Chapter 106 - 90 Milk Tea Shop

Words : 1526 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 106: Chapter 90 Milk Tea ShopLying on the sofa reading novels and scrolling through short videos, time also flew by rather quickly. Until Xiao Ya got off work and came home. She was clearly tired, but when she saw Chen Feng at home, she was still very happy and gave him a big hug as soon as she approached him. Then she said with a smile, "I didn’t sleep well at all last night because you didn’t come home." Chen Feng replied with a smile, "I, on the other hand, slept very well." Xiao Ya was initially startled, then she looked up to give him a white look, gently pushed him away, and said with a sigh, "It seems like I’m still not in your heart." Chen Feng laughed loudly, hugged her, and said, "Alright. You’ve been tired all day, go take a shower quickly, and then come down to eat. By the way, have you eaten yet?" Xiao Ya shook her head, "I rushed back right after work. I was afraid you would scold me." "What would I scold you for when you work so hard? I went out for lunch and brought back quite a few leftover dishes, all good dishes. If you don’t mind, we can eat them together." "Why would I mind? I couldn’t be happier. I’m going to take a shower right now." Xiao Ya said happily and hurried upstairs to take a shower. Seeing this, Chen Feng shook his head and went to the kitchen to get the rice cooking. Next, he took out the takeaway dishes from the fridge and put them in the microwave to reheat them. At this point, he was already hungry, so he didn’t wait for Xiao Ya to finish her shower and started eating some of the dishes himself. There were six dishes in the takeaway order anyway, with two of them being premium dishes that were quite filling; Chen Feng certainly couldn’t finish them all by himself. After eating his fill to about thirty percent and taking the edge off his hunger, Chen Feng temporarily stopped eating. After another ten minutes or so, Xiao Ya came downstairs, and the rice was just ready. Only then did Chen Feng bring the dishes to the dining table, and they started eating together. Xiao Ya was touched, thinking Chen Feng had waited for her to come down before eating. The taste of Xiu Zhou cuisine from this restaurant was quite good, and Xiao Ya couldn’t stop praising it as she ate. Obviously very hungry, she uncharacteristically ate two bowls of rice and half of the dishes, ending up with a full belly, and only afterward did she regret it, fearing she might gain weight. During the meal, Chen Feng also got a rough idea about the milk tea shop where she was currently working. It was a popular national chain with a very good business, operating both online and offline, with business volume being almost fifty-fifty. Sometimes, the old-timers at the shop would even say the online orders surpassed the in-shop orders. At the shop where she had started working, there were five staff members, and her primary role now was to assist one of them. They had a set procedure and various machines and equipment, so it was relatively easy to learn. In a few days, she should be able to start making various flavors of milk tea herself. Of course, there were also specific management duties for the shop as well as the business operations to learn about. With hands-on experience, she could become very familiar with the specific operational procedures of a milk tea shop in just a month or two at most. Additionally, today she had also inquired about the startup costs. For such a milk tea shop, aside from the rent and the transfer fee, the initial investment would be at least three hundred thousand. It turned out to be a lot higher than she had initially imagined. She previously thought that apart from the store lease and transfer fee, it would only take about a hundred thousand or two, including some initial investment to join a milk tea shop, including renovations, raw materials, etc. As it turned out, after asking around, it required at least three hundred thousand, which was double the amount. As for the store rent, if it was located in Xiu Zhou, it was naturally not cheap either. For a slightly better location, around ten square meters, the annual rent would be over a hundred thousand. And for a milk tea shop, in her view, it needed at least twenty square meters. In that case, the annual rent often exceeded three hundred thousand. If the space was larger, or located in an even better spot, twenty square meters could definitely cost fifty to sixty thousand a month. That would come to six or seven hundred thousand a year. Adding on some other miscellaneous additional expenses, Xiao Ya hastily estimated that to open such a trendy milk tea shop in Xiu Zhou, a capital base of one million was needed before one could feel secure. She definitely didn’t have that much money herself, so she could only get it from Chen Feng, her financier. "The business for trendy milk tea shops is really good. Many young people drink it every day and have even become addicted. As long as the location isn’t too remote, such shops won’t lack customers. Besides, even if the business at the store isn’t so great, the online business is usually not too bad. Many people place orders online and always buy at least two cups. Many orders are for several cups, and there are even those that include over a dozen." After cleaning the table and washing the dishes, Xiao Ya came over and sat down beside Chen Feng, continuing to discuss the milk tea shop business with him. It was apparent that she was very optimistic about the business. Chen Feng didn’t rain on her parade either. From what he knew, those trendy milk tea shops that were well-managed indeed made a lot of money. However, the ones that always made the most money were the brand operators that charged franchise fees; even if they were to declare bankruptcy later on, the shareholders would have already made a tidy sum. Of course, Chen Feng wouldn’t go into detail with her about the capital operations of these trendy milk tea brands; he didn’t understand it well either. But this kind of scheme had been old news for years. It started with creating a "famous brand." Perhaps some authoritative newspapers, magazines had reported it, or it might even have run advertisements on CCTV, and maybe it had won some sort of award. Basically, there was a lot of hype. Once the brand became well-known, of course, it was time to run advertisements everywhere seeking franchisees, set traps in contracts, and sign with those franchisees who bit the bait. When it became hard to recruit more franchisees, and they had collected enough franchise fees, these "famous brands" would slowly cut back on promotion and advertising. By the time the franchises realized they had been duped, there was nowhere to turn for complaints. Even if they took legal action, the other party wasn’t afraid because the contracts were designed to favor the brand side. That was not even the worst of it; some, after scamming enough in franchise fees, simply took the money and ran, or they declared bankruptcy. Today’s trendy milk tea brands, while not all exactly like this, had plenty among them that were of inferior quality. And needless to say, "trendy" meant that the brand side had promoted and advertised on the internet, various short video platforms. There were many tricks involved, and one of the most common at the start was to hire people to queue up, creating the illusion that their milk tea was incredibly popular, sold out, and in high demand. This tactic could attract the attention and curiosity of the public and even the media, creating a news focal point and topic of conversation. Even if some recognized the ploy, the brands’ aim was achieved. This tactic of using stooges to line up and create a "buying frenzy" was simple but effective, and many were hoodwinked. People believed that joining such a trendy milk tea venture was sure to be profitable. Additionally, many young people frequently browse short video apps, are prone to following trends, and lack discernment, thus easily falling for these tricks and, over time, forming what is seen as a trend or fashion. As a result, many young people, including students, would skip meals but still buy a cup of trendy milk tea to drink. In summary, although there are profits to be made in opening milk tea shops, there are also many that lose money. And even more have been tricked. Moreover, as these trendy milk tea shop brands proliferate and more franchises open, intense competition is inevitable, and the market will eventually face a reshuffle. When that time comes, as the lowest rung of the franchise chain, it’s inevitable to get reaped.

Chapter 106 - 90 Milk Tea Shop

Comments (0)