Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 476 - 387: Revealing the Sharp Edge

Chapter 476: Chapter 387: Revealing the Sharp Edge

Huabei had already started a beta test recently.

If Cheng Zhu remembered correctly, it appeared to have fully launched at the beginning of April.

Its emergence had a huge impact on the youth consumer market!

The impact could even be described as unprecedented!

Although the popularity of credit cards in China wasn’t as high as in many Western countries,

the arrival of Huabei equated to everyone holding a credit card in their hands.

To be exact, it was even more useful and convenient than a credit card.

Previously, everyone’s wallets were merely empty.

Now, it could directly turn your wallet balance negative.

For some, Huabei brought great convenience to life, but for others, it was an abyss.

Cheng Zhu himself had made his fortune through e-commerce in his past life, so he was highly sensitive to e-commerce data.

He not only studied current data but also searched for and researched past data.

"In my memory, back in 2015, Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales seemed to have reached 90 billion, seemingly growing by 60% compared to the previous year!"

That figure, at that time, was sensational nationwide, second to none!

"And you have to know, Huabei, as a novelty, was experiencing year-on-year increases in users."

"In 2015, there actually weren’t many people using Huabei yet."

"But the effect it had was already quite exaggerated."

Remembering this, Cheng Zhu couldn’t help but think of the so-called "lickdog economy."

"The installment payments of Huabei are just too suitable for ’lickdogs’."

"The woman is already in bed with someone else, and the lickdog is still helping her pay for the phone in installments."

"Men who fake wealth will never be scarce."

Such real-life cases were numerous; it was truly ridiculous.

Interestingly, these were indeed the years when the lickdog economy thrived.

The strange "manufactured holidays" were increasing year by year.

The traps of consumerism were also becoming more numerous.

It wasn’t hard to see that from these years onwards, if you were in a relationship, the holidays you celebrated each year became absurdly numerous.

It would take a few more years for the lickdog economy to gradually crash, terribly so.

"A few years later, many people would say that many holidays seemed to have lost their original flavor, but what’s the reason?"

"The reason is the collapse of the lickdog economy."

"What holds up the vibe of the holidays?"

"To put it somewhat narcissistically—it’s often men."

"Once men stop preparing gifts, stop planning dates, stop creating romance, stop transferring that 520 yuan red envelope that would get scorned..."

"When men no longer do these things, the atmosphere of many holidays will immediately suffer."

Of course, this is only a part of the population.

There are still many beautiful loves where both men and women rush toward each other.

Good girls seeing the business logic here surely wouldn’t get mad.

After all, if good girls also didn’t want to make efforts for the stinking men, then the holiday economy could crash even more.

Cheng Zhu leaned his entire back against the chair and slightly raised his head, looking profoundly at the ceiling.

"2015, is a very important year."

"The curtain on the era of massive consumption has been drawn."

"In this year, there will be a lot I need to do."

"Time waits for no one!"

...

...

At noon, Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu had lunch together.

The school was going to have a holiday in two days, and the New Year was not far off.

Once the winter vacation started, both Shen Qingning and Lin Lu would go back home to live.

At that time, they definitely wouldn’t have the freedom they had while staying in Xinhang Apartment.

During the meal, Little Lu also said, "I asked Ningning to come eat with us, and she refused, saying she didn’t want to be a third wheel."

"She’s more than just not wanting to be a third wheel," Cheng Zhu muttered to himself in his heart.

She didn’t want to be the tortured female protagonist.

Recently, the communication between Cheng Zhu and Shen Qingning had started to increase compared to before, but aside from official matters, they didn’t contact each other at all.

Now they were maintaining a tacit understanding of "Business is Business."

Neither one would break it for the time being.

Because of Lin Lu’s presence, this understanding allowed the three to maintain a delicate balance.

"Cheng Zhu, do you have plans this afternoon?" Lin Lu asked.

"Yes, Mr. Yue is coming to Hang City today and said he wanted to meet and chat," Cheng Zhu answered.

"Oh, then I need to think about where to spend my time this afternoon," Lin Lu started to ponder.

"It’s fine, if you have nowhere to go, just come with me," Cheng Zhu said.

Upon hearing this, Little Lu’s eyes lit up instantly, "Really? Wouldn’t your conversation be hindered with me around?"

"What’s the matter, are you a corporate spy? Are we supposed to fear you overhearing business secrets?" Cheng Zhu joked.

He turned to look at her, feigning seriousness, with a stern face, "Ms. Little Lu, please mind your position."

"Ah?"

"You’re my girlfriend, what can’t you hear?" Cheng Zhu said.

Listening to this, Lin Lu’s heart leaped with joy, and a smile immediately appeared on her face, her two little dimples extremely charming.

This girl, who is quite conceited, really enjoyed this special treatment.

After all, for such a wealthy heiress, she had been flooded with material values since childhood; what she needed more was emotional value.

Actually, Cheng Zhu knew clearly, that today, Yue Dongyi’s request to talk was likely just to chat, not to discuss anything substantial.

Regarding major business dealings, meetings were usually conducted via video conferences, and it wasn’t only Yue Dongyi participating from Pulin Capital.

