I've been reborn, I'm definitely going to become an internet celebrity!

Chapter 22: [The Merchant's Astuteness]

"Wow, senior, you've taken on an apprentice?"

At Liu Zhuohao's stall, several girls carrying badminton rackets asked questions, glancing at the stall next to them from time to time. "Wow, that's great! Yesterday, someone in the group chat said you were hiring for the night market, and today your breakfast stall has an extra apprentice."

Beside him, the nephew couldn't help but turn his head, a glimmer of hope appearing on his face.

His stall was so deserted that you could hear the wind.

Logically speaking, since there was already a long queue at Liu Zhuohao's place, there should have been one or two impatient people who could just go and wait for a while at his place.

But there wasn't a single one.

This is weird!

"Not an apprentice." Liu Zhuohao's hands continued to flip the pancakes, and his voice carried clearly, "This is the bookstore owner's nephew. He said he'd set up the pancakes over there and learn some skills."

He decisively drew a line.

This person is not mine, nor is this business of mine; whether he is good or bad is none of my business.

Of course, we need to draw a clear line; they use materials from different supply chains!

The nephew's face froze instantly, and his last hope of getting help from the light was shattered.

This business can't be split!

At the stall, several girls who had asked questions exchanged a subtle glance and then fell silent.

Some things are best left unsaid.

"Ha! Isn't this a mid-lane skirmish?"

The three boys in line behind them didn't have such reservations. One of them, with a buzz cut, chuckled and bluntly said, "Two identical stalls right under the same 'tower,' isn't this blatant territorial grabbing?"

Their lack of emotional intelligence has only made things more obvious.

Anyone can see this clearly.

It's obvious that the bookstore owner saw that Mr. Liu's business was doing well and wanted to drive him away so he could take over!

"Oh dear, classmates, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

The bookstore owner, who was inside the store, heard the noise outside and quickly came out to explain, his face full of a helpless yet sincere smile.

"My nephew just graduated and doesn't have a job yet."

He rubbed his hands together, his tone like that of a worried elder, "I was just thinking of having him set up a stall next to Boss Liu, purely to learn! To see how others do business properly, and to learn some real skills."

He turned to the students in front of Liu Zhuohao's stall, adopting an extremely humble posture: "After a while, once he's learned a little and can stand on his own, I'll kick him out immediately! He'll set up his stall in another neighborhood, he'll never be an eyesore here, and he certainly won't steal Boss Liu's business!"

As he spoke, he gave his nephew a stern look: "Aren't you going to thank your classmates? If they like it, they can buy one to try and give you feedback. That would mean you've gotten a piece of Boss Liu's business!"

The nephew's face flushed red and then turned pale. Under the boss's intense gaze, he could only force a smile, his voice dry: "Yes...yes, please give me your feedback."

The wind direction changed instantly.

Hearing the boss personally promise "learn and leave" and "never steal business," the scrutiny and resistance in the eyes of the students in front of Liu Zhuohao's stall visibly dissipated.

Some people even thought the boss was quite considerate, and the nephew was quite pitiful.

Even Liu Zhuohao himself felt a jolt in his heart.

With so many people involved, and with such a firm promise... how is his nephew supposed to continue running this business?

Could it be that I really misunderstood someone?

The bookstore owner genuinely just wanted to help his nephew find a way out; he had no intention of kicking him out. I was truly judging him by my own petty standards.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he nipped it in the bud.

Liu Zhuohao noticed that ever since the bookstore owner came out, his eager and sincere gaze had never fallen on him, but rather seemed glued to the faces of the group of student customers in front of his stall.

"Such a keen sense of smell..." Liu Zhuohao withdrew his gaze and continued to focus on making pancakes, but a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

"Come on, it's giveaway time!"

As the business was just opening, Liu Zhuohao wiped his hands, smiled, and raised his voice so that the surrounding customers could hear him.

"As promised, once the account reaches 1,000 followers, I'll give everyone a treat—and I'm doing it today!"

