The film and television city starts from the courtyard

Xie Qiao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Qin Chuan, your grandma said she'll be having dinner at our house tonight. We can't just stand here like this, can we?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "That's definitely not okay, let's go for a walk!"

"Okay, where to?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "Let's go see my godfather!"

Speaking of which, Zhao Shucheng also found it somewhat amusing. Qin Chuan did indeed have a godfather, but he wasn't a living person; rather, he was an ancient tree.

Back when Qin Chuan was a child, he suffered from a serious illness that couldn't be cured. His grandmother, having heard it from someone, took Qin Chuan to a big tree at the entrance of the alley to become its godfather. Strangely enough, after becoming its godfather, Qin Chuan's health really improved, and from then on, he truly regarded this ancient tree as his godfather.

Zhao Shucheng suddenly remembered this, so he decided to come and see if this world was not just a simple urban story, or if there was some kind of fantasy story involved.

Xie Qiao asked with a smile, "Is your godfather still alive?"

"Of course it is. I even came to pay my respects to it last year. May it live a long and healthy life."

Zhao Shucheng didn't actually know how the tree was doing now, but he figured it was something that existed in the story, and was even an ancient tree, so it shouldn't be so easy for something to happen to it.

However, when the two arrived at the neighborhood where the ancient tree was located, they found that there were still people worshipping it.

Then they heard the other person say, "Godfather, it's been more than half a year since I last saw you. Look at how many more wrinkles you have on your face. I've come to wish you a Happy New Year today. Please bless your godson, my eldest son, and wish him all the best. By the way, please also pass on a message to him, saying that Da Long misses him a lot."

Xie Qiao and Zhao Shucheng exchanged a glance and exclaimed in surprise, "Da Long!"

This Da Long and Zhao Shucheng grew up in the same alley. He's also the only junior member Qin Chuan has had since he declared himself the boss.

After a long separation, everyone was very excited to be reunited, especially Da Long, who tried to hug Zhao Shucheng through the fence.

Zhao Shucheng said, "Da Long, don't you know where you are? Come out now!"

"Hey, alright, boss! Am I dreaming? Boss, I've finally met you."

"Look, isn't this real?"

"It's true, to be honest, ever since our alley was demolished and you went abroad to study, I haven't been able to contact you guys. Boss, I miss you guys so much."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Brother, it's been so long since we last contacted each other, and you're still so loyal. No doubt about it, I'll keep you in check from now on."

Xie Qiao asked, "Seriously, can you guys stop being so lovey-dovey? But Da Long, what are you doing here during the New Year?"

“Every year during Chinese New Year, I come to pay my respects to my godfather.”

"So filial!"

Xie Qiao asked curiously, "Da Long, what are you doing now?"

“After graduating from technical school, I started working. I worked as a kitchen helper for a year, but those chefs were quite bullying, so I eventually started selling pancakes with my parents.”

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Not bad, Da Long, you've really followed in your father's footsteps."

Xie Qiao asked, "Where can I buy pancakes?"

"It's right there!" Da Long pointed to the pancake cart not far away and said, "You haven't tried my cooking yet, have you? I'll make some for you so you can have a taste!"

As he spoke, Da Long went straight to the food truck, started making pancakes, and handed one to Xie Qiao, saying, "This is yours, one egg, no scallions, no cilantro. Boss, this is yours, two eggs."

Do you remember what we wanted to eat?

"Of course, I delivered pancakes to you guys for three years when you were in high school, so I know all your tastes by heart."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Dalong, your skills are not bad, but how is business usually when you set up a stall here?"

"It's alright, I'm sure I can support myself."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Da Long, are you satisfied now?"

"Boss, what do you mean?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "Actually, I think since you're already selling pancakes, you might as well find a place with more foot traffic and earn more money that way."

"Boss, do you have something on your mind?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "Actually, I just thought of it. You know Xie Qiao is studying at Tsinghua and Peking University now. The students there have decent spending power. Every morning and noon, many students would like to set up a stall there for convenience, and it should be quite profitable. On the contrary, in this neighborhood, although there seems to be a lot of foot traffic, there aren't as many customers willing to buy pancakes as it appears."

