Chapitre 22: 20. New Owner of Floating Light Coffee
"You really shouldn't have asked him!"
Guan Yongyi gave him a white-eyed glance and tugged at her best friend's skirt hem, her tone teasing.
"See, now he's giving you a performance, isn't he?"
Unable to resist Zhou Sinin, the shorthaired beauty donned the same princess dress as hers, but unlike her, she insisted on a relatively sober black color.
A law student girl simply couldn't summon a cutesy vibe.
"Are you going to start a business?"
Hearing the same question, Zhou Sinin perceived a completely different key point from her best friend.
She propped her cheeks with her hands, her peach-blossom eyes slightly blushing and brimming like water, looking at Lu Jincheng with utter admiration.
In her eyes, Lu Jincheng had simply shattered her imagination of what a freshman could be.
In just half a month, Zhou Sinin had personally witnessed him leveraging financial instruments to make at least seven figures in the turbulent market.
What was even more admirable was that Lu Jincheng could swiftly exit after making a profit and continued with a conservative investment strategy.
Even though he was only 18, he showed none of the flamboyance or impatience of his peers.
When Lu Jincheng mentioned starting a business at this moment, Zhou Sinin couldn't help but feel curious once again.
"Yes, I plan to take over this shop and remodel it."
Lu Jincheng nodded and did not deny.
"Ah? You're taking over this coffee shop?"
Guan Yongyi, quietly sipping coffee on the side, exclaimed in surprise.
Not just her, but Zhou Sinin also blinked in confusion.
This coffee shop, scarcely filled with a few tables, didn't seem to have much customer traffic at all?
And in her understanding from childhood to adulthood, opening a coffee shop near a university was hardly considered starting a business; at most, it was just scraping by.
Even if Lu Jincheng wasn't short of funds for starting a business, shouldn't he at least conduct some market research? It seemed too arbitrary.
"It's not quite suitable, is it? Let me do some calculations for you. We've been sitting here so long, and only three groups of customers have come in. Even assuming it's full during peak times, that would only be..."
"This kind of store doesn't have much potential; its ways of making profit are also limited."
Zhou Sinin bit her cherry lip and took out her phone's calculator to start calculating.
"Stop calculating, it's unnecessary."
Lu Jincheng smiled, pressing down Zhou Sinin's hand confidently, "It's normal it doesn't seem profitable now, because the owner isn't me."
He indeed had this confidence.
In his previous life, Mr. Lu and Lu Zhengyao from Luckin had a pretty good relationship, and the latter had shared many key points on how a coffee shop could grow from scratch.
It was an era where even the fragrance of wine fears the alley's depth; to make a coffee shop outstanding, one must understand both the product and marketing.
In fact, even if Mr. Lu didn't understand marketing or the product, or even anything at all, simply taking over the shop would still allow him to make money lying down.
Because not long after, a campus folk duo named "The Landlord's Cat" would shoot their first cover video at this Floating Light Cafe.
A casual singing video would be shared by popular bloggers and many big Vs, quickly receiving tens of millions of views. The Landlord's Cat would become an internet sensation starting from Floating Light Cafe.
At that time, they were still recording songs and videos with mobile phones, occasionally visiting recording studios using a coupon for half an hour for 50 yuan, with poor video quality and almost no editing.
Mr. Lu, who strategizes well, had already eyed his studio's first potential client.
"Baby, let's stop talking to him; he really can boast!"
Guan Yongyi couldn't help but take a strong sip of her iced Americano, "Didn't you say he wasn't short of money? Forget about him; if he buys it, it'll close within half a year!"
The few people had been sitting here for nearly half an hour, and the three groups of customers had dwindled to two; she really couldn't see anything about this coffee shop worth acquiring.
"I'm going to talk to the owner."
Lu Jincheng didn't explain further and got up to walk to the back of the sparse café, to talk about the price with the owner.
"To be honest, I really don't want to do this anymore."
The owner was a man in his thirties with long hair, looking like a typical artistic type.
"If you truly want it, the annual rent for this shop is seventy thousand, and I'll sell you the machines and raw materials at a discount. Altogether that makes one hundred thousand. How about it?"
"That's too expensive."
Lu Jincheng frowned.
He had just over ninety thousand in spare cash. If he spent it all on the cafe, what would he have left?
Besides, he still had to renovate it into an internet-famous style and hire staff. These were all real investments.
"..."
"Ninety thousand, I can't go any lower."
As long as he was negotiating, it indicated that the young man in front of him truly intended to buy.
The owner made his final concession.
"Forget it, I'll think about it some more."
Lu Jincheng waved his hand and returned to his seat.
"How did it go? Did you get the place?"
Zhou Sinin and Guan Yongyi stared at him like two curious babies, eager to hear the outcome.
"Taking over this shop would mean renovations and hiring staff, I think it's a bit over the budget."
Lu Jincheng shrugged and took a sip of his latte.
He hadn't reached his psychological expectation today. He could always come back tomorrow.
Anyway, he was determined to fight a protracted battle to secure this shop.
Only through acquiring Floating Light Coffee's owner identity could he access the landlord's cat, which would help them promote their first breakout video.
After all, in his previous life, this folk band that became famous throughout Jiangnan was known for their loyalty.
Even their manager didn't seek outsiders; he was also their classmate and friend.
There was still time.
"That's so, then I'll invest a bit too."
At that moment, Zhou Sinin suddenly looked up, holding the hem of her shirt, her eyes brimming with stars.
"I'll cover the renovation and hiring. As for the shares… you decide when the time comes."
After much internal struggle, she decided to join Lu Jincheng in this venture.
"Si si, are you crazy?"
Guan Yongyi was taken aback, quickly grabbing her best friend's arm and whispering closely.
This was a clear case of throwing good money after bad—why make such a hopeless investment?
"No worries, it won't cost much, think of it as having a place to chat in the future, that's quite nice too."
Zhou Sinin giggled, quickly convincing herself.
The financial advice had netted her several tens of thousands, what did it matter to invest a bit in his renovation?
Moreover, she was getting shares, so it wasn't money spent in vain.
"Okay, whatever you spend on the renovation, we'll convert it into shares."
Lu Jincheng looked up and smiled, patting Zhou Sinin on the shoulder without any reserve.
Sharp eye.
He walked into the back and called out the owner, indicating they could discuss the matter further.
"Owner, ninety thousand is okay, let my legal draft a contract now."
"We'll sign today, is that okay?"
With that, he pointed at Guan Yongyi, the law student beside him.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone