Chapter 186

On New Year's Day.

On the homepages of Lucheng Tieba, Lucheng Online, and Lucheng Forum, a promotional poster was displayed, reading: "KuaiPao Invites You to Drink Your New Year's First Milk Tea."

Over the past month, KuaiPao's reputation in Lucheng had grown steadily, especially through word-of-mouth among college students and white-collar workers, becoming an indispensable food delivery app on everyone's phone.

"Zhou Yi, look at this promotion!"

In a rented apartment in Yaohai District, Wu Lei lay in bed and suddenly noticed a new promotion on the KuaiPao app.

New users could receive one free milk tea on their first day of registration.

Participating brands included Kawan Ka, Coco, Guming, Mihuang, and Bifenggang; existing users could invite one friend to complete their first order, and after the friend's delivery was finished, they would earn a free order.

The mechanics were simple and blunt—perfect for young people.

"Send me the referral link—I'll find people to help." Zhou Yi turned her head, stared at the screen for a moment, and immediately said.

"Alright." Wu Lei replied.

Meanwhile.

Like Zhou Yi and Wu Lei, existing users were urging their family, friends, and classmates to register for KuaiPao.

For white-collar workers or college students, a free milk tea was too good to pass up.

On the day of the promotion, new user registrations skyrocketed; normally, by noon, there were at most 1, 00–1, 00 new users, but today, just after twelve, the number exceeded 10, 00.

In 2012, when Tieba and BBS were dominant, KuaiPao's online marketing campaign easily garnered over 2 million impressions.

Even some Lucheng natives living far away had seen KuaiPao's promotional poster.

Li Zijie was one such person, currently studying in Shanghai, but his girlfriend was attending university in Lucheng.

He hadn't managed to get a train ticket back to Lucheng yesterday, so he took the train on the first to surprise her.

After understanding KuaiPao's operational model, Li Zijie immediately entered his girlfriend's dorm address—and it was within the delivery range.

Feicui Lake had always been KuaiPao's first major base; even though Kang Guodong and Pei Yi had shifted their focus to the inner ring, they still hadn't abandoned the university district business.

Li Zijie ordered a Kawan Ka milk tea, plus duck neck, grilled pig's trotters, and Naihuangbao from Caidianxuan—all her favorite snacks.

She often said things like, "It's cold, I can't hug you," "Even when I'm sad, you don't know," "When I need you, you're never there."

With KuaiPao, he could now regularly send her milk tea and flowers, creating little surprises.

Li Zijie paid with a satisfied smile.

Half an hour later.

Li Zijie saw the order had been delivered and smiled faintly—he imagined how happy his girlfriend would be when she received these.

Thinking of this, he immediately called her: "Duuu… duuu… duuu…"

After more than ten rings, her phone finally picked up.

"Lín Lín, I bought you milk tea and snacks—did you get them?" Li Zijie asked with a smile.

"I-I got them… the duck neck is delicious…" Her voice was breathless and uneven.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Li Zijie asked curiously.

"N-no, I'm working out—let's talk later." She panted, then hung up before Li Zijie could respond.

Working out at noon?

Li Zijie was puzzled but didn't think much of it—his girlfriend had taken aerobics last semester and planned to compete this fall; some extra effort was normal.

More than ten minutes later, the train finally arrived.

Li Zijie stepped out of the station, hailed a taxi to the university district, and gazed out the window—everything felt strangely unfamiliar.

Both sides of Zhanqian Road were fenced off; the driver said Lucheng was building a subway.

Li Zijie smiled, clutching his phone—his heart raced as he drew closer to his girlfriend.

Thirty minutes later, he got out of the taxi but didn't call her right away; instead, he dragged his suitcase into a hotel across from campus.

He'd told his parents he wouldn't be returning to Lucheng for the New Year.

For the next three days, he'd have to stay at the hotel.

Thinking of the box of Durex in his suitcase, Li Zijie grew excited; after entering the hotel lobby, he quickly pulled out his ID, ready to book a king-size room.

A couple ahead of him was checking in—he had to wait.

"Lín Lín, the milk tea's good—try some?" The boy handed her the cup after taking a sip.