Zhao Shucheng's observation is based on experience. Many families are used to making their own breakfast or buying breakfast from a shop, so they don't have the patience to wait for the pancakes to be ready. Students, on the other hand, don't mind waiting a little while, which is why there are more customers.

Da Long asked hesitantly, "Will this work?"

"Why not? We'll see when we try. At worst, it'll just delay our business for a day or two. We won't lose money. But if we get a decent number of customers, we can make more money in the future. As for summer and winter vacations, we can go back to our neighborhood or other places to set up our stall then."

"Okay, I'll give it a try!"

"That's right, your boss wouldn't cheat you. Besides, I'm opening a shop near the school now, so you can also benefit from my customer traffic."

Zhao Shucheng knew from his memories that Da Long had always been Qin Chuan's loyal underling, so naturally he wanted to take good care of him. Besides, if Da Long was capable enough, he could bring him into his company.

Xie Qiao chimed in, "That's right, your cooking skills are passed down from generation to generation, and they taste much better than what we have at school."

Hearing Xie Qiao echo Zhao Shucheng's words, Da Long felt even more confident and decided to give it a try after school started.

……

Wang Ying and Yang Cheng are vacationing together in Phuket. Today is Valentine's Day.

Wang Ying, watching Yang Cheng constantly checking his phone, said, "This is probably the quietest Valentine's Day you've ever had, right?"

"This is the only Valentine's Day I haven't received any chocolates, and it's raining too." After hearing this, Wang Ying tossed a piece of chocolate from the table to Yang Cheng and said, "I'll be a good person and save you from having any regrets in your life."

"Thanks!" Yang Cheng said, eating chocolate and sending Xie Qiao a Valentine's Day greeting text message.

Looking at Yang Cheng, who was right beside her but whose mind was far away, Wang Ying suddenly felt that it was actually quite meaningless.

She took out her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then sent a message to Zhao Shucheng.

Zhao Shucheng received a text message from Wang Ying. Seeing the message, he realized that today was Valentine's Day. He had completely forgotten about it because of the Lunar New Year holiday; this year, the Spring Festival and Valentine's Day coincided.

"Thank you for your concern, Miss. Happy Valentine's Day! Have fun in Phuket, and be sure to share your Phuket adventures with us after school starts."

"Of course. By the way, you should be spending the New Year with Xie Qiao, right? Did you spend Valentine's Day together too?"

Zhao Shucheng: "No, I'm currently leading my younger brother to investigate the market!"

"You're still busy with the bubble tea shop during the Lunar New Year? Don't you give your employees a holiday?"

Zhao Shucheng replied with a smile, "Of course there's a holiday. However, during the holiday, if employees voluntarily work overtime, they can receive triple pay, so employees are happy to earn more money."

"But this time it's not with my own employees, it's with my younger brother. His family has been selling pancakes for generations, so we're planning to have him sell pancakes near the university. We're currently helping him apply for all the necessary licenses and looking for suitable locations."

Wang Ying saw Zhao Shucheng's text message and asked with some doubt, "Your younger brother wants to open a pancake shop? But can he make money? A pancake only costs a few yuan, he probably can't even afford the rent."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and replied, "I have a brilliant plan; you'll see when you get back."

Because his mother was at home, Qin Jianjun could only help keep it a secret even though he knew that Zhao Shucheng was not going to study abroad as planned and instead returned to Beijing to start a business.

However, when the two were alone, Qin Jianjun looked at Zhao Shucheng and said, "Are you really sure you want to stay in China and run your milk tea shop?"

“If I hadn’t thought things through, I wouldn’t have come back to start a business. Besides, as you probably already know, my business is doing quite well now. I’ve already opened more than a dozen branches, and in the future, I might expand beyond Beijing and open chain stores all over the country.”

“I have indeed looked into it, but you can manage things here in Beijing, but how will you manage it outside of Beijing? This isn't some big company with other people helping to supervise it. Your milk tea shop only has two or three people. If you conceal or falsify information, it will be very difficult to investigate, right?”

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Of course I know what you're saying, so most of the stores in Beijing are directly operated. Later, we plan to adopt a franchise model for the rest of the country, just like fried chicken and hamburgers."

Zhao Shucheng had actually planned for this long ago, after all, he was very familiar with the operating models of some well-known beverage shops in later generations.

