Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 699 - 485: A Promise to Ning Bao_2

Chapter 699: Chapter 485: A Promise to Ning Bao_2

"Shen Minglang, don’t go spouting family jokes as if they’re real talk," she was on the verge of losing it.

"How could I not? Old Shen is absolutely serious!" he immediately retorted.

After his rebuttal, he even added, "Ningning, it’s clear that Old Shen is utterly devoted to his daughter. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, don’t sell yourself short!"

Shen Qingning: "..."

She could barely remember how many times Shen Minglang had used the phrase "don’t sell yourself short." Are you trying to wear out that idiom by using it over and over?

Cheng Zhu chimed in from the side, feigning surprise, "A dowry?"

This made the proud girl involuntarily glance at him.

Shen Minglang quickly followed up, even giving the table a light pat, "Exactly, so cousin, for Ningning’s future face, should we not strive even harder to grow and strengthen Youu Tea!"

He felt it was time to show a bit of his big brother bravado!

Me, [Nationwide Flyer Shen Minglang], have been working so diligently for my sister’s dowry for so long, enduring so much hardship, why can’t I boast a little!

Shen Qingning truly wanted to lift her long leg and kick him.

Why must you talk about growing and strengthening with Cheng Zhu of all people?

This was the first time the proud girl’s heart had fluttered in her life.

But she was curious about what Cheng Zhu would say.

And then, following Shen Minglang’s boastful lead, the man threw out:

"I was just worrying about what to give as a birthday present."

"How about this, I’ll give a promise!"

Shen Minglang: "Whoa!"

He was getting fired up.

Shen Qingning felt an inexplicable tension, unsure what Cheng Zhu was about to propose.

"By next year, before your birthday, I will ensure that Youu Tea’s valuation triples at least, compared to after the second round of funding."

Shen Minglang, very much like a straight man, imitated a foreigner learning Chinese, exclaimed, "Awesome!"

The proud girl thought to herself, "I don’t care for such promises."

Little did she know that in Cheng Zhu’s view, given their current situation, he couldn’t really give any tangible gifts for a birthday.

Including his own birthday, when Shen Qingning had joined forces with Shen Minglang and Jiang Wanzhou to get one gift together.

Taking this opportunity to make such a promise seemed doable.

Years later, when they looked back on this birthday, at least he’d have shown his intent, right?

...

...

After the meeting, Red Mountain Capital did not hide the fact that they were in talks with Youu Tea from [Meituan] and [Eleme].

This left both major takeout platforms a bit dumbfounded.

Youu Tea was now hotly contested territory, and everyone wanted to secure it for an exclusive partnership!

Currently, due to their heavy spending, both [Meituan] and [Eleme] had very high user traffic, and the numbers for their daily active users were quite impressive.

Everyone was dreaming of killing off the competition and monopolizing the market.

At this stage, everyone was fiercely competing to capture the market, vie for users, and snatch up quality merchants.

In fact, the subsidies provided to users by the platforms were quite similar at this point.

This year, anyone looking to fleece takeout platforms had a field day!

Many had experienced spending just a little to enjoy a lavish meal.

With similar levels of subsidies, the importance of merchants on the platform became even more crucial!

Especially since Youu Tea was an internet-famous milk tea brand, it could stir up even more publicity through collaboration, and its impact would be no less than a joint promotion!

From any perspective, Youu Tea was an excellent partner.

However, if Red Mountain Capital was the lead investor in Youu Tea’s second round of funding, that would make things difficult; none of the platforms had an edge.

"Not true, not true! There’s still an advantage!"

The heads of the two platforms quickly realized that this meant platforms like [Baidu Takeout] were essentially out of the running!

At least one competitor was out, which could be considered good news.

Beyond that, the minds of the business development leads from both platforms became more active.

Everyone felt that now was the best time to approach Cheng Zhu for negotiations.

"Youu Tea’s second-round funding will be a blockbuster, bound to drop jaws!"

