After Jingzhe (the Start of Spring), Chu Zhishui worked from Monday to Friday, returning home for dinner after work, but she frequently visited her new home on weekends, even she herself felt that the frequency was a bit too high.
At the dinner table, Xie Yan held her chopsticks and chuckled lightly, "Tomorrow is Saturday, are you going to your new place?"
"No, I'm not going," Chu Zhishui added, "I'll go on Sunday."
"Oh, how's the arrangement going there?" Chu Xiaohe asked, "I remember you bought a bed, but you didn't take the bedding from home. I'll bring it over for you another day."
Chu Zhishui: "No need, I haven't bought a mattress yet, there's only the bed frame now. Let's talk about it after everything is set up."
Xie Yan was surprised: "So it's not livable yet."
Chu Zhishui quickly replied, "Of course, I can't live there yet."
The new home wasn't livable yet, only the bamboo spirit could stay there. He could survive by basking in the sun and drinking water, and he didn't even need to sleep.
Chu Xiaohe casually said, "No rush, you'll move in sooner or later."
"..."
Chu Zhishui felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. Although her parents' words sounded normal, she felt something was off when she thought about it.
After dinner, she sat with her parents for a while, then slipped back to her room to study the matter of the direct sales store.
Recently, Long Zhi and New Perspective Video have fully engaged in a struggle. The former appeared earlier in the market and was considered a pioneer in model innovation, while the latter was financially strong and had recently added a veteran. A large number of old employees from Long Zhi jumped ship to work at New Perspective Video, which was also reported by financial public accounts, claiming that Long Zhi Video was officially splitting.
The news report listed the data of the two companies, commenting on the performance of Long Zhi Video after obtaining A-round financing. It has been slow to create an effective profit model and is still in a state of continuous burning of funds, far inferior to the conversion rate of the newly established New Perspective Video, and may soon exhaust its financial resources.
The article even mentioned Chu Zhishui, believing that one of the reasons for Long Zhi's decline was that one of the founders led the team to leave.
She came across this report and felt it was like Qi Chang buying water army. She had already landed a job in the bureau, where could she go?
It was a confrontation between two companies, yet they had to drag her name into it, as if the discussion couldn't proceed without her.
The struggle between the two companies involved Chu Zhishui, and even Long Zhi Video's new activities were benchmarked against the Observation Bureau. They also rolled out creative specialty stores of various brands, planning to challenge the Observation Bureau's direct sales store after it opened.
Recently, Long Zhi and New Perspective Video have launched a propaganda war, pushing traffic for their supported domestic brands on various platforms, with store opening preheating visible everywhere online.
The online noise had nothing to do with Chu Zhishui. She had been frequently traveling to Yinhai City recently, mainly busy with the final preparations for the store opening.
The store had been renovated, and various goods were categorized. Hu Chenrui calculated a propitious day and decided on the opening of the Observation Bureau's direct sales store.
In the bustling downtown area of Yinhai, a brand-new store appeared on the street. The ancient-style signboard read "Observation Bureau," with flowers placed at the entrance to celebrate the opening, and various small animal standees, such as goldfish, black cats, and foxes, making it look very lively.
"A new store?" A girl stopped, "I haven't seen it before."
"Isn't it the one advertised online these two days? I think I bought ginger candy from this brand." Another person said.
"Isn't this brand selling hair wash?"
The two were attracted by the storefront and stepped inside to look around. The interior was filled with various bamboo-made counters, with colorful snacks and dazzling goods, including the flavored ginger candy and scalp nourishing cream mentioned earlier.
"Is this a physical store now?"
The girls walked to the counter, looked up, and found a bamboo pole with countless small signs hanging on it. The circular sign on the far left read "Beverages," followed by several signs with beverage names, each with a small number indicating the price.
The clerk at the counter smiled and said, "Hello, what would you like to drink?"
"Are these all drinks? What kind of drinks are they?"