Franchising is actually more like a supply chain alliance. The profitability of a store's operations is unrelated to the brand owner. It may seem that the brand owner isn't making money, but the profits are actually going in ways that are not visible to the public.

The simplest point is that you can earn franchise fees, which are charged at different levels depending on the city's tier. In addition, there are equipment, raw materials, decoration packages, etc. for the store, all of which can bring in considerable profits.

Moreover, the original materials and accessories, such as packaging bags, straws, milk, tea leaves, fruits, etc., can be obtained at lower prices because the company purchases them in bulk, allowing middlemen to make a profit.

Zhao Shucheng plans to open his own food factory after accumulating a certain number of franchise stores in the future, and be responsible for developing new flavors of milk tea and various tea beverage ingredients, so as to supply them independently.

Of course, if necessary, he could also directly go upstream in terms of raw materials, register a company, and engage in the procurement and processing of primary products. He might even have his own warehousing base in the future, allowing him to reach stores nationwide and sell raw materials to store managers across the country at a lower cost.

"Have you decided on which franchise model to use?"

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "It's still uncertain, as it depends on the specific circumstances. But there are only a few types: voluntary franchising with self-financing, cross-industry franchising, entrusted operation, authorized operation, internal employee franchising, or even supply franchising."

"However, we need stricter contracts with the suppliers and franchisees. After all, they only provide raw materials and are not responsible for store management. We need to prevent them from engaging in fraudulent practices that could damage the brand image."

Qin Jianjun heard that Zhao Shucheng spoke eloquently and logically, which showed that it was not a whim but a detailed plan for the future. Therefore, he stopped pressuring him to go abroad and even cooperated to cover for him.

Soon, the Spring Festival was over, and Qin Qian lied and said she was going back to school, making an excuse to end her holiday. Her family saw her off at the door, giving her countless instructions.

Zhao Shucheng was worried that his grandmother would ask him something if he didn't go back with Qin Qian, but to his surprise, she didn't mention Zhao Shucheng's trip abroad at all.

Qin Jianjun was getting impatient and urged Zhao Shucheng to pack his things and hurry to school.

Grandma Qin then spoke up, "Why are you still letting Xiao Chuan leave? Didn't he already go back to China and start his own company?"

Qin Jianjun and his mother looked at Grandma Qin in surprise and asked, "Mom, what happened to you...?"

"You're trying to say how I knew, right?"

"Yes, Mom. I thought I was keeping it a good secret, but it turns out you already knew."

“You think I’m really old and don’t know anything? You’re underestimating us old folks.”

Zhao Shucheng looked at his grandmother and said, "Grandma, did your old friends tell you this?"

"Of course, I received the news when you first opened the branch and went to handle the formalities."

"Then why don't you..."

“Not going to look for you? Now that I know you’re back, I’ll see you sooner or later, why should I, an old lady, be in such a hurry? But you’re really bold, giving up your studies to start a business. If I didn’t know you were doing so well, I would have had your dad come and drag you back long ago.”

"Grandma, you still care about me the most. I had no choice. It's so dangerous abroad, with people crashing into buildings and shooting people all the time. It's safer to stay here. After all, it's the capital city, so the security is excellent."

Now that you've achieved some success, don't give up, keep striving to do better.

"Okay, Grandma, don't worry!"

Now that his family already knew, Zhao Shucheng stopped hiding it and wasn't in a hurry to go to his rented apartment. He stayed at home for a while longer until Xie Qiao and the others started school, and then he moved out.

Da Long wanted to open a pancake shop at the school. After thinking it over carefully, Zhao Shucheng suggested that he first contract a cafeteria window at the school, so that he could at least grab some customers first.

Da Long was in a dilemma after hearing this. After all, he didn't earn much from his stall, and renting a window would cost a lot of money, which he simply couldn't afford.

Zhao Shucheng had actually anticipated this outcome, so he directly took out the prepared contract fee, handed it to Da Long, and said, "You're my little brother after all, and as the boss, I can't just abandon you. Consider this money a loan; you can pay me back when your pancake shop makes money. Of course, if you're worried about not being able to pay me back right away, you can treat it as my investment, and we'll split the profits proportionally when we make money." (End of Chapter)