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

Chapter 7: [Doing business isn't that hard!]

If you work hard all month to earn 3,000 yuan from a street stall, why bother? You might as well find a job.

Liu Zhuohao isn't in his early twenties; he's just a fresh graduate who's become arrogant and boasts about his income.

What is the most important thing in doing business?

It means learning to feign poverty.

No matter how much or how little you earn, you have to tell everyone, "It's tough, the pressure is immense, I'm barely making ends meet."

Especially with your customers, if you sincerely tell them that you make a net profit of 300 yuan a day, they might not come back the next day—nobody is willing to give money to someone who is doing better than them.

Moreover, compared to the era of intense competition in the past, doing business is much easier now.

"Oh, you're closing up shop?"

Zhuang Zicong and Cai Jiahao rode over on their bicycles, their faces bearing a solemn expression that seemed to say, "Brothers, don't be sad, we understand."

The two helped Liu Zhuohao pack the remaining items and put them on the shelf.

It's not just that doing business has become easier, but it's also much easier than when I was struggling alone in another city in my previous life.

This time, I'm much better.

Faced with the solemn expressions on his two best friends' faces, Liu Zhuohao almost burst out laughing. These two guys were late and only saw him cleaning up the mess all by himself, automatically conjuring up a tragic scene of "business failure".

A few days ago, I discussed it with them and found out that I could handle everything on my own.

If they'd like, they can come over around 10 o'clock to help tidy up the stall.

Fortunately, I had told them in advance that my father had brought the things over that morning, and it would indeed be a troublesome thing to move the remaining things back.

"It's okay, Hao-ge, everything is difficult at the beginning." Zhuang Zicong parked the car and looked at the unsold pancake wrappers in the basket, starting to seriously review the situation. "Those stalls near the school gate are all old hands. We're new here, it's good enough that we even made a sale..."

"Exactly!" Cai Jiahao quickly chimed in, even sniffing exaggeratedly. "Besides, your pancakes smell amazing, much better than those from other scallion pancake stalls!"

"Stop, stop."

Liu Zhuohao raised his hand to interrupt his comforting words, trying to make his tone sound calm, "Well... actually business is not bad, the net profit is about, um, a little over two hundred, almost three hundred."

The air froze for a few seconds after he finished speaking.

Zhuang Zicong's hand, which was pushing the bicycle, froze halfway, and his glasses almost slipped off.

Cai Jiahao, standing next to him, had his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide open, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"How much...how much?!"

Zhuang Zicong stopped pushing his bicycle, his voice trembling, "Say that again?"

"A little over two hundred, less than three hundred."

Liu Zhuohao repeated it, this time with a genuine smile in his eyes, "Around six or seven in the morning, you didn't see it, but my stall was almost overflowing with people."

Cai Jiahao counted on his fingers, his eyes wide with disbelief: "Three hundred a day, thirty days a month... nine thousand?! No, Brother Hao, you can fool your buddies, but don't fool yourself."

As he spoke, he looked up at me. "You didn't actually keep all the money people paid for the pancakes as profit, did you? Did you deduct the cost of the batter, eggs, and lettuce? What about the gas bill? What about the stall fee?"

"You calculated it correctly."

Liu Zhuohao snatched the bicycle handlebars from his hand and pushed it forward. "I've kept track of the sales figures and I know the costs. Today's a great start. We're lucky."

Cai Jiahao hurried after him, still unable to believe it: "But when we came here, there wasn't a soul in front of your stall..."

"You guys arrived after 10 a.m., the morning rush hour is long over." Liu Zhuohao chuckled. "The breakfast stall only does business for two hours. If you can get up at 6 a.m. tomorrow, I guarantee I'll show you something amazing."

He paused, then added, "Or check the school's online forum; people should already be talking about it."

"Later I'll edit the video I recorded today and upload it to Bilibili, so you can see the scene there too."

