Though Youu Tea was making money as fast as a printing press, the balance on the company’s books wasn’t much to speak of.
High-rent storefronts were being leased like mad in first- and second-tier cities across the country, each store’s renovation costs were nothing to scoff at, a hefty sum was being poured into online marketing, and the expenses for supply chain and cold chain logistics seemed bottomless...
Wanting to grow quickly was an unavoidable necessity.
Seizing the market meant continuously burning cash.
The only question was whether someone was willing to provide their money for you to burn.
"Yue Tea’s second round of financing amounting to more than two hundred million knocked people’s socks off at first glance," thought Cheng Zhu.
"Too bad, by kicking me, you’ve hit a steel plate."
Cheng Zhu felt it was time to toss a bomb into the capital market!
Thus, the very next day, a mainstream media outlet released an article.
In the article were some of Youu Tea’s recent sales data.
Figures such as average number of drinks sold per store, average customer transaction value, total daily sales, and so on.
Each number looked so astounding it could make peers in the bubble tea industry green with envy.
"Holy shit, the sales per store are nearly hitting 4000!"
"The number of stores has increased, but the sales volume hasn’t decreased—doesn’t that imply that each store is actually operating at full capacity, continuously serving drinks from morning till night?"
"This is madness, this revenue!"
"Our bubble tea is ten bucks a pop, how many drinks would we need to sell to catch up?"
"Their daily revenue is catching up to our monthly revenue..."
What shocked people the most was Youu Tea’s target for May, mentioned in the article.
"Aim to break 200 million in monthly revenue by this May."
This figure was astronomical in the bubble tea 2.0 era.
Even those nationwide chains with over a hundred stores had never dreamed of breaking one hundred million in monthly revenue, let alone two hundred million!
In this, actually, lay the ambition of the founder, Cheng Zhu.
"Look at that, right off the bat it’s 200 million!"
"They haven’t even used breaking one hundred million in monthly revenue for marketing; they could easily achieve that, right?"
"The ceiling of the bubble tea industry is about to be lifted again!"
Besides, this figure of 200 million seemed eerily familiar to everyone.
Many immediately made the connection with recent news that Yue Tea had financed more than two hundred million.
Compared to that, a monthly revenue of 200 million was definitely more shocking!
This was the effect Cheng Zhu wanted.
This was the bomb he’d thrown into the capital market!
Just you watch what a cash cow looks like!
You should know, this was only with over fifty stores.
Once the number of stores nationwide surpassed a hundred, Youu Tea’s revenue and profit would be truly terrifying!
"The money in the account should last a while," Cheng Zhu thought.
He wasn’t in a rush for the second round of financing.
He was still ’Waiting,’ a devilish impatience screaming inside him:
"When the hell is Mei Changsu going to die!"
"Langya List" fans would never dream that the sponsor they revered for being the most discerning was cursing Mei Changsu to die sooner every day.
There was no helping it; the drama had enough episodes to run for quite a while.
Over at Shendu Capital, efficiency was high. They had hired a professional public relations team and begun crisis management for Yue Tea.
To be precise, crisis management for the founder of Yue Tea.
Before, Chen Yue had crafted an image for herself as a high-flying, internationally educated female elite and a strong independent city woman, decking herself out with numerous labels.
As a result of Cheng Zhu’s machinations, she suffered a massive backlash.
In her comments about the co-branding with "Langya List," her attitude had been too haughty.
This haughty attitude, combined with her rich second-generation status, immediately elicited dislike from many onlookers.
In contrast, Cheng Zhu’s image had always been of a self-made entrepreneur, bolstered by his status as a male college student.
In terms of personal marketing, Chen Yue’s sole advantage was... her gender!
Yes, her advantage was that she was a woman.
Under the circumstances where Cheng Zhu was "partially visible," Chen Yue’s advantage wasn’t insignificant.
Too bad, in the face of a self-made entrepreneur, being a rich second generation counted for naught!
Once the term "Mad Woman" was out, it was a straight dive into hell mode.
It couldn’t be helped; certain personal labels were just too sticky—once they cling to you, shaking them off is impossible!
Chen Yue could now be seen, under the advice of the public relations team, maintaining a smile during public appearances, showing that she was unperturbed by negative online comments and remained confident in her heart, even if she went mad every day at home.
But she had to keep a calm smile on the outside.
Furthermore, this team began soliciting a slew of marketing accounts, still playing on gender, with content generally about the true strength of a woman being an inner core of resilience.
In times like these, it was definitely necessary to play the gender opposition card.
Everyone who knows Weibo understands the kind of atmosphere and behavior it fosters.
Never mind the premise, or how Chen Yue initially provoked Cheng Zhu with veiled insults, or even that Cheng Zhu appeared completely unaware of who she was in the video... in the end, criticizing a woman is just not right!
What, you say that real-life business competition is all about rivals taking digs at each other?
Doesn’t matter, criticizing women is a no-go!
A man criticizing a woman signifies gender inequality!
"How disgusting, how can they use such language against a girl in her twenties!"