The names of the beverages on the various small signs were very distinctive, such as "Even Life is Bitter, You Still Need to Nourish with Ginseng," "Whenever You Paint a Big Pie, You Doubt Ginger," "Superior Fake Green Tea Bamboo Leaf Green," etc. Although the names were unclear, the menu provided ingredients and taste descriptions.
"These are all special drinks in the store. Ginseng Water is good for the body and has a slightly sweet aftertaste. Ginger Doubt is sweet and spicy, but the spiciness is not strong, suitable for drinking when it's cold. Fake Green Tea is similar to traditional milk tea and can be added with cheese or not." The clerk enthusiastically said, "I can prepare a small cup for you to try first."
The girl was surprised: "Isn't that too wasteful?"
"It's okay, the store just opened, mainly to collect customer feedback," the clerk smiled, "You can also try various snacks in the store and leave us some valuable comments."
"The price of the drinks is indeed not expensive, the most expensive one is only twelve yuan," another person whispered, "A cup of coffee on this street often costs thirty or forty."
The girl nodded understandingly: "Oh, I see, even if it's not good, it's acceptable."
The two did not ask for a small cup to try, directly ordering a large cup each, paying with a curious and adventurous mentality. While waiting for the drinks to be made, they strolled around the store, picking up toothpicks to try various snacks.
"Is this ginger shreds?" One of them picked up with a toothpick, chewing with interest, "It tastes more chewy than ginger candy, a magical taste, better than ginger candy."
Her companion was picking other products: "I don't like ginger, I've only bought their scalp nourishing cream."
"Is this for sale?" The person shouted, "Can it be bought online?"
The clerk at the counter was making drinks and quickly looked up to reply, "These are all new products for tasting, they are not available in the online store yet, only in the direct sales store."
"Then I'll buy some of this, two bags."
"Isn't it cheaper online?"
"No, the price is the same here and online."
After buying the items, the two came out with their drinks, casually taking a big sip.
Ginseng Water and Fake Green Tea sounded strange, originally trying with a mindset of giving it a shot, but the taste was unexpectedly good!
"Is this green tea really good?" The girl took a deep sip, drinking more than half the cup, marveling, "It really has a tea flavor, and it's very tea-like!"
"Isn't it called Fake Green Tea?"
"But it's more tea-like than real green tea!" She couldn't believe her eyes looking at the cup, the green tea priced at only twelve yuan, quickly turned back into the store, "I suddenly want to buy another cup!"
The Observation Bureau's direct sales store officially opened, not only displaying old products but also new products for tasting, allowing customers to taste and provide feedback.
However, no one expected that the most popular business would be the beverage business, with low prices and unique flavors, the Observation Bureau's direct sales store became the most popular beverage store on the street recently.
Countless customers kept coming, and even tourists from other places came to visit, forming long lines at the store entrance. After scanning the code to buy drinks, they would wander around the store, using the waiting time to try various new products, thereby driving the sales of other products in the store.
Not long after the opening of the Observation Bureau's direct sales store, the store's goods were replenished several times, especially the new products developed into a purchasing business.
The online world also sparked heated discussions, with many influencers coming to check in, making people in other cities very envious.
[Cheap and delicious! Ginseng Water tastes great!]
[Sister, can you help with purchasing flavored ginger shreds? I'm willing to pay extra for postage, just send it out at the door for me.]
[Is ten yuan cheap? The milk tea at my door is also this price.]
[To be honest, it's cheap in Yinhai, the shops on this street are expensive, the cheapest coffee at the coffee shop next door is thirty.]
[The rent is expensive! It's a downtown commercial street, and there's a scenic spot nearby!]
[Can this store make a profit?]
[Strongly request the launch of "Superior Fake Green Tea Bamboo Leaf Green" tea bags, there are already ginseng soup bags, tea bags are easy!]
Chu Zhishui was on a business trip in Yinhai to observe the bureau. She learned that the beverages had been sold out for the past two days and marveled, "It seems the price was too low. We priced it according to the cost, didn't expect so many people to buy it."
