Rebirth begins with studying hard

Chapter 23 A Future Giant on the Verge of Bankruptcy

The next day, at the south gate of Mount Shu.

Feicheng is a city on a plain, with an average elevation of 20 to 40 meters. The highest point in the city is 282 meters, located on Shushan Mountain.

Compared to truly towering mountains, Mount Shu is merely a small hill, but for those born and raised in Feicheng, it is the highest peak they can see.

It is also one of the few tourist attractions in Feicheng.

The appointment was for 9 a.m., but Lu Jie originally planned to sleep until 7:30 and then leave at 8 a.m., thinking that an hour by bus would be enough time.

But I was woken up by an excited phone call from Sun Bo at seven o'clock.

We arrived at Shushan at 8:30.

Not long after the agreed time, they saw Zhong Muqing and Shu Panpan after waiting for more than ten minutes.

"Here! Here!" Sun Bo called out from afar.

After gathering, the group walked up the mountain along the paved road.

After walking for a while, Sun Bo felt the route was too flat and not exciting enough, so he suggested:

"I know a small path that's fun to climb, why don't we take that path?"

"Sure!" As a sports student, Zhong Muqing was naturally not intimidated.

"Okay, sure." Seeing that Zhong Muqing had agreed, Shu Panpan went along with it.

"I don't care." Lu Jie shrugged. He knew that road by heart, having climbed it many times during his student days in his previous life.

The usual mountain trails do offer some health benefits for young people.

But when they actually arrived at this very steep path, without steps, only dirt and stones, requiring them to use both hands and feet, Shu Panpan, who is usually quiet and not very active, couldn't move at first.

"Can you help her?" Lu Jie asked Zhong Muqing.

Zhong Muqing, however, seemed not to hear him and said with great enthusiasm:

"Lu Jie, let's have a race to see who gets up there first!"

"Whoever falls behind will have to buy everyone drinks later!"

Lu Jie was stunned for a moment. Did Zhong Muqing not hear what he just said?

Just as he was about to repeat it, he saw Zhong Muqing secretly wink at him.

He then suddenly realized that she was creating an opportunity for Sun Bo and Shu Panpan to be alone together.

He readily agreed, "Let's compete!"

He then said to Sun Bo, "You stay with Shu Panpan, we'll wait for you upstairs."

Then, he and Zhong Muqing raced each other up the stone path, quickly leaving Shu Panpan and Sun Bo, who were lagging behind, far behind.

As a national second-level long-distance runner, climbing a 200-meter mountain is naturally no problem for Zhong Muqing.

Although Lu Jie was not as good as Zhong Muqing, he was at the peak of his physical strength and soon climbed to the top of the mountain following behind her.

The two sat on a stone bench at the top of the mountain, taking deep breaths and resting.

"Here you go." After sitting for a while, Lu Jie took a bottle of mineral water from his bag and handed it to Zhong Muqing.

He and Sun Bo took on the responsibility of carrying water and snacks in advance, so the two girls only carried small crossbody bags to put their phones and small items.

"I guess it'll be a while," Lu Jie said casually after drinking some water.

"No rush, let them have some time alone." Zhong Muqing said with a shipper's attitude, "I think they're a good match and would make a couple."

"Is that so?" Lu Jie remained noncommittal.

He doesn't comment on whether they are a good match or not, but he thinks early relationships are inappropriate.

Zhong Muqing, however, thought he didn't believe her, so she began her analysis:

"Look at Sun Bo, he's easygoing and cheerful, and he can talk to anyone."

"Shu Panpan is very quiet, has good grades, and is a typical well-behaved girl."

"It sounds like their personalities are completely different types?" Lu Jie thought it sounded a bit strange.

Zhong Muqing shook her head:

"It depends on the situation."

"Shu Panpan is quiet by nature, but it's not that she doesn't like to talk; she's just used to being quiet and doesn't take the initiative to talk to people."

"After I got to know her better, I found that she was also very talkative."

"If Sun Bo is also a quiet type who doesn't like to talk, then the two of them definitely won't spark any chemistry."

"But Sun Bo is willing to take the initiative to find topics, while Shu Panpan can keep up and chat as long as someone brings up a topic."

"This way, there won't be any awkward silences, but at the same time, everyone won't be interrupting each other."

"Our personalities complement each other very well."

"Hmm..." Lu Jie nodded. Logically speaking, there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Zhong Muqing continued:

"And I'll tell you a little secret I discovered; you can tell it to Sun Bo in private."

"Hmm?" Lu Jie asked curiously.

Although there was no one else around, Zhong Muqing still moved closer and whispered:

"I noticed that Shu Panpan has a very narrow social circle and doesn't have many close friends. I can sense that she's quite lonely."

