Chapter 626: Drink More Baijiu

At the end of the semester, some confessed their love, others broke up and some left early.

Fan Shuling received a message from her graduate advisor, asking her to come to Kyoto early as they were short-handed and needed her help with the work.

Cai Fang decided to go home to tutor her sister, who was about to take the college entrance exam, while Yang Min moved to the closer Shanghai to prepare for the civil service exam and attend various company interviews.

Before leaving, room 503 gathered for one last meal.

The little rich girl cried for a long time and Jiang Qin consoled her for just as long.

As for room 302, Ren Ziqiang planned a graduation trip with Wang Linlin while Zhou Chao holed up in his room every day, reading pirated web novels he bought on Taobao, ignoring sleep and meals.

Young master Cao, because Ding Xue was in Linchuan, couldn’t move from his spot, so he lay flat in the dorm, sneaking around as a sniper in games, then getting dramatically killed, with all three meals dependent on takeout.

“Old Cao, Zhou Chao, I suggest you guys stop eating Hungry’s takeout for a while.”

“Why?”

While lifting a dumbbell left by Ren Ziqiang, Jiang Qin spoke, “Their takeout isn’t clean. I’m worried it might leave you with a bad impression.”

After hearing this, Cao Guangyu twisted his mouth, “That’s unfair competition, smearing your competitor like that.”

“Ignore the advice of the elderly at your own peril.”

“I actually wanted to use Group-Buy Delivery, but you don’t allow us to use coupons.”

Jiang Qin snapped the dumbbell down, “Is it easy for me to make money? You’re my roommate and you’re shearing my wool!”

Cao Guangyu opened the Hungry’s food page, “I’ve decided. Before I officially graduate, I’ll live on Hungry’s. No one can stop me.”

“Stop ordering, let’s go eat in the cafeteria. Even if it’s average, you won’t get to taste it after graduation.”

“Then… let’s go to the cafeteria.”

Cao Guangyu rolled out of bed and patted still sleepy Zhou Chao.

Zhou Chao, who watched web novels all last night, hadn’t woken up yet. It took him a long while to recover after being dragged up, looking dazed.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

“I’ll just order takeout…”

“Old Jiang says no to takeout!”

The three cleaned up and, fully dressed, left the dorm. Jiang Qin carried a large travel bag.

Young master Cao glanced at it, “What’s this for?”

“The little rich girl wants to do my laundry.”

“?”

“Don’t know, she just said she wanted to wash my clothes and asked me to bring some worn ones to her.”

Jiang Qin shook the bag in his hand, recalling yesterday when Feng Nanshu called him, saying she wanted to wash his clothes. This seemingly obedient girl actually had quite a few ideas.

After listening, Cao Guangyu looked at him, “Oh, I get it. A forum post blew up last night, titled ‘Things you must do in a college romance.’ It even said you haven’t really dated in college if you haven’t done these things. One of them was washing clothes for someone you like.”

“Damn, I thought of her as a friend, and she… she really fancies me?!” Jiang Qin’s expression was one of shock.

“…”

“Old Jiang, your acting is too fake.”

After eating in the cafeteria, Cao Guangyu and Zhou Chao went to the college supermarket to buy things, while Jiang Qin casually wandered to the girls’ dormitory.

Feng Nanshu and Gao Wenhui were waiting for him downstairs, petting a stray school cat and feeding it some sausage.

The little rich girl persisted in asking it if it had a brother and whether he doted on it.

“It seems to be a male cat,” noted Gao Wenhui.

“?”

The little rich girl paused, then switched to asking if it had a sister and if she was clingy.

Then Jiang Qin, bag in hand, arrived at the girls’ dormitory where the little rich girl ran up to receive the clothes.

Jiang Qin looked at her, “What made you suddenly want to wash clothes for me?”

Feng Nanshu shook her head, “I read a post titled ‘Things you must do with a good college friend.’ They said you must wash clothes for a good friend, and I haven’t done it yet.”

“That’s actually from the list of must-do things in a college romance!” Gao Wenhui barked from behind.

“Friendship!”

“Romance.”

“Gao Wenhui, your phone is broken.”

Feng Nanshu made a quick judgement, then hurriedly pulled her upstairs, worried she might blurt out more ideas she fancied hearing.

Three minutes later, Jiang Qin received a photo of Feng Nanshu washing clothes in the dormitory.

In the image, sunlight scattered around, the little rich girl with a ponytail seriously scrubbing clothes in a water-filled basin, her long eyelashes tinted with morning light, her delicate face seemingly haloed.

You couldn’t describe her with more accurate words, the scene just didn’t seem of this world.

