Chapter 361: Chapter 285: The Counselor Arrives Chapter 361: Chapter 285: The Counselor Arrives Outside the glass, Cheng Zhu and Wang Bingqing exchanged glances, nodded slightly to greet each other, and then turned back to continue taking photos for Youu Tea.

In Starbucks, there was always someone with a laptop on the table.

These people might be working, chatting, or just enjoying the bourgeois feel of the moment.

However, the business of the milk tea shop across the street was just too booming.

Its presence shattered the “peace” inside the store.

Many seated in front of their laptops couldn’t help but glance over at the milk tea shop.

Wang Bingqing had even seen a group of girlfriends, who frequently visited and animatedly gossiped in the store, abandoning their unfinished coffee to queue up at the milk tea shop!

Holding Starbucks cups, they were queuing for a milk tea shop…

What the heck!

In this world, many workers under the influence of “corporate culture” developed a strong sense of belonging and pride toward their company.

Places like Starbucks, not just the employees, but many customers behave like fanatics.

Watching this scene, Wang Bingqing felt a discomfort she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“What are they thinking? Isn’t it nicer to sit in Starbucks and enjoy the coffee?” she thought to herself.

“You’re leaving the upscale Starbucks to stand in line for milk tea?”

“And that milk tea even dares to sell for such a high price!”

“And… can you grab me a cup too?”

Yes, angry as she might be and annoyed as she felt, she was indeed tempted by the advertisement for roasted Black Sugar Boba Milk Tea playing on the display screen.

Now was early December, and typically foreign brands like Starbucks pay a lot of attention to Christmas at the month’s end.

Thus, the cups in the store had already been switched to Christmas cups.

The store was already decked out in Christmas decorations to warm up for the season.

They’d even launched several Christmas limited editions.

Another thing, Starbucks’ merchandise like mugs and thermos cups always sold well despite the high prices, easily costing hundreds of yuan.

Now the Christmas edition cups were also new on the shelves and had been selling well in the past few days.

Logically, business should be getting better day by day.

As Starbucks, we never thought we would have competitors in the same league.

No brand in China could stand against us at this price point and compete.

We–despised all competition!

We’ve always just focused on doing our thing.

With the holiday coming up, all we needed to do was do our job well.

With Christmas approaching and the holiday limited editions introduced, wouldn’t our sales soar?

As for anything else… what else could possibly matter!

After tidying up a few tables, Wang Bingqing returned to the cashier’s area.

The manager of this Starbucks, Liu Lei, was also inside the cashier’s area.

Of course, in the store, he wasn’t called Liu Lei; he went by Richard.

Many employees in Starbucks across big cities have an English name, and some commonly refer to each other by these English names in daily store life.

“Cindy, you’re not really focusing on your work today,” Liu Richard Lei said in a serious tone, gently chastising Wang Bingqing.

He had noticed her glancing over at the opposite shop several times already, and she was lackadaisical when cleaning the tables.

The manager of Starbucks had long been annoyed by the shop across the street.

Daring to open right across from us, they even put out a slogan about “creating a new force in China’s beverage industry.”

Do they even know how to spell ‘die’?

They won’t even know what hit them when they fail!

“Milk tea shops belong by school gates, next to braised chicken stores, or by pig’s trotter rice shops.”

“What business do they have on the ground floor of an upscale mall?”

“What chance do other high-end drink shops have right opposite Starbucks?”

So, the manager Lei Zi said to Wang Bingqing, “It’s their first day open; it’s normal for them to be busy, understand?”

“Mm-hmm, I understand,” Wang Bingqing nodded hastily.

But no sooner had she finished speaking, she saw yet another customer run across to queue up.

…

…

Outside the Starbucks door, Cheng Zhu, with his back to Starbucks, finished taking photos.

The three sworn brothers from dorm 309 were wandering around, claiming to be surveilling for Brother Zhu, but really, they were just happily ogling the girls.

“This one’s pretty!”

“That one too!”

“Prettiness everywhere!”

Now that it was winter, there wasn’t as much to see as in the summer, but the three rascals remained undeterred.

However, as they looked on, they quickly spotted the prettiest woman in the queue.

And immediately, the delighted smiles on their faces disappeared in an instant.

“Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen!”

Liu Feng and the others were flabbergasted.

Damn, what was their advisor doing here!

Chen Jieyu was indeed beautiful, even more than the several internet-famous girls queuing in front of her.

However, her golden glasses and distinct aura were so foreboding that even class president Liu Feng felt their advisor was the most unapproachable among all the advisors at the Information School.

They even started to feel relieved at that moment.

Luckily, Brother Zhu, for whatever reason, hadn’t come early on the first day of business, opting to attend morning classes instead.

If Mr. Chen had just arrived to queue and they had already been in the shop, wouldn’t it be like being caught skipping class red-handed!

“That was close!” the three thought.

Especially Liu Feng–he was the class president!

Chen Jieyu turned and nodded slightly to them, then asked, “Did you come with Cheng Zhu?”

“Uh, Brother Zhu is over there taking photos. Should I call him over?” Liu Feng replied as the representative.

“It’s okay, let him be busy; no need to call him over,” said Chen Jieyu.

