The powerful publicity campaign made Miaochá a huge hit even before its official launch.
The advanced promotion, coupled with its high-end appeal, made university students incredibly excited for Miaochá's opening.
"It feels so crazy, Renren.com is an SNS social networking site, why are so many people talking about Miaochá? I checked, almost one-fifth of the people are discussing it."
"That's normal, Renren.com is currently still used by university students here in Dongjiang, so the circle is relatively small."
"Replying to the person above, actually Renren.com is just cashing in and going all out to promote them."
"It's actually fine, if you don't like it, you can just go to other sections."
"I'm not a shill, but I'm also quite excited."
"..."
It can be said that with much anticipation, Miaochá had a grand opening.
March 21, 2007, Spring Equinox, auspicious for opening.
At eight in the morning, five Miaochá branches opened with great fanfare.
Immediately, pictorial and textual promotions appeared on Renren.com.
"Did it finally open? I've been waiting for almost a week."
"I just specifically went to the store to see, damn, it's so expensive, a bit unaffordable."
"Ordering delivery on Renren Takeout can save 3 yuan, with shipping it's only ten yuan, which is alright."
"It's fine if you can't afford it, as long as your girlfriend wants to drink it."
Chen Pingjiang arranged one store manager and one staff member for each store; if he weren't afraid of being criticized, he would have even assigned only one person to oversee the store.
From morning onwards, the tea production rate of the five milk tea stores steadily increased.
Orders were also varied.
Roasted Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea, Cheesy Pulpy Green Grape, Taro Ball Boba Milk Tea, Pulpy Grape.
The Blue Knights were overwhelmed, shuttling back and forth between Miaochá and the neighboring universities.
Guan Sumin is a third-year student at Normal University, a heavy sweets enthusiast, and her favorite drink is usually milk tea.
When the Miaochá topic first became popular, she had been following it closely, eagerly watching the Miaochá store in the commercial street outside the school gate open every day.
On March 21st, she was among the first batch of customers to enter the store.
Pushing open the store door, it felt like two different worlds inside and outside.
Early spring in Dongjiang was still chilly, but inside Miaochá, it was very warm, with the air conditioning running at full power.
"Wow, it's so beautiful, a completely different feeling from other milk tea shops."
Guan Sumin, who had just walked in, was stunned by the decor in front of her.
Miaochá's decor style was unique, making extensive use of raw wood and glass materials, simple yet stylish, bright and inviting, with spacious interiors.
Adorned with various artworks, coupled with soft lighting and soothing music, it instantly made people feel comfortable and relaxed.
Each seat was equipped with a charging port, allowing customers to keep their phones charged while waiting.
This fresh, natural decor style, combined with various artistic and fresh decorative elements, instantly captivated Guan Sumin and the other girls who came, making them not want to leave.
Arriving at the ordering counter, the polite female staff member smiled and asked,
"Hello, what flavor would you like to drink?"
Guan Sumin was a bit bewildered.
Although she had heard about the flavors on Renren.com, her mind still went blank when actually ordering.
"Uh, let me see…"
"Grape Blackcurrant Oolong Tea, Luojia Sakura, Secretly Missing You Jasmine Yuan Yang…"
Guan Sumin was dazzled.
Not only were there some flavors she had heard of before, but also a large number of unfamiliar ones whose names were pleasant and pictures beautiful.
This left her unsure of how to choose for a moment.
It seemed another girl behind her was getting a bit impatient, so she finally made up her mind:
"I'll have this one, the Grape Blackcurrant Oolong Tea."
After receiving the milk tea, Guan Sumin admiringly held the Miaochá cup in her hands.
Unlike the plastic cups used by other milk tea shops at the time, which could sometimes be hot to hold with warm drinks, Miaochá thoughtfully designed paper cups.
The Miaochá logo and slogan were printed in the center of the cup, which was sky blue overall, but with a thoughtful white border around the rim, making one feel safe and comfortable.
The cup lid was even more exceptional.
While other milk tea shops still used a plastic film lid that required effort to pierce with a straw, sometimes resulting in uneven force that either failed to puncture it or broke the straw, Miaochá's lid design was not only novel but also more user-friendly.
The raised plastic lid was securely placed on the paper cup, leaving an oval opening.
By simply pulling out the stopper, one could drink with a straw or directly from the cup.
Apart from drinking milk tea directly in tea houses and Western restaurants, Guan Sumin had never seen such a design for milk tea sold in other shops at the time.
Undoubtedly, Miaochá had, to some extent, changed the way people drink milk tea.
"The takeaway cup is a bit like Starbucks, but also has some differences from Starbucks."
"It's very conscientious! How much does Starbucks cost, and how much does a cup of Miaochá cost? Yet the takeaway cup is of the same quality."
