I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Speaking of this, Guo Pinyan gave an example from the scene, "Jingjing is like that."

When Liu Jing realized she had been called out, she chimed in, "Old Guo is right. I don't drink Americano; I only drink latte. I don't know what's so good about Americano. It tastes like hot pot broth, but Old Guo seems to like it. He says it has flavor and tells me to savor it. I just can't tell."

Shen Kang nodded: "Indeed, this kind of coffee based on the 'cow and horse' coffee culture is more suitable for white-collar workers. I didn't originally expect this model to sell well on university campuses; more than that, I wanted to test this model."

"Once this model is proven successful, I will provide it with a more suitable battleground—the urban office area."

Shen Kang revealed more details: "Old Guo, as you know, I also run Anjia Housekeeping."

Guo Pinyan nodded.

Before his coffee shop opened, he had already witnessed Anjia Housekeeping staff having a meeting with Shen Kang at Yangke University, so he knew about it.

"Besides being a housekeeping company, Anjia Household Services has now expanded into a new sales channel. Just this October, Anjia Household Services successfully sold a smart rice cooker, achieving remarkable results..."

Shen Kang briefly explained the matter of selling rice cookers, and concluded by saying, "...Similarly, since Anjia Housekeeping can sell rice cookers, it can also sell coffee."

"Anjia Home Services already has a website. Although Anjia Home Services doesn't have something like the Beiming All-in-One Card, more and more customers are making online banking payments through it, and many people have already developed the habit of online payments. In addition, we can also issue coupons on it later."

"Our clients are mostly high-net-worth individuals and white-collar workers in the city, who are the main consumers of coffee."

"Then there's the sales strategy. I recommend opening these assembly-line coffee shops in upscale office areas. Because our space is small, our rental costs will be much, much lower than other coffee shops in the same area. Actually, when we're in a school, the rental cost advantage of this model isn't that obvious, since rent is limited in schools. Only when we enter the main urban market can the rental cost advantage of this small shop model truly be realized."

After saying all that, Shen Kang began to tell Guo Pinyan a story.

"Imagine this scenario: a white-collar worker in the city, doing T work. He is a long-time customer of Anjia Housekeeping because he is usually busy and has a relatively high salary, so he often calls Anjia Housekeeping for cleaning services."

"One day, while he was at work, Anjia Home Services' customer service called him, saying that because of his long-term customer status, Anjia Home Services would give him a free cup of coffee as a thank you for his long-term support. The coffee was about to be delivered, and they asked him where to send it?"

"Who wouldn't want free coffee? He confirmed it again, and after confirming it was free, he told customer service he wanted it. But he was still at work, so he told customer service to have it delivered to his office, and he left his office address."

"At this point, customer service told him that there was a coffee shop not far from their office building, and he could pick up the coffee himself. Alternatively, he could choose delivery service to have it delivered to his door. Of course, this delivery service would require him to pay an extra three yuan delivery fee."

"He asked for the exact address of the coffee shop, and when he heard it, he realized it wasn't far from his company, just a few minutes' walk away. Since he was going downstairs for lunch anyway, he figured he could just drop by, so he told customer service he wanted to pick it up himself and even chose a pickup time."

"Everything was settled. Around noon, he went downstairs for lunch and passed by that coffee shop. It was very small, unlike any coffee shop he had ever seen before, but the decor was clean and tidy, and quite stylish."

"He went to the store and told the clerk that he had ordered a cup of coffee. The clerk checked the records and confirmed that he had indeed made a reservation, so he gave him the cup of coffee that had already been made."

"In the short time it took the clerk to get his coffee, he glanced at the menu and was surprised to find that the coffee was incredibly cheap. Especially since a large poster in the store advertised that ordering online would save him several dollars!"

"Compared to Starbucks, the price of coffee ordered online from this store is incredibly cheap."

"He was surprised and asked the clerk when the coffee was brought over if what was written on it was true, and he received an affirmative answer."

"Then, he took the free coffee to eat, thinking that he was lucky today and even got a free coffee, and the coffee tasted pretty good, no worse than Starbucks."

At this point, Shen Kang looked at Guo Pinyan and asked, "Can you do it?"

Guo Pinyan was quite confident, and rather indignant at Shen Kang's question: "Starbucks just relies on its brand and its pretentiousness. Who who truly understands coffee drinks Starbucks?"

Seeing that Guo Pinyan seemed quite confident, Shen Kang continued telling the story.

"Then it was the next day."

"As is his habit, the first thing he does when he gets to work is have a cup of coffee. He was originally planning to go to his usual coffee shop, but then he remembered that the newly opened coffee shop yesterday had good coffee and was so cheap. So, on a whim, he went online before going there and bought the coffee from that shop directly on the official website of Anjia Home Services, which he usually uses."