Jiang Qin stood under the camphor tree outside the girls’ dormitory, looking at the picture for a long time.

The high-cold, delicate rich girl, the goddess from the southern town, was washing his clothes…

“Don’t use Hungry’s takeout recently.”

“Why?”

Jiang Qin had spoken to many he knew, advising them not to use Hungry’s takeout. Then, news about Hungry surfaced almost daily.

[Hungry restaurant actually unlicensed small workshop, hygiene worrying]

[Residential building hides “food nest”, where does your takeout really come from?]

[Hungry delivery personnel say they absolutely won’t eat their own takeout, revealing food safety risks]

[Clarified images of restaurants’ back kitchens expose “lethal takeout”]

[Hungry fakes shop photos, merchants can upload anything!]

Late at night, Cao Guangyu, just after gaming, was about to order takeout but saw the news images and let out a strange cry.

Ingredients left by bins, a kitchen counter surrounded by flies, and a greasy operation room…

“Damn, Hungry’s takeout is this dirty?!”

Seeing his shocked face, Jiang Qin’s expression grew serious, “I calculated the possibilities for Hungry recently and foresaw something big would happen. Didn’t expect to be spot on.”

Cao Guangyu gave him a look, “?”

Just as the cutthroat competition in the takeout industry seemed to settle, Hungry was still pondering how to capture more of the market without spending more.

Faced unexpectedly with this situation, everyone was flustered.

After the news broke, the whole company was in chaos.

Many Hungry users were stunned to learn their daily meals came from such unhygienic conditions.

Hungry immediately went online to deny these claims, insisting they were rumors, and then mobilized all resources to locate the exposed shops.

“Checked yet? Are they our merchants?”

“Yes…”

“You signed without a license? Are you crazy?”

Chen Jiaxin was furious, blasting the marketing manager Dai Qing.

Dai Qing took a deep breath, “Chen, the boss set such high KPIs, demanding thousands of new merchants in mature markets or face termination. Our people had no choice!”

“Where did these photos of non-compliant shops come from? Aside from different signs, the interior, kitchen, and operation desks look almost the same!”

Chen Jiaxin questioned, holding the documents.

Some of those shops were in old homes or dark alleys with no proper dining environment, not even a proper sign.

Yet, from the introductions on Hungry, you could see a fancy facade and a spacious, bright hall.

Dai Qing swallowed nervously, “It was us… we had someone photoshop them.”

Public opinion surged, the internet buzzing about the issue, with concerns about food safety deepening, even as prominent bloggers came forward to educate about food safety.

“Where did the photos leak from?”

“Must be Group-Buy Delivery.”

Zhang Xuhao was dumbfounded, “Are they mad? This doesn’t just affect us; it impacts the entire market.”

After hearing this, Yang Xueyu looked at Zhang Xuhao, “Boss, Group-Buy can afford the struggle, we can’t. With the market shaken, they have enough profit margins, so they can spend less and still push us out of the market.”

“?”

“Customers might stop ordering takeout, but if they buy groceries, it’s still through his community group buying and offline stores. Plus, the internet quickly forgets. The takeout market will rebound, and if Group-Buy uses this industry downturn to strategically hit us, by the time the market recovers, the gap in our market share will only widen.”

Just then, the employee monitoring Group-Buy Delivery knocked on Zhang Xuhao’s office door, “Boss, Group-Buy is burning cash again.”

“Damn, taking advantage of the situation!”

Still the same old principle, Jiang Qin thought that just burning cash to market was idiotic. Ensuring that money-spent brings users who stay is key.

And in the takeout industry, besides price, quality is the core of competition.

There’s no way to make users believe our quality is great, but you can make them believe the competitor’s quality isn’t.

Now, with public opinion against them, Hungry’s growth faced severe obstacles. Plus, with Group-Buy burning cash to grab the market, if they don’t follow, they’re doomed.

Some decisions can’t be put off any longer.

Hungry quickly reacted, both suppressing the spread of negative media and starting to use discounts to retain users.

Seeing the news, Ma, head of Alibaba, threw his tablet down, silent all afternoon.

Turns out Hungry now had two choices: either not follow and slowly let Group-Buy Delivery eat its market share, or follow and burn through its remaining three billion, which would just end up being fed into Group-Buy’s supply chain. Damn!

“Damn it, why are we always a step behind? Does he have foresight or what?”

“Boss, I think it’s a matter of timing. I don’t know why, but from group buying to takeout, anyone who goes against Group-Buy ends up falling into their rhythm.”

“How’s Hungry now?”

“Started burning cash.”

“President Jiang, oh President Jiang, you’re really digging into my wallet now!”