as they got in the car, Lin Qingxue couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "Jiang Cheng, you were so cool just now! I was practically dazed watching you."
"Look at Dai Yu's frustrated face. Although I felt a bit sorry for him later, thinking about how he usually walks around with his nose in the air made it feel so satisfying!"
"You have no idea how vain he usually is, and his words are quite nasty. Especially towards us students, he's full of superiority. Once, a male student was even mocked by him until his eyes turned red just because he thought the milk tea was too expensive."
Jiang Cheng frowned. "Something like that happened?"
Judging by the situation just now, Dai Yu was someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Even though Jiang Cheng had arrived in a supercar, he was still ridiculed, let alone those ordinary students.
After the excitement passed, Lin Qingxue couldn't help but pout and complain, "Yeah, I think he has brainless confidence. Every time he talks to me, I find it so greasy. He always says it's my loss if I don't choose him. By the way, was what you said about not renting to Dai Yu anymore true? Or were you just trying to scare him?"
Jiang Cheng knew Lin Qingxue was definitely worrying about the liquidated damages Dai Yu mentioned.
Jiang Cheng smiled confidently and nodded, then started the car.
"Don't worry. Based on my understanding of Dai Yu, he won't dare ask for those liquidated damages. Even if he does, I won't give them to him. Since he's that kind of person, why were you still working part-time in his shop?"
Speaking of this, Lin Qingxue shrugged helplessly. "You know my family's situation. My mother is sick, and my father lost his job. I've searched all over this area for part-time jobs. His shop is the one closest to the school and pays the highest."
"He pays 15 yuan an hour, while other shops pay 10 or 12. Sometimes when I don't have classes, I can work all day, so the pay is better. And at first, I didn't know he was interested in me. After I rejected him later, he didn't bring it up again, so I kept working there."
Jiang Cheng patted Lin Qingxue's hair affectionately. "Don't do part-time jobs anymore. Just study hard and enjoy university life. Don't worry about anything else."
Hearing this, Lin Qingxue felt a warmth in her heart and said with a sweet expression, "If you're not renting that storefront to Dai Yu anymore, are you considering opening a shop yourself?"
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Yeah, I have my own selfish reasons for not renting to Dai Yu. Since I've already spent a lot of money to buy it, and the location is good, I plan to use it to open my own shop."
Jiang Cheng was a businessman; he had already paid the price to buy the property.
Since Dai Yu had already done the market research for him, why wouldn't he open a shop himself?
The capital market is all about competition; if the profit isn't yours, it's mine.
"I was thinking the same thing just now. So, have you decided what kind of shop you want to open?"
"Still a milk tea shop. I plan to create my own milk tea brand and use the locations I just bought as the new storefronts for this brand."
Hearing this, Lin Qingxue's eyes couldn't help but light up.
Then she nodded in agreement. "I don't know about the other shops, but Dai Yu's shop has good daily revenue. Besides our school, there are two other universities nearby. In addition to many regular customers at the store, there are even more delivery orders. There are also quite a few delivery orders from nearby office buildings. And I heard him say that the foot traffic for the other storefronts is also good."
"Yeah, milk tea culture has been thriving these past few years and has gradually replaced the beverage market. I won't consider franchise milk tea shops. Not only are the franchise fees high, but you're also forced to use their materials. I've tasted the milk tea from his shop before. Their raw materials are made with non-dairy creamer and saccharin, right?"
Lin Qingxue nodded. "You're so amazing! You can even taste that?"
Jiang Cheng nodded confidently.
Actually, he knew about this thanks to his ex-girlfriend, Zhao Jia.
Zhao Jia always bought milk tea from A Certain Tea Brand.
It claimed to be all-natural with no additives, using pure milk as the base, unlike other brands that used non-dairy creamer powder.
This brand's milk tea was healthier and had a different taste.
A Certain Tea Brand is a brand that has become popular in the last two years.
It has been advertising constantly since it opened.
They even hired water armies to line up for milk tea, creating an illusion of high demand.
Wherever there's a shopping mall, you can often see a long queue.
Some people even wait in line for over an hour just to buy a cup of this milk tea.
It's a pure IQ tax!
However, even so, it couldn't stop its massive popularity.
The CEO of this brand is only 25 years old this year.
He started in the milk tea industry when he was 21.
Relying solely on the hype of long queues and the concept of being all-natural, he reached a net worth of billions in just a few years.
They've opened over 400 chain stores, with a valuation of about 16 billion yuan.
One has to admit he is truly a talent.
However, the price of this milk tea is also very unfriendly, nearly twenty yuan a cup.
Although the price is high, the materials are fresh, focusing on no additives and no creamer.