"Just like the poster in that store advertised, you really do get coupons when you buy online, and the actual price is surprisingly cheaper. So he went out, got to the office building, went to that coffee shop to get his coffee, and then went upstairs to start working."

"When he went to work that day, he finished his coffee and started thinking about tomorrow—would this store still have this kind of offer tomorrow? After all, generally speaking, these kinds of offers are just promotions for new customers, and once you've used it, it's probably gone, right?"

"Based on this, he logged onto Anjia Household Services' official website and found that there were coupons available."

"This made him very happy, and on the third day, he bought coffee from that coffee shop again. Then the fourth day, the fifth day..."

"He eventually discovered that the store's coupons never stopped. As long as he bought online, he could always get that cheap, low price."

"He's become a loyal customer of this coffee shop. He basically stops going to those other coffee shops that taste similar but are much more expensive. After all, he only drinks coffee to stay awake, so why waste money on something this affordable and delicious?"

"And customers like him are becoming more and more numerous..."

As Guo Pinyan listened to Shen Kang's story, his eyes sparkled, and he couldn't contain his excitement. He originally ran a coffee shop without much ambition; he just wanted to keep it running at Yang University of Science and Technology. Of course, it would be even better if he could achieve greater success. This was why he was so excited when Sculpting Time showed interest in him—joining Sculpting Time was much better than he had expected.

However, according to Shen Kang's current song plan, he intends to leave the campus and open a real shop in society, and even a chain store.

If this continues, my coffee shop might even surpass the size of Sculpting Time in the future?

Thinking of this, Guo Pinyan suddenly recalled a conversation she had once had with Shen Kang.

At that time, he had just been rejected by Sculpting Time as a franchisee.

Shen Kang said to him, "Then why don't you make your own coffee? Who knows, you might even turn it into a chain and be bigger than them."

Guo Pinyan didn't take it seriously at the time, but now she actually sees a glimmer of hope...

I like this story!

Guo Pinyan immediately made the decision, "Old Shen, I'll work for you!"

Seeing that Guo Pinyan was willing to do it, Shen Kang nodded, "Okay, it's settled then."

"It's settled."

After Guo Pinyan finalized the agreement, she started asking about the specifics. "I'll go with you to open shops at other schools. We won't open shops like Sanwei Bookstore anymore; we'll only open those assembly-line coffee shops, like a business model, right?"

Shen Kang looked at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Not necessarily. You still want to open the kind of shop you're currently running, right?"

Guo Pinyan smiled and didn't deny it. "Personally, I definitely want to open a shop like this. But I think the kind of shop you mentioned is also possible. So, could we do both? I could open two shops at once?"

On the one hand, he emotionally prefers to pursue this kind of highbrow art; on the other hand, he also wants to see if this kind of highbrow art, which does not rely on differentiated competition but only on hard power, can stand out.

"Then let's do it at both stores."

Shen Kang said this.

Then he reached out and pointed to Guo Pinyan's coffee shop, and then to the 302 study room next door.

"When we open shops at other schools, we'll still operate in the same way, right next to each other. It'll just be that you'll set up a stall in your shop, just like in my 302 study room."

Guo Pinyan seemed thoughtful: "So, you mean I'll have one shop, two brands: a larger shop called Sanwei Bookstore, and a smaller shop selling your kind of assembly-line coffee?"

He thought it was feasible.

With this approach, the shop's rent costs can be ignored, further reducing costs and giving them more hope.

But to everyone's surprise, Shen Kang shook his head. "No."

"That assembly line coffee shop will open directly in Study Room 302, which is now the stall of Yanyu Chaji. As for Yanyu Chaji, it will open in your Sanwei Bookstore, taking over the newly opened stall. In other words, we're moving directly."

Guo Pinyan was taken aback.

Moving? This was something he truly hadn't expected.

Shen Kang then explained the situation to him: "If both types of coffee are in the same shop, even with two signs, it's easy for consumers to get confused about the brands, so it's better to keep them separate."

"But Yanyu Chaji is different. Yanyu Chaji is a milk tea brand, not coffee. If you put its stall in a coffee shop, the difference is quite obvious. Moreover, in terms of brand positioning, Yanyu Chaji and your Sanwei Bookstore are positioned the same, and their styles are compatible..."

Shen Kang finished speaking, and Guo Pinyan listened and found it to be reasonable.

In the end, the two agreed to follow Shen Kang's suggestion of a business exchange model, where several stores would be opened together at other schools.