Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!-Chapter 216 - 186 The Big Sucker Who Bought the Store

Chapter 216: Chapter 186: The Big Sucker Who Bought the Store Has Arrived

Chapter 216: Chapter 186: The Big Sucker Who Bought the Store Has Arrived

Off-campus, “Youu Come to Play”.

Mr. Zhu from Hang City’s internet celebrity company, Star Dream Media, was frowning as he looked towards the store manager, Wang Wei.

It was only nine-thirty in the morning now, and “Youu Come to Play” officially opened at ten, so the store was in the midst of preparation before opening, with some of the lights still not turned on.

Mr. Zhu had come early to talk about a partnership.

He thought, since the other party ran an internet celebrity café, they must have some interactions with internet celebrities and should have heard of the big name Star Dream Media.

Even if they hadn’t, he’d introduced himself so they could just look it up online.

But what was the result?

They asked him to wait.

At first, when Mr. Zhu heard from Wang Wei that the boss was very busy, he could understand.

Everyone gets busy, and he had shown up unannounced after all.

The other party surely had to prioritize their own tasks at hand—understandable.

But, “I’m really busy right now, still in class,” what kind of excuse is that?

Aren’t college students notorious for skipping class?

Isn’t talking about a partnership with a big company more important than half your class?

Even if you were to ask for leave, they’d probably grant it.

Logically speaking, the owner of a trendy internet café like this should be someone with active thinking.

It doesn’t make sense for them to be some inflexible bookworm.

He was a bit puzzled by Cheng Zhu’s way of thinking.

To be exact, it was because he never considered—he wasn’t a priority for him.

“Just tell your boss that I’ll wait for him after his class,” he thought it over and said to Wang Wei.

“Okay.”

Cheng Zhu, upon receiving Wang Wei’s WeChat message, thought to himself, “He’s willing to wait, so it must be important for his interests.”

So Cheng Zhu was in even less of a hurry.

Just as he was about to put away his phone, he received a transfer from Chen Jieyu.

She sent over 4000 yuan.

“Do you always pay salaries at this time of the month?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Chen Jieyu replied.

Cheng Zhu didn’t hesitate and took the money.

It was repayment of a debt after all, so why the courtesy?

After accepting it, he asked, “Did you get a good rest last night? You shouldn’t feel bad the next day if you drank the rice wine like I told you, right?”

“I slept quite well, very soundly, and I felt pretty energetic in the morning. I even went for a morning run.”

“Morning run? Are there many teachers who run in the morning at school?” he asked with feigned curiosity.

“Quite a few, they gather around the man-made lake,” Chen Jieyu answered.

Cheng Zhu nodded slightly, realizing morning runs might be a way to get to know the school leaders and expand one’s network in the school.

Some of the old professors and school leaders have an impressive amount of influence.

And among them, a portion is very disciplined.

Some elders look so spirited and lively.

Not like our young people, all languid and listless.

The young people of today are indeed paying more attention to health preservation.

But, many probably still think: if health preservation isn’t for indulgence, then it’s meaningless.

Our idea of health preservation is just to have a good body so that we can indulge to the fullest when the time comes.

After chatting with Chen Jieyu for a bit more, she asked, “Are you in room 212?”

“Not there, I’m in class.”

Chen Jieyu: “…”

How can you chat with the counselor and respond so confidently while you’re in class?

He really doesn’t take me as a counselor seriously at all!

“Then focus on your class,” Chen Jieyu said.

After ending the chat, Cheng Zhu opened her Moments and saw that the somewhat depressing English song she had shared before was deleted.

Additionally, she changed her Moments background image.

It was replaced with an image from the “King of Comedy” dialogue.

“[Hey, can’t you see how dark it is up ahead? Can’t see anything.]”

“[Not really. It’ll be beautiful after the dawn.]”

Cheng Zhu looked at her Moments background, feeling that maybe she managed to adjust her mood somewhat better.

He always felt that this background image corresponded to their casual chat at the barbecue restaurant about the topic of “the future.”

She originally felt she couldn’t see the future, and Cheng Zhu poked her further, saying many people say they can’t see the future because they actually see a future.

It’s okay. Sometimes you just can’t see it, just a temporary confusion.

It’ll be beautiful after the dawn.

Speaking of which, Cheng Zhu personally liked this part of the movie even more than the “I’ll support you” scene.

After putting down his phone, Cheng Zhu continued to pay attention in class.

After the class ended, he leisurely made his way to “Youu Come to Play.”

Much to his surprise, it wasn’t just Mr. Zhu, the boss of Star Dream Media, waiting for him at the café but also his four female internet celebrities and a small team, which included photographers and makeup artists.

Mr. Zhu was surprised to see Cheng Zhu.

He knew the café’s owner was a college student, probably a freshman, but he didn’t expect him to be even more handsome than some of the male celebrities in his own company!

Just with that face, that figure, and that temperament, he could easily gather a fanbase as a good-looking celebrity and lead a dreamy life fueled by fame.

He noticed the agitation of the four female internet celebrities waiting beside him seemed to dissipate the moment they saw Cheng Zhu.

Damn this world that judges by appearances!

“Mr. Zhu, hello.”

“Hello, Boss Cheng.”

After exchanging greetings and a handshake, Mr. Zhu added, “I didn’t expect Boss Cheng to be so young and successful, running such a booming business and still so focused on your studies. Actually, missing a class now and then wouldn’t hurt.”