In front of classmates and colleagues, she was a bit afraid of interacting with Cheng Zhu!

Today, Chen Jieyu had come with another advisor from Technology University, Zhao Xiaoqian.

Ah yes, that was the indiscreet and particularly gossipy advisor who also happened to live right above her.

At that moment, Cheng Zhu came over on his own.

He was still wondering what those three rascals were doing standing around.

Had they run into someone they knew?

Then he saw Chen Jieyu.

“Mr. Chen, oh Mr. Chen, sneaking into my shop, huh?” he thought to himself.

Chen Jieyu hadn’t told him she would be coming to Youu Tea.

He strode over, then saw that she was wearing the white sneakers and the tight, high-necked sweater he had given her.

However, she hadn’t worn the camel coat from MaxMara Cheng Zhu bought her; instead, she wore a thicker long down coat.

It was particularly cold in Hang City today, and the coat he bought was indeed too thin.

“Mr. Chen,” Cheng Zhu greeted her with a grin as he approached.

Chen Jieyu felt his gaze linger on the high-necked sweater and the white sneakers for a moment, and then he actually nodded slightly, showing his satisfaction.

“Is he actually appraising me?” Chen Jieyu thought to herself.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Cheng Zhu said with a polite tone.

Honestly, he was quite enjoying this.

Although the two knew each other very well, having even “toured” each other’s staff dorm rooms, they still pretended to have just a regular teacher-student relationship in front of everyone else.

The guy thought it was amusing.

As for the bespectacled advisor, she was somehow a bit annoyed, a bit embarrassed, and felt a strange mix of other emotions.

His obviously feigned polite tone, whatever way it was interpreted, sounded awfully insincere.

He just thought it was fun!

Chen Jieyu was about to reply when loudmouth Zhao Xiaoqian spoke up.

“Three students, I’m also an advisor at the Information School, my surname is Zhao.”

“Cheng Zhu, your shop is doing quite well! We’ve been queuing for ten minutes,” she said.

“It’s okay, I guess,” Cheng Zhu responded with a smile.

“That’s just okay?” Zhao Xiaoqian laughed: “You’re being modest, right?”

After she finished, she turned to Chen Jieyu and said, “Mr. Chen, we must find the owner of Jiajian Milk Tea by the school gate and have a chat when we get back to campus.”

“They obviously look down on our Technology University students’ entrepreneurial milk tea project!”

“In this era, it’s definitely the young people who have the ideas!” The big mouth was at it again.

Listening on the side, Chen Jieyu felt somewhat helpless.

“Hm? Jiajian Milk Tea?” Cheng Zhu asked.

“Yeah, the one that’s been open for three years by our school gate,” Zhao Xiaoqian replied.

Through her explanation, Cheng Zhu roughly got the picture.

The news that he was opening a milk tea shop had not only spread around the campus but also among the local merchants.

He wasn’t just an ordinary student; he had also been part of the community of merchants outside the school.

Since his claw machine shop had been so popular, his name was well-known among the local merchants.

The world is like that: it feels vast, but can also be very small.

If you have enough influence, even the tiniest matter can spread far and wide.

This morning, Chen Jieyu and Zhao Xiaoqian, among other Information School advisors, had a meeting at the university.

Afterward, Zhao Xiaoqian, wanting to eat fruit, insisted on dragging Chen Jieyu to accompany her to a fruit shop.

Jiajian Milk Tea was right beside the fruit shop, and as luck would have it, they overheard the fruit shop owner chatting with the owner of Jiajian Milk Tea.

“I originally thought this young man had a good head for business.”

“But I saw that price list too.”

“How could that possibly be sustainable!”

“With the price of one of his milk teas, you could buy three here.”

“Are his milk teas made of gold?”

“And to open right opposite Starbucks.”

“Not to mention competing with Starbucks, even if he opened opposite me, his business couldn’t possibly be as good!”

“He made so much money from the claw machine shop, and now he’s just frittering it away.”

“We are neighbors doing business by the school gate; if he came to me for advice, I’d tell him a thing or two about the industry!”

“Youths these days, always in such a rush.”

“Just you watch; no one’s going to drink such expensive milk tea; having a spot in a mall is useless!”

Chen Jieyu frowned upon hearing this.

Her already serious face became even more stern in an instant.

No one will come to drink?

I’m going now!

“Teacher Zhao, do you want to go to Star City? I’ll buy you a Youu Tea,” she immediately said to Zhao Xiaoqian.

And so, the two of them took a taxi to Star City.

But lo and behold, there was no need for worry!

Was this not doing well?

“Mr. Chen, the people queuing here could probably circle around Jiajian Milk Tea,” Zhao Xiaoqian couldn’t help saying on the spot.

And perhaps even circle it twice!

Considering whether it was due to being treated or because Zhao Xiaoqian liked to talk someone up, she didn’t know the relationship between Cheng Zhu and Chen Jieyu. She then said to Cheng Zhu:
“Cheng Zhu, as soon as someone mentioned your shop, Mr. Chen immediately brought me here to support your business. An advisor who’s that supportive of students is quite exceptional, huh?”

Hearing this, Cheng Zhu’s eyes settled on Chen Jieyu’s lovely face, a smile emerging as he replied, “Yeah, she’s very good.”

…

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