Zhuang Zicong and Cai Jiahao exchanged a glance, both seeing disbelief on each other's faces.

"Really... that simple?" Zhuang Zicong murmured, as if his long-held imagination of the difficulties and obstacles of "doing business" had been shattered by this seemingly insignificant "three hundred dollars".

"Easy?" Liu Zhuohao shook his head. "I got up at four this morning and my legs are still trembling from standing. Money is earned standing up; you get what you pay for."

He paused, his smile fading, and his expression turned serious: "I hope you will keep this a secret for me."

The two were taken aback.

"I'm telling you the truth because I trust you; nobody else knows this," Liu Zhuohao said sincerely. "I'm just starting out; today's success doesn't mean every day will be good."

"In this line of work, the worst thing is for others to think you've made a fortune."

"If customers think you're making exorbitant profits, they won't come back. If your competitors think you're blocking their path to wealth, you'll face a lot of trouble. Only by keeping a low profile can you survive in the long run."

Zhuang Zicong and Cai Jiahao nodded thoughtfully. They weren't stupid; with a little guidance, they could understand the key point.

Wow!

"Awesome, bro!"

"Oh dear, you've become the boss right away!"

Two teenagers bounced and jumped on the sidewalk, pushing their bicycles, looking like two monkeys just released from their cages.

Almost three hundred yuan! He earned almost three hundred yuan in one day?!

Liu Zhuohao followed behind, amused, but in his heart he was wondering whether they could remember it.

Sometimes, knowing a principle is one thing, but being able to put it into practice is quite another.

Can they keep it a secret?

Actually, Liu Zhuohao didn't know, but he was willing to tell the two of them that.

If I want to grow bigger and stronger in the future, I can't do it all by myself.

I need companions.

Whether they possess such ability and temperament depends on whether they can keep the secret.

For young people, it's hard to resist bragging when a friend suddenly appears who earns 300 yuan a day and over 10,000 yuan a month.

Friendship is one thing, but if your personal abilities don't meet the requirements, you'll only hold yourself back.

Of course, I can use this relationship to help them make money.

But there are many ways to carry it.

It's one thing to get them to invest money in you, manage it for them, and then give them a fixed share of the profits.

Getting them to actually stand by your side and fight alongside you is another matter entirely.

In the former case, Liu Zhuohao is confident and has a firm grasp on his personal abilities and the forward-looking vision that his rebirth brings.

The likelihood of risk to one's own business is low.

Even if the latter were reborn, they might still be dragged into a pit by their incompetent teammates.

After all, in my past life, I was dragged into pits by relatives and friends more than once.

It's not that there was any business betrayal or anything to trip me up.

He didn't expand his business much; he only had three Chaozhou hot pot restaurants in Huacheng, which were doing reasonably well. He didn't have any multi-million dollar fortune to inherit, so he wasn't being targeted by anyone.

How did they drag themselves into this mess? They relied on their status as relatives and friends to insist on taking them in, giving them jobs, and then doing some stupid things in their shop!

For example, hiring a disgraced internet celebrity to do promotions can drive away some old customers and result in a loss of tens of thousands of yuan in advertising fees.

Or, on a rainy day, they chased away the cleaning staff resting at the entrance, which made local headlines, causing them to close down for a month and almost bankrupt them.

A fool's sudden inspiration can be more terrifying than a villain's elaborate scheme.

……

……

After making some money, I treated my two best friends to a nice meal—two extra bowls of Longjiang braised pork trotters rice.

Liu Zhuohao was at home in the afternoon, preparing to edit the video.

However, when he turned on his computer, he couldn't help but look at the class group chat, and a sense of anticipation arose in his heart.

The mouse wheel slowly scrolled down, and messages in the class group chat flashed by one by one.

"Hao Ge has made something of himself now. [Image.jpg]"

"Wow, so many people are gathered around! Is Boss Liu's business that good?"

"What time? I'm going for a run tomorrow, I'll stop by and buy a few portions."

