134: Chapter 134 (Completed) Are the sales figures for this milk tea correct?

The Fifth People's Hospital.

As expected, several impulsive netizens arrived at the inpatient department, wanting to verify the 'bandaged patients,' only to find the five beds empty.

Underground parking lot.

Five men wrapped in bandages hobbled into a car.

“Hurry, run! Run!”

“If we run late, we won't get away!”

“The most poisonous is a woman's heart!”

“Women who look like enchantresses really can't be trusted!”

“There are still too many bad people in the world!”

...

Shanghai.

Xia Shujie had just finished a meeting and was resting in his office.

His secretary made him a cup of tea. Seeing how exhausted he looked, she felt a bit sorry for him. After a brief hesitation, she spoke softly.

“Chairman Xia, Dudu Tea's new store had its grand reopening yesterday, and it caused quite a stir online.”

“I searched the keywords 'Dudu Tea grand reopening' last night and found some videos, but they were quickly taken down by the creators.”

“This is a bit strange; it might be the work of competitors.”

“So, I downloaded some of the videos I found later.”

“Would you like to take a look?”

Xia Shujie glanced at the secretary, feeling a bit surprised.

This secretary was very sensible and usually wouldn't disturb him while he was resting after a high-intensity meeting.

Unless... this matter was significant.

He had a bad premonition.

“Let me see!”

The secretary immediately handed over her phone and showed the downloaded local videos to Xia Shujie.

She had gone to sleep after downloading some videos last night.

She had been busy with meetings today and didn't know that the full version was already online.

Xia Shujie took the phone and looked.

In the video, a Dudu Tea shop was packed so tightly by hundreds of people that not even a drop of water could trickle through.

Surprisingly, the hundreds of people weren't noisy.

Only the sound of singing could be heard.

“On that day when I was nineteen”

“I came before Huang Huai”

“...”

“A song written for huang huai late at night, you are the love I cannot express in words”

...

The singing was deeply moving.

Xia Shujie saw clearly; the person standing at the entrance of the Dudu Tea shop singing was definitely Qin Xun.

And the blurry figure inside the store seemed to be Xia Ning.

He smiled, feeling somewhat sentimental.

“Knowing how to sing really makes it easy to pick up girls!”

“Inexperienced young girls are always easily deceived by such tactics.”

“Fortunately, Xia Ning is very mature.”

...

The video continued to play.

In the footage, Qin Xun murmured softly.

“Every time the peach blossoms bloom, I always think of someone. She once... liked me very much.”

Xia Shujie saw the smile on Xia Ning's face as she handed the milk tea to Qin Xun and was a bit surprised.

He hadn't seen such a sweet smile in many years.

The last time was when she was in high school.

Xia Ning wanted to go camping with Niu Xiaojun, but he had refused; that was the look on her face when she was acting spoiled.

The video ended there, not capturing what happened next.

Xia Shujie was left confused and found it strange.

“What's going on?”

“Even though Qin Xun sings well, he shouldn't have the kind of presence that keeps hundreds of people quiet, right?”

The secretary quickly explained.

“Chairman Xia, this is a song Qin Xun wrote for his first love, or perhaps just a crush.”

“But... that girl has already passed away.”

Xia Shujie was slightly moved and felt a bit sorry for... Xia Ning.

Ningning, no matter how good you are, you'll never have the chance to beat Huang Huai.

...

Xia Shujie swiped the phone again.

In this video, a group of people was beating up a few others.

He was a bit surprised.

“Why did they start fighting?”

The female secretary explained.

“Because these few people questioned whether Qin Xun had fabricated a moving story just to sell milk tea.”

Xia Shujie: “What story?”

The female secretary swiped her finger on the phone a few times and found the story about the 32-yuan milk tea.

Xia Shujie looked down.

Qin Xun stood at the entrance of the milk tea shop, recounting the past.

“My family was particularly poor. Since I was a child, my mother told me that the children of the poor must take charge of the household early.”

“Once, I was walking with a very quiet female classmate and we went into a milk tea shop.”

...

“As it turned out... two cups of milk tea cost 32 yuan!”

...

“On the day she left me, blue rain fell before my eyes.”

...

“That day, I swore that in this life, I must open a milk tea shop that everyone can afford!”

...

