Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 539 - 424: Could I Possibly Fear a Tumble?

Chapter 539: Chapter 424: Could I Possibly Fear a Tumble?

"Watch the joke?" These three words lingered in the minds of Wang Lin and Lin Jiehan.

Like Wang Lin had a friendship with Yue Dongyi that spanned a whole fifteen years.

He watched how Cheng Zhu spoke, his tone, and posture, always finding it somewhat reminiscent of a young Yue Dongyi.

Yet, there were some indescribable differences.

He even thought Cheng Zhu had more confidence than Yue Dongyi used to have!

That left Wang Lin somewhat puzzled.

Yue Dongyi was confident, not just because of his own incredible strength and exceptional foresight but also because of his family background.

Being born into a second-generation family meant his starting point was higher than others.

Not just that he was born lucky and hit the genetic jackpot, but he was genuinely capable too.

Whereas Cheng Zhu’s confidence seemed to come entirely from within himself!

No way around it, what can you say? He’s a show-off.

That first statement, investing is about the future.

You are forecasting the future.

And I, "I see the future."

It had been said before that Cheng Zhu wasn’t without future collaboration plans; he had already found an intermediary and was in constant touch with the production team of a TV drama, striking a naming sponsorship deal, followed by a series of collaborations.

Besides that, he was meticulously selecting his collaboration partners.

Lately, he hadn’t seen any partnership opportunities that he felt were the optimal choice.

Better to hold off than to make the wrong move.

Of course, there were other purposes behind his decision.

At that moment, Yue Dongyi listened to Cheng Zhu’s words and a smile crossed his face.

—This Kid Is Like Me.

But he also had some confusion about it.

So, he and Wang Lin glanced at Lin Jiehan together.

As partners of Pulin Capital, there were some things they didn’t need to inquire about themselves. Lin Jiehan was just a managing director; it was more appropriate for him to ask.

Lin Jiehan cleared his throat, turned to the young college student sitting next to him, and asked with courtesy,

"Mr. Cheng, even if you think these brands might stumble during collaborations, we don’t have to just stand by and watch, do we?"

"Youu Tea is perfectly positioned to set an example at a time like this, isn’t it?"

Collaborations had given Pulin Capital some new ideas. They began to consider that some of their other investment projects could adopt the same strategy!

Even Lin Jiehan had the thought: "Actually, we could collaborate internally as well, taking Youu Tea and partnering it with our other investments!"

That way, Pulin Capital would stand to gain the most!

Cheng Zhu was actually well aware of what they were thinking.

But the issue was, the other projects Pulin Capital was nurturing weren’t on the same level as Youu Tea in terms of traffic and popularity, at least two grades lower!

Projects involving internet celebrities were definitely different from others.

This didn’t meet Cheng Zhu’s criteria for collaborations, and the outcome was likely not going to reach his expectations.

So, he waved his hand and said, "Collaborations are ultimately marketing stunts, and I, being an industrialist, prefer to keep things grounded. Like the old-school industrialists, I like to focus on solid business practices."

Lin Jiehan was beginning to doubt his own ears.

You? Grounded? Seriously focusing on the industry?

Joking! The background investigation for your Youu Tea project was done by people I sent!

I am not aware of how you made your fortune selling QQ merchandise?

I don’t know you’re the founder of pure desire fashion?

I haven’t studied your flashy marketing strategies?

I have been quietly following your hands-off QQ stores, do you think I have no bloody idea how much you love marketing?

He started to admire this young man more and more; his thick skin at such a young age could even match that of the wily old fox Wang Lin, who had oscillated through the business seas for many years.

This guy, with his glib tongue—damn, words just flow out!

Cheng Zhu looked at the three men with a serious face and said, "I am serious. According to my current plan, Youu Tea will in the next two months refocus on what matters most in a milk tea shop."

"Products!" Cheng Zhu provided the answer.

That’s why he had earlier boasted about being grounded, claiming to focus seriously on industry work.

Internet celebrity shops do thrive on their celebrity status.

Pulin Capital valued Youu Tea for precisely this reason.

For capital investors, it’s not just about selling milk tea.

Capital operation is the heart of the matter, and the money made from selling milk tea is just the icing on the cake.

But Cheng Zhu didn’t see it that way.

He was well aware of the potential limits of the milk tea industry.

These past few years have been a time of rapid development for the milk tea industry, especially with the continual growth of delivery services.

The celebrity status combined with capital operation could indeed hatch an excessively valued brand in a short time.

But Cheng Zhu wanted more than just that.

He was always "greedy," always wanting more and more!

"Are you planning to launch several new products?" Yue Dongyi asked.

Cheng Zhu shook his head and said, "Not a few, but ten, maybe even over a dozen!"

This surprised the three men from Pulin Capital.

So many in just two months?

You say collaborations are disasters waiting to happen, but aren’t new products just as risky?

There’s the same risk, yes!

A short silence fell over the small meeting room.

...

...

Cheng Zhu: Aiyo, did I accidentally render you all silent again?