"Could he really be a master chef?"

"@Old Chen, the class leader, why don't you set up a stall too?"

When Liu Zhuohao saw the question, "Is Boss Liu's business so good?", he couldn't help but smile.

Previously, when they referred to "Boss Liu" in the group chat, it had a slightly mocking tone, but today's "Boss Liu" is different.

Especially those classmates who don't usually talk much came to ask for the address, saying they would come to support me another day, which did satisfy my vanity a little.

However, this sense of satisfaction quickly cooled down when he saw the following messages.

"It seems like doing business isn't that difficult. As long as you find a good location, you can always have a base of customers."

"I'll have a lot of free time when I'm in college. I'll find a food truck and set it up on campus to sell grilled sausages."

"Do you sell grilled sausages? I'm thinking of becoming a tutor..."

These messages, one after another, reveal a naive and reckless attitude.

As Liu Zhuohao stared at the screen, he seemed to see himself in his past life, impulsively deciding to start a business, only to lose money time and time again, and then having to start all over again by saving up money.

They only saw the bustling queue in front of the stall, saw that a pancake sold for five yuan, and saw that he seemed to make money "easily".

They didn't see the desolation and bustle of the wholesale market at four in the morning, they didn't see the experience of dealing with seasoned bosses, they didn't see the soreness and numbness in their wrists after more than three hours of non-stop tossing the wok, and they didn't calculate the costs, losses, and risks hidden behind "five yuan"...

It's like someone who has gone through a lot of hardship to win the "Master of Chinese Cuisine" award. When they share their joy with others, someone suddenly says, "That's amazing. You should be able to work as a Michelin three-star chef." The atmosphere instantly becomes awkward.

Achievement, joy? Frozen in an instant.

They simply don't understand what this award means.

Realizing this, Liu Zhuohao chuckled self-deprecatingly and decided to close the chat window.

He actually tried to gain vanity from some "children".

“Ding Di—”

The QQ notification sound interrupted his thoughts.

The pop-up window showed that it was the homeroom teacher, Ms. Chen.

Upon seeing that name, Liu Zhuohao's heart skipped a beat. Fragments of memories about "being afraid of losing face" surged up uncontrollably.

"Congratulations, Zhuo Hao."

Messages popped up one after another.

"When I passed by this morning, I saw so many people at your stall, so I didn't go over."

"I advised you to continue your studies before, but now it seems that doing business is also a path for you, and you may have a better head for it."

Liu Zhuohao's fingers stopped on the keyboard.

The affirmation from a peer carries a completely different weight than a classmate's casual "It's not difficult."

These simple words of recognition seemed to gently brush away the invisible layer of inferiority and guilt that had weighed on my heart for many years.

This time, I seemed to be able to stand up a little straighter and face this teacher.

"I had a relative who used to run a business near a school, but it didn't do well. Maybe the food wasn't good enough, so it didn't take off."

"It's really impressive that you had so many customers on your first day. Keep it up!"

Upon seeing this, Liu Zhuohao took a deep breath.

Indeed, we are just getting started, and we are still a long way from our initial goals.

What is the purpose of setting up a stall?

The main priority right now is to make money and alleviate the family's financial pressure as soon as possible.

But what about secondary matters?

Of course, it's about attracting traffic, building accounts, and planning for the future.

The homeroom teacher's last message arrived:

"Since you've decided to quit studying and go into business, the hardship of this path is no less than that of studying. So you have to persevere, just like you did when you were in school working hard on past college entrance exam papers. Don't give up easily."

Liu Zhuohao stared at the sentence for a long time before typing in the chat box:

"Thank you, Teacher Chen. I will."

He paused here, deleted the period, added half a sentence to make the reply more solemn, and also to leave himself a promise for the future:

"Thank you, Teacher Chen. I will. When I am able to open my own shop in the future, please come and help me with the ribbon-cutting ceremony."

Click to send!