Chapter 107: Capital Comes Knocking, The Rise of Big Brother Qi? |
Qin Fan looked for a while and finally confirmed that this was Lu Ming, the senior that their mentor often mentioned!
He shamelessly called him “senior.”
In fact, Lu Ming was about ten years older than Qin Fan and was almost forty years old now.
He had left Jingcheng University almost fifteen years ago.
But that didn’t stop Qin Fan from frequently hearing his name.
Lu Ming, after graduating from Jingcheng University, joined Morgan and became the Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region at the age of thirty.
He became the youngest regional vice president at the time and had a bright future ahead of him.
What no one expected was that three years after becoming a vice president, he resigned from Morgan and started his own private equity fund.
In the following five years, his Pengfei Investment developed rapidly, managing billions of dollars in funds.
Even among the outstanding graduates of Jingcheng University, Lu Ming’s name shone brightly.
Recently, Lu Ming even returned to the university to give a speech.
It could be said that Lu Ming was half of Qin Fan’s idol.
Seeing Lu Ming, he couldn’t help but feel a little excited!
“Senior Lu Ming, what brings you here?” Qin Fan secretly observed Lu Ming, feeling that he didn’t quite fit the atmosphere of the milk tea shop.
Most of the customers here were Jingcheng University students, dressed casually, chatting and laughing in a youthful manner.
Lu Ming, on the other hand, was wearing a suit and sitting alone in a corner, looking serious.
If it weren’t for the cup of milk tea in front of him, Qin Fan would have thought he was in a meeting room.
He seemed out of place in the shop’s ambiance.
……
Qin Fan wasn’t the only one who noticed Lu Ming.
Lian Zhongyong and Professor Wu, occupying their usual spot, also recognized him.
“Isn’t he Lu Ming from the Finance Department? What is he doing here?” Professor Wu asked, a little puzzled.
“How would I know? This kid has been coming here every day. I don’t know if he has nothing better to do!” Lian Zhongyong didn’t care at all.
Professor Wu looked at Lian Zhongyong in disbelief.
“You come here every day too, don’t you? I think you’re the one with nothing better to do! But I heard that Lu Ming often conducts inspections on projects that interest him… Lian, who knows, maybe your future son-in-law is about to soar high!”
“Who is my future son-in-law?” Lian Zhongyong exploded. “He hasn’t passed my inspection yet!”
“Does your granddaughter listen to you?”
“…No, she doesn’t!”
“If you ask me, Qi Yun is impressive. The business was struggling a few days ago, but with just a few pictures posted by him, the business suddenly boomed. In that case, he’s more capable than you.”
“…It’s because my granddaughter looks good!” Lian Zhongyong stubbornly argued.
Did they expect me to admit that Qi Yun is excellent?
Dream on!
……
Lu Ming had been coming to the Snow Tea Shop for three or four days now.
In fact, it was quite a coincidence.
As a graduate of Jingcheng University, he would occasionally browse the university’s forum as a way to relax.
He had also noticed Lian Qingxue’s post.
Since his company was located near Jingcheng University, he happened to pass by the Snow Tea Shop one day and took notice.
And for the past few days, he had been coming here every day.
What attracted him wasn’t the milk tea itself.
After observing for three or four days, he had a rough estimate in his mind before standing up and walking towards Qi Yun and Lian Qingxue in the shop.
“Hello, are you the owner of this shop?” Lu Ming approached Qi Yun with a friendly attitude.
“I am the owner. Who are you?” Qi Yun noticed Lu Ming, but didn’t pay much attention to him.
He didn’t know why Lu Ming was looking for him.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Lu Ming, also a graduate of Jingcheng University, and now an investor.” Lu Ming handed over his business card.
Qi Yun took a look and saw that it stated Lu Ming’s position as the Chairman of Pengfei Fund. It seemed quite impressive.
“I have high hopes for the development of your milk tea shop and would like to invest in you!”
Investment?
Qi Yun looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and realized that he wasn’t joking.
On the contrary, he exuded an air of confidence.
Qi Yun glanced at Lian Qingxue, who seemed a bit stunned.
Clearly, the young girl was bewildered.
A person like her, who only owned a milk tea shop, unexpectedly had an investor coming to her?
Seeing that the two of them remained silent, Lu Ming naturally took the initiative.
“Find a seat, let’s discuss in detail.”
The three of them found a round table in the shop, conveniently situated between Lian Zhongyong and Qin Fan’s table.