At the moment, Youu Tea was extremely popular, and Pulin Capital placed great importance on this project, even treating it as one of their ace projects for 2015.

Therefore, he guessed that Yue Dongyi’s reason for meeting was probably sparked by his comment a few days ago about "great upgrades in the youth consumer market of 2015."

Simply put, this chat was Cheng Zhu showing off in front of this seasoned ’pain-in-the-neck’!

Of course, that’s a colloquial way to put it.

From a business perspective, Cheng Zhu had recently felt the power and resources of Pulin Capital, with Youu Tea’s layout in many major cities getting a boost from Pulin Capital.

Going to the face of Pulin Capital’s "partner" to build presence and prove his business acumen was a good thing.

The more he showcased in front of Yue Dongyi, the stronger Pulin Capital’s follow-up investment would be during the second round of funding!

Yes, Cheng Zhu had already started planning and paving the way for the second round of funding.

After all, the first round broke a billion, so when it came to the second round of funding, it definitely wasn’t just about achieving a couple small goals.

"He’s so impressive, why wouldn’t I take the chance to fleece this sheep a bit more?" Cheng Zhu thought.

....

....

The meeting place with Yue Dongyi was set by Cheng Zhu; he chose the Tea House.

The last time he visited the Tea House was when he met with Zhang Qiqi and Meng Yiyi, the sister duo, and Zhu Youwei.

Zhu Youwei, the boss of this internet celebrity company, already thought Cheng Zhu would be a significant figure in the future, but he probably never imagined that in a short while, a small milk tea shop would secure a funding of one billion.

Upon arriving at the Tea House, Lin Lu immediately got excited.

"Cheng Zhu, you booked this place? Then I’ll pay later, I’ll use my dad’s card, there’s a discount, hehe!" Baby Lu was already turning her elbow out.

"Sure," Cheng Zhu wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to be treated.

When Yue Dongyi walked into the private room, both parties were slightly surprised.

Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu didn’t expect that he would bring Yue Lingjing as well, and Yue Dongyi didn’t expect to see a young woman in the room, evidently intimate with Cheng Zhu.

"Mr. Yue, Mr. Yue," Cheng Zhu stood up to greet and introduced, "This is Lin Lu, Mr. Yue, you might not know, but all the store designs and renovations of Youu Tea are handled by her family’s company."

After some brief cordial exchanges, everyone sat down inside the private room.

Yue Lingjing, curious, secretly scrutinized the two across the room, thinking to herself, "Could these two be in a relationship?"

For some reason, just the thought of the person across being Cheng Zhu’s girlfriend made her blush uncontrollably.

After all, under the influence of her mentor Hu Yan, she had seen his risque photos.

During that time, she hid in her dormitory’s bed, viewing each photo countless times, the scenarios each time more explosive than the last.

Rounded up, it’s as if she had browsed through Cheng Zhu’s "eighteen martial arts."

This psychological sensation was complex and hard to articulate; at this moment, Yue Lingjing even felt a bit embarrassed.

"It’s all mentor’s fault!" Jingjing had lost count of how many times she’d inwardly complained.

—— "I’m Not Clean."

But she had no idea how "dirty" her mentor had been made by Cheng Zhu.

Yue Dongyi’s reason for bringing Yue Lingjing along was purely to expose her to formidable peers, to witness their business capabilities.

This seasoned pain-in-the-neck, with high standards, harbored thoughts of "this young man is like me" about Cheng Zhu, obviously seeing him as a paragon of the younger generation.

Everything was as Cheng Zhu had expected; today’s meeting wasn’t specifically about Youu Tea, Yue Dongyi was very interested in Cheng Zhu’s business insights, continuously steering the conversation toward this year’s consumer outlook.

Since the two were already in the same boat, Cheng Zhu didn’t mind showing off a bit in front of him!

Yue Dongyi looked at him and started, "I visited Alibaba again this morning, and I can tell you definitively, my judgment aligns with yours, in 2015, young people’s purchasing power will greatly upgrade."

"Specifically, the whole of Alibaba is paying close attention to this section. You’re also in e-commerce, right? This year’s Singles’ Day is expected to be especially lively," he also indirectly shared a bit of information with Cheng Zhu.

But he didn’t know that Cheng Zhu knew even more.

He looked toward Yue Dongyi, slowly placing his teacup down, he was ready to make his move!

Then Cheng Zhu spoke, "Personally, I predict that this year’s Singles’ Day, the consumer data of the younger group will absolutely refresh everyone’s understanding."

"Oh, so what level do you think it will reach?" Yue Dongyi asked with interest.

However, what Cheng Zhu then said, indeed shook him.

Cheng Zhu said, "I think this year the consumption ratio of post-90s will overtake that of post-80s for the first time!"

Just this short sentence stirred immense waves in the heart of this investment magnate.

The magnate’s gaze sharpened, and he immediately questioned with a frown, "Are you sure?"

....

(ps: First update, currently first in the monthly ticket rankings! Brothers, awesome! Hold the tickets steady!)