The rent for the Observation Bureau's direct sales store was very low, the beverage formula was developed by spirits, and various raw materials were already stocked. To be honest, the main expenses were the store staff's wages and water and electricity costs.
They opened the store to establish their brand image and gather feedback for product improvements, without expecting to make much money. Surprisingly, their side business took off, and with the high volume but low-profit margin beverage sales, they managed to break even.
Currently, the most popular item is the "Premium Fake Green Tea Bamboo Tips," made from tea leaves harvested in the later season.
Green tea's early harvests of tender buds are particularly valuable, but as the leaves mature in later harvests, prices drop, and the supernatural essence also decreases. The Huaijiang Bureau's tea garden is small with low overall production, making wholesale unsuitable for these leaves, so they're perfect for the milk tea shop.
Xin Yunmao looked at the beverage name, confused: "Why is it called Premium Fake Green Tea? This is clearly real green tea."
"It's modern irony," Chu Zhishui smiled. "It's natural that you don't understand, Divine Lord."
He frowned: "But this is Longjing tea, not Bamboo Tips tea."
She replied warmly, making up an explanation: "We just wanted to borrow your prestige, thinking the word 'bamboo' would make it sound high-end. See? It became a bestseller."
Xin Yunmao was easily convinced, nodding contentedly: "I see."
The human and supernatural being had been busy with the direct store lately, with Chu Zhishui stationed in Yinhai, which directly led to Xin Yunmao staying as well.
This terrified Ye Huayu of the Yinhai Bureau, who now believed Hu Chenrui was right – if they didn't help make the store successful, the Divine Lord would stay in Yinhai City indefinitely.
In his office, Ye Huayu seized the opportunity when Chu Zhishui came alone to place this year's green tea order, carefully asking: "Little Chu, now that your store is open and the tea is selling, when do you plan to return to Huaijiang?"
Chu Zhishui pondered: "We should return soon if nothing comes up, but I need your help with..."
"Of course, of course, no trouble at all!" Ye Huayu promptly replied. "Everything will be taken care of!"
Chu Zhishui: "?"
The Observation Bureau's plans were good, but unfortunately couldn't keep up with changes when a new store opened across the street.
Long Zhi Video imitated the Bureau by opening a collective store gathering various brands together, claiming to integrate online and offline operations to provide better customer service.
While the Bureau only sold their own products, Long Zhi's collective store carried all major brands and even offered low-priced beverages and desserts.
Reportedly, Long Zhi planned to widely promote this format to help Li Longke secure another round of funding. With new capital in place, Long Zhi could continue surviving by burning through investors' money.
After Long Zhi's collective store plan launched with multiple locations across cities, paid commenters quickly emerged.
[The Bureau's store is just creating artificial scarcity. Why such long queues for drinks? They should compete harder – the store across the street also sells drinks for just over ten yuan without queuing.]
[This store's marketing is overdone, and they only sell their own products. The selection is too limited compared to the one across the street.]
[True, all the online hype is annoying, and their new products are only sold in Yinhai. We can't always rely on purchasing agents, can we?]
Seeing the online smear campaign, Wang Yiwen angrily called Chu Zhishui.
"Why is he still so petty like before?" Wang Yiwen fumed. "First he smeared you at the company, now he's hiring trolls to attack you, showing no growth at all. Even his store concept is copying you."
The direct store was Chu Zhishui's idea, but given the Observation Bureau's nature, she couldn't expand to multiple cities – this was decided from the start. This gave Li Longke an opportunity to modify her plan for his own development.
Chu Zhishui: "What did you expect from him? All he knows is scamming people for money."
Wang Yiwen: "Now Chairman Qi is considering opening collective stores too. This recent wave of store promotions has indeed improved Long Zhi's conversion rates..."
"Forget it, unless you want to go bankrupt quickly?" Chu Zhishui smirked. "He'll soon realize that copying my store concept is his biggest mistake."
"But hasn't it impacted your store's business recently?"
