Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

He had always firmly believed that chasing celebrities was truly a fool's errand.

On TV they might seem impressive, but who knew how messy their private lives were.

That was also the reason he had never fully committed to the idea of starting a coffee shop.

"Uncle, isn't the coffee my aunt makes particularly tasty?"

"Tasty?"

Chen Pingsheng questioned with a soul-searching intensity, leaving the young waitress utterly baffled.

"Of course, it's tasty; why else would you come every day?"

The young girl was full of confidence; her side of the business was doing quite well.

If it was around noon or just after work, a line would form.

This uncle didn't look remarkable, judging from the way he drank his coffee, could he also be one of my aunt's suitors?

Eyeing him suspiciously, the young girl asked, "Uncle, are you out of work or something? How come you have so much free time?"

Chen Pingsheng came in daily and had become somewhat familiar with her.

"How can you doubt that I'm out of work? Is there not a chance that I'm a big boss, so I don't need to work?"

With a snort of laughter, the young girl replied, "Come on, Uncle. Don't be funny. Would a big boss come to our modest coffee shop every day? Besides, you definitely have a thing for my aunt. Uncle, I must warn you, even though my aunt is quite pretty, she isn't going to fall for you."

"Why wouldn't she like me? Am I that bad?"

"It's not that; it's just that my aunt said she's going to mourn my uncle for five years. During these five years, she definitely won't be dating anyone."

A widow?

Chen Pingsheng's mind suddenly alighted upon the word as he observed the woman in a black, tight-fitting dress with a low ponytail.

A pair of bangs framing her face, a melon-seeded face with roughly three and a half cups of... charm.

Indeed quite tempting.

Looking at her, Chen Pingsheng said, "Mourning for five years, your aunt is quite devoted to your uncle."

"Of course, they've been together since college."

The young girl didn't really want to discuss this topic with him any further, and of course, Chen Pingsheng had no interest in pursuing such matters.

He had seen too many beautiful women.

"Young lady, I see your coffee isn't cheap either, costing twenty to thirty yuan per cup, and it doesn't even taste as good as the Bobo Milk Tea next door. How come there are still so many people who like it?"

"Humph." Annoyed by his comment, it was the first time the waitress heard someone in their shop claim that their coffee wasn't as good as the eight-yuan milk tea from next door.

"Uncle, are you just sore because I've seen through you, and that's why you're lashing out? How can you compare coffee to milk tea?"

"Can't I compare them?"

Chen Pingsheng thought they were quite similar; one was just a bit bitter, and the other was sweeter and milkier.

If he were honest, he actually preferred milk tea a bit more.

But Tong Zelan had said that he could get the coffee shop off the ground.

Valuation at least ten billion, or even as much as several hundred billion.

If he managed to build up a company worth hundreds of billions and then use Golden Finger Grandpa's random enhancement...

Could he even fathom it?

"Of course, you can't compare. Milk tea is sold to the young consumer group, and coffee is for customers with a sense of quality."

In the eyes of the young girl, the biggest difference between coffee and milk tea was clearly the class distinction.

Chen Pingsheng thought about it and agreed, "Could you pack up three more for me? I'll take them to my colleagues."

"Sure." The girl only found the time to be relatively free around three or four in the afternoon; come five o'clock, she'd start to get busy again.

After work, many people from the nearby businesses would drop by her place for a cup of coffee.

As she went in, she also mentioned the strange uncle to her auntie.

He said their coffee wasn't good, yet he came every day to drink it.

Really strange indeed.

At first, her auntie only glanced at him twice and didn't pay much attention.

Later, since the store wasn't busy, she thought to come over and inquire which flavor didn't meet his taste.

To be honest, Chen Pingsheng didn't find any of their coffee flavors good.

He believed this would be the biggest challenge for him in running a coffee shop.

"Sir, may I ask which part of our coffee doesn't suit your taste?"

"Oh—you might have misunderstood. I just can't discern the goodness of coffee,"

Chen Pingsheng replied honestly, "A friend suggested I run a coffee shop, but I can't taste the goodness in it. Do you think I could run a successful coffee shop this way?"

Auntie Qin Xue was slightly startled, seemingly not expecting such a response.

Normally, at this point, she would definitely have asked him to leave.

Because isn't this obviously snooping around for information about their business?

Qin Xue sat opposite him and said with a light smile, "You're quite sincere."

"That's because I have no need to deceive the owner of a small coffee shop."

Okay... Qin Xue sensed a strong confidence in his words, as well as a disdain for her.

In his eyes, she was not a competitor.

Qin Xue explained, "I had my first cup of coffee in college. Back then, I went with classmates to Starbucks. They all said it was delicious, but I felt it wasn't good at all. To avoid letting on, I still told them the coffee was very good."

"Being able to honestly express your preferences shows that you don't need to deliberately seek approval through these things."

"Actually... I only started to find coffee delicious after graduating from college and starting work. Many colleagues liked it, and after buying it a few times with them, I gradually started to like its taste. You need to savor it slowly, the bitterness followed by sweetness, it's more about habit. Once you're used to drinking it, it's very hard to quit."

The biggest difference between coffee and milk tea, Qin Xue believed, was its addictive quality.

It's like people from Hunan who all love to chew betel nut; if you give it to people from other places to chew,

they'd find it has a strange flavor.

Chewing it not only damages the oral cavity but also feels quite uncomfortable.

But Hunanese especially love it because it's addictive.

Even if you want to quit, it's very hard.

This is more or less the same principle as with coffee, those accustomed to it have to drink a cup every day.

Those who aren't used to it will only feel it's not worth it.

Coincidentally, that corporate white-collar crowd all likes to drink it.

Chen Pingsheng understood, and it seemed he also comprehended why he didn't like drinking it.

Without addiction, there's no talking about liking it.

It's the same with betel nuts.

The biggest advantage of coffee over milk tea is its high customer retention.

The repurchase rate is also very strong.