章 23: 21. Cannot give up old customers
"Eh?"
The short-haired girl at the table lifted her head from her cellphone, a confused look on her face.
No one's listening to my advice against buying, but this has cued me in?
"Hey, what 'hey'? A big shot who interned at Red Circle Firm can't be stumped by a shop sale contract, right?"
Lu Jincheng knew how to make the most of everything and, saying this, he gave Zhou Sinin, who was daydreaming to the side, a meaningful glance.
"Come on, Guan Guan, help me out~"
Zhou Sinin immediately came to her senses and started to cling to Guan Yongyi's arm, whining with a cute pout.
"Alright, alright, wait here; I'll go next door to the print shop and print out a copy."
During the summer break, Guan Yongyi, who parachuted into an internship at Junhe Law Firm, truly learned a lot.
Even though a high school graduate's understanding of legal principles and knowledge was limited, the bigwigs at Red Circle Firm didn't let her take on complex tasks—she usually just ran errands, printed documents according to templates, and got familiar with the workflow.
But as an intern, she happened to have contract templates from Junhe, which came in handy.
Before long, Guan Yongyi returned with a contract in duplicate, and after both parties confirmed there were no errors, they signed their names.
"Mr. Lu, as agreed in the contract, Floating Light Cafe will be handed over to you starting next week."
The artistic middle-aged owner stamped his seal and collected the contract, tones of reluctance in his voice.
Lu Jincheng nodded and then heard the new title attributed to him, which still felt unfamiliar.
From Xiao Lu to Lu Jincheng to Mr. Lu, when would people go back to calling him by his familiar name?
It's a long road ahead!
"Mr. Lu~ What are your plans moving forward?"
Also transformed into a little boss, Zhou Sinin looked around, her clever mind fixating on the coffee menu; she could only think of one way to improve.
Lower the prices.
It had to be said, the reason Floating Light Coffee wasn't doing well was because of its steep per-customer price.
In 2014, the era where a typical milk tea cost around ten-plus yuan, not many people spent dozens of yuan on coffee daily.
Actually, Floating Light Coffee's ingredients, design, and flavor were all pretty good, but the customer base had limited spending power. Being trendy is one thing, but it's not the usual daily life of university students.
Life is about ten-yuan fancy fried rice, one yuan and seventy cent bowls of hot dry noodles at the canteen, and hundred-yuan-per-night budget hotels.
Young couples might occasionally come here for a date, drink a cup where three parts are the atmosphere, two parts are emotions, and only the remaining five are about the price of coffee.
Even Mr. Lu, who never looked at the price of coffee, felt that the pricing was indeed not cheap.
"I'll start work on the weekend, let me state two bottom lines."
Mr. Lu roughly estimated the cafe's size and started to give orders.
"Firstly, the construction period. Things like this and that don't need changing; everything must be done within a week."
He pointed at the bar and the chairs and tables, already having a general direction in mind.
"All the wall colors unified in black, white, and gray; compensate with lighting. What we aim to achieve is simplicity and class, and make it photogenic!"
"This spot should be designed as a photo check-in point, create an artistic display window specifically for customers to take pictures."
Lu Jincheng walked to the sunniest corner and gestured to Zhou Sinin.
"The other bottom line is the budget; pick whatever style you want, but the costs should not exceed 30,000 yuan."
"What about the rest?"
Zhou Sinin nodded, indicating she took note of all that was said.
"That's it."
"Remember not to put chairs in this area; it's perfect for buskers to come and sing. We'll just put a sound system in place here."
Lu Jincheng drew a circle with his foot.
"Not exceed 30,000 yuan?"
Guan Yongyi almost thought she had heard him wrong.
"I feel like you're not even thinking about making money; what can you even do with 30,000 yuan for renovations?"
"You don't understand."
Lu Jincheng crossed his arms, his voice indifferent, "They go crazy memorizing my casually freestyled lyrics; my 30,000 yuan renovated shop will have both class and splendor."
"..."
Guan Yongyi's lips were tightly pursed, her breath catching.
Damn, fooled by this guy again.
As everyone was chatting excitedly about the bright future of the coffee shop, a new group of customers approached the bar.
"Hi, could I have a cappuccino, an iced latte, and the membership card is 132..."
"Sorry, but Floating Light Coffee has changed ownership, and we'll settle the membership card balances in the next few days."
"Oh? Can we still use our membership card then?"
A familiar girl's voice reached Lu Jincheng's ears, and he lifted his head to look towards the bar.
It turned out to be Mou Keyan, the senior who danced at the party, attempting to pay with a passerby male student.
It seemed the senior frequented the coffee shop and even had a membership card.
"You'll have to ask the new owner about that."
The artsy middle-aged owner pointed towards Lu Jincheng's table, then turned to start making the coffee.
"It's valid."
Lu Jincheng caught Mou Keyan's inquiring look and responded.
"We'll be adjusting the coffee prices next week, but if you register your phone number, we'll still recognize the original membership card."
"After all, you're valued customers."
"Thanks, boss. I really like this place."
Mou Keyan sized up Lu Jincheng and the two pretty girls sitting next to him, her lips curving into a sweet smile.
So, this is the new owner of Floating Light Coffee?
He didn't look very old, was quite handsome, and seemed... pretty capable.
She had her own standards for judging a man's capabilities.
Evaluating the quality of the girls around him was undoubtedly one of the important measures.
"It's nothing."
Lu Jincheng waved his hand and continued.
"Next week we're going to renovate Floating Light and create a special area for patrons to take photos. You're welcome to come snap some pictures then."
"Sure~"
Mou Keyan nodded, "Then let me give you my membership card number again, it's 132..."
"No need."
Lu Jincheng gave a slight smile and pointed to the computer screen on the bar.
"Isn't your name Mou Keyan? I've already looked it up in the membership card system when I took over the shop."
"Eh, you know me?"
Mou Keyan appeared surprised, her delicate eyebrows arching into a natural curve.
She was popular on campus, but this was outside Nanhu University!
Mou Keyan didn't think she was so famous that even people off-campus would know her.
"I've seen you dance at the freshmen's welcome party."
Lu Jincheng stood up and gathered the contracts on the table: "I must be going. New Floating Light opens in a week. Remember to come and check in."
"Of course, I'll definitely come~"
Mou Keyan watched as Lu Jincheng and his group left the cafe, her iced latte straw being chewed absentmindedly between her lips.
So this rich second-generation owner had seen her dance; could he be from the same university as her?
That didn't seem right...
She was a top participant in school events, and she definitely would have met any girl with that level of attractiveness on campus.
Could he be a new student?
Impossible.
Mou Keyan's thoughts briefly fluttered towards the correct answer but were promptly snuffed out in their infancy.
What kind of freshman doesn't finish military training and runs out to start a business?
Would you even call that a freshman?
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