"It's Kawan Ka's Black Series—of course it's delicious," the girl replied, taking the cup, sucking in a long sip, and smiling.

Lín Lín?

Same name as his girlfriend?

Li Zijie thought unconsciously.

"Room 8238, second floor. Here's your keycard." The front desk verified their group-buy voucher, collected a 200-yuan deposit, and handed over the card.

As the girl turned around, Li Zijie froze—his mind nearly exploded.

The girl wrapped in the boy's arms was his own girlfriend, Gu Lín Lín.

"Li Zijie? Aren't you in Shanghai?" Gu Lín Lín froze, her smile vanishing instantly. "How did you get here?"

"Who is he?"

Li Zijie pointed at the boy's nose, demanding angrily.

"Since you've seen it, I won't hide it anymore—we're breaking up."

Gu Lín Lín, caught red-handed, decided to be blunt.

"Hey buddy, I gotta say—it really is a good milk tea," the boy chuckled, adding a cruel twist.

Seeing Li Zijie stunned, they ignored him and walked upstairs.

Li Zijie stared blankly—he finally understood what her panting had meant.

The front desk clerk raised his eyes slightly, smirking inwardly—he'd seen this a hundred times before.

Li Zijie clutched his ID, numb and hollow, and walked out of the hotel.

Most KuaiPao users on New Year's Day were happy—the platform was flooding them with subsidies—but for Li Zijie, it was the gloomiest day imaginable.

Her panting, and the boy's words—"this milk tea is really good"—kept echoing in his mind.

He might have meant the milk tea. Or he might not have.

On the other side.

Far away in Shanghai, Zhang Xuhao was closely watching KuaiPao's progress; after seeing KuaiPao's lavish "buy everyone milk tea" marketing stunt, he was stunned.

If he replicated this in Shanghai, his brand would explode overnight!

But then he remembered the cost—and immediately deflated. He had no money.

Ele. e averaged only 10, 00 orders per day; after deducting delivery, management, marketing, and R&D costs, he made barely 400, 00 yuan a month.

He simply couldn't afford a campaign like this.

Seeing KuaiPao's daily orders about to surpass Ele. e, Zhang Xuhao was genuinely panicked.

Helplessly, he pulled out his phone and called Zhu Xiaohu at Jinsha Venture Capital, hoping to leverage their Jiaotong University alumni connection for one last try.

"Mr. Zhu, this is Zhang Xuhao from Ele. e. Yes, still about funding."

Zhang Xuhao's tone was pleading.

"Sorry, Brother Zhang. I know Chen Yansen from Senlian Capital invested in KuaiPao, but your companies are in different cities—Lucheng and Shanghai. Your priority right now should be proving a sustainable profit model before we discuss funding."

Zhu Xiaohu didn't want to take the call, but Zhang Xuhao was from the Jiaotong alumni circle—if he started spreading rumors, it could damage Zhu's investment reputation.

Hearing Zhu Xiaohu's refusal again, Zhang Xuhao grew frantic, nearly begging: "Once KuaiPao expands, Ele. e can't stop it—your early investment will be wasted!"

"If that happens, I'll accept it," Zhu Xiaohu replied irritably, gave a few perfunctory words, and hung up.

His investment evaluation team had already scheduled a meeting with Kang Guodong of KuaiPao.

Investing in two companies in the same sector wasn't unusual in venture capital.

If one wins and the other loses, Jinsha Venture wins once; if one becomes market leader and the other runner-up, Jinsha Venture wins twice.

It's like DST's move in e-commerce—investing in Alibaba, then immediately taking a stake in JD. om.

Venture capital evaluates investments based on financial data and growth projections—it's impossible to predict winners with 100% accuracy.

When you can't tell who will win, diversifying risk is the wisest strategy.

"Fucking idiot! Useless bastard! Can't recognize value!" Zhang Xuhao muttered under his breath, unable to contain his rage.

He wasn't sure whether he was cursing Zhu Xiaohu—or every investor who'd turned down Ele. e.

