Chapter 77: Self-Promotion
TL: Etude
Climbing out of bed, Jiang Qin checked his class schedule and found that today there was only one public lecture titled “Introduction to College Education.”
So, he changed his clothes and headed straight to the square in front of the south side of the teaching building.
This square was the most concentrated mini-commercial area within Linchuan University, featuring a supermarket, milk tea shop, barber shop, fruit store, and tea bar.
Originally named Qinxue Square, it sounded too rustic, so everyone preferred to call it Front Square.
Jiang Qin found a spot where the sun didn’t reach and sat cross-legged for nearly an hour, closely observing the customer flow of the merchants in Front Square. Finally, he slapped the table and turned into the milk tea shop that had only three customers all morning.
“In this day and age, it’s really tough for individual proprietors like me to survive.”
“Do you know about the point exchange for milk tea at the college supermarket? Their milk tea is half the price of mine!”
“But they are not really in it for the profit; it’s more about boosting the sales of other items in their store.”
“Just like that, half a year into their promotion, my business died down. I only get students who feel it’s too far to go there and settle for a cup from my shop.”
“I didn’t want to continue, but there’s still a year left on my lease. Dropping out now means a total loss. Barely getting by makes me feel a bit better.”
“I used to think that being near a university, any business would thrive. Now I realize that competition is fiercer where the crowd is.”
The owner of the milk tea shop was a young woman in her late twenties, with dyed yellow hair, her face full of complaints, as if she wanted to rush into the college supermarket and bite someone.
Losing money is not scary, but what’s terrifying is not being able to cut losses in time. This is the most torturous, as it not only leads to financial losses but also weakens one’s spirit.
Jiang Qin looked around the shop and asked, “Can’t you do something else?”
“This store is in a corner of this building, with such limited space, suitable only for selling milk tea. Besides, everyone knows my business is bad, I can’t even sell it off,” the young woman lamented.
“What if someone is willing to take over your lease?”
“Who would be that foolish?” the woman with the golden hair didn’t believe it.
Jiang Qin coughed, “Fools do exist, don’t they? Do I look like one?”
“If I could get my rent back, I’d hand it over immediately!”
Half an hour later, Feng Nanshu, wearing a butterfly-collared chiffon dress, arrived at Front Square, her steps light and eyes gentle. The bright sunshine made her, a young wealthy lady, look even more beautiful and fair, like the most beautiful scenery in the entire Front Square.
Jiang Qin waved at her from the entrance of the milk tea shop, then pulled her in and sat her on a high stool.
“We’ve been friends for so long, and I haven’t given you a gift. How about I give you this milk tea shop today?”
“Okay.”
Feng Nanshu didn’t care what kind of shop it was, as long as it was from Jiang Qin, she wanted it.
The woman with dyed yellow hair looked at Jiang Qin intently, thinking to herself that this must be some rich second-generation, using such an extravagant method to woo a girl. But the girl was indeed beautiful, almost perfect. If she were rich, she would definitely spend money on her.
Watching Feng Nanshu sign her name on the contract, Jiang Qin couldn’t help but feel a bit moved.
The little rich lady really trusted him so much. She would sign anything he asked, even if he sold her, she would happily help him count the money.
“The business license will not be changed for now. This afternoon, I’ll take her to the Entrepreneurship Center to get a self-employment certificate. By the way, do you have any staff in this shop?”
“Yes, but I’ve been losing money, so I was thinking of laying them off.”
“That’s perfect then. Don’t lay them off for now. Call them in, let’s meet them.”
The woman with the golden hair took out her phone and called the shop assistant, a girl named Fang Xiaoxuan. She was petite and slim but was known to be very efficient at work.
After a brief introduction, Jiang Qin called Su Nai, instructing her to find Wei Lanlan and issue an 80,000 yuan invoice in the name of the forum for the milk tea shop, named Xi Tian (Happy Sweet Milk Tea Shop).
Then, he asked Su Nai to bring over the naming rights agreement for Feng Nanshu to sign.
“Boss, what exactly are you doing?” Su Nai felt perplexed.
Jiang Qin sighed, “It’s simply the whims of the wealthy.”
“That’s impossible, I don’t believe it.”
“The logic is simple. We need to hype up the price of naming rights to increase advertising fees later. But Tongxing Driving School doesn’t trust us much and only offered 20,000 yuan. So, I had to buy a shop to create the hype myself.”
“Then… Isn’t this shop a waste?” Su Nai found this roundabout method of problem-solving quite convoluted.
“Not a waste. The shop was struggling and offered at a low price. Its continuous losses weren’t due to poor quality, but because it was overwhelmed by price wars, losing its customer base. However, the popularity of the campus beauty contest is still high. I plan to tie the contest and this milk tea shop together, launch a combination strategy, and create an attractive sales report for the shop to show other merchants.”
Su Nai thoughtfully responded, “So, it used to be losing money, but it’ll turn profitable after the naming?”
“That I can’t guarantee. Right now, it’s just speculation. We’ll have to see how it goes when the campus beauty contest starts. Monetizing initial website traffic is tough, so it’s also a bit of an experiment.”
After hearing this, Su Nai exclaimed, “Killing three birds with one stone? Where do you get these ideas?”
Jiang Qin looked at her disdainfully, “It’s the wisdom of our ancestors. Don’t you know how much business value ancient courtesan contests brought?”
“??????”
“Think about it more and stop watching those un-un-ungh-ah-ah videos all the time.”
Su Nai pursed her lips, then shifted her attention to Feng Nanshu. This was her first time seeing someone so beautiful, flawless from every angle – beautiful eyes, lips, nose, simply gorgeous everywhere.
“You’re really beautiful,” she blurted out her thoughts.
Feng Nanshu’s eyes sparkled, “You’re such a good person.”
“Alright, no more flattery. Su Nai, if you don’t have classes, go optimize the program. We still have a class this afternoon. Can’t be late for our first university lecture. We need to maintain some ceremonial sense.”
Jiang Qin interrupted their mutual compliments and led the little rich lady towards the teaching building.
Under the sunlight, the two with a height difference of ten centimeters – one in a shirt, the other in a dress – looked incredibly matched, like a scene straight out of a romance .
Huh?
The first university lecture?
Su Nai’s gaze momentarily froze.
Eh, eh, eh, wasn’t he supposed to be a senior student?
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