The people at these two tables were curious about what Lu Ming and Qi Yun could be talking about, so they leaned in to eavesdrop.
Qin Fan was particularly curious. What could Lu Ming, his senior, want from Qi Yun?
“Lu Senior, may I ask why you want to invest in us just as we’ve opened a shop in Jingcheng?” Qi Yun was genuinely curious.
He wasn’t surprised that someone recognized the potential of the milk tea business, but Lu Ming’s quick response caught him off guard.
After all, it was still the early days of the milk tea industry, with mostly small shops and no era of chains.
Even the famous milk tea brands of the future hadn’t been established yet.
Lu Ming seemed proud as he pointed to his eyes.
“For an investor, the most important thing is vision! And I have a pair of eyes that can spot opportunities. I saw you on the forum, and in my opinion, your concept is very interesting and has great potential. I’ve seen milk tea shops before, but none like yours. Snow Tea’s concept is a genius idea!”
Lian Zhongyong sneered at the side.
He knew that the design of Snow Tea was proposed by Qi Yun. Wasn’t Lu Ming praising Qi Yun?
But even Lian Zhongyong had to admit that Lu Ming was truly talented in investment.
His praise was not given lightly.
Lu Ming seemed to have opened the floodgates and continued to speak incessantly.
“To be honest, I had never considered the milk tea industry before I saw you. Other milk tea shops are nothing more than small-scale operations with no future. But you’re different! Very different! Firstly, you value branding a lot! From the store design to the production of milk tea, the positioning is high-end. With such positioning, it’s easy to build a brand. In the field of daily consumption in the food and beverage industry, the power of branding is immense!”
Qi Yun nodded in agreement. What Lu Ming said made a lot of sense.
In the future, those tea beverage brands would put great effort into marketing, ultimately aiming to make people remember their names.
“I observed for three days, and the initial customer flow in your shop was driven by the buzz on the forum. However, your conversion rate is very high! Many people come here every day! Compared to other types of dining, milk tea consumption frequency is particularly high. Not everyone can have hot pot or barbecue every day, no matter how much money they have. It gets overwhelming. But when it comes to milk tea, many people having three to five cups per week is not unusual.”
“Thirdly, your product is in line with future trends – balancing taste and health!
The future economic development will inevitably make consumers place more importance on health.
Compared to other shops that use milk tea powder or similar ingredients, Snow Tea is much healthier because it uses fresh milk and other natural ingredients.”
“So, I believe your concept has great potential. I have high hopes for it!” Lu Ming praised them incessantly.
Qi Yun hadn’t said anything yet.
The people around, including Lian Qingxue, were listening intently.
Especially Lian Qingxue, who had heard Qi Yun talk about expansion and going national.
She had been intrigued but hesitant to believe it.
However, Lu Ming’s words ignited a thought in her mind.
So, what Qi Yun said was actually true?
The way Lian Qingxue looked at Qi Yun was full of admiration.
Professor Wu looked at Lian Zhongyong. “I guess this kid is better than you, huh?”
Lian Zhongyong snorted. “Hmph!”
Qin Fan looked at the milk tea in his hand and fell into contemplation.
Was this the reason he couldn’t win over his goddess?
He relied on milk tea to keep going, silly and happy every day.
Yet someone else, using milk tea, attracted both money and big shots to his door.
Qi Yun looked up at Lu Ming and actually felt a little impressed.
What he said was mostly accurate and explained the reasons for the future growth of the milk tea industry.
Being able to discern so much with just one Snow Tea shop in this era was quite remarkable.
Although it might not be comprehensive, it was undeniably visionary.
Lu Ming was indeed impressive.
“Lian Qingxue, what do you think?” Lian Qingxue shook her head.
“I don’t have any thoughts. I’ll go with whatever you decide.” She was feeling bewildered.
Unlike Qi Yun, she was just an ordinary student and naturally lacked the confidence to face someone like Lu Ming.
Lu Ming looked at Qi Yun with a piercing gaze, confident that Qi Yun would not refuse.
After all, even a student, no matter how business-minded, would find it difficult to reject the favor of a renowned investor.
In fact, it wasn’t just Lu Ming who thought this way; Qin Fan and the others felt the same.
Qin Fan even felt quite envious.
Qi Yun’s first milk tea shop attracted the attention of a big-shot investor right from the start.
After all, which entrepreneur didn’t seek out investors for their own ideas?
Could he still have a chance when Qi Yun, his crush’s boyfriend, was becoming more and more successful? Qin Fan sighed inwardly.
