Rebirth begins with studying hard

Chapter 37 Kafka's Most Difficult Moment

Early in the morning, before even arriving at school, Lu Jie received a call from Sun Bo.

"I got into the honors class!"

"Yay! Yay! Yay!"

"I'm so happy!"

"We're classmates again! Haha!"

He could almost see Sun Bo dancing with joy.

He couldn't help but chuckle and teased, "You're happy that you're finally in the same class as Shu Panpan, aren't you?"

In fact, yesterday, Zhong Muqing had asked him to go to school together to see Shu Panpan about his scores and rankings.

He ranked 73rd in his age group and 36th in the science-focused elite class.

Sun Bo ranked 113th in his grade and 53rd in the science-focused key class.

Because most of the students with athletic talents who could get into the top classes chose humanities, there were fewer students in the science-focused top classes, so a few more students who applied for science were admitted later.

Sun Bo happened to be on the list of those admitted later, which was essentially a supplementary admission.

Shu Panpan originally wanted to tell Sun Bo the news, but since Sun Bo didn't want to know in advance, he told Shu Panpan that Sun Bo should just come to the scene to see the honor roll and class assignment notice.

It's more ceremonial and will leave a deeper impression on Sun Bo.

Sure enough, Sun Bo, who arrived at the scene early in the morning and saw the class assignment results, was so excited he almost jumped for joy.

Even after he arrived at school half an hour later, Sun Bo's excitement did not diminish at all.

"Getting into the top class feels even better than beating a game boss."

"I was a bit tired from studying lately, but now I feel motivated again!"

Sun Bo was both happy and felt it was a very strange thing.

Lu Jie gave a thumbs up and said, "Keep it up, let's go to Anhui University or Hefei University of Technology together."

"Great!" Sun Bo said enthusiastically. "I used to think that Anhui University and Hefei University of Technology were out of reach, but now... it's not like there's no chance for us to reach them, haha."

Lu Jie vaguely remembered that after the class placement exam in his previous life, the two of them came to school to pick up their report cards. They didn't even look at the bulletin board, and together they complained about what the point of studying was, and then went online.

Actually, when you think about it, although surfing the internet is relaxing and easy, if you play it too much, it's just so-so. There's not much fun in it; it's just a way to escape studying.

It's nowhere near as satisfying as the feeling of improving grades.

Just like Sun Bo, he had never been this excited in his previous life.

In their past lives, neither he nor Sun Bo studied properly. In this life, he finally had a positive influence on Sun Bo, and together they did what they should have done and studied properly at this age.

Regardless of the final results, at least the three years of high school will not have been in vain.

The class meeting to receive report cards was the last class meeting for this class.

After the second year of high school, all students in the grade will be reorganized according to their exam scores and their choice of arts or sciences tracks.

Although we were divided into different classes, we were still in the same school, so there wasn't much sadness about parting.

After the meeting, everyone said goodbye amidst laughter and conversation.

[Congratulations on getting into the honors class! Are you free after school? Let's go sing karaoke with Ding Yiming!]

Lu Jie, who had just packed his things and was about to leave, received a text message.

It was posted by Victoria Song.

After a moment of surprise, he shook his head.

Judging from the style of this text message, it's clear that Ding Yiming instigated it again.

After making up some excuse to refuse, he called out to Sun Bo, "Let's go."

......

Four important things to do during summer vacation.

Studying, writing, going to Shanghai, and seeking collaboration with Kafka.

Studying and writing are my daily routines.

The National Middle School Track and Field Championships were scheduled for July 30th, and he and Zhong Muqing had agreed to go to Shanghai on July 28th.

Zhong Muqing also began intensive training for this competition.

Besides studying and writing, Lu Jie would often stroll around Women's Street, both to observe Kafka's business and to chat with Xie Baila.

If we want to reach a cooperation agreement, the summer vacation is the last chance.

Because he knew that Kafka's most difficult time was the summer of 08. In his previous life, every time Xie Bo talked about this, he would sigh with relief that he had survived it, as he was almost about to close down his shop.

The reason is not hard to guess: the summer vacation, which is traditionally the peak season for tea drinks, did not significantly improve Kafka's business, causing Shepherd, who originally wanted to persevere, to waver.

In addition, the losses were so severe that money was being poured into the stores every month, which also eroded Xie Bai's confidence.

Lu Jie could also tell from Xie Bai's emotional changes.

At the end of June, just as summer vacation began, Xie Bai was full of confidence.

By early July, his complexion began to change.

By the end of early July, his complexion had already turned somewhat unwell.

By mid-July, he could even see an uncontrollable look of worry on Xie Bai's face.

"Do you think opening a franchise for a bubble tea brand is the right choice for me?"

Looking at the bustling Women's Street, Xie Bai couldn't help but say that the business of the stores was still not improving.

"Franchising is good, but in the end you're just working for someone else. If you want to become a strong and big company, you still have to create your own brand," Lu Jie said.

In fact, whether it's franchising or starting your own business, he feels they are just different business models.

But he knew that Xie Bai admired self-created brands, so he went along with the idea of ​​self-created brands.

"Yes, if you want to become strong and big, you still have to create your own way." Xie Bai nodded, deeply agreeing.

Although Lu Jie is nearly ten years younger than him, Lu Jie has great insight into business and the tea industry, and also has a maturity beyond his years.

Most importantly, we always think alike.

It felt like meeting a kindred spirit in a foreign land.

But thinking about Kafka's business situation, he was troubled again:

"But it's too difficult."

"If we keep losing money like this, the stores might not be able to stay afloat."

Lu Jie glanced at Xie Bai and saw that his sorrow was almost overflowing, mixed with disappointment. He felt that the time was about right.

Kafka knew that summer was difficult, especially after July.

In fact, at this time, anyone who wants to invest and cooperate can persuade Xie Bai if their ideas align with Xie Bai's.

The lack of money is one issue, but the lack of confidence is another.

Investment provides not only money, but also confidence.

This is what Shepard needs most.

But his persona in front of Shepherd has always been that of a customer who likes Kafka milk tea, with the added advantage of his family having been in the industry.

It would be rather strange to announce a collaboration without any prior warning.

After all, Kafka's current situation doesn't warrant cooperation, and he's just a high school student. Why would a high school student suddenly want to invest in a small milk tea shop?

That doesn't make any sense.

Perhaps he's overthinking it, but it's never wrong to be more thorough in your considerations.

Be more patient, build a closer relationship with Xie Bai, and wait until the losses reach his psychological limit, and he takes the initiative to express his concerns about the future of the store, or even wants to give up.

Then, taking advantage of the situation, he proposed an investment partnership, claiming that he liked Kafka, had high hopes for Kafka, and even had high hopes for Shepherd as a person, and couldn't bear to see Kafka's store go bankrupt.

That makes sense.

Moreover, at this point, it's not just about investment and cooperation, but also about providing timely help in a difficult situation.

Based on his understanding of Xie Bai's personality from his previous life, even if he were to become a hands-off manager and completely ignore the brand in the future, he would still always have a share in it.

It becomes a continuous source of cash flow.

This is the moment he has been waiting for.

After a moment of contemplation, he continued:

"Are the losses very serious?"