He could guess what the three were thinking.

The three men sitting in the meeting room, even the least impressive Lin Jiehan, a managing director, were quite the heavyweights in the Shanghai investment circle.

Their business acumen was not something ordinary people could match.

Thus, they quickly and acutely noticed something: launching new high-end milk tea products has a higher risk compared to traditional milk teas.

The reason is simple—it’s expensive!

Ordinary trial offers only cost about ten yuan.

Youu Tea’s trials start at thirty yuan!

Triple the price would escalate a simple tasting into something more significant.

If the taste keeps disappointing, the brand’s reputation would slowly deteriorate and people would start regretting the impact on their wallets.

High-end, internet-famous milk teas indeed have a lot of added value, but if every new product tastes bad, the appeal of showing off the product on social media suffers.

After all, who wants to show off junk? Others will think you’re just not picky about what you eat and should go for something better!

More critically, with internet-famous milk teas, people prefer to try the latest products.

Will it be the trendsetter? Then, of course, you would opt for the newest thing.

Hence, they rather felt that collaborations were worth more attempts, while new products should not be rushed.

Youu Tea’s development team had been working on new products according to Cheng Zhu’s orders, with the entire direction under his control.

Pulin Capital knew very well that Youu Tea’s development was primarily focused on fresh fruit milk teas.

Meaning, they were always innovating, always trying to bring to market what wasn’t already there.

"Innovating isn’t that easy, is it?" thought Wang Lin and Lin Jiehan.

"The development team expanded just before New Year’s, and how much time has passed?"

"And now they’ve developed over ten new products?"

"And once these new products are introduced, the burdens on the supply chain and cold-chain logistics will increase, meaning ongoing, increased expenses."

"In comparison, collaborations seem less risky."

"And considering Youu Tea’s current hit products are more than sufficient for the market, they are still widely recognized and loved."

"Is it really necessary..."

Cheng Zhu spread his hands and said, "The reason I think we need to push out new products quickly is because there are too many new brands starting up, each trying to disrupt the market."

"These shops, like ours in the beginning, have only a single store and don’t need to worry too much about the supply chain, cold-chain logistics, and other issues."

"To attract attention, each is introducing a mishmash of new fresh fruit milk teas."

"Some mainstream fruits have already been taken by them to use, but the products they make are trash."

"If we take our time, when we get around to using the same fruits, we’ll definitely face accusations of imitation."

He was truly sick of this.

This wasn’t like selling QQ underwear, where you could release a killer new product every once in a while.

Fresh fruit milk tea’s main ingredient is fresh fruit, the fruits are just there, and people will pair them together haphazardly!

In fact, in his past life, the major brands would also introduce dozens of new products a year as the norm.

It’s a constant rat race, with a bit of luck involved, where many obscure fruits were used for milk tea, such as guavas.

It felt like fresh fruit categories were nearly exhausted.

And as fruits got used up, many brands began to create mixed flavors with two or three kinds in one milk tea...

Cheng Zhu was very clear that the future was going to be this annoying.

And let’s not forget, in his past life, he knew that Nai Xue’s boss outright cursed Hey Tea for copying on WeChat, and Hey Tea’s boss responded right in the comments...

The business war is simpler and cruder than people imagine.

Some messy situations are also unavoidable.

He didn’t want Youu Tea to be affected by this.

He felt the need to be one step ahead!

They listened to Cheng Zhu’s reasoning and couldn’t deny that it made sense.

Yet, at that moment Lin Jiehan questioned, "But this doesn’t conflict with collaborations, right? We could do it like the supreme cherry campaign, where we launch new products and collaborate at the same time."

Cheng Zhu was speechless.

Collaborate, collaborate, are you really just fixated on collaborations?

"If we go for collaborations, the market feedback won’t be genuine. We won’t be able to correctly gauge the market’s acceptance of new products at the start due to the impact of the collaboration," Cheng Zhu explained briefly.

After all, he wasn’t exactly replicating the milk teas from his previous life. Even if the same type of fruit is used, the same type of tea, but the fruit comes from a different vendor, the flavor will vary; the same goes for the tea.

Not to mention the mixing proportions.

So, he too needed true market feedback.

Moreover, for these kinds of milk tea shops, new products are often adjusted based on feedback after launch, sometimes even leading to upgraded new versions.

With the current big picture, Cheng Zhu felt Youu Tea’s product strength was already out of this world.

While others were feeling their way across the river, Cheng Zhu was already on the other side.

So, Yue Tea and the likes, are you ready to face the frenzy of Youu Tea launching new products?

As for collaborations, he would treat each one as a trump card, not just using his ultimate as if it were a regular skill.

The three from Pulin Capital exchanged glances; they felt Cheng Zhu was set on enjoying the chaos, watching other brands mess up their collaborations, sitting back, and watching the tigers fight.

Little did they know what Cheng Zhu was really thinking.

At most, he felt like he was watching the village dogs have a brawl.

...

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