"Damn it!" Shen Ming Lang cursed inwardly, then silently committed the phrase "So what?" to memory, saving it to show off in front of others later.
Cheng Zhu’s carefree attitude immediately put him a little more at ease.
"Cousin, do you think Yue Tea can’t pose any threat to us?" Shen Ming Lang asked.
Cheng Zhu waved his hand and said, "Ah! Can’t say there’s no threat at all, that would be too arrogant. Just a tiny bit of a threat, maybe."
He lifted two fingers slightly apart to show a small distance.
Shen Ming Lang: "..."
Damn, why do I feel that your way of putting it sounds even more arrogant?
He jotted the phrase down in his notebook.
Cheng Zhu looked at him and smiled, saying, "This is one of the reasons why I insisted on opening at least three stores in each first-tier city at the beginning."
"In a few days, our 18 stores will open officially and simultaneously."
"Cousin, think about it, how many stores do we have?"
Shen Ming Lang replied, "Counting the ones about to open, 19, and then there are several more just getting started."
"Our supply chain is already up and running, and we’ve basically got cold chain logistics sorted out. What about her?" Cheng Zhu asked again.
"But still..." Shen Ming Lang felt something was off.
Cheng Zhu waved his hand again and said, "She entered the game later than us, now she’s got only 100 million, doesn’t even have a proprietary signature product, just incorporated a soft European bread concept."
"If she were entering the fray now with three or four billion, that might actually make me nervous."
"But with our lead, she can’t catch up," Cheng Zhu said.
In fact, in all industries, it’s common for latecomers to surpass the early birds.
Being one step ahead doesn’t mean you’re ahead in every step.
But as a Reborn, Cheng Zhu had witnessed the rise of high-end trendy bubble tea and then its decline.
He had experienced an entire era of bubble tea.
Relying on the advantage of reincarnation, he could indeed be one step ahead, every step of the way!
Because you think I’m only one step ahead, but in reality, I’ve already completed the race in my mind. I’ve even planned when to make a glorious exit. What can you compare with me?
He knew very well why Yue Tea was able to get financing and the support of Shendu Capital.
On one hand, it was because the founder Chen Yue herself was a super-rich second generation; her family resources and connections far exceeded those of ordinary people.
In this world, many people’s starting points in entrepreneurship are higher than the finish line of ordinary people; this is just the way it is.
Genuine self-made success stories who reach the pinnacle are a minority within a minority on this planet.
On the other hand, it was the general perception of the influencer economy.
In the eyes of most people, the influencer economy is a fad.
It comes quickly and leaves quickly.
Precisely because Youu Tea is trendy bubble tea, people are even more convinced that once the market for high-end trendy bubble tea is opened, there will be a phenomenon of "one after another taking the stage."
Every so often, a new trendy brand would pop up.
This is the status quo of the influencer economy.
Unfortunately, they have no idea how twisted their opponent really is!
At the end of the video conference, Cheng Zhu gave Shen Ming Lang a reassurance, "Yue Tea incorporating soft European bread is indeed not a bad move; it might generate some buzz for a while, but in the long run, it’s not going to do much. Ultimately, we’re selling bubble tea, and the sales of something like soft European bread aren’t sustainable."
"As for Shendu Capital that you’re concerned about, yes, it’s impressive; none of the top ten venture capital brands are not. They all hold a lot of money."
"But cousin, you don’t have to see Shendu Capital as a complete adversary, you get what I mean?"
Shen Ming Lang was all at sea, what ’you get what I mean’ – I don’t get it!
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Cheng Zhu’s answer stunned him again.
He said, "Who knows, when Youu Tea goes for a second round of financing, they might also come knocking with cash in hand."
Shen Ming Lang: F*ck!
He felt he still had a long way to go on the path of showing off.
But if that scene really could happen...
"That would be something to look forward to indeed!"
The brief internal video conference ended with a few words from Cheng Zhu.
He also gave Shen Ming Lang a heads-up, telling him that more and more capital would enter the fray, supporting other trendy bubble tea brands.
That’s the future trend, an inevitable phenomenon; just stay calm.
Now that the serious talk was over, Shen Ming Lang was ready to gossip with Cheng Zhu.
"Cousin, there’s something I want to ask you," he said with an utmost earnest face.
"Shoot," Cheng Zhu replied.
"Is there someone from your school chasing Ningning?" he asked with a furrowed brow.
"Well, there are definitely a lot of people who like her," Cheng Zhu replied matter-of-factly.
For girls like Shen Qingning and Lin Lu, how could there not be suitors?
Even Cheng Zhu had a bunch of admirers at school; girls are always adding his WeChat out of the blue, not to mention how they got his number.
If girls are going so far, boys are even more so.
"But does she show any signs of wanting to date?" Shen Ming Lang pursued.
"Nope," Cheng Zhu replied confidently.
He was the one involved, and of course, he knew best.
Wasn’t he the one who personally nipped any intentions in the bud?