"That's only because they just opened, and besides, the Bureau doesn't rely on the store for profit. I planned this from the start – it's mainly to drive online sales."
Chu Zhishui had always planned to use the direct store for long-term brand building. Li Longke's imitation with collective stores in multiple cities was likely just to attract new funding during the hype, not because the model was sustainable.
Next would come a deadlocked price war, and the Observation Bureau was precisely the one least afraid of price wars. The cost of using supernatural beings versus human capital couldn't be compared – something human capitalists could never figure out no matter how hard they tried.
At Long Zhi company, the conference room was filled with senior executives, with Li Longke in the central seat, discussing the multi-city layout of collective stores.
Someone reported: "Mr. Li, frankly, we can't maintain this for long, especially the Yinhai store which is burning money too quickly. Although the collective stores are driving company metrics, we're still operating at a loss, mainly because the physical retail environment is weak."
"You think they're not burning money?" Li Longke said. "New Perspective and their direct store are burning money to quickly seize the market. They just want to squeeze us out. We can't retreat from this battle – all investors are watching. If we lose, it's over. We can only get funding if we win!"
Neither Chu Zhishui nor Qi Chang were fools; they wouldn't run loss-making businesses except to grab market share initially, planning to reset prices after stabilizing. Once they controlled the market, they could set their own rules and easily profit – doing whatever they wanted.
That day when Li Longke went to the Observation Bureau, he knew Chu Zhishui knew many investors, but investment groups would also look at company data. As long as Long Zhi's numbers looked better than their competitors, they could maintain their position. Once external funding came in, it would solve their current cash drought.
This was a common development pattern for many companies – maintaining a glossy external image with annual new activities while actually teetering internally, using various big moves as gimmicks to scam new money for survival until the company went public.
Li Longke had already planned that as soon as the Bureau's direct store adjusted prices, he would use that opportunity to raise collective store prices, then use their broader layout to convince investors while criticizing New Perspective and the Bureau for losing the price war.
The Bureau's direct store maintained consistent pricing with their online store, and with high rent and cheap drinks, they couldn't possibly hold out long without strong financial backing. The Bureau was a state-owned enterprise subsidiary – once they couldn't generate revenue, they'd have to close quickly, unable to sustain a money-burning war.
Li Longke waited confidently for the Bureau to adjust prices, which would determine the winner of the price war.
However, the Bureau's direct store remained busy daily with no signs of price increases or profit-seeking gimmicks.
Li Longke kept waiting, and after several months of standoff, the Bureau's direct store was still operating – internal employees even said recent profits had increased!
Li Longke found this incredible when he heard it. How could they possibly be profitable?!
Store rental, new product development, raw materials, and employee wages all cost money – profits should only be possible through empty schemes!
Was she some business genius who appeared out of nowhere?
At the Yinhai Observation Bureau, with the store's situation still unstable, Chu Zhishui dared not return to Huaijiang, staying at the guest house for many more days.
The Yinhai guest house was similar to Huaijiang Bureau's new staff dormitory, basically free for employees. In the future, supernatural beings from Yinhai could also stay in the dormitory when visiting Huaijiang.
As Chu Zhishui wouldn't leave, neither would Xin Yunmao, finally making Ye Huayu unable to sit still.
In his office, Ye Huayu called Chu Zhishui in, awkwardly tugging at his flashy clothes: "Little Chu, I've been thinking lately – actually, the rent Old Hu discussed wasn't high to begin with, that small amount was just symbolic, so why don't we just waive it?"
"Huh?" Chu Zhishui was stunned. "That doesn't seem appropriate?"
The store rent was already low, which was why they could sustain the price war, and victory seemed to be on the horizon.
She hadn't expected Director Ye to lower it further – did he hate Li Longke even more than she did?
"It's appropriate, absolutely appropriate. We're sister organizations, how can we let you run a loss-making business?" Ye Huayu urged. "So just go back to Huaijiang. We'll cover any store losses and definitely crush that store across the street!"
"..."
