Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn?

Chapter 218: The Backbone of the Team

TL: Etude

In mid-March, the popularity of the campus beauty contest continued to rise.

The Xi Tian Milk Tea Shop firmly occupied a high position in terms of customer flow, instantly opening up the market. As a result, long queues formed daily in front of the store, attracting even more people to join the crowd.

The commercial street was bustling from morning till night, and even the surrounding merchants benefited from the increased foot traffic, seeing a steady rise in their sales.

Why? Because the wait for orders was so long, people often chose to visit other shops in the meantime.

While browsing, it was natural for them to make impulsive purchases. After all, since they were already there, why not buy something? This was particularly true for the so-called “exquisite piggy girls” known for their impulse shopping.

This economic phenomenon is common, similar to the continuous promotion of tourism by various provinces and cities. Increased human traffic leads to higher spending on basic needs and non-essential items.

Buying things that aren’t really needed, or ordering more food than one can eat, is a common occurrence.

Therefore, the benefit of increased traffic wasn’t limited to the target customers; the entire business district reaped the rewards.

Given this situation, the collaboration negotiations between the team-up and this commercial street were extremely smooth.

But not all merchants were happy. For instance, the other milk tea shops on the street were cursing under their breath.

Since the start of the damned campus beauty contest, their customer base had dwindled significantly.

After all, in competitive markets, one’s gain was often another’s loss. No one buys a cup of milk tea from one shop only to buy another from a different shop right after. That would be absurd.

Especially troubling for these milk tea shop owners was the sudden absence of their regular customers, making them feel like a disaster was imminent.

“Damn it, didn’t they promise to only love my milk tea?”

This fickleness was just like love, changing without even a goodbye!

“Old Xu, do you have any business over there?”

“Not a damn bit. I’ve been open all morning, and I haven’t seen a soul, not even a hair.”

“I spoke with Sister Wang from Real Fresh Fruit. We can’t just sit here and wait for doom. If we do, we might as well close shop.”

“What’s your plan?”

“I heard that a student runs that shop. Let’s go scare them a bit!”

So, within a week of intense competition, the owners of the three milk tea shops came over to make trouble four times. They dared not vandalize, but they threw threats around every day, disturbing the peace of the shop and scaring away many customers.

Lai Cunqing, the leader of the Polytechnic University’s promotion group, tried to resolve the issue several times, mainly through reasoning and emotional appeal, but it was useless.

After all, they had indeed taken away the business of others. No amount of sweet talk could change that; sweet words weren’t money, after all.

For example, if you stole someone’s girlfriend and then tried to comfort them, you’d be lucky not to get punched in the nose.

And let’s face it, money is much more important than a girlfriend!

But Lai Cunqing was also frustrated.

“Damn it, business is about ability. Why should we care if you can’t sell your product?”

Eventually, he stopped going there, leaving a few people to guard the entrance and ensure the safety of the staff. Besides the issue with the milk tea shops, he had many other problems to deal with.

The content team was short-staffed. Lai Cunqing initially planned to transfer some people from the marketing team, but nobody wanted to distribute flyers anymore.

Especially a certain impoverished student who complained about the tiresome task daily and wanted to join the content team. When he saw his name wasn’t on the transfer list, he went on strike.

In principle, such a person should be fired, but the difficulty was that the individual was impoverished, leaving Lai Cunqing indecisive.

“How did the boss start the project all by himself and bring it from nothing to something?”

“I heard from Brother Dong that the boss can dance crazily among numerous pitfalls without ever falling into one,” Ding Qiaona said softly.

After hearing this, Lai Cunqing smacked his lips: “That’s a vivid metaphor!”

“If only the boss were here…”

Upon hearing this, Gu Tiantian, Chen Wenfang, and Tang Li exchanged glances, seemingly gaining a deeper understanding of the term “male idol.”

They had been working in the marketing team for half a month, and due to their diligent work, they were transferred to the content team by Lai Cunqing.

Then, whenever the team encountered an unsolvable problem, everyone would lament, “Why isn’t the boss here? It would be great if the boss were here.”

It was as if all problems would vanish with Jiang Qin’s presence.

Other idols might only be notable for their gender, but Jiang Qin truly seemed divine.

However, to their surprise, just as they mentioned him, Jiang Qin really appeared in the activity classroom the next moment.

“Boss, you’re finally here!”

Lai Cunqing collapsed onto a bench, as if he had found his pillar of strength, and felt a significant reduction in his stress.

Upon entering, Jiang Qin looked at them and asked, “Why do you all look like you’re about to cry?”

Ding Qiaona couldn’t help but speak up, “We thought everything was going well and that we just needed to follow the plan. But we keep running into all sorts of problems. It’s really tough. How did you manage it all in the beginning, boss?”