"I wouldn't even want to throw away a cup like this after drinking from it."
Guan Sumin heard two girls at the next table whispering.
In this era, Starbucks was still synonymous with high-end, a favorite among white-collar workers and the petty bourgeoisie.
Although it had entered the domestic market in 1999, the coffee culture had not yet emerged in China at that time, and the coffee market was still developing.
Therefore, Starbucks was mostly concentrated in the city centers of first and second-tier cities, with expensive prices, truly unaffordable for the average student.
Before long, some girls had already started taking selfies, photographing Miaochá's interior decor and its takeaway cups.
"Send him (her) the first cup of milk tea in spring."
A post like this, without any warning, climbed to the top of Renren.com's hot topics list.
"The Spring Equinox falls between the Beginning of Spring and the Beginning of Summer, dividing spring evenly, and also dividing day and night equally.
On the Spring Equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator, making day and night equal in length, each lasting 12 hours. The characteristic climate of the Spring Equinox is warm weather and bright sunshine, very much like love."
More and more people came to view this hot topic, followed by a variety of replies.
"Hehe, just received the first cup of milk tea in spring, feeling warm inside. [Image]."
"Have you had your first cup of milk tea in spring? It's okay if you haven't, spring is still long after all!"
"This… this makes us single dogs want to cry to death."
"This spring I quit milk tea, I'm afraid people will see that no one cares about me, so I won't drink milk tea anymore."
"Waiting for someone fated to send me a cup of Miaochá."
"People asking for milk tea in this post are truly shameless. Don't you have hands and feet? Asking others to buy you milk tea every day, speechless. If you think I'm right, immediately transfer me twenty yuan; I'm thirsty from scolding, I'll also drink a cup, and continue scolding after I finish."
"If I am guilty, the law will punish me, not you posting about the first cup of milk tea in spring on Renren.com to humiliate me."
"You said you wanted milk tea, I transferred you four yuan, and you called me a 'tu gou'. What, isn't pearl milk tea milk tea?"
"..."
The hilarious replies from netizens directly made the meme "The First Cup of Milk Tea in Spring" go viral, far more popular than Miaochá itself.
After all, Renren.com, being such a large SNS social platform, wouldn't use all its promotional power for Miaochá.
However, the meme "The First Cup of Milk Tea in Spring" was different; it was ignited by netizens' spontaneous replies and promotions under Chen Pingjiang's guidance.
Startup Park 202.
Everyone watched the screen continuously refreshing with memes about the first cup of milk tea in spring, rendering some of the replies and copy they had prepared useless.
"Boss, your marketing gimmick is too brilliant. Not opening an advertising company is a loss for the advertising industry,"
Miao Bingwei exclaimed, wondering how his boss's brain worked, able to stir up students' enthusiasm with just a casual piece of copy.
Chen Pingjiang smiled "modestly":
"Still, let's leave some business for the advertising industry."
The meme "The First Cup of Milk Tea in Autumn" was very popular in WeChat Moments for a while in later generations, and Chen Pingjiang's timing to use it now was perfect.
Students have a strong desire for warmth, care, and companionship, and a cup of milk tea happens to satisfy these emotional needs, thus its appearance can attract people's attention and resonate with them.
On university campuses, where social interaction is eagerly sought, the first cup of milk tea in spring became a way to express emotions through sharing, commenting, and reposting, influencing and guiding more users to join this trend.
This could be clearly seen from the forum's online user count and average online time.
Furthermore, this creative topic, through viral marketing on social media, successfully captured the needs and preferences of young people, making them the main force in marketing communication.
This also rendered a series of promotional methods prepared by Renren.com useless.
Young people favor novelty, pursue individuality and taste, and also attach more importance to emotional exchange and social interaction.
This was the precise target audience positioning for this meme.
It also capitalized on people's competitive, show-off, and conformity psychology, providing consumers with an opportunity to participate in social interaction and encouraging them to spread it voluntarily.
Even many lurkers who had never spoken before actively participated in sharing.
Moreover, milk tea was affordable and delicious, perfectly within students' spending limits.
Therefore, it's not hard to understand why the meme "The First Cup of Milk Tea in Spring" suddenly became wildly popular.
The meme went viral, seemingly boosting sales for milk tea shops around universities, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that the true beneficiary could only be Miaochá.
Other milk tea shops, whether in terms of flavor, appearance, or brand culture, were unable to fully capitalize on this wave of traffic.
Not only did they not benefit, but it might even have a counterproductive effect.
"I'm crying to death, sisters. I hinted to my partner for ages that I wanted milk tea, and he said it was unhealthy. Only when I was about to get angry did he reluctantly buy me a cup, and it turned out to be a 4-yuan pearl milk tea."
