Chapter 45: As Expected! Chen Luo Truly Is a Business Genius!

“Tap, tap.” Chen Luo gently knocked on the table, turning his head to signal Liuhua to bring out the planning diagrams.

“All right, let’s begin,” Zhou Zheng said, eyeing the plans with curiosity. They didn’t seem like those for an ordinary bubble tea shop, and his interest was piqued—he wanted to hear Chen Luo explain in detail.

“No rush. Senior Mei wants coconut jelly milk tea; what about you, senior?” Chen Luo asked.

Zhou Zheng chuckled at this. Was Chen Luo’s knack for controlling the pace of negotiations something he learned from Wen Wan? It was impressively sophisticated. First, he aroused Zhou Zheng’s curiosity, then interrupted his momentum, keeping himself in the driver’s seat throughout the conversation.

“I’ll have an iced coffee.”

“Great. Excuse me, waiter—two coconut jelly milk teas, one hot coffee, one iced coffee, and one iced water, please.”

Hearing the order for coconut jelly milk tea, Zhou Mei was taken aback. She had only joked about it a moment ago, but Chen Luo actually remembered—this junior was quite considerate.

With just a few words, he had managed to capture both their interest and goodwill. This was exactly the result Chen Luo wanted. In negotiations, first impressions are everything—they often determine final success or failure.

“Hongye, you’re not feeling well today, right? Better not have anything cold.”

At these words, Hongye smiled and nodded. Did this young master really notice she had her period? Though she hadn’t shown any obvious discomfort, some subtle frowns and her posture had given her away.

No wonder President Wen was so infatuated with this young man. Not only was he talented, but also attentive and gentle. If he weren’t already Wen’s boyfriend, she’d be tempted to snatch him away herself.

Wait—what was she thinking? She was here to keep other women from stealing Chen Luo, not to develop such thoughts herself. He belonged to President Wen, and any hidden intentions would spell disaster if Wen ever found out.

Chen Luo turned to Zhou Zheng, maintaining a pleasant smile, to which Zhou Zheng responded in kind.

“Junior, why are you just having iced water and not a drink?”

“I want to keep myself calm, and sugar tends to affect my state of mind.”

“All right, let’s get started then!”

Chen Luo placed the plans in the center of the table and, in concise language, walked them through the preliminary planning, promotional strategies, and product innovations for the bubble tea shop.

When Zhou Zheng heard the initial plans, his eyes lit up. He murmured to himself, but didn’t interrupt Chen Luo’s presentation.

“A bubble tea shop near the university district, themed around anime culture, regularly hosting small conventions—such a shop would completely outclass any of its competitors nearby.”

As the heir to Hangzhou’s leading restaurant conglomerate, Zhou Zheng had seen countless bubble tea shops, most of which followed a low-margin, high-volume model. No one had yet injected real dining culture into the bubble tea business—even in other food sectors, this concept was rare in China.

This was a process of adding value, addressing customer pain points, and deepening product value—constantly creating new points of demand.

“A shop like this would be hard not to make money with,” Zhou Zheng concluded as a basic judgment, speaking as a top-tier second-generation restaurateur in Hangzhou.

Chen Luo continued to explain the promotional and sales strategies. Offline, the focus would be on small anime conventions—something Zhou Zheng expected, as it was a clear value add. But the idea of online short video marketing puzzled him; video marketing wasn’t really trending domestically yet, and most people shared content online simply out of passion.

“Will this sort of promotion really work as advertising?”

“Yes, it’s a crucial step.”

“I intend to build a unique brand and a shop manager persona through this method. Over time, this will create the shop’s core promotional and added-value power.”

“A persona? That’s a novel concept—can you explain more?”

“It’s about building a personal brand with massive online influence—someone who can empower and promote the product, like a celebrity endorsement, but more than that. It can be replicated and expanded in the future.”

Chen Luo explained the concept in detail. Zhou Zheng was captivated, and Zhou Mei was equally taken aback. The idea was fresh—everyone else still relied on celebrity endorsements, while Chen Luo was already planning to create an influencer of his own.

Zhou Mei and Liuhua couldn’t help but stifle their laughter at the others’ stunned expressions; they’d reacted the same way when they first heard it.

“Your ambitions go far beyond a bubble tea shop, junior. You’re aiming for an entire industry chain.”

Zhou Zheng took a sip of coffee, his conviction growing stronger. If the anime-themed bubble tea shop was a clever entrepreneurial idea, then the persona IP was a commercial concept a step ahead of the times.

No one else in the province had proposed anything like this, let alone an ordinary college student. If this was pulled off, it wouldn’t just be a bubble tea shop—it would be a highly valuable industry chain.

With this in mind, Zhou Zheng’s gaze toward Chen Luo changed. This young man was truly unfathomable; his earlier suspicions were confirmed. Chen Luo was not just Wen’s boyfriend, but a commercial prodigy she had discovered.

Thinking further ahead, if Wen Wan succeeded in her family succession with Chen Luo’s help, he would become the master of the Wen family, one of the country’s top financial clans. To be the business partner of the future head of the Wen family—Zhou Zheng had never dared to dream of such a position. Now, the possibility was right in front of him. Could he refuse?

Chen Luo took a sip of iced water, quietly watching Zhou Zheng as he pondered. Apart from not elaborating on the later extension into the anime industry, he had explained the entire operation plan for the shop.

The reason for laying out all the plans at the first meeting was to follow the principle of not doubting those you use, and not using those you doubt—to reach a fundamental agreement for cooperation.

Besides, Chen Luo wasn’t afraid of anyone copying his operations; the real core was his advanced business thinking and knowledge, far ahead of the times.

“Senior, I’ve finished presenting my plan. Now, I sincerely ask for your opinion—would you like to join this venture?”

“Join? Absolutely! Wild horses couldn’t keep me away!” Zhou Zheng screamed internally, leaping up and extending his hand to Chen Luo.

“Great, junior, I’m in. You mentioned renovations, right? I’ll contact the construction team and have them start tomorrow.”

Chen Luo shook his hand. “Senior, looking forward to working with you. I’ll have Liuhua come by at noon tomorrow to help finalize the style and details.”

“Excellent, I’ll get on it right away. See you tomorrow!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhou Zheng left energetically with Zhou Mei, who gave Chen Luo a deep look before leaving.

“Phew! Hongye, this relative you introduced isn’t ordinary at all. He kept up with my thinking so quickly—he must have plenty of experience.”

Hongye, anticipating that Chen Luo might sense Zhou Zheng’s background, had already prepared her answer.

“Zhou Zheng works part-time at various restaurants every vacation. He’s wanted to open his own place for a while, just hadn’t decided on the concept.”

“Oh, is that so?” Chen Luo was about to probe further when his phone chimed with a new message.

It was from Wen Wan—a picture.

“Oh my! Wen Wan, this is too much! What are you wearing? What made you decide to take a photo like this?”