You really made me wait a long time.

“How could that be, I’m as thirsty for knowledge as I am starving for food,” Cheng Zhu replied.

Mr. Zhu, looking at his face and temperament, couldn’t help but feel as though the words lacked any persuasive power. Why didn’t he believe it at all?

Cheng Zhu had always been helpless against this.

You judge a book by its cover, assuming the bookish ones are the readers and the ruffian-looking ones prefer to goof off.

“Actually, there is so much more you can learn in society than in school,” said Mr. Zhu.

Cheng Zhu just smiled.

“Mr. Zhu, let’s get to the point. What did you want to discuss?” he went straight to the topic, not in the mood to waste time.

“Our company wants to collaborate with “Youu Come to Play.” I wonder if you can spare four hours of the venue to us for shooting purposes.”

“You saw it yourself. The internet celebrities I’ve brought today are all million-level influencers. They can definitely help give your place another round of good promotion.”

Cheng Zhu looked at him, “Do you mean a closed set?”

“Yes.”

“That’s possible outside business hours, meaning after ten at night or before ten in the morning.”

“Can’t do it during afternoon hours?” Mr. Zhu asked.

“Of course not, using the café as a closed set in the afternoon, definitely not,” Cheng Zhu replied firmly.

Mr. Zhu frowned upon hearing this, “Boss Cheng, I think you should reconsider. It’s just closing for half a day, just missing out on half a day’s revenue. In the long run, good promotion will definitely bring greater benefits, right?”

Cheng Zhu said bluntly, “No need to consider, it’s not possible. And it’s not just closing it off that’s not possible. During normal business hours, we also do not allow a whole team to shoot extensively inside, which would interfere with my business.”

If you mean a quick check-in or simple shot, then it’s no big deal.

But bringing in a large team with potentially a bunch of equipment, taking up a big space, how much would that disrupt my normal business?

Just for that little promotional effect? To reserve half the place for you? No way, I’d agree unless I was out of my mind, let alone closing the entire place.

This was a response Mr. Zhu never anticipated.

“Boss Cheng, what I’m about to say may sound direct, but these kinds of internet celebrity cafes don’t last.”

“My company will shoot some situational videos here, and eventually edit out twelve minutes of content to post online over four weeks. This is definitely a good, continuous promotion.”

Cheng Zhu thought, “In four weeks, my shop would’ve been sold.”

At this stage, “Youu Come to Play” was at its peak, expected to last for about half a month with high revenue.

Every single day during this time was precious.

In his view, the current level of promotion for the small claw machine café was already sufficient.

The shop was so small, the customer capacity was limited, already at its limit—couldn’t be fuller.

Even if the promotion were more intense, it wouldn’t mean much.

And trends are fleeting.

When the craze fades, the effect of subsequent promotions would serve just to keep the shop on life support.

What’s the point!

“We can’t cooperate,” he decisively rejected again.

“Alright then, young people always have their own thoughts, very stubborn,” Mr. Zhu spoke, “Well, Boss Cheng… see you when I see you.”

He was truly furious on the inside.

Was all this waiting for this?

This was it?

Mr. Zhu had patiently waited here believing the young man would surely agree.

This young man was overestimating himself and his shop a little too much.

I will watch how you cry after the trend passes!

So you think running an internet celebrity shop makes you awesome?

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Mr. Zhu hadn’t even considered shooting during “Youu Come to Play’s” off-hours.

There are plenty of suitable shooting locations in Hang City. Why fixate on this one?

It was just the best choice for now.

On the drive back to the company, the female internet celebrities were still discussing the shop and Cheng Zhu.

“Young people don’t know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is.”

“In a little over a month, I’ll bring you all back to this shop, and we’ll see what his business is like!” Mr. Zhu said disdainfully as he drove his Porsche Cayenne.

…

…

After sitting down inside “Youu Come to Play,” Cheng Zhu didn’t give another thought to Mr. Zhu.

“I’m going to be the one building online platforms, the one who will be the Daddy of internet celebrity companies,” he thought.

“You may be cursing me out now, but one day you might boast to your peers in the industry—I used to have an acquaintance with Mr. Cheng, and we even talked about working together once. Unfortunately, we couldn’t cooperate for some reason.”

“My refusal will become capital for you to show off in the future.”

He was mainly thinking, “Why hasn’t some capable sucker shown up to buy the shop yet?”

In the past few days, he hadn’t encountered any real big fools with the financial strength to buy his shop.

There had been a couple without the means to buy out the shop but with some spare cash wanting to invest.

That’s why Cheng Zhu had not yet disclosed his reserve price.

Of course, he knew better than to rush these things.

When the time came, he would just spread the word about the shop transfer.

Hang City was so large, with plenty of wealthy people; there was no worry about not being able to sell.

Instead, recently in school, quite a few people were talking about him.

Many students, when they passed by “Youu Come to Play,” couldn’t help discussing it.

Some thought Cheng Zhu didn’t know what he was thinking.

Just because the game project was short on money, he was giving up such a profitable venture?

Was the game development that irresistible?

With the claw machine shop’s business, making several million a year would be delightful.

Just as Cheng Zhu was about to leave the claw machine shop and head to the “Persistent Visit” studio, a big sucker capable of buying the place appeared outside the shop, running right into him.

…

(PS: Second update, request for monthly tickets.)