Their tea bases are made with pure tea and pure milk, natural and without additives.
Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng continued, "The taste of milk tea made with pure milk is different from that brewed with non-dairy creamer. There were already milk tea brands focusing on pure milk production a few years ago, but the prices were relatively high, with a cup priced at almost twenty yuan."
"Although the price is high, that milk tea brand is very good at advertising, hiring water armies to wait in long lines every day. Therefore, their popularity spread quickly. But this price is a bit expensive for some office workers, let alone students."
"Based on the positioning of our storefronts, this price isn't suitable. So, I plan to lower the price of pure milk tea to around 10 yuan. The base materials will be the same as theirs, also focusing on milk tea made with all-natural, additive-free milk. We'll use short-shelf-life cold-chain carton pure milk with a shelf life of only 15 days, so students can drink it with peace of mind."
Listening to Jiang Cheng's plan, Lin Qingxue couldn't help but turn her head and look at him with sparkling eyes, appearing to be full of admiration.
"It sounds like a great idea. If it were me, I would buy it too. After all, it's healthy and the price is low."
Jiang Cheng nodded and continued, "Relying on low prices to attract the market isn't enough. If the response is good after these few shops open, we'll definitely need to open more. By then, they won't just be located near the University Town, so we can't rely solely on low prices to attract customers. If we want this brand to break into the market, we need to inject some public recognition into it."
Seeing how quickly Jiang Cheng had planned it out, Lin Qingxue was very surprised by the execution power of the wealthy.
Rich people dare to plan and dare to act.
After all, their resources and financial strength support them in doing so.
Ordinary people usually stall at the first step of planning, since the first step is money... Lin Qingxue looked at Jiang Cheng and said, "To inject recognition into the brand, we'll need to increase promotion."
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Besides hiring water armies to queue up, the most direct means of promotion is to hire celebrity endorsements and invite Internet Celebrities to visit the shop and check in."
Lin Qingxue's brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this. Seeing her hesitant look, Jiang Cheng reached out his right hand and pinched her cheek. "Say whatever is on your mind."
Lin Qingxue said cautiously, "I actually think your idea for the milk tea shop is quite good. Since I've worked in that storefront, I know the monthly revenue is quite considerable. But after we take over and create a new brand with lower prices, the profit will decrease. At this time, you still want to hire a big celebrity for endorsement? Won't the cost be too high? If you add endorsement fees, the initial investment seems too high. The time to recover the capital might be too long."
Jiang Cheng understood what Lin Qingxue meant.
Nowadays, celebrities often have sky-high endorsement fees.
Hiring even a slightly famous celebrity costs at least several million.
And for a milk tea shop, after deducting rent, utilities, materials, and labor costs...
To reach a net profit of several million, it would take at least a few years.
So, calculating it this way, it really isn't cost-effective.
Jiang Cheng nodded and praised Lin Qingxue, "As expected of a finance student. I've already considered that."
"Don't worry about this. I've already thought about the celebrity endorsement. I'll use Su Wan, whom my company has been promoting recently. She's one of our own, so endorsement fees aren't necessary—it's just a matter of taking a few photos. As for visiting the shop, that's also quite easy. I opened an Internet Celebrity media company a while ago. Although there aren't many big influencers yet, Qiao Yinyin's TikTok following is decent, with a million followers already."
Lin Qingxue didn't pay much attention to influencers, so she didn't know Qiao Yinyin.
But when Su Wan was mentioned, her lips couldn't help but curl slightly.
Lin Qingxue suddenly turned sideways, cupping her cheeks with both hands and blinking at Jiang Cheng.
"Su Wan? I saw rumors about the two of you before, saying she was being kept by her boss... Actually, I think she's very beautiful, her acting is good, and her figure is great too. Crucially, she has a handsome boss like you who's willing to promote her. You don't know how much I, like those netizens, envy her."
Hearing this slightly jealous tone, Jiang Cheng laughed and asked bluntly, "After saying all that, what do you actually want to say?"
Seeing her little thought being seen through, Lin Qingxue asked playfully, "Do you think she's more beautiful, or am I?"
When asking this, Lin Qingxue even unconsciously puffed out her chest.
Seeing the red light at the intersection ahead, Jiang Cheng stepped on the brakes.
While looking at Lin Qingxue's chest, his right hand instinctively covered the roundness.
A soft sensation was transmitted from his palm. Jiang Cheng couldn't help but curl a satisfied, wicked smile. "Although you're a bit smaller compared to Panda, in my eyes, of course you are more beautiful."
Lin Qingxue shyly pushed away Jiang Cheng's hand, which was drawing circles, and said with a blushing face, "Oh, someone might see. Mine isn't that small, is it? Is hers really that big?"