"Perhaps because everyone thinks she is quiet and doesn't like to talk, so not many people take the initiative to talk to her."

Lu Jie nodded.

He didn't know whether Shu Panpan was lonely.

But not many people wanted to hang out with Shu Panpan, and he knew one reason why.

Shu Panpan is too serious; as the class monitor, she strictly follows the teacher's requirements.

Even when there were things in the special class that didn't need to be taken seriously, or that could be done by pretending not to understand, she carried them out very diligently.

Just like with regular homework submissions and report card signing and verification, if it's submitted late, so be it; if the signature isn't yours, so be it. You can just turn a blind eye and it'll pass.

But if she sensed something was wrong, she would either back down without hesitation or report it to the teacher truthfully.

This kind of personality can easily offend people.

Although she is decent-looking, she doesn't quite reach the level of the class beauty or the school beauty, and boys won't tolerate her just because of her looks.

But she's not exactly unattractive, so no girl would befriend her just to use her as a foil to elevate herself.

She didn't get involved in either relationship, and coupled with her quiet personality and reluctance to initiate conversations, she ended up seemingly having no close friends in class.

But when Sun Bo told him why he liked Shu Panpan in his previous life, he mentioned that he liked Shu Panpan's seriousness.

I don't know if it's because of my love for my beloved, or some other reason.

He wanted to interrupt Zhong Muqing to tell her the reason, but after opening his mouth, he thought better of it.

This isn't exactly a flaw, but it's not a virtue either; it's not appropriate to discuss it behind someone's back.

Zhong Muqing continued speaking to herself:

"But deep down she enjoys chatting and communicating."

"You see, I just chat with her more often, and we quickly became good friends."

"Girls like this are easy to pursue."

"And I feel that Shu Panpan also has feelings for Sun Bo."

"I told Shu Panpan yesterday that the four of us would be going out together, and we would invite you and Sun Bo as well. She didn't object at all."

"Tell Sun Bo to keep trying. I think he has no problem winning her over."

Lu Jie chuckled; he hadn't realized that Zhong Muqing had a talent for the role of a love strategist.

If this were university and there were no need to worry about the impact of dating on studies, he would definitely have Sun Bo ask Zhong Muqing for advice on how to pursue Shu Panpan.

This analysis is indeed well-reasoned and accurate.

After listening to her analysis, he actually felt that Sun Bo and Shu Panpan's personalities were quite complementary and suitable.

However, the present Shu Panpan is not the same as the future Shu Panpan.

It's really hard to say what it will become in the future.

Early romantic relationships are generally not a reliable thing to do.

Zhong Muqing's analysis was quickly verified.

When Sun Bo and Shu Panpan arrived at the mountaintop, they were chatting and laughing, and their relationship had clearly warmed up.

Zhong Muqing looked at Lu Jie, her eyes conveying, "See, I told you so."

Lu Jie responded with a thumbs-up.

......

Reaching the summit marks the end of most of the journey through Mount Shu.

After descending the mountain, we went to Women's Street.

At that time, Women's Street was the most popular commercial district in Feicheng, a distribution center for small commodities and snacks.

"That really good milk tea shop is on Women's Street." After getting off the bus, Lu Jie headed towards the west entrance of Women's Street.

Soon he saw a milk tea shop with a Kafka sign hanging about ten meters inside the entrance.

The shop is very small, only a dozen square meters, with just one glass window and a menu featuring only one product:

Full set of milk tea.

"Is this really better than the one in the subway?" Zhong Muqing looked at the unassuming little milk tea shop, somewhat incredulous.

In Feicheng's bustling market of instant milk tea where two large cups cost three yuan and one large cup costs two yuan, Subway is the most high-end and the only brand that can truly be called authentic milk tea.

She wanted to invite everyone to drink Subway Milk Tea, as she thought their milk tea and double-skin milk pudding with jam were delicious.

But Lu Jie said there was an even better milk tea shop, so I came here on his strong recommendation.

It looks small and broken.

"Trust me, it will surprise you." Lu Jie said confidently as he looked at Kafka, the brand that would one day become popular throughout Anhui Province and become a representative brand of the province.

When offline digital products began to decline significantly in his previous life, he considered transforming his business. Seeing the extraordinary popularity of Kafka Milk Tea, he had the idea of ​​joining the industry.

At that time, through the introduction of a business friend, he visited Mr. Burke, the founder of Kafka.

Although the cooperation ultimately failed, he learned a valuable piece of information.

Kafka suffered continuous losses when it was first founded and almost went bankrupt.

It was founded in early 2008.

In other words, the future giant brand is now on the verge of bankruptcy.