Chapter 60 - 59: The Clown (Please Subscribe First!)
Chapter 60: Chapter 59: The Clown (Please Subscribe First!)
The “Persistent Visit” shop just exploded in sales like that.
Everything was within Cheng Zhu’s expectations, but it happened a few days earlier than he had anticipated.
“We must take advantage of this wave of high traffic to gorge ourselves,” Cheng Zhu thought to himself.
He was excited to see how much money he could make from “Persistent Visit” before school started.
Cheng Zhu walked to the side of the street, hailed a taxi, and headed to the studio.
“These next few days are going to be busy,” he thought to himself.
Fortunately, he had the foresight to make many arrangements in advance.
The studio had just hired two more people, which facilitated shift work.
The factory had also stockpiled a large amount of inventory, so there would not be too much pressure to ship goods for the time being.
In addition to that, he had completed a lot of the preparation work, ensuring that operations could proceed smoothly.
Many people bought QQ uniforms on impulse, either out of excitement or out of lust, and placed orders immediately.
If shipping was too slow, and that impulse faded, they might apply for a refund.
For some young couples who probably wanted to spice things up during a vacation trip, they would find it ridiculous if their trip ended and the goods still hadn’t been shipped.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲονց0.сο
A high refund rate is not a good thing for a shop, so the only solution was to stockpile in advance.
One must think several steps ahead; otherwise, when good fortune arrives, you might not be able to catch it.
After arriving at the studio, Cheng Zhu listened to the sound of rapid typing and thought the noise was music to his ears.
As for the expressions of the employees, only Wang Anquan seemed excited, even Wang Haitao, who loved to butter up to his superiors, looked a bit lifeless now.
They simply couldn’t keep up—they were overwhelmed by customer messages!
Their keyboards were nearly smoking from the non-stop typing.
If this continued, their hands would cramp, and they might even develop tendonitis in the future.
Cheng Zhu didn’t waste words, just said directly, “Work hard, and everyone will get a big red envelope at the end of the month!”
A single sentence ignited a spark of life in everyone’s faces.
In his view, a boss indeed needs to paint big pictures for their employees but cannot just paint pictures. During the subsequent process, at the very least, employees should taste a little cake, then, while chewing on these little cakes, strive towards the grand vision offered.
These days, it’s becoming harder to deceive people, harder to hoodwink them.
Cheng Zhu settled down at his seat and touched the leaves of the money tree he was growing with his fingertips.
Lush and thriving, it was a pleasing sight.
…
…
As night fell, Shen Minglang entered his own bar.
Recently, Jiuyin’s business had been decent; he had specially brought in some online influencers for promotion and placed some ads on WeChat public accounts and Weibo, trying to go the route of a trendy internet-famous bar.
This was a strategy hinted at by Cheng Zhu.
Hang City is a large city with a dense population; internet-famous bars were still popular.
Small cities trying to mimic this trend and opening internet-famous bars would have difficulty. Once the hype faded, their true colors would show. Moreover, the cost of creating such a bar wasn’t low, and few could actually break even.
After business warmed up, Shen Minglang once again, like during the World Cup period, began to actively invite friends to accompany him for drinks at his bar.
When business was bad, he was embarrassed to ask friends over, thinking it would be a loss of face.
For someone like him, a second-generation rich, face was very important.
After arriving at the bar, Shen Minglang noticed Ye Zi seemed a bit distracted, frequently checking her phone, unsure what she was looking at.
He approached the bar, tapped his fingers lightly on the countertop, and Ye Zi finally snapped out of it.
“What’s wrong? Run into some trouble?” Shen Minglang wondered.
“No, nothing,” Ye Zi glanced at Shen Boss’s friends sitting not far away, then suddenly said, “Boss, Little President Jiang hasn’t been to the bar for a long time.”
She was too shy to ask Cheng Zhu directly, so she was trying to get a roundabout answer by mentioning Jiang Wanzhou.
“Him? Recently, he’s been actively trying to work out, wanting to build some muscle,” Shen Minglang said irritably: “I keep telling him to stop; just imagine, with his arm muscles defined and then he does a delicate gesture—it’s fucking unimaginable.”
Ye Zi gave a slight smile but didn’t press further. She guessed Cheng Zhu wouldn’t be spotted in the bar and that there would be no chance to invite him for a drink.
At that moment, the door to the bar was pushed open, Shen Minglang immediately said, “Wang Wei, you’re late again, huh? Later on, you’re gonna have to drink half a Long Island Ice Tea as a penalty!”
“Okay, okay!” Wang Wei walked towards Shen Minglang with a beaming smile and then put his hand on his shoulder.
Shen Minglang was puzzled, “You’re the biggest slacker when it comes to drinking ordinarily, but today you’re so compliant when called out on it?”
Wang Wei nodded, smiling said, “When Brother Lang tells me to drink, how can I refuse?”
He pulled Shen Minglang to sit at the bar, not immediately heading to the table where their friends were gathered, obviously, he had something to discuss.
Bartender Ye Zi crafted the Long Island Ice Tea while casually listening to their conversation.
“What’s up?” Shen Minglang asked, “You’re not here to borrow money, right? You know I don’t lend money to anyone, I’m all about equal treatment.”