As he spoke, he bent down and took out a row of "Xiangpiaopiao Milk Tea" that had been prepared in advance from under the food cart.

Fourteen years later, Xiangpiaopiao milk tea, which boasts that "if the cups were lined up, they could circle the earth," is still going strong. It's being given away as a perk for a thousand followers at a small food stall, which isn't exactly cheap.

Wow! They're really giving it away?!

"What a coincidence, I've reached 1,000 followers today!"

The first few regular customers in line were both surprised and delighted to receive the small gift. Paired with the freshly made, fragrant hand-pulled pancake, the satisfaction from this set meal far exceeded their expectations.

"Thank you, senior!"

"The boss is so generous!"

As Liu Zhuohao continued making pancakes for the customers behind him, he chuckled, "There are fewer people during the holidays, so breaking a thousand is a bit of a fluke. Once school starts and everyone's back, I'll give out a proper hundred, put up a banner, and celebrate properly!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the familiar and unfamiliar faces before him, his tone becoming sincere:

"To be honest, this first thousand followers isn't much, but it's significant. Without everyone coming to eat cookies every day, chatting in the group, and casually giving a like when they get back, it would never have reached that point."

"So this benefit is both an initial promise and a token of gratitude."

That's very true.

These students, who had never even left the campus, listened in stunned silence.

One thousand fans.

Liu Zhuohao now has over a thousand accounts on Bilibili.

In the future of the internet, it seems that as long as it is managed properly, it will be easy to create an account with thousands or tens of thousands of followers.

If someone else were to mention it, they might say something like, "Only a thousand followers?"

But now, having a thousand fans still carries a lot of weight.

The bookstore owner and his nephew watched from a few steps away, their expressions complex.

Liu Zhuohao began packing up his stall after the customers had left satisfied.

Next to him, the bookstore owner's nephew's stall remained deserted; despite the kind words he had spoken, no one was patronizing his business.

The bookstore owner had somehow retreated back into the store.

Only after Liu Zhuohao drove away in his food truck did the nephew reluctantly enter the bookstore.

"Uncle..."

He crept to the bookstore entrance, his face ashen, and called out. His lips moved a few times before he finally managed to squeeze out the words he had been holding back for so long, his voice filled with grievance and resentment:

"What you just said in front of so many people... does that mean I really have to leave? I've only just set this up, I don't even have the capital..."

"If you don't leave, what do you want to do?!"

Before he could finish speaking, the bookstore owner whirled around, his eyes blazing like knives, his voice low and filled with suppressed anger: "Last time you came to my store, saw how well other businesses were doing, and then went to your parents, forcing me to ask you this! I've already gone to great lengths, what more do you want?"

The nephew was speechless, his mouth agape.

Seeing his cowardly yet unwilling expression, the bookstore owner felt even more frustrated.

He turned his face away, no longer looking at his nephew, his gaze somewhat unfocused as he stared at the departing food truck, and sighed.

The sigh was heavy and long, carrying a deep weariness and... envy.

"Sigh..." He shook his head, as if talking to himself, or perhaps scolding his nephew, "Why are other people's kids so well-behaved and capable?"

"I could easily open a bookstore, so why can't my brat?"

"Why can't you do it either?"

At this point, the bookstore owner glanced at his nephew's bewildered face and laughed in exasperation.

He pointed in Liu Zhuohao's direction and said, "Didn't you see what those people were calling him? They all called him 'senior' first, then 'boss,' even though he's a student from a nearby school."

"And you? What do you have? You don't study hard, your brain isn't as quick as someone else's, and your skills... what skills do you have? You can't even fry a pancake properly!"

"Listen to me, once you've learned it, go set up your stall outside your own school! At least there are a few familiar faces there! Here? You won't even be an 'apprentice,' people will find you an eyesore!"

More importantly, it wasn't the boss, Mr. Liu, but these students.

What the bookstore owner was trying to ease was not the relationship between business people, but his own image in the eyes of these student customers.

He was afraid of being labeled as "jealous and trying to drive people away".

How will he continue his bookstore business after that?