Free Web NovelChapter 151: Chapter 151: Xinghua Street Shops x10
As it turned out, Chen Chuan, who had just tried the Wangyou Milk, was completely won over.
"Boss, give me another cup—no! Make it two!"
’Something this good, of course I have to recommend it to my friends! Just talking about it isn’t convincing enough. I have to let them taste it for themselves. That’s the most powerful way to win them over.’
Yun Zijin rang up two more cups of Wangyou Milk Tea for Chen Chuan, and Qin Sitong began preparing them in the back.
Just then, Ling Lu returned from printing the hiring notice. Without a word from Yun Zijin or Qin Sitong, he found some glue and dutifully pasted the notice onto a blank spot on the grand opening poster outside the shop’s entrance.
Many of the customers who came in afterward saw the hiring notice on the poster, and a few even inquired about it.
Qin Sitong was too busy making milk tea to answer, so Yun Zijin ended up fielding the questions.
Since it wasn’t a formal interview, Yun Zijin just gave them a brief overview, explaining that the specific details would be shared with applicants during the actual interview process.
Around 3 p.m., Yun Zijin once again saw the young man from the morning with the calluses on his hands.
"Boss, two Wangyou Milk Teas."
Yun Zijin glanced at him but didn’t say a word.
"Boss, most of your milk teas are around 20 yuan. How come the Wangyou Milk Tea is so expensive?"
"I brought a cup home this morning, and an elder in my family really loved it. The only problem is, your shop is a bit far, so it’s not very convenient for me to come here."
"If you ever open a branch, would you consider opening one on Xinghua Street?"
The young man started making small talk with Yun Zijin as he waited.
"I don’t have any plans for that at the moment."
’The first shop has barely opened. We haven’t even made a name for ourselves, and he’s already thinking about a branch. Even with a product like Wangyou Milk Tea, I can’t be that short-sighted and greedy.’
Hearing Yun Zijin’s answer, the young man sighed with clear disappointment. He didn’t say anything more, just took his two cups of Wangyou Milk Tea and hurried off again.
"He’s really thinking far ahead. We’re still just finding our footing, and he’s already talking about us opening a branch."
Qin Sitong agreed that the young man’s suggestion was a bit premature.
"Don’t dwell on it," Yun Zijin said. "Are you going to stay with me at Jade Lake again tonight?"
If they both stayed at Jade Lake, it would be more convenient for them to head to the shop together in the mornings.
"I should go back to my dorm. I can’t just crash at your place every single day."
Qin Sitong had already felt awkward staying at Jade Lake the night before; she was determined to return to her dorm today, no matter what.
Since Qin Sitong was insistent, Yun Zijin didn’t press the issue. "Alright. In that case, should I have a car come pick you up tomorrow?"
"Our shop is at an awkward distance from the university—not worth a taxi, but a bit too far to bike comfortably."
There were ride-share electric scooters available, but there were only a few on campus, and the two of them had never managed to get one.
If that weren’t the case, Qin Sitong wouldn’t have "splurged" on a bicycle to make it easier for her to get between classrooms for her different lectures.
And Yun Zijin was arguably the biggest beneficiary of Qin Sitong’s bicycle purchase.
"No, no, it’s fine! This is nothing. I can just ride my bike. Back when I was a day student in middle and high school, my commute was much farther than this."
Qin Sitong was telling the truth. For her, the distance between the university and the Wangyou Milk Tea Shop was nothing at all.
What Yun Zijin and Qin Sitong didn’t know was that after they closed up shop at 6 p.m., a trending topic about the Wangyou Milk Tea Shop was slowly, at a snail’s pace, climbing the charts.
#WangyouMilkTeaShopForgetWorries#
#AMagicalMilkTeaShop#
It wasn’t until Yun Zijin returned to Jade Lake and Wang Minli told her about it that she found out about the trending topic.
Yun Zijin quickly pulled out her phone, opened Weibo, and sure enough, she found the topic in the lower half of the trending list.
"When I checked a moment ago, it was at the bottom of the trending list. How did it climb so quickly?"
The moment Wang Minli looked at the trending list again, she noticed the topic’s rank had already gone up.
Yun Zijin clicked on the hashtag to read the comments.
—"Forget worries"? What unscrupulous business came up with this ridiculous gimmick now?
—Nowadays, even drinking milk tea is supposed to make you feel superior!
—Is this for real? A close friend of mine has mild depression. If this stuff actually works, I’m buying!
—The commenter above is so gullible. It’s obviously just a marketing ploy.
—Am I the only one who noticed it’s 88 yuan a cup? Is the milk tea gold-plated or something? That’s so expensive!
—!!! 88 yuan! For someone earning 3,000 a month, that’s practically a whole day’s wages!
—Who the hell is drinking 88-yuan milk tea?
These were all skeptical comments, though there were a few people who had actually tried the Wangyou Milk Tea leaving praise and upvotes.
But their numbers were few, and their posts were quickly buried under the flood of other comments, seen by almost no one.
"Miss, should we inform Miss Mei Lin? This trending topic is bad for both you and the shop. If it gets out of hand, it could become a huge problem."
Yun Zijin shook her head. "No need. It’s free publicity."
’I’m sure anyone in Dijing who sees this topic will be curious enough to come check it out.’
Still, Yun Zijin was worried that Qin Sitong might be overthinking things, so she sent her a text.
She told Qin Sitong to get some rest and not to pay any attention to the online drama.
「Dijing University, Women’s Dormitory」
When Qin Sitong got back to her dorm, Ren Hui and Li Cui were both there.
After receiving Yun Zijin’s text, she quickly replied, reassuring Zijin that she was fine and that her mood hadn’t been affected at all.
Ren Hui and Li Cui, however, upon learning about the Weibo topic, turned to Qin Sitong with looks of concern. "Qin Sitong, are you okay? We saw that stuff online..."
"I’m fine. Stay out of it."
Qin Sitong had no idea how to interact with Ren Hui and Li Cui. After what they’d done before, she simply couldn’t pretend nothing had happened and act friendly toward them.
Out of Qin Sitong’s line of sight, Ren Hui sneered.
’If she wasn’t so close to Yun Zijin, I wouldn’t have to bother sucking up to her!’
Qin Sitong completely ignored them. Ren Hui wanted to taunt her, but with Sitong giving her nothing to work with, it felt like a one-woman show. Finding it pointless, she finally shut her mouth.
「Jade Lake」
Yun Zijin opened up the reward from the Randomly Spend system, which she had received after Mei Lin helped her complete today’s mission.
[Spending Mission: Spend ¥3,000,000.00 before midnight. Status: Complete]
[Mission Reward: 4x Rebate triggered. ¥12,000,000 has been deposited into the Host’s bank account. Reward: 10 shopfronts on Xinghua Street. Please verify receipt.]
The young man who looked like he might be in the military had just asked her about opening a branch on Xinghua Street, and now, unexpectedly, the system’s reward was a set of shops on that very street.
’Though this time, it isn’t an entire street, just ten properties. It seems like real estate on Xinghua Street is really hard to get.’
What Yun Zijin didn’t know was that, because of the Wangyou Milk Tea, her name and profile had already been flagged and sent up some official chain of command. Now, with ten new properties on Xinghua Street under her name, she was drawing even more attention from those in power.
Of course, Yun Zijin was oblivious to all of this. And as long as her life wasn’t under direct threat, Mei Lin had no intention of proactively sharing this information with her.
The only exception would be if Yun Zijin explicitly ordered her to investigate it.