Don’t think that just because it’s a circle of young elites, there won’t be occasions to borrow money—quite the opposite, it happens frequently.
“How could that be!” Wang Wei waved his hands and said, “It’s about the same thing as last time, Brother Lang, you forgot? You said you’d help me ask the boss of that “Persistent Visit” shop to get together for a meal.”
Wang Wei, still somewhat observant, didn’t mention the words “QQ underwear” in front of Shen Minglang’s employees, not wanting to embarrass him.
But he was unaware that Ye Zi, upon hearing the four words “Persistent Visit,” stood even straighter, puffed out her chest, making the buttons of her bartender uniform perilously strained. Her ears might as well have pricked up, eagerly eavesdropping.
Shen Minglang looked at Wang Wei in surprise, not expecting the guy to be so persistent and insistent about this matter.
Boss Shen was also a bit roguish, playfully said, “How come you’re rushing me?”
“Ah, but that shop’s operations are just too damn impressive! Brother Lang, I tell you, that shop is raking in orders!”
He had been closely following the QQ shop’s performance.
Glasses-wearing Wang Wei prattled on non-stop, occasionally letting slip some professional jargon he had learned at the e-commerce school, emphasizing over and over how awesome “Persistent Visit” was!
Ye Zi had already prepared the Long Island Ice Tea and handed it to Wang Wei, then naturally shifted her stool closer within the bar to listen in.
A single thought occupied her mind: “Keep praising it, please do, and be more specific!”
Some of the professional terminology he spouted was beyond her comprehension. In fact, some of the jargon in e-commerce is really just for show, but Ye Zi found it fascinating and even felt gratified.
Shen Minglang was baffled as he listened. Although he did not understand it all, he was still greatly shocked.
Damn, my younger cousin had just graduated from high school and was already making big bucks?
After extensively praising “Persistent Visit,” Wang Wei finally said, “So, Brother Lang, you really have to do me a solid. I genuinely want to seek advice from that shop owner!”
“Damn, within just over a month, they managed to take a new store to such heights, and without major cash burn!”
“How about this, Brother Lang? Remember I mentioned dining at Osmanthus Tree House last time? Let’s keep our dinner date, and afterward, I’ll treat you all to ‘touch and sing’, okay?” Wang Wei even began to up the ante, offering to take everyone to a KTV club afterward, wanting to hire a few models.
By the way he talked, it seemed like he was planning to cover the model fees too.
In circles like Shen Minglang’s, it’s common to treat others to outings; however, one would only cover the cost of drinks, the private room booking, and the host services—the model tips would come from their own pockets.
If I’m paying for you to fondly stroke legs and sing, while the girl’s legs are nearly rubbed raw, are you dreaming?
Meaning, Wang Wei’s string of treats—an evening of dinner, drinks, plus tips, all at high-end spots—wouldn’t cost any less than a small 20,000 yuan.
Shen Minglang could practically hear the cogwheels turning in his heart—he was looking to form a friendship and seek long-term advice.
Therefore, Boss Shen laughed it off and said, “Alright, but I can’t guarantee whether they’ll be willing to come. And, as you know, since the shop is booming, they must be busy, right?”
“Understood, all understood.” Wang Wei picked up his Long Island Ice Tea and downed his penalty drink in one go, adding, “It’s all in the drink!”
“Hahaha, sure, sure.” To Shen Minglang, watching this slacker drink was pure pleasure.
Wang Wei put down his glass and suddenly asked, “By the way, Brother Lang, how’s Little Cheng’s shop management going?”
Shen Minglang almost died laughing internally when he heard another mention of Cheng Zhu, but feigned ignorance outwardly, “Not sure, I haven’t talked about that stuff with him. Do you think he can handle it?”
Wang Wei immediately scorned, “That guy’s too fake. At such a young age, he doesn’t listen to advice. That day, I was kind enough to share my experience with him, and you saw his nonchalant attitude! It’s like I was just showing off in front of him!”
“Since he hasn’t proactively discussed his shop’s business with you, it’s probably going so badly he’s too embarrassed to speak about it.”
The more Shen Minglang listened, the more amused he became, and finally, he couldn’t help but tell Ye Zi, “Bring over a deck of playing cards later. Weizi, let’s play cards later!”
Wang Wei, oh Wang Wei, I suspect you’ve lost your ID card, I’ll have to help you find it embedded in the poker deck.
That joker card—nobody else should fight over it—it’s exclusively yours!
“Have you ever considered the possibility that you’re just not qualified to teach him?” Shen Minglang thought to himself.
He was actually beginning to look forward to it—if one day Wang Wei found out that the amazing person he wanted advice from was Cheng Zhu, what would his expression be?
Ye Zi watched Wang Wei, and for some reason, she felt that today was the most delightfully satisfying day since she started working at Jiuyin.
Just thinking of Cheng Zhu, underneath her bartender uniform, made her feel a slight itch on her backside.
“They will definitely play games and drink later, and the losers will have to drink penalties. When I make drinks for that pretentious guy with glasses, I’m going to adjust the alcohol content a bit higher!” Ye Zi thought to herself.
“Calling him Little Cheng—as if you’re worthy? Wait until you’re puking your guts out!” Ye Zi secretly thought, viciously.