"My boyfriend is just like yours. I was so angry I wanted to throw it away. Everyone in my dorm drinks Miaochá, why do I only get to drink this?"
"..."
Chen Pingjiang, the mastermind, browsed through the screen full of posts, chuckling heartily.
He felt as if he had inadvertently opened a Pandora's Box and could only inwardly apologize to his male compatriots.
"Let's have a cigarette,"
Chen Pingjiang said, fumbling for a Furongwang cigarette and lighting it.
After a moment's thought, Chen Pingjiang logged into the Renren Takeout website and ordered two cups of Miaochá, one for Yan Yan and one for Zhang Xinyue.
"Boss, your classmate is looking for you."
"Hehe, is it the boss's wife?"
"She looks so pure and beautiful."
"No way, right? Seems to be just the boss's classmate."
Chen Pingjiang heard a shout outside the office, followed by a flurry of whispers and laughter.
Just as he was wondering who it was, the office door was pushed open.
Cong Nini walked gracefully into the office, wearing a JK uniform paired with a cardigan, light makeup, and tights on her legs.
Chen Pingjiang looked at the carefully dressed Cong Nini in front of him and asked, puzzled,
"Aren't you cold dressed like that?"
Cong Nini blinked, glanced around Chen Pingjiang's office, then her eyes curved into crescent moons:
"No, I'm not cold."
Watching Cong Nini walk straight towards him, getting closer and closer, Chen Pingjiang felt as if facing a formidable enemy, and asked cautiously,
"Are you looking for me for something?"
Releasing her hands, which had been behind her back, Cong Nini magically pulled out a cup of Miaochá and placed it on Chen Pingjiang's desk:
"Here, the first cup of milk tea in spring for you. Miaochá, you should know it, I specifically queued for half an hour to buy it."
Chen Pingjiang looked at the Miaochá in front of him, then looked up at Cong Nini, his expression peculiar.
Cong Nini was "going crazy" again.
She had asked Chen Pingjiang out several times since the semester began, but Chen Pingjiang was incredibly busy preparing for Miaochá's opening and had no time for her, rejecting all her invitations.
He hadn't expected her to come directly to Startup Park 202 today, which made Chen Pingjiang suddenly feel a bit uncomfortably "forced."
"Thank you, student Cong Nini. However, this kind of milk tea with extraordinary implications shouldn't be given to just anyone; it can lead to misunderstandings."
As the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face.
Chen Pingjiang was a bit annoyed by Cong Nini's direct appearance in his office, but he couldn't show it.
Cong Nini smiled radiantly, her beauty eclipsing the flowers and moon.
She walked around the desk, slowly approaching Chen Pingjiang's side, and casually said,
"Of course I know that, which is why when other annoying guys begged to give me one, I refused them all. Instead, I specifically bought you a cup. Happy? Class monitor."
This was the first time Cong Nini had been alone with Chen Pingjiang since the slap incident.
Even a seasoned player like Cong Nini couldn't help but feel her heart race, especially since they were in Chen Pingjiang's office, with many people working outside.
Being so close to Chen Pingjiang, able to clearly see the texture of his skin on his profile, made a feeling of excitement and taboo rise within Cong Nini once more.
When Cong Nini half-bent over and whispered into Chen Pingjiang's ear, her breath like orchids, making Chen Pingjiang's heart itch, he turned his head and warned in a low voice, his face stern:
"Damn it, I'm warning you, don't cause trouble, this is in the office."
Cong Nini smiled triumphantly, seemingly seeing through Chen Pingjiang's pretense:
"Oh, I'm so scared."
This woman truly transforms, and her transformation is becoming increasingly complete.
Chen Pingjiang shook his head, headache-ridden, and tried to distance himself.
"Class monitor, are you afraid I'll eat you? Why are you hiding so far from me?"
Cong Nini's voice was very soft, like a cat's gentle meow, exploding in Chen Pingjiang's ear.
It was fortunate that the office door was closed.
If someone had suddenly walked in at that moment, Chen Pingjiang estimated he would have died of embarrassment instantly.
Even with a psychological age of forty, Chen Pingjiang was slightly overwhelmed in such an alluring and stimulating environment.
"Can I really be manipulated by a brazen girl?"
Chen Pingjiang thought to himself, no longer evading Cong Nini's advances.
He turned to look at her:
"Spring has arrived. Are female cats in heat?"
Cong Nini's eyes were still smiling, not angry at all.
Instead, her red lips curved slightly:
"Yes, if you like it, I'll be brazen for you to see."
Saying this, Cong Nini hunched her upper body, pushed out her chest, and jutted out her hips, her modest bosom practically pressing against Chen Pingjiang's mouth.
(End of chapter)
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