…

…

After receiving the message from Kang Guodong, Chen Yansen didn't hesitate—he approved Kang's contact with Tencent's venture division, but the final valuation must be decided by Gao Weilin.

In short, Kang Guodong had the right to negotiate—but the final decision rested in Chen Yansen's hands.

The Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park on New Year's Day was eerily quiet; most staff had gone home for the holiday, except for a few in business, operations, and customer service.

Chen Yansen stood by the window, clearly seeing Song Yuncheng across the way.

This woman was truly relentless in chasing money.

"Tap-tap-tap!"

Chen Yansen heard knocking at the door and called out, "Come in!"

From the silhouette, he knew it was Meng Jie.

"Hehe, what are you busy with?" Meng Jie pushed the door open, sat on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, and grinned.

"Have you finished the Q4 balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement?"

Chen Yansen sat beside her, teasing.

"I still have one income statement left for tomorrow—can we go watch a movie today?"

Meng Jie rarely got a day off to return to Chunshen, so she naturally wanted to go out and have fun with Chen Yansen.

"Dragon Gate: The Dynamic Blade or The Thirteen Sisters of Jinling?" Chen Yansen asked in return.

In 2012, there was no such thing as a New Year's Day screening slot; both films had been nearing their twentieth day of release.

"I bought two advance screening tickets for The Taking of Tiger Mountain. Pretty cool, right?" Meng Jie said, pulling out two movie tickets.

Online ticketing hadn't taken off yet; Meituan Movie wouldn't establish its corresponding business unit until a month later.

But in this life, Meituan's market share still lagged behind Lashou and Wowo Team; whether it had the capacity to venture into new categories remained uncertain.

"What time is the show?" Chen Yansen asked.

"2: 0 p. . We'll finish just in time for dinner," Meng Jie replied.

Chen Yansen exhaled in relief—he still had two movie tickets in his pocket, with a showtime of 8: 0 p. ., perfect for heading straight to the hotel afterward.

His mind raced, thinking how to stagger their schedules.

After lunch, Chen Yansen drove Meng Jie into the city, first shopping at the mall, then watching the movie, followed by dinner.

After dropping Meng Jie off at her dorm, he picked up Song Yuncheng and returned to the cinema.

Chen Yansen watched The Taking of Tiger Mountain twice in one day.

"Work hard, Boss Chen," Song Yuncheng teased softly.

"Sounds like you're mocking me," Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow and shot back.

"You heard right," Song Yuncheng snorted, picking up a popcorn kernel and shoving it into Chen Yansen's mouth.

You're a scumbag—you did it, now don't let anyone talk!

"Are you sure you want to talk to your boss in that tone?" Chen Yansen threatened.

"Stop messing around, just watch the movie," Song Yuncheng grabbed his mischievous hand and pouted.

Chen Yansen thought the movie was boring, but seeing Song Yuncheng utterly absorbed, he refrained from causing trouble.

He pulled out his phone and checked the project group messages.

At that moment, the Kuaipao project group was the liveliest.

"New user growth: 26, 00; real-time orders: 10, 08; sales: 180, 00 yuan!"

The data synced in the group every ten minutes.

"Pei Yi: Guys, push harder! Let's break 200, 00 yuan in sales today!"

"Kang Guodong: The admin department ordered late-night snacks—they'll be here soon!"

"Kou Zhen: Big thanks to the delivery team—I've gotten approval from Boss Kang and Boss Pei for a bonus, everyone gets a share!"

In the early winter of 2012, Kuaipao still pushed forward on New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, although the weather in Lucheng had turned cold, it hadn't snowed; otherwise, the marketing campaign's impact would have been severely diminished.

When Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng entered the hotel room, Kuaipao 's total orders for the day had surpassed 13, 00.

Over ninety full-time riders and over eighty part-time food delivery riders worked until 1: 0 a. . before logging off to rest.

After this marketing campaign, Kuaipao became famous in Lucheng; the city's commercial centers and suburban university districts gradually accepted food delivery as a new business model.

Soon after, the search term "Treat the whole city to bubble tea" surged to trending.

Although Ele. e had been founded earlier, Kuaipao appeared in netizens' view before Ele. e.

(End of Chapter)