Ye Jijun, from Dongcai's Tourism Management department, got up at eight in the morning.
Today was his first day working for Renrenwang.
Putting on the blue jacket and blue helmet provided by Renren Waimai, Ye Jijun stepped out of the dorm.
The moment he opened the dorm door, he was frozen stiff.
But this was nothing for Ye Jijun, who had grown up in a poverty-stricken mountainous area.
Being able to have a job that earned him some money to go home for the New Year was already very good.
Ye Jijun lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried.
His grandparents raised him, toiling in the fields year after year to support his college education.
He was also very sensible; after entering college, he had been doing various part-time jobs.
Before applying to be a Blue Rider for Renren Waimai, he had worked odd jobs in the commercial street, distributed flyers, and even sold insurance in the city.
As long as he could make money, he was willing to do anything.
Dongcai had a total of ten Blue Riders.
Because of the large number of teachers and students, Dongcai had the most Blue Riders among surrounding universities.
Although there were ten people, not all ten worked every day.
If someone had classes or other commitments, they would need to take shifts.
Before starting work, all these individuals underwent strict training.
The snow on the ground was quite thick.
Ye Jijun was worried about the difficulty of riding, so he rode his e-bike to wait outside the campus before Renren Waimai officially launched.
The usually bustling commercial street now had not a single soul.
Ye Jijun stood blankly in this vast white world.
Ding-ding!
The text message ringtone sounded, and Ye Jijun quickly opened it to see,
"Boy's Dorm 3, Room 302, placed an order: Xiao Yang Duck Blood Vermicelli Shop, four portions of duck blood vermicelli, one portion of braised beef noodles, five beef patties."
Ye Jijun instantly perked up, pedaling the company-issued e-bike furiously towards Xiao Yang Duck Blood Vermicelli Shop.
"The total meal cost is thirty-two yuan, so that means I can earn 4 yuan from this single order."
When he arrived at Xiao Yang Duck Blood Vermicelli Shop, Ye Jijun ran into his colleague Zuo Gao.
"Which dorm building are you delivering to?"
Zuo Gao asked with a smile, greeting Ye Jijun.
"Building 3. How about you?"
"I'm over by the graduate students' dorms."
The old woman running the duck blood vermicelli shop looked at the two young men with curiosity and said with a smile,
"Come inside and wait, it'll be ready soon."
In previous years, when it snowed heavily, hardly any students would come for breakfast.
Unexpectedly, joining that delivery service was quite effective.
Suddenly, two big orders came in.
Although a portion of the commission was taken, there was still profit to be made; otherwise, there might not be any business at all.
The owner of a nearby steamed bun shop watched as his own store had no customers in the morning, while the shop next door kept having people come to buy things one after another.
He asked out of curiosity and only then learned about Renren Waimai.
"Wife, did anyone promoting food delivery services come to our shop before?"
His wife wiped her hands on her apron somewhat haphazardly and recalled,
"I think so. Back then, I thought they were scammers, so I drove them away."
"Oh, they weren't scammers! Look at the shop next door; several groups of people have come this morning, and each group ordered many portions. It feels like business is even better than when it doesn't snow."
"How was I supposed to know!"
"Are the flyers they left still around?"
"No, they were thrown away long ago."
"I'll go find Old Yang and ask for their number."
"..."
On the road, school security personnel had already started sweeping snow.
Ye Jijun slightly sped up, taking about 25 minutes from receiving the order to delivering it to Dorm 3.
Once downstairs, he called the contact number provided in the text message.
"Hello, Renren Waimai. Your order has arrived. Please come downstairs to pick it up."
The person on the other end of the phone was still half-asleep.
"Oh, huh? That fast?"
A moment later, a boy with messy hair, yawning, rushed over and gave Ye Jijun a thumbs-up:
"Dude, you're awesome! Faster than me going to buy it myself. I'm going back up, it's freezing."
Ye Jijun smiled as he watched the boy's accelerating figure disappear, a sense of satisfaction welling up in his heart.
Shivering from the cold, the boy jogged back to Dorm 302 and kicked open the iron door.
"Damn, damn, I'm freezing to death! Come down and eat breakfast quickly."
Someone struggled to get up, smelling the aroma.
"I've decided to just order takeout from now on. Every time I eat, I have to run up and down stairs a long way, and the cafeteria food is terrible. It's fine if it's on the way after class, but it's most annoying to have to go out to eat when there are no classes."
"Exactly, especially on rainy days. Sometimes having to wait in line is even more frustrating."
...
By around one in the afternoon, Ye Jijun had taken 11 scattered orders, which delighted him.
He carefully calculated that he had actually earned nearly fifty yuan in half a day.
You know, distributing flyers only paid 50-60 yuan a day, and there wasn't work every day.
The most important thing was that delivering takeout wasn't very tiring.
After completing each order, he still had time to drink water, use the restroom, and even return to the dorm once.
Sometimes, if people ordered simultaneously, he could even deliver them together.
"There's still one month left. If I can earn two thousand yuan, that would be great. I'd have money for the trip home and some New Year's money to leave for my grandparents."
As expected, that evening, the number of orders on the Renren Waimai platform began to skyrocket.
This was mainly due to the emergence of word-of-mouth effects and continuous hot discussions on Renrenwang.
Many students who had ordered takeout at noon found it affordable, convenient, and didn't require them to run errands, so they repurchased in the evening.
People vote with their feet.
Why bother running errands themselves when it can be done conveniently?
The delivery fee isn't much, and there are even coupons.
"This afternoon, many shops proactively contacted us. These people had previously either been hesitant or thought the commission was too high, remaining in a wait-and-see state. Today, their attitude completely changed."
Gao Songbin had been running around all afternoon; not only him, but everyone in the entire department had spread out.
"Today, merchants even called the company asking how to join the Renren Waimai platform. It seems the good business of their neighboring merchants made them envious."
"Riders also reported good feedback. Although the weather is very cold, many are gritting their teeth and persevering, but the tangible rewards also make them very satisfied. I roughly calculated that each rider averages twenty orders a day.
Riders at Dongcai get more orders, while those at the Sports Institute get fewer due to fewer teachers and students. Including the severe weather subsidy, the highest-earning rider's daily income exceeded one hundred fifty yuan, and the median daily income for all riders was around one hundred yuan."
Everyone in the company was jubilant, with smiles on their faces.
The success of Renren Waimai was inseparable from the efforts of every individual; they were all participants, sharing in the glory.
And the thought that their work was actively changing people's lifestyles brought an indescribable sense of pride.
It is foreseeable that as the university student market matures, the new lifestyle of ordering takeout will become even more deeply ingrained, and by then, the number of orders will continue to grow.
(End of chapter)
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