"Its impact might even rival the buzz we created when we secured our funding."

"If we can secure Youu Tea in this timeframe... then, after announcing the second round of funding, we can immediately reveal the news of Youu Tea’s strong entry into the takeout platform!"

"That would be a double whammy, with the best effect!"

All of a sudden, Youu Tea became even more appealing than before.

Even the big bosses of the two platforms were alerted.

Both began to consider whether they should step in personally.

The founders of these two platforms were, in fact, very different types of entrepreneurs.

[Eleme]’s founder was a typical college entrepreneur, a post-85’er who started the prototype of Eleme with his classmates while still studying.

On the other hand, the founder of [Meituan] was quite the seasoned "entrepreneurial hand."

He first created Renren, which many people remember from their youth.

Meaning, it was a college team versus a veteran team in the battle.

Thus, the two platforms managed to show some differences in various respects.

At this point, Cheng Zhu was actually waiting for the two founders to express their sincerity to him.

In the meeting room, he also suddenly took an interest in hearing the opinions of Shen Qingning and Shen Minglang.

Hence, he even asked, "Which one do you guys favor more, [Meituan] or [Eleme]?"

The siblings had different opinions.

Shen Qingning favored Meituan.

Shen Minglang favored Eleme led by a young team.

In Shen Qingning’s view: "The founder of Meituan has rich entrepreneurial experience, and his identity, resources, connections, they’re all different."

"And Meituan has just weathered the [Thousand Group War], emerging tempered and refined."

"Entering the takeout arena from the group-buying field actually gives it a significant advantage."

"Plenty of traffic, resources, data... all can be synergized."

Shen Minglang simply liked the vibe of a young team; he felt that young people dare to dream, fight, and do!

This guy wasn’t about rationality at all; he was purely emotional: "Aren’t we at Youu Tea all young too? It’s a perfect match in attributes!"

Cheng Zhu: "..."

This is why you can’t lead, you set up one store only to lose another.

Both siblings were curious about Cheng Zhu’s thoughts.

"Cousin, which one do you favor?" Shen Minglang asked.

"I’m on your sister’s side," Cheng Zhu replied directly.

This simple statement brightened Shen Qingning’s mood considerably.

At the same time, she thought, "Cheng Zhu often shares my point of view."

Little did she know, to Cheng Zhu, a reborn individual, he was aware of the future of both platforms.

Years later, [Meituan Takeout] and [Eleme], once evenly matched, saw [Meituan] taking a larger market share.

And [Eleme]’s downturn began when Alibaba acquired it.

That’s when [Meituan] was still independent, and [Eleme] was just a part of the Alibaba conglomerate.

Of course, Cheng Zhu, having been reborn for some time now, was very aware of the butterfly effect and couldn’t make decisions based solely on past life circumstances.

Moreover, in the coming years, he was destined to be more than an insignificant player in the business world; he was someone who could cause hurricanes!

Therefore, the eventual outcomes of the two platforms served only as references.

Looking at the backing capitals of the two platforms, it would essentially be the battle of the two Mas.

Behind [Meituan] was Tencent, and behind [Eleme] was Alibaba.

The support these two domestic giants could provide was not just financial.

Having such heavyweight backing had numerous benefits.

Personally, between Tencent and Alibaba, Cheng Zhu had a preference for the former.

Everyone knows that Alibaba has a strong drive for control, while Tencent is relatively more relaxed in this aspect.

He gave this reason upfront to Shen Minglang and Shen Qingning.

The moment Shen Minglang heard about the strong desire for control, he immediately thought of his own authoritarian father and began to express his objection by shaking his head.

"Then Meituan is better, Meituan it is!" he quickly defected.

Little did he know, Cheng Zhu had another critical reason in mind, which he didn’t share with the siblings.

With Youu Tea backed by Tencent, there was a significant advantage.

— [WeChat Mini Programs]!

...

(ps: Today, my dad had a damaged eardrum and went to the hospital, so there’s a bit less in the update, sorry.)