“I just have a bit of talent and charm.”

“…”

Seeing their speechless expressions, Jiang Qin was frustrated, “Damn it, no one believes the truth in this screwed-up society. What troubles are you facing? Tell me.”

“First, there’s the issue with the milk tea shop…”

Three minutes later, after hearing Lai Cunqing’s report, Jiang Qin commented, “That’s how business is. If you’re eating too much, others won’t get a bite. It’s normal.”

Ding Qiaona asked, “Boss, did you encounter such situations when you led teams for promotions in the past?”

“Yes, but we never had people blatantly causing trouble like this.”

“So, how do we resolve this?”

Jiang Qin thought for a moment, “I’ve always emphasized one thing with the team at Linyun University: look beyond the surface to see the essence. What do you think they ultimately want by causing trouble?”

Lai Cunqing knew the answer, “They just want to make money.”

“Exactly. So, give them an opportunity to make money.”

Jiang Qin gestured and led them confidently to the troubled milk tea shops. He found the shop owners and slapped a contract onto their counters.

Lai Cunqing thought the boss would say, “Sign this, don’t be ungrateful!” That’s how it usually went in TV dramas.

But Jiang Qin was all smiles, without any hint of arrogance.

“This is our group buying online service. Please have a look.”

“Online delivery?”

“Yes, a new sales model. As a partner of the group buying service, you’ll get the same traffic that Xi Tian enjoys.”

“So you mean, we just need to handle our business?”

“Exactly.”

“But even online, with Xi Tian’s huge traffic, we can’t compete with them!”

“That’s why I promise you here and now, Xi Tian will not sell milk tea online. This market will always belong to you.”

Two hours later, Jiang Qin and his team had visited all three shops and returned to the university classroom with three contracts.

Lai Cunqing was puzzled, “Just because they caused trouble, Xi Tian is giving up online services? Isn’t that too big a concession?”

“I didn’t say we’re not doing online services, I just said we’re not selling milk tea.”

“Then what are we selling?”

Jiang Qin pulled out a Xi Tian Milk Tea Card from his wallet, “Xi Tian won’t do delivery for milk tea, but we’ll sell milk tea cards online. Anyone who buys or receives a card has to come to the store to redeem it.”

Ding Qiaona also took out her card, “I have one too, given by a junior.”

“How do you feel after using it?”

“After I got this card, I almost never drank milk tea from any other place,” said Ding Qiaona.

Jiang Qin nodded, “In business, there’s no need to drive competitors to extinction. By leaving a small space for those three milk tea shops to survive through delivery, we’ve made a compromise.”

Lai Cunqing felt a tingling sensation in his scalp, “So these three shops can only survive on delivery from now on?”

“Perhaps.”

“And they have to pay us a commission for every milk tea they sell? So, there’s no market online or offline that we can’t reach?”

“Of course.” Jiang Qin revealed a charming smile.

In fact, many future stores would solely focus on delivery, known as takeaway shops. They have no offline business and rely purely on online orders.

The media calls them workshops. Since they don’t need a physical storefront, their costs are low, prices can be kept down, and they represent a new business model born out of the new era.

Jiang Qin put his wallet back in his pocket, “Any other issues? Speak now. I have to meet Director Sun shortly.”

“The issue with staff allocation in the marketing team. People are upset. They all don’t want to distribute flyers and keep asking in the group why they can’t move to the content team like others.”

“Why can’t they?” Jiang Qin asked.

Lai Cunqing immediately replied, “They’re not capable enough. If they’re not even serious about handing out flyers, I obviously have to reserve opportunities for those who are hardworking and enduring.”

“Here’s what you do: fire the one who complains the most first. Let him experience the harshness of society.”

“But that one’s the poorest. It doesn’t seem right to fire him outright.”

Jiang Qin laughed, “Think of it this way: being poor is even better. The more he regrets getting fired, the more stable our team at the Polytechnic University will be. The salary we offer can’t be matched by others.”

Lai Cunqing pondered, “But what if he creates trouble?”

“I spent over thirty yuan on banners and certificates. That money can’t go to waste. Director Sun will help us out. That’s the advantage of having a guiding teacher.”

“Oh.”

“Old Lai, remember, we’re in business, not charity. You must remember, poverty should never be seen as a protective umbrella.”

Jiang Qin spoke sternly, then felt that his last statement was quite impressive and wanted to repeat it.

But saying it again would seem foolish, so he decided to bask in the admiring glances of his team members.

Hmm? Gu Tiantian’s look was particularly admiring, almost excessively so. She even crossed her legs tightly.

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