Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 108, Section 106: Playing to your heart's content without a care in the world

Four excited teenagers filed out and headed towards the North Campus through the South Gate 3 of the school.

Soon we arrived at the legendary "Worry-Relieving Coffee".

The shop was completely empty.

"Old Zhou, when are you opening?"

Along the way, Zhou Mingyuan's roommates had already extracted all the details about the coffee shop from him.

It turns out that Lao Zhou was just a minor shareholder; the real boss was the partner from Jiangcheng University of Finance and Economics next door.

"Tomorrow, it should be tomorrow afternoon."

Zhou Mingyuan deftly opened the roller shutter and took out his key.

With a click, the beautifully decorated coffee shop lights up again.

"Wow, this decor is amazing! Coffee here looks expensive, doesn't it?"

Upon entering the store, the three roommates looked around curiously.

Xiong Yao's first thought was the price.

A bourgeois-style interior design often means an expensive price tag.

He walked around the front desk and soon saw the price list above his head.

"Espresso 15 yuan, Americano 16 yuan, Cappuccino 20 yuan."

"The price is only half that of Starbucks, so cheap?"

Cai Zhipeng also looked up and asked curiously.

"Why not eat meat porridge?"

Zhou Mingyuan rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, "You old man don't seem to mind selling vegetables for 30 yuan, but can others do that?"

"This is Beiyuan, not the core business district or the CBD."

As he spoke, he prepared the ingredients and made a cup of coffee for each of his roommates.

The time he spent with Gu Caiwei in the shop actually taught him this new skill.

"I'd like to lower the price even further, but I can't scale it up in the early stages, so this is the best I can do for now."

Anyone who knows a little about coffee knows that a price of 15-20 yuan per cup is already considered the bottom price.

The reason why Luckin Coffee was able to sell coffee for 9.9 yuan in its previous life was twofold: firstly, the cost per cup of coffee could be compressed to the extreme after achieving economies of scale; secondly, they had enough funding to burn through cash.

Let's do the math: the material cost for a cup of coffee is only 7-8 yuan.

Coffee beans, milk, syrup, cream, cups, straws, cup sleeves, ice cubes—all cost money.

Fresh milk alone costs 3-4 yuan. If the gross profit is only 20%, it doesn't conform to market rules at all.

The price should be set at 15-20 yuan. This is the reasonable price in the early stages. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to pay the employees' wages and we would lose money on every cup sold.

"Old Zhou, it's tough running a brick-and-mortar store these days, isn't it?"

Soon, the first cappuccino was served.

Cai Zhipeng took a small sip, crossed his arms, and asked.

"Last time we went to stay up all night, there were no seats in the private rooms, so we could only sit near the bar. We happened to overhear the internet cafe owner talking about this place."

"It is said that..."

He pointed to the table with his finger.

"This place used to be a bar, before that it was a clothing store, and before that it was a restaurant. Tsk tsk tsk, the owner insists there's a problem with the feng shui."

"You bastard, Lao Cai, stop talking nonsense!"

Yu Feiyang didn't believe it at all and took another cup of coffee with a pout.

"It's alright, it's alright. The reason we chose tomorrow is because the shareholders held a meeting and carefully selected an auspicious day for the opening."

Zhou Mingyuan laughed and kept the last cup of coffee for himself.

Whether it's feng shui or the location, he has never actually worried about sales.

Where is this?

By simply having Du Jianuo promote the product on the day of the live stream, the target users of the "Relief Coffee" were easily expanded to straight men like roommates who are not interested in coffee.

Even straight men have shown some interest, let alone the mainstream consumers of the "Relief Coffee," which is actually aimed at female college students who go everywhere to take photos.

The food is top-notch, the decor is incredibly stylish, it's endorsed by a major online influencer, and it's a natural spot for taking photos.

This is more than enough for the first day of a grand opening. Enough to render Zhou Mingyuan's arsenal of countless immediately effective marketing tools completely useless.

"Let's go online."

After visiting the new store in which Zhou Mingyuan had invested, the four of them, each holding a hot cup of coffee, went to the nearby ChatChat Internet Cafe with a great sense of ceremony.

After many years, Zhou Mingyuan returned to the Promised Land.

These days, most internet cafes are still called internet cafes; internet cafes have not yet fully taken off.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke, the lobby was bustling with activity, and the price was just a few dollars an hour. On the screens, League of Legends and Dota 2 were locked in a fierce battle for supremacy.

"DOTA2, start!"

familiar!

That looks so damn familiar!
Beiyuan Internet Cafe has year-round recharge promotions: recharge 100 and get 100 free, the more you recharge, the more you get free, play until you're satisfied.

Lighter, soda, wet wipes.

Even though I just made freshly ground coffee downstairs, it just doesn't taste right in this internet cafe environment.

I also need to buy a separate bottle of soda.

Luckily, they were all in the same group, and Zhou Mingyuan and his roommates turned on their computers, logged in, and started the game one after another.

"Big him! Jump big!"

"Got solo killed again, what a fucking noob!"

"Dude, you're a level 1 Lich and you haven't learned how to eat units?"

"How about this? Wasn't I awesome?"

Only when most of his body was sunk into the soft sofa in the internet cafe did Zhou Mingyuan begin to completely relax and enjoy this joyful moment of youth.

An indescribable emotion spread and diffused in his young chest.

In his past life, Zhou Lü had achieved great success and fame, and had tried countless times to recapture the feeling of this moment.

He bought the best mice and keyboards, the smoothest 9800x3D computer, and even set aside a large room to create a luxurious gaming room with lighting.

But to no avail.

It still can't compare to the joy of playing games with friends in an internet cafe when I was young.

Carefree happiness.

When he realized he could no longer react as quickly, strike as accurately, or beat opponents who were clearly weak, he knew he could never go back.

Perhaps the price of growing up is gradually drifting away from youth.

Everyone goes through this process.

It may not be DOTA, or any other game, but most people have had passionate hobbies or dreams, and also have unforgettable regrets from their youth.

The girls I couldn't win over back then, the 3v3 basketball games I couldn't beat, the games I couldn't rank up in, the novels I never published, and the academic geniuses I could never surpass in exams.
Wanting to buy sweet-scented osmanthus and carry wine together is not like a young man's journey.

Those who are in the midst of it rarely realize how precious youth itself is.

Just as the saying goes in later generations.

It is impossible for a person to have both youth and the feeling of youth at the same time.

Immersed in the game environment, everyone tacitly put aside their 8 a.m. classes and played all night long.

Are you still going to class?

It was exactly seven o'clock in the morning when I left the Beiyuan Internet Cafe.

The scorching sunlight was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes. The boys in dormitory 501 shielded their eyes and returned along the same route on Nanhu Avenue.

"You can go if you want, I need to go back and catch up on my sleep."

I haven't had this much fun in a long time.

Despite feeling slightly tired after staying up all night, Zhou Mingyuan was still full of energy.

"Old Zhou, you're the class monitor. You're really not going to class?"

Xiong Yao was still somewhat hesitant.

"Fuck you!"

Zhou Mingyuan shrugged: "Catching up on sleep is the most important thing."

"I have to go to the store after the grand opening this afternoon."

(End of this chapter)