“This is not just a cup of milk tea; it's a young man's debt to a girl.”

“So, is Dudu Tea selling milk tea?”

“It's not just milk tea!”

“I want it to protect the dignity of those young men who are in their prime but have the least money.”

Xia Shujie's eyes lit up, and he slapped the table.

“Good lad!”

“He directly labeled low prices and using powdered mixes as 'the dignity of youth'?”

“This is a bold label to apply, and it's done well!”

“Packaging the intention to use low, cheap prices to disrupt the market and seize the lower-tier market so grandly.”

“I'm almost moved by him myself!”

He was a bit excited. He took a sip of tea but still couldn't suppress his excitement.

“Good lad, good lad!”

“He can tell a story and control the narrative; he's a master of marketing.”

“When milk tea possesses the power of love, it will surely soar!”

Xia Shujie stood up, paced back and forth, and suddenly ordered.

“Go check the sales figures for those 50 new stores yesterday.”

The female secretary complied and went out immediately, returning in less than five minutes with a document.

She looked a bit excited as she looked down at the data and reported.

“Chairman Xia!”

“Before the renovation and upgrade, those 50 Dudu Tea stores averaged 600 cups in sales on a Saturday.”

“Yesterday's average sales were 2,500 cups!”

“A total of 125,000 cups were sold!”

“The total turnover was 753,406 yuan.”

Xia Shujie was shocked.

“Five times the sales volume?”

“750,000 in sales?”

“This is too exaggerated!”

“Although the price has dropped, the sheer volume is undeniable!”

“As long as the volume is high, you can still make money!”

The secretary smiled and continued.

“The Jinshi Plaza store alone sold 12,000 cups, with a turnover of over 84,000 yuan.”

Xia Shujie was startled, finding it somewhat unbelievable.

“Are these figures correct?”

“Twelve thousand cups? Even if the shop was fully staffed making 10 cups a minute, that's 600 cups an hour, which would take 20 hours.”

“But there are only 24 hours in a whole day and night.”

“And that's assuming they don't get tired and don't stop.”

“How could they possibly make that many?”

“Besides, which store could prepare that many ingredients?”

The female secretary explained.

“Douyin's push mechanism probably pushed it to local netizens first, or perhaps those passersby posted on their Moments.”

“After Qin Xun finished telling the story and singing yesterday, as it fermented on the internet, it moved many local people.”

“Moreover, there were many influencers at Jinshi Plaza at the time who were promoting it, which attracted even more people to the Jinshi Plaza store to check in.”

“Now, the Dudu Tea Jinshi Plaza store has become a viral check-in spot.”

“A place to witness love and reminisce about the 'White Moonlight' in one's heart.”

She took a deep breath, also finding it somewhat incredible.

“Chairman Xia, many people paid directly and left yesterday, saying this cup was a treat for Huang Huai.”

“So, about 7,000 cups yesterday were gifted to Huang Huai.”

“They didn't even want the milk tea.”

Xia Shujie rubbed his forehead and shook his head with a bitter smile.

“I'm old! I don't understand today's youth anymore!”

“This world is truly crazy!”

He instructed the secretary.

“Go post these videos on Douyin, invest some money, and boost the traffic.”

Secretary: “Understood!”

...

Xia Shujie waited for quite a while until his emotions settled before finding Qin Xun's proposal on his computer.

His eyes flickered.

At this moment, he had a brand new perspective.

“At first, I thought you were too ambitious, just like Xia Ning.”

“Now it seems he's not just ambitious, but has enough confidence in his own strength.”

He thought of Xia Ning and frowned slightly.

He picked up his phone and dialed Xia Ning's number.

The call went through.

He asked directly, his voice gentle.

“Ningning, are you okay?”

He could only hear Xia Ning's very quiet voice from the other end of the phone, as if she were in an environment where it wasn't convenient to speak loudly.

She gave a light laugh.

“I'm doing great!”

Xia Shujie sighed, feeling a bit pained for her.

“If you're okay, why would you laugh out loud?”

“You rarely laugh out loud.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Only faint breathing could be heard.

Suddenly!

A familiar man's voice came through.

“Xia Ning!”

“Something's happened!”

“I just saw a news report!”

“Your dad was caught soliciting prostitutes